Quiz 3

Credentialism

the emphasis on certificates or degrees to show that a person has a certain skill, has attained a certain level of education, or has met certain job qualifications

Cultural Capital

cultural knowledge that serves (metaphorically) as currency to help one navigate a culture

Cultural Transmission

the way people come to learn the values, beliefs, and social norms of their culture

Education

a social institution through which a society’s children are taught basic academic knowledge, learning skills, and cultural norms

Formal Education

the learning of academic facts and concepts

Grade Inflation

the idea that the achievement level associated with an A today is notably lower than the achievement level associated with A-level work a few decades ago

Head Start Program

a federal program that provides academically focused preschool to students of low socioeconomic status

Hidden Curriculum

the type of nonacademic knowledge that people learn through informal learning and cultural transmission

Informal Education

education that involves learning about cultural values, norms, and expected behaviors through participation in a society

No Child Left Behind Act

an act that requires states to test students in prescribed grades, with the results of those tests determining eligibility to receive federal funding

Plessy v. Ferguson

• Legal case in 1896

• Upheld "separate but equal" doctrine

• Racial segregation constitutional

• Overturned by Brown v. Board of Education

Social Placement

the use of education to improve one’s social standing

Sorting

classifying students based on academic merit or potential

Tracking

a formalized sorting system that places students on “tracks” (advanced, low achievers) that perpetuate inequalities

Universal Access

the equal ability of all people to participate in an education system

Animism

the religion that believes in the divinity of nonhuman beings, like animals, plants, and objects of the natural world

Atheism 

the belief in no deities

Collective Effervescence 

The intense energy and unity that arises in group rituals or gatherings connecting people to the religious group

Cults 

religious groups that are small, secretive, and highly controlling of members and have a charismatic leader

Cultural Universal 

Denomination 

a large, mainstream religion that is not sponsored by the state

Ecclesia

a religion that is considered the state religion

Established Sects

sects that last but do not become denominations

National

literally no idea

Liberation Theology

the use of a church to promote social change via the political arena

Megachurch

a Christian church that has a very large congregation averaging more than 2,000 people who attend regular weekly services

Monotheism

a religion based on belief in a single deity

Polytheism

a religion based on belief in multiple deities

Protestant Ethic and the Spirit of Capitalism

According to Weber, Ascetic Protestantism created capitalism. In a quest to “prove” their salvation, ascetic Protestants worked hard, amassed wealth, but saved that wealthy and reinvested it - in order to live a godly life.

Religion

a system of beliefs, values, and practices concerning what a person holds to be sacred or spiritually significant

Religious Beliefs

specific ideas that members of a particular faith hold to be true

Religious Competition Theory

Theory by Fine and Stark centered around the idea that religious pluralism leads to higher religiosity. An increase in religious diversity leads to an increase in religious competition which leads to increased religious participation

Religious Experience

the conviction or sensation that one is connected to “the divine”

Religious Rituals

behaviors or practices that are either required for or expected of the members of a particular group

Sect

a small, new offshoot of a denomination

Secularization Theory

s societies modernize, religion's influence declines in public life, institutions, and individuals' beliefs.

Totemism

the belief in a divine connection between humans and other natural beings

Ambilineal

a type of unilateral descent that follows either the father’s or the mother’s side exclusively

Bigamy

the act of entering into marriage while still married to another person

Bilateral Descent

the tracing of kinship through both parents’ ancestral lines

Cohabitation

the act of a couple sharing a residence while they are not married

Extended Family

a household that includes at least one parent and child as well as other relatives like grandparents, aunts, uncles, and cousins

Family

socially recognized groups of individuals who may be joined by blood, marriage, or adoption and who form an emotional connection and an economic unit of society

Family Life Course

a sociological model of family that sees the progression of events as fluid rather than as occurring in strict stages

Family Life Cycle

a set of predictable steps and patterns families experience over time

Family of Orientation

the family into which one is born

Family of Procreation

a family that is formed through marriage

Intimate Partner Violence (IPV)

violence that occurs between individuals who maintain a romantic or sexual relationship

Kinship

a person’s traceable ancestry (by blood, marriage, and/or adoption)

Marriage

a legally recognized contract between two or more people in a sexual relationship who have an expectation of permanence about their relationship

Matrilineal Descent

a type of unilateral descent that follows the mother’s side onl

Matrilocal Residence

a system in which it is customary for a husband to live with the his wife’s family

Monogomay

the act of being married to only one person at a time

Nuclear Family

two parents (traditionally a married husband and wife) and children living in the same household

Patrilineal Descent

a type of unilateral descent that follows the father’s line only

Patrilocal Residence

a system in which it is customary for the a wife to live with (or near) the her husband’s family

Polyandry

a form of marriage in which one woman is married to more than one man at one time

Polygamy

the state of being committed or married to more than one person at a time

Polygyny

a form of marriage in which one man is married to more than one woman at one time

Rates of Marriage

More young people are choosing to delay or opt out of marriage, while the number of people living with a partner has increased. The overall number of people living with either a spouse or a partner has also declined.

