Midterm 1 (Chapters 1-5) Flashcards
Sociology is the study of _______
The systematic study of human society
Peter Berger described the sociological perspective as__________
Seeing the general in the particular
Sociologists can identify general _____ in the behaviour of particular individuals
social patterns
Seeing the Strange in the Familiar: The sociological perspectives states that
human behaviour is not simply a matter of choice but instead is shaped by society
Sociology sees personal choice in ______. An example of this would be _____ theory on suicide
social context
Emile Durkeim
People are less likely to commit suicide if_____
they were married or belonged to a religious faith that promotes a strong sense of community (ex. Jewish)
Describe two ways we can see the world through the sociological perspective
- living on the margins of society: people who differ from the social majority are more aware of social patterns
- Living through a crisis such as the great depression causes people to start thinking of personal struggles and successes as a result of larger social trends
The Global Perspective states: 1. 2. 3. 4.
- Where we live shapes the lives we lead
- societies throughout the world are increasingly interconnected
- many problems that we face in Canada are more serious elsewhere
- Thinking globally helps us learn more about of selves
How does sociology play an important role in our own personal growth?
- Assess common sense
- opportunities and constraints (school with lots or little clubs or sports)
- empowerment
- helps us live in diversity (New Canadian’s go to the GTA because their is a community there that will support them)
How has the new industrial economy change society?
Pushed people away from living the land causing a more individualistic approach
How has political changes affected society?
There has been a shift in focus from moral obligation to the pursuit of self interest
Auguste Comte used sociology to study
modern social reality scientifically
Comte saw sociology as the product of a three stage development
- theological
- Metaphysical
- Scientific
Positivism is described as
a way of understanding based on science
society operates according to its own laws much like the physical world
Harold A. Innis was responsible for
economic development
Marshall McLuhan was responsible for
influence of electronic media
John Porter was responsible for
inequality and ethnic relations in the vertical mosaic
A theory is a
statement of how and why facts are related
Theories are used to
explain social behaviour in the real world
The structural Function approach can be described as
seeing society as a complex system whose parts work together to promote solidarity and stability
A social structure is
Any relatively stable pattern of social behaviour
Social Functions are
the consequences of any social pattern for the operation of society as a whole
Structural Functionalist approach looks at society at the
macrolevel
Critics would say the structural functional approach ignores
inequalities causing tension and conflict
The social conflict theory states
society is an arena of inequality that generates conflict and social change
Society is structured in ways that benefit a few at the expense of the majority
Some factors of the social conflict theory are
race, sex, class,
Karl Marx believed in
the social conflict approach
Emile Durkheim was
a structural functionalist
What approach is considered politically conservative
Structural Functionalist
the idea that football players are not getting the profit they generate is a _____ approach
social conflict
Critics would say social conflict ignores
how shared values and mutual interdependency unify society
Feminism and gender CONFLICT approach focuses on the
inequality and conflict between women and men
The race CONFLICT approach is
a point of view that focuses on inequality and conflict between people of different racial and ethnic categories
W.E.B Du Bois believed in
the race conflict approach
The social conflict approach looks at society at the
macrolevel
The symbolic interaction approach looks at society
as the product of everyday interactions between individuals
society is nothing more than the shared reality that people construct
symbolic interactionalists see society as a
complex ever changing mosaic of subjective meaning meaning how you experience something could be different than how somebody else experiences it
symbolic interaction approach looks at society at the
microlevel
Max Weber was a
symbolic interactionalist
critics would say symbolic interaction approach ignores
larger social structures such as effects of culture and gender
The postmodern approach states
human sciences cannot be scientific because of human subjectivity
The postmodern approach observes with a goal of
understanding rather than date collection
Scientific sociology is based on
systematic observation of social behaviour on the basis of empirical evidence
Scientific Soc:
a Concept is:
a mental construct that represents some part of the world in a simplified form
Scientific Soc:
Variable :
a concept whose values change from case to case
Scientific Soc:
Measurement:
A procedure for determining the value of a variable in a specific case
Scientific Soc:
Operationalizing a Variable:
specifying what one intends to measure in assigning a value to a variable
Scientific Soc:
Reliability:
Consistency in measurement
Scientific Soc:
Validity:
actually measuring exactly what one intends to measure
Scientific Soc:
