How does the sociological imagination help us understand social problems quizlet?

According to Mills...
-Personal Troubles: occur within the "character of the individual and within the range of his immediate relationships with others"
- Public Issues: a "public matter: some value cherished by publics is felt to be threatened" --> As a result, the individual, or those in contact with that individual can resolve a trouble, but the resolution of an issue requires public debate about what values are being threatened and the source of such threat

Social Problem: is a social condition or pattern of behavior that has negative consequences for individuals, our social world, or our physical world
(Ex: HIV/AIDS, unemployment, rising cost of college tuition, drug abuse, alcoholism, spousal abuse, climate change, lack of affordable housing)

(According to Ballantine and Roberts)
A society consists of individuals who live together in a specific geographic area, who interact with each other, who cooperate for the attainment of common goals. --> each society has a culture that serves as a system of guidelines for living

A culture includes:
norms- rules of behaviors shared by members of society and rooted in a value system
values- shared judgements about what is desirable or undesirable, good or bad, right or wrong
beliefs- ideas about life, the way society works and where one fits in

Social structures that bring order to our lives:
- includes statuses that we occupy in society (student, athlete, employee, roommate) and the social groups to which we belong and identify with (your family, local place of worship, workplace)
-social institutions, such as the family, religion, or education, are relatively permanent social units of roles, rules, relationships, and organized activities devoted to meet human needs and to direct and control human behavior

Social Networks

the ties between people, groups, and organizations

Society

a large group of people who live in the same area and participate in a common culture

Sociology (19th Century)

- the study of societies and the social worlds that individuals inhabit within them
- study of how we live together/what it means to be human
- how we are influenced by society
- whenever we try to make sense of something in the social worlds around us
- requires to be more in depth
- how individuals participate in, and are influenced by, the society in which they live
- having multiple and often competing social theories and theoretical traditions

Sociological Imagination

- the capacity to think systematically about how things we experience as personal/social issues
- helps us understand diversity
- suggests challenges among assumptions
- our ability to ask hard questions, instead of just accepting easily available answers
- heart of s.i.: learning how to ask the important questions; to think hard about how to probe for answers
- idea that individual lives unfold in context

Sociologist C. Wright Mills (1916-1962)

- coined the term sociological imagination
- connects individual biographies to history
- "the sociological imagination enables us to grasp history and biography and the relations between the two within society"
- recognize the extent to which our individual lives are strongly shaped by where, when, and to whom we were born and experiences throughout life
- 1959: wrote The Sociological Imagination
- argued that America in the 1950s was governed by a "power elite" that strove to protect its privileges and dominated the making of government policy (power elite consisted of the top ranks, able to exclude ordinary citizens from exerting much influence over government policies)

Stereotype

- making faulty generalizations about individuals based on what we think we know about the groups they are members of

(Commonsense) Aphorisms

- short phrases stating a truth or opinion
- common sense, know when to apply
- depends on the context

- ex: "look before you leap"
- ex: "birds of a feather flock together"

Poverty

- social issue
- most in U.S. (richest country)
- poor people work long hours but make very little money not enough to support

Richard Arum: The Sociology Project

- current research project (Maria and Robert)
- taught at several universities around the country
- 2,000 young adults as they progressed through 24 diverse colleges and universities
- two years out of college, 24% of college graduates in the study were back living at home with their parents or relatives
- slightly > 1/3 of students in their study demonstrated no meaningful improvement on a test of general skills
- background and environment affects situation

Employment Status of Recent College Graduates

- 22% not working
- 22% working job w/o college degree
- 56% working job w/ college degree

Student Debt (1996-2014)

- student loans rose to $24,950
- more than double in 1996

Sociologists

- ask "How and in what ways do social contexts matter?"
- move from individuals--> groups--> institutions--> global society (IGIGs)
- don't define themselves according to a specific arena of life
- claim scientific expertise over parts of life we call the "social" and in topics with social significance

Which of the following statements best describes why a sociological imagination is important for understanding society?

a) The sociological imagination allows us to think about the social consequences of social issues.

b) The sociological imagination gives us the creativity to examine whether personal problems are real or fake.

c) Only when we develop this ability can we start to see how larger issues in society relate to personal problems.

d) The sociological imagination allows us to refine our emotional biases in research settings.

c) Only when we develop this ability can we start to see how larger issues in society relate to personal problems.

