Soc Study Guide Exam 1 PDF

Preview

Summary

study notes...

Description

Identities like race, gender, sexuality & religion have shaped people’s opportunities and obstacles - How were 21-year-olds in the 1970s in a different place in their life course than are 21year-olds today? 21 year olds in the 1970s were starting their lives already. Married or about to be married Caring for a newborn or expecting one Working a long-term job or being a full-time mother & today: five or more years away from marriage and family May have several more years of schooling ahead Expects frequent job changes The transition to adulthood today is more “complex, disjointed, and confusing” Also we fucked up and drink copious amounts of alcohol. - What is the “life course”? Does does it differ from the biological life cycle? How do social institutions shape the life course? Life course: a series of socially constructed life stages that give meaning to different parts of the biological life cycle. Different life stages physically. Growth physically and mentally. Social institutions shape your life course because depending on what you have experienced shape who you are. - How does the life course in modern societies differ from the life course in more traditional ones? Because society has changed. Growing up we are exposed to different things that have an effect on us during our life course. - What role do marketers play in defining the life course? They are responsible for fads and marketing those fads to people who may be interested in them. - What is “emerging adulthood”? List and describe the six major factors that have contributed to the development of emerging adulthood and the stage’s five major qualities. “a new period of life for young people in the United States and other industrialized societies, lasting from the late teens through the mid- to late twenties.” 6 major factors 1. Growth of higher education 2. Delay in age of marriage 3. Economic changes undermining possibility of stable, lifelong careers 4. Increase of family resources extended to young adult children 5. Availability of effective birth control 6. Absolute moral relativism (derived from poststructuralism and postmodernism) 5 major qualities 1. Identity exploration 2. Instability 3. Self-focused 4. Feeling in-between 5. Possibilities - What are the components of what Christian Smith calls the “dark side” of emerging adulthood? How are both the promises of emerging adulthood and the “dark side” connected to the features of the stage?Smith argues that many emerging adults are unable to engage in moral reasoning, captive to consumerism, routinely intoxicated, suffering from hurts and regrets from their sexual experiences, and civically and politically disengaged - What is meritocracy? A social system in which success is determined by merit

-

What are the elements of the American dream discussed by McNamee and Miller? Claim numerous non-merit factors shape our chances for achieving economic success: inheritance, social capital, cultural capital, education, luck, racism, sexism - What is the recipe Americans believe will result in this dream? American dream: Homeownership, Better opportunities for the next generation, Chance to get rich, Secure and comfortable retirement, The traditional recipe for success: Innate talents & abilities The right attitude Working hard Moral character (?) - What non-merit factors do McNamee and Miller claim shape people’s chances for achieving economic success? - What is the pattern of intergenerational transmission of wealth found in the chart shown in lecture? INTERGENERATIONAL WEALTH TRANSMISSION FROM PARENTS TO CHILDREN: if parents are wealthy children will have more benefits - What are the different types of inheritances that people receive from their parents? What is capital? High standards of living (food, clothing, shelter, stable home, sense of security) Educational opportunities (human capital) Inter vivos (between living people) gifts Safety nets Cultural and social capital. Capital: stored value that can be used to produce more value (Capital can be converted from one type to another) What are economic, human, cultural and social capital? Economic capital: money and other financial assets Human capital: the value of education and other training Social capital: resources linked to social networks Cultural capital: knowledge of cultural (and subcultural) norms, values and beliefs - How can forms of capital be converted into other ones? Depending on economics within family, education, connections, and having knowledge on norms, values, & beliefs. Social climbing - How can strong ties and weak ties lead to employment opportunities? Connections! - Why does education often fail to promote social mobility?Our system of postsecondary education does promote social mobility, but only for the small segment of low-income Americans who actually finish a credential. - Define the social construction of reality and institutionalization. The social construction of reality: the process by which humans assign meaning to the world Institutionalization: the process by which humans create standard patterns of meaning that allow reoccurring joint action (social arrangements) - What two worlds do people live in? What do these have to do with the social construction of reality? Reality: People live in two worlds The physical world The world of meaning These mean that Human beings act toward things on the basis of the meanings that the things have for them or Meanings are constructed by people - What are the three stages in the social construction of reality? Categorizing: placing parts of the world into groups Dividing the continuous color spectrum into discrete colors Naming: attaching symbols (‘X’) to those categories Giving names to the colors

