Social Problems Test 1 Study Guide Chapter 1: Introduction Wednesday, January 8th, 2014 The study of social problems Sociology: is the study of social life, challenge, and causes and consequences of human behavior (i.e economics, education, crime.) Social problem: an issue that negatively affects a persons state of being in society. Sociological imagination: ability to look beyond the individual as the cause for success and failure and instead see how society influences the outcome. Macro viewpoint: large scale point of view. Micro: small-scale. Elements of a social problem: objective condition: any aspect of society that can be viewed without bias (facts.) Subjectivity: making a judgment based on personal feelings and opinions rather than external facts. Factors that define social problems History: changes over time as well as the history of a place/culture can determines if something is a social problem in that specific place. Cultural values: part of society's nonmaterial culture that represents standards by which we determine what is good, bad, right or wrong. Cultural universals: aspects of social life that are common to all societies -awareness: the ability of a person or group to bring a problem into problem recognition (protests, campaigns, petitions.) Major theoretical paradigms of sociology: Paradigm: a theoretical framework through which a scientist can study the world. Functionalism: defines society as a system of interrelated parts (some parts affect others) example: marriage decreasing affects economics. Conflict theory: views society as being in a constant struggle over scarce resources (not always physical). Important: not personal conflicts, more general. Symbolic interactionism: focuses on how individual interactions between people influence their behavior and how these interactions impact society. (Still general, but focuses on individuals.) EXAMPLE Fact: women are now getting more degrees than men. - a functionalist would say that this is affecting family structure (women are having less kids because they're busy with their. jobs)-conflict theory: scarce resource = amount of degrees. -symbolic interactionism = the meaning we associating the degrees. Some degrees are with more than others. Research methods: The scientific procedures that sociologists use to conduct studies and develop knowledge about a particular topic. Six steps 1. Choose a topic 2. Conduct a literature review 3. Form a hypothesis 4. Collect data 5. analyze the results 6. Share and publish the results Objectivity: ability to conduct research without allowing the influence of personal biases or prejudices. Variables: Independent: manipulated in the experiment. Dependent variable: responses to manipulated variables. Control variable: factors that are kept constant to accurately test the impact of the independent variable. Example: Higher rates of drinking leads to higher rates of liver failures. -IV: rate of drinking -DV: rate of lice failure Higher GPA's are caused by higher levels of parental support. -IV: GPA -DV: level of parental support Control: Study habits Sleeping habits Work Relationships These are all things you could control in order to test the hypothesis. Causation vs correlation Causation: relationship between cause and effect. Correlation: indication that a factor MIGHT be the cause of another factor. -Positive: if one goes up, the other goes up. -Negative: if one goes up the other goes down.-Spurious: things might appear to be related, but actually have separate causes. Quantitative vs Qualitative methods: Quantitative data: based on numbers and used for macro analysis. Qualitative data: information include includes non-numerical info. Triangulation: using multiple methods to study a phenomenon. Monday, January 13, 2014 Social Policy and Statistics Social Policies: deliberate attempts on the part of society to solve social problems (example: social security.) statistics: are they all of equal value? No. they can be misleading, exaggerated, etc. - Be cautious of headlines - Double-check definition of terms - Investigate the source - Beware of selective causes - Watch out for hidden agendas Chapter 4: Gender Gender: behavioral, cultural, and psychological traits associated with being male or female (example: males are strong, protective, etc. Females are sensitive, maternal, etc.) Sex: biological makeup of males or females, especially in regard to their reproductive organs and physical structures. Gender identity: our perception of ourselves as male and female. - there is a difference between "having gender" (you ARE the gender) vs "doing gender". Patriarchy: a social system in which men control a majority of the power and exert authority over women and children. (Example: in the US, patriarchy is still present. Men hold more government positions, earn more money, etc.) Matriarchy: social system in which women are the main authority and hold power over men. Sexism: belief that one sex is superior to the other. Gender roles: society's expectations of how males and females should think and act.Feminism: philosophy based on the political, social, and economic equality of the sexes, specifically a woman's right to have the same opportunities as a man. - First wave: 1920's. Women were fighting for the right to vote and things of that sort. - Second wave: Women's Liberation Movement of the 1960's. The idea that women should be able to seek fulfillment outside of the house. - Third wave: started in the 90's. Protecting minorities. Women should dress however they want. Social Problems Surrounding Gender -Female circumcision: alteration or removals of parts of the female genital organs. - This is in order for them to get pleasure from sex. Where else are we seeing gender inequalities? - Education: men and women normally study different things. We can see this as their choice or as society pushing people into studying certain things. o (example: Meet the Fockers: Ben Stiller plays a nurse and everyone makes fun of him for being a nurse). - Politics: severe lack of female representation in politics. Also, no female presidents or vice presidents. - Health: life expectancy, and certain sicknesses are more common in certain genders. Domestic Violence - raped or physically assaulted by a partner or acquaintance o Women: 25% o Men: 7.6% - Physically assaulted by intimate partner annually o Women: 1.3 million o Men: 835,000 - In 200, killed by an