Week 1: Theoretical and Historical Basics

Question 1

What issues does macroeconomics deal with?

Answer 1

inflation, unemployment, interest rates

Question 2

dutch disease

Answer 2

when good news in one sector of the economy results in a negative impact on the country’s overall economy

Question 3

What does microeconomics ask?

Answer 3

how would a rational person respond to a given transaction and what does this imply for society as a whole

Question 4

What key issues does microeconomics deal with?

Answer 4

risk and incentive

Question 5

Reservation Price

Answer 5

the highest price a buyer is willing to pay

Question 6

Give an example of something high risk and something low risk

Answer 6

high risk: going to the movies - movies are an experience good, so you don’t know if you’ll like the movie
low risk: buying a coke - you already know you like it

Question 7

When was reflection theory common?

Answer 7

19th century to the 1970s

Question 8

Reflection Theory

Answer 8

emphasizes the meaning of culture, what it was, what it meant to its consumer, and what effect it had on them

Question 9

*What did reflection theory believe?

Answer 9

all art and entertainment was thought to reflect underlying social conditions

Question 10

What does functionalism assume?

Answer 10

everything works towards some broader goal

Question 11

Hegemony (Marxists)/Latency System (functionalists)

Answer 11

culture reflects society which indicates the values that support it

Question 12

What two key concepts are crucial for reflection theory?

Answer 12

Meaning and society

Question 13

What is the current dominant theory in the sociology of culture?

Answer 13

Production of culture

Question 14

Production of culture perspective

Answer 14

looks at the industry itself (e.g. sales charts instead of lyrics)

Question 15

Who is the production of culture associated with?

Answer 15

Richard Peterson

Question 16

Howard Becker

Answer 16

symbolic interactionalist who was interested in the direction your life takes you (what he called a career)

Question 17

Howard Becker key beliefs

Answer 17

-genre expectations: e.g. structure rules for jazz
-your career is not just your job, but has to do with you identity and role
-art doesn’t have a function whereas craft does

Question 18

Peterson’s 6 foci of production of culture

Answer 18

1. Law
2. Industrial structure
3. Organizational structure
4. Artistic careers
5. Technology
6. Markets

Question 19

What two things does production of culture do?

Answer 19

1. Emphasizes specific processes through which cultural works are created
2. Brackets the issue of meaning and treats meaning as a secondary issue