Pre midterm 1 Flashcards
Who is the audience of sociology
(edit this into more cards)
- Professional Sociology: highly specific, aim
of applying it to a particular problem or
intellectual question (e.g. in criminology,
demography)
2.Critical Sociology: considered to be the
‘conscience of professional sociology’ –
pointed questions; bring about social change
3.Policy Sociology: generates sociological data
to be used in the development of social
policy for governments or corporations
4.Public Sociology: make sociology accessible
to the public (address an audience outside of
the discipline; clear writing
Key distinctions of CDN Sociology
1.French/English relations
2. Development of the CDN west
3. Class-Ethnicity
4. Sociology-anthropology
What is research methodology
A system of methods a researcher uses to gather data on a particular question
What did Auguste Comte think about researchers
They weren’t biased
Who challenged the notion of the objective outsider perspective and implemented the relationship between the two perspectives
Dorothy Smith and Michel Foucault
What is the insider voice
The insider voice of the subject being studied provides
information that comes from their subjective experience
What is the outsider perspective
The objective outsider “experts” use their privilege to decide
over the authenticity of the insider perspective, this is where vital information gets lost
Ethnography
Descibes and explains the behaviour, values, beliefs, and practices of participants in a given cultural setting
Groups studied through
Fieldwork (naturalism)
How did Mitchell Dunier use ethnology
Became apart of the group of black men living on the street
How did Loic Wacquant use ethnography
By becoming a boxer and viewing the environment surrounding it
What is instituational Ethnography
The social relations that structure peoples everyday lives
every institution has two sides, each associated with a different kind of data:
Ruling interest and experiental data
Ruling interests are the interests of the
organization, particularly its administration,
and/or the interests of those who hold
power in society. Written rules and
practices (texts) provide the data, and Experiential data come from informants: anyone who works for the organization,
outside of management
What is a case study
Research design that takes as its subject a single case or a few selected examples of a social entity
Avery Cockwell
What case study did Hilary Levey Friedman preform and what did she find
Studied child beauty pageants and found that mothers though the pageants would believe that this will ensure that they will be successful later in life
What is narrative research
listens to peoples stories and conclusions were found
What is content analysis
studying a set of cultural artifacts, (e.g. newspaper
articles, adverts, events, texts, tweets) by systematically counting them and then interpreting the themes they reflect.
What is discourse analyis
A way we explore and analyze conversation, written, and cultural/politcal events
What are the two types of discourse analysis
- Analyzing discourse as the term is commonly
understood (i.e. as a conversation, a speech, or
a written text)
2.Considers a broader definition of
“text,” going beyond individual works
and authors to include larger fields
What is Geneology
discourse analysis that traces the
origin and history of contemporary discourses
e.g. Development, Sexuality, Mental health
What is discourse analysis
conceptual framework with its own internal logic and underlying assumptions that are generally recognizable
A dominant discourse of gender often positions women as gentle and men as active heroes
Content analyis
Counting and analyzing data
Quantatitative research
Social elements that can be counted or measured
Qualitative research
Characteristics that cannot be counted or measured
But, can find patterns in governing systems
Sociological understanding of crime
How the various factors within a society are affecting crime
ex. broken families, poverty, gang involvement, etc
Statistics in sociology
A science that involves the use of numbers to map social behaviour and beliefs
What is a varibale
a concept with measurable traits or characteristics that can vary or change from one person, group, culture, or time to another
What does sociology research seek to find out
Whether different aspects affect eachother
What is positive correlation
Occurs when the independent and the dependent variables increase pr decrease with eachother
What is inverse correlations
Occurs when the two cariables change in opposing directions
What is spurious reasoning
You see a correlation, and falsely assume causation assuming the correlation between two variables cause one aspect is true
What is a spurious variable
a third outside
factor (confounding variable) influences
both correlating variables
add example
Questions to ask about statistics
- Who produces the numberrs
- What are the sources
- How was the number produced
- Whos intrests does the number serve
- What is the operational definition involved
Formal principles of research ethics
- Voluntary participation
- Informed consent
- Anonymity and Confidentiality
- No unnecessary harm to participants
What was Laud Humphreys experiment
The tearoom trade: Ethnographic study of anonymous male-male sexual encounters in public toilets. Conclusion:
What are beliefs
Convictions we generally hold to be true often from religion
What are values
Standars used by a culture to describe abstract qualities (ex. goodness) to assess behaviour
What is ideal culture
Values that we claim about
how we think we should act (attitudes)
What is real culture
how we actually act (behaviour)
Theoretical perspectives on culture
View notes
