sociology
systematic study of human society and social interaction
sociological imagination
the ability to see the relationship between individual experiences and the larger society
personal troubles
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public issues
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suicide personal vs public
personal: result of his/her own personal problems
public: result of a social problem
' emile durkheim related suicide to "issue of cohesiveness (or lack of it) in society'
society
a large social grouping that shares the same geographical territory and is subject to the same political authority and dominant cultural expectations
global independence
a relationship in which lives of all people are intertwined closely and any one nations problems are part of a larger global problem
common sense knowledge
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myths
a popular but false notion that may be used either intentionally or unintentionally to perpetuate certain beliefs or "theories" even in light of conclusive evidence to the contrary
developed or high income countries
countries with highly industrialized economies, technologically advanced industrial, administrative and service occupations
middle income countries
are nations with industrializing economies particularly in urban areas and moderate levels of national and personal income
low income countries
primarily agrarian nations with little industrialization and low levels of national and personal income
race
- is a term used by many people to specify groups of people distinguished by physical characteristics such as skin color
- no "pure" racial types
- considered by most sociologists to be a social construction that people use to justify existing inequalities
ethnicity
refers to cultural heritage or identity of a group and is based on factors such as language or country of origin
class
the relative location of a person or group within a larger society based on wealth, power, prestige, and other valued resources
sex
refers to the biological and anatomical differences between females and males
gender
refers to the meanings beliefs and practices associated with sex differences
- femininity vs masculinity
industrialization
the process by which societies are transformed from dependence on agriculture and home made products to an emphasis on manufacturing and related industries
urbanization
process by which an increasing proportion of a population lives in cities rather than in rural areas
auguste comte
- coined term 'sociology' for study of society
- theory of 'social statics' or forces for social order and stability
- theory of 'social dynamics' or forces for conflict and change
Harriet martineau
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herbert spencer
- used an evolutionary perspective to explain social order and social change
- society is like a biological organism with interdependent parts which work to ensure stability and survival of entire society
- societies developed through struggle and fitness to survive hence 'survival of the fittest'
- 'natural selection' ; 'fittest' members of society would survive
- criticism of spencer; his theories can justify racial /ethnic and gender inequalities and rationalize harm to others in a society
emile durkheim (the crucial figure in sociology)
- critic of spencers views; founder of functionalist the theoretical tradition
- people are the product of their social environment and that behaviour cannot be fully understood in terms of individual biological and psychological traits
- limits of human potential are socially not biologically based
terms for durkehim
- societies built on 'social facts' patterned ways of acting, thinking, and feeling) that exist outside any individual but exert social control over everyone
- rapid social change and specialized divisions of labour produce strain in society
- 'anomie' : condition in which social control becomes ineffective as a result of loss of shared values and a sense of purpose in society; occurs most during social change
Karl Marx
- conflict necessary for social change and a better society
- capitalism is responsible for poverty during industrial revolution; exploitation of workers for labour
- 'status quo' : existing state of society was oppressive
- criticism of Marx, excluded issues of race/ethnicity and gender focused only on class structure
terms for marx
- class conflict : struggle between capitalist class and the working class
- bourgeoisie 'capitalist class' : comprises those who own and control the means of production
- means of production : refers to tools land factories and money for investment that form the economic basis of society
- proletariat : comprises those who must sell their labour because they have no other means to earn a livelihood
- alienation of workers : feeling of powerlessness and estrangement from other people and from oneself; felt by working class
max weber
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theory
set of logically interrelated statements that attempts to describe explain and sometimes predict social events
perspective
overall approach or viewpoint on some subject
major theoretical perspectives in sociology
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functionalist perspectives
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societal consensus
whereby the majority of members share a common set of values beliefs and behavioural expectations; part of functionalist perspective
institutions in functionalism
- family, education, government, religion, and the economy
- if institutions are changed for the worse entire system will not function
- 'strains' proposed by durkheim lead to breakdown in traditional institutions
talcott parsons and functionalism
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Robert merton and functionalism
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conflict perspectives
- groups in society are engaged in a continuous power struggle for control of scarce resources
- may take form of politics, litigation, family discussion about financial matters
- continuous power struggle among competing social groups
- Weber added 'power' and 'prestige' as sources of inequality
- power: ability of a person within a social relationship to carry out his or her own will, respite resistance from others
- prestige: positive or negative social estimation of honour
Mills
-'power elite': a small clique comprising top business political and military officials
Feminist Perspectives
- Dorothy Smith
--- sociology was a product of 'male social universe' if women appeared at all it was as men saw them and not as women saw themselves.
