Sociology – Flashcards with Answers

The study of human society. The study of social life, social change, and the causes and consequences of human behavior.

socially-produced beliefs, ideas, ways of organizing the world. products of human effort & social interaction.

Social units in societies that direct organized social activities. Provide rules, roles, & relationships set up to meet human needs and direct human behavior. Enduring customs in social life & longstanding formal organization.

enduring patterns in human behavior. The social contexts of our lives are not random assortments of events. They are structured, or patterned, in enduring ways.

sociological imagination enables us to grasp history and biography and the relations between the two within society. Connects ‘personal troubles’ of individuals and ‘public issues’ of social structure: both terrible but magnificent

Social physics… “sociology”
… positivism

the extent to which research findings tell us more than statements about the groups studied. the ability to derive general conclusions from particulars

theory to data
generally positivist: strain of sociology that holds the social world, can be described and predicted by certain knowable relationships
quantitative generallyy

data to theory
generally interpretivist: holds that the social world is full of meanings, interpretations of experiences, and it can’t be studied like the natural world.
generally qualitative

change in x (independent variable) -> change in y (dependent variable)
ex.) model in vogue –> girls with lower self esteem, body image issues

x <- y

variable a, is changing both x and y
ex.) a is modernization and globalization of ideas

association, simultaneous variation

change in one factor corresponds to change in another factor

Men make their own history, but they do not make it just as they please; they do not make it under circumstances chosen by themselves, but under circumstances directly encountered, given and transmitted from the past. The tradition of all the dead generations weighs like a nightmare on the brain of the living.”

shared meanings, orientations, and assumptions form the basic motivations to people’s actions
ex.) we know to keep an arms length distance etc.

something is meaningful, valuable, and real when society tells us it is

Mead: I, Me, Other …imitation, play, games…generalized other

your sense of self emerges from imagining how others see you

Robert Merton
Status: social position an individual occupies (ascribed status, achieved status)
Role: duties of someone who holds particular status (role strain, role conflict)

can you change it?

Impression management: we are always maintain a certain image of ourselves and trying to avoid embarrassment ex.) teacher trying to act/look more strcitly
Face: trying to always avoid embarrassment and shame
Front Stage/Backstage: the face you put on when you are in front of other people vs. how you really act behind the scenes ex.) waitress acting very nice and smiley to you but in the kitchen she is backtalking a rude customer
Working Consensus: maintain a shared definition of a situation (ex. gynecologist exams- in any other scenario it would be inappropriate etc)

Harold Garfinkle: people are constantly structing meanings in the social world, we draw from context

gaps in conversation and cues tell you things that the friend will not outright say

set of beliefs, traditions, practices- the sum total of social categories and concepts we embrace in addition to beliefs, behaviors, and practices. that which is not in the natural environment around us.

the use of one’s own culture as a yardstick for judging the ways other individuals or societies generally leadings to negative evaluation

enduring patterns in human behavior. The social contexts of our lives are not random assortments of events. They are structured, or patterned, in enduring ways

Anthony Giddens- 2 way process by which we shape our social world through individual action and by which we are reshaped by society. Our activities structure (give shape to) the social world around us and at the same time are structured by that social world

social entrepreneurs can connect people through weak ties. weak tie is not a direct contact, don’t know each other very well (may only have mutual friends). But these ties are most valuable because they help you get jobs and getting jobs through these ties leads to greater satisfaction and get paid more. 17% get job from close friend, 56% through weak tie. Position in social network also matters when looking for jobs, etc.

Mark Granovetter: economic relations between individuals or firms are embedded in social networks. (strength of weak ties)
high embeddedness=lots of weak ties in your network= you are rich in social capital

resources available from your social connections

core infection model, inverse core model, bridge between disjointed populations, spamming tree

normative theory of suicide

too much social integration. ties that are too close can lead to pathology + suicide ex.) Samuri (hara-kiri) ties are so close that they cannot let fellow members of community down

too much regulation. ex.) prisoners in a jail, workers in factories, workcamps, etc.

too little social integration, weak social ties and cohesion (religion is individualized) ex. protestants

too little regulation, don’t find purpose in their life, feels like its too unpredictable, etc. ex. man who lost his job, recently divorced

an approach to understanding a social phenomenon in terms its contribution to society
-> social cohesion: social bonds
-> collective conscience

Pre-modern …. Modern

Low division of labor …. High division of labor
Collective
Vengeance…Rehabilitation/Restitution

people notice how others see and label them, and those perceptions form the basis of self identity
-primary deviance/secondary deviance: stigma

What is social stratification? when individuals or groups occupy unequal positions in society based on socioeconomic factors
ex.) 99%

1.opportunity= fair game
2. condition= level playing field
3. outcome =equal rewards

are transferred from generation to generation

Social class: large group of people who occupy a similar economic position in the wider society
-share life chances (the opportunities you have for achieving economic prosperity)

-class systems are fluid, not clear cut
-class positions are in some part achieved- social mobility is more common in this system
– class is economically based