Culutural universals
Common cultural features found in all societies
E.g. Age grading, division of labour, property
rights, kinship groups, taboos, status differences
Cultural adaptation
process by which
environmental pressures are addressed through
changes in practices, traditions, behaviours
e.g. drinking and driving, arranged marriage
How would the conflict perspective view culture
That society is based on tension and conflict over scarce resources
What are minority cultures
The cultures that fall outside what is typical
What are the subcultures of minority cultures
- Subculutures
- Countercultures
What is subculture
A culture that share distinctive set of culturual beliefs however slightly differ from the “dominant culture”
What is counterculture
The opposition or rejection of the typical (dominant) culture
ex. biker gangs
What is high culture
Elitism (highbrow)
ex. shakespeare
What is cultural capital and who developed the idea
Set of skilled and knowledge needed to develop sophisticated tastes (Pierre Bourdeau)
What is mass culture
The things we consume that are created by those in power
What does mass culture assume
That you have no choice but to partake
What did Joe Rogans spread of covid missinfromation impact his contract
It was not affected due to power culture
What is a Simulacra
Image or representation of something of something instead of what is real
ex. GPS in office clip
Without critical thinking consequences are faced
What is a good tool for examining capitalism and consumerism
Simulacra
What is decipherment
To search and decode the text with what the goal of the industry was
(mass culture approach)
What is reading and what approach is it
the process in which people treat what the industry provides as a resource
(popular culture approach)
What are social norms
normalities that re epected in groups,societies, or cultures
What are the two types of social norms
Formal or informal
What are sanctions
Rewards or punishment for behaviour
least serious norms get least serious punishment and vice versa
What ideas did William Graham Sumner present
- Folkways: Informal norms that govern behaviour (etiquette)
- Mores: formalized norms (ex. cheating)
- Taboo: normas that are deeply ingrained to the point where they revolt (child porn)
What do sociologists try to identify
- Interesting or important behaviour
- Specific social forces
- The larger institutional, political, or other change
Why are sociologists trying to identify things
To help people understand what they are and what they can become in particular social and historical contexts
What did the civil rights movement do for black people
Improved lives – but for 1⁄4 living in poverty - lives worsened
Why did Brym find 1.5 million african men have gone missing
Excessive deaths: homicide, cars, drugs, AIDS
What did manufacturers leaving in 1970 do
Unemployment, migration of middle class blacks, decline
in public services, government cuts / policies thus resulting in drugs and crime
What did shocking social conditions do to the black community
Shoking musical form
What is subculture revolt
glorified inner city, contempt for institutions (police, media), offend the middle class
What did rebellion cause in the hiphop community
Mass consumption
(chains, cash, and cars)
What were the three means of attaining/maintaining credibility in hiphop
1.Embrace the white, suburban, culturally and politically mainstream, middle-class audience
2.Return to the ‘hood’: Self-characterize as street tough
3.Stage gun battles for public consumption
*Lil’ Kim (2001) – Reality show; Plies (2006) – Big contract
What were the 3 failed promises of hiphop
- Hip Hop will provide black men with a sense of identity
2.Upward mobility (movement upwards in a inequal society)
3.Power (shape a collective)
upward mobility instead worked against the kids because it gave them false hope
What was the dominant identity from Hip Hop
Proud, arrogant, violent, criminals, misogynistic
What was Black Hypermasculinity a effect of
Due to racism, poor educ, no social services, drugs, gangs
What is gangster rap
A simulacrum
Where were the negative effects of Hip Hop especially prevelant considering violence
- male youth lacking strong family ties
- Where economic and social inequality are high
- Where weapons are readily available
What is hypermasculinity
Exaggeration of male stereotypical behaviour; Emphasis on physical strength, aggression, and sexuality
What do men typically rap about
Violence, women, being strong or vulnerable
Components of surviving on the streets
Verbal ability
Ability to negotiate violence
What became the outlet of rage for young black men
guns
What was the negative evolution of hiphop a result of
Systematic violence from the government
Why are rappers rapping about guns, violence, and rape
Because its successful
Whos created the image of hiphop
The media and the corporations
What did BET do to black men
Commodify them and present a certain image about black people
What trap do men and women fall into in society
conforming to social norms
(media encourages)
What is ethnocentrism
Holding up one culture as being the standard by which all cultures are to be judged
What is cultural relativism
Approach to studying and understanding an aspect of another culture within the proper context
What is socialization
a learning process that involves
development or changes in the individual’s sense of self
Primary vs secondary socialization
primary: childhood
secondary: post childhood
What is Habitus and who formulated it
(Pierre Bourdieu) Our often unconscious bodily knowledges and dispositions/habits
What is internalization and who pioneered it
Taking social norms, roles, and values into one’s mind (Talcott Parsons)
