Sociology Midterm Flashcards
Sociology
study of social life, social group, social institutions, & society
Sociological Imagination & Perspective
SI- individual experiences shape our perception of the world around us
SP- attempt to question the obvious, looking at society & cultures objectively & critically
Microsociology & Macrosociology
Micro- Small group dynamics and individuals
Macro- large groups and social institutions
Popular Wisdoms
(True or false)
-Polygamy is legal in parts of the US
-Cracking joints causes arthritis
-Sugar makes kids hyper
-Humans use 10% of their brain
Pure Science & Applied Science
PS- goal is to advance a science or discipline through research and publication
AS- occurs when pure science is used in professional occupations (nursing, counseling, business, etc._
Social Science disciplines
economics, political science, anthropology, psychology, history, geography
Structural Functionalism
-Society is viewed as having interconnected social systems
-Studies if social systems, policies, laws, social programs are working in a functional way, which benefits society or dysfunctionally, not working properly
Conflict Theory
-Studies social conflict and social inequality in society based on social class, race, ethnicity, sex, age, religion, sexual orientation, etc. and how it affects people’s lives
Social Movement
Social movements are collective efforts to produce political, economic, and/or cultural change.
Symbolic Interactionism
-Studies how symbols, language, body language is used to convey meaning within a culture
- Evaluates how personal experiences, trauma, perception & feelings shape interactions within small groups, family units, couples & individually in positive and negative ways
Feminist Theory
-Seeks to understand the effects of gender inequality,
patriarchy, sexism, gender roles, sexual assault &
gender stereotypes have on the lives of women
culturally and individually
-Studies Women’s Movements in the US and abroad
Class Consciousness
awareness of one’s own social or economic rank in society. a feeling of identification and solidarity with those belonging to the same social or economic class as oneself.
Collective Conscious
The collective consciousness of society is the shared set of values or beliefs that people have
Methodology
-Process of gathering data and conducting proper
research to discover valid, reliable &
empirical/scientific evidence
Objectivity
believes personal agenda & feelings of researcher must never influence the date reported or interpretation of results
Primary Sources & Secondary Sources
Primary Sources- data from the original author
◦ Academic journals
◦ Original letters, audio, video
◦ Census data, Autobiographies
Secondary Sources- data interpreted by someone
other than the original author
◦ Dictionaries/Encyclopedias
◦ Biographies, Textbooks
Hypothesis
-educated guess; a testable statement about the predicted relationship between 2 or more variables
Directional Hypothesis- direct vs. inverse relationship
Directional hypothesis
-Direct relationship- variables move in same direction
-Inverse/indirect relationship- variables move in the
opposite direction
Null Hypothesis
No relationship between the variables being tested
Secondary analysis
research data conducted by others
◦ US Census
◦ General Social Survey
◦ American Community Survey
◦ Vital statistics
Surveys
Questionnaire or Interviews (Most common)
◦ Population- target audience
◦ Sample- smaller representation of the population
Population
refers to a group of human beings with some predefined criterion in common, such as location, race, ethnicity, nationality, or religion.
Sample
a group of people, objects, or items that are taken from a larger population for measurement.
Observational research
a. Laboratory observations
b. Field observations
c. Participant observations/ethnography
- “Hawthorne Effect”
Lab observations
observing the behavior of subjects that are in a controlled environment. Because of the controlled environment variable factors can be controlled which therefore leads to a limited number of possible responses.
Hawthorne effect
refers to the fact that people will modify their behavior simply because they are being observed. T