Social Structure & Demographics

Question 1

Social structure

Answer 1

System I people within a society organized by a characteristic pattern of relationships.

Question 2

Functionalism

Answer 2

Study of the structure and function of each part of society. Views society as a living organism, every part and system must work together in harmony.

Question 3

Manifest function

Answer 3

An actual ion that is intended to help some part of a system

Question 4

Patent function

Answer 4

Manifest function can also have Unintended positive consequences on other parts of society

Question 5

Power

Answer 5

A form of influence over other people

Question 6

Conflict theory

Answer 6

Based on works of Karl Marx, focuses on how power differentials are created and how these differentials contribute to the maintenance of social order. Power differentials can lead to the dominance of a particular group of it successfully outcompetes other groups for economic, political, and social resources.

Question 7

Symbolic interactionism

Answer 7

Study of the ways individuals interact through a shared understanding of words, gestures, and other symbols.

Question 8

Symbol

Answer 8

Central idea of symbolic interactionism, which are things to which we attach meaning; becoming the key to understanding how we view the world and communicate with one another.

Question 9

Social constructionism

Answer 9

How individuals put together their social reality (humans communicating and working together to agree on the significance of a concept or principle).

Question 10

Family

Answer 10

Influences by a number of different factors including culture, value systems, beliefs, practices, gender, age, race, ethnicity, and others.

Question 11

Education

Answer 11

Aim to arm the population with information (may be in the form of facts, figures, and mental processes). It emphasizes the social role of education, creates statuses within society and stimulates learners to add to their knowledge base.

Question 12

Religion

Answer 12

A pattern of social activities organized around a set of beliefs and practices that seek to address the meaning of existence.

Question 13

Government & Economy

Answer 13

Systematic arrangements of politics and capital relationships, activities, and social structures that affect rule-making, representation of the individual in society, rights and privileges, division of labor, and production of goods and services.

Question 14

Healthcare & Medicine

Answer 14

Maintaining or improving the health status of the individual, family, community, and society as a whole.

Question 15

Beneficence

Answer 15

The physician has a responsibility to act in the patient’s best interest.

Question 16

Nonmaleficence

Answer 16

Do not harm; the physician has a responsibility to avoid treatments or interventions in which the potential for harm outweighs the potential for benefit.

Question 17

Respect for patient autonomy

Answer 17

Physician has a responsibility to respect patients’ decisions and choices about their own healthcare.

Question 18

Justice

Answer 18

Physician has a responsibility to treat similar patients with similar care, and to distribute healthcare resources fairly.

Question 19

Culture

Answer 19

Encompassing the entire lifestyle for a given group.

Question 20

Artifacts

Answer 20

Material items that they make, possess, and value.

Question 21

Material culture

Answer 21

Sociologists explore the meaning of objects of a given society. (Includes physical items one associated with a form group, such as artwork, emblem, clothing, jewelry, foods, buildings, and tools)

Question 22

Symbolic culture (nonmaterial culture)

Answer 22

Focuses on the ideas that represent a group of people. (May be encoded in mottos, songs, or catchphrases, or may simply be themes that are pervasive in the culture.

Question 23

Values

Answer 23

What a person seems important in life, which dictates one’s ethical principals and standards of behavior.

Question 24

Belief

Answer 24

Something that an individual accepts to be truth.

Question 25

Cultural barriers

Answer 25

When a cultural differences impedes interaction with others.

Question 26

Norms

Answer 26

Societal rules that define the boundaries of acceptable behavior.

Question 27

Ritual

Answer 27

Formalized ceremony that usually involves specific material objects symbolism, and additional mandates on acceptable behavior.

Question 28

Gender

Answer 28

The behavioral, cultural, or psychological traits typically associated with a biological sex.

Question 29

Race

Answer 29

Social construct based on phenotypic differences between groups of people. (Not strictly defined by genetics, but classified individuals based on superficial traits such as skin color)

Question 30

Ethnicity

Answer 30

Social construct, which sorts people by cultural factors, including language, nationality, religion, and other factors.

Question 31

Symbolic ethnicity

Answer 31

Describes a specific connection to one’s ethnicity in which ethnic symbols and identity remain important, even when ethnic identity does not play a significant role in everyday life. (I.e. Irish-Americans celebrating their “Irishness” once a year, but are American for the rest)

Question 32

Sexual orientation

Answer 32

The direction of one’s sexual interest toward members of the same, opposite, or both sexes. Divided into 3 types:

1) heterosexual
2) bisexual
3) homosexual

Question 33

Migration, immigration, & emigration

Answer 33

Migration: contributor to population growth.

Immigration: movement into a new geographic space.

Emigration: movement away from a geographic space.

Question 34

Demographic shift

Answer 34

Changes in population makeup over time.

Question 35

Demographic transition

Answer 35

Specific example of demographic shift referring to changes in birth and death rates in a country as it develops from a pre-industrial to industrial economic system. 4 stages:

1) preindustrial society, birth and death rates are high
2) improvements in healthcare, nutrition, sanitation, and wages cause death rates to drop.
3) improvements in contraception, women’s rights, and a shift from an agricultural to an industrial economy cause birth rates to drop. (Families have fewer children)
4) an industrialized society; birth and death rates are low.

Question 36

Proactive and reactive social movements

Answer 36

Proactive: promotes social change.

Reactive: resist social change.

Question 37

Globalization

Answer 37

Process of integrating the global economy with free trade and the tapping of foreign markets.

Question 38

Urbanization

Answer 38

Refers to dense areas of population creating a pull for migration (cities are formed as individuals move into and establish residency in these new urban centers).

Question 39

Ghettos

Answer 39

Areas where specific racial, ethnic, or religious minorities are concentrated, usually due to social or economic inequities.

Question 40

Slums

Answer 40

An extremely densely populated area of a city with low-quality, often informal housing and poor sanitation.