Group Notes:
1. Aggregate: a number of people who happen to be in the same place, but do not interact with one another, ex: mall shoppers
2. Social Network: webs of social relationships that link individuals or groups to one another, ex: cliques, groups of friends (old school); facebook, twitter (new school)
3. Group: two or more people come together with a distinctive pattern of interaction, indentify with one another and share a feeling of unity, ex: a group of “best friends”
Different Classification of Groups:
A. Primary Group- individuals interact informally, small size, personal and long lasting relationships, individuals define themselves by who they are (ex: friends, family)
B. Secondary Group- individuals interact formally, large size, impersonal relationships, based on specific interests, individuals define themselves by what they are (ex: co-workers)
C. In Group- group to which an individual belongs
D. Out Group- group to which an individual does NOT belong.
Ex: Muzafer Sherif experiment at Robber’s Cave Park: boys formed two groups (Rattlers and Eagles). Loyalty to In Group generates hostility toward and Out Group and divisions between groups form. Usually members of In Group view themselves with positive types and the Out Group members create stereotypes.
E. Reference Group- a group that is used as the frame of referencing and formulating one’s own behavior
Group Characteristics and Perspectives
A. Leadership Status
Autocratic Leaders: achieve group’s goals by getting others to focus on task, serve as overseers, most effective leadership.
Democratic Leaders: achieve group’s goals by making sure everyone is happy with their roles, a kind of partnership
Laissez Faire Leaders: let others work more or less on their own, provides little oversight, probably least effective form of leadership.
B. Group Size- when group size is increased, personal relationships weaken. Also, increasing group strengthens groups durability, However, greater group size leads to social loafing (where each member in the group has to do less work
C. Group Conformity- individuals in group expected to conform to group’s norms, (pressure to conform is so powerful, many go along with the majority even if they privately disagree, illustrated by Asch Lane experiment and Milgram shock experiment.)
D. Sociological Perspective on Social Groups
Functional Perspective: groups are important to cooperate and achieve a common goal as a whole
Conflict Perspective: power flows from the bottom up in groups
Symbolic Interactionist Perspective: groups culture and changes result from the interaction of those within (and even outside) the group.
Thursday, February 18, 2010
Thursday, February 11, 2010
Social Interaction and Group Notes
Social Interaction and Group Notes:
A. Social Interaction: process by which individuals act toward and react to others.
1. The three main types of Social interaction
A. Oppositional Interaction: treating others as competitors or enemies
1. Supported by Conflict Perspective
2. Ex: c ompetitive sports, coworkers, foreign economies
B. Supportive interaction: treating others as supporters or friends
1. Supported by Functionalist perspective
2. Ex: teams, restaurant workers, teachers
C. Symbolic interaction: people actively interpret each other’s actions and reactions and behave in accordance with the interpretation
1. Supported by symbolic Interactionist Perspective
2. Ex: International affairs, political figures, religious views
A. Social Interaction: process by which individuals act toward and react to others.
1. The three main types of Social interaction
A. Oppositional Interaction: treating others as competitors or enemies
1. Supported by Conflict Perspective
2. Ex: c ompetitive sports, coworkers, foreign economies
B. Supportive interaction: treating others as supporters or friends
1. Supported by Functionalist perspective
2. Ex: teams, restaurant workers, teachers
C. Symbolic interaction: people actively interpret each other’s actions and reactions and behave in accordance with the interpretation
1. Supported by symbolic Interactionist Perspective
2. Ex: International affairs, political figures, religious views
Wednesday, February 3, 2010
Culture Notes - From Sociology
Culture
Culture: refers to societal beliefs, values, behaviors, characteristics, and shared symbols that individuals learn as members of a society.
A. Components of Culture:
1. materials: tangible objects that reflect the nature of society; serve as a buffer between
humans and the environment (ex: food, clothes, technology)
2. normative/non-material: the intangible aspects of culture that include knowledge, beliefs, values, norms
Beliefs: ideas that are relatively subjective, unreliable and unverifiable
Values: socially shared ideas about what is good, desirable, or important; general principles that support the norms of society.