Which of the following best describes how people commonly develop stereotypes?

a) A person assumes that the characteristics of one group are also the characteristics of another group.

b) One person believes another person possesses a given characteristic because he or she has spent a long time getting to know the person.

c) A person perceives that a group is distinct because of a certain characteristic, then assumes that an individual from that group must have that characteristic.

d) A person believes that a group has a particular characteristic based on recent sociological research.

c) A person perceives that a group is distinct because of a certain characteristic, then assumes that an individual from that group must have that characteristic.

Sociologists can ask a broad array of questions. Which of the following best identifies what these sociological questions all have in common?

a) All sociological questions ask about the effects of society on families.

b) Sociological questions consider how social contexts matter.

c) Sociological questions are not about things that are obvious, but about only things that people disagree on.

d) Sociological questions rely on commonsense aphorisms.

b) Sociological questions consider how social contexts matter.

Sociologist C. Wright Mills suggested that the sociological imagination is a concept that lets us think systematically about the relationship between the personal and the social. Using your sociological imagination, how might the personal problem of unemployment be tied to greater social issues?

a) A person will face unemployment if he or she is not sufficiently motivated to work.

b) A person will face unemployment if he or she is not willing to put in extended hours.

c) A person will face unemployment if he or she has mental health issues that make the person a poor worker.

d) A person will face unemployment due to a recession that resulted in fewer available job openings for job seekers.

d) A person will face unemployment due to a recession that resulted in fewer available job openings for job seekers.

A student notices that very few women in his university are studying to become engineers. What sort of sociological question could be based on this observation?

a) Is there a neurological pathway in the female brain that causes women to avoid studying engineering?

b) Why are women biologically unequipped to compete with men in engineering?

c) Despite the fact that many people say women can succeed in any field they choose, why are men logical thinkers, as opposed to women, who are emotional thinkers?

d) Despite the fact that many people say women can succeed in any field they choose, are there invisible barriers in higher education that prevent women from studying engineering?

d) Despite the fact that many people say women can succeed in any field they choose, are there invisible barriers in higher education that prevent women from studying engineering?

Social Context

- the social environments, including economic and cultural conditions, that influence people's lives.
- social environments: economic and cultural conditions
- racial, ethnic, and religious identities
- influenced by a global environment.

- ex: the child's immediate family; their parents' education level, wealth, and income
- ex: the neighborhood/community the child will grow up in (and will live in as an adult)
- ex: the education the child will get (including the quality of the schools he/she will attend)
- ex: the types of organizations (churches, clubs, or groups) he/she will join or have access to
- ex: the type of employment he or she will find
- ex: the country he or she is born into (rich/poor/rapidly developing country)
- ex: the period of history in which he/she is born

Pat Sharkey

- NYU Sociologist
- link between neighborhood violence and children's school performance
- teaches how violence can be absorbed and transmitted through neighborhood contexts

Identities

- the conceptions we and others have about who we are and what groups or categories we are members of
- important type of social context
- we acquire our identities and the groups that those identities place us in
- organizations we belong to as adults play a role in shaping our identities

- fact: today, members of dominant racial and ethnic groups have more opportunities and collect more rewards than members of other groups

Key Components of Social World

- social interaction
- norms

Social Interaction

- the way people act together (including how they modify and alter their behavior in response to the presence of others)
- governed by set of norms
- the importance of the "social" part of social interaction becomes most clear to us when we violate norms

Norms

- basic rules of society that help us know what is and is not appropriate to do in any situation
- we censor ourselves because of our concern for the social consequences of our action

Social Structure

- describe the many diverse ways in which the rules and norms of everyday life become enduring patterns that shape and govern social interactions
- lies in the background of every social interaction
- become visible when they limit our freedom

Critical Components of Social Structures

- roles/social hierarchy
(reinforce norms/institutions)
- norms/institutions
(shape/guide interactions)
- framework for daily life

Social Hierarchy

- a set of important/enduring social positions that often grant some individuals and groups higher status and more power than others
- who we defer to

