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What is Sociology?
The study of human society and social interaction
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Karl Marx
- viewed history as a clash between conflicting ideas and forces
- Class conflict- Marxian framework; the struggle between the capitalist class and the working class
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Max Weber
- believed sociological research should exclude personal values and economic interests
- Provided insight on rationalization, bureaucracy, and religion
- Knew a lot about women discrimination
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theory
A set of logically interrelated statements that attempts to describe, explain, and predict social events
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Functionalist perspective
- based on the assumption that society is stable and orderly system
- Society is composed of interrelated parts each of which serves a function or contributes to the overall stability of society
- Theorized by Herbert Spencer and Emile Durkheim
- Characterized by societal consensus- the majority of members share a common set of values beliefs and behavioral expectations
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Conflict perspective
- sees groups in society as engaged in a continuous power struggle for the control of the scarce resources
- Originate from Karl Max class conflict through upper and middle class
- Georg Simmel, C. Wright Mills- conflict theorists
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Symbolic Interaction
- a micro level analysis focused on small groups rather than whole societies or a larger scale social structure
- Introduced by George Herbert Mead
- Explored how individual personalities are developed from social experience and concluded that we would not have an identity, a “self”, without communication with other people
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Deductive Approach to research
- uses reasoning from one or more general statements
- Start with a theory and research to test theory
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Inductive Approach to research
- reasoning efforts to make a theory
- Collect info and then generates a theory
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Quantitative research
goal is scientific objectivity, and the focus is on data that can be measured numerically
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Qualitative research
description (words) rather than statistics (numbers)
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Independent variable
- causes dependent variable
- Ex: depression
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Dependent
- can’t stand alone
- Ex: suicide
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Quantitative Research Model-
- i. Select and define research topic
- ii. Review previous research
- iii. Formulate the hypothesis
- iv. Develop research design
- v. Collect and analyze data
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Random sampling
every member of pop has same chance of being selected
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Probability sampling
participants are deliberately chosen because they have specific characteristics- age, sex, race, education
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Qualitative Research Model
- i. Research begins with a general approach rather than a highly detailed plan
- ii. Researcher has to decide when the literature review and theory application should take place
- iii. Study presents a detailed view of the topic
- iv. Access to people or other resources that can provide the necessary data is crucial
- v. Appropriate research methods are important for acquiring useful qualitative data
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Survey
- a poll in which the researcher gathers facts or attempts to determine the relationship among facts
- Most widely used research method because they make it possible to study things that are not directly observable- attitudes, beliefs
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Questionnaire
a printed research instrument containing a series of items to which subjects respond
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Interview
an interviewer asks the respondents questions and records the answers
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Advantages of an interview
more effective in dealing with complicated issues and provide an opportunity for face to face communication between the interviewer and the respondent
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Disadvantages of an interview
cost and time involved
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Strength of survey
useful in describing the characteristics of a large population without having to interview each person in a population
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Multivariate analysis
- research involving more than two independent variables
- Ex: the influence of religion on suicidal behavior among African Americans
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Weakness of survey
tends to force respondents into categories in which they may not belong
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Secondary analysis
- researchers use existing material and analyze data that were originally collected by others
- Public records, other surveys
- Considered unobtrusive research- bc had not impact on the people being studied
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Culture
- the knowledge, language, values, customs, and material objects that are passed from person to person and from one generation to the next in a human group or society
- Essential for survival and communication with other people
- Learned through interactions, observations, and imitations
- Fundamental for the survival of societies
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Material culture
physical or tangible creations that members of a society make, use, and share
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Technology
knowledge, techniques, and tools that make it possible for people to transform resources into usable forms, and the knowledge and skill required to make them
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Nonmaterial culture
- Abstract or intangible human creations of society that influence people’s behavior
- Language, beliefs, values, rules or behavior, family patterns, political systems
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Language
- symbols that express ideas and enable people to communicate
- Verbal/ non verbal
- Important means of cultural transmission
- -----Learn about cultural heritage and develop a sense of personal identity in relationship to their group
- Source of power and social control
- Create visual images
- Maintain group boundaries
- Shape experiences
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Norms
established rules of behavior or standards of conduct
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prescriptive norms
- state what behavior is appropriate or acceptable
- Ex: go to school
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proscriptive norms
- behavior which is inappropriate and unacceptable
- Ex: Talking in church
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Formal norms
written down and involve a specific punishment
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Informal norms
unwritten standards of behavior which are understood
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Sanctions
rewards for appropriate behavior or penalties for inappropriate behavior
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folkways
- everyday customs which can be broken without a huge punishment
- Not enforce- lightly punishable
- -----Eat food without utensils
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Mores
- based on cultural behaviors
- can be punishable by sanctions (jail)
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Incest taboo
prohibits sexual relationship between certain kin
