Sociology Exam 1

Sociology Exam 1

Sociological Imagination & theoretical perspectives
1. 3 Tenants of Sociological Imagination
  1. Making the familiar "strange" to view our culture from an outsider's perspective to understand nuances & patterns
  2. Recognizing the difference between personal troubles & societal issues (e.g. unemployment)
  3. Connecting personal experiences with societal history to understand how society influences our lives & vice versa
2. Feminism
  1. Advocate for equality of women & men, mainly politically (e.g. suffrage)
    1. 1st wave: political rights incl. suffrage, property rights, etc.
    2. 2nd wave: reclaiming sexuality, deconstruct gender roles, reduce derogatory terms towards women
    3. 3rd wave (present): deconstruct binary genders, intersectionality, further reclaim sexuality
    4. Liberal: work w/ inst. & gov. (e.g. suffrage & property ri.)
    5. Radical: critiques categories of gender, gender roles, support non-binary, = pay, soc. issues
    6. Essentialist: inherent differences between men & women that should be acknowledged
  2. Critique: 1st (& 2nd?) wave(s) focused on oppression of rich, white women, while ignoring experiences of people of color, poor women, & non-cis
3. Conflict Theory
  1. Inequality due to capitalism, proletariats must revolt to change system to socialism
    1. Marx: bourgeoisie vs. proletariat; the owners of property exploit those who don't own any
  2. Critique: theory too narrow as it mainly focuses on econ.; doesn't account for fact that econ. systems in soc. haven't changed much (e.g. CEOs vs. workers)
  3. Example: in simpson's video, we see family enjoying show, meanwhile sweatshop shows exploitation of people to create products for consumers
4. Functionalism
  1. Can study societies the same way we study human bodies
  2. Every part of society (e.g. religion, schools) is needed for soc. to function, like organs are needed in body
  3. Critique: theory doesn't account for fact that things in society have changed over time; if every part worked the way it should (as human body), wouldn't need to be removed/changed. Plus, no critical lens applied to view society
5. Symbolic Interactionism
  1. Reality & meaning created through interactions between ppl; social reality is created & reenacted
    1. Example: if person deems what the experience as reality, they will interact with others as if it is all real & prescribe meaning to interactions themselves
    2. Max Weber: ppl act according to how they perceive reality/the world
  2. Critique: theory is too narrow (inspects interactions too closely) & allows for too much interpretation in relationships/interactions, so no est. meaning
6. Levels of analysis
  1. Micro
    1. Individual level; example: interactions between couples, self perception, etc.
  2. Meso
    1. group level; example: comparing behaviors in different work places, how children's sports are organized
  3. Macro
    1. structural level (social structures & institutes); example: interactions between countries
7. Positivism
  1. Belief that thru research, logic & meaning can be prescribed to everything
  2. Society acts according to laws just as the physical world does; assumes objectivity
  3. Critique: antipositivism; doesn't make sense as theory rejects intuitive knowledge; no meaning to anything
8. Functions of Society
  1. Manifest: intended function (e.g. purpose of tailgating is to eat & party)
  2. Latent: unintended function (e.g. tailgating leads to binge drinking & drunk driving)
9. Postmodernism
  1. Who produces knowledge? Why? Who benefits, what institutions? The creator influences the masses
  2. Questions binary thinking, all-encompassing logic, criticizes theories that attempt to explain everything under one single reason. Instead, logic should come from each persons' indiv. exper.
  3. Critique: undermines educational endeavors, vague, promotes deviant behavior, no intellectual contribution
10. Social Construct Theory
  1. Do things have inherent existence? Or do they exist b/c we prescribe value to them?
  2. Example: currency only works b/c we believe it has value, when it's just paper
  3. Critique: even if nothing has inherent value, still has real implications, e.g. if you flip off someone, they'll take offense & hate you
Culture, Structure, & Groups
1. Ethnocentrism: belief that your culture is superior others & to view them thru the standards of your own culture
2. Mindful skepticism: treat current beliefs as provisional & explore alternative ways of making sense of things b/c one of the ways might come in handy