- ex: child defer to parent
- ex: worker defer to owner/manager
- ex: patient defer to doctor

Institutions

- longstanding and important practices
- ex: marriage, families, education, economic markets

- organizations that regulate those practices
- ex: government, legal system, military, schools, religious groups, contracts, agreements

- provide the framework for interaction to occur
- organize existing norms into patterns of behavior
- provide incentives

Race, gender, and religion are all examples of __________.

a) our physiology

b) a thought experiment

c) identities

d) our biology

c) identities

Which of the following statements best reflects the relationship between norms and whether an individual "fits in" to society?

a) Norms are the result of a psychological process and regulate whether we feel we "fit in."

b) Norms regularly challenge social hierarchies and disrupt the ability of people with high-status positions from "fitting in" at their high-status jobs.

c) Norms derive from hormones and regulate whether we feel we "fit in."

d) Norms are the rules about what is and isn't acceptable by our community and must be followed to "fit in."

d) Norms are the rules about what is and isn't acceptable by our community and must be followed to "fit in."

What do synagogues, political organizations, and schools have in common?

a) Sociologist C. Wright Mills referred to these three organizations as the holy trinity of sociological observation.

b) They are all types of organizations that sociologists refuse to examine or write about.

c) They are all contexts where people might gain special opportunities.

d) They are all social structures that have no bearing on our development.

c) They are all contexts where people might gain special opportunities.

Which of the following best describes what it means to connect individual biographies to history?

a) Connecting biography to history means understanding how an individual's problem is really a social problem affecting many individuals.

b) Connecting biography to history means understanding how biographers have systematically altered our understanding of history.

c) Connecting biography to history means understanding how history can be understood by analyzing biology.

d) Connecting biography to history means understanding how sociology was created by historians.

a) Connecting biography to history means understanding how an individual's problem is really a social problem affecting many individuals.

Edward is introduced to Jessah and intends to kiss her cheek in greeting. Inadvertently, he ends up kissing her on the lips. Both Edward and Jessah laugh and feel embarrassed by this mistake. Which of the following conclusions can be drawn based on this scenario?

a) Edward and Jessah inadvertently established a new social hierarchy.

b) Edward's mistake was a violation of social norms.

c) Edward accidentally created a new norm.

d) Edward likely created a new set of rules.

b) Edward's mistake was a violation of social norms.

Auguste Comte (1798-1857)

- French philosopher
- 1839: term sociology was first used by Comte

- envisioned:
+"social statics" (study of societies as they are) +"social dynamics" (processes of social change)

Emile Durkheim (1858-1917)

- father of sociology
- first occurred in Europe: France and Germany
- 1895: founded the first European sociology department at the University of Bordeaux
- 1898: founded first major European journal of sociology (L'Annee Sociologique)

Max Weber (1864-1920)

- created an influential journal (Archives for Social Science and Social Welfare)
- establishing an identity for sociology as a discipline in Germany

First Sociology Department in America (1895)

Sociology Department at the University of Chicago

Industrialization (1800s)

- growth of factories and large-scale goods production
- chemistry and physics proved enormously useful in providing the basis for new industrial processes

Urbanization

- growth of cities
- late 19th century
- period when new technologies and innovations made possible the growth of large-scale manufacturing of consumer products
- transforming economies
- growth in the population living in urban areas and cities
- fact: grew rapidly in size between 1850 and 1920 in both Europe and the United States

Urban Areas

- population density of at least 1,000 ppl/sq. mi.
- all surrounding areas that have an overall density of at least 500 ppl/sq. mi.

Interdisciplinary Research

- a method of research that integrates ideas, theories, and data from different academic fields
- central part of learning about any topic in sociology or the social sciences

- fact: sociologists may need to know something about the research and theories developed by economists, political scientists, psychologists, or anthropologists

In the late 1800s, the United States went through a period of __________, which refers to a pronounced growth in factories and cities.

a) industrialization

b) socialization

c) social interaction

d) economic depression

a) industrialization

The field of sociology has spawned other areas of study. Which of the following is an area of study spawned by sociology?

a) genetics

b) history

c) gender studies

d) psychology

c) gender studies

Relative to other disciplines, such as economics and political science, sociology __________ engage(s) in interdisciplinary research.