Cause and Effect:
A relationship in which change in one variable causes change in another
Scientific Soc:
Independent Variable:
The variable that causes the change
Scientific Soc:
Dependent Variable:
The variable that changes
Scientific Soc:
Correlation:
a relationship in which two or more variables change together
Scientific Soc:
Spurious correlation:
an apparent but false relationship between two or more variables caused by some other variable
Scientific Soc:
Replication:
repetition by other researchers can help science be self correcting
Two Limitations of Scientific Sociology:
- Human Behaviour is too complex to accurately predict individual behaviour
- the mere presence of a researcher might affect the behaviour being studied
Interpretive Sociology:
The study of society that focuses on the meanings people attach to their social world
Interpretive Sociology relies on ______ data
qualitative
Critical Sociology:
focuses on inequality and the need for change
scientific sociology corresponds with ____
structural functional approach
Interpretive Sociology corresponds with _____
symbolic interaction approach
Critical Sociology corresponds with
social conflict approach
Gender and research:
Androcentricity:
approaching the topic from a male only perspective
Gender and research:
Gynocenricity:
Approaching the topic from a female only perspective
Gender and research:
Overgeneralizing:
Using data collected from one sex and applying the findings to both male and females
Gender and research:
Gender Blindness:
The failure to consider the impact of gender at all
Gender and research:
Double Standards:
using different standards to judge males and females
Gender and research:
Interference:
a subject under study reacts to the sex of the researcher
ex. Prof talking to a room full of middle aged men during her undergrad about erections and sex
Feminist Researchers Claim:
- Research should focus on women
2. research should be grounded in women’s experience of subordination (women studying women)
Florence Nightingale was a
feminist methodologist
Informed Consent states
subjects are aware of risks and responsibilities of an experiment
Research ethics must:
- disclose all sources of funding
2. must demonstrate cultural sensitivity
Name 4 methods of sociological Research:
- experiments
- surveys
- participant observation
- use of existing data
A Hypothesis is a
unverified statement of a relationship between variables
Name the 4 steps to Testing a hypothesis:
- Identify independent and dependent variables
- measure dependent variable
- expose dependent variable to independent
- Measure dependent variable to determine if predicted change occurred
Experimental group:
The group exposed to the independent variable
Control Group:
The group that does not receive the treatment
Hawthorne Effect:
a change in behaviour caused by the awareness of being studied
Population:
The focus of the research
Sample:
A part of the population that represents the whole
Random Sampling:
Every person has an equal chance at being in the sample
Questionnaire:
a series of written or read questions
can be closed or open ended
participant observation:
Researchers systematically observe people while joining them in their routine
Secondary and Historical Analysis:
Reanalyzing data collected by others
ex. census
Content Analysis:
Counting content of materials
Inductive Logical Thought:
Reasoning that transforms specific observations into general theory
Deductive Logical Thought:
Reasoning that transforms general theory into specific hypotheses suitable for testing
Culture can be described as:
The ways of thinking, acting and the material objects that together shape a person’s way of life
Nonmaterial Culture:
The ideas created by the members of a society
Material Culture:
The physical things created by members of a society
Culture shock can be described as ______ and can be caused by ________
Personal disorientation when experiencing an unfamiliar way of life
immigration, travel etc.
Nation:
Political entity and the people
State:
Political entity in a territory with borders
Society:
People who interact in a defined territory
Symbols:
anything that carries a particular meaning recognized by people who share a culture
Language:
A system of symbols that allows people to communicate with one another
Language:
Cultural Transmission:
The process by which one generation passes culture to the next
Language:
Sapir-Whorf Thesis:
People perceive the world through the cultural lens of language
Values:
Culturally defined standards of desirability, goodness and beauty which serve as broad guidelines for social living
Beliefs:
Specific statements that people hold to be true
Norms:
Rules and expectations by which society guides its member’s behaviour
Proscriptive Norms:
Should nots
Prescriptive Norms:
Should
Mores (More-rays):
Difference between right and wrong
Folkways:
Norms for routine and causal interaction
social control:
Attempts by others to regular people’s thoughts and behaviour
2 types of social control:
- Shame: The painful sense that others disapprove of our actions
- Guilt: a negative judgement we make about ourselves
Ideal Culture:
social patterns mandated by values and norms
real culture:
Social patterns that occur in everyday life
Technology:
Knowledge that people use to make a way of life in their surroundings
New Information Technology:
Post industrial society use computers etc to generate new cultural ideas, images and products
Why is Canada the world’s most multicultural country?
