Sociology Flashcards
What are social forces
Things that influence people into doing things they may not have done in the first place
What is a level of analysis
The size and scope of the things which are studied in a science
How many levels of analysis are there
11
What levels of analysis does sociology deal with
Groups, classes, institutions, society, globalization
What happens when an individual who belongs to a group acts
The groups acts as a whole
What is a class
A large amount of people who share a characteristic
What is an institution
a set of instructions on what everyone must do or can do in some part of society
What is globalization
Places around the globe becoming intertwined with other places
What are the two types of sociology
Macrosociology, microsociology
What does macrosociology deal with
The higher levels of analysis
What does microsociology deal with
The middle levels of analysis, person to person
Who was Georg Simmel
a German sociologist who helped found sociology
What was George Simmel first to find
Sociology is about numbers, the “quantitative aspects of the group”
What happens when more people are added to a group
The group will start to act differently starting to set rules, or laws, and have authority figures
How many people are in a dyad
2
What is unique about a dyad
It is continually threatened of breaking apart
Why are dyads more emotionally charged than other groups
It takes both of them for the group to live but one for it to die
What differentiates a small and large group
The way the group acts changes as the group gets larger
How does a small group control people
It develops custom
What is custom
a shared understanding of what is appropriate and inappropriate behavior
Why does socialism work in a small group, but not a large group
Members of the group can monitor other members, so no one will be able to get more than their share
How does a large group control people’s behavior
It uses laws or rules
Why are people more free to do what they want in a large group
People will not be interacting with everyone so others may not know what that person did
Why are people less likely to confront a transgressor in a large group
People can develop their own ideas, so they may not agree on what is appropriate or not
Who enforces laws in large groups
Some official authority
What does a large group make
A division of labor
What does a division of labor do to the large group
Members of the group will become specialized in one task, there will also be divisions within the group
What can happen in a small party that cannot in a large party
Sophisticated conversation
Why is it impossible to have sophisticated conversation with a large party
The only thing that the group has in common are basic animal pleasures
What will a large party do that small parties may not do
Large parties will split into smaller groups
What is the super-individual characteristic of a group
The fact that a group does not take on the characteristics of the individuals in it
Who was Charles Horton Cooley
A sociologist concerned with the primary group
What is a primary group
A group characterized by intimate face-to-face association and cooperation (a small group with strong feelings for each other, emotionally charged relationships)
Why is it considered a “primary” group
They form a person, the rest of society depends on this type of group
What happens in a primary group
People are taught how to act and what to think
What is something concerning that Cooley says
The primary group is fading
Who is Lewis Yablonsky
A sociologist who studied street gangs
What is an ideal type
a list of characteristics that something must have to be something
What did Yablonsky’s research find
Street gangs are not really true groups as they do not fit the ideal type of a group
According to Yablonsky, what is a street gang
A near-group, it has some characteristics of a group but is missing some of the true group
What is an institution
Instructions society gives to live a successful life
Are institutions and organizations the same
No, institutions are general and abstract, organizations are not
Where do organizations get their goals
The institution they are in
What happens when an organization has a goal outside of its institution
The organization and its goals can be seen as somewhat weird or wrong (ex. church wanting people to elect someone)
What are the 5 major institutions
Economy, Family, Education, Politics, Religion
What can a strong institution do
It can set rules and control people
Why is crime high
The strongest institution is economy, and the other institutions do not keep people from being immoral, so people do what they want to get money
What is a role
A role is similar to a job
What do roles do to people
Roles bring certain actions and the emotions and attitudes that belong to these actions, they give people their identity, and makes them feel a certain way
What did Philip Zimbardo do in 1971
the Stanford Prison Experiment
What did the Stanford Prison Experiment show
Roles can really change people, making them act and think completely differently
What is society
There is no completely definition for society, only clues to how to imagine it
Ritzer says society is what
Society is bounded in space, geographically located
Is there a difference between a nation-state and a society
Yes, a nation-state has marked borders and people can only be controlled within the borders, society has gray areas where they share an area and no set boundaries
What is a nation-state
A political entity with marked borders where a government controls the people in those borders (a Country)
What does Hughes and Kroehler say society is
Society is a group of people who live in a certain area and share a culture (society is also defined by culture)
How many kinds of culture are there and what are they
There are two kinds, material culture and nonmaterial culture
What is material culture
Everything that is part of society’s CONSTRUCTED physical environment including food, hygiene, technology, etc.
