Sociology Chapter 3
Terms
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- Robin Williams
- he offered a list of basic values which includes: achievement, efficiency, material comfort, nationalism, equality, and the supremacy of science and reason over faith.
- McDonaldization
- describes how the principles of fast-food restaurants developed in the United States have come to dominate more and more sectors of societies throughout the world.
- Donald Black
- termed "law" as governmental social control
- society
- a large number of people are to constitute this when they live in the same territory. LARGEST form of human group.
- sociobiologists
- they stress the basic genetic heritage that all humans share, and have shown little interest in speculating about alleged differences between nracial groups or nationalities.
- nonverbal communication
- the use of gestures, facial expressions, and other visual images to communicate.
- counterculture
- when a subculture conspicuously and deliberately opposes certain aspects of the large culture. typically thrive among the young, who have the least investment in the existing culture
- How many languages are spoken in the world today?
- 7,000 (which is many more than the number of countries)
- sanctions
- penalties and rewards for conduct concerning a social norm.
- William F. Ogburn
- made useful distinction between the elements of material and nonmaterial culture.
- ethnocentrism
- refers to the tendency to assume that one's own culture and way of life represent the norm or are superior to all others.
- dominant ideology
- describes the set of cultural beliefs and practices that helps to maintain powerful social, economic, and political interests.
- discovery
- a form of innovation that involves making known or sharing the existence of an naspect of reality. A significant factor in the process of this innovation is the sharing of newfound knowledge with others.
- folkways
- norms governing everyday behavior. Example: walking up a "down" escalator in a department store challenges our standards of appropriate behavior, but it will not result in na fine or jail sentence.
- George Ritzer
- coined the term McDonaldization of Society to describe how the principles of fast-food restaurants developed in nthe United States have come to dominate more and more sectors of societies throughout the world.
- Sapir-Whorf hypothesis
- describes the role of language in shaping our interpretation of reality; language precedes thought, is not a given, is culturally determined, may color how we see the world.
- values
- collective conceptions of what is considered good, desirable, and proper - or bad, undesirable, and improper - in a culture.
- norms
- are the established standnards of behavior maintainend by a society.
- culture shock
- anyone who feels disoriented, uncertain, out of place, or even fearful when immersed in an unfamiliar culture may be experiencing this
- diffusion
- refers to the process by which a cultural item spreads from group to group or society to society. Example: chinese drinking Starbucks and Americans eating more sushi
- cultural relativism
- viewing people's behavior from the perspective of their own culture. it places a priority on understanding other cultures, rather than dismissing them as "strange" or "exotic."
- material culture
- refers to the physical or technological aspects of our daily lives, including food, houses, factories, and raw materials.
- subculture
- a segment of society that shares a distinctive patern of mores, folkways, and values that differs from the pattern of the larger society. culture exsisting within a larger, dominant culture.
- sociobiologists
- do not seek to describe individual behavior, but rather they focus on how human nature is affeced by the genetic composition of a group of people who share certain characteristics.
- culture
- is the totality of learned, socially transmitted customs, knowledge, material objects, and behavior. includes ideas, values, customs, and artifacts of groups of people.
- language
- an abstract system of word meanings and symbols for all aspects of culture
- mores
- norms deemed highly necessary to the welfare of a society, often because they embody the most cherished principles of a people. Each society demands obedience; violation can lead to severe penalties (murder, treason, child abuse)
- technology
- cultural information about how to use the material resources of the environment to satisfy human needs annd desires
- 2 ways sociologists classify norms
- 1) formal or informal 2) by their relative importance to society; mores and folkways
- William Graham Sumner
- coined the term ethnocentrism
- sociobiology
- is the systematic study of how biology affects human social behavior. Example: women will be nurturers and men will be providers, these are not learned but rooted in our genetic makeup.
- nonmaterial culture
- refers to ways of using material objects and to customs, beliefs, philosophies, governments, and patterns of communication
- invention
- a form of innovation that results when existing cultural iems are combined into a form that did not exist before. Examples: Protestantism and democracy.
- argot
- specialized language, that distinguishes it from the wider society.
- cultural universals
- certain common practices and beliefs developed by all societies. many of these are adaptations to meet essential human needs, such as the need for food, shelter, and clothing.
- Gerhard Lenski
- sociologist who defined technology
- language
- the foundation of every culture; it includes speech, written characters, numerals, symbols, and nonverbal gestures and expressions
- Charles Darwin
- sociobiology is founded on this naturalist's theory of evolution. he theorized that over hundereds of generations, random variations in genetic makeup had helped certain members of a species to survive in a particular environment.
- natural selection
- process of adaptation to the environment through random genetic variation
- George Murdock
- compiled a list of cultural universals, including athletic sports, cooking, funeral ceremonies, medicine, marriage, and sexual restrictions.
- innovation
- the process of introducing a new idea or object to a culture
- language
- can shape how we see, taste, smell, feel, and hear. also influences the way we think about people, ideas, and objects around us.
- culture lag
- term introduced by William F. Ogburn; refers to the period of maladustment when the nonmaterial culture is still struggling to adapt to new material conditions.
- informal norms
- generally understood but not precisely recorded. Examples: standards of proper dress
- formal norms
- generally have been written down and specify strict punishments for violators. Examples: in the US we call these laws, card game rules, and requirements for a college major