Quiz 1 Flashcards
Who came up with the concept of sociological imagination?
C. Wright Mills
What is the sociological imagination?
Ability to break free from our particular circumstance and see our social world in a new, broader light (historical, cultural, social)
What is an example of sociological imagination?
the devil wears prada: how society/industry shaped the clothes we wear
What are troubles?
arise from individual shortcomings or bad luck
What are issues?
- occur because of broader environmental factors
- not controlled by individuals
- affect many people
What event caused the emergence of sociology?
the industrial revolution
- changed the way work is done in society
- changed social interaction: work, transportation, communication, growth of cities
Who first came up with the term sociology?
- Comte coined the term sociology
- Elaborated the positivist basis of sociology (“social physics”)
Who was one of the first feminist sociologists?
Harriet Martineau
Who was Karl Marx and what did his theories emphasize?
- Most influential scholar in history
- Emphasize on social science as advocacy/ activism for justice
What did Karl Marx believe shaped all other aspects of social life?
economic structures
What were two components of economic structures for Marx?
- Infrastructure: economic base (forces and relations of production)
- Superstructure: legal/political institutions and ways of thinking
(ideologies and philosophies)
What did marx beleive was an inherent aspect of society?
- Tension and conflict:
- Caused the creation of two classes
Decribe the events Marx predicts would transpire in a modern capitalist society.
- Means of production is improving constantly
- Relations of production is not changing
- Contradiction will lead to a revolutionary crisis
Who are three important sociological theorists?
- Karl Marx, Emile Durkheim, Max Weber
What did Durkheim think of sociology as?
- a science
- engaged in scientific social research
- proposed scientific methodology
What are social facts and who came up with this concept?
- Social facts—ideas,
feelings, ways of behaving
that exist outside of the
individual (Durkheim)
How did Durkheim view society?
An integrated whole where each part contributed to the proper functioning
What are two major concepts for Durkheim?
- Social solidarity: mechanical - pre-industrial, organic: industrial society
- Division of labor - becomes more specialized with indistrialization, pushes society towards organic solidarity
What is an example of organic social solidarity?
I, Pencil video
Who commits more suicide in the united states?
men
Who studied suicide?
Durkheim
What did Durkheim link suicide to?
linked suicide to level of social integration and regulation, 4 types of suicide
What are the four types of suicide?
egoistic, altruistic, anomic, fatalistic
What is egoistic suicide?
low social integration: not attached to society, no friends/family
What is altruistic suicide?
high social integration: extremely attached to society and society and person becomes one thing
What is anomic suicide?
low social regulation: difficult to understand what is appropriate and what is innapropriate, beginning of pandemic, soviet union dissolved
What is fatalistic suicide?
high social regulation: social norms very strong, seems like everything has been predetermined
How does Marx believe people are affected by capitalism?
Alienated by capitalism
What defined Max Weber’s beliefs?
- Felt that society was multidimensional: economic, political, cultural
- Developed the concept of verstehen (people give meaning to their actions)
What is an example of Weber’s thinking?
The protestant ethic and capitalism (mutually affecting each other)
What is verstehen?
- people give meaning to their actions
What does Max Weber believe power is?
Power is the ability of individuals or the members of a group to achieve aims or further the interests they hold despite resistance
What does Max Weber believe authority is?
Authority is the justifiable right to exercise power
What are the types of legitimate authority for weber?
Charismatic (personal appeal of a leader), traditional (based on a long established way of doing things) legal-rational authority (based on legal, impersonal rules that have been routinized and rationalized)
What did Weber believe defined modern society?
Weber believed that rational action within a system of legal-rational authority is at the heart of modern society
What is a bureaucracy?
an organization that uses the most efficient means to achieve a valued goal
What are the characteristics of a bureaucracy?
division of labor (specialization), hierarchy of authority, rules and regulations, roles not people, impersonality
What is a way to remember bureacracy?
faceless bureacrat
What are the common themes between each of the theorists?
History matters: Marx: historical materialism Durkheim: division of labor Weber; rationalization Industrial Revolution changed the ways in which people are connected to one another Marx: economic exploitation Durkheim: economic interdependence Weber: charisma loses out to formal authority
What is structural functionalism?
- Every system, behavior, group has a role in the functioning of society
- Emphasis on social order cohesion and stability
- Durkheim key theorist
What are limitations of structural functionalism?
- supports the status quo
- can explain how society devleoped just how it is
What are the two types of functions in structural functionalism?
- manifest functions: intended
- latent functions: unintended
What is conflict theory?
- Emphasizes the role of coercion and power in producing social order and social change
- Combination of sociological analysis and political reform
- Marx (class), DuBois (race)
What are the limitations of conflict theory?
overlooks general stability of society
What is social interactionism?
- emphasis on interactions between individuals
- social interaction is the place where society exists
- people act towards things base on the meanings those things have for them
- meanings arise through interactions between people
What is social constructionism?
- people have their own realities
- knowledge or practice that is normal and taken for granted can be understood as a result of the particular power relations pertaining in that historical and social context (blue and pink)
What are the core questions from a functionalist perspective?
How is society integrated? What are the parts and how do they work together?
What are the core questions from a conflict perspective?
How is society divided? What are the patterns of inequality? how do people maintain or change their position?
What are the core questions from a interactionist perspective?
How is society experienced? How do people interact to create, maintain, and change social patterns?
What are the core questions from a constructionist perspective?
How is society constructed?
What are the two types of theory development?
deductive and inductive
What is deductive theory development?
Theory -> observations (DTO)
What is inductive theory development?
Observations -> theory (IOT)
What are the 7 steps in a research process?
- Define the problem
- Literature review
- Identify key concepts
- Research design
- Conduct research
- Analyze the data
- Interpret/ Report results
What are 3 types of questions?
Value - what ought to be
Factual - what is/what happened
Sociological - why
What is concept and operationalization?
- Concept - mental construct that represents some part of the world in a simplified form
- Operationalization - turning abstract concepts into measurable observations , health behaviors, subjective well being
What is validity?
Does the variable measure what it is intended to measure?
What is reliability?
If you conduct the study again will you get the same results?
What is a hypothesis?
a proposed relationship between two variables, an unverified statement of a relationship between variables
What are the two types of hypotheses?
Null and. alternative
What is an independent variable?
What we are changing
What is a dependent variable?
what is being measured
What are the levels of analysis?
micro - individual, document
meso - school, hospital
macro - state, nation
What are the two types of research methods?
Quantitative and qualitative
What are 6 major research methods?
Observation, interviews, surveys, experiments, content analysis, historical methods/comparative research
What are the two types of observation research?
participant/non-participant
What are the two types of interviews?
structured/unstructured
What is the Hawthorne Effect?
people change their behavior when they are being observed
What are two ways results may be interpreted?
demonstrate causation and correlation
What is correlation?
the relationship by which two or more variables change together
What is causation?
An independent or causal variable precedes the dependent variable in time (time order)
