Transcript Sociology

Unit 1: Sociological
Perspectives
Ch 1: An Invitation to Sociology
Ch 2: Sociologists Doing Research
Ch 1 – An Invitation to Sociology
• The nature • Sociology is the scientific study of _______
of sociology
_______. Social structure is the patterned
interaction of people in _______________.
• A perspective is a particular ___________.
The sociological perspective looks at the
behavior of groups NOT _____________.
• So sociologists look at the _________
__________ shared by members of a
group or society.
• They attempt to explain events
w/o relying on personal factors –
they look for ______________.
• They don’t speak of an
individual, but of ______.
• Group
behavior vs.
individual
behavior
• Sociologists assume that social
relationships aren’t determined by the
particular _________________________
involved.
• The mixing of the individuals creates
a new whole w/ new _____________.
• People’s behavior w/in a group setting can’t
be ____________ from their personal
characteristics.
• Groups range in size from a family to an
entire society. No matter its size, all
groups encourage _____________.
• It occurs partly b/c members are
taught to ______ their groups’ ways.
Members may truly value their groups’
ways or just be giving in to ________
____________.
• Sociological
imagination
• The ability of individuals to see the
relationship b/w events in their ________
_____ + the events of their ________.
• It helps us to understand the effects of
events, such as ______________, on our
daily lives + challenges conventional social
wisdom (ideas that people _____ are true).
• This enables us to better make our
_____________ rather than merely
________.
End Section 1
• Sociology’s • Began during the ________________ in late 19th
century Europe. There was a great social upheaval
origins in
+ large #s of people were moving from _______ to
Europe
_______.
• Some intellectuals were concerned by the sudden
changes. They looked for ways to ____________.
These ideas led to the rise of sociology.
• Auguste Comte (France):
• “The __________ of Sociology”.
• Explained his theories in Positive Philosophy.
• Concerned w/ the ___________________.
Believed that for society to advance, social
behavior had to be studied _________. He
attempted to create a science to do this
which he called “sociology”.
• Positivism is the belief that knowledge
should be derived from ____________
____________.
• He distinguished b/w social statics which is
the study of social ______ + social dynamics
which is the study of social _________.
• Harriet Martineau (England):
• Translated Comte’s book into ________.
• Contributed to research methods +
___________ theory.
• Saw a link b/w ______ + the oppression of
women. Believed that women’s lack of
economic power helped keep them
_____________________.
• Herbert Spencer (England):
• Introduced the idea of Social Darwinism
which claims that in order for society to
______, the strongest, most fit members
of society should be allowed to flourish +
the ______, least fit should be allowed to
die – based on the ideas of Charles Darwin.
• So he opposed ________________.
• Viewed positively by _____________ b/c
he justified their exploitation of the poor.
• Karl Marx (Germany):
• Believed that social scientists should try to
__________________, not just study it.
• Stated that throughout history, societies
have always been divided into _________
_________:
__________
vs.
__________
(haves, middle-class)
(have-nots, poor)
• The Bourgeoisie is the class that _____ the
means of production. An individual w/in that
class is a capitalist. The Proletariat was the
__________________.
• The Industrial Revolution _____________
b/w the classes. He believed the Proletariat
would rise up + overthrow the Bourgeoisie +
work for ________________ for all. This
would lead to the gov.’t dissolving + a
classless society - _________. He thought
it would take numerous revolutions for this
to happen.
• Emile Durkheim (France):
• Claimed that society exists b/c of a broad consensus
(agreement).
• Believed in _____________ times, societies
were based on mechanical solidarity (social
dependency based on widespread consensus
of values + beliefs, _________________, +
dependence on tradition + family).
• Believed ____________ societies are based
on organic solidarity (social interdependency
based on a high degree of ____________ in
roles).
• Max Weber (Germany):
• Claimed humans act based on their understanding of
a _________. He believed an understanding of the
_______________ of people in groups can be best
accomplished through the method of verstehen
(understanding social behavior of others by putting
yourself in the _____________________).
• Thought the key influence in industrialization was
rationalization (the mind-set emphasizing _______,
reason + ________) instead of tradition, emotion, +
superstition prevalent in preindustrialized societies.
• Sociology develops • The greatest development of sociology has
in the US
taken place in the ____ + most sociologists
are from the ______.
• Jane Addams
• Focused on the problems caused by
the ________________ among the
social classes. Co-founded the ____
_____ in Chicago, a place for people
(the ill, aged, poor, immigrants, etc)
who needed assistance.
• Also active in ________________ +
peace movements.
• Won the _______________ (1931).
