Sociology Final Straighterline
Sociology – Correct answer-scientific study of patterns and processes of social life in all
its major areas
Theoretical Frameworks of Sociology – Correct answer-Functionalist
Conflict
Interactionist
Sociological Imagination – Correct answer-awareness of the relationship between an
individual and the wider society
Socialization – Correct answer-process of social interaction by which people acquire
knowledge, attitudes, values and behaviors
agents of socialization – Correct answer-family, peers, school, mass media
Sociological Theory – Correct answer-a set of ideas that explains a range of human
behavior and a variety of social and societal events
Culture – Correct answer-social heritage of a people – learned patterns of thinking,
feeling and acting passed on to generations (customs)
society – Correct answer-A community of people who share a common culture
Culture in Flux – Correct answerSubculture – Correct answer-A group whose members participate in the main culture of
a society while simultaneously sharing a number of unique values, norms, traditions,
and lifestyles.
Counterculture – Correct answer-A sub- culture whose norms and values are
substantially at odds with those of the larger society.
Ethnocentrism – Correct answer-Belief in the superiority of one’s nation or ethnic group.
role – Correct answer-a set of expectations (norms) about a social position, defining how
those in the position ought to behave
Statuses – Correct answer-positions in society that are used to classify individuals
Groups – Correct answer-2 or more people unified by patterns of social interaction
What is sociology?
the systematic study of human society
Anthropology (physical)
Human origins/revolution
How does anthropology (physical) differ from sociology?
Stresses biological characteristics and behaviors rather than contemporary human life.
Anthropology (cultural)
Cultural variations in time and space
How does anthropology (cultural) differ from sociology?
Closest to sociology
Stresses on simple, non-literate cultures rather than contemporary industrialized societies.
Psychology
Individual human behavior
How does psychology differ from sociology?
Studies individuals rather than groups.
Economics
Production, distributions and consumption of wealth.
How does economics differ from sociology?
Wealth and resources
Only one aspect of sociology
Political science
Government and politics
How does political science differ from sociology?
Stresses political behavior
Only one aspect of sociology
Functionalist Perspective
Society as a system
A system is to survive where certain essential tasks are performed.
If it fails to maintain it will perish
Benefits society in general by rewarding occupations vital to group welfare. The system of rewards motivates competent people to sacrifice to become doctors and lawyers.
Conflict Perspective
Society as a whole
Studying institutions and structural arrangements
Viewed as the exploitation of many while rewarding the few. Stratification is an unjust system inflicted on society by those with power and wealth in order to maintain their own interests.
Interactionist Perspective
Human beings have the ability to communicate with one another by means of symbols.
We act toward people, objects, and events on the basis of the meanings we impart to them.
Interactionists are interested in the importance of social call with regard to an individuals lifestyle. For example: Not only do the very rich buy more than they need or can use (conspicuous consumption and conspicuous leisure) but many also try to keep the lower class “away” or “under control”
Feminist Perspective
Effects of inequities based on gender
Critical Theory
Mass culture cannot be a true reflection of peoples beliefs, tastes and values.
Sociological Imagination
The ability to see the link between society and self
Socialization
Lifelong process of social interaction by which people acquire knowledge, values, attitudes, and behaviors
Agents of Scoialization
a. Family
b. Peers
c. School
d. Workspace
e. Mass media
Culture
Learned patterns of thinking, feeling and acting transmitted from one generation to the next.
Totality of a complex whole.
Society
Fairly large number of people who life independently in the same region.
Participate in common culture.
Norms – Formal
Behaviors that have been written down and specify strict punishments for violators.
Norms – Informal
Standards of behavior generally understood but not written down.
Ex: manners, way people dress, greetings.
Norms – Folkways
Norms governing everyday behavior
Ex: Customary rules of conduct but not vital to welfare of society.
Culture in flux
Culture is not static, but always in flux, always changing.
Cultures
- Values, beliefs, and attitudes (non-material culture)
- Objects and power relations (material culture)*Should include
- Ways of seeing the world (paradigms)
- Relating to others (interaction styles)
Subcultures
A segment of society that shares a distinctive pattern of values that differ from the patter of larger society.
