Sociology - Quiz 1 Flashcards
1
Q
Macro
A
- Institutions in society
- How they interact
2
Q
Micro
A
- Individuals in society
- How they interact
3
Q
Auguste Comte
A
- Inventor of the term sociology
- Functionalist
- Argued that societies changed over time, sometimes finding equilibrium and other times not
- Introduced positivism into sociology
4
Q
Emile Durkheim
A
- Believed in using the scientific method in order to discover a better society
- Focused on prisoners and suicide as means for identifying and resolving societal problems
- Functionalist
- Wanted to help both individuals and society as a whole
5
Q
Karl Marx
A
- Famous for his Communist Manifesto
- Believed that history could illustrate why societies face problems
- Social inequity based on materialism and wealth distribution needed to be rectified through conflict to the masses (working class people, proletariat) in order to allow for a better society.
- Created conflict theory
6
Q
Max Weber
A
- Conflict sociologist
- Expanded Marx’s focus to education, politics, religion, and families
- Agreed that conflict existed
- Argued it could be regulated through the formation of bureaucracies
- Believed that societies were undergoing rationalization
7
Q
Harriet Martineau
A
- Feminist Sociologist
- Worked to understand relationships between men and women
- Fought for improvements for people that did not have a voice in society
8
Q
Agents of Socialization
A
- Family, peers, media, and instututions that influence our behaviour and values
- Forces in a person’s life that teach them about the world and their place within it
9
Q
Social Institutions
A
- Home and family, school and education, church and religion, state and government, industry and work, community and association
- Institutions through which society functions
10
Q
Bystander Effect - Murder of Kitty Genovese
A
- Individuals are less likely to offer help to a victim in the presence of other people
- Kitty was murdered and the people around her did nothing to help
11
Q
Milgram Experiment
A
- Measures the willingness of study participants to obey an authority figure who instructed them to perform acts conflicting with their personal conscience
- “Teacher” and “learner” with electric shocks
12
Q
Asch Experiment
A
- Line experiment
- Participants were shown three lines, all different lengths, and esked shich was the longest
- The other “participants” would give an obviously wrong answer
- Eventually the participant would give the wrong answer to conform even though they knew they were wrong
13
Q
Stanford Prisoner Experiment
A
- Two-week simulation of a prison environment
- Assigned randomly to being prisoners or prison guards
- During the five days, psychological abuse of the prisoners by the “guards” became increasingly brutal, they abused their power
- With no control, prisoners learned they had little effect on what happened to them, ultimately causing them to stop responding and give up
14
Q
Lucifer Effect
A
- Shown in the Stanford Prisoner Experiment
- Intentional exercise of power to harm others psychologically through abuse, through bullying, teasing, rumors, to destroy or kill, etc.
15
Q
Twin Studies
A
- Nature vs. Nurture - proves nature
- Twins separated at birth had very similar lives
- Jim twins - eerie similarities - identical
16
Q
Isolate Children
A
- Nature vs. Nurture - proves nurture
- Isolating/abusing children at a young age is horrible for their health and has lasting affects throughout their lives
- Danielle (7) and Genie (13)
- Both are adults now and neither speak
17
Q
David Reimer
A
- Nature vs. Nuture - proves nature
- Born male, botched circumcision
- Parents raised him as a girl
- He discovered it and became a male again
- Later he comitted suicide
18
Q
Symbolic Interactionism
A
- Society is composed of symbols that people use to establish meaning, develop views about the world, and communicate with one another
- Society is the product of everyday interactions of individuals
19
Q
Norms
A
Rule or standard of behaviour shared by members of a social group
20
Q
Values
A
The beliefs and principles that you believe are important in the way that you live and work
21
Q
Sanctions
A
- How we can inforce norms
- Can be formal (law) or informal
22
Q
Status Roles
A
- Roles associated with certain kinds of statuses
- E.g. rich people are expected to be proper and have nice things
23
Q
Deviance
A
The fact or state of departing from usual or accepted standards
24
Q
Conformity
A
The process whereby people change their beliefs, attitudes, actions, or perceptions to more closely match those held by groups to which they belong or want to belong or by groups whose approval they desire
25
Socialization
The process of learning and internalizing the values and norms of a society.
