Sociology Final- GOOD VERSION

Sociological Imagination

The ability to see the connection between personal troubles and largerpublic issues shaped by social forces (C. Wright Mills).

Functionalist Perspective

A macro-level view that sees society as a system of interrelated parts working together to promote stability and order.

Conflict Theory

A macro-level view that sees society as an arena of inequality where powerful groups dominate others to protect their advantages.

Symbolic Interactionism

A micro-level perspective that focuses on how people create and interpret meaning through everyday social interactions and symbols.

Manifest Function

The intended and recognized consequences of a social pattern orinstitution.

Latent Function

The unintended and often unrecognized consequences of a socialpattern or institution.

Dysfunction

A negative consequence of a social pattern that disrupts the stabilityor functioning of society.

Material Culture

The physical objects, tools, clothing, buildings, and technology thatpeople create and use.

Nonmaterial Culture

The ideas, beliefs, values, norms, symbols, and language that shape aculture but have no physical form.

Values

Culturally defined standards of what is desirable, good, and beautifulthat guide social behavior.

Norms

Rules and expectations by which a society guides the behavior of itsmembers.

Folkways

Norms for everyday, casual interaction; violating them usually bringsonly mild social disapproval.

Mores

Norms that have great moral significance; violating them bringsstrong social disapproval or punishment.

Sanctions

Rewards (positive) or punishments (negative) used to enforce normsand values.

Ethnocentrism

The tendency to judge other cultures by the standards and values ofone’s own culture.

Looking-Glass Self

The idea that our sense of self develops from how we imagine others perceive, judge, and respond to us (Cooley).

Resocialization

The process of learning new norms, values, and behaviors whenentering a dramatically new social setting or role.

Degradation Ceremony

A ritual in which a person’s old identity is publicly stripped awaybefore a new identity is assigned (often in total institutions).

Master Status

A status that dominates how others perceive and interact with a personand often shapes their entire identity.

Status Inconsistency

A situation in which a person ranks differently on various dimensions ofsocial stratification (e.g., high income but low prestige).

Social Class

A group of people who share similar levels of property (wealth), power,and prestige.

Income vs. Wealth

Income is money received regularly; wealth is the total value of assetsminus debts (net worth).

Exchange Mobility

Social mobility in which one person’s upward movement is matched byanother’s downward movement (no net change).

IntergenerationalMobility

Change in social class position from one generation to the next within afamily.

In-Group

A group to which a person belongs and feels loyalty and identity.

Out-Group

A group to which a person does not belong and often views with suspicion or hostility.

Aggregate

A collection of people who happen to be in the same place at the sametime but do not interact or feel connected.

Authoritarian Leadership

A leadership style in which the leader makes all decisions, gives strictorders, and discourages questions.

Validity

The extent to which a study or measurement tool actually measures whatit claims to measure.

Reliability

The extent to which a study or measurement tool produces consistentresults when repeated.

Random Sample

A sample in which every member of the population has an equal chanceof being selected.

Control Group

The group in an experiment that does not receive the treatment and isused for comparison.

Quantitative Data

Data that can be measured and expressed numerically (e.g., test scores,income levels).

Ascribed Status

A social position assigned to a person at birth or involuntarily later inlife (e.g., race, sex, family background).

Achieved Status

A social position earned through individual effort, skill, oraccomplishment (e.g., college graduate, athlete).

Structural Mobility

Social mobility caused by large-scale changes in the economy or society (e.g., new technology jobs).

Reference Group

A group that people compare themselves to and use as a standardfor evaluating their own behavior and attitudes.

Primary Group

A small, intimate, long-term group characterized by face-to-face interaction and strong emotional ties (e.g., family).

Dyad vs. Triad

A dyad (two people) is unstable because it ends if one leaves; a triad(three people) allows loss and is more stable.

Expressive Leader

A leader who focuses on maintaining group harmony, resolvingconflicts, and supporting members’ emotional needs.

Laissez-Faire Leadership

A leadership style in which the leader provides little direction and allows group members to make their own decisions.

Operational Definition

A clear, precise statement of exactly how a variable or concept will bemeasured in a study.

Hypothesis

A testable prediction about the relationship between two or morevariables.

Experimental Group

The group in an experiment that receives the treatment orindependent variable being tested.

Qualitative Data

Data that describes qualities, experiences, or meanings and is usuallyexpressed in words (e.g., interview responses).

