Test 1 Flashcards
Sociology
the scientific / systematic
study of social life
Sociologists require _______ rather than anecdote
methodological rigor
Methodological rigor
commitment to a specific process which will produce an outcome that is factual and complete.
Sociological Imagination (Mills)
Human lives are the intersection of “biography” and history”; personal problems vs. public issues
Personal troubles
occur within the character of an individual and within the range of his immediate relations with others
Ex: 1 person can’t get a job v. thousands, does illegal activities of money
Public issues
Have to do with matters that transcend these local environments and have to do with the organizations of the institutions as a whole
Ex: Teen can’t look thick, has anxiety/depression, becomes anorexic because of society’s outlook
Social categories
Not deterministic but do expose us to different opportunities and obstacles
Social structure
Frameworks that constrain and permit behavior
Underlying regularities and patterns
Gives societies coherence
Upper/middle/lower class; government; religion
Social construction of reality
an idea or practice that a group of people agree exists. Maintained over time by people taking its existence for granted; Creating meaning through social interaction; Wouldn’t exist if humans didn’t create it
Examples of social construction
pictures of breakfast/ gender colors/ FDR as a child/ race/ time
What people think and do are products of ____ and ____
culture and history
History of gendering pink
Pink used to be boy because it is a more decided and stronger color, while blue is daintier and prettier for a girl
FDR (1884)
Boys wore dresses until 6-7 when they got their first hair cut; outfit was gender neutral
Theory
A set of ideas that provides explanations for a broad range of phenomena
Sociological theory
set of ideas that explains a wide range of human behaviors
Two ways to build a theory
- Evidence > Hypothesis > Theory
- Hypothesis > Theory > Evidence
Auguste Comte
French philosopher; coined the term sociology; believed observation and description was the highest form of knowledge; scientific knowledge can be used to improve people’s lives
Emile Durkheim
“Social facts”; people can be studied just as natural science is; interested in social order and social imagination; society is held together by norms anomie - normlessness; suicide research in Europe patterned
Durkheim Suicide Research (1897)
Unmarried > Married
Childless > Parents
Protestants > Catholics
Karl Marx
Industrial revolution in Europe; 1st sociologist to treat the economy as social inquiry; communism over capitalist; “All human history thus far is the history of class struggles”; “the 99%”
Max Weber
Technological and scientific development; “rational society”, where social and economic life is based on efficiency and technological knowledge
Rationalization of society
Created by Weber; what society has become increasingly concerned with:
1. Efficiency - Achieving maximum results with minimum effort
2. Predictability - A desire to predict what will happen in the future
3. Calculability - a concern with numerical data i.e statistics and scoring
4.Dehumanization - Employing technology as a means to control human behavior
Ex: Mcdonaldization
Mcdonaldization
George Ritzer; rationalize a task and break it down into smaller parts to make it more efficient, faster, cheaper, and very predictable
Functionalism core assumptions
Functionalism core assumptions
Functionalism examples
prostitution, traditional 1950s family
Manifest
Obvious and intended purposes of institutions, practices, and behaviors (ex: school)
Latent
Not obvious or unintended purposes of institutions, practices, and behaviors (ex: social behaviors, places to go after school, school bells)
Rational choice theory
Reinforcement theory; Skinner and Pavlov (classical conditioning); Humans seek to maximize rewards and minimize punishments
Reinforcement theory critiques
Humans views as overly rational and calculating; ignores human integrity, creativity, agency, emotion, and irrationality
Symbolic Interactionism
Symbols are the basis of communication; social behavior is emergent and interactive; not predetermined
G.H. Mead and Blumer
opposed to notions of “empiricism” and “facts”
Symbolic interactionism critiques
neglects social structures and persistent social inequality; over-emphasized human need for cooperation and shared understanding
Feminism and Feminist Theory
Gender relations and gender inequality are central to study of sociology; Gender, race, and social class intersect social stratification and inequality
Ethnography
studying people in their own environments in order to understand the meaning they give to their activities
Value-free sociology
an ideal whereby researcher identifies facts without allowing their own personal beliefs or biases to interfere
