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SOC 100 MSU Test 1 - Broman
First SOC 100 test of Professor Broman at Michigan State University Spring 2011
59
Sociology
Undergraduate 2
02/06/2011

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Cards

Term
Culture
Definition
Rules, beliefs, values, products, etc.
Term
Social Structure
Definition
A set of positions (roles) that are filled and enacted in relationships to one another
Term
Social Institutions
Definition
Societies exist over time because people have worked out ways of regulating behavior and interacting
Term
Examples of Social Institutions
Definition
Family, Religious, Work, Political, Educational, etc.
Term

Institutions serve to socialize us...

Definition
Help us learn the rules of society
Term

Institutions serve to educate us...

Definition
Education
Term

Institutions serve to nurture and care for us...

Definition
Family
Term

Institutions serve to regulate us...

Definition
Political and work
Term

 

Institutions serve to...

 

Definition
Integrate us into society
Term
First Central Theme of Class
Definition

Many of the most significant rewards in society are distributed on the bases of social position or membership in socially defined category

--Thus individual merit and ability count for less than does social position or membership in a category

Term
Second Central Theme of Class
Definition
The ruling ideas of any age are the ideas of ruling elite: the ruling elite exert disproportionate influence on what we see, read, hear, and think (ideological hegemony)
Term
Third Central Themes of Class
Definition
A system of inequality always develops and maintains an ideology that serves to legitimize the inequality (an elaborate ideology that makes inequality seem ‘natural’, ‘proper’, and ‘correct’)
Term
Fourth Central Theme of Class
Definition

Diversity is both a source of strength and a source of conflict in every society

-- thus groups that are diverse throughout society differ in amounts of power, social rewards, influence, and in lifestyles

--the groups with the greater power use ideological hegemony to legitimize the inequality suffered by those with less power

Term
Sociology
Definition

The study of human behavior in society

--All human behavior occurs in a societal context: in the community we live in, in the church, the school, the family, the nation, or somewhere in this world

--That context shapes what people do and how they think

Term
C. W. Mills
Definition
Coined the term "The Sociological Imagination" (1959)
Term
The Sociological Imagination (1959)
Definition

The ability to see the societal patterns that influence the individual as well as groups of individuals

Term
Peter Berger (1963)
Definition

Debunking - refers to looking behind the facades of everyday life

Term
The "Inconvenience" of Sociology
Definition

-Berger called it the “unmasking tendency” of sociology (1963). This allows us to see the truth and expose it

-Few people like to know disquieting facts as their cherished views are challenged and this makes them uncomfortable

 

Term
Auguste Comte
Definition

-The founding father of Sociology

-Believed that  society could be studied scientifically

-This approach is known as positivism

Term
Alexis de Tocqueville
Definition

-A French politician, scholar, and historian

-He traveled in America and studied the political system

-He felt that Americans were marked by individualism

Term
Marriet Martineau
Definition

-Fascinated by the newly emerging American culture

-In 1937, she wrote about it in "Society in America"

-She also wrote about how to observe behavior as a participant (the method of participant observation)

Term
Emile Durkheim
Definition

-His major work focuses on the forces that hold society together

    ---He called this force social solidarity

-People are glued together by religious rituals which sustain moral cohesion

-Viewed society as larger than the sum of it's individual parts

    ---Society is "external to the individual"

-He saw society as an integrated whole with each part contributing to the stability of the system

    ---This is the central theme of functionalism

    ---Social facts, exercise constraints on the individuals behavior

Term
Karl Marx
Definition

-One of the most influential thinkers in history

-Saw society as systematic and structural

-Saw class as a fundamental dimension of society that shapes social behavior

-Took social structure as his subject rather than the actions of individuals

-Was devoted to explaining how capitalism, an economic system based on pursuing profit, shaped society

-Addressed the capitalist class, the bourgeoisie, controllers of the production of goods and of ideas

-Spoke of economic determinism with a class system of owners (bourgeoisie) and workers (proletariat)

Term
Max Weber
Definition

-Weber expanded on Marx’s thinking; he said that society had three basic dimensions: political, economic, and cultural, which must all be examined

-Weber was concerned with ideas and how they shaped society

-He did not advocate political activism

-Was influenced by Marx’s work; however, he saw society from a multidimensional perspective that went beyond Marx’s strictly economic focus

-Professed that the task of a sociologist is to teach students the uncomfortable truth about the world

-Believed that sociologists must not project their political ideas on their students

    ---Professed understanding social behavior from the point of view of those engaged in it

Term
Durkheim's Early Work on Suicide
Definition

-He demonstrated that suicide was not purely a personal trouble, but that rates of suicide within a society varied by how clear and consistently upheld the norms and customs of the society were.

