SOCIOL 110 Study Guide - Spring 2018, Comprehensive Midterm Notes - Capitalism, South Africa, Polygyny
11 Oct 2018
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Department
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SOCIOL 110
MIDTERM EXAM
STUDY GUIDE
Fall 2018
Defining & Researching Families
These are historically specific definitions of family
● Structural
○ Material & economic constraints/opportunities
● Cultural
○ Shared meanings, symbols, ideals
● You
○ Active agents
FAMILY = SOCIAL CONSTRUCTION
How to study families:
● Quantitative studies
○ Quantitative studies include large # of respondents, limited # of close ended
questions (have answers), ex. “How satisfied are you with your marriage?”
● Qualitative studies
○ Qualitative studies include intensive interview, ex. “Tell me about your marriage,”
or “Could you tell me how satisfied/unsatisfied you are?”
● Participant observation/ethnography
○ Ex. observe a small group in own environment for detailed understanding/”thick
description” content analysis include analysis of existing documents and media
Methodological Issues
● Limits of sample
● Limits of questions and responses
● Conventionalize BUT
○ Stranger effect
○ Mystify to self “The family I least understand is my own” - R. D. Laing
Types of Societies
● Hunting & gathering/foraging (99% of human history)
● Agrarian/agriculture
● Industrial capitalism
Families of Hunting & Gathering Societies
Stages within a society
1. Finding a partner
2. Marriage
3. Parenthood/childhood
4. Old age
find more resources at oneclass.com
find more resources at oneclass.com
Who are we talking about?
- !Kung (South Africa), Tiwi (Australia), Great Plains Indians (Native Americans)
Common features
● Bands
● Unstable food supply
● Nomadic (highly mobile)
● Sharing
○ No private property
○ Fluid prestige
○ Tight bonds
Finding a partner
● Getting married
● Getting divorced
●Monogamy = 1 spouse
●Polygamy = more than 1 spouse
●Polyandry = more than 1 husband
●Polygyny = more than 1 wife
Sex: In & Outside of marriage
● Marital sex - used for procreation and recreation
● Outside marriage - used for recreation
● “Extra” marital
● “Pre” marital
Sex as social
● Absence of familiar proscriptions
○ Not ownership (double standard)
○ Not innocent children
○ Not source of identity
Familial division of labor
● Domestic work
● Hunting (mostly men)
● To distribute labor among family members
Economy = Sharing
Absence of Stratification: “Who’s got more power”
Absence of State: you get a status based on what you do for the tribe, families means in by
which parameters of sharing could be set
find more resources at oneclass.com
find more resources at oneclass.com
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SOCIOL 110 Full Course Notes
Verified Note
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Document Summary
Quantitative studies include large # of respondents, limited # of close ended questions (have answers), ex. Tell me about your marriage, or could you tell me how satisfied/unsatisfied you are? . Ex. observe a small group in own environment for detailed understanding/ thick description content analysis include analysis of existing documents and media. Mystify to self the family i least understand is my own - r. d. laing. Hunting & gathering/foraging (99% of human history) Stages within a society: finding a partner, marriage, parenthood/childhood, old age. !kung (south africa), tiwi (australia), great plains indians (native americans) Marital sex - used for procreation and recreation. Absence of state: you get a status based on what you do for the tribe, families means in by which parameters of sharing could be set. Boys learned from fathers, girls learned from mothers. Consequence: no identity crisis, no generation gap, dependence. Patriarchy: ruler of father = ownership, citizenship control.
