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Sociology 200 > Chapter 1 > Flashcards

Chapter 1 Flashcards

1
Q

what are the importances of definitions (5 things)

A
  1. core of our knowledge
  2. help us understand what to observe in order to begin observational research
  3. cannot be too narrow (you’ll miss info) or too broad (you’ll include irrelevant info) (ie. observing “couples” = too broad)
  4. may carry legitimacy and social status (ex. “parent” = legit. status b/c it’s regarded as normative)
  5. have an ideological component (ie. defining same-sex couples as “families” can be controversial as not everyone agrees with it)
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2
Q

2 theories of definitions

A
  1. Aristotle’s theory

2. The “Equivalence of Meaning” strategy

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3
Q

Aristotle’s theory re: definitions

A
  • establishing the meaning of a word by 2 components: genus and species
  • genus: what other things share similar properties
  • species: what differentiates this thing from other things in its genus
  • example: family -> genus = social group; species = membership achieved through the sexual bond of same-generation adults and biological offspring
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4
Q

“Equivalence of Meaning” strategy re: definitions

A
  • definitions consist of a term to be defined followed by several words that do the defining
  • adequacy tested by the ability of the phrase to replace the word in a sentence w/o damaging meaning
  • example: family - equivalent to “a social group containing sexually bonded adults and biological offspring”
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5
Q

restrictive definitions

A
  • very specific (ie. defining family as “sexually bonded adults and biological offspring)
  • can be problematic (ie. “sexually bonded” excludes single-parent families; “biological offspring” excludes gay and lesbian families, adoptive families, and foster families)
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6
Q

4 important contexts for definitions used to study the family

A
  1. legal definitions
  2. normative definitions
  3. theoretical definitions
  4. research definitions
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7
Q

legal definitions

A
  • context enforceable by legislated laws, used in courts
  • about custody, maintenance, common law relationships, and cohabitation
  • each province and territory has own legislation
  • sometimes out of sync with social norms
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8
Q

normative definitions

A
  • context is social norms in a society
  • shared by majority of people in a country/region
  • regarded as socially legitimate and approved
  • ex. although many Canadians would view 2 married opposite sex parents and their biological kids as the central definition of family, unmarried parents, same-sex parents, adopted kids, single parents etc. are all normative definitions of Canadian families
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9
Q

theoretical definitions

A
  • uses concepts and propositions of a social science theory
  • aren’t “correct/incorrect”; only consistent with the concepts and propositions in the theory
  • 2 types: rational choice theory and life course theory
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10
Q

concepts

A
  • the starting point for theories
  • an abstract set of ideas collected under one idea
  • ex. “marriage” contains “having a publicly recognized sexual bond between 2 people”
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11
Q

propositions

A
  • the backbone of a theory

- any statement that relates one concept to another concept

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12
Q

conceptual analysis/research hypothesis

A
  • a statement that can have a truth value (true or false)
  • a statement about how one concept is related to another
  • research hypothesis = aka conceptual hypothesis (ie. “marital conflict is negatively related to academic performance” is both a research hypothesis and a conceptual hypothesis)
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13
Q

what does being defined as having a family carry with it?

A
  • carries a status of normalcy
  • isn’t formally defined, but there’s a common understanding of what’s normally meant
  • uses normative biases (ex. assumption that families don’t usually have multiple wives/husbands)
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14
Q

what are the 5 ways in which families are changing nowadays?

A
  • fewer married-couple families
  • same-sex couples are increasing at faster ways than opposite-sex couples
  • single-person households are increasing
  • more 20-29 year olds live with their parents
  • unmarried people outnumber married people (for the first time in Canadian history)
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15
Q

rational choice theory

A
  • assumes everyone makes choices to maximize their profit

- would define family as a social group that over time optimizes the profit for each of its members

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16
Q

life course theory

A
  • norms and expectations that exist throughout the life cycle create age-specific roles
  • ex. a mother with a newborn’s role is to breastfeed it, but a mother with a teenager no longer has that role
  • would define family as a temporal and normatively organized social group responsible for the nurturance and care of children
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17
Q

research definitions

A
  • derived from a theory, social problem, or a hunch
  • must be clearly stated and measurable
  • must be measurable/operationalized in a way so that the dependent variable isn’t used in the measure of any other variables included in the research (independent)
    • ex. marital equality can’t be measured in the same way you’d measure marital stability -> they would overlap and you would get a false result
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18
Q

steps in the research process

A
  1. research question
  2. conceptual research hypothesis and measurement hypothesis
  3. research definitions of concepts and relations
  4. identifying measures (operationalization)
  5. research design for measurement hypothesis
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19
Q

research question

A
  • can be derived from a theory, social problem, gap in existing data, etc.
  • because it’s a question, it can’t be proven true or false, which is why we need a declarative statement (or hypothesis)
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20
Q

measurement hypothesis

A
  • a statement about how one set of measures (independent variable) is related to another (dependent variable)
  • ex. if our conceptual hypothesis is that marital conflict is negatively related to academic performance, our measurement hypothesis could be the number of parental arguments per week and school grades
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21
Q

research definitions of concepts and relations

A
  • define the relationship between the concepts

- ex. are you suggesting that there’s a positive or negative relation between the 2 concepts?

