SYG1000 Exam 1 Study Guide What is a society People who share a culture and territory And what do we mean when we talk about how people are located positioned in society Social location the group memberships that people have because of their location in history and society job income race etc We talked about 5 important sociological thinkers from history each one had some unique aspects about them what can we learn from their way of thinking What were they each most interested in 1 Auguste Comte a Positivism Applying scientific method to social world b Coined term sociology c Systematic objective observations to test theories 2 Herbert Spencer reform 3 Karl Marx workers 4 Emile Durkheim a Disagreed with Comte s view that sociologists should guide social b Social Darwinism survival of the fittest c Lower and higher forms of society a Bourgeoisie vs proletariat 2 social classes the capitalists and the b Conflict Theory conflict between the two classes a Social integration degree to which people are tied to social groups b Social regulation control of society over individuals c Egoistic suicide due to low integration people with less ties to others feel isolated d Anomic suicide due to low regulation normlessness when the typical way of life abruptly changes because of social disruption e Had sociology recognized as its own field a Disagreed with Marx s claim that economics is the central force in social change Religion is the central force b Protestant Ethic self denying approach to life looking for signs from God Lived frugally invested to make a lot of money c Spirit of capitalism Invest capital to make more money 5 Max Weber What are the different goals of social research 1 Basic Pure analyzing some aspect of society to only gain knowledge Constructing theories and testing hypotheses 2 Public using sociological perspective for the benefit of the public middle 3 Applied Sociology using sociology to solve problems implementing ground solutions For change How to think about social life with the perspective of Functional Analysis Structural Functionalism society is a whole unit made up of interrelated parts that work together Each part contributes to society 1 Manifest functions intended positive consequences 2 Latent functions unintended positive consequences 3 Latent dysfunctions unintended negative consequences Conflict Theory competition for scarce resources 1 Originally developed as class conflict 2 Opposing interests in any social relationship Symbolic Interactionism we use symbols to understand the world 1 think social psychology we attach meanings to objects people interactions etc 2 social life depends on how we define ourselves and others 3 Applying social interaction changing meanings of symbols affects expectations i e marriage divorce etc What is the point of the Macro sociological perspective vs Micro sociological perspective Macro looking at the big picture large scale patterns bird s eye view on society for functionalists and conflict theorists Micro what can we understand at ground level Deconstructing face to face interaction Fly on the wall A little bit about the Research Model and or research methods Reliability If the study were to be done again and or by someone else would it yield the same results Validity Did the study measure what was trying to be measured Can the results be generalized beyond the immediate study Quantitative research number crunching inferential statistics Generalize to a population large number of cases but data not as detailed Qualitative research based on observations interviews and can be interpreted but not supposed to be put in numbers Transfer from one process to a similar process in a different social context Small number of cases but very rich data What is Culture language beliefs behaviors material objects etc that characterize a group larger society Material physical objects that make up our cultural world Nonmaterial symbolic non physical objects rather ways of doing and ways of thinking Values norms sanctions Values standards what is good or bad Norms expectations of behavior Sanctions reactions to following or breaking norms Sapir Whorf hypothesis Language creates ways of thinking and perceiving Language shapes our perceptions our understandings of the complexities of the world Subculture vs counterculture Subculture distinguishable characteristics but group doesn t fully reject mainstream medium sized community Counterculture Group with values that are opposite to mainstream Ethnocentrism vs cultural relativism Ethnocentrism belief that one s own culture is superior to others other cultures compared to your own culture Cultural relativism belief that other values symbols etc cannot be fully translated into another culture all norms and beliefs dependent on cultural context The importance of language Allows human experience to be cumulative we can pass on attitudes knowledge etc through generations Provided social or shared pasts and futures Allows goal directed behavior What do we learn about people society socialization from each of these three Isolated children no natural language can t speak needs human development Institutionalized children children in orphanages have low IQs affects their ability to function as an adult lack of social interaction 3 Feral children Wild children that can t speak act like animals Emotional socialization Some emotions are global angry disgusted fearful happy sad surprised 1 2 Some emotions are not global i e gestures mean different things words are curse words or considered worse etc Adia Harvey Wingfield s work Found racialized expressions Blacks had to conceal their anger Agents of socialization family media religion school etc Primary socialization learning the most basic human skills social skills components of culture family media Secondary socialization refining your socialization the smaller things throughout life course workplace peers school Total institutions and details about this type of socialization Places where people are cut off from the rest of society and where they come under almost total control of the officials in charge Degradation ceremony stripped of individualism Affects their attitudes towards life The Contributions of Mead and Cooley Cooley and the looking glass self Sense of self formed from and depended on social interaction Other people affect how we see ourselves We imagine how we appear to those we interact with and interpret others reactions We develop a
View Full Document
Unlocking...