Norms: derived from values, social rules that specify how people should behave; provides conformity and produces shared expectation.
Components of norms:
1. Folkways- norms that have little moral significance; “weak norms” that specify expectations about appropriate behaviors (ex: smiling, smirking)
2. Mores- norms that have moral significance; “strong norms” that specify normal behavior and constitute demands not expectations; violations are seriously punished (ex: murder kidnapping, rape/molestation)
3. Laws- norms (mores) that are specifically formal in writing and backed by the local, state, and/or federal government.
B. Symbolic- word, gesture, music, or anything that stands for something that enables us to communicate (ex: language)
C. Sociologic Perspective on Culture- culture meets human needs and unsure social order by meeting our needs.
Conflict perspectives- culture supports social inequality by reflecting the interesting rich and powerful.
Symbolic Interactionist perspective- culture reflects a shared understanding by serving as a social guide to social interaction and a product of interaction.
2. Analysis of culture
D. multiculturalism: a state in which all subcultures in the same society are equal to one another.
E. Ethnocentrism- the attitude that one’s own culture is superior to those of other people.
F. cultural relativism: the belief that a culture must be understood on its own terms; suppresses ethnocentrism by understanding other cultures by looking in their point of view.
Socialization Notes:
1)Socialization-process that involves social experience in which individuals develop human potential; process by which society, through its institutions, transmits its values so that individuals can assume their role in society.
2)Sociological Perspectives on Socialization:
A. Functionalist Perspective- Norms and values are instilled in children to insure social order
B. Conflict Perspective- reinforces age inequality and exploits children to child labor, child slavery, and child abuse.
C. Symbolic Interactionist Perspective- development of self-image and self esteem from interaction with others.
2) Processes of Socialization: Personality, morality, and intelligence, can all be shaped by socialization. Sociologists believe human nature is shaped by experiences in life, not biological factors. **Nature VS Nurture debate** Global analysis of socialization shows that some influence of culture on socialization.
Culture: refers to societal beliefs, values, behaviors, characteristics, and shared symbols that individuals learn as members of a society.
A. Components of Culture:
1. materials: tangible objects that reflect the nature of society; serve as a buffer between
humans and the environment (ex: food, clothes, technology)
2. normative/non-material: the intangible aspects of culture that include knowledge, beliefs, values, norms
Beliefs: ideas that are relatively subjective, unreliable and unverifiable
Values: socially shared ideas about what is good, desirable, or important; general principles that support the norms of society.
Norms: derived from values, social rules that specify how people should behave; provides conformity and produces shared expectation.
Components of norms:
1. Folkways- norms that have little moral significance; “weak norms” that specify expectations about appropriate behaviors (ex: smiling, smirking)
2. Mores- norms that have moral significance; “strong norms” that specify normal behavior and constitute demands not expectations; violations are seriously punished (ex: murder kidnapping, rape/molestation)
3. Laws- norms (mores) that are specifically formal in writing and backed by the local, state, and/or federal government.
B. Symbolic- word, gesture, music, or anything that stands for something that enables us to communicate (ex: language)
C. Sociologic Perspective on Culture- culture meets human needs and unsure social order by meeting our needs.
Conflict perspectives- culture supports social inequality by reflecting the interesting rich and powerful.
Symbolic Interactionist perspective- culture reflects a shared understanding by serving as a social guide to social interaction and a product of interaction.
2. Analysis of culture
D. multiculturalism: a state in which all subcultures in the same society are equal to one another.
E. Ethnocentrism- the attitude that one’s own culture is superior to those of other people.
F. cultural relativism: the belief that a culture must be understood on its own terms; suppresses ethnocentrism by understanding other cultures by looking in their point of view.
Socialization Notes:
1)Socialization-process that involves social experience in which individuals develop human potential; process by which society, through its institutions, transmits its values so that individuals can assume their role in society.
