SOC 102 1st EditionExam # 1 Study Guide Lecture 1 - Our successes and failures are based on our social environment- “Individualism” refers to the idea that each person is in charge of their own fate but this those not consider other variables such as society or economy- Social milieu/ Social milieux- social environmentHernando “Prince” Washington Case:This is an odd case because the woman Hernando Washington murdered was a stranger to him. People tend to hurt people who are similar to themselves. This was an odd occurrence because they had nothing in common. Hernando was black and Sarah Gould, this victim, was white. Theylived in different areas and neighborhoods. Lecture 2 Social Image and Informal Logic- Sociology is the scientific study of interactions and relations among human beings- It is the study of problems and it gives us a way to understand the problems better and see the bigger picture, thus get a more effective solutionAgency vs. Structure- Fate vs. free will - Free will/individual autonomy and choice (agency) vs. your choice is shaped by the influence of others and the limited range of options others allow (structure)In structure there is consequences for breaking the rules or social normsSociological Imagination- The term was coined by C. Wright Mills. - It refers to the ability to look beyond the personal troubles of individuals to see the public issues of social structure and the social forces operating in the larger society.- Having a sociological imagination is simply having an understanding of how social arrangement influence people’s behavior- Social arrangements affect the lives of individualsStatusHealth as a “personal” problem- your health depends upon what you doHealth as a “public” issue- your health depends on your place in the social hierarchyResearchers found that health varies by social status.- Status: a position or location a person can occupy within a society or smaller social groupingStatus hierarchies are part of social arrangements. They are made up of people in different classes. Evidence shows that status effects your health.- Achieved status: you earn through your own efforts- Ascribed status: you have no control overManifest and LatentRobert K. Merton- really understanding social things involves understanding both their manifest and latent- Manifest: intended and obvious- Latent: possibly unintended and frequently hidden- Functionalist: believe social rules are required for society and the world to run smoothlyLecture 3- “Naïve observer”: someone who is unfamiliar with sociological imagination and is uneducated in social scientific research techniques. Errors of naïve inquiry come from:Sources of information for conventional wisdom- Our own experiences- Other peoples/ second hand info/ mediaLeads us to make generalizations and form stereotypes.Fallacies 1. Fallacies of PresumptionA. Hasty Generalization- “One was bad so they’re all bad”- Drawing conclusion from too little informationB. False Bifurcation - Black or white statements. No “either or”C. False Cause (Spurious Association) - Believing things to be causal or pivotal to one another when they are not -To prove that A causes B:1. A must come before B in time2. A and B must be associated or related3. Other factors that might cause B (or both A & B) must be ruled out2. Relevance Fallacies- Relevance of the authority- Relying on irrelevant sources of information- Though something may appeal to one doesn’t make it true for everyone3. Fallacies of the Wrong Level- Using data to make inferences about a whole group and using information about a group to draw conclusions about an individual Lecture 4- August Comte- French (1798). Coined the term “sociology”-Emile Durkheim- French (1858). Was alarmed by societal problems. Questioned What holds society together? Studied: -Division of labor, solidarity, and the collective consciousness-Mechanical solidarity- ex. all rooting for the same team at a game-Organic solidarity-ex. farmers and buys not similar but dependent on each other-Sui generis- focus on nature of society. Can’t study individuals to understand society-Social norms- rules of behavior-Deviance- things that go against social norms- Karl Marx- German (1818). Emphasizes economics. The material base of society, all else is secondary Major Theories- Durkheim- what holds society together? Division of labor, mechanical and organic, functionalism- Tonnies- gemeinschaft (community, private, social for its own sake) vs. gesllschaft (society, public, a means to an end)- Marx- the material base of society, class, conflict theory- Weber- class isn’t the only base to society, ideas and values also contribute to itLecture 5- Theory- logical model specifying relationships among variables as an explanation- Explanations ca be subjective but one explanation is NOT as good as another- An explanation is based on reasoning- Weber called it an “inconvenient fact”Theoretical Perspectives- Functionalist- society is characterized by order and what it need to do to function- Conflict- society is characterized by conflict- Microsociology- interactions between individuals- Macrosociology- broader, focuses on social structures, systems and institutions- Empirical evidence- gathered using senses- Ethnocentrism- the belief that one’s own culture or group is superior to others- Cultural relativism- the belief that other people and their ways of doing things can be understood in terms of the cultural context of those people- Construct- concept that is not directly observable- Operationalize- transform the variable into something that can be observed and measured- Existence statements- definitional - Relational statements- explain a relationship- Hypothesis- relationship between