Heavy Immigration that has taken place over the last two centuries
Before 1961, about 90% of immigrants came from _____
Europe
since 1961, most immigrants come from
Asia and the middle east
High Culture:
Cultural patterns that distinguish a society’s elite
Popular Culture:
Cultural patterns that are widespread among society’s population
Subculture:
Cultural patterns that set apart some segment of society’s population
Counterculture:
Cultural patterns that strongly oppose those widely accepted within a society
Multiculturalism:
Social policy designed to encourage ethnic or cultural diversity
Eurocentrism:
The dominance of European cultural patterns
Cultural Integration:
The close relationship among various elements of a cultural system
cultural lag:
Some elements change more quickly than others
3 causes of cultural change:
- Invention: creating new cultural elements
- Discovery: Recognizing and better understanding something already in existence
- Diffusion: the spread of cultural traits from one society to another
Ethnocentrism:
The practice of judging another culture by the standards of one’s own culture
Cultural relativism:
The practice of judging a culture by its own standards
The Structural Functionalist approach of Culture:
Culture is a complex strategy for meeting human needs
Cultural Universals:
Traits that are part of every culture
Social Conflict Approach of Culture:
Cultural traits benefit some members at the expense of others
Sociobiology:
explores ways in which human biology affects how we create culture
Culture as a Constraint:
We only know our world in terms of our own culture
Culture as freedom:
Culture is changing and offers a variety of opportunities
Gehard and Jean Lenski:
Society and Technology
Karl Marx:
Society in conflict
Max Weber:
The power of ideas shapes society
Emile Durkheim
How traditional and modern societies hang together
Sociocultural evolution:
The changes that occur as a society gains new technology
Hunter and Gatherers:
Use of simple tools to hunt animals and gather vegetation
Horticulture:
Use of hand tools to raise crops
Pastoralism:
The domestication of animals
Agriculture:
Large scale cultivation using lows attached to animals or more powerful energy sources
Industrialism:
Production of goods using advanced sources of energy to drive large machinery
Post Industrialism:
Technology that supports and info based economy
Three Limits of Technology:
- Poverty: Not everyone has access
- Individual opportunities at the cost of the community
- the physical environment is threatened by the pursuit of material prosperity
Karl Marx Society and Conflict:
Social Conflict:
The struggle between segments of society over valued resources
Karl Marx Society and Conflict: Industrialized societies
Capitalists:
Own factories and productive enterprises in pursuit of profit
Karl Marx Society and Conflict: Industrialized societies
Proletarians:
Provide labour for wages
Social Institutions:
Major spheres of social life organized to meet the basic human needs
What social institution determines all other social institutions?
Economic subsystem
The _____ dominates all major institutions and defines society
economy
Family, politics and religion creates ______ and false consciousness which can be described as ________
ideology
explanations of social problems in individual short comings, not societies flaws
Class Conflict:
antagonism between entire classes over the distribution of wealth and power in society
Class Consciousness:
The recognition by workers of their unity in opposition to capitalists & to capitalism itself
*** People tend to stick to their own class
Alienation:
The experience of isolation and misery resulting from powerlessness
ex. if you don’t do your job, someone else will
Socialism:
a system of production that could provide for the social needs of all
Max Weber: Rationalization of society
The historical change from tradition to rationality as the main type of human thought
Tradition:
Values and beliefs passed from generation to generation
Rationality:
a way of thinking that emphasizes efficiency through calculation
Rationalization of a society:
The historical change from tradition to rationality as the main mode of thought
Emile Durkheim: Society and Function
Structure:
There are social facts that have objective reality beyond individuals
Emile Durkheim: Society and Function
Functions:
Helps society operate
Emile Durkheim: Society and Function
Personality:
We internalize social facts
Emile Durkheim: Society and Function
Anomie:
When society provides little moral guidance to individuals
Mechanical Solidarity:
Social bonds based on shared moral beliefs
Organic Solidarity:
Social Bonds based on specialization and interdependence
Division of Labour:
Specialized economic activity
What holds societies together:
Lenski:
A shared culture and patterns that vary by technology
What holds societies together:
Karl Marx:
True unity comes from cooperative production
What holds societies together:
Max Weber:
Rational, large scale organizations connect lives
What holds societies together:
Emile Durkheim:
Specialized divisions of labour causes organic solidarity
How have societies changed:
Lenski:
Changing technology
How have societies changed:
Marx:
Social Conflict is now open
How have societies changed:
Weber:
From traditional to rational thought
How have societies changed:
Durkheim:
From mechanical solidarity to organic solidarity
Why Do Societies Change:
Lenski
Technological innovation transforms society
Why Do Societies Change:
Marx:
Struggle between social classes is the engine of change
Why Do Societies Change:
Weber:
Ideas contribute to change
Why Do Societies Change:
Durkheim:
Expanding division of labour causes change
Socialization:
The lifelong social experience by which individuals develop their human potential and learn culture
Personality:
a person’s fairly consistent patterns of thinking, feeling and acting
The role of Nature:
Linking cultural differences to biology
The role of Nurture:
Behaviour is leaned not instinctive
Freud believed
the ID and superego are in constant states of conflict with the ego balancing the two
Cognition:
How people think and understand
Jean Piaget’s stages of Development:
- Sensorimotor stage
Sensory contact and understanding
Jean Piaget’s stages of Development:
- Pre-operational Stage
Use of language and other symbols
Jean Piaget’s stages of Development:
- Concrete Operational Stage:
Perception of casual connections in surroundings
Jean Piaget’s stages of Development:
- Formal Operational Stage:
Abstract and critical thinking
Lawrence Kholberg:
Moral Reasoning:
The ways in which individuals judge situations as right or wrong
Lawrence Kholberg:
- Pre-conventional
young children experience the world as pain or pleasure
Lawrence Kholberg:
- Conventional:
teens lose selfishness as they learn to define right and wrong terms of what pleases parents and conforms to cultural norms
Lawrence Kholberg:
- Post-conventional
Final stage, considers abstract, ethical principles
Carol Gilligan’s Theory of Gender and Moral Development:
boys develop a _____
justice perspective
Carol Gilligan’s Theory of Gender and Moral Development:
girls develop a ______
responsibility perspective
George Herbert Mead’s theory of the social self:
self:
the part of an individuals personality composed of self awareness and self image
- Our self image is based on how we think other’s see us
Development of self:
Imitation:
Infants mimic behaviour without understanding intentions
Development of self:
Play:
Taking the roles of significant others
Development of self:
Games:
Taking the roles of several others at once and following rules
Development of self:
Generalized other:
Widespread cultural norms and values we use as reference in evaluating ourselves
Erik Eriksons 8 Stages of Development:
- infancy: trust (vs. Mistrust)
- Toddlerhood: autonomy (doubt and shame)
- Preschool: Initiative (vs. guilt)
- Preadolescence: industriouness (vs. inferority)
- Adolescence: gaining identity (vs. confusion)
- Young Adult: Intimacy (vs. Isolation)
- Middle Adulthood: Making a difference (vs. self absorption)
- Old age: Integrity (vs. Despair)
Agents of socializations 1. 2. 3. 4.
- the family
- the school
- the peer groups
- the mass media
What is the most important socialization agent?
The family
Describe the authoritarian parenting style
- strict
- children are not consulted
- children never make a choice
- lack self efficacy
Describe the Authoritative parenting style:
- considered to be the best parenting style
- kids are involved in decision making
- kids learn be resilient
Describe the Permissive parenting style:
- parents want to be friends with kids
- child runs relationship
- children are not challenged
- results in bratty ass children
Describe the Neglectful parenting style:
- parent doesn’t generally like kid
- doesn’t want them around
- puts up with kids
In the school, children experience _____, _______, ______, and _______
diversity, gender socialization, hidden lessons, and schedules
The peer group can be described as
a social group whose members have interests, social position and age in common
Anticipatory socialization:
Learning that helps achieve a desired position
Mass Media can be described as
impersonal communications aimed at a wide audience
Cohort:
a category of people with a common characteristic
Total Institutions:
a setting in which people are isolated from the rest of society and manipulated by an administrative staff
Resocialization:
Radically changing someone’s personality by carefully controlling the environment
The film “anybody’s son will do” is an example of a
total institution