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22
Q

identifying measures (operationalization)

A
  • making sure that each variable operates independently and isn’t linked to another variable
  • ex. if your definition of academic performance includes access to technology, then that would actually be influenced by another variable; the wealth of the family
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23
Q

dynamics/life course analysis and its importance

A
  • studies changes, transitions, and flows of people over time
  • important because most data only captures one point in time w/o looking at transitions; most of our info is limited by the point in time we live in
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24
Q

definition of family from a dynamic/life course perspective

A

“an INTERGENERATIONAL social group organized and governed by social norms regarding descent, affinity, reproduction, and the SOCIALIZATION OF YOUNG”

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25
Q

according to dynamics, what is the family’s main goal?

A

the successful raising of children

26
Q

kinship systems

A
  • represent norms and to whom we are related

- allows us to trace families over long periods of time

27
Q

what are the 2 families an individual has in the kinship system?

A
  • family of orientation: one you’re born into

- family of procreation: one you form with your spouse as an adult

28
Q

unilateral descent

A

establishing kin through either mother’s side of family (matrilineal) or father’s side of family (patrilineal)

29
Q

matrilineal

A

establishing kin through female relatives on mother’s side (male relatives are not considered family)

30
Q

patrilineal

A

establishing kin through male relatives on father’s side (female relatives are not considered family)

31
Q

bilateral/bilineal

A
  • establishing kin through both the mother and father’s relatives
  • people that married into the family don’t count as family, only biological relatives do
32
Q

how has globalization/modernization altered family inheritance?

A

inheritance has changed from the family estate/farm (physical capital) to the parent-sponsored education of children (human capital)

33
Q

4 norms that maintain the structure of kinship

A
  1. marriage (monogomy or polygamy)
  2. authority (patriarchal, matriarchal, or egalitarian)
  3. residence (matrilocality, patrilocality, or neolocality)
  4. descent (matrilineal or patrilineal)
34
Q

interaction effect

A

certain variables work together to produce a stronger outcome

35
Q

authority patterns

A

social norms that establish who is expected to make decisions in the family

36
Q

patriarchal systems

A

authority pattern where the husband or father is expected to be head of household

37
Q

matriarchal systems

A

authority pattern where the wife or mother is expected to be head of household

38
Q

egalitarian systems

A

authority pattern where both spouses share equally in decision-making

39
Q

correlational design

A
  • field studies using sampling procedures and examining the correlated variation (aka: covariation) of 2 or more variables
  • opposite of experimental design
40
Q

dependent variable

A

the outcome variable, the variable to be explained

41
Q

independent variable

A

the causal variable, the variable that predicts or explains an outcome

42
Q

descent systems

A
  • how we establish our lineage

- can be patrilineal, matrilineal, or bilateral

43
Q

extraneous factors

A

variables that may influence a dependent variable and should be added as control variables in a correlational design

44
Q

2 major marriage types/marriage boundaries

A

monogamy and polygamy

45
Q

monogamy

A
  • having only 1 mate at a time

- must get divorced before you can get remarried

46
Q

polygamy

A
  • having multiple mates at the same time
  • supported by both genders (in theory)
  • linked to sex ratios, economic conditions, and religious beliefs
  • a way to maintain traditional social order
47
Q

random assignment

A

randomly assigning each experimental subject to a treatment or control group in an experiment

48
Q

random sampling

A
  • used for surveys and correlational design

- involves each individual in the population having the same chance of being chosen for inclusion in the sample

49
Q

residence patterns

A

generally expected patterns for living arrangements when a couple marries (either matrilocal, patrilocal, or neolocal)

50
Q

matrilocal residence

A

the expectation that a newly married couple will reside with the bride’s family

51
Q

patriolocal residence

A

the expectation that a newly married couple will reside with the groom’s family

52
Q

neolocal residence

A

the expectation that a newly married couple will set up a new household (North American expectation)

53
Q

social norm

A

a social rule followed by most people in a group, and is common enough to be an expectation

54
Q

theory

A

composed of at least 2 logically related propositions

55
Q

variance

A

the variability on any set of measures (ie. why does one person have high social status and another low social status?)

56
Q

multilineal

A
  • everyone is considered family, whether biological or not

- practised in North America

57
Q

how is the structure of kinship maintained across generations?

A

through social norms (ie. marriage, authority, residence, descent)

58
Q

sequential or serial monogamy

A

having more than 1 spouse, but not at the same time

59
Q

polyandry

A
  • 1 wife married to several husbands
  • rare
  • practised for economic security - occurs in extreme poverty where women have limited roles in economy
60
Q

fraternal polyandry

A
  • 1 wife married to several husbands, all husbands are brothers
  • because the brothers share genetics, the kids will look like all of the husbands, so the husbands are more likely to take care of all the kids equally since they don’t know which ones are theirs
61
Q

group marriage

A
  • multiple husbands married to multiple wives
  • if you were male, you weren’t married to the other men, just to the other women
  • illegal in North America (most famous group = Oneida family in USA)
62
Q

pros and cons of group marriage

A
  • pros: group pools resources and childcare (because husbands don’t know which babies are theirs), genetics are spread further
  • cons: jealousy/competing for status, accepting each other’s spouses, housing problems, privacy, division of labour, outside negativity (judgements from the world force you to either hide or judge yourself)

Sociology 200 (12 decks)

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