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SOC 105
Textbook Chapter 1
| Term | Definition |
|---|---|
| Immigration and the Browning of America | population growth is fueled by immigration from Latin America and Asia which will soon lead to racial minorities outnumbering the majority of whites. This can lead to racial/ethnic unrest and discrimination and low-paying jobs among native-born |
| The Graying of America | older people will soon outnumber the young leading to funding problems for Social Security and Medicare pressuring the young to support the elderly, division of workers who will be increasingly people of color while the elderly will be primarily white |
| The Widening Inequality Gap and the Plight of the Poor | wealth and income of the wealthy grows while workers' incomes languish, record level of inequality gap, middle class leans downward leading to poverty increases |
| The Increasing Power of Money to Influence Elections and Public Policy | corporations & other organizations can spend unlimited campaign money to elect/defeat a candidate; individuals can give unlimited donations to PACSs, candidates, and parties leading to money=power, less voice of the poor, and less democratic ideals |
| Increasing Globalization and the Transformation of the Economy | Economy characterized by service occupations & the collection, storage, and spread of information rather than manufacturing resulting in less manufacturing jobs and manufacturing overseas to increase profits leading to job insecurity & reducing benefits |
| Increasing threats to the environment | U.S. consumes greatest amount of energy in oil, produces greenhouse gases, has population growth causing a greater demand for resources & land conversion leading to ecological wastelands, negative environmental impacts, global warming, and climate change |
| Growing Global Inequality | population growth mainly occurs in poorest nations, richer nations consume many resources, corporations exploit poor countries, increased gap between rich and poor causing food, water, medicine, and housing insecurities and conflicts over scarce resources |
| An Increasingly Dangerous World | growing acts of violence, war, and terror since 9/11 leading to an unsafe U.S. as population continues to grow |
| What were social problems previously thought of as? | social situations that a large number of observers felt were inappropriate and needed remedying |
| How did early U.S. sociologists analyze society? | through a medical model to see if some pathology was present. They used a universal criteria of normality to assume social problems resulted from abnormalities due to mental deficiency or disorder, lack of education, or incomplete socialization |
| How did early U.S. sociologists define social problems? | they claimed that moral order of the U.S. society defined things such as alcoholism, suicide, theft, and murder as social problems |
| 1920-1930s sociologists | focused on how conditions of society fostered problems. Societies with rapid change occurring were thought to have pockets of social disorganization |
| How has the modern study of deviance developed? | seeking the sources of deviation within the social structure and a role of society in creating and sustaining deviance through labeling those people viewed as abnormal |
| Objective reality of social problems | the notion that societal conditions harm certain segments of the population and therefore are social problems; assumes that some kinds of actions are likely to be judged as a problem in any context |
| Problems with an objective approach to social problems | subjectivity, what standards are used?, and people differ in their perceptions of a social problem |
| Subjective Nature of Social Problems | the idea that what is and what is not a social problem is a matter of definition. Thus, social problems vary by time and place |
| How might those in power lead you to believe something is a social problem? | through manipulation and controlling behaviors |
| What are the dangers of the public defining social problems? | conditions that are detrimental to a powerless group in society may be overlooked even if it is a social problem, diverts attention from what may constitute the most important social problem: the existing social order |
| Social problems | societally induced conditions that harm any segment of the population and acts and conditions that violate the norms and values found in society |
| Two main types of social problems | acts and conditions that violate the norms and values present in society and societally induced conditions that cause psychic and material suffering for any segment of the population |
| Sociologists are interested in the discrepancy between social standards and reality because... | it directs attention to society's failures, sociologists have many insights as to why individuals experience differing pressures to engage in certain forms of deviant behavior, and deviance is culturally defined and socially labeled |
| Deviant behavior | actions that violate the norms of a social organization or society |
| There is a strong tendency for individuals to do what from an individual perspective? | perceive social problems and prescribe remedies |
| Person-blame | the assumption that social problems emanate from the pathologies of individuals |
| System-blame | the assumption that social problems emanate from social conditions such as what institutions the deviants are involved in |
| Sociological imagination | the ability to see the societal patterns that influence individuals, families, groups, organizations, and communities; moving away from an individualistic approach |
| Recidivism | reinvolvement in crime |
| Interpreting social problems solely within a person-blame framework causes... | societal problems to not be addressed, the government,economy, system of stratification,justice& educational system to be free from blame, addressing the problem through person-change rather than system-change, justification for a form of Social Darwinism |