Typifying: Characterizing what a typical ‘X’ is like (i.e., story telling about ‘X’) Giving meaning to colors How were colors used in class to illustrate these stages? Colors relate to different topics. Ex: red=republican blue=democratic - What does it mean to say that time is socially constructed? Time is an aspect of the

physical world. Humans give it meaning. -

How did early societies organize time before the construction of abstract time concepts?

Time was organized by activities -

Why is having shared meanings of time important for organizing social life? To determine when specific events are happening. Ex: when to meet, when to sleep What time unit did Eviatar Zerubavel claim was a major attempt to break away from nature? Why did he claim this? - How do units of time illustrate that meanings are not inherent? - How does the week illustrate how social constructions (a) allow easier social coordination, (b) impose constraints on social life, and (c) shape how we experience the physical world? - What is the Thomas Theorem? “If [people] define situations as real, they are real in their consequences.” - What does the Guugu Yimithirr language illustrate about how meanings direct and organize our attention and thoughts? We think in weeks - Define calendrical contrast and give an example from lecture. What were the two modern attempts to replace the seven-day calendar? The seven-day week survived two attempts to replace it: French Revolutionaries attempted to institute a 10-day week (1793-1805) The Soviet Union introduced a five-day week (1929-1931) and then a six-day week (1931-1940) - Why does our calendar not have “blank” or “fixed” days? - Explain the history of clock time. Why is it important in modern society? How does clock time influence the way we think? First clock-like regulation of time was in monasteries - How has the power to construct time changed? Illustrate this with examples from lecture. Some people, groups and institutions have more power than others to construct reality and are more likely to win conflicts over meaning systems. However, meanings have social inertia. People may resist changes to social arrangements central to the organization of their lives. - What does it mean to say animals are socially constructed?Animals get placed into categories (which are given names) like pet, food, vermin, endangered and so on. What are Herbert Blumer’s three premises of symbolic interactionism? 1.People act toward things based on the meanings those things have for them 2.These meanings arise out of interaction with other people 3.These meanings are modified through interpretation as people deal with the things they encounter - The lecture covered several disputes over the meaning of animals, viz., pigeons, dogs (pets vs. food), horses (food vs. American icons), wolf hunting, fox hunting, dog fighting, and cute (vs. ugly) animals used to promote conservation. Describe the conflict over each of these cases, How do the stories told about animals connect to people’s

identities? How do these conflicts connect to important social statuses like race, class and gender? Horses are consumed in much of Europe as steaks, sausages, hot dogs and stews. Americans connect horses to romance of the Old West and the American frontier. - Define self-fulfilling prophecy. Who coined this term?Self-fulfilling prophecy: assumption or prediction that in itself causes the expected event to occur, thus seeming to confirm the prophecy’s accuracy. Robert K. Merton - Explain its connection to the Thomas Theorem and the social construction of reality. Causes an event to occur such as a consequence. Connecting back to the Thomas Theorem: "If [people] define situations as real, they are real in their consequences.” - Explain how each of these phenomena can be an example of a self-fulfilling prophecy: (1) psychiatric diagnoses, (2) bank run, (3) the inevitability of war, (4) racism, (5) Clever Hans, and (6) tracking. - Give the details of the following studies: (1) the Clarks’ doll experiments, (2) Pygmalion in the Classroom, and (3) Being Sane in Insane Places. Be to know what research method was used for each, how the study was conducted, what the findings were, and what is their connection to the self-fulfilling prophecy - Define socialization and understand the points made about it in class. Socialization: process through which one learns how to act according to the shared meanings of a particular culture Socialization is an active process Socialization is a lifelong process - Define resocialization and agent of socialization. What are the three aspects of society that are internalized during socialization? Resocialization: process of learning new shared meanings when entering a new role or social arrangement Agents of socialization: various individuals, groups and institutions who influence socialization Explain Howard Becker’s study “Becoming a Marijuana User,” including its research question, research method, design, and findings. Three stages in developing meaning of marihuana for pleasure: 1. Learning to smoke drug so that it will have a real effect