Marriage rates peaked with 85.9 people per 1000 in the 1970s, now at an all time low of 33.2

Rates of Divorce

• In 1960, divorce was generally uncommon, affecting only 9.1 out of every 1,000 persons

• This rate peaked in 1980 at 22.6

• Over the last quarter century, divorce rates have dropped steadily and are now similar to those in 1970

• Generalization regarding regional divorce rates and reasons

  • Divorce rates are likely higher in the South because marriage rates are higher, and marriage occurs at younger-than-average ages in this region.

  • In the Northeast, the marriage rate is lower and first marriages tend to be delayed, and the divorce rate is lower

  • About 15% of all married couples involve one partner who is in their second marriage while the other partner is in their first marriage

  • About 9% of married couples are both in their second marriage.

Rates of Dating

Gen Z delayed in unique teen experiences, with only 56% reporting having a partner as a teenager. That said, the age at which a teenager has their first sexual encounter has decreased over the last 13 years.

Second Shift

The housework that a woman might have to perform after returning home from a wage earning position.

It has been found that husbands of breadwinner wives do less housework, while same-sex couples are more egalitarian

Shaken-Baby Syndrome

a group of medical symptoms such as brain swelling and retinal hemorrhage resulting from forcefully shaking or impacting an infant’s head

Unilateral Descent

the tracing of kinship through one parent only

Adam Smith and the Invisible Hand

Automation

workers being replaced by technology

Agricultural Revolution

Industrial Revolution

Information Revolution

Bartering

a process where people exchange one form of goods or services for another

Capitalism

an economic system in which there is private ownership (as opposed to state ownership) and where there is an impetus to produce profit, and thereby wealth

Career Inheritance

a practice where children tend to enter the same or similar occupation as their parents

Convergence Theory

a sociological theory to explain how and why societies move toward similarity over time as their economies develop

Communism

Economic and political ideology advocating for a classless society where resources are owned collectively, and wealth is distributed equally.

Depression

a sustained recession across several economic sectors

Economy

the social institution through which a society’s resources (goods and services) are managed

Financialization

Globalization

Global Assembly Lines

a practice where products are assembled over the course of several international transactions

Global Commodity Chains

internationally integrated economic links that connect workers and corporations for the purpose of manufacture and marketing

How Incentives Shape Behavior

Karl Marx’s Critique of Capitalism

Market Socialism

a subtype of socialism that adopts certain traits of capitalism, like allowing limited private ownership or consulting market demand

Mechanical Solidarity

a form of social cohesion that comes from sharing similar work, education, and religion, as might be found in simpler societies

Mercantilism

an economic policy based on national policies of accumulating silver and gold by controlling markets with colonies and other countries through taxes and customs charges

Money

an object that a society agrees to assign a value to so it can be exchanged as payment

Mutualism

a form of socialism under which individuals and cooperative groups exchange products with one another on the basis of mutually satisfactory contracts

Non-Standard Labor

Organic Solidarity

a form of social cohesion that arises out of the mutual interdependence created by the specialization of work

Outsourcing

a practice where jobs are contracted to an outside source, often in another country

Polarization

a practice where the differences between low-end and high-end jobs become greater and the number of people in the middle levels decreases

Recession

two or more consecutive quarters of economic decline

Socialism

an economic system in which there is government ownership (often referred to as “state run”) of goods and their production, with an impetus to share work and wealth equally among the members of a society

Structural Unemployment

a societal level of disjuncture between people seeking jobs and the jobs that are available

Subsistence Farming

farming where farmers grow only enough to feed themselves and their families

Underemployment

a state in which a person accepts a lower paying, lower status job than his or her education and experience qualifies him or her to perform

Xenophobia

an illogical fear and even hatred of foreigners and foreign goods

Conflict Theory’s Approach to Education

• The educational system reinforces and perpetuates social inequalities that arise from differences in class, gender, race, and ethnicity. They preserve the status quo and push people of lower status into obedience.

• Schools play the role of training working-class students to accept and retain their position as lower members of society. This role is fulfilled through the disparity of resources available to students in richer and poorer neighborhoods as well as through testing

Functionalist Approach to Education

• Education is one of the most important social institutions in society. Contributing both manifest and latent functions

  • Students learn individualism - the valuing of the individual over the value of groups or society as a whole.

  • Schools sort and classify students based on academic potential, reflecting anticipated future education and careers

  • Schools take over roles that were traditionally undertaken by family such as sex-ed, and basic skills like budgeting and job applications