What must material culture be
It must be man made, however, the way something in nature is used can be a part of this culture (river ex.)
What is nonmaterial culture
Values, beliefs, behaviors, and social norms
What does nonmaterial culture discuss
It discusses how people see the world, how people in different cultures see the world differently
What does nonmaterial culture do to material culture
It gives meaning to material culture, making material things more valuable
What can be a way to tell is something is a society
It the people have made their own independent 5 major institutions
What is Liquidity
Things are easier to move around so they go everywhere
What is time-space compression
Describes how things far away are experienced as much closer and their impacts are felt much sooner
How many different perspectives are there on globalization, and what are they
3, hyperglobalist, the skeptic, and transformationalists
What do hyperglobalists focus on
Economics and politics
What are hyperglobalists worried about
They worry that globalization is taking sovereignty from nation-states
Who do hyperglobalists think are the problem
International corporations
What is the World Trade Organization
An organization that enables outside nations to have influence in other nations domestic markets
How does the WTO give other nations influence
By abolishing tariffs
What do hyperglobalists think will happen in the future
They think that there will be one global society, very utopian
What do the skeptics think about globalization
They think globalization begun 500 or more years ago and now the world is actually becoming less globalized
Why do the skeptics think that the world is less globalized
There is increased regionalization, where there are three major economies now
What are the three major economies in which the skeptics believe exist
Europe, Asia-Pacific, and North America
Do the skeptics think that national sovereignty still exists
Yes, and nations have gotten more active with promoting their own countries’ interests with it
What do the transformationalists think
The transformationalists think that wealth and poverty is no longer concentrated in specific regions, but mix together now
What is a good example of what the transformationalists think
Mumbai, India, where there are the largest slums in the world and new skyscrapers being built right next to them
What is different about the transformationalists when compared to the skeptics and hyperglobalists
The transformationalists make no prediction about the future
What is a social network comparable to
A map, you can follow the relationships to get to another person
How do social networks influence people
They determine what information someone gets and therefore what they do
What level of analysis is a social network on
A social network is not at a particular level of analysis, it can be anywhere
What is a tie
A connection between people, often described in terms of the reason they have that relationship within a particular network
What are the two types of ties
Direct ties and Indirect ties
What is a direct tie
When two people have a face-to-face relationship and know one another personally
What is an indirect tie
When two people are connected in a network through another person or persons
What is embeddedness
The degree to which a tie is reinforced through indirect parties within a social network (indirect ties making direct ties stronger)
What is social network density
How many ties are embedded or how many ties there are, more direct ties = more density
What is a set/clique/subgroup
A bunch of people who have direct ties with each other within a social network, not the whole social network though
What is a cut point
one person that has connections with one or multiple subgroups
What is a variable
Some factor which increases or decreases, has characteristics that change, or which is different from case to case
What are the types of variables
Dependent and independent variables
What is a dependent variable
“The outcome that the researcher is trying to explain”
What is an independent variable
A factor which may bring into existence another factor, or change it
What does complete research need in sociology
A causal mechanism
What is a causal mechanism
An explanation for why an independent variable brings about a change in the dependent variable
What are the two types of research methods
Quantitative and qualitative methods
What are quantitative methods
The use of numbers and statistical techniques to observe frequencies of behavior and to explain some proportion of a variables effect
What are qualitative methods
Observation of a social setting to describe in detail what is happening there and to understand the system of meanings by which people understand their world and act accordingly (professor’s preferred method)
What are the types of quantitative methods
Data sets and surveys
What are the types of qualitative methods
