Sociology Exam 1

Sociology Exam 1

1. Sociological Imagination & theoretical perspectives

   • 3 Tenants of Sociological Imagination
     • Making the familiar "strange" to view our culture from an outsider's perspective to understand nuances & patterns
     • Recognizing the difference between personal troubles & societal issues (e.g. unemployment)
     • Connecting personal experiences with societal history to understand how society influences our lives & vice versa
   • Feminism
     • Advocate for equality of women & men, mainly politically (e.g. suffrage)
       • 1st wave: political rights incl. suffrage, property rights, etc.
       • 2nd wave: reclaiming sexuality, deconstruct gender roles, reduce derogatory terms towards women
       • 3rd wave (present): deconstruct binary genders, intersectionality, further reclaim sexuality
       • Liberal: work w/ inst. & gov. (e.g. suffrage & property ri.)
       • Radical: critiques categories of gender, gender roles, support non-binary, = pay, soc. issues
       • Essentialist: inherent differences between men & women that should be acknowledged
     • Critique: 1st (& 2nd?) wave(s) focused on oppression of rich, white women, while ignoring experiences of people of color, poor women, & non-cis
   • Conflict Theory
     • Inequality due to capitalism, proletariats must revolt to change system to socialism
       • Marx: bourgeoisie vs. proletariat; the owners of property exploit those who don't own any
     • 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)
     • Example: in simpson's video, we see family enjoying show, meanwhile sweatshop shows exploitation of people to create products for consumers
   • Functionalism
     • Can study societies the same way we study human bodies
     • Every part of society (e.g. religion, schools) is needed for soc. to function, like organs are needed in body
     • 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
   • Symbolic Interactionism
     • Reality & meaning created through interactions between ppl; social reality is created & reenacted
       • 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
       • Max Weber: ppl act according to how they perceive reality/the world
     • Critique: theory is too narrow (inspects interactions too closely) & allows for too much interpretation in relationships/interactions, so no est. meaning
   • Levels of analysis
     • Micro
       • Individual level; example: interactions between couples, self perception, etc.
     • Meso
       • group level; example: comparing behaviors in different work places, how children's sports are organized
     • Macro
       • structural level (social structures & institutes); example: interactions between countries
   • Positivism
     • Belief that thru research, logic & meaning can be prescribed to everything
     • Society acts according to laws just as the physical world does; assumes objectivity
     • Critique: antipositivism; doesn't make sense as theory rejects intuitive knowledge; no meaning to anything
   • Functions of Society
     • Manifest: intended function (e.g. purpose of tailgating is to eat & party)
     • Latent: unintended function (e.g. tailgating leads to binge drinking & drunk driving)
   • Postmodernism
     • Who produces knowledge? Why? Who benefits, what institutions? The creator influences the masses
     • 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.
     • Critique: undermines educational endeavors, vague, promotes deviant behavior, no intellectual contribution
   • Social Construct Theory
     • Do things have inherent existence? Or do they exist b/c we prescribe value to them?
     • Example: currency only works b/c we believe it has value, when it's just paper
     • Critique: even if nothing has inherent value, still has real implications, e.g. if you flip off someone, they'll take offense & hate you

2. Culture, Structure, & Groups

   • Ethnocentrism: belief that your culture is superior others & to view them thru the standards of your own culture
   • 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
   • Culture: a collection of abstract beliefs and norms that dictate how a society functions; shared understandings that ppl use to coordinate activities
     • Values: abstract beliefs held by a culture/society
     • Norms: how values are carried out in society; soc. expectations that guide behavior
       • Example: the value of privacy is maintained through the norm of giving people space in public
   • Cultural scripts: "rules" (norms) ppl follow in situations that go along with social norms (e.g. bathroom)
     • Sanctions: punishments for breaking script. Can be informal (stigmatization) or formal (jail)
   • Xenophobia: dislike of things perceived as foreign/different
   • Cultural relativism: taking into account differences across cultures w/o judgement or assigning value
   • Socialization: process of indiv. internalizing values, beliefs, norms of society & learn to funct. w/in that society
     • Primary Socialization
       • 1st process of learning social norms; shape behavior & beliefs based on culture, typically in infancy, done by primary group
       • Primary group: unspecialized, intimate, enduring relationships; group spends lots of time together
         • Example: family
     • Secondary Socialization
       • Later processes of shaping behavior based on culture & norms of surroundings; takes place each time we join new 2ndary group
         • Secondary groups: larger, impersonal, specialized, temporary groups, have 1-2 goals
           • Example: classrooms, friends, workplaces
     • Resocialization
       • deliberately re-engineered beliefs, norms, etc. thru intense social processes
         • Total Institution: secondary group that fully changes behavior & beliefs, controls day to day life
           • Example: military, boarding school

3. Social Deviance

   • Stigma: label of actions/behaviors that go against cultural norm; labeled ppl demoted from "normal" to "discredited"
   • Status: recognizable social positions that an indiv. occupies
     • Master status: main status ppl identify others by based on appearances/perceptions
       • Example: Asian
     • Achieved status: status that one earns in life thru work or just thru life experience
       • Example: professor
     • Ascribed status: status one is given @ birth/born into
       • Example: daughter
     • Status set: set of statuses each indiv. holds (unique combo for each)
   • Role: duties that a person has that come with their status
     • Role strain: conflict due to different demanding duties of the role under the same status
       • Example: As a student at UIowa, have to study, but also join student org
     • Role conflict: conflict between competing roles a person has
       • Example: as a student & a mom, a person would have to compete between taking care of their kids & doing homework
   • Deviance: behaviors/actions that go against social norm
     • Primary deviance: defying social norms, yet not prescribing to identity of one who does such things
       • Example: a person with an eating disorder exhibits behaviors of such, yet does not identify as "anorexic"
     • Secondary deviance: identifying w/ label of deviant behavior after others' reactions
       • Example: person w/ eating disorder recognizes self as "anorexic" after family & friends point out disorder
     • Informal deviances have no formal punishment (e.g. farting in lecture) while formal deviances have real punishments (e.g. jail)
   • Reality: collection of beliefs bound by time, space, & location
   • Label theory: ppl take on identities based on labels given to you & your reactions to that label

4. Research

   • Q's sociologists can ask
     • Empirical
       • Example: "What are the effects of working during high school on GPA?
     • Q's of interp
       • Example: "What does 'family' mean to intended parents & surrogates?
   • Q's sociologists cannot ask
     • Aesthetic
       • Example: "Is this painting beautiful?"
     • Moral
       • Example: "Is it morally permissible to smoke around other people?"
   • 3 ethics of research
     • Do no harm
     • Informed consent
     • Voluntary participation
     • Example: Tuskegee syphillis study
   • Qualitative v. Quantative
   • Deductive
     • theory/hypothesis --> experiment --> observations--> confirmation
   • Inductive
     • Observations --> pattern --> tentative hypothesis --> theory
   • Data collection
     • observations, diaries, newspapers, interviews, surveys
     • comparative research, experimental methods, content analysis