Midterm Flashcards
(26 cards)
Everyday Actor vs. Social analyst
Social analyst: someone who questions the seemingly unquestionable (tries to verify what everyday actor accepts as truth), different from everyday actor because they take practical knowledge for granted
Sociology:
systematic or scientific study of human society and social behavior, from large scale instit and mass culture to small groups and individual interactions
Society:
group of people who shape their lives in aggregated and patterned ways that distinguish their group from others
Practical vs scientific knowledge:
“reciped” or practical knowledge is what everyday actor views world with, and social analyst sees scientific knowledge (clear, comprehensive, systematic)
Ex of practical knowledge: know how to practically use smartphone in everyday life, but don’t know exactly how it works
Another ex: people tend to believe women talk more than men, but after social analyst investigates, they find that contrary is true
sociology vs social sciences
sociology overlaps with social sciences, but much of its territory is unique
overlaps with:
history: both compare past and present to understand both, but soci focusses more on contemporary society
anthropology: more on smaller, indigneous cultures, but soci in societies in all levels of development
economics or politics: soci looks at range of social instit, while these typically focus on one instit
geography: both consider relationship of people to places, though geography more concerned with places themselves
Communication studies: both examine human communication , but soci at BOTH social and interpersonal levels
psychology: soci focusses on indivi in relation to external social forces, while psych specializes in internal states of the mind
Beginners mind:
approaching the world without preconceptions in order to see things in a new way
Culture shock
sense of disorientation that occurs when entering a radically new social or cultural environment
sociological imagination (Mills)
quality of the mind that allows us to understand the relationship between our individual circumstances and larger social forces (pg. 13)
Ex: not being able to find a job might not be simply because you don’t have the right skills, but because of problems in larger economy like downsizing, restrictive policies, changing technologies, or migration patterns
Micro vs macrosociology
microsoci: studies face to face and small group interactions to understand how they affect the larger patterns and structures of society
maco: studies large scale social structures in order to determine how they effect the lives of groups of individuals (pg. 14)
levels of analysis: mico and macosoci
(pg 14) micro analysis: Pam Fishman studying hetersexual couples everyday conversations in their homes where she discovered that women ask more questions than men do in order to provoke an answer, showing a power difference on a larger scale between men and women
macro: glass ceiling and glass escalator (studied by Christine Williams) shows that individuals that are part of certain groups face contraints based on larger societal functions
Theory vs paradigm:
(pg 16) theory: abstract propositions that explain social world and make predictions about the future
paradigm: set of assumptions, theories, and perspectives that makes up a way of understanding social reality
KNOW THEORY TWEETS TABLE!
YOU GOT THIS!
Eurocentrism in sociological theory:
eurocentrism: tendency to favor European or Western histories, cultures, and values over those of non-Western societies
ironic because this in soci is making academic disciplines out of global superpowers usually just because, on the heirarchy of global power, they mean more (Pg. 23)
Quantitative vs Qualitative research
quantitative research: research that translates the social world into numbers that can be treated mathematically; this type of research often tries to find cause and effect relationships
qualitative research: research that works with nonnumerical data such as texts, field notes, interview transcripts, photographs, and tape recordings; this type of research more often tries to understand how people make sense of their world (Pg. 41)
KNOW SCIENTIFIC METHOD FIGURE 2.1
YAY!
Hypothesis, variables, operational definition
Hypothesis: theorhetical statement explaining the relationship between 2 or more phenomena
variables: two or more phenomena that a researcher believes are related; these will be examined in the experiment
Operational definition: clear and concise definition of a variable that facilitates its measurement (ex: there’s a wide range of violence on television and in real life… does “violence” include words such as actions, slap, or murder? (pg. 42)
Correlation, causation, intervening variable, spurious correlation
correlation: relationship between variables in which they change together and may or may not be causal (ex: change in one seems to lead to another, but doesn’t have to)
causation: a change in one variable directly produces a change in another
intervening variable: 3rd variable, sometimes overlooked, that explains the relationship between 2 other variables (ex: correlation between ice cream sales and rise of violent crime, third variable is weather)
spurious correlation: the appearance of causation produced by an intervening variable (ex: hotter weather causes people to buy more ice cream and to commit more violent crime) (pg. 43)
Overview of each method type, and their advantages and disadvantages (pg 67)
YOU GOT THIS!
Sampling in surveys (overview)
researcher must identify specific target population to survey smaller number of respondents and then make accurate inferences about larger population
quantitative research uses PROBABILITY SAMPLING in which random chance is used to select participants
reseachers might generate a SIMPLE RANDOM SAMPLE in which each member of a larger target population has an equal chance of being included in the sample based on random selection
representative sample: sample taken so that findings from members of the sample group can be generalized to the larger population; also referred to as a stratified sample (pg. 52)
social network analysis:
(SNA) How people are connected to one another and how these connections influence their behavior, put them at risk for disease, and even predict mental health
Advantages: can trace the route of just about anything as it moves through social group, community, or society. contributes to the production of “big data”, or data sets so large that storage programs cannot handle them, which also creates new fields of research for social scientists
Disadvantages: because it’s fundamentally quantitative, it can gloss over important details and diversity in the experiences of social actors. Big data is expensive to collect and analyze, and large social network sets often come from sources that have been assembled for other purposes (such as advertising) or that pose a threat to privacy
Nonacademic use of research methods:
US Census Bureau has been taking a survey of the total population every ten years. Many govt decisions (where to build a school or hospital, or where to install new stoplight, etc) are made using demographic data from the census and other major surveys. Polls can be used to find out public opinion and to shape it by private organizatons like political campaign offices and news agencies. Businesses and corporations use soci and experimental "games" to identify and deal with dilemmas in the workplace, build teams, train employees, or even conduct job interviews Market research (gathering data about tastes and habits) is perhaps most common of all nonacademic uses of sociological methods
Value free research:
sociologists need to separate facts from their own individual values (not allow personal beliefs to influence research)
Research ethics:
code of ethics in social sciences don't provide strict rules for researchers in this situation, but set principles. researchers are cautioned to acquire the informed consent of their subjects and to conduct themselves in a way that protects their subjects from harm. Researchers required to protect privacy (essential to gathering valid data). The ASA (American Sociological Association) Code of Ethics sets out recommendations for how to avoid bias, adhere to professional standards, and protect respondents from harm Universities also have institutional review board: a group of scholars within a university who meet reguarly to review and approve the research proposals of their colleagues and make recommendations for how to protect human subjects
Culture:
entire way of life of a group of people (including both material and symbolic elements) that acts as a lense through which one views the world and that is passed from one generation to the next