2)Sociological Perspectives on Socialization:
A. Functionalist Perspective- Norms and values are instilled in children to insure social order
B. Conflict Perspective- reinforces age inequality and exploits children to child labor, child slavery, and child abuse.
C. Symbolic Interactionist Perspective- development of self-image and self esteem from interaction with others.
2) Processes of Socialization: Personality, morality, and intelligence, can all be shaped by socialization. Sociologists believe human nature is shaped by experiences in life, not biological factors. **Nature VS Nurture debate** Global analysis of socialization shows that some influence of culture on socialization.
Monday, December 14, 2009
Sociology Notes 3
Society and Social Institutions
A. Society- a collection of interacting individuals sharing the same way of life (culture) and living in the same territory.
B. Fundamental Building Blocks of Society
1. Statuses: positions in society
a. Ascribed position- status given to us at birth or involuntary assigned later in life.
Ex: race, gender, social class
b. Achieved status- status obtained voluntarily by personal ability and effort.
Ex: college, graduate with Bachelors/Master’s degree.
c. Master status- highest status a person can obtain that is determined by society.
Ex: President of the United States of America
2. Roles- patterns of expected behavior that should align with one’s status in society
a. Prescribed Role- set of expectations about how a person with a particular status should behave.
b. Role Performance- how a person actually carries out a role.
3. Group- collection of people who interact with one another and have a feeling of unity; groups form when people carry out statuses and roles.
4. Social institutions- a set of widely shared beliefs, norms, and procedures necessary for meeting the basic needs of society. Social institutions do for us collectively what we as individuals are not able to do.
***The five most important social institutions: family, education, religion, economy, and politics***
A. Society- a collection of interacting individuals sharing the same way of life (culture) and living in the same territory.
B. Fundamental Building Blocks of Society
1. Statuses: positions in society
a. Ascribed position- status given to us at birth or involuntary assigned later in life.
Ex: race, gender, social class
b. Achieved status- status obtained voluntarily by personal ability and effort.
Ex: college, graduate with Bachelors/Master’s degree.
c. Master status- highest status a person can obtain that is determined by society.
Ex: President of the United States of America
2. Roles- patterns of expected behavior that should align with one’s status in society
a. Prescribed Role- set of expectations about how a person with a particular status should behave.
b. Role Performance- how a person actually carries out a role.
3. Group- collection of people who interact with one another and have a feeling of unity; groups form when people carry out statuses and roles.
4. Social institutions- a set of widely shared beliefs, norms, and procedures necessary for meeting the basic needs of society. Social institutions do for us collectively what we as individuals are not able to do.
***The five most important social institutions: family, education, religion, economy, and politics***
Tuesday, December 8, 2009
Three Sociological Perspectives
(As stated before, this is not my work. This is notes from my teacher, and I do not know where he got them from.)
Three Paradigms/Perspectives of Sociology
1. Functional Perspective
Ideals: Focuses on social order where every part of society performs certain functions for society as a whole (all parts are interdependent and strive for homeostasis)
Supporters: Emile Durkheim, Herbert Spencer, Robert Mertin
**Social consensus (glue that binds together society) =social contract (what everyone is born into such as the Constitution of the United States)**
Social Consensus: the condition in which most members of society agree on what is good for everybody and cooperate to achieve it.
Types of Social Consensus: A) mechanical solidarity- much solidarity -> people who have similar beliefs, values, work and rely solely on themselves (common in traditional, rural, pre-industrial, agricultural societies.) or B) organic solidarity- people have specialized jobs and depend on others for society to function (ex: doctors, teachers, lawyers, etc. who have their own job and rely on others to do their job; common in industrial complex, urban, and post agricultural.)
Criticisms: This is a very conservative perspective, upholds status quo, focuses on positive functions of society, and ignores the negative aspects.
2. Conflict Perspective
Ideals: focuses on the ever-changing society and is marked by conflict that in the end, produces social change.
Supporters: Karl Marx (founder of the theory), and Max Weber
Basis of Theory: Struggle between the Capitalists (those who operate and control the means of production) and the Proletarians (laborers, workers)
Criticisms: Focuses on negative aspects/functions of society (the problems and injustices), not the positive and stable aspects.
