Sociology is the scientific study of
human social life, groups, and societies
with emphasis on modern, industrialized
systems

-The Word was first invented by Auguste Comte

-What we believe to be true or “natural” is strongly influenced by historical and social forces
-Thinking imaginatively and detaching from preconceived ideas about social relationships
     -Putting things in a wider context
     -Seeing daily activity as a reflection of larger social issues

-Émile Durkheim
-“Study social facts as things!”
-The continuation of society depends on cooperation
-Organic solidarity—specialized systems must function as integrated whole
-Societies exert social constraint over members’ actions
-Division of labor expands, people become more dependent on each other

-Study of language is crucial
-Symbolic thought frees us from our limited experience
-All interactions involve an exchange of symbols: we look for clues on how to behave and how to interpret others’ behavior

-The study of functions of social activity to determine the contribution to society as a whole
-Moral consensus helps maintain order and stability in society
-Manifest functions are intended by participants; latent functions are consequences participants do not know about

-Idea that history leads to progress has collapsed
-Dominated by “new media”
-Disconnected from the past
-Overall narratives of history or society do not make any sense

-Factual (empirical)—collecting data
-Comparative—relating one social context to another, within a society or between different societies
-Developmental—comparing societies’ past and present
-Theoretical—interpreting what facts mean

-Defining the research problem
-Reviewing the evidence
-Making the problem precise
-Working out a design
-Carrying out the research
-Interpreting the results
-Reporting the findings

Independent Variable

Dependent variable

Control

-Independent Variable: Produces an effect on another variable

-Dependent variable: The variable affected

-Control: Variables held constant in order to look at effects of others

-Ethnography is the study of people firsthand
-Using participation observation or interviewing
-Investigator spends time living or working with community

Advantages:
-Provides detailed information about group

Disadvantages:
-Only works with small groups
-Researcher must gain trust of group
-Researcher could lose perspective

-Surveys are questionnaires given to selected group of people
-Sampling concentrates on a small proportion of overall group

Advantages:
-Answers are easily quantified
-Large groups can be studied
-Researchers can employ agency to collect responses

Disadvantages:
-Findings might be superficial or doubtful
-Levels of nonresponse are high

-Testing hypothesis under controlled conditions

Advantages
-Easily controlled and repeated

Disadvantages
-Only small groups can be tested
-People might behave unnaturally

Values:
-Abstract ideals shared by group
-Can change over time
-May differ within culture

Norms:

-Principles or rules of social life
-Can change over time
-May differ within culture

Material Goods:
-Physical objects a society creates that influence the ways people live
-Material culture is rapidly becoming globalized

The Subculture that is in control

-Not always a majority, but have power in a society

Anything that goes against the cultural norms of a society.

-Through contact with others, infants gradually become self-aware, knowledgeable human beings, skilled in the ways of a given culture
-Perpetuates values, norms, and social practices of culture
-Connects generations to each other

-A person's self grows out of society's interpersonal interactions and the perceptions of others

-Shaping oneself based on the input of others

Ascribed Status

Achieved status

A conflict among the roles of two or more statuses

-"Balancing friend and disciplinarian"

Patterned social arrangements which form the society as a whole, and which determine, to some varying degree, the actions of the individual socialized into that structure

-In-groups are groups one feels they belong to

-Out-groups are groups toward which one feels contempt or antagonism

-Primary groups are small intimate groups characterized by face-to-face interaction
-Secondary groups are large, impersonal groups that rarely involve emotional ties or enduring relationships

Formal Organizations

-All modern organizations are bureaucratic
-Formal organizations designed to achieve objectives
-Housed in settings constructed to help realize aims
-Important for providing most services in our everyday lives: hospitals, schools, government organizations, etc.

-Clearly defined hierarchy of authority
-Written rules governing conduct of officials at all levels
-Officials are full-time and salaried
-Separation between tasks within organization and life outside it
-No members of organization own the material resources with which they operate

-Norms are the do’s and don’ts of society, Deviance is nonconformity to a set of norms
-What’s considered deviant shifts from time to time
-Normal behavior in one culture may be deviant in another
-Most people are deviant sometimes

-Sanctions are applied by society to reinforce social norms
-Can be formal or informal

-Laws are norms defined and enforced by governments
-Crimes are acts that break laws

-White-collar crime refers to crime of affluent people
-Efforts to detect are limited
-Those caught rarely go to jail
-Can affect more people than lower-class criminality

-When individuals or groups occupy unequal positions in society based on socioeconomic factors, it is called social stratification
-The three key aspects of social stratification are class, status, and power

-Position is bestowed for life at birth, rather than achieved through personal accomplishment
-Social status based on personal characteristics such as race, parental religion, parental caste
 -“Purity” of caste maintained by rules of marriage required by custom or law

-Globalization is challenging the few remaining caste systems
-Rigid restrictions of caste system interfere with freedom and flexibility necessary for modern industrial production

-Social mobility is the movement of individuals between different class positions as a result of changes in occupation, wealth, or income
-Intergenerational Mobility—how far one moves up or down the social scale during working life
-Intragenerational Mobility—how children rate on the scale compared to parents or grandparents

-Ethnicity refers to cultural practices and outlooks of a given community
-Emerged historically; set people apart

-Race refers to physical characteristics that are treated by members of a community or society as signaling distinct cultural characteristics
-No distinct characteristics exist that can be allocated to different races
-Many popular beliefs about race are untrue

-Racism is prejudice based on socially significant physical distinctions
-Racists believe some are superior or inferior to others based on race
-Institutional racism refers to policies promoted by institutions discriminating against certain groups

Conforming to the race in power.

Laws in place to counter racism.

Often lead to reverse racism

-Sex indicates physical differences between men and women
-Gender concerns cultural and psychological differences

-A family is a group of kin having responsibility for children’s upbringing

-Nuclear family is a household in which a married couple or single parent lives with their own or adopted children
-Extended family is where kin in addition to parents and children live in the same household or have close relationships

Same-Sex Mariage

-There are no known societies that lack religion; religious beliefs and practices vary across cultures
-Religion is a form of culture consisting of shared beliefs, values, norms, and material conditions that create common identity among group
-Belief takes form of ritualized practices
-Provides feeling that life is ultimately meaningful

-Power is the capacity to achieve one’s aims even against the resistance of others; often involves force
-Authority is a government’s use of legitimate power
-Democracy is not the only form of legitimate government

-Expansion of suburbs has contributed to inner-city decay
-Wealthier groups and businesses move out to take advantage of lower taxes
-Begins cycle of deterioration—the more suburbia expands, the greater the problems faced by those living in central cities

-Gentrification (urban renewal) is the refurbishing of old buildings to put them to new uses
-Poor residents often forced deeper into ghetto

-Study of population growth
-Much demographic work is statistical, but demographers are also concerned with explaining population patterns

-Most important concepts in population analysis are:
Birth rates
Death rates
Fertility
Mortality

Fecundity