Sociological Theories - Research Methods Flashcards
What are feminist research methods? 6
Verstehen = subjective understanding which draws on other opinions (feelings and motivations of people)
- Aims to bring social change (Millen)
- researcher builds rapport (Oakley and Finch - equality in relationship increases quality and valid data).
- Reflexivity = process of reflecting on the researcher themselves to get more impartial analysis.
- science is male stream.
- Ethnomethodology = analysis which examines how individuals use everyday conversation to make sense of world (understand language).
What are the types of feminism and what do they believe? (see posters)
Liberal - men and women should have same rights (gradual improvement) - comes from home roles and socialisation.
Radical - all men oppress all women - political lesbianism.
Marxist - capitalism - cheap labour keeps them dependent.
Dual system - capitalism and patriarchy - patriarchal capitalism.
Poststructural - knowledge is power - focusses on minorities that are ignored in other approaches.
Who are the key thinkers for each types of feminism?
Liberal - Ann Oakley
Radical - Somerville - heterosexual attraction is helping keep oppression.
Marxist - Ansley - women are the takers of shit.
Dual system - Walby - capitalism and patriarchy are inter related (cheap labour and domestic sphere).
Poststructural - Butler - reject essentialism and stress diversity.
What are the criticisms of feminism?
Liberal - ignores capitalism, over optimistic (laws wont change stereotypes).
Radical - ignores ethnicity, patriarchy maintains self (Pollert)
Marxist - fails to explain oppression in non capitalist societies, unpaid domestic labour still oppressed.
Dual system - patriarchy and capitalism is not a system.
Poststructural - sub grouping women weakens movement, must still focus on similarities.
What is the key ideas of functionalists? (consensus) see comparison notes. 6
- Sees society as a system using the ORGANIC ANALOGY.
- Social order is kept through value consensus - everyone has shared value consensus due to socialisation from institutions.
- Each institution performs a specific function - as society develops, it becomes more complex and needs more specialist institutions.
- Behaviour is oriented towards pursuing shared goals and meeting the needs of society.
- Everything is based in equilibrium and meritocracy.
- Change is gradual and only happens when functionally necessary.
Who are the key functionalist thinkers?
PARSONS
DURKHEIM
What are Parsons 4 basic needs for the system?
- Adaption = meets members material needs.
- Goal attachment = society needs set goals and allocate resources to achieve them.
- Integration = different parts must work together to peruse shared goals.
- Latency = processes to maintain society over time e.g. socialisation of young and catharsis.
Adaptation and goal attachment are instrumental needs and integration and latency are expressive needs.
What is the 2 ways society changes?
Structural differentiation = gradual process where, separate institutions develop to each meet a different need.
Moving equilibrium = change occurs in one part of the system, produces change in another part.
What is the internal evaluation of functionalism? 3
Merton:
- Parsons assumes that everything is indispensable: Merton argues this is untested and looks at ‘functional alternatives’.
- key assumptions of organic analogy questioned - doesn’t apply to complex modern society, ‘functional autonomy’ not unity.
- not everything has a positive function - some things are functional for some people while dysfunctional for others (links to marxism and the ruling class).
What is the external evaluation of functionalism? 5
- logical criticism - functionalism is telelogical (things exist because of their function), critics argue things should be explained by cause before effect (opposite).
- unscientific - unfalsifiable
- conflict perspective criticism (marxists) - unable to explain conflict and change (due to organic analogy). - functionalism legitimises inequality.
- action perspective criticism - Wrong (1961), over socialised and deterministic (puppets of society).
- post modernist criticism - cannot account for diversity and instability of today’s society.
What are the 4 action theories?
Interpretivism - can be used to evaluate marxism. (contradicts them)
- SOCIAL ACTION = behaviour reflects what we believe something means (our interpretation). WEBER - people hold meanings of the world and act based on the basis these meanings.
- SYMBOLIC INTERACTIONALISM = focuses on small scale interactions (how meanings are formed through social interactions). MEAD - reality is subjective (meanings can be changed), GOFFMAN, dramaturgical analogy = people change ‘mask’ to fit situation (self presentation, no true self as these fronts are your identity).
- PHENOMENOLOGY = internal workings of mind and way humans make sense and classify world (typifications which we organise world into).
- ETHNOMETHODOLOGY = study of methods used by people to construct and give meaning to their social world (unwritten rules govern everyday situations).
What do functionalists believe is the purpose of sociological study? 4
- to explain ‘normal’ functioning of society.
- explore relationship between parts of society and how they contribute.
- explore functions of institutions and how they contribute.
- relationship between social facts and discover cause and effect.
What do marxists believe is the purpose of sociological study? 3
- describe and analysis class conflict
- help inform revolution (break false consciousness).
- ideology and how institutions serve powerful.
What are the key ideas of Marxists? (conflict) see comparison notes. 5
- conflict between proletariat and bourgeoisie. (capitalism) - conflict is hidden, P powerless.
- bourgeoisie own means of production and proletariat sell their labour for wages.
- but bourgeoisie exploit proletariat by: lowering wages, rising prices for goods, de-skilling to increase capitalism.
- Polarises groups which creates class consciousness and eventually lead to revolution. (communism)
- however capitalism is maintained through spreading ruling class ideology through the institutions (which are there to serve ruling class) and creating ‘false consciousness’ and alienation of individuals.
What are the key ideas of NEO - Marxists? 3
How capitalism has been maintained and prevented revolution
- Hegemony (Gramsci) = ideas and values to persuade w/c that inequality is legitimate.
- ruling class hegemony is never complete as they are minority and proletariat have dual consciousness so it can be over thrown by creating ‘counter hegemonic bloc’.
- 2 apparatus (Althusser) - Ideological state apparatus and repressive state apparatus.
- ISA is more powerful and has created illusion of free will and false consciousness so proletariat cannot consciously create revolution.
