Soc 3040: Basic Concepts
- LECTURE NOTES PART I
- I. Introduction
- II. What is Sociology?
- III. Society and Culture
- IV. Socialization
- V. Social Institutions
- VI. Social Stratification
- VII. Social Change and Urbanization
- VIII. Global Stratification
- IX. Society-Nature Relationships
I. Introduction
- A. The Syllabus
- 1. Questions?
- B. Goal for Today: Introduce the field of sociology and
the basic concepts we will be using this semester
II. What is Sociology?
- A. ___________________: the scientific study of society
and human behavior
- 1. Key insight: Human behavior is shaped by the
____________ to which we belong and ___________________________ within
these groups
- B. _______________________: the group memberships that
people have because of their location in history and society
- 1. our social location shapes our
_____________________________
- B.2. What are your most
important concerns as college students and young adults in the U.S. today?
- 3. What were your grandparents’ most important
concerns in 1950?
- C. ___________________: the patterns of behavior that
characterize a social group
- 1. the _________________
- 2. the majority of the world’s
population lives in ________________________
- 3. ___________________________ has transformed our
everyday lives
- D. Research Methods
- 1. ____________________: the application of systematic
methods to obtain knowledge and the knowledge obtained by those methods
- a. scientific methods are used to study both the
_____________________________
- D.2. Goals of Science
- a. ____________________ something happens
- b. __________________ beyond individual cases to
____________________
- c. ____________________________
- 3. Sociology: using _______________________ to explain
human behavior: field research, surveys, interviews, archival research
- III. Society and Culture
- A. _______________: people who share a culture and a
territory
- B. _______________: the language, beliefs, values,
norms, behaviors, and material objects passed from one generation to
another
- 1. _______________________: the material objects that
distinguish a group of people, such as their art, buildings, weapons,
utensils, machines, hairstyles, clothing and jewelry
- B.2. ______________________: a group’s
ways of _______________ (including its beliefs, values, and other
assumptions about the world) and _______________ (its common patterns of
behavior, including language and other forms of interaction)
- C. The Role of Culture in Social Life
- 1. Provides a ______________________________: What do
you do when you see a line of people at a university office?
- 2. Provides a _____________________________
- 3. Provides a _________________________
- 4. Provides a ____________________: What do you think
of people who cut in line?
- D. _______________________: disorientation that people
experience when they come in contact with a fundamentally different
culture and can no longer depend on their taken-for-granted assumptions
about life
- 1. What would you do if you were waiting to board a
plane in Brazil and no one waited their turn in
line?
- E. _____________________: the use of one’s own culture as a yardstick for judging the
ways of other individuals or societies, generally leading to a negative
evaluation of their values, norms and behaviors
- F. __________________________: understanding a people
from the framework of its own culture
- 1. ______________________________ in the U.S.
- 2. What should the legal system do?
- G. _________________: something to which people attach
meaning and then use to communicate
- H. _________________: a system of symbols that can be
combined in an infinite number of ways to represent objects and
communicate abstract thought
- 1. primary means of __________________
- 2. pass on ________________________
- H.3. provides a _______________
- 4. provides a ________________
- 5. allows shared ___________________________
- 6. allows ____________________________________
- 7. expands ______________________ beyond immediate,
face-to-face groups
- I. _________________________: language creates ways of
thinking and perceiving, shaping how people see the world
- 1. ____________ (formerly known as Eskimos) have
______________________ because it is important for them to be able to
distinguish between various types for survival
- 2. we have only a few terms, mainly related to
______________________
- J.
- 1. _______________
- 2. ________________
- 3. ________________
- 4. ________________
- K. _____________: cultural standards by which people
define what is valuable or undesirable
- 1. ________________________
- 2. ________________________
- L. __________________: the expectations or rules of
behavior that guide people’s behavior
- 1. _________________: everyday habits and conventions
that people obey without any thought; a type of norms that are not
strictly enforced: _________________
- L. 2. ______________: norms that are strictly enforced
because they are thought to be essential to core values; often formalized
as __________: ______________________
- 3. _______________: a norm so strong that it brings
revulsion if it is violated: ________________
- M. Values Change Over __________________________
- 1.
______________________________________________________
- N. Values and Norms are
____________________________________
- 1. __________________________________________________
- O. Twenty Core ____________________
- 1.
- 2.
- 3.
- 4.
- 5.
- 6.
- O.7.
- 8.
- 9.
- 10.
- 11.
- 12.
- 13.
- O.14.
- 15.
- 16.
- 17.
- 18.
- 19.
- 20.
- P. Value ___________________
- 1. all societies have values that
___________________________
- a.
- b.
- 2. serious conflicts often result from
_________________________, e.g. _______________________________________
- Q. __________________________: the spread of cultural
characteristics from one group to another
- 1. ___________________________ around the world in
business, science, and technology
- R. __________________________: the process by which
cultures become similar to one another as unique and often valuable
characteristics are eliminated and homogenized
- 1. today, ____________________________ is imported and
diffused into other nations through increased global interconnections
- 2.