3. Culture: a collection of abstract beliefs and norms that dictate how a society functions; shared understandings that ppl use to coordinate activities
  1. Values: abstract beliefs held by a culture/society
  2. Norms: how values are carried out in society; soc. expectations that guide behavior
    1. Example: the value of privacy is maintained through the norm of giving people space in public
4. Cultural scripts: "rules" (norms) ppl follow in situations that go along with social norms (e.g. bathroom)
  1. Sanctions: punishments for breaking script. Can be informal (stigmatization) or formal (jail)
5. Xenophobia: dislike of things perceived as foreign/different
6. Cultural relativism: taking into account differences across cultures w/o judgement or assigning value
7. Socialization: process of indiv. internalizing values, beliefs, norms of society & learn to funct. w/in that society
  1. Primary Socialization
    1. 1st process of learning social norms; shape behavior & beliefs based on culture, typically in infancy, done by primary group
    2. Primary group: unspecialized, intimate, enduring relationships; group spends lots of time together
      1. Example: family
  2. Secondary Socialization
    1. Later processes of shaping behavior based on culture & norms of surroundings; takes place each time we join new 2ndary group
      1. Secondary groups: larger, impersonal, specialized, temporary groups, have 1-2 goals
        Example: classrooms, friends, workplaces
  3. Resocialization
    1. deliberately re-engineered beliefs, norms, etc. thru intense social processes
      1. Total Institution: secondary group that fully changes behavior & beliefs, controls day to day life
        Example: military, boarding school
Social Deviance
1. Stigma: label of actions/behaviors that go against cultural norm; labeled ppl demoted from "normal" to "discredited"
2. Status: recognizable social positions that an indiv. occupies
  1. Master status: main status ppl identify others by based on appearances/perceptions
    1. Example: Asian
  2. Achieved status: status that one earns in life thru work or just thru life experience
    1. Example: professor
  3. Ascribed status: status one is given @ birth/born into
    1. Example: daughter
  4. Status set: set of statuses each indiv. holds (unique combo for each)
3. Role: duties that a person has that come with their status
  1. Role strain: conflict due to different demanding duties of the role under the same status
    1. Example: As a student at UIowa, have to study, but also join student org
  2. Role conflict: conflict between competing roles a person has
    1. Example: as a student & a mom, a person would have to compete between taking care of their kids & doing homework
4. Deviance: behaviors/actions that go against social norm
  1. Primary deviance: defying social norms, yet not prescribing to identity of one who does such things
    1. Example: a person with an eating disorder exhibits behaviors of such, yet does not identify as "anorexic"
  2. Secondary deviance: identifying w/ label of deviant behavior after others' reactions
    1. Example: person w/ eating disorder recognizes self as "anorexic" after family & friends point out disorder
  3. Informal deviances have no formal punishment (e.g. farting in lecture) while formal deviances have real punishments (e.g. jail)
5. Reality: collection of beliefs bound by time, space, & location
6. Label theory: ppl take on identities based on labels given to you & your reactions to that label
Research
1. Q's sociologists can ask
  1. Empirical
    1. Example: "What are the effects of working during high school on GPA?
  2. Q's of interp
    1. Example: "What does 'family' mean to intended parents & surrogates?
2. Q's sociologists cannot ask
  1. Aesthetic
    1. Example: "Is this painting beautiful?"
  2. Moral
    1. Example: "Is it morally permissible to smoke around other people?"
3. 3 ethics of research
  1. Do no harm
  2. Informed consent
  3. Voluntary participation
  4. Example: Tuskegee syphillis study
4. Qualitative v. Quantative
5. Deductive
  1. theory/hypothesis --> experiment --> observations--> confirmation
6. Inductive
  1. Observations --> pattern --> tentative hypothesis --> theory
7. Data collection
  1. observations, diaries, newspapers, interviews, surveys
  2. comparative research, experimental methods, content analysis

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	Created by Jackie Chu over 8 years ago