Notes for Soc 102

lanations about what is assumed to be true.
^does second hand smoking harm non smokers.
Values: Are social agreements about what is considered good and bad, right and wrong, desirable and undesirable.
^crime contradicts the values of honesty.
Norms: are socially defined rules of behavior, they serve as guidelines for our behavior and for our expectations of the behavior of others.
^3 types of folkways, laws and mores.
Folkways refer to the customs and manners of society.. Shaking someone's hand after meeting them.
Laws are norms formalized and backed by political authority…woman not being able to wear her veil for her cdl photo.
Mores are norms with a moral basis…Child abuse because we view such behavior as immoral.
Sanctions: social consequences for conforming to or violating norms….
Symbol: something that represents something else.
^symbols of a culture may include language, gestures and objects whose meanings the members….White pointy hood the kkk
Sociological imagination: the ability to see the connections between our personal lives and the social world in which we live. One person unemployed is considered private trouble...millions of people unemployed is considered a public issue.
Structural functionalist: interconnectedness of society by focusing on how each part influences and is influenced by the other part.
Function if they contribute to social stability and dysfunctional if they disrupt social stability.
Manifest functions: consequences that are intended and commonly recognized.
^Education is to transmit knowledge and skills to society's youth.
Latent Functions: consequences that are unintended and often hidden.
^Public elementary schools serve as babysitters for employed parents and colleges offer a place for young adults to meet potential mates.
Anomie: A state of normlessness in which norms and values are weak or unclear.
^people may steal , abuse their spouse.
Marxist complex theories: Social problems result from inequality inherent in a capitalistic system.
Alienation: A sense of powerlessness and meaninglessness in people's lives.
^Industrial jobs workers often have little power or control over their jobs, a condition that fosters I them a sense of powerlessness in their lives.
^solution lies in eliminating inequality among classes of people by creating a classless society.
Macrosociology: this looks at the big picture of society and suggest how social problems are affected at the institutional level.
Microsociology: another level of sociological analysis, is concerned with the socialpsychological dynamics of individuals interacting in small groups.
Vernstehen: "to understand" implies that in conducting research, social scientists must try to understand others views of reality and subjective aspects of their experiences, including their symbols, values attitudes and beliefs.
Social recognition: the process by which a social problem is born. "drunk driving"
Social legitmation, when the problem achieves recognition by the larger community, including the media, schools, and churches.
Labeling theory; suggest that a social condition or group is viewed as problematic if it is labeled as such…as long as teenagers define drinking as fun and cool, they will continue to abuse it.
Variable: Any measurable even, characteristic, or property that varies or is subject to change.
Operational definiion speciefies how a variable is to be measure.
Dependent variable: the variable that researchers want to explain.
Independent variable: the variable that is expected to explain change in the dependent variable in formulating.
Experiments: involve manipulating the independent variable to determine how it affects the dependent variable.
Field research involves observing and studying social behavior in settings in which it occurs naturally.
Social movement an organized group of individuals with a common purpose to either promote or resist social change through collective action.

Definitions of social problems are clear and unambiguous: False

The social structure of society contains: Statuses and roles

The culture of society refers to its meaning and the ways of life of its members: True

Alienation: the powerlessness and meaninglessness in peoples lives.

Blumers stages of social problems begin with: Social recognition

The independent variable comes first in time; it precedes the dependent variable: true

The third stage in defining a research study is: defining the variables

A sample is a subgroup of the population-the group to whom you actually give questionnaire: True

Studying police behavior by riding along with patrol officer would be an example of : participant and nonparticipant observation

Student benefits of the book include: providing global coverage of social problems, highlighting social problems research, and encouraging students to take pro-social action.