Midterm Flashcards
1.1: What is sociology?
The systematic study of human society
1.1: What is the sociological perspective?
a special point of view of sociology that identifies general patterns of society in particular people’s lives.
Being an outsider or experiencing a social crisis encourages the sociological perspective!!
AKA: “seeing the general in the particular”
1.1: What does the sociological perspective tell us about the selection of a partner?
that social factors such as age, race, sex, and class guide our selection of a partner
1.1: Who is C. Wright Mills?
He coined the “sociological imagination,” which transforms personal troubles into public issues.
1.1: What is global perspective?
the study of the larger world and our place in it.
1.1 Which 3 types of change were important to the development of sociology?
- New industrial economy
- Growth of cities
- Political change
1.1 Who coined the term sociology?
Auguste Comte
1.1: What were Comte’s 3 stages of society?
- Theological Stage (church & middle ages)
- Metaphysical Stage (the enlightenment)
- Scientific Stage (modern physics/chem/sociology)
1.1: What was Comte’s approach?
POSITIVISM = the scientific approach based on “positive” facts
1.1: What are some reasons why global awareness is an important part of the sociological perspective?
- Where we live shapes the lives we lead.
- Societies throughout the world are increasingly interconnected.
- What happens in the rest of the world affects life here in Canada.
- Many social problems that we face in Canada are far more serious elsewhere.
- Thinking globally helps us learn more about ourselves.
1.2: What are 3 benefits of the sociological perspective?
- It’s used by government agencies when developing laws and regulations that guide how people in communities live and work.
- Helps us understand the barriers and opportunities in our lives.
- Is an advantage in many fields of work that involve working with people
1.3: What’s a theoretical approach?
A general basic image of society that guides thinking and research
- sociologists make use of 3 of them (structural functional, social-conflict, and symbolic-interaction)
1.3: What is the structural-functional approach?
MACRO LEVEL!
a framework for building a theory that sees society as a COMPLEX SYSTEM that WORKS TOGETHER to promote SOLIDARITY AND STABILITY.
1.3: Who is Robert Merton?
he distinguished between latent and manifest functions!
1.3: What are manifest functions?
The recognized and intended consequence/outcome of a social pattern
(ex. cars manifest function is to get people from point A to point B)
1.3: What is a latent function?
The unrecognized and unintended consequence/outcome of a social pattern
(ex. cars latent function is car accidents aka death)
1.3: What are social patterns?
patterns that tie people together/keep society going
(ex. handshake, thumbs up)
1.3: What are social dysfunctions?
any social pattern that may disrupt the opperation of society
1.3: Who helped develop the social-functional approach?
- Auguste Comte
- Emile Durkheim
- Herbert Spencer
1.3: What is the social-conflict approach?
MACRO LEVEL!
a framework for building theory that sees society as an ARENA OF INEQUALITY that generates conflict and change
Sociologists use this approach to look at dominant & disadvantaged categories of people (ex. rich to poor, white to ppoc)
1.3: What are the 2 types of conflict theories from the social-conflict approach?
- Gender-conflict theory (also called feminist theory): inequality and conflict between men and women
- Race-conflict theory: inequality between people of different racial/ethnic categories
1.3: Who helped develop the social-conflict approach?
Karl Marx
1.3: What is the symbolic-interaction approach?
MICRO LEVEL!
framework for building theory that sees society as the product of the EVERYDAY INTERACTIONS of the individuals
1.3: Who helped develop the symbolic-interaction approach?
Max Weber and George Mead
1.3: What is the difference between macro level and micro level orientation?
Macro level is a broad focus on social structures (ex. how housing differs from rich to poor neighbourhoods)
Whereas Micro level is a close-up focus on social interaction in specific situations (ex. how rich people treat homeless people outside their building)
1.4: What are the 3 ways sociologists do research?
- Positivist Sociology
- Critical Sociology
- Interpretive Sociology
1.4: What is positivist sociology?
the study of society based on SCIENTIFIC observation of social behaviour:
- tries to establish cause and effect
- demands that researchers try to be objective
- is loosely linked to structural-functional theory
1.4: What is empirical evidence?
info we can verify through our SENSES
What is a concept?
a mental construct that represents some part of the world in simplified form
(used to label parts of social life –> ex. the family)
How do sociologists use stats?
They use DESCRIPTIVE stats to state the average for a given population
(mean, median, mode)
What is correlation cause & effect?
a relationship in which change in one variable causes change in another.
Reliability vs. Validity
Reliability: consistency in measurement (same results every time)
Validity: if it measures what was actually intended
What is a spurious correlation?
an apparent, BUT FALSE, relationship between 2+ variables that is caused by some other variable.
What 3 things need to be made sure to have a cause and effect relationship?
