education systems

religious institutions such as Churches

(nuclear) families

governments

policies/laws

define: basically a socially constructed individual's identity

importance: connects us to other people or groups/systems

how?: establish relationships with people, establish membership in groups

influenced by: status (positions) and roles (expectations for each status

people know about the self based on what they see and infer things about what is associated with what they see

in social spaces we are who people think we are

significant: a specific person who reflects images/opinions of ourselves back to us

other: our perception of people in general, how they would view a situation (especially by their culture)

definition: Erving Goffman explains - we create impressions of who we are like actors onstage

impression management: controlling how we think we look to others based on what we create with ourselves to achieve the following goal -->

goal: social acceptance, following the path of least resistance (when the "audience" is convinced)

dependent upon: time, place, and audience (the performance changes if these factors change)

definition: basically we are who we think others think we are

elements: 1. someone imagines how they appear to others, 2. they imagine how others view them, 3. then they respond to how they think others view them

importance: could lead someone to internalize feelings about the others' reaction then change their behavior, it's also a process that leads us to developing ourselves

the front: the part of the theater visible to the audience and includes the following:

1. the setting: location

2. the personal front: the characteristics of the performer

3. all of "the front" becomes institutionalized (people have expectations/standards about these characteristics and how they should appear) --> known as collective representation

the mask: who we believe ourselves to be and who we strive to be (based on social interaction)

establish a question

review past literature/knowledge on it

hypothesize/define the problem

design research (how you will carry it out)

research (interviews, surveys, observations, unobstrusive measures)

analyze and interpret data/patterns

share/report findings

considered a soft science because there are outliers and is not exact

sociology focuses on patterns, not individuals necessarily

data collected through interviews, surveys, observations, and unobtrusive measures

two main types: qualitative data (numbers, objective, statistical, etc) and quantitative data (observations, interviews, personal involvement, etc)

surveys: questionnaires (usually simple, straightforward, limited number of options)

interviews: long conversations (usually in-depth, responses are used for interpretation and analysis)

observations: learning through your 5 senses basically

unobtrusive measures: no involvement to avoid any bias or skewed data

ethnography: qualitative study through interviews, observations, or both (present with the participants of research), in-depth, not easy to generalize

population: the people who are the focus of the research

sampling: studying a group of people to represent the larger group they're a part of

• random sampling: choosing participants for the sample at random so each member of the population has an equal/fair chance of being chosen

experiments: a research method in which variables are controlled however some factors can't be replicated in a lab but are usually easier to replicate

comparative research: research that compares findings about one society with the same findings from a different society

inference: gaining enough knowledge about a group to make generalizations about a bigger version of that group that sociologists can't directly observe

replication: verifying theories by coming to the same conclusions as other sociologists (reproducing the same research results)

identifying uncertainty: specifying where sources of uncertainty come from for honest/valid data

reflexivity: a researcher's personal values/beliefs/judgments that may influence results/interpretation of data

inumeracy: the inability to understand/reason with numbers

"any number is better than no number": a statistic doesn't need to be reasonable to catch people's attention/have them believe it

"numbers take on lives of their own": when people see a number more and more, the accuracy and origin is blurred and people believe it more

"big numbers are better than little numbers": the bigger the statistic, the more urgent it seems, so it gets more publicity

"definitions: better broad than narrow": the broader the definition, the bigger the statistic can actually be (encompasses more people)

"defending numbers by attacking critics": if someone criticizes a statistic (maybe saying the number is too high), they may come off as insensitive towards victims

"measures: better inclusive than exclusive": think about how many instances of the topic of the statistic go unreported...justifying the "inflated" number

"competing numbers are equally good": competing numbers cannot both be correct

functionalism:

panopticon/cism:

deviance:

collective consciousness:

medicalization of deviance:

Durkheim argues that crime is normal, it exists everywhere and is part of a healthy functioning society

functionalism: all parts/pieces of a society are like the organs/systems a organism and all work together to create a functioning thing

Durkheim's definition of crime: something that will offend collective feelings

Durkheim also argues that something will always offend others because we never agree on everything and think differently

crime is a social construction and differs across different cultures and time periods

crime's function: crime leads to conflict --> to communication --> to change/evolving in society

crime being useful:

idea that some members of society are more fit/deserving of privileges than others

idea that there is a "perfect" version of something that is developing --> supporters of this said that some societies are less developed/evolved --> issue: leads to white supremacist ideas and ableism

definition: the process of creating medical solutions for deviant behaviors and conditions

deviant behaviors viewed as an individual choice and are seen as something that need to be "fixed"

treated as morally neutral and doesn't account for societal factors that cause it (but it's not actually morally neutral)

medicalization of deviance is a form of social control to make people "normal" and to conform

however, some people with actual illnesses seek support and medication where they act as consumers, but it still drives the process forward

gender: a regional and cultural set of societal norms and beliefs about females and males (gender roles are not fixed rules...some flexibility). since gender differs across different regions/cultures/periods, this makes it evident that gender is a social construct

sex: the biological makeup of someone like their genitalia (female, male, intersex, etc.)

sexuality: the gender/s someone is attracted to (heterosexual, homosexual, bisexual, etc.)

gender roles are social constructs and drastically became more strict because of the Industrial Revolution (more men were the breadwinners, and more women had to bear children and raise them at home).

gender roles are learned, starting from childhood. parents often enforce gender roles/gender conformity onto their children mainly to avoid the following: putting their child in danger/bullying, judgment, and policing

one's self identity regarding their gender is socially irrelevant. what is relevant in social interactions is how one presents themself, especially since social interactions don't always involve verbal communication.

individuals cannot escape from the gender binary, sure it may be confusing for people to identify their gender, but they will always be considered male-leaning or female-leaning (putting them in the binary boxes).