SOC 101 Chapter 1 Notes
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scientific
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a way of learning about the world that combines logically constructed theory and systematic observation
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sociology
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the scientific study of human social relationships, groups, and societies
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social embeddedness
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the idea that economic, political, and other forms of human behavior are fundamentally shaped by social relationships
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purpose of sociology
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to understand and generate new knowledge about human behavior, social relations, and social institutions on a larger scale
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sociological imagination
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the ability to grasp the relationship between individual lives and the larger social forces that shape them
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agency
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the ability of individuals and groups to exercise free will and to make social change
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structure
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patterned social arrangements that have an effect on agency
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critical thinking
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the ability to evaluate claims about truth by using reason and evidence
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norms
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accepted social behaviors and beliefs
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anomie
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a state of normlessness that occurs when people lose sight of the shared rules and values that give order and meaning to their lives
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social statics
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the way society is held together
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social dynamics
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the laws that govern social change
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positivism
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based on facts alone
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C. Wright Mills
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said uncovering relationship between personal troubles and public issues requires a sociological imagination
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rules of critical thinking
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1. be willing to ask any question, no matter how difficult 2. think logically and be clear 3. back up your arguments with evidence 4. think about the assumptions and biases - including your own - that underlie all studies 5. avoid anecdotal evidence 6. be willing to admit when you are wrong or uncertain about your results
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development of sociological thinking
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the scientific revolution, the enlightenment, the industrial revolution, urbanization: the population shift toward cities
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Comte
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french social theorist credited with founding modern sociology, naming it, and associating it with the scientific study of social relationships. Twin pillars of his sociology were study of social statics and social dynamics. Claimed his new science of sociology was positivist. Gave three stages to all sciences.
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Durkheim
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french scholar who set the field on its present course. laid out rules for conducting research, developed an important theory of social change. For him, sociology's subject matter was social facts. Only social facts can explain other social facts. Principal concern was explaining the impact of modern society on social solidarity. He viewed that these bonds are based on similarity, which is mechanical solidarity, as opposed to organic solidarity.
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Karl Marx
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His central idea was that virtually all societies throughout history have been divided into economic classes, with one class prospering at the expense of others - all human history should be understood as the product of class conflict. Condemned capitalism's exploitation of working people (proletariat) by the ownership class (bourgeoisie). Believed there would eventually be utopia. Means of production would belong to fewer and fewer hands. Thought social change would be revolutionary as opposed to evolutionary
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Max Weber
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german sociologist who said to explain what people do we must use a method called Verstehen (interpretive understanding) - imagine how subjects being studied might have perceived and interpreted the situation. modern societies were characterized by the development and growing influence of formal rationality. He studied bureaucracies - said they were formally rational, but at the same time irrational because it would strip people of their humanity and creativity
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social facts
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qualities of groups that are external to individual members yet constrain their thinking and behavior; ?
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social solidarity
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the bonds that unite the members of a social group
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mechanical solidarity
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bonds are based on similarity
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organic solidarity
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modern society functions as an interdependent organic whole, like a human body
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bourgeoisie
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the capitalist (or property-owning) class
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proletariat
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the working class; wage workers
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class conflict
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the product of competition between social classes over the distribution of wealth and power in society
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capitalism
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ownership class, bourgeoisie, exploits the working class, proletariat
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historical materialism
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a theory of socioeconomic development according to which changes in material conditions are the primary influence on how society and the economy are organized
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social relationships
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Weber's Verstehen sought to explain them by having the sociologist/observer imagine how the subjects being studied might have perceived and interpreted the situation
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bureaucracies
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formal organizations characterized by written rules, hierarchical authority, and a paid staff, intended to promote organizational efficiency
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micro
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small
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macro
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large
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(structural) functionalism
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seeks to explain social organization and change in terms of the roles performed by different social structures and institutions
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conflict theory
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seeks to explain social organization and change in terms of the conflict built into social relationships
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symbolic interaction
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argues that both the individual self and society as a whole are the product of social interactions based on language and other symbols
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scientific method
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a process of gathering empirical data, creating theories, and rigorously testing theories
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hypotheses
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ideas about the world that describe a possible relationship between social phenomena
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inductive reasoning
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starts from specific data, such as interviews or field notes, which may focus on a single community or event, and endeavors to identify larger patterns from which to derive more general theories
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deductive reasoning
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the process of taking an existing theory and logically deducing that if the theory is accurate, we should discover other patterns of behavior consistent with it
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qualitative research
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highlights data that cannot be quantified (or converted into numbers), focusing instead on generating in-depth knowledge of social life, institutions, and processes
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quantitative research
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gathers data that can be quantified and offers insight into patterns of social behavior and social attitudes
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scientific theories
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answer questions about how and why scientific observations are as they are
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concept
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an idea that describes a number of things that have something in common
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operational definition
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definition of a concept that allows it to be observed and measured
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variable
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a concept or its empirical measure that can take on multiple values
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quantitative variables
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factors we can count
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qualitative variables
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variables that express a quality and do not have a numerical value
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correlation
