Midterm 1 Glossary Flashcards
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Altruistic Suicide
occurs in setting that exhibits high levels of social solidarity, according to Durkheim. It results from norms very tightly governing behaviour.
Anomic Suicide
occurs in setting that exhibits low levels of social solidarity, according to Durkheim. It results from vaguely defined norms governing behaviour.
Conflict Theory
generally focuses on large macrolevel structures, such as the relations between or among classes. It shows how major patterns of circumstances and social change in others. It stresses how members of privileged groups try to maintain their advantages while subordinate groups struggle to increase theirs. It typically leads to the suggestion that eliminating privilege will lower the level of conflict and increase human welfare.
Democratic Revolution
began around 1750. It suggested that people are responsible for organizing society and that human intervention can therefore solve social problems.
______________ are effects of social structures that create social instability.
Dysfunctional Consequences
Egoistic suicide
results from a lack of integration of the individual into society because of weak social ties to others.
Ethnomethodology
the study of how people make sense of what others do and say in therms of norms that exist independently of individual social actors.
Feminist theory
claims that patriarchy is at least important as class inequality in determining a person’s opportunities in life. It hold that male domination and female subordination are determined not by biological necessity but by structures of power and social convention. It examines the operation of patriarchy in both micro and macro settings. It contends that existing patterns of gender inequality can and should be changed for the benefit of all members of society.
Functionalist theory
stresses that human behaviour is governed by relatively stable social structures. It underlines how social structures maintain or undermine social stability. It emphasizes that social structures are based mainly on shared values or preferences. It suggests that reestablishing equilibrium can best solve most social problems.
Global structures
are patterns of social relations that lie outside and above the national level/ They include international organizations, patterns of worldwide travel and communication, and the economic relations between and among countries.
Globalization
is the process by which formerly separate economies, states, and cultures are becoming tied together and people are becoming increasingly aware of their growing interdependence.
Industrial Revolution
refers to the rapid economic transformation that began in Britain in the 1780s. It involved the large-scale application of science and technology to industrial processes, the creation of factories, and the formation of a working class.
Latent functions
are invisible and unintended effects of social structures
Macrostructures
are overarching patterns of social relations that lie outside and above our circle of intimates and acquaintances. They include classes, bureaucracies, and power systems, such as patriarchy.
Manifest functions
are visible and intended effects of social structures.
Microstructures
are the patterns of relatively intimate social relations formed during face-to-face interaction. Eg) families, friendship circles, and work associations.
Patriarchy
is the traditional system of economic and political inequality between women and men.
Postindustrial Revolution
refers to the technology-driven shift from manufacturing to service industries and the consequences of that shift for virtually all human activities.
Protestant Ethic
is the belief, originating in the 16-17th centuries, that religious doubts can be reduced, and a state of grace ensured, if people work diligently and live ascetically. According to Weber. the __________ __________ had the unintended effect of increasing savings and investment and thus stimulating capitalist growth.
Research
the process of systematically observing reality to assess the validity of a theory.
Scientific Revolution
began about 1550. It encouraged the view that sound conclusions about the workings of society must be based on solid evidence, not just on speculation.
Social Solidarity
refers to the degree to which group members share beliefs and values and the intensity and frequency of their interaction.
Social Structures
are relatively stable patterns of social relations.
Sociology
is the systematic study of human behaviour in social context.
Symbolic Interactionism
focuses on face-to-face communication or interaction in microlevel social settings. It emphasizes that an adequate explanation of social behaviour requires understanding the subjective meanings people attach to their social circumstance and do not merely react to them. By underscoring the subjective meanings people create in small social settings, symbolic interactionism validates unpopular and nonofficial viewpoints, thus increasing our understanding and tolerance of people who may be different from us.
Theory
is a tentative explanation of some aspect of social life that states how and why certain facts are related.
Values
are ideas about what is right and wrong.
Adult Socialization
process by which adults take on new statuses and acquire new and different social identities.
Ageism
refers to discriminatory practices based on age.
Agents of socialization
are the individuals, groups, and institutions that impart, and from which we acquire, the range of information required to interact effectively and participate in society.
Anticipatory socialization
involves beginning to take on the norms and behaviours of a role you aspire to but do not yet occupy.
Game Stage
in the _______ _______ of development, children have developed a generalized impression of the behaviour people expect as well as the awareness of their own importance to the group and vice-versa. This is the third and final developmental stage described by Mead.
Gender socialization
is the process by which individuals learn to become feminine and masculine according to expectations current in their society.
Generalized Other
is a conception of how people in general will respond in a situation. It is internalized.
Hidden Curriculum
consists of informal teaching that helps ensure students’ integration into society.
I
is the subjective or active part of the self, according to Mead.