a) actively opposes efforts to

b) always

c) is the most likely discipline to

d) is the least likely discipline to

c) is the most likely discipline to

Who coined the term "sociology"?

a) Emile Durkheim

b) Auguste Comte

c) John Commons

d) Karl Marx

b) Auguste Comte

Which of the following statements best reflects the relationship between sociology and different units of analysis?

a) Sociological explanations of how the world shapes people's behavior often take into account different units of analysis.

b) For sociologists, the unit of analysis is always the individual.

c) Sociological explanations of how the world shapes people's behavior only take two different units of analysis into account.

d) The unit of analysis is a reference to the metric units employed in sociological studies, which sociologists routinely use to conform to the standards of their European colleagues.

c) Sociological explanations of how the world shapes people's behavior only take two different units of analysis into account.

Tam is able to attend a highly competitive college because his parents have enough income to pay the tuition. Lai is only able to attend night classes at a less competitive college because she has to work during the day to pay tuition. Which statement best describes how the notion of a "social context" can be used to describe this scenario?

a) Lai is experiencing a social context, but Tam is not.

b) Lai's and Tam's educational experiences are not related to the notion of a social context, and they will only begin experiencing a social context after their formal education.

c) Tam and Lai are experiencing different social contexts, which will likely have an impact on the type of opportunities each encounters in life.

d) Tam and Lai are experiencing the same social context.

c) Tam and Lai are experiencing different social contexts, which will likely have an impact on the type of opportunities each encounters in life.

Which of the following statements best describes how roles are related to social institutions?

a) Roles are produced by the psychological processes of individuals, which then produce institutions.

b) Institutions can only exist if individuals disregard the social hierarchy of roles.

c) A role is a position within an institution or organization that comes with specific social expectations for how to behave and be treated.

d) Roles are institutions, which individuals must always occupy.

c) A role is a position within an institution or organization that comes with specific social expectations for how to behave and be treated.

Which of the following statements best reflects the relationship between sociology and other social science disciplines?

a) Sociological findings have not had a great impact on other social science disciplines.

b) Sociology has been entirely ostracized by other disciplines, including psychology and economics.

c) Sociology has given birth to a number of other disciplines, including African American studies, gender studies, demography, and criminology.

d) Sociology has a track record of insulating itself from other disciplines, such as psychology and economics.

c) Sociology has given birth to a number of other disciplines, including African American studies, gender studies, demography, and criminology.

Which of the following best explains the relationship between a sociological imagination and stereotypes?

a) Social stereotypes are the building blocks of social roles, and social roles are the building blocks of a sociological imagination.

b) A sociological imagination challenges stereotypes by raising questions about where they come from.

c) Sociological imagination is another word for stereotype.

d) A sociological imagination helps us see the value in stereotypes as they dictate social norms.

b) A sociological imagination challenges stereotypes by raising questions about where they come from.

A good sociological question does not simply rely on stereotypes. Which of the following is a good sociological question?

a) Do successful women have more tenacity than unsuccessful women?

b) Does being born into poverty increase the chances that a person will stay in poverty?

c) Why are people who are on welfare so lazy?

d) Do higher-income people work harder at their jobs?

b) Does being born into poverty increase the chances that a person will stay in poverty?

A parent tells a child he is not supposed to eat food off the ground. This rule is an example of __________.

a) prejudice

b) a norm

c) status training

d) a role

b) a norm

Family, marriage, education, government, and religion are all examples of __________.

a) social networks

b) social institutions

c) subcultures

d) prejudices

b) social institutions

Which of the following scenarios describes how a person's identity might have an impact on his or her opportunities in life?

a) Jared seems to have a natural ability to excel in statistics and, true to form, by the end of the semester, he receives the highest grade in his statistics class.

b) Shelly notices that her classmates are less likely to question male professors than female professors. She wonders whether the relative lack of criticism for male professors means male professors in the university will be more successful than their female colleagues.

c) Rob had an accident at work and now experiences chronic back pain, which limits his freedom of movement.

d) Carl has always had an exceptional ability to make small talk with random people. One day, after having a nice conversation with a stranger on a train, Carl was surprised when the stranger offered him a job.

b) Shelly notices that her classmates are less likely to question male professors than female professors. She wonders whether the relative lack of criticism for male professors means male professors in the university will be more successful than their female colleagues.