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the degree to which two or more variables are associated with one another
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causal relationship
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a relationship between two variables in which the one is the cause of the other
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spurious relationship
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a correlation between two or more variables that is actually the result of something else that is not being measured, rather than a causal link between the variables themselves
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negative correlation
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one variable increases as the other decreases
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principle of falsification
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the principle, advanced by philosopher Karl Popper, that a scientific theory must lead to testable hypotheses that can be disproved if they are wrong
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falsifiability
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the ability for a theory to be disproven; the logical possibility for a theory to be tested and proven false
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validity
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the concepts and measurements accurately represent what they claim to represent
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reliability
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the extent to which the findings are consistent with different studies of the same phenomenon or with the same study over time
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bias
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a characteristic of results that systematically misrepresent the full dimensions of what is being studied
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objectivity
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ability to represent the object of study accurately
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value neutral
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personal beliefs and opinions do not influence the course of research
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replication
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the repetition of a previous study using a different sample or population to verify or refute the original findings
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research methods
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specific techniques for systematically gathering data
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survey
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a questionnaire or interviews administered to a group of people in person or by telephone or e-mail to determine their characteristics, opinions, and behaviors
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sample
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a portion of the larger population selected to represent the whole
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population
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the whole group of people studied in sociological research
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random sample
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a sample in which everyone in the population of interest has an equal chance of being chosen for the study
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fieldwork
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a method of research that uses in-depth and often extended study to describe and analyze a group or community
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interview
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a detailed conversation designed to obtain in-depth information about a person and his or her activities
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leading questions
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a question that solicits a particular response
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experiments
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research techniques for investigating cause and effect under controlled conditions
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independent (experimental) variable
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a variable that causes changes in another variable
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dependent variable
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a variable that changes as a result of changes in another variable
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statistical data
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quantitative information obtained from government agencies, businesses, research studies, and other entities that collect data for their own or others' use
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document analysis
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examines written materials or cultural products: previous studies, newspaper reports, court records, campaign posters, digital reports, films, pamphlets and other forms of text or images produced by individuals, government agencies, or private organizations
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Nuremberg code
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a collection of ethical research guidelines developed to help prevent such atrocities from ever happening again
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symbols
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cultural representations of social realities
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language
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a particular kind of symbolic system, composed of verbal, nonverbal, and sometimes written representations that are vehicles for conveying meaning
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culture
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the beliefs, norms, behaviors, and products common to the members of a particular group
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material culture
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the physical objects that are created, embraced, or consumed by society that help shape people's lives
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nonmaterial culture
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the abstract creations of human cultures, including ideas about behavior and living
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beliefs
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particular ideas that people accept as true
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norms
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the common rules of a culture that govern the behavior of people belonging to it
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folkways
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fairly weak norms that are passed down from the past, whose violation is generally not considered serious within a particular culture
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mores
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strongly held norms, violation of which would seriously offend the standards of acceptable conduct of most people within a particular culture
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taboos
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powerful mores, the violation of which is considered serious and even unthinkable
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laws
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codified norms or rules of behavior
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values
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the abstract and general standards in society that define ideal principles, like those governing notions of right and wrong
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ideal culture
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the values, norms, and behaviors that people in a given society profess to embrace
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real culture
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the values, norms, and behaviors that people in a given society actually embrace and exhibit
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cultural inconsistency
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a contradiction between the goals of ideal culture and the practices of real culture
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doxic
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that which is taken for granted as \"natural\" or \"normal\" in society, though it may be socially constructed
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ethnocentrism
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a worldview whereby one judges other cultures by the standards of one's own culture
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etic perspective
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the perspective of the outside observer
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emic perspective
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the perspective of the insider
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cultural relativism
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a worldview whereby we understand the practices of another society sociologically, in terms of that society's own norms and values and not our own
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subcultures
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cultures that exist together with a dominant culture but differ from it in some important respects
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high culture
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music, theater, literature, and other cultural products that are held in particularly high esteem in society
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popular culture
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the entertainment, culinary, and athletic tastes shared by the masses
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social class reproduction
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the way class status is reproduced from generation to generation
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cultural capital
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wealth in the form of knowledge, ideas, verbal skills, and ways of thinking and behaving
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habitus
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the internalization of objective probabilities and the expression of those probabilities as choice
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multiculturalism
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a commitment to respecting cultural differences rather than submerging them into a larger, dominant culture
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rape culture
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a social culture that provides an environment conducive to rape
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global culture
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a type of culture - some would say US culture - that has spread across the world in the form of Hollywood films, fast-food restaurants, and popular music heard in virtually every country