26
Looking-Glass Self
- Charles H. Cooley
- Symbolic Interactionism
- “I am not what I think I am, I am not what you think I am, I am what I think you think I am.”
27
George H. Homans
- Social Exchange Theory (a relationship between two people is created through a process of cost-benefit analysis)
- Cost Benefit Analysis determines people’s decisions in life.
28
Scientific Method
- Empirical method for acquiring knowledge
- Eight steps:
- Observation of an event, defining the event being considered, formulating hypothesis, generating a theory, creating a research design, collecting data, analyzing data, making conclusions
29
Primary Socialization vs Secondary Socialization
- Primary socialization: when parents and other members of the child's immediate family teach the child about cultural norms
- Secondary socialization: occurs through the influence of external agents, such as teachers and friends
30
Status
- The relative level of social value a person is considered to possess
- Such social value includes respect, honor, assumed competence, and deference
31
Anticipatory Socialization
- Non-group members learn to take on the values and standards of groups that they aspire to join
- Ease their entry into the group and help them interact competently once they have been accepted by it
32
Cognitive Dissonance
- The discomfort a person feels when their behavior does not align with their values or beliefs
- E.g. you want to be healthy, but you don't exercise regularly or eat a nutritious diet. You feel guilty as a result.
33
Conflict Theory
- The theory that society is always fighting over limited resources = power dynamics
- Competition between different groups for power
- Struggle and imbalance between those who have economic and political power and those who do not
- Modelled on Marx's work
34
Structural Functionalism
- Society is a complex system whose parts work together to promote solidarity and stability
- Macro level
35
Social Exchange Theory
- Two parties that implement a cost-benefit analysis to determine risks and benefits
- Also involves economic relationships
- These calculations occur in a variety of relationships
36
Social Role Theory
- Considers most of everyday activity to be the acting-out of socially defined categories - e.g. jocks, nerds, popular kids, burnouts
- Each role is a set of rights, duties, expectations, norms, and behaviors that a person has to face and fulfill
37
Lisa vs Malibu Stacy
- Lisa Simpson is bothered by the Malibu Stacy doll who is a very stereotypical and sexist woman
- Nobody else really cares about the issue
- Companies prioritize profit over equality
- Toy popularity goes a long way
38
McDonaldization
- Mass production
- Consumerism
- Rationalization - calculated ends and means, formalised efficiency and routine
- The principles of a fast-food restaraunt are dominating the world
39
Harry Harlow - Theories On Attachment and Development
- Studied monkeys in order to understand humans
- Wanted to find out what was stronger: the need for affection or the satisfaction of physical needs
- Surrogate mother experiment - separated baby monkeys from their mothers and gave them two new 'mothers', one who was wrapped in fuzzy cloth and the other who provided food
- The monkeys overwhelmingly prefered the cloth mother
40
Reginald Bibby - Project Teen Canada
- Eighty percent reported “receiving high levels of enjoyment” from their moms (up from 70 percent in the 1992 and 2000 surveys) while 75 percent said the same about their dads (after having dipped below 65 percent in 1992 and 2000).
- Why the change? Bibby thinks it's because today's parents are doing a better job.
41
Presentation of Self in Everyday Life - Erving Goffman
- 1956 sociological book by Erving Goffman
- We wear different masks for each group that we interact with - society is not homogeneous; we must act differently in different settings
- Theatrical performances that occur in face-to-face interactions
- When someone comes in contact with another person, he attempts to control or guide the impression the other person will form of him
42
George Herbert Mead - The I and the Me
- Symbolic interactionism
- I - my subjective sense of self - reality as I experience it from the inside - my own feelings about who I think I am
- Me - my social self - how I think others in society see me - involves reflecting on social roles
43
William Whyte - Street Corner Society
- Easier for a "slum" resident to acieve monetary success in a racket (illegal scheme) than by conventional means
- Role models: college boys vs corner boys
- Gang activities highly organized
- Pioneering participant observation based study
- KEY: expressive nature of subcultures
