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.