sociology midterm

The study of how societies are organized and how the organization of a society influences the behavior of people living in it.

The study of how societies are organized and how the organization of a society influences the behavior of people living in it.

○Relational sociologist

○Sociologists generate interpretative understandings

○Integration and regulation - Too little regulation leads to "Anomie"

Behaviors actions or events that take place because of social influences.

○Drew attention to the experiences of women

○Insisted that sociology be an empirical science adhering to the methods utilized by physical sciences

A systematic study design.

is any characteristic that has more than one possible value.

Research experiment in which researchers match participants on key characteristics.

Relationship between variables.

A research method in which the environment is controlled to isolate the effects of one factor or characteristic

Research method in which researcher spends time among a group, observing and participating in their daily lives

Analysis of existing sources, focusing on key themes and patterns.

Gathering data by asking people sets of questions

a type of in-depth study of a group and its culture.

Tendency we all have to look for and accept information that reinforces what we already believe

●First international guidelines establishing research ethics.

Item observed in a study (ex: individual people, cities, neighborhoods, apartment complexes, nations).

a statement about how variables are expected to relate to each other.

A way of defining variables into measurable items.

relationship between variables.

One variable causes a change in another variable.

Which variable is affecting the other when a relationship exists.

When a third variable actually explains the apparent connection between two variables

Whether questions accurately measure the intended characteristic.

Consistency of measurements

Problems introduced to data when respondents give answers they believe are socially acceptable.

set of social statuses, roles, groups, networks, and institutions that organize and influence the way people go about their lives. Resources and Rules

●of internalizing a culture's norms, values and the like. Constant and ever evolving.

A persons socially determined position within a social group.

●role is a set of expectations about the behavior and attitudes of people who occupy a particular social status.

Norms are rules and expectations by which a group guides the behavior of its members.

Resources are the things which are valuable or allow us to accomplish goals

Refers to the Opportunities to provide yourself with material goods, positive living conditions, and favorable life experiences

Series of social relationships that link a person directly to other individuals and indirectly to even more people

Central domains of social life that guide our behaviors and meet our

The generalized other

The looking glass self

A group of individuals who share a similar socio-economic position based on income, wealth, education, and occupation.

A system that puts categories of people into a hierarchy

the amount of money an individual earns from employment or investments.

the total amount of money that you possess or would possess if you sold off your assets.

Movement from an ascribed social class position to a new achieved social class position

Advantages that are built up over generations and contribute to social class inequality.

A belief that personal responsibility and individual effort are the sole

A measure that considers the basic necessities of life such as food, shelter, and clothing; those without these necessities are considered poor.

Is a measure that takes into account the relative economic status of people in a society by looking at how income is distributed

The information you have and the people you know, the connections you have that help individuals enter pre-existing networks or gain power from them.

Cultural or ethnic bias, whether conscious or unconscious. The belief that your culture is the norm or the ideal.

Gaining prestige by exhibiting valuable cultural goods

Members of a dominant culture adopting cultural goods (e.g., ideas, symbols, skills, cultural expressions, intellectual property) of other cultural groups for profit.

Imposition of a dominant group's material and symbolic culture onto another group

Integration of political and economic systems; has brought about intercultural communication and an exchange of ideas and values.

as a personal conception of oneself as male, female, both, or neither. This conception is intimately related to a perceived gender role; this is defined as a presentation (typically within an external context) that reflects a given gender identity

• Meanings of gender are created through social interaction and social norms.

Candace West and Don Zimmerman developed the idea that we perform actions that produce gender. We do gender in interactions with others.

refers to a collection of movements that advocate for equality of all genders and sexes.

●feminists argued that the experiences of women too diverse to place them all in one category.

a system that humans created to classify groups of people based mostly on skin tone.

common culture, religion, history, or ancestry shared by a group of people.

●race has been used to justify some dimensions of the social world

The human phenotype is a set of visible characteristics like the color of our skin, hair and eyes. Has been used as a justification for racial classification and exploitation.