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Cards In This Set
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What is sociology?
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The study of human society
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What is it called when we study society scientifically?
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Sociology
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What is a theory?
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An abstract proposition that explains the social world and makes predictions about the future. "approach"
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What are the three main theoretical perspectives, how are each similar/different, and what scholars are associated with each?
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Structural functionalism: Assumption that society is a unified whole that functions because of the contributions of separate structures. connected parts work together to make society. (Herbert Spencer)Conflict theory: sees social conflict as a basis of society and social change and emphasizes a materialist view of the status quo, and a dynamic model of historical change (Karl Marx)Symbolic interactionism: sees interaction and meaning as central to society and assumes that meanings are not inherent but are created through interaction. Includes dramaturgy which sees the world as a stage where every person is an "actor" that plays a "role" (George Herbert Mead)
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Who are the earliest scholars in sociology, and what did they do to help in the formation of the academic discipline?
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Auguste Comte: society is better understood by determining the logic or scientific laws governing human behavior, called social physics or positivism Harriet Martineau: First to translate Comte's written works to English; one of the earliest feminist social scientistsHerbert Spencer: proposed that societies, like biological organisms, evolve through time by adapting to changing conditions with less successful adaptations falling by the wayside and coined the phrase "survival of the fittest" otherwise known as social darwinism
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What is the difference between qualitative and quantitative research, and what are example of each?
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Qualitative: non-numerical data (fieldnotes, interview transcripts, photographs) often tries to understand how people make sense of their worldQuantitative: translate the social world into numbers that can be treated mathematically (scale surveys) tries to find cause-and-effect relationships
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What is ethnography? How does this method differ from scientific experiment?
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A naturalistic method based on studying people in their own environment in order to understand the meanings they attribute to their activities. Systematic and descriptive study. Ethnography is qualitative as opposed to quantitative like scientific study
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What is the belief that our own way of life is natural and better than other ways?
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Ethnocentrism
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Who are Milgram and Zimbardo? What research projects did they conduct? What does their work show us about conducting research with human subjects?
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Stanley Milgram's experiment tested human obedience to unethical authority. how people respond under extreme pressure and inequality Philip Zimbardo's experiment, known as the Stanford Prison study, included 18 students who took on the role of either a prisoner or prison guard. Working with humans is tricky and sometimes unethical and the process must be very precise because participants can be physically, mentally and emotionally harmed in the process of the experiment.
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What is culture? How do we acquire culture? What are some of the key characteristics of culture mentioned in the class lecture?
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The entire way of life of a group of people (including both material and symbolic elements) that acts as a lens through which one views the world and is passed from one generation to the next. Culture is learned from others and consists of behaviors and values. Culture is symbolic, adaptive and shared by everyone in a society.
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What is a symbol?
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A thing that stands for or represents something else (Language)
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Ideas about what is right and/or beautiful are called what?Ideas about the ways things should be done are called what?
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Values, norms
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How does the concept society differ from the concept of culture?
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Societies (groups of people in the same geographic area) share culture
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What is the self?
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The individual's conscious, reflexive experience of a personal identity separate and distinct from other individuals
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Is it correct to attribute much of our behavior to human nature? What do the cases of children raised in isolation show us?
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No because only 1% of our DNA is different from everyone else. Feral children show us that social interaction is essential to development.
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