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Laws
formal, standard norms that have been enacted by legislature and are enforced by formal sanctions
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Civil laws
- disputes among persons or groups
- Compensation money
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Criminal laws
- deals with public safety and well being
- Fines and sentences
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Ethnocentrism
the practice of judging all other cultures by one’s own culture
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Cultural relativism
the belief that the behaviors and customs of any culture must be viewed and analyzed by the culture’s own standards
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High culture
- activities patronized by the elite
- opera
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Popular culture
- activities, products, and services that are assumed to appeal primarily to members of the middle and working class
- Ex: Concerts
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Fads
temporary , widely copied activity followed enthusiastically by a large number of people
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Fashion
a style of behavior, thinking or appearance that is longer lasting and more widespread than a fad
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Cultural imperialism
extensive infusion of one nation’s culture into other nations
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August Comte
founder if sociology
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Harriet Martineau
- Translated and condensed Comte’s work
- Studied the social customs of Britain and US
- Advocated for racial and gender equality
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Herbert Spencer
- English philosopher
- Major contribution- evolutionary perspective on social order and social change
- Social Darwinism
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Social Darwinism
belief that the human beings best adapted to their environment survive and prosper, where those poorly adapted die out
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Emile Durkheim
- Most influential of early thinkers
- Expert on suicide
- Stressed people are the product of their social environment
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Important concepts from Emile Durkheim
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Social factors
patterned way of acting, thinking, and feeling that exist outside the individual but that exert social control over each person
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Anomie
a condition which social control becomes ineffective as a result of the loss of shared values and of a sense of purpose in society
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Industrialization and urbanization
important historical factors that brought about significant changes in social life
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The three theoretical perspectives are
functionalist, conflict and symbolic interaction
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What Sociologists study
societies and interactions to develop theories of how human behavior is shaped by group life and how group life is affected by individuals
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Why study sociology?
- Better understanding of our self and world
- Learn about others
- Behavior is shaped by groups
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society
- Large social group
- Share the same geographical region
- Is subject to the same political authority and dominant culture expectations, such as the US, Mexico, or Nigeria
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Sociological imagination
- C Wright Mills
- See relationship between individual experiences and larger society
- Distinguishes between personal troubles and public issues
- Think from an alternative point of view
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Sociology and Scientific Evidence
- Involves debunking- unmasking fake ideas or opinions
- There are 2 approaches to analyzing issues involving values
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There are 2 approaches to analyzing issues involving values:
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Normative
uses religion, customs, habits, traditions, and law to answer important questions
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Empirical
attempts to answer questions through systematic collection and analysis of data
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Standards
- Beliefs should be supported by evidence or info
- These beliefs should be open to public debate and critiques from other scholars (Consider alternative theories)
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ASA (American Sociological Association) Code of ethics
- i. Disclose research findings in full and include all possible interpretations of the data
- ii. Safeguard the participants right to privacy and dignity while protecting them from harm
- iii. Protect confidential info provided by participants
- iv. Acknowledge research collaboration and disclose all financial support (works cited)
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Suicide signals
- Talking about death
- Making plans
- Showing signs of depression
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Experiment
a situation where the researcher studies the impact of certain variables on subjects’ attitudes or behaviors
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Weakness of experiment
tendency to produce Hawthorn effect- changes subjects behavior
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Values
- shared ideas that are socially desirable
- provide criteria by which we evaluate people, objects, and events
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Core American Values
- Individualism
- Achievement & success
- Activity & work
- Science & technology
- Progress & material comfort
- Efficiency & Practicality
- Equality
- Morality & Humanitarism
- Freedom & Liberty
- Racism & Group Superiority
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Individualism
people are responsible for own success
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Achievement & success
personal achievement results from competition
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Activity & work
industrious people are heroified and lazy people are ridiculed
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Science & technology
people in US have great fate in science and technology
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Progress & material comfort
material comfort s of life are basic necessities and things that make life easier
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Efficiency & Practicality
people want things to be bigger, better and faster
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Equality
have a presumed equal chance
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Morality & Humanitarism
aiding others especially after natural disaster
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Freedom & Liberty
individual freedom highly valued in US
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Racism & Group Superiority
people like their ethic group better than others and leads to some thinking they are superior
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Cultural lag
a gap between the technical development of society and its moral and legal institutions (material culture changes quicker than non material culture)
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Subculture
- category of people who share distinguishing attributes, beliefs, values, and/or norms that set them apart in some significant manner from the dominant culture
- Amish
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Counter culture
- group that strongly rejects dominant societal values and norms and seeks alternative lifestyles
- Ex: flower children- 1960s
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