| Social Darwinism | the belief that the place of people in the stratification system is a function of their ability and effort |
| Social stratification | social standing |
| Why might the system-blame approach have some dangers? | people can be malicious and aggressive due to psychological reasons that may require certain forms of therapy, remedial help, or special programs to function normally |
| A balance is needed between what? | a individualistic perspective and a system-blame approach |
| Why is the system-blame approach used in sociology? | the focus is society, not the individual |
| What is the source of many social problems? | the institutional framework |
| The analysis of social problems depends on... | reliable scientific data and logical reasoning |
| Types of questions that sociologists ask? | factual, comparative, and historical |
| Factual questions | found through empirical investigations |
| Comparative questions | how does the situation in one social context compare with that in another? |
| Historical questions | how have patterns/trends changed over time? |
| Sociological theory | a set of ideas that explains a range of human behavior, culture, and social structure; helps guide research and explain social phenomena |
| Four basic sources of data that yield results for sociologists | survey research, experiments, observation, and existing data |
| survey research | using personal interviews, written questionnaires, or online surveys to gather data from all possible subjects or from a selected population sample |
| sample | a smaller part of a large population. If selected scientifically, it will be representative of the larger population |
| Longitudinal survery | a special type of survey research that is a collection of information about the same persons over many years |
| Variable | something that can vary, such as a characteristic, value, or belief |
| Control group | a group of subjects not exposed to the independent variable in an experiment |
| Experimental group | a group of subjects that is exposed to the independent variable in an experiment |
| Dependent variable | the variable being measured in an experiment. May or may not be affected by the independent variable |
| Independent variable | a variable that may or may not affect the dependent variable |
| Two methods of observation | participant observation and nonparticipant observation |
| Participant observation | the researcher joins the group being studied in order to understand their behavior |
| Nonparticipant observation | the researcher does not join the group or participate directly in any activities being observed; observes events and social interactions in their natural environments; often used with other research methods |
| Existing data | using existing data to test theories commonly from government agencies; statistical techniques can be used with the data to describe populations and the effects of social variables on various dependent variables |
| What is a fundamental problem with the sociological perspective? | objectivity |
| Value neutrality | to be absolutely free of bias in research |
| Sociologists might argue that the widening gap between the wealthy and the poor will ___________. | likely lead to social problems |
| Increasing __________ has resulted in a transformation in the United States economy, reducing the number of manufacturing jobs. | globalization |
| Which of the following statements highlights how the 2010 and 2014 U.S. Supreme Court rulings on campaign finance have shaped and will continue to shape the U.S. political landscape? | By removing limitations on corporate contributions to a politician, the wealthy will have significant influence on public policy. |
| In the sociological perspective, widespread unemployment is not a __________, but a __________. | private trouble; public issue |
| Defining illegal drugs in the United States is a good example of __________. | the subjective nature of social problems |
| Which of the following is a myth related to Social Darwinism? | Individuals can control their fate by using their abilities and exerting some effort. |
| Viewing counseling and/or behavior modification as the way to solve delinquency exemplifies which of the following perspectives? | person-blame |
| One danger of the system-blame approach is that it __________. | presents a tightly deterministic explanation of social problems |
| There is considerable debate in the sociological community as to whether or not research can be entirely __________. | value neutral |
| "How has the age of first marriage changed for women in the United States since the 1970s?" is an example of what type of sociological question? | historical |
| The main purpose of using sociological research methods is to help researchers __________. | stay objective |
| The income inequality gap is currently __________. | at a record high |
| The world's supply of natural resources will __________ as the population expands. | decrease |
| As the world's population increases, the threat of nuclear proliferation is likely to be __________. | at a higher level than today |
| Debate over environmental pollution is an example of the __________. | subjective nature of social problems |
| What is a danger in defining social problems objectively? | subjectivity is always present |
| Actions that violate the norms of a social organization are known as __________. | deviant behaviors |
| One reason the system-blame perspective is useful to sociologists is that the subject matter of sociology is not the individual but __________. | society |
| Which of the following research methods is the most difficult for sociologists to use? | experiments |
| Dr. Day is writing a research proposal to study patterns of prostitution in Thailand and in the United Kingdom. What type of sociological question is Dr. Day interested in answering? | a comparative question |
Created by:
kkade
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