2. Learning to recognize the effects and connect them to drug use 3. Learning to enjoy the sensation that are perceived - Define looking-glass self, role taking, and generalized other. Looking-glass self: sense of who we are that is defined by incorporating the reflected views of others (Cooley) Role-taking: ability to see oneself from the perspective of others and to use that perspective in formulating one’s own behavior Generalized other: Perspective of some part of society - Explain Mead’s theory of the self. What were the three stages in the process of learning to become a marihuana user that Becker discovered? conceptualized the self as a conversation in which the socialized part of the self can evaluate our desires, impulses & plans from the perspective(s) of society - What are the implications of Becker’s study that were discussed in class?

-

What did the graphs about the internal conversations of Soc 134 students reveal? When students did perform internal conversations the highest percentials talked to themselves, friends and romantic partners. They also talked about certain topics. Those being: life decisions, daily decisions, conflict with others, friendship, & romance/sex. - What are identities and what aspects of society do they correspond to? Explain how identities drive behavior and why we require other people to verify our identities.Statuses/roles in social arrangements Membership in groups Qualities. We need others to verify our identities because they are the people who sway society from abstract to the norm. - How does Howard Becker define culture and what does it allow us to do? Shared meanings allow people to do things together. - What do the examples of the jazz musicians and Harry Partch illustrate about culture? Culture doesn’t make anyone do anything, but it makes some things easier to do - Define status, role & norm. Status: named social position Role: set of expectations for a particular status Norm: a rule - Define ascribed status, achieved status, role conflict and role strain. Ascribed status: social position acquired at birth or taken on involuntarily Achieved status: social position acquired by effort and taken on voluntarily Role conflict: conflict between roles associated with different statuses Role strain: conflict between competing expectations of a role associated with a single status - Define panic. What does research suggest about the existence of panic? an alleged form of behavior that involves people reacting to a real or perceived threat with irrational, frantic, selfish, and often self-destructive behavior Research shows that society continues to guide behavior in extreme circumstances and doesn’t provide evidence for the existence of “panic.” - Recount the basic details about the two disasters studied University of Cincinnati sociologist Norris Johnson. What abilities may people lose in an emergency situation? Why? Beverly Hills Supper Club fire, May 28, 1977 (165 killed) Who concert “stampede,” Dec. 3, 1979 (11 killed) People may lose control of their abilities to perceive, move or communicate. - How does social structure continue to guide behavior in emergency situations? Be specific. Give examples from the 9-11 attack on the World Trade Center. What determined who lived and who died in that attack? Pre-existing norms, statuses & roles continued to guide behavior People followed procedures learned from drills Cooperation, not competition, guided behavior Widespread altruistic behavior to provide assistance - What are three negative consequences of the belief that people panic in emergency situations? Disaster victims may receive blame for their own death or injuries Early warning systems may be avoided, contributing to insufficient appreciation of danger The advantages of improvisation may be ignored

-

-

Give examples of each from lecture Why do people jump out of burning buildings? Should we think of their behavior as “irrational?” “Panic”? Why was the word “tornado” once banned from weather forecasts? Because it puts people in panic mode. Banned the word “torando” to prevent panic. They start to think irrationally. What examples were given in lecture of successful improvisation during emergency situations? What do sociologists attempt to accomplish when they study “irrational” behavior?...