Ex: Argot – specialized language for insiders (ex. – rap)
Counterculture
Thrives among young people. Perceive themselves as anti-establishment (against norms/values)
Ethnocentrism
Tendency to assume that ones own culture is normal/superior to all others
Statuses
Position within a group
Ascribed status – assigned at birth (age, race, gender)
Achieved status – choice and competition (graduation, job)
Master status – determines a persons position in society
Roles
Set of expectations for people
Exiting a role (four stages: doubt, search for alternatives, action, creation of new identity)
Groups
Any number of people with similar values/norms who interact on a regular basis (ex. – friendships, sports teams, online groups)
Social Structures
Network of the individual’s statuses and roles that guides human interaction
Complex Societies
A big group of people living together allowed for a diverse range of jobs which resulted in different wealths and therefore caused society to progress to what it is today
Family Structures
Characteristics of a family: United by ties of marriage, blood or adoption; live together under one roof; interact and communicate according to social roles; maintain a common culture.
Family Structure Types
Traditional/Nuclear, extended, blended, single-parent, polygamous
Challenges to Family
Family violence
Divorce
Defining Government – Economic & Political systems: Capitalism
Production and distribution
Privately owned
Primary goal = profits
Defining Government – Economic & Political systems: Socialism
Production and distribution
Collectively owned
Primary goal = meeting peoples needs
Defining Government – Economic & Political systems: Communism
Production and distribution
Communally owned
Primary goal = meeting all peoples needs equally
Types of Power
Legitimate – Legal norms/traditions
Charismatic – A person without formal authority who has the uncommon ability to influence people/ideas
Sources of Power
Force – imposing ones will on another
Influence – persuading someone to take action
Authority – Institutionalizing power that people recognize.
Religion
Unified system of beliefs and practices relative to sacred things (Emile Durkheim)
Sacred things
Elements that inspire awe and respect (opposite = profane)
Social institution
Pattern of norms centered around a major goal/value
Regulates human behavior
Impact of religion in America
voting patterns, public policies, political careers
4 Functions that make religion universal
Cohesive
Revitalizing
Euphoric
Disciplinary/Preparatory
Karl Marx’s view on religion
Form of false consciousness – people deluding themselves that things are better than they are.
Max Weber
Nature of religion has consequences for society
Protestant Ethic
Connect between the belief that hard work enables people to own businesses and give power to the economic system of capitalism
Education – Primary goal of education
Socialization of young people
Education reflects our culture
Education – 4 main purposes
Transmission – schools transmit values, attitudes, beliefs, norms, skills and knowledge
Recruiting – competitive selection for top occupational positions
Filtration – Filter young people out of labor market to maximize older citizens learning power
Promotion – technological change and innovation are promoted in schools
Teachers
Labeling theory
Self-fulfilling prophecy
Hidden curriculum
Speaking in turn
Following a time schedule
Obedient
Reliability
Responsibility
Industry
Conscientiousness
Self-control
Efficiency
Healthcare – Goals/Values
Increasing life expectancy
Healthcare – Prevalence
Number of people who currently have the condition
Will always be a higher number/rate
Healthcare – Incidence
Annual number of people have care of condition
Financing Healthcare – Managed Care
HMO’s and PPO’s – most common forms of managed care
Financing Healthcare – National Health Insurance
Great Britain pays 90% of its healthcare costs through taxation
Financing Healthcare – Government Sponsored Healthcare
Provide medically necessary healthcare to all people free of charge
Long waits are common though
Stratification
Structured ranking of entire groups of people that perpetuates unequal power in Society
Stratification theory
a. Criteria for ranking people: education, occupation, race/ethnicity, age, gender
b. 4 types: slavery, caste system, estate system, open class system
Poverty/Social Mobility
a. Upward mobility
Ability of one generation to do better than the previous one
Race/Minorities
Largest racial minority groups
African Americans
Native Americans
Asian Americans
Collective Behavior a:
Spontaneous –> Transitory –> Emotional –> Unpredictable
Collective Behavior b:
Collective behavior is NOT the same thing as group behavior
Collective Behavior c:
Factors that lead to collective behavior:
Structure is “ripe”/conducive
Structure is strained
Growth/spread of rumor
Precipitating factor/event
Participants mobilize to action
Breakdown is social control
Social movement: Reform
Attempt to modify a part of society
Social movement: Revolutionary
Seek to overthrow the existing social system
Social movement: Resistance
Seek to quell the fast pace of social change
Life Cycle stages of social movement
- Preliminary stage: social unrest
- Excitement stage: growth in popularity
- Formalized organization stage: goals clarified
- Institutionalization: social acceptance of some/all of goals
Factors that contribute to social change
Physical environment
Population
Conflict over resources and values
Supporting values and norms
Innovation
Diffusion
Mass media
Cyclical theory
Rise and fall of civilizations
Tend to be historians
Conflict theory
- Vested interests – institutions/practices persist because powerful groups work together to maintain status quo
- Societies are stable and long-lasting
- Societies experience serious conflict
Evolutionary perspective
- Unilinear – society is viewed as moving in a definite direction
- Multilinear – change can occur in several ways and does not lead in the same direction (change does not imply progress)
Functionalist perspective
- Focus on maintaining a system (not on what changes it)
Equilibrium model (Talcott Parsons) – if change occurs in one part of society, change must occur in other parts to maintain equilibrium/stability
Scientific Method
A series of steps followed to solve problems including collecting data, formulating a hypothesis, testing the hypothesis, and stating conclusions.
