Social Construction of Reality: This is when society impacts on how something is viewed. The example I like to use is how earbuds have taken on an entirely new meaning in today's society. Earbuds were made so that people could listen to music without disrupting the environment around them. However now if a person has both headphones in, then they don't want to talk to anybody and they are removing themselves from the situation they are in. This is a Social Construction of Reality because earbuds inherently have no meaning, but our society has given them one.
Macro Sociology: Is the study of how large groups of individuals impact an individual. For example, a macro group would be high school students. Now I as individual feels the need to go to college because most high school students go to college. Of course, I also would like to get a higher education, but the idea of me going to college was in everyone's mind because it is generally excepted that I would go to college.
Micro-Sociology: This is the study of how smaller groups impact an individual. For instance, my family would be a micro group. In my family, it is expected of my to go to college because both of my parents didn't, so it's expected of me to do what they couldn't.
Research Methods: The two types of research most commonly used in sociology are qualitative and quantitative studies. Qualitative data is gathered mostly through nonnumerical methods like free response questions and just by observing the people you are surrounded by. Quantitative is data collected through numbers and statistics. In "Gang Leader for a Day" the main character starts out by asking the Black Kings gang questions that are quantitative. They didn't allow for the people he was interviewing to answer or even want to answer because they all were multiple choice questions. He later realizes that if he is going to discover anything about those people that he would have to change his approach. He then stops asking them questions and simply hangs out around them. This is qualitative research at it's finest. He was able to really learn about the guys he was with because they were able to be themselves without becoming a number.
Ingroups/Outgroups: An ingroup is a group that you are a part of. For instance, I am part of my group of friends. I feel comfortable around them because I am a part of that group. On the other hand, though there are outgroups. Outgroups are groups that you aren't a part of and since you aren't a part of that group, it becomes easier to judge people who are from that group. After learning the idea I started to keep a look out for anytime I made a judgment about an outgroup. Then one day during lunch I noticed myself making a joke with my friends about these kids that took our lunch table. Even though my friends and I sit there every day, that still isn't a good enough reason for me to start making assumptions about this group. It was just easy for me to do so because I wasn't in that group and the group I was in were making those assumptions.
Generalizations and Stereotypes: Generalizations are beneficial to society. As long as they are based on facts and evidence collected through thoughtful studies then they can really help researchers make assumptions about certain groups of people that could explain their behavior. Generalizations can be risky, however. There is a very fine line between generalizations and stereotypes. A stereotype is an assumption made about a person or certain group of people that isn't supported factually and is just an ignorant idea. Stereotypes can stem from generalizations because someone could look at a person and see a factual generalization about them and then make the connection that because they are part of this generalization then that means they are so on and so forth. For example, you could have a generalization that is supported by factual evidence like, most Stevenson students are middle to upper middle class. The stereotype would be to look at an individual and say because they go to Stevenson then that means they are wealthy. This is not the case because you cannot make an assumption about an individual just because they are associated with a certain group.
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