Culture
the entire way of life for a group of people; the values, norms, and material characteristics of a given group; passed from one generation to the next
Ex: Nacirema
Culture Universals
values of modes and behaviors shared by all human cultures
Ex: Marriage
Material culture
any physical object to which we give social meaning
(tools, machines, utensils, buildings, artwork)
Symbolic culture
the ideals associated with a cultural group; includes ways of thinking (beliefs, values) and ways of behaving (norms, communication)
Signs (symbols)
used to meaningfully represent something else
Gestures
signs that we make with our body that express meaning
Langauge
a system of communication using vocal sounds, gestures, and written symbols; most significant component of culture
Values
shared beliefs about what a group considers worthwhile or desirable
Norms
the formal and informal rules regarding what kinds of behavior are acceptable and appropriate; govern our behavior; specific to culture, time period, and situation
Folkway
is a loosely enforced norm that involves common customs, practices, or procedures that ensure smooth social interaction and acceptance (greeting someone, waiting in line)
More
carries greater moral significance, closely related to the core values of a group, often involves repercussions for violators (speeding, cheating)
Taboo
engrained so deeply that even thinking about violating it evokes strong feelings of disgust, horror, or revulsion for most people (middle finger, child porongraphy)
Sanctions
positive or negative reactions to the ways that people follow or disobey norms (rewards for conformity, punishment for violation)
Social control
the formal and informal mechanisms used to increase conformity to values and norms and thus increase social cohesion
Ethnocentrism
principle of using one’s own culture as a standard by which to evaluate another group or individual, leading to the view that cultures other than one’s own are abnormal
Cultural relativism
principle of understanding other cultures on their own terms rather than judging according to one’s own culture
Ex: female circumcision
Multiculturalism
values diverse racial, ethnic, national, and linguistic backgrounds and so encourages the retention of cultural differences within society rather than assimilation
Dominant culture
the values, norms, and practices within society that is most powerful in terms of wealth, prestige, status, and influence
Subculture
group within society that is differentiated by its distinctive values, norms, and lifestyle; still abide with basic principles of dominant culture
Counterculture
Is a group within society that openly rejects society’s values and norms
Intersectionality
a concept often used in critical theories to describe the ways in which oppressive institutions (racism, sexism, homophobia, transphobia, ableism, xenophobia, classism, etc.) are interconnected and cannot be examined separately from one another.
Harriet Martineau
First female sociologist
W.E.B. Du Bois
First AA to earn a doctorate; one of the founders of the NAACP
Microsociolgy
everyday social interaction; face to face
Macrosociology
sociology on a large scale
what process helps us internalize norms as young people
socialization
social order
how institutions, groups, and values work collaboratively to keep a society stable and in order
alexis de tocqueville beliefs and contributions
- belief in the importance of liberty, equality, and self-rule
How does sociology help us disentangle what is biological from what is socially constructed?
examining how social contexts and interactions shape human behavior, beliefs, and identities
How does the concept of social structure help sociologists better understand social phenomena?
providing a framework to analyze how different elements of society, like institutions, roles, and social norms, are interconnected and influence individual behaviors
What does term sociological imagination refer to
application of imaginative thought to the asking and answering of sociological questions
what is organic solidarity
as defined by sociologist Emile Durkheim, refers to a type of social cohesion based on the interdependence between individuals in a complex society, where people rely on each other due to their specialized roles and division of labor, creating a sense of unity despite their differences
what are social facts
aspects of social life that shape our actions as individuals, such as the state of the economy or the influence of religion
what is social constraint
the limitations and expectations that society places on individuals
division of labor
the process of dividing a complex work process into smaller, specialized tasks, where different individuals or groups perform specific roles, contributing to a more efficient system within a society or organization