Interpretivism
A research perspective in which understanding and interpretation of the social world is derived from one’s personal intuition and perspective
Critical Research
An approach to research that aims to identify, critique, or change communication practices that oppress, marginalize, or otherwise harm people.
Quantitative
Translates social world into numbers that can be studied mathematically
Qualitative
Uses nonnumerical data like texts, interviews, photos.
Evaluation
use methods to make social policy recommendations effectiveness of programs/policies strengths: improve world we live in weakness-involved in politics
Sociology
scientific study of patterns and processes of social life in all its major areas
Theoretical Frameworks of Sociology
Functionalist
Conflict
Interactionist
Sociological Imagination
awareness of the relationship between an individual and the wider society
Socialization
process of social interaction by which people acquire knowledge, attitudes, values and behaviors
agents of socialization
family, peers, school, mass media
Sociological Theory
a set of ideas that explains a range of human behavior and a variety of social and societal events
Culture
social heritage of a people – learned patterns of thinking, feeling and acting passed on to generations (customs)
society
A community of people who share a common culture
Culture in Flux
Subculture
A group whose members participate in the main culture of a society while simultaneously sharing a number of unique values, norms, traditions, and lifestyles.
Counterculture
A sub- culture whose norms and values are substantially at odds with those of the larger society.
Ethnocentrism
Belief in the superiority of one’s nation or ethnic group.
role
a set of expectations (norms) about a social position, defining how those in the position ought to behave
Statuses
positions in society that are used to classify individuals
Groups
2 or more people unified by patterns of social interaction
social structure
The interweaving of people’s interactions and relationships in more or less recurrent and stable patterns.
Parts of Complex Societies
civilizations, which share many features, including having a dense population, an agriculture-based economy, a social hierarchy, a division of labor and specialization, a centralized government, monuments, record-keeping and writing
family structure
The legal and genetic relationships among relatives living in the same home; includes nuclear family, extended family, stepfamily, and so on.
Challenges to Family
Government
The institution through which a society makes and enforces its public policies
Economic Systems
Political Systems
Religion
the belief in and worship of a superhuman controlling power, especially a personal God or gods.
education
the process through which academic, social, and cultural ideas and tools, both general and specific, are developed
Health Care
social stratification
The structural ranking of individuals and groups; their grading into hierarchical layers of strata.
social stratification theory
A description of a hierarchical system that not only positions poverty and economic characteristics of groups in our society, but involves sociopolitical relationships as well
poverty
the state of being poor
social mobility
Movement of individuals or groups from one position in a society’s stratification system to another
Race
Identity with a group of people descended from a common ancestor.
minority
any category of people distinguished by physical or cultural difference that a society sets apart and subordinates
collective behavior
ways of thinking, feeling, and acting that develop among a large number of people and that are relatively spontaneous and unstructured.
social movement
A movement that represents the demands of a large segment of the public for political, economic, or social change.
The Scientific Method
A series of steps followed to solve problems including collecting data, formulating a hypothesis, testing the hypothesis, and stating conclusions.
Interpretivism
a research perspective in which understanding and interpretation of the social world is derived from one’s personal intuition and perspective