-He showed that suicide rates were higher in societies where norms were unclear or contradictory

    ---This was referred to as a state of normlessness or anomie.

Term

Theoretical Frameworks Used by Sociologists

Definition

-Sociological thinkers have developed different perspectives, frameworks, schools of thought, and paradigms to help them ask questions and to assist their understanding of the underlying relationships regarding their observations

-These theoretical frameworks provide different insights into the nature of society

Term
Main Theoretical Frameworks 
Definition

-Funtionalism (macro)

-Conflict Theory (macro)

-Symbolic Interaction (micro)

-Diverse theoretical frameworks (macro and micro)

Term
Functionalism
Definition

-Functionalists are concerned with the stability and shared public values of the culture or the society

    ---Conditions such as deviance are disruptive to the stability of the society and they lead to social change as the society must find ways to deal with it and re-establish its social stability and order

Term
Conflict Theory
Definition

-This theoretical perspective was derived from the contributions of Karl Marx. It emphasizes the role of coercion and power, a person or group’s ability to exercise influence and control over others, in producing social order

    ---Conflict theory emphasizes strife and revolution as an agent of social change

    ---Karl Marx was a political activist and he desired greater equality and access social opportunities for the masses

Term
Symbolic Interaction
Definition

-This theoretical framework focuses on immediate social interaction to be the place where “society” exists

    ---It studies the ways groups of people, cultures, and societies assign different meaning to behavior, events, or things

        -----It is concerned with how different people interpret the same event and how the interpretation determines one’s behavior

    ---These theorists emphasize face-to-face interaction and pay attention to words, gestures, and symbols

Term
Diverse Theoretical Frameworks
Definition

-Feminism

-Postmodernism

Term
Conflict Theory Argues...
Definition

- Society is comprised of groups that compete for social and economic resources

-Social order is maintained not by consensus, but by domination, with power in the hands of those with the greatest political, economic, and social resources

-Conflict theorists study issues such as the exploitation of the masses by those in power

Term
Symbolic Interactionism
Definition

-This theoretical framework focuses on immediate social interaction to be the place where “society” exists

    ---It studies the ways groups of people, cultures, and societies assign different meaning to behavior, events, or things

        -----It is concerned with how different people interpret the same event and how the interpretation determines one’s behavior

    ---These theorists emphasize face-to-face interaction and pay attention to words, gestures, and symbols

Term
Feminism
Definition

-Feminism is concerned with understanding:

    ---Life from the female world view

    ---The symbols used in speech, dress, and how one learns

    ---How the social organism/society functions, and the impact of gender in society

    ---Both manifest and latent functions of gender and gender roles

Term
Post Modernism
Definition

-This perspective is based on the idea that society is not an objective thing.

    ---Instead, it is found in the words and images that people use to represent behavior and ideas

    ---Postmodernists think that images and text reveal the underlying ways that people think and act

    ---Postmodernists’ studies typically involve detailed analyses of images, words, film, music, and other forms of popular culture

Term
Culture
Definition

-Culture is the complex system of meaning and behavior that defines the way of life for a given group or society

    ---It includes beliefs, values, knowledge, art, morals, laws, customs, habits, language, and dress, among other things

    ---Culture includes ways of thinking as well as patterns of behavior

-Culture is both material and nonmaterial

Term
Material Culture
Definition
Consists of objects created in the society, e.g. the desk you sit at when studying
Term
Nonmaterial Culture
Definition

-Consists of non-tangible things such as norms, laws, customs, values, beliefs, and ideas of a group of people

    ---Belief in God, spoken language, how you sit when you eat are non-tangible aspects of culture.

Term
Five Characteristics of Culture
Definition

-Culture is shared

-Culture is learned

-Culture is taken for granted

-Culture is symbolic

-Culture varies across time and space

Term
Culture... is shared
Definition

Culture is collectively experienced and agreed upon. This is what makes human society possible.

Term
Culture... is learned
Definition

We thoroughly learn culture through observation and imitation

Term
Culture... is taken for granted
Definition

We engage unknowingly in hundreds of cultural practices every day; culture makes these practices seem “normal”

Term
Culture... is symbolic
Definition

-The significance of culture lies in the meaning it holds for people.  Different cultures assign different meanings to symbols.

