SOC 160 Lecture Notes - Lecture 2: Golf Cart, Midwestern United States
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Published on 8 Sep 2018
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Department
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Soc 160
• Sociology- systematic study of human society
o Society- individuals sharing geographic area and culture
▪ Culture- knowledge, values, customs, material objects passed from one
generation to the next
• There are different levels of this (Ex. Midwestern culture is
friendly)
• Influences behavior
• Defining a social problem- a social condition or behavioral pattern
• Social problem harms- certain individuals; all people in society
• Social problem causes- public concern; collective action for change
• Social problems depend on public outcry, problem/death, ethical dilemmas
o A public outcry is a social process
o Example → Golf cart deaths
▪ This is not a social problem because there are not enough people dying
from golf carts for it to dramatically change society
▪ This does not warrant a public outcry
o Contact High School sports lead to injuries and death
▪ Yes, this is a social problem because everyone goes to high school
▪ A lot of kids play sports in high school and if a large number of those kids
get hurt while playing those sports, that warrants a public outcry and
becomes a social problem.
• Sociological Imagination