sociology

micro

patterns of close social relations formed during face-to-face interactions

macro

patterns of social relations that lie outside and above the circle of intimates

mezzo

promotes social development and cohesion within larger groups, organizations and communities

ideology

systems of thought that influence us the perceive the world in particular ways, and to make particular judgements -> can influence choices about behaviour

casual observation

ordinary human inquiry performed during our day-to-day lives

tradition observation

plenty of traditional knowledge is valid, but some is not

authority observation

we often think something is true because we read it in an authoritative source or hear it from an expert

The Sociological Imagination

connects the most intimate and private moments of our \n lives with the totality of the societies in which we live

secondary analysis

when researchers analyze existing data in a novel way

data scraping

using computer algorithms to generate data about people's online behaviour

content analysis

the analysis of the content of some media (newspapers, magazines, etc.)

structured interviews

all questions are crafted in advance

focus group

involves 10-12 participants gathering to discuss a particular topic

authenticity

whether their narrative provides a genuine description of social realities as experienced by participants

mixed methods

involves the collection and analysis of quantitative and qualitative data

digital sociology

focuses on the ways in which digital technology is central to social life and offers a unique methodological approach to research

social desirability bias

most people feel anonymous on the internet, so big data have the potential to reduce a particular form of reactivity known as this, respondents will often underreport or hide things that may make them look bad in the eyes of others

variable distribution

a description of the relative numbers of times each possible outcome will occur in a number of trials

inferential statistics

measure the relationship between two or more variables

bivariate statistics

measure the relationship between two variables

research ethic boards

prior to conducting any research involving human subjects, researchers must gain approval from university research ethics boards (REBs)

global structures

1. (ex. International organizations, patterns of worldwide travel, economic relations between countries)

Social forces

societal-level mechanisms that influence the character of individuals and their life trajectories

Pseudoscience

involves claims and beliefs that sound scientific but do not meet the standards of the scientific method

Overgeneralization

occurs when we focus on exceptions and treat them as the rule

Selective observation

occurs when we unconsciously ignore evidence that challenges our firmly held beliefs and pay attention to evidence that confirms them

Illoligical reasoning

chance coincidences, believing something will happen “because it happened so often before”

interpretivists

emphasize the importance of subjectivity and insider’s understanding

Positivists

goal of modelling sociology after the natural sciences

Qualitative research steps:

1. Identify a research interest based on concrete experience

2. Collect evidence from one or more cases of the same type

3. Analyze the evidence to identify common patterns and themes

4. Use sociological concepts and principles to provide an interpretation of the patterns and themes, stressing the context in which the experience took place

Quantitive research steps:

1. Identify a theoretical idea of interest

2. Translate the abstract idea into a testable hypothesis

3. Collect and analyze data

4. Accept or reject the hypothesis based ln the data analysis

harm minimization

participants have the right not to be injured

Confidentiality

occurs when the researcher possesses the link between research subjects and evidence but agrees to destroy or not share this information

Debriefing

involves interviewing participants at the close of the investigation to inform them of what actually took place and manage any evident concerns

agency

we refer to the capacity for individual decision-making

Societal reproduction

when individuals behave in a way that is consistent with the ideologies and structures in which they are embedded, their resultant behaviour reproduces both ideology and structure

Empirical

based on, concerned with, or verifiable by observation or experience

Operationalization

the process by which a concept is translated into a variable

Variable

a measure of a concept that has more than one value or score

Hypothesis

the testable form of a proposition because you can imagine being able to experience (measure) different levels of the variables in concrete form

Independent variable

the variable considered the cause

Dependant variable

the outcome or effect

Experiment

a carefully controlled artificial situation that allows researchers to isolate presumed causes and measure their effects precisely

Randomization

assigns individuals to the groups by chance

Experimental group

the group experiencing the independent variable

Control group

the group left alone

Reliability

refers to consistency of results, is a necessary condition for validity

Survey

sociologists ask people about their knowledge, attitude, or behaviours

Probability sample

samples in which every member of a population has a known, non-zero chance of being selected

Sampling frame

a list of all the people in the population of interest

Relationship

exist when the changes in two things are systematically connected

Control variable

specifies the context of the relationship

Qualitative data

is data that is represented in prose (i.e. writing)

Generalizability

the extent to which observations about a sample can be reasonably assumed to represent a population

Nominal/categorica

numbers are used to represent different conditions, but the phenomenon is not quantitative (ex. Race, neighbourhood, marital status)

Ordinal

different values of the variable can be ranked, but there is no way to measure the precise difference between ranked values (ex. Likert scales, class, pain)

Ratio

differences between values are measurable, and there exists a real zero (limit) (ex. Number of siblings, income)

Central tendency

measures attempt to give a quick picture of the content of one variable

Mode

the variable value that is most common, or has the highest count, for nominal level variables

Purposive sampling

sociologists who know a population well use their best judgement to decide which individuals or groups might be most appropriate for their research

Snowball sampling

researchers take advantage of social networks to locate subjects, so a person who is interviewed is asked to suggest names of additional people who may be willing to participate in the study

Participant observation

researchers participate in the activities of the social group being studied and, while part of the action, systemically observe what occurs and why (to experience and understand what it is like to be a member of a community)

Reactivity

observed people concealing certain things or exaggerating their authentic actions in order to impress the researcher

Exploratory research

research that seeks to formulate theories about the subject of interest rather than test theories in the rigorous manner of qualitative research

Median

the value that separates the sample into two equal halves, the “middle value”

Mean

the average value > sum of variable values/n (number of cases)

Proportion

tells us the percentage of a variable that falls into one particular variable value, related as a value between 0 and 1

Deviation from normality

bu-modal distribution

Negative correlation

an increase in V1 is associated with a decrease in V2

Positive correlation

an increase in V1 is associated with an increase in V2

Cross-tab

a cross-tab, or cross-tabulation, is useful for calculating the relationship between two variables when at least one is nominal/categorical

Inductive

codes are generated from the data

Deductive

codes are developed in advance

Dominant culture

helps rich and powerful categories of people exercise control over others

Subordinate culture

contests dominant culture to varying degrees

High culture

enjoyed maily by upper class

Popular culture

(mass culture) enjoyed by all classes

Culture

consists of the shared symbols and their definitions that people create to solve real-life problems

Symbols

concrete objects or abstract terms that represent something else

Abstraction

the ability to create general concepts that meaningfully organize sensory experience

Beliefs

cultural statements that define what community members consider real

Cooperation

the capacity to create a complex social life by establishing generally accepted ways of doing things and ideas about what is right and wrong

Norms

generally accepted ways of doing things

Values

ideas about what is right and wrong, good and bad, desirable and undesirable, beautiful and ugly