Imitative stage
in the ________ ________ of development, children two years old and under do not interact effectively with others because they cannot take the role of the other. They merely imitate the behaviours of others. This is the first developmental stage described by Mead.
Instincts
are inborn patterns of behaviour that are often responses to specific stimuli.
Looking-glass Self
suggests that the gestures and reactions of others are a mirror in which we see ourselves.
Me
is the objective element of the self. according to Mead.
Peer group
comprises individuals who are usually of the same age and enjoy approximately equal status.
Play stage
in the _______ ________ of development, children begin to adopt the roles of significant others-a parent, a sports celebrity, a storybook hero-and their plays shifts from imitative to imaginative. This is the second developmental stage described by Mead.
Primary group
is a small group (especially the family) that is characterized by intimate, face-to-face association and cooperation.
Primary socialization
is the crucial learning process that occurs in childhood and makes us members of society.
Resocialization
is the deliberate attempt to correct or instill particular values and behaviours in an individual or group.
Secondary socialization
is learning that occurs after people have undergone primary socialization.
Self
a sense of individual identity, allows us to understand ourselves and differentiate ourselves from others.
Significant others
are people, such as parent, who are of central importance in the development of the self.
Socialization
is the social process whereby people undergo development by interacting with the people around them.
Status
refers to the culturally and socially defined position a person occupies in an interaction.
Taking the role of the other
involves anticipating in advance how others will see and react to you. It is an essential skill that children must develop to be effective members of society.
Total institutions
are settings in which people are isolated from the rest of society for a set period and in which all aspects of a person’s life are regulated under one authority.
Causal relationship
involves a relationship between two variables in which change or variation in one variable produces change or variation in a second variable. Four criteria are essential to establishing a causal relationship between two variables: association, time ordering, non spuriousness, and theoretical rationale.
Dependent variable
is a variable that is assumed to depend on or be cause by one or more other variables (independent variables); it is the variable that is the effect, or outcome, in a cause-effect relationship.
Ethnography
is the detailed description of a particular culture or way of life, or the written results of a participant-observation study.
Experiment
is a controlled test of the causal effects of a particular variable or set of variables on a dependent or outcome variable.
Explanation
is an account of the causal logic that shows how and why variables influence one another.
External validity
is the generalizability of a particular finding from the study group to a larger population; the relevance of conclusions for a larger population; or the ability to infer that the results of a study are representative or processes operating in a broader population.
Hawthorne effect
in the ________ _______, people involved in a study may be influenced by the very process of being studied; the study has an impact on the subjects of the study.
Hypothesis
is a knowledge claim or hunch about how the world works; it is a testable statement, derived from a theory, about the relationship between two variables.
Independent variable
is a variable that is presumed to affect or influence other variables; it is the causal variable.
Interview
is a method of collecting information by asking people questions, either in person or over the telephone. Interviews range from highly structured (preset questions in a fixed order) to loosely structured (topic guidelines, but no prescribed question wording).
Meaningful action
in _________ _______, human action, as distinct from physical behaviour, occurs with specific intentions or reasons in mind. The uncontrollable tic in a person’s eye is a physical behaviour, which differs from that of a person who is winking at someone, where intention or purpose is central to understanding what is happening. Most human activity is _______ ______, or social action.
Measurement
comprises procedures for assigning numbers to observations according to present rules; it is the act of finding data or information relevant to theoretical concepts.
Objectivity
is the attempt to minimize the effect of personal bias on research results or the idea of impartiality , of “fair hearing.” _________ researcher being open to the critical scrutiny of others. __________ as complete impartiality is a myth.
Participant observation
in _______ ________, the study of social life involves the participation of the researcher to varying degrees, in the activities of the group under investigation; it attempts to give an “insider’s” account of a particular way of life or cultural system.
Randomization
is a procedure used in experiments to assign test subjects to experimental conditions on the basis of chance.
Reliability
is the consistency of measurements and the ability to reproduce the same measurements on repeated occasions.
Sampling
is the process of selecting units from a larger population. Random ______ involves the selection of representative units (eg. people, organizations) from a population (eg. all Canadians, voluntary organizations in a city). _______s can be selected by probability (where every unit has a non-zero chance of selection) or non probability (where chance does not enter into the selection of ________ units).
Self-administered questionnaire
is a method of collecting information by having people record their own answers to preset questions.
Spurious relationships
involve an incorrect inference about the causal relations between variables.
Understanding
is the ability to provide a definition of a situation that members of a culture find authentic and valid.
Validity
is the relevance or accuracy of measurement in relation to the theoretical concept that it is supposed to measure.
Variable
is something that varies or an attribute or event that can take on more than one value (eg. unemployment rates, age, sex)