Baby Alyssa is born in a hospital with a lot of resources, staff, and modern equipment. Baby Brandi is born in a hospital with older equipment, few staff, and little resources. Which statement best describes this scenario?

a) The two babies occupy similar positions in the social hierarchy and will therefore develop in a nearly identical manner.

b) The two babies are born into different social contexts, which will have an impact on their social development.

c) Alyssa and Brandi will receive the same level of care because hospitals, no matter where they are located, belong to the same social institution.

d) The two babies are born into different social contexts, but studies show that the social development of children is not impacted by institutions such as the health care system.

b) The two babies are born into different social contexts, which will have an impact on their social development.

How did urbanization lead to the development of sociology?

a) Urbanization caused sociologists to move their practices from the countryside to the city.

b) Urbanization led to the creation of biology as a science, and a small group of biologists created sociology.

c) Urbanization led to the Great Depression, and sociology was originally developed to study the Great Depression.

d) Urbanization caused various social problems, such as growing levels of poverty, and governments and scholars wanted to understand these problems.

d) Urbanization caused various social problems, such as growing levels of poverty, and governments and scholars wanted to understand these problems.

The social sciences were first founded in the late 1800s and early 1900s. Why was this the case?

a) People first started to have questions about society during that period because they had more leisure time.

b) Sociology was going through a process of "spinning off" new social science disciplines, such as African American studies.

c) Western societies were undergoing a period of great continuity, and the social sciences were founded in order to understand why.

d) Rapid industrialization and urbanization of the time resulted in the need to study society and its groups. The social sciences formed to address this need.

d) Rapid industrialization and urbanization of the time resulted in the need to study society and its groups. The social sciences formed to address this need.

Which of the following is an example of a stereotype?

a) Women should be paid the same as men.

b) More people are unemployed this year compared with last year.

c) Keri is spoiled because she came from a wealthy family.

d) Children with poor nutrition tend to score lower in school.

c) Keri is spoiled because she came from a wealthy family.

Which of the following is the best definition of the term "institution"?

a) Institutions are groups and organizations that can only be called upon during desperate times.

b) Institutions refer to important architectural structures, including ones that are unoccupied.

c) Institutions are important sets of practices that society has followed for a long time.

d) Institutions are unique types of organizations that seek to destroy societies.

c) Institutions are important sets of practices that society has followed for a long time.

Forming a good sociological question requires that we learn not to take __________ for granted.

a) book knowledge

b) data

c) stereotypes and commonsense

d) the knowledge of economists

c) stereotypes and commonsense

A teenager notices that his new employer likes to boast that no matter the background and identity of new applicants, she always gives people equal consideration when it comes to hiring. What sort of sociological question could be based on this teenager's observations?

a) Do employers like this one actually give people equal consideration, or do they just say they do?

b) Given that employers do not discriminate, how do job seekers so often screw up their chances to get hired?

c) Does the type of font used on a resume have an impact on whether a person gets hired?

d) Which of the important skills I listed on my resume made the biggest impression on my employer?

a) Do employers like this one actually give people equal consideration, or do they just say they do?

How does sociological imagination help us understand social problems?

In summary, sociological imagination is an ability to see the context which shapes your individual decision making, as well as the decisions made by others. But the reason why it's useful is because it allows us to better identify and question various aspects of society, as opposed to passively living within it.

What does the sociological imagination help us understand quizlet?

C. Wright Mills defined the sociological imagination as the ability to see the impact of social forces on individuals' public and private lives. He believed we need to overcome our limited perspective to understand the larger meaning of our experiences.

How does the sociological imagination help people to understand the effects of society on their personal lives quizlet?

The sociological imagination allows us to think about the social consequences of social issues. Only when we develop this ability can we start to see how larger issues in society relate to personal problems. The sociological imagination allows us to refine our emotional biases in research settings.

What is the sociological imagination quizlet the ability to understand?

The sociological imagination is a concept used by the American sociologist C. Wright Mills to describe the ability to "think yourself away from the familiar routines of everyday life" and look at them from an entirely new perspective.