Structured interviews, open-ended interviews, unobtrusive observation, participant observation
What did early sociologists ask
Why everything with society happened and how it impacted everyone
Who were the classical theorists
Karl Marx, Max Weber, Emile Durkheim
What did Karl Marx study
the growth of capitalism
What did Max Weber study
How and why modern society has become more rationalized
What did Emile Durkheim say
Modern society has a problem of solidarity
What model of society did premodern societies use
Feudalism
What model of society do modern societies use
Capitalism
How was Feudalism organized
Monarch –> Nobles –> Knights, Vassals –> Merchants, Farmers, Craftsmen –> Peasants, Serfs
How did Feudalism work
The manor: Serfs work for a lord for a certain amount of days and are also given land they have to pay for, the lords of these are like serfs to people higher than them on the hierarchy
How was Capitalism organized
It was not really, labor was free, so people had to look for jobs to make a profit, that’s all they care about
What in Capitalism made society more urban
Factories and people wanting to make more profit
What governing system did Feudalism use
Monarchies
What governing system did Capitalism use
Democracies
What social change came about in modern society
The Enlightenment
What did the Enlightenment change
Reason became more important than tradition, people became more secular, science became more important than theology
What is a consequence of reason being more important than tradition
Things will change much more quickly
What are the two ways in which modern societies may be more secular
The decrease in the power of the church. The decline in personal religious belief.
What terms did Ferdinand Tonnies popularize in sociology
Gemeinschaft and Gessellschaft
What does Gemeinschaft mean
It describes premodern society, ‘community, reciprocal, binding sentiment’
What does Gessellschaft mean
It describes modern society,
What does the professor say the deepest understanding of something is
The ability to make theories about that thing
Whose theory of stratification looks at the top
Davis and Moore’s Functionalist Theory
Whose theory of stratification looks at the bottom
Lewis’ Culture of Poverty theory
According to Functionalist Theory, what shows what jobs are the most important
The most functionally important jobs are often the most paid
What causes stratification according to Functionalist Theory
Harder jobs that require more skill are less desirable than easy ones, so society gives them more benefits
What is a challenge of the Functionalist Theory
A salary does not always match the job’s functional importance
What is functional importance
How important a job is to society
How many characteristics did Lewis identify that shows the Culture of Poverty
70 characteristics
According to the Culture of Poverty theory, how do poor people react to organizations
They do not join major organizations and are critical of large ones and people in high positions, keeping them outside of the mainstream of society
According to the Culture of Poverty theory, how do communities react
People in poverty do not form wide-reaching relationships and do not create order in their neighborhoods
According to the Culture of Poverty theory, what happens to families
Poor people do not establish stable families, lack of marriage so men can leave, children do adult things prematurely
What is the culture of poverty
An adaptation of impoverished people that helps them live a pleasurable life despite having a rough life
What does the Culture of Poverty assume
Cultural determinism, conditions of people’s lives are caused by their culture
What do Marxists focus on
Classes and their conflict between each other
What are the two classes that Marx said exists
The Bourgeoisie and Proletariat
What is the Bourgeoisie
The class in Marxism that owns everything
What is the Proletariat
The class in Marxism that owns only its own labor power
What causes conflict between the Bourgeoisie and the Proletariat
The Bourgeoisie exploits the Proletariat’s labor power but the Proletariat wants more
What is the Labor Theory of Surplus Value
M-C-M’ –> M = money, C = commodity, M’ = more money
What does the Labor Theory of Surplus Value mean when it says capital is dead labor
The capital, or Bourgeoisie, class does nothing but suck the life out of the Proletariat
What is the difference between Feudal society and Capitalist society
Feudal society had many classes while capitalist society has only two where one is being taken advantage of
What does Erik Olin Wright do
He mapped out late capitalism’s classes
What is the difference of capitalism and late capitalism
Late capitalism has more classes, like the Petty Bourgeoisie, and there are contradicting characteristics that people can have from different classes
What do Neo-Marxists argue
There is a separation between ownership and control