3. Symbolic Interactionist Perspective
Ideals: focuses on the details of specific situations and interactions between people. Believes Human Behavior is always subject to change since our reactions are based upon others’ actions and our interpretation.
Supporters: George Herbert Meade (founder of theory), Edwin Sutherland, and Charles Lemert
Criticisms: Ignores the influence of larger social forces and larger issues of national international order and change.
**It is very important to understand these perspectives to fully understand sociological topics, as they are explained using these three perspectives.**
Three Paradigms/Perspectives of Sociology
1. Functional Perspective
Ideals: Focuses on social order where every part of society performs certain functions for society as a whole (all parts are interdependent and strive for homeostasis)
Supporters: Emile Durkheim, Herbert Spencer, Robert Mertin
**Social consensus (glue that binds together society) =social contract (what everyone is born into such as the Constitution of the United States)**
Social Consensus: the condition in which most members of society agree on what is good for everybody and cooperate to achieve it.
Types of Social Consensus: A) mechanical solidarity- much solidarity -> people who have similar beliefs, values, work and rely solely on themselves (common in traditional, rural, pre-industrial, agricultural societies.) or B) organic solidarity- people have specialized jobs and depend on others for society to function (ex: doctors, teachers, lawyers, etc. who have their own job and rely on others to do their job; common in industrial complex, urban, and post agricultural.)
Criticisms: This is a very conservative perspective, upholds status quo, focuses on positive functions of society, and ignores the negative aspects.
2. Conflict Perspective
Ideals: focuses on the ever-changing society and is marked by conflict that in the end, produces social change.
Supporters: Karl Marx (founder of the theory), and Max Weber
Basis of Theory: Struggle between the Capitalists (those who operate and control the means of production) and the Proletarians (laborers, workers)
Criticisms: Focuses on negative aspects/functions of society (the problems and injustices), not the positive and stable aspects.
3. Symbolic Interactionist Perspective
Ideals: focuses on the details of specific situations and interactions between people. Believes Human Behavior is always subject to change since our reactions are based upon others’ actions and our interpretation.
Supporters: George Herbert Meade (founder of theory), Edwin Sutherland, and Charles Lemert
Criticisms: Ignores the influence of larger social forces and larger issues of national international order and change.
**It is very important to understand these perspectives to fully understand sociological topics, as they are explained using these three perspectives.**
Friday, December 4, 2009
Sociology Notes
These are my sociology notes from class. I received them from my teacher, and God knows where he got them from. (I didn't copy word for word.) Oh, and I'm not purposefully plagiarizing, I do not own any rights to this, but if you wish to use it as information for yourself, Go for it!
What is sociology?
History and Development of Sociology
A. Sociology: the scientific and systematic study of human society. Sociology is based on scientific evidence, built upon observation, experimentation, verification, and generalization.
Sociological imagination, which allows us to observe in a general sense and to draw relationships between individual experiences and its affects on the outer world.
B.Reasons why we study sociology:
1. We can know ourselves better by studying others
2. We can study diversity (in race, sex, age, ethnicity, class.) to gain insight in how society works
3.Gain insight into our own society by studying other societies.
C. History and Development of Sociology
Sociology began in Europe in the 1800's after social upheaval in Europe (Industrialization). Sociology was originally developed to improve the world and apply scientific methods in a study of society.
Auguste Compte was deemed the "Father of Sociology" and coined the term "sociology" in 1838.
There are 3 stages in societal development; Theological (religious), metaphysical, and scientific. He proposed 2 branches in society. These were statics (study of the endurance of society) and dynamics (the study of a changing society)
Harriet Martineau: first woman sociologist who believed society would progress by eliminating inequality among the people (racial and gender equality specifically)
Herbert Spencer: Believed each part of the society performs its own function and contributes survival and stability of the whole and society can correct ANY problems by being left alone (survival of the fittest idea). He is a functionalist supporter.
Karl Marx: believed the primary features of society are conflict and competition. He is a conflict supporter.