IV. Socialization
- A. ___________________: the process by which people:
- 1. learn the ______________________________
- 2. learn what to "____________________":
_________________________________
- 3. are incorporated into ______________________
- 4. develop our _______________________________
- B. _________________________________: people or groups
that affect our self-concept, attitudes, or other orientations toward life
- B.1. The ___________________: first and forever
- a. nature of ____________________:
___________________________________
- b. _________________________________ with repetitive,
closely supervised jobs teach ____________________
- c. ____________________________ with more freedom and
control teach ______________________________
- B.2. __________________: concepts of right and wrong
and other values; provides a sense of meaning and moral guidance
- 3. _______________: early socialization outside the
family
- 4. _________________:
- a. ____________________________: teach skills
- b. ____________________________: follow the rules
- B.5. ___________________: the power of having to
"_________________"
- a. based on ___________________________ that are
important at this stage
- b. provide _________________________, especially for
relations with the ______________
- c. ever-present threat of _______________: conform or
else
- B.6. _______________:
- a. learn values, e.g. __________________________
- b. provide ________________________
- 7. __________________:
- a. ___________________: 18,000 murders by age 18
- 8. The ________________________
V. Social Institutions
- A. ____________________________: the organized, usual
or standard ways by which society meets its basic needs
- 1. ___________________________: teaches skills and
values
- 2. The ________________: regulates reproduction and
socializes children
- 3. The __________________: maintains social order
- A.4. _________________: establish a hierarchy of power
and authority
- 5. ___________________: Produce and distribute goods
and services
- 6. _________________: master the environment
- 7. _________________: disseminate information, mold
public opinion, report events
- 8. ___________________: provide meaning
VI. Social Stratification
- A. ________________________: the division of nations or
people according to relative power, property and prestige
- B. ______________________: a large group of people who
rank close to each other in wealth, power and prestige
- 1. __________________: property and income
- 2. __________________: the ability to get your way in
spite of the desires of other people
- 3. _________________: respect or regard given to
occupations and accomplishments
- C. Why is social class an important social fact?
- 1. it influences ________________________________
- a. _______________________: parents’ jobs and how
they socialize their children
- b. _______________________: wealthy vs. poor school
districts
- C.1.c. __________________________:
- a. infants born in poor inner city neighborhoods in the
U.S. are 50% more likely to
________________________________________________
- b. the inner city U.S. rate is similar to that of
_________________________________
- C.1.d. ___________________________:
- i. tend to be formed with
people from ____________________________, even in a setting with people
from a range of class backgrounds like a university
- ii. "Friends in Low Places"
- iii. What images describe the different social classes
to which the people in the song belong?
Friends in Low Places
Garth Brooks; Written by Dewayne Blackwell and Bud Lee
Blame it all on my roots
I showed up in boots
And ruined your black tie affair
The last one to know
The last one to show
I was the last one
You thought you’d see there
And I saw the surprise
And the fear in his eyes
When I took his glass of champagne
And I toasted you
Said, honey, we may be through
But you’ll never hear me complain
'Cause I’ve got friends in low places
Where the whiskey drowns
And the beer chases my blues away
And I’ll be okay
I’m not big on social graces
Think I’ll slip on down to the oasis
Oh I’ve got friends in low places
Well, I guess I was wrong
I just don’t belong
But then, I’ve been there before
Everything’s all right
I’ll just say good night
And I’ll show myself to the door
Hey, I didn’t mean
To cause a big scene
Just give me an hour and then
Well, I’ll be as high as that ivory tower
That you’re livin’
in
- C.1.d.iii. What images
describe the different social classes that people belong to?
- D. How do sociologists measure social class?
- 1. What class do you belong to?
- a.
- b.
- c.
- D.2. _____________________ Method
- a. ________________________ what class they belong to
- b. Why do most Americans respond that they are members
of the ________________, even if they are much wealthier or poorer than
the average household income in 2008 of $52,029?
- c.
__________________________________________________________________
- d. makes this method ____________________________
- D.3. _____________________: the researcher ranks people
according to wealth, power and prestige using information on income,
education and occupation
- E. The U.S. ______________________
- 1. __________________ Class: $500,000+ (1%); elite
university; investors, heirs, top CEOs
- 2. ___________________ Class: $90,000+ (14%); college,
graduate degree; professionals and upper managers
- 3. ______________________ Class: $40,000 (30%); high
school or college; semiprofessionals, lower managers, foremen
- E.4. _______________ Class: $30,000 (30%); high school;
factory workers, clerical, retail
- 5. ___________________: $18,000 (22%); some high
school; laborers, service workers, low-paid salespeople
- 6. _____________________: $10,000 (3%); some high
school; unemployed, part time workers, on welfare
- F. Gender
- 1. What are the differences between males and females?
- 2. ___________: biological characteristics that
distinguish females and males; most are linked to reproduction
- 3. _________________: social characteristics that a
society considers proper for its males and females
- F.4. changing ideals of
"________________________" in U.S. society
- a. How does our culture define what a beautiful woman
is like?
- F.5. anorexia and bulimia:
- a. 50% of U.S. women are on a ___________________
- b. girls as young as 3 years old report
"________________________"
- c. 10% of all U.S. women and 20% of female college
students have _______________
- F.6. ________________ use: male
"_____________________"
- a. one million U.S. males, mainly adolescents
- 7. Why do Americans do these damaging things to ourselves?
- a.
- G. Why is gender an important social fact?
- 1. in nearly every culture, there are
________________________________________
- 2. in nearly every culture, traits defined as
__________________________________
_______________________________
- 3. we learn these ___________________________________
- G.4. The Result is a System of ___________________: men’s and women’s
unequal access to power, prestige, and property on the basis of their
gender