SOC100 - Introduction to Sociology

Sociology Is "the systematic study of human behaviour in social context" It relates the individual to the society Social Imagination Taking a personal issue and putting it in the context of society A personal trouble in the social structure (stable patterns of social relations) ExAmple Losing a job. It's a personal issue, but it relates to society in many ways. You could have lost the job due to demographics, education, global manufacturing pressures, unemployment etc Historical Shifts Leadin

Research Cycle Formulate research question Lift review Select appropriate method Collect data Analyze data Quantitative data (numeric - e.g. tables) Qualitative data (non-numeric - e.g. images, handwritten) Report results Annual meetings, conference presentations Journals Peer review: People who are considered experts in the same field look at the article and assess if it's good enough to be printed in the journal Research Terminology Variable: A concept that can take on more than one value (i

Common Sense Perspective vs Sociological Perspective Sociology provides a unique perspective through different theories Is there a cultural bias? Culture refers to the symbolic and learned aspects of human society. It is the sum of traditions, practices, languages, symbols, beliefs, values, ideologies and material objects that create a sense of similarity amongst a group of people Common Sense Notions of Culture in North America High culture Is the sum of traditions, practices, languages, symbo

How do we Learn Culture? We are socialized into our culture and into our society through our interactions with others. It is a process which begins in childhood and is ongoing throughout our life. Socialization is how we interact with other people in society and what we learn through these interactions. So it is from the symbolic interactionism perspective. We are a product of society and our interactions with others. We have different roles in different cultures. Through these roles we have an

Historical Shifts Leading to the Development of Sociology The Growth of Science Some of the scientific contributions from the different science clusters were being combined into the mainstream There was a way of looking at some aspect of our world Why can't we use those methods to study our social world. Bringing in scientific inquiries into our social world Positivism approach: Objective and value-free research Provided a new way to understand the world, the surroundings Ex. Most people underst

Interaction Interaction plays an important role in socialization. We can't ignore interaction, because then we will risk only looking at the individual and blaming any problems they have solely on them and not society. This demonstrates the power of groups, authorities etc. and how they relate to each other. In terms of self-presentation, groups of two, larger groups, networks and organizations. Why do sociologists care about interaction? Example Six degrees of Kevin Bacon. An idea that through

Symbolic Interactionism Max Weber, George Herbert Mead Writing after Marx; had an idea and reading the values of Marx's ideas Noticed that dissolution of capitalism is not true; so maybe there were some gaps Max Weber said our society is more complex than what Marx said Marx said how people earned their livelihood and money, the factories and there are two groups of people: Bourgeoisie and Proletariat Max Weber said it's more complex than that (the manager, nurse etc.); Overstating the role of

Culture "The sum of practices, languages, symbols, beliefs, values, ideologies, and material objects that people create to deal with real-life problems" (Brym and Lie 2015:29) Culture is part of what defines a society Culture can be both material and nonmaterial Material: There are cultural objects (ie. clothing, technology etc.) Non-material: Shared values, things we think that are important to us as a culture Universities were started on the basis of churches; creating the structure of student

Toronto Street Youth In any given year, there are over 10,000 homeless youth On any given day, there are 1500-2000 homeless youth Compared to high school youth, they are older, mostly male, from poorer class backgrounds, had family and school trouble, were delinquent at home and most of them had the absence of one biological parent. Street Youth & Adversity The conditions of street life (known as adversity) explain crime rates among street youth. Survival Needs: Shelter Food Hygiene Safety Mo

University Learning Taxonomy Cultural Examples Example: Food High Culture Consumed mainly by upper classes Ex. Starbucks; Pusateri, Fine dining Popular culture Consumed by all classes Ex. Tim Hortons, McDonald's, Classic burger Also known as Mass Culture "Foodies": Baumann and Johnston What is a "Foodie"? People who spend a lot of time making food Buy food a lot and experimentation with food Lots of experiences of tasting different foods Snobbery? Or is Food the Great Equalizer? Used to mean so

Stratification Is the way society is organized in layers or strata. Basically, a society's hierarchical ranking of people into social classes. It's like a ladder, where people are higher or lower than others depending on their class. It is related to education, language, crime and deviance, etc. It is related to class background and helps increase education levels and makes an individual more confident. Example As a child, Bill played soccer, went to museums with his family, talked while at the

Race A social construct used to distinguish people in terms of one or more physical markers, usually with profound effects on their lives The sociological definition of race is the effect it has on people's lives We look at race from a symbolic interactionism approach, because it has to do with people's interactions, the meaning of the physical markers they identify themselves with, and the effect these categories on people's lives. It's at the micro-level. People think of skin colour, hair col

Sex - Is the biological differences that distinguish males from females. About anatomy and hormones. Gender - Is a social position, the set of social arrangements that are built around normative sex categories. The social definition, behaviour and roles about what it means to be masculine and feminine The Social Construct of Gender A social construct is an idea or concept that has emerged from society. Gender roles and behaviours change over time, and are different in varying societies and cult

Interaction In terms of self-presentation and socialization Shapes the judgement we have to develop the sense of self Groups of two Larger groups, networks Bureaucracies Why do Sociologists Care about Interaction? To ignore interaction would mean to individualize behaviour Sociologists are looking at interaction because we know people's behaviour will change depending on the scenario Structure on people's behaviour (micro and meso structures) Interaction is not a product of who someone is. It's

Traditional Nuclear Family - A nuclear family in which the husband works outside the home for money, while the wife works without pay in the home. Nuclear Family- Consists of a cohabiting man and woman who maintain a socially approved sexual relationship and have at least one child. Traditional Nuclear vs Nuclear In both it involves a common-law relationship or marriage between a man and a woman The only difference is that in a traditional nuclear family, the woman stays home while the man go

Norm-Breaking Happens quite frequently; Fairly routine Reminder of Norms: Folkways Mores Taboos Deviance Occurs when someone departs from a norm and evokes a negative reaction from others Crime Norm has been violated is a law Law is a type of norm - legislated by government bodies and norms Subset of deviance When talking about norms, norms may vary across time and place or culture. Culture-to-culture you will find different norms. It is important to consider because our ideas of what and who ar

Questions of Faith Truth and values of religious beliefs. Sociology of Religion The study of beliefs, symbols, practices and organizational forms of religions. Distinguishes between the sacred and the profane. Sociologists look at religion from the view of its roles in society, not if God exists or not. Sacred Refers to the religious, transcendent world. Something or someone important, extraordinary and declared holy. Sociologists focus on how sacred objects operate within a society, and ho

Social Mobility - Is the movement up or down the stratification system Meritocracy Is achievement based on merit (work hard and you'll get what you deserve). Being motivated to go up ladder. It was the norm to go to school until you were 18 back in the days, but now we consider it a norm, or must have, to have higher education. Society is shaping our education system. The labor market is shaped by the degrees available. Some jobs now need degrees that didn't before, so workers forced to go bac

Formatting 700-1000 words in length, double spaced, 12 point Times New Roman, 1 inch margins Top of first page: name, student number, word count, and title of the paper Bracketed citations are Included in word count This is a formal assignment: use standard academic English and sociological terminology Personal pronouns are expected in this Includes Introduction and conclusion You are not required to include a thesis statement; essentially the argument/thesis is already given. You are basically

Stratification Socioeconomic status of our family background shapes the kind of choices that are presented/available to us Our social class is a structure that shapes/constrains the decisions that we make; pasted down through generations How does social class matter? Explore the tension between choice and family background How do sociologists explain social inequality? Stratification and Inequality Stratification: The way society is organized in layers or strata. A society's hierarchical ranking