week 2 Flashcards
(37 cards)
Why is the social world important? 4 points
- What would life be w/out socially shared expectations?
- what influences the world?
- humans are fundamentally social beings
- we take social patterns for granted as routine, ordinary, and expected
- w/out socially shared expectations, life would be chaotic
- individuals and the social world influence each other
What/Define Sociology
it is the scientific study of social life, social change, and social causes and consequences of human behavior
What does the discipline of sociology focuses on?
- focus on patterns of behavior in society. Rather than looking at the individual human psyche or the economic or political system, we focus on how humans create these structures in society in the first place
- patterns of behaviors that occur within these structures identify groups in which you belong
What are some ideas underlying assumptions of sociology?
- people are social by nature
- people live most of their lives in groups
- interactions between people/groups are reciprocal: each influences the other
- groups feature recurrent social patterns ordered behavior, shared expectations and common understanding
explain the concept of probability vs, certainties in soc?
- it focuses on groups not individuals
- can predict behavior of aggregate groups
- cannot predict behavior of any single individual or event
explain groups in sociology/examples
- dyads: ex.couple/bffs
- small ex. race
- large: ex.catholic
- nations (US)
- global society world as an interdependent entity
what is the sociological perspective?
understanding human behavior by placing it w/in its broader context
- individual outcomes are partly results of forces and structures that are outside
- all affect people differently
- w/ collective mobilization we can change those structures
what does the soc perspective help us do?
it helps us see the links between what people do and the social settings that shape their behavior
what is the social imagination? why?
perspective one can differentiate between
-personal troubles
-public issues
because some people may look at their personal problems as social issues
example of social imagination?
poverty as a personal issues
poverty as a public issue
the social imaginations enables us to..
grasps connections between history / biography
- history-each society is located in a broad stream of events
- gives societs their specific characteristics
- biography: specific experiences that give individuals in life
- external forces not instinct influences human behavior and outcomes
Questions Sociologists Ask – and Don’t Ask
Don’t ask questions that require philosopical or moral judgements
-Do ask questions that can be studied objectively and scientifically
Examples of questions asked
- Why and how do people and groups interact with one another?
- How are different groups or societies organized?
- How do they deal with conflict and change?
Groups are characterized by
- Recurrent social patterns (static structure)
- Ordered behavior (static structure)
- Shared experiences among members (dynamic-interaction)
- Common understandings (dynamic interaction)
Sociology vs. common sense
- common sense ideas seem sensible to any reasonable person; they are taken for granted and rarely questioned
- sociology uses scientific methods to test ideas, including common sense assumptions
C. Wright Mills
described this type of creative thinking as the ability to view one’s own society as an outsider; it allows us to look beyond a limited understanding of things and people in the world, and allows for a broader vision of society
social sciences
aspects of human behavior and social life
ind. perspective
- people lives are a result of their own decisions
- forces and structures affect all people the same so personal experience explains a lot
- people must change themselves
social sci vs. anthro, psych, polsci
social sciences aspects of human behavior and social life
cultural anthropology focuses on the way of life or culture of a group
psychology focuses on individual behavior and mental processes
political sciences focuses on government systems and power
essential ingredients in sociology study
- ability to observe what is happening in the social world
- desire to understand and explain why it’s happening
- some practical rewards of sociological study
- self-awareness and self-improvement
- better understanding of social situations
what sociologists do
- work in colleges and universities
- work in social service and organizations
- work in business
- work in government
social units
interconnected parts of the social world
social structure
a particular combination of social unites that orders our lives- stable patterns of interactions, statuses, roles, and orgs. that provide stability for society and bring order to individuals
social institution
provide the rules, roles, and relationships to meet human needs and guide human behavior
