sociology Questions 2

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Concept: A term designating a category of things or characteristics. A basic element of classification and comparison.
Society: People living together in organised groups who have developed through interacting with one another common interests, institutions, and collective activities.
Social Structure: The patterning of social interaction, governed by norms. This patterning takes on the appearance of a structure, especially from a macrosociological perspective. Social interactions are neither random nor totally unique to the participants, but ordered, patterned, regular, relatively predictable, and stable.
Social Status: The recognized position that a person occupies within a society or social situation. A status has a number of rights, obligations, and expectations which are widely acknowledged by members of a given society or social situation
Social Role: Expected patterns of behaviour attached to particular social statuses. A number of different roles attached to the same status is called a role set. Social roles are governed by norms that dictate not only the actions we might take but also appropriate attitudes, beliefs, and emotions.
Role Set: A set of roles attached to a particular social status. Sometimes the roles in a particular role set can conflict with each other
Social Norms: A set of rules governing social interaction. Social norms can be prescriptive (they can tell us what to do) or proscriptive (they can forbid us to do certain things)
Prescriptive Norms: Norms telling us what we must do
Proscriptive Norms: Norms that tell us what is forbidden.
Folkways: Everyday norms or conventions of little moral significance (for example, informal dress codes for particular occasions).
Mores: Plural of Mos. Normative expectations governing conventional behaviour. They have great significance (e.g., prohibitions against killing, rape, incest). Breaking a mos leads to severe consequences
Culture: The total lifeways of a people (traditions, clothing, child rearing practices, music, rituals, relgions, etc.)
Structural Functionalism: Whatever aspect of culture you speak of is understood in terms of how it lends itself to the overall stability or survival of society. The basic metaphor uderlying structural-functionalist socioogy is that society is like a large-scale living organism made up of a number of different but interrelated social structures. These msut funciton together for the survival of the whole social system.
Durkheim's view of society: He compares society to the human anatomy where the human body is made of interconnected parts that work togeher to ensure the survival of the human being. Society is made up of interconnected structures, and each has its own set of functions that lends itself to the survival of the social system. Therefore, all aspects of culture have a role in the overall functioning and survival of society.
Cultural Materialism: Aspects of culture are used by humans to adapt to specific kinds of physical environments.
Sociobiology: The application of biological principles to explain the social activities of all social animals, including human beings. Most of human activity (cultural practices) is rooted in genetics. Based on two assumptions: that predispostions toward certain kinds of behaviors are transmitted genetically and that Darwin's theory of evolution is essentially correct
Name 4 problems with sociobiology: a) changes only occur through genetic modification
b)all social behavior is rooted in genetics; doesn't take into account other factors that shape/influence human development of behavior
c)humans can adapt to the environment or make the environment fit their needs
d)compares complex human behavior to that of lower-primates, but human behavior is not that simplistic and is characterized by social meaning.
Drives: The basic needs such as food, liquid, and sexual activity for reproduction that humans have. Drives motivate people to act upon tensions/ disatisfactions that are created by physiological needs. Culture provides ways to meet needs.
What are the 5 factors that determine if a behavior is instinctual?: a)relatively complex
b)species wide
c)unlearned, genetically transmitted
d)manifest when maturity is reached and a stimulus in the environment is triggered
e)present even if a member of a species was reared in an environment away from its other members.
Name 9 unique human characteristics that facilitate in their survival. How do these physical traits assist humans in their survival?: a)erect posture
b)prehensile hands
c)forward vision
d)large and complex brain
e)complex voice mechanism
f)greater dependency in infancy and slow maturation
g)flexibility of needs and drives
h)constant sex drive
i)longevity
Name 3 characteristics of human communication: a)closed call systems--non-human communication systems are fixd and the result of instinctual behavior whereas human communication is deliberate and involves consciousness
b)gestures--physical movements or vocal sounds meant to communciate; they convey a meaning
c)symbolic nature of gestures--we attach meanings to these movements ergo they aren't instinctual
What is language? What 3 things is language characterized by?: Systems of symbols were codified and established over time into language
a)semanticality
b)generativity
c)displacement
Semanticality (example): Language has an establsihed system of meaning to it
Generativity (example): Language is flexible
Displacement (example): langauge can transcend time and place
Cultural Determinism: All human behavior is culturally determined
Biological Determinism: All human behavior is biologically determined
Bipolarity Assumption: The idea that humans and human behavior is seen as either/or rather than an integration of both
Social Modes of Conduct: Strategies are developed in conjunction with physiological features to aid in our survival
Socialization: THe process of becoming a member of society, of becoming a social being (gaining a self or an idenity), or of learning social roles. Socialization takes place in stages
Primary Socialization: The earliest stage of socialization, lasting from infancy through earlychld. it is the most important stage of civilization. it is the stage in which the formation of a self and of personal identity first takes place.
Secondary Socialization: Socialization processes that take place after the basic structure of self-identity has emerged in primary socialization. It involves learning a variety of complex social interactions and institutions. It is a lifelong process of adaptation to new experiences
Anticipatory Socialization: Preparation for roles one has yet to take on
Social Change: The idea of social change encompasses all processes by which change, innovation, and discontinuity happen in society
Social Reproduction: A term designating those processes by which societies maintain continuity over time and social patterns, cultural traditions, and institutions. The process of social reproduction depends on the continuity of rules governing social interaction and thus on the transmission of social norms and ideologies through socialization

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