Max Weber:
believed class isn’t just about who controls labor and who doesn’t (marx)
there are other economic differences besides property such as people’s skills and credentials .
distinugished another aspect of stratification:
status- this refers to the esteem or “social honor” given to individuals or groups
ex.) Prestigious jobs list

the movement of individuals between different class positions as a result of changes in occupation, wealth, or income.
intergeneration income mobility: measuring it: rate of change as they grow up to get out of that quartile. Likelihood of staying in bottom fifth 42% (other countries are about 25% to 30%) When there is a 10% change in your parents earnings there is about 6% change in our earnings

any way groups try to maintain exclusive control over resources, limiting access to them

ease and familiarity with “high brow” culture (symbolic + interactional resources) -> convertible to economic captial. In addition to the advantages that money can buy for a middle-class student (tutoring, test prep courses, access to private schools or better public school districts), such students tend to come from families with more cultural capital, which can include greater parental involvement, more informal educational opportunities outside of school, and more confidence in dealing with school bureaucracies

set of dispositions (likes and dislikes) inscribed on the body

hidden form of symbolic power that maintains and legitimates hierarchy and oppression in everyday practice

Capitalist Base –> Superstructure leads to alienation

cannot get enough to eat; undernourished, may starve to death. common in poorer developing countries

US gov. calculates the poverty line as an income three times the cost of a nutritionally adequate diet

being poor compared with standards of living of the majority; lacks resources to maintain decent housing and healthy living conditions

what we think we can know about the world

Max Weber: Systemic criteria: we don’t do things because here is some magical/traditional way, we do it because it is rational
“Time is money”
“early to bed and early to rise, makes a man healthy, wealthy, and wise”
“a penny saved is a penny earned”
morality or spirit of capitalism is formed
– must work very hard
– cannot enjoy fruits of your behavior (save up)
– must be rational
→ this philosophy does come from Protestantism and Calvinism
sows the seeds for capitalism
notion of calling from Calvinism
enormous amount of self discipline
also has the idea of predestination→ only a few will be handpicked by God to go on into heaven
– problem is we don’t know who exactly is predestined for heaven, produces a lot of uncertainty
– work very hard to show signs that you are successful in this life, so that you can be successful in the after life
Unintended result of capitalism
– Argument of enormous social change through people’s personal beliefs
Many of the early arguments have fallen away to modern times
Paper starts to get a more pessimistic tone
Belief that we have to earn money and need possessions
Steel cage: we can break out but usually can’t see beyond it so you don’t

more than 150 friendships will start to breakdown. actual number is about 100-230.

natural growth: a lot of free time and not everything is schedule and planned out
concerted cultivation: parents plan out schedules and activities for children

Bourgeoisie vs. Proletariat
(business owners v. wage workers)
Ruthlessly exploitative at the same time of the bourgeoisie because they get a surplus value of the goods they produce.
Captalist extract surplus value from workers
Marx’s labor theory of value
Nike’s exploitation of workers
Alienation
— from products
—from process of labor
— from self
— from other people
estrangement- artificially extracted from a person
Products: fetishism of commodities
Work is something that comes natural to us and we should be working for our self, not being paid for doing work (unnatural to us)
Capitalistic base (economic relations of production) → super structure (social and ideological structures)
Art, Science, Religion, etc. → all superstructures
False Consciousness: women should be beautiful, we need to save up to buy cool shoes, etc.
False consciousness; the ideas and values we have are actually brought on by companies, etc. Because of the hegemony of capitalistic class. Gives us a sense of values and believes that work against us

forcing conversation to assert themselves and make women uncomfortable

feel conflicted about the role you’re supposed to play. They want to be nice but feeling harassed so they feel conflicted

false neg

false positive

Rosenhand’s claim -> once you get labelled you cannot get out of this claim, even when they acted normal, actions get interpreted as “insane”
-eventually people accept this label and act accordingly
become “belittled” and constantly surveyed + micromanaged
different environments bring our different behaviors within us, our background affects this
psychologist give a type of type I error (not insane but implying/indicating that they are)

repeat offending/reentry into prison system
b/c of racism +stigma to race. African Americans were more likely to revert to crime b/c they cannot find steady work

older white men. specifically: elites have highest suicide rate. because they have too many opportunities. we can do anything and have too little boundaries

development an unshakable identity “I have chosen the best path”

they feel like they earned their privilege through hard work, not birth right. Equality of opportunity (US) vs. equality of condition

big picture (media + influence on world)

how people change on a smaller level (infant+caregiver)

middle ground (government +education)

babies at orphanage vs. nursery. Seemed similar on the surface but small differences had impact
nursery: had bars so babies could see what was going on vs.
orphanage: solitary confinment/ no social stimulation
-> more withdrawn and 40% died
similar to supermax prison- solitary confinement “going into the hole”

deception (lack of informed consent)
potential psychological harm
63% went up to lethal shock
due to authority we can blindly commit crimes/ethical crimes.

Philip Zimbardo’s broken windows theory of deviance explains how social context and social cues impact the way individuals act. People who wouldn’t dare exhibit a certain behavior in one social context might do so in another context where the behavior seems more permissible

Harold Garfinkel developed a method for studying social interactions, called “breaching experiments,” that involved having collaborators exhibit “abnormal” or “atypical” behaviors in social interactions in order to see how people would react

is a process of social and economic change caused by the removal or reduction of industrial capacity or activity in a country or region, especially heavy industry or manufacturing industry. It is an opposite of industrialization

is a qualitative research design aimed at exploring cultural phenomena. The resulting field study or a case report reflects the knowledge and the system of meanings in the lives of a cultural group.An ethnography is a means to represent graphically and in writing, the culture of a people

is a political philosophy that holds power should be vested in individuals according to merit.[1] Advancement in such a system is based on perceived intellectual talent measured through examination and/or demonstrated achievement in the field where it is implemented

how individuals define themselves in relationship to group with which they affliate (or dissociate from)