• W.E.B. DuBois
• Black educator + ____________ for
the rights of blacks in America +
abroad.
• Helped found the __________.
End Section 2
• Perspective
• Your perspective is the way you _______
the meaning of an image or event. It’s
influenced by your ______________. It
draws your attention to some things +
________ it to others.
• A theoretical perspective is a set of
assumptions ______________. It helps
its supporters ________ their research.
• ________ theoretical perspectives
usually exist at the same time.
• Sociology has 3 major theoretical
perspectives:
• ____________
• ________________
• ____________________
• Functionalism
• An approach that emphasizes the
__________ made by each part of society.
• Parts of society include ________,
economy, _________, etc…
• Functionalists see the parts of a society as
an ______________ – a change in one part
leads to changes in other parts. For
example, a major change in the economy
leads to changes in the ________.
• Assumes that societies tend to return to a
state of _______ after some upheaval has
occurred.
• Believes that there is a consensus on ____
(Ex. Most Americans agree on the
desirability of democracy + equal
opportunity) which promotes a high degree
of _______________.
• Believes that most aspects of a society
exist to promote a society’s __________ +
________ (Ex. gov.’ts, families, religions,
etc…).
• A function is a ___________ made by some
part of a society.
• Manifest functions are __________ +
_________ contributions of an aspect
of society.
• Ex. Schools educate students.
• Latent functions are ___________ +
_________ contributions of an aspect
of society.
• Ex. Schools help develop
____________.
• Not all elements of society make _________
contributions. Dysfunction refers to the
__________ consequences of an aspect of
society.
• Ex. Gov.’ts can be very ___________.
• Conflict
perspective
• An approach that emphasizes the role of
_______, competition, _______, + constraint
w/in a society.
• Basically the ______ beliefs of functionalism.
• Focuses on the ____________ among various
groups in a society or b/w societies.
• Believe that groups + societies compete
in an attempt to preserve + promote
their own special ________________.
• It’s all a contest w/ the main ? being, “_____
______________?”
• Those w/ the most power (ability to
________________ of others) get the
largest share of whatever a society
considers to be __________.
• Believe that social change occurs as the
_______________ among conflicting groups
shifts.
• Symbolic
interactionism
• An approach that focuses on the __________
among people based on mutually understood
__________.
• Believe that groups exist only b/c their
members _______ each other’s __________.
• A symbol is something chosen to __________
something else. It can be an object, ______,
gesture, facial expression, sound, etc…
• Often it is something _________ used
to represent something that is ______
____________.
• Believe that we learn the meaning of a symbol
from the way we see others ________ to it +
that once we learn the meanings of symbols,
we base our ______ (or interaction) on them.
We then use the meanings of symbols to
imagine how others will _________ to our
behavior.
End Section 3
Ch 2 – Sociologists Doing Research
• How do
sociologists
conduct
research?
• Like other scientists, sociologists gain
knowledge by doing ____________.
• Unlike most other scientists, sociologists are
very ________ in their ability to set up
___________________ to replicate real-life
conditions.
• Sometimes it’s impossible to __________ the
necessary conditions + sometimes even if they
could, there are __________ preventing them
from doing so.
• There are 2 methods of research sociologists
use:
• ____________ – data based on #s.
Makes up about ______% of research
published in major sociological journals.
• _________ – data based on
narratives + descriptions.
•
Quantitative •
research
A survey is a research method in which information is
obtained by asking many individuals a ___________ of ?’s.
• Most ____________ research method in sociology.
• Ideal for studying ________ #s of people.
• B/c they can’t study an entire population (a group of
people w/ certain ____________________), they
must select a sample (a relatively ________ out of
the total population under study).
• A sample must be representative of the
________________. A representative sample
is one that accurately reflects the
______________ of the population as a whole.
There are 2 ways to ensure the sample is
representative of the population:
1. Take a purely __________________.
2. ______________ pick individuals who
represent all of the various ________
in the population being studied.
• May be a questionnaire or an __________. Closedended questions are those w/ a limited, fixed set of
______ + open-ended questions are answered in the
participants’ own words. See p. 40 for examples.
Closed-ended Survey Research
Advantages
•
•
•
•
Closed-ended answers
can be more precisely
__________.
Responses can be easily
__________.
Statistical techniques
can be used to ______
_______ of the data.
A ______ of responses
can be collected.
Disadvantages
•
•
•
•
Surveys are ________
to produce + distribute.
Responses are ______
to preset answers.
Many people don’t
respond to surveys,
resulting in low cost
_______________.
The way a question is
stated may _________
the answer given.