-Symbols are things or behaviors to which people give meaning; the meaning is not inherent in a symbol but is bestowed by the meaning people give it

Term
Culture... varies across time and space
Definition

-Culture develops as humans adapt to the physical and social environment around them

    ---Solutions to everyday problems vary in different time periods

        -----Culture is a mix of the past and the present

-Solutions to everyday problems also vary by place (where the people live)

    ---The environment helps define how the cultural group lives and what the people do and think about

Term
FALSE U.S. Beliefs of Teen Sex
Definition

-Teens begin sex much earlier in Europe

-Teen pregnancy rates in the US are higher than in Europe because high rates among blacks

-Teens are too immature to use contraceptives

-Talking about sex encourages teens to have sex

-Making contraceptives available only increases promiscuity and therefore increases teen pregnancy

Term
Sex Education Evaluated
Definition

-The World Health Organization has consistently found from research that sex education does not encourage earlier sexual debut, but often delays sexual activity and leads to safer sexual practices

-The Bush administration spent, by one estimate, $1.5 billion on abstinence-only education in the last decade.  According to studies, it actually led to more teen pregnancies, more teen births, and more teen abortions

-Is this an example of where values and beliefs of a particular culture drive behavior? Yes

Term
Popular Culture
Definition

-Popular culture refers to the culture’s beliefs, practices, and objects that are part of everyday traditions

    ---The popular culture of the US is one defined by its dominating the usage and reliance of the mass media

 

    ---Social class, race, and gender determined one’s access to the mass media

Term
The Media defines our standards of...
Definition

o   Beauty

o   Age and ageism

o   Race

o   Gender

o   Morality

o   Religion

o   Political and economics

Term
The Reflection Hypothesis
Definition

-Contends that the mass media reflects the values of the general population

    ---Media developers spend millions studying groups of the population to find out what they value; then they create characters that reflect the values of society

Term
Social Structure
Definition

-Social structures are the organized pattern of social relationships and social institutions that together compose society

- Structural analysis looks at patterns in social life that reflect and produce social behavior

Term
Society
Definition

-Human society is a system of social interaction that includes both culture and social organization

-It involves social interaction between two or more people

- According to Durkheim, society is greater than the sums of its parts.

- Society has a life of its own

-Sociologists recognize and examine the interrelatedness of the individual parts to understand how society operates

Term
Social Institutions
Definition

-A social institution is an established and organized system of social behavior with a recognized purpose

-Social institutions can be examined from both a macro and a micro level of analysis

-From the macro perspective, we examine the functions of the organization/system of society

Term
Industrial Societies
Definition

o   Family

o   Education

o   Work and the economy

o   Political institution (or state)

o   Religion

o   Health care

o   Mass media

o   Organized sports

o   Military 

Term
Functions of Social Institutions
Definition

-Socialization of new members

-Production and distribution of goods and services

-Replacement of society’s members

- Maintenance of stability and existence

-Providing members a sense of purpose

Term
Conflict: Social Institutions
Definition

-Conflict theorists see disharmony and the subordination of groups of individuals as inherent within social institutions

-For example, in the health care system, doctors are always superior to nurses and other service providers. Doctors give orders and are paid more; nurses take orders and are paid less

-And… insurance companies dictate how much to pay and for what

Term
Primary Groups
Definition

-Social collectives or membership groups consisting of intimate, face-to-face interaction, relatively long-lasting relationships, and serves members expressive (emotional) needs

- These groups have a powerful influence on their members and like the family, help shape the individual’s personality and self-identity

-Family and peers such as street gangs, classmates, and prisoners exemplify primary groups

Term
Secondary Groups
Definition

-Social collectives or membership groups that are larger in size than primary groups, less intimate, and less long lasting in duration

-These groups are usually less significant in the emotional lives of the people and serve their instrumental (task-oriented) needs

-In an emergency situation, such as a flood or the New Orleans flood of 2005, a secondary group can often take on the characteristics of a primary group

Term
Reference Groups
Definition

-Groups which you identify with in the form of a generalized role model as they provide standards for evaluating your values, attitudes, and behaviors; you may or may not belong to this group

-These groups strongly influence one’s aspirations, self-evaluation, and self-esteem

-Examples include: major league sports teams, popular bands, and/or classical musicians are super models

-Reference groups can provide both positive and negative influences

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