--- sociology was contributing to subordination and exploitation of women
- focus on the significance of gender in understanding and explaining inequalities that exist between men and women
- in the household in the paid labour force and in the realms of politics law and culture
types of approaches among femanist writers
1. liberal
2. radical
3. socialist
patriarchy
hierarchical system of power in which male possess greater economic and social privledge than females
social learning
what we learn is a social product of the political and economic structure of society in which we live
symbolic interactionist perspectives
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interactions
defined immediate, reciprocally oriented communication between two or more people
symbols
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subjective reality
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Post modern Perspectives
- existing theories have been unsuccessful in explaining social life in modern societies that are characterized by post industrialization, consumerism and global communications
- reject old sociology theories and how they were formed
- emerged after WWII
- 'information explosion', 'rise of a consumer society' and 'global village' are terms used to describe the changes in society that occurred due to technology
functionalist
perspective: functionalism
analysis level: macrolevel
Nature of society: society comprises interrelated parts that work together to maintain stability within society. this stability is threatened by dysfunctional acts and institutions
conflict
perspective: conflict
analysis level: macrolevel
nature of society: society is characterized by social inequality; social life is a struggle for for scarce resources, social arrangements benefit some groups at the expense of others
feminist
perspective: feminism
analysis level: macrolevel and microlevel
nature of society: society is based on patriarchy - a hierarchical system of power in which males possess greater economic and social privilege than females
symbolic interactionist
perspective: symbolic interactionist
analysis level: microlevel
nature of society: society is the sum of the interactions of people and groups. behaviour is learned in interaction with other people; how people define a situation becomes the foundation of how they behave
postmodern
perspective: postmodern
analysis level: macrolevel and microlevel
nature of society: societies characterized by post industrialization, consumerism and global communications bring into question existing assumptions about social life and the nature of reality
the sociological research process
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quantitative research
the goal is scientific objectivity and the focus is on data that can be measured numerically. (ex) sociological research on suicides and variables that increase suicide
qualitative research
interpretive description (words) rather than statistics (numbers) is used to analyse the underlying meanings and patterns of social relationships (ex) sociological research on the contents of suicide notes and why people commit suicide
conventional" research model steps
1. select and define the research problem
2. review previous research
3. formulate hypothesis
4. develop research design
5. collect the data
6. analyse the data
7. draw conclusions and report findings (make the study available for replication
variable
any concept with measurable traits or characteristics that can change or vary from one person, time, situation or society to another
validity
is the extent to which a study or research instrument accurately measures what it is supposed to measure
reliability
extent to which a study or research instrument yields consistent results
hypothesized relationships between variables
1. casual relationship: "depression causes suicide"
2. inverse casual relationship: "the lack of social integration causes suicide"
3. multiple-cause explanation: "many factors interact to cause suicide
qualitative research model
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Research methods
strategies or techniques for systematically conducting research
survey
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problems with surveys
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secondary analysis
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problems of secondary analysis
data may be incomplete inauthentic or inaccurate
field research
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experiments
- a carefully designed situation in which the researcher studies the impact of certain variables on subjects; attitudes or behaviour
- designed to create "real life" situations, ideally in a controlled setting where other variables cant interfere.
- divide subjects into two groups:
1) experimental: contains subjects who are exposed to independent variable (the experimental condition)
2) control: contains subjects who are not exposed to independent variable
- used for cause and effect relationships between variables.
criteria for cause and effect experiment
1) correlation : exists when two variables are associated more frequently than could be expected by chance
2) independent variable must have occurred before the dependent variable
3) any change in dependent variable must not be due to extraneous variable (one outside the stated hypothesis)
problems with experiments
artificially created settings dont yield the same results as natural settings
ethical issues in sociological research
- required to obtain "informed consent" according to the canadian sociology and anthropology association
- volunteers must be voluntary
- no harm can be done to participants
- required anonymity and confidentiality
- anonymous: researcher cannot identify a given response with a given respondent
- confidentiality: researcher is able to identify a given response with the person who gave it but promises to keep it a secret from the public