• Secondary analysis is using ______________
_____________ for data collection + research
purposes.
• Types of precollected data include ______
______ (ex. Census information), company
records, voting lists, other scientists’
research reports, etc….
• _____________ – rarely used in sociology.
• Qualitative
research
• Uses ________________________ data rather than
numerical data.
• Most of these methods are types of field research
(research that takes place in a natural, ___________,
setting).
• Case studies are a research method that involves
an ____________ of a single group, incident, or
community.
• B/c only a few people are studied, a
single case study doesn’t ___________.
However, they can generate new
hypotheses that researchers can test.
• Most ___________ used field research
method.
• Naturalistic observation: research method in
which the sociologist observes the subject in a
________________ w/o ____________.
• Researcher must avoid disturbing the
people under study b/c they may change
their ________ if they are aware of the
researcher.
• In the participant observation research method,
a researcher becomes a __________________
being studied. The group may or may not be
_________ they are being studied.
End Section 1
• Know the chart on p.45!
• Causation
• The belief that events occur in _________ ways
+ that 1 event leads to another.
• Social scientists look for the factors that cause
social events to happen.
• Social events are usually ______________ to be
explained by a single factor. Multiple causation
is the belief that an event occurs as a result of
several factors working in ______________.
• Ex. What causes crime?
• _______________
• _______________
• _______________
• _______________
• _______________
• Etc…
• Each factor involved in multiple causation is a
__________.
• Variable
•
•
A characteristic that is __________________.
Different types of variables:
• A variable is either quantitative or qualitative.
• Quantitative variable – a characteristic
that can be _____________________.
• Qualitative variable – a characteristic
that is defined by its ______________
_________________ (ex: male/female,
single/married/divorced/widowed, etc…)
• A variable is also either independent,
dependent, or intervening.
• Independent variables – a characteristic
that ______________ to occur. These
are the variables a researcher can
change so they can observe its ______.
• Dependent variables – a characteristic
that _________________. These are
variables that change b/c of a change in
the independent variable.
• Intervening variables – a characteristic
that _____________________ b/w an
independent + dependent variable.
Types of variables:
Ex: You don’t spend much time studying + get a bad grade on your
sociology quiz. But Ms. Griggs decides to curve the grades (Dream
on!). What are the following variables:
1. Independent variable:
2. Is the independent variable quantitative or qualitative?
3. Dependent variable:
4. Is the dependent variable quantitative or qualitative?
5. Intervening variable:
• Correlations
• Sometimes, instead of looking for cause +
effect, researchers look for correlations
(measures of a ____________ b/w 2
variables or sets of data). ___________
______________________________.
• A positive correlation would occur if
both variables or .
• Ex: Grades + IQ
• A negative correlation would be if
one variable + the other .
• Ex: Grades + absences.
• It’s easier to show a ___________
than a ____________.
• Standards for
showing causation
• Standard 1: 2 variables must be
____________.
• Standard 2: All other _________
_______ must be taken into account.
• A spurious correlation is an
apparent relationship b/w 2
variables that is actually caused
by a __________ that affects
both of the other variables.
• Standard 3: A change in the
_____________ variable must occur
before a change in the _________
variable can occur.
• Sometimes it’s difficult to
determine which occurs _____.
End Section 2
• Steps for
doing
research
• Sociologists use the scientific method which involves
the recognition + formulation of a problem, the
collection of data through observation + experiment,
+ the formulation + testing of hypotheses.
• The steps are:
1. __________ the problem.
2. __________ the literature.
3. __________ hypotheses.
- A hypothesis is a testable statement of
relationships among variables.
4. __________ a research design.
5. __________ data.
- Most sociological data is collected by
asking people ?s, observing behavior, +
analyzing _____________________.
6. __________ data.
- Sometimes it can be ____________ in
different ways.
7. ________ findings + conclusions.
• Ethics in social
research
• Although there are principles for conducting
research, scientists sometimes fail to live up to
these principles – whether ________________
them (Ex. Nazi doctors’ experiments on
concentration camp prisoners) or ___________
(Ex. The Stanford Prison Experiment).
• Usually, sociologists routinely protect the rights
of research subjects + avoid ___________ or
harming them.
• Conducting ethical research means showing
_________; using superior research standards;
reporting findings + methods ___________; +
protecting the rights, privacy, integrity, dignity,
+ freedom of ____________________.
• The ___________________________ has
published guidelines for conducting research
(It’s in the appendix of your textbook).
• The researcher must balance the interests of
those being _________ against the need for
accurate, timely ________.
End Section 3