Emile Durkheim: brought formal scientific methods for sociology. He is a functional supporter and originator.
Jane Addams: founder of sociology in the US; founder of the Hull house (a social and human service agency designed to help those in need who face inequality and give them an opportunity, provided childcare, job training, education, etc.)
Note: Sociology came to USA and was used in regard to solve specific problems (such as prostitution, and racial discrimination. Sociology became a major study during the 1960's with social unrest and upheaval due to the Civil Rights Movement.
What is sociology?
History and Development of Sociology
A. Sociology: the scientific and systematic study of human society. Sociology is based on scientific evidence, built upon observation, experimentation, verification, and generalization.
Sociological imagination, which allows us to observe in a general sense and to draw relationships between individual experiences and its affects on the outer world.
B.Reasons why we study sociology:
1. We can know ourselves better by studying others
2. We can study diversity (in race, sex, age, ethnicity, class.) to gain insight in how society works
3.Gain insight into our own society by studying other societies.
C. History and Development of Sociology
Sociology began in Europe in the 1800's after social upheaval in Europe (Industrialization). Sociology was originally developed to improve the world and apply scientific methods in a study of society.
Auguste Compte was deemed the "Father of Sociology" and coined the term "sociology" in 1838.
There are 3 stages in societal development; Theological (religious), metaphysical, and scientific. He proposed 2 branches in society. These were statics (study of the endurance of society) and dynamics (the study of a changing society)
Harriet Martineau: first woman sociologist who believed society would progress by eliminating inequality among the people (racial and gender equality specifically)
Herbert Spencer: Believed each part of the society performs its own function and contributes survival and stability of the whole and society can correct ANY problems by being left alone (survival of the fittest idea). He is a functionalist supporter.
Karl Marx: believed the primary features of society are conflict and competition. He is a conflict supporter.
Emile Durkheim: brought formal scientific methods for sociology. He is a functional supporter and originator.
Jane Addams: founder of sociology in the US; founder of the Hull house (a social and human service agency designed to help those in need who face inequality and give them an opportunity, provided childcare, job training, education, etc.)
Note: Sociology came to USA and was used in regard to solve specific problems (such as prostitution, and racial discrimination. Sociology became a major study during the 1960's with social unrest and upheaval due to the Civil Rights Movement.
Monday, April 13, 2009
Calm Down!
1. Count down from 60
Why? Focusing on something other then the stressor helps you relax a bit.
2. Eat fruit
Why? They release some serotonin and give you a burst of energy. Prunes are great for this.
3. Play with a toy
Why? Giving your hands something to do keeps your mind off anxiety.
4. Hug someone
Why? It reminds you that someone loves you.
5. Pretend you're on a trampoline
Why? It'll give you a bit of adreneline and make you laugh.
6. Daydream
Why? Your mind will be on a mental vacation so your body can become less tense.
7. Laugh
Why? It'll help you lighten up.
8. Freewrite
Why? It'll help you pin-point what's on your mind so you can take action.
9. Chew gum
Why? People who chew gum 4 days a week have reduced stress levels.
10. Focus on your breath
Why? You can relax your body and realize the stress isn't as important as the little things in life that make you happy.
Why? Focusing on something other then the stressor helps you relax a bit.
2. Eat fruit
Why? They release some serotonin and give you a burst of energy. Prunes are great for this.
3. Play with a toy
Why? Giving your hands something to do keeps your mind off anxiety.
4. Hug someone
Why? It reminds you that someone loves you.
5. Pretend you're on a trampoline
Why? It'll give you a bit of adreneline and make you laugh.
6. Daydream
Why? Your mind will be on a mental vacation so your body can become less tense.
7. Laugh
Why? It'll help you lighten up.
8. Freewrite
Why? It'll help you pin-point what's on your mind so you can take action.
9. Chew gum
Why? People who chew gum 4 days a week have reduced stress levels.
10. Focus on your breath
Why? You can relax your body and realize the stress isn't as important as the little things in life that make you happy.
Subscribe to:
Posts (Atom)