Sociology Exam 1 Flashcards
(25 cards)
What is Sociology?
the science of society
Sociological Imagination
Being able to understand how troubles and
issues are connected, we can
better understand how BIG societal social
issues can affect us on an individual level.
Social Institutions
established and organized systems of social behavior with a particular and recognized purpose
Private Troubles
problems specific to an individual
Public Issues
affect large numbers of people and are a result of how our society is organized
Looking Glass Self
How we understand ourselves is often
shaped by how other people see us;
“How we think we appear to
others”, “
How we think others judge us”,
“How the first two make us feel”
Christopher Knight
shows us that without any
societal looking glasses to reflect us, we can
lose a sense of self-concept.
I & Me
the self is a product of this relationship
between I & Me.
* The “I” – “A running current of awareness,” an observer of the me, always watching, planning, and considering”; Monitors behaviors
* The “Me” – The self as object.
Culture
A complex system of meaning and
behavior that defines the way of life for a
given group or society
Ethnocentrism
only seeing things from the point of view
of our own culture (Like Nacirema)
Culture as taken for granted
nacirema helps us look at our own culture from the outside and really shows us what we take for granted
Nacirema article
example of ethnocentrism; how other see America basically
Counter culture
Subcultures that react to and defy norms and values of the
dominant group
Quantitative analysis
numerical analysis, reduces data to numbers.
Often involves statistical analysis
Survey advantages and disadvantages
Advantages: Disadvantages:
Accessible No personalized follow-up questions
Design flexibility
Honest responses (due to anonymity)
Simple data analysis
Experiment
a scientific procedure undertaken to make a discovery, test a hypothesis, or demonstrate a known fact
Field work/observation
detailed observation and note taking to
better understand a particular group or phenomenon.
Variables
We also often see clearly identified variables (something
we measure about a person or group) in deductive
research.
* Independent variables are the variables that “cause”
* Dependent variables are the ones affected by the
independent variable.
Groups
In-Groups – Are groups that you are a part of
* Out-Groups – Are groups that you are not a part of.
Attribution Error
Our ideas about the personalities of people in a
group, depends on whether we are
part of the group or not—which leads to us
inaccurately evaluating groups.
When someone in an out-group does something deviant – it is because something is wrong with them, When someone in an in-group does the same thing – it was because of the situation
Blood Quantum Rule
A law limiting legal recognition of American
Indians to those who have at least a certain level of indigenous
ancestry.
Gender
socially learned expectations, identities, and behaviors
Sex
We often just use the labels male and female to describe (gender assigned at birth)
Stereotypes
Clusters of ideas attached by social
convention to people with specific social identities.