- variables are correlated
- the independent variable occurs before the dependent variable
- there is no possible 3rd variable (spurious correlation)
What is objectivity?
personal NEUTRALITY in conducting research (allows facts to speak for themselves without ones values/bias)
*Max Weber noted that people typically chose value-relevant research topics (aka. topics they care about), yet once work begins they must be value-free and openminded to what comes from the research.
What is interpretive sociology?
the study of society that focuses on discovering the MEANINGS PEOPLE ATTACH to their SOCIAL WORLD.
linked to the symbolic-interaction theory
Who is the pioneer of interpretive sociology?
Max Weber
He claimed that Verstehen was the key to interpretive sociology (learning how people understand their world)
Verstehen = understanding (in german)
How does interpretive sociology differ from positivist sociology?
- Favours qualitative data (Positivist sociologists value quantitative data)
- Focuses on people’s understanding of their actions (positivest sociology focuses on the actions alone)
- Claims we learn more interacting with people and by trying to make sense of people’s everyday lives (positivists do research in labs, experiments, standing back, carefully measuring)
What is critical sociology?
the study of society that focuses on a need for SOCIAL CHANGE
*rejects the idea that society exits as a “natural” system and that society has always been “fixed” supporting the status quo.
What do critical sociologists argue as politics?
THAT ALL RESEARCH IS POLITICAL
What approach is positivist sociology linked to?
Structural functional approach
(both concerned with the scientific goal of understanding society)
What approach is interpretive sociology linked to?
Symbolic-Interaction Approach
(both focus on the meanings ppl attach with the world)
What approach is critical sociology linked to?
Social-conflict approach
(both focus on the goal of reducing social inequality)
Who identifies 5 ways gender can shape research?
Magrit Eichler
What are the 5 ways in which gender can effect research?
- Androcentricy
(approaching issues from a male perspective) - Overgeneralizing
- Gender Blindness
- Double Standards
- Interference
(when the subject reacts to the sex of the research –> sees a woman rather than a researcher)
Sociologists must ensure that subjects in a research project are….
NOT HARMED!
and include int heir published results all sources of financial support.
What are some basic research ethics sociologists must follow? (name 3 main ones)
- disclose all research data without omitting anything specific
- make sure their results are available to other sociologists
- never accept funding from any organization that seeks to influence the results
What are the 4 most common research methods?
- Experiments
- Surveys
- Participant observation
- The use of existing data
What is survey research?
uses questionnaires or interviews to gather subjects’ responses to a series of questions
What are hidden populations?
individuals that cannot be reached easily:
- no list of known members
- acknowledgement of belonging to the group is threatening
- members are distrustful to nonmembers (ex. sex workers)
Longitudinal research design
collecting data from the same people over a long period of time
What is respondent-driven sampling?
a method of recruiting participants!
—> where a small # of participants act as “seeds” with recruitment coupons to give to people who may be interested. The seeds are paid for each person they recruit
What is participant observation?
a research method in which investigators systematically observe people while joining them in the routine activities.
it is INTERPRETIVE sociology that produces mostly qualitative data
(William Foote example –> did 4 years of participant observation in Boston in Cornerville)
What is the definition of a stereotype?
a simplified description applied to every person in the same category
What are the 4 sociological “lenses”?
- conflict theory
- feminist theory
- symbolic interaction
- functionalism
What does social structure refer to?
social patterns that guide our behaviour in everyday life. The building blocks of social structure are status and role
What did George Simmel point out about sociology?
(he’s one founder of sociology)
pointed out that before we deal with anyone, we need to know who the person is (aka social status)
What is a status set?
all the statuses a person holds at a given time
ex. daughter, student, sister, and waitress (all at the same time)
Ascribed status vs achieved status?
Ascribed: a social position a person has at birth or takes on involuntary later in life (ex. widow, being white, being a daughter, being Canadian)
VS.
Achieved: a social position one takes voluntarily that reflects their ability/effort (ex. being on honour roll, doctor, teacher, etc.)
What is a master status?
a social status that has particular importance in ones life (ex. serious illnesses, being a woman, having a famous last name)
*master status take over ones life
What is a role?
a behaviour that is expected and influences of someone who holds a specific status
What is a role set?
the number of roles attached to a single status (ex. as a student, I attend classes, study, participate in student social events, etc.)
What is a role conflict?
conflict among the roles connected to 2+ statuses (ex. putting off having children in order to stay on the “fast track” for career success)
What is role strain?
tension among the roles connected to a single status (ex. having a hard time leaving work in the workplace when at home)
What is the social construction of reality?
the process by which people creatively shape reality through social interaction
What did Thomas Theorem claim?
that situations defined as real are real in their consequences
What is Ethnomethodology and who came up with it?
Harold Garfinkel
term for the study of the way people make sense of their everyday souroundings
What is a primary group?
a group who’s members share personal and lasting relationships that view each other as special and irreplaceable (commonly FAMILY)