YMAY Chapter 1 - 3

Question 1

Social Institution

Answer 1

a complex group of interdependent positions that, together, perform a social role and reproduce themselves over time; also defined in a narrow sense as any institution in a society that works to shape the behavior of the groups or people within it.

Question 2

Sociological Imagination

Answer 2

the ability to connect the most basic, intimate aspects of an individual’s life to seemingly impersonal and remote historical forces. -“make the familiar strange,” (challenge day to day assumptions)

Question 3

Sociology

Answer 3

the study of human society, and there is the sociology of sports, religion, music, medicine, even sociologists.

Question 4

Social Positions

Answer 4

a set of stories we tell ourselves

Question 5

Social Institution examples

Answer 5

-legal system, -education system, -military, -family, -labor market

Question 6

social relations

Answer 6

a network of ties.

Question 7

grand narrative

Answer 7

constitutes social identity and is the sum of individual stories that are told between pairs of individuals.

Question 8

epistemology

Answer 8

the study or a theory of the nature and grounds of knowledge especially with reference to its limits and validity

Question 9

social identity

Answer 9

the way people identify themselves based the groups they identify with or don’t identify with.

Question 10

August Comte

Answer 10

French (17th century) developed positivism(social physics). 3 stage development 1st Theological stage. 2nd Metaphysical Stage. 3rd Scientific stage - we can understand social interactions and society if we understand its “underlying logic”.

Question 11

Harriet Martineau

Answer 11

English (17th century) Feminist - Men and women should be equal on all accounts in society. How to Observe Morals and Manners.

Question 12

Karl Marx

Answer 12

(17th century) Historical Materialism - Considers class struggle between capitalist elites and proletariat. Argues that social inequality and unrest is the driver of significant social change.

Question 13

Max Weber

Answer 13

German (17th&18th century) contributions -Verstehen, reformation from religious perspective to importance on riches. Theories on authority, rationality, that state etc…

Question 14

Verstehen

Answer 14

A subjective basis for social behavior. Social behavior should be understood from the perspective of those engaging in it. The basis for interpretive sociology.

Question 15

Emile Durkheim

Answer 15

French (17&18th century). Division of labor - division of labor increases as society becomes more complex and develops specialized roles. Anomie and Positivist Psychology

Question 16

Anomie

Answer 16

a sense of aimlessness or despair that arises when we can no longer reasonably expect life to be predictable; too little social regulation; normlessness.

Question 17

Positivist sociology

Answer 17

a strain within sociology that believes the social world can be described and predicted by certain observable relationships (akin to social physics)

Question 18

Georg Simmel

Answer 18

formal sociology - pure numbers. E.g., difference between group of to and group of three+. Also formed antecedents of network theory.

Question 19

Chicago School

Answer 19

Considered urbanisation, interested in immigration, race, politics. Cooley and Mead pragmatist school of philosophy.

Question 20

W.E.B. Du Bois

Answer 20

First black Sociologist came up with double consciousness. Interested in criminology. Newfound freedoms of former slaves. Claimed inequality was necessary for progress.

Question 21

Double Consciousness

Answer 21

description of two behavioral scripts, one for moving through the world and the other incorporating the external opinions of prejudiced onlookers, which are constantly maintained by African Americans.

Question 22

Jane Adams

Answer 22

Member of Chicago School - Hull House, attempted to link university ideas to the poor through a community center.

Question 23

Functionalism

Answer 23

theory - various social institutions and processes in society exist to serve some important function to keep society running.

Question 24

Conflict Theory

Answer 24

conflict between competing interests is the basic, animating force of social change and society in general.

Question 25

Feminist theory

Answer 25

equality of men and women

Question 26

Symbolic Interactionism

Answer 26

eschews larger sociological theories in favor of micro-level interactions. Shared meanings, assumptions, and orientations form the basis of people’s actions.

Question 27

Postmodernism

Answer 27

The term derives from the idea that the grand narratives of history are over… questions the notion of progress and history, and multiple, potentially conflicting, identities resulting from disjointed affiliations. Shared meanings have eroded and one thing may mean something different to different groups. Everything is interpretable, “even facts are up for debate”. Objective phenomena are social constructions.

Question 28

Social Construction

Answer 28

an entity that exists because people agree upon it and all of there social structures help to support the construction of this entity.

Question 29

Midrange theory

Answer 29

Doesn’t try to predict society at large or between individuals. Instead attempts to explain the workings and interactions of social institutions and thus develops falsifiable hypotheses.

Question 30

Microsociology

Answer 30

seeks to understand interactional contexts. uses ethnographic methods - participant observation and in-depth interviews

Question 31

Macrosociology

Answer 31

concerned with social dynamics across the breadth of society

Question 32

Deductive approach

Answer 32

a research approach that starts with a theory, forms a hypothesis makes empirical observations, and then analyzes the data to confirm, reject, or modify the original theory.

Question 33

Inductive approach

Answer 33

a research approach that starts with empirical observation and then works to form a theory.

Question 34

Requirements of causality

Answer 34

correlation, time order, ruling out alternative explanations.

Question 35

Reverse Causality

Answer 35

the mistake that a is responsible for b, when in fact the reverse is true.

Question 36

Dependent variable

Answer 36

the outcome that you’re trying to explain.

Question 37

Independent variable

Answer 37

variable that is believed to have a causal impact on the dependent variable.

Question 38

Validity

Answer 38

the extent to which an instrument measures what it is intended to measure.

Question 39

Reliability

Answer 39

the likelihood of obtaining consistent results using the same measure.

Question 40

Generalizability

Answer 40

the extent to which we can claim our findings inform us about a group larger than the one we studied.

Question 41

Reflexivity

Answer 41

analyzing and critically considering our own role in, and effect on, our research.

Question 42

Culture

Answer 42

the sum of the social categories and concepts we embrace in addition to belief, behaviors and practices. Everything but the natural world

Question 43

Ethnocentrism

Answer 43

the belief that one’s own culture or group is superior to others, the tendency to view others from the perspective of one’s own culture.

Question 44

Nonmaterial culture

Answer 44

values, beliefs, behaviors, and social norms

Question 45

Material culture

Answer 45

everything that is part of our constructed physical environment

Question 46

Culture lag

Answer 46

time gap between the appearance of new tech and the words and practices that give it meaning

Question 47

culture shock

Answer 47

doubt, confusion, or anxiety arising from immersion in an unfamiliar culture.

Question 48

code switch

Answer 48

to flip between different cultures

Question 49

ideology

Answer 49

system of concepts and relationships, an understanding of cause and effect.

Question 50

cultural relativism

Answer 50

taking into account the differences across cultures

Question 51

cultural scripts

Answer 51

modes of behavior and understanding that are not universal or natural