Cultural Capital

Non-financial assets such as knowledge, skills, education, and behaviors that give social advantages in school and society

Credentialism

The practice of requiring formal degrees or certificates for jobs orpositions of power even when they are not strictly necessary forperforming that work or fulfilling the role.

Hidden Curriculum

The unspoken lessons, values, and expectations that students learnin school alongside the official curriculum (ex. obedience,responsibility, accountability, etc.

Self-Fulfilling Prophecy

A prediction or expectation that causes itself to become true because people act in ways that make it happen.

Grade Inflation

The tendency for average grades to rise over time while academic standardsand achievement remain stable or decline.

Concerted Cultivation

A middle-class parenting style that involves scheduling many structured activities, advocating for children, and teaching them to question authority

Graying of America

The increasing proportion of older people in the U.S. population and thesocial, economic, and political consequences that follow.

Disengagement Theory

The theory that as people age, they naturally and voluntarily withdraw fromsocial roles and relationships.

Activity Theory

The theory that successful aging comes from staying active, maintainingsocial roles, and continuing meaningful activities.

Continuity Theory

The theory that older adults try to maintain the same activities, behaviors,personalities, and relationships they had earlier in life.

Primary Deviance

Initial acts of rule-breaking that have little effect on a person’s self-concept or social status.

Secondary Deviance

Deviant behavior that results from society’s reaction and labeling; theperson begins to see themselves as deviant.

Stigma

A powerfully negative social label that changes a person’s self-concept and social identity and leads to discrimination.

Labeling Theory

The theory that the labels society assigns to people affect their self-identity and future behavior.

Control Theory

The theory that people conform to norms because of strong social bonds(attachment, commitment, involvement, belief) and internal controls.

Differential Association

The theory that people learn deviant or criminal behavior through closerelationships with others who engage in that behavior.

White-Collar Crime

Crimes committed by high-status people in the course of their occupations (e.g., fraud, insider trading, embezzlement).

Milgram Experiment

A famous study showing that ordinary people are often willing to obeyauthority figures even when it means harming others.

Groupthink

A situation in which group members prioritize harmony and consensus overcritical thinking and realistic evaluation of alternatives.

Face-Saving Behavior

Actions people take to protect their self-image or avoid embarrassment in social situations (part of dramaturgical analysis).

Absolute Poverty

The inability to meet the most basic needs for survival, such as food, cleanwater, shelter and healthcare

Relative Poverty

Seeing oneself as “poor” relative (in comparison) others in their situationalor personal society.

Gender Stratification

Unequal distribution of wealth, power, and prestige between men andwomen in society

Glass Ceiling

An invisible barrier that prevents women from advancing to higher positions in an organization.

Dominant Group

The commanding group/culture in a society. One that has the most powerand wealth. Sets the culture and norms for others.

Minority Group

The group with less power, wealth, and social status than the dominantgroup and often faces discrimination.

Prejudice

A negative attitude orbeliefsabout a group of people based on stereotypes,usually without direct or personal experience with the group.

Discrimination

Unfair treatment oractionsdirected toward members of a group based onwho makes up the group’s body population.

Explicit Bias

Consciousand openly expressed negative attitudes or beliefs about agroup.

Implicit Bias

Unconsciousand automatic negative attitudes or beliefs about a group.

Institutional Discrimination

Discrimination built into the policies, practices, and structures ororganizations and institutions.

Scapegoating

Blaming a minority or less powerful group for problems that are actuallycaused by larger social or economic forces.

Genocide

The systematic and intentional killing of a racial, ethnic, religious, ornational group.

Internal Colonialism

A situation in which a dominant group exploits and controls a minoritygroup within the same country or society.

Rationality

A focus on efficiency, calculation, and practical results rather than traditionor emotion (associated with modern bureaucracies).

Bureaucracy

A large, formal organization characterized by hierarchy, rules,impersonality, division of labor, and hiring based on qualifications.

Alienation

A feeling of powerlessness, meaninglessness, and disconnection from one’swork and its products (Marx).

Iron Law of Oligarchy

The tendency for power in large organizations to become concentrated in thehands of a small ruling elite.

Demography

The scientific study of human populations, including size, composition,distribution, and changes over time.

Demographic Transition

The historical process by which societies move from high birth and deathrates to low birth and death rates.

Fertility Rate

The average number of children a woman is expected to have during herlifetime in a given population.

Net Migration

The difference between the number of people entering and leaving a countryor area in a given period.

Push Factors

Negative conditions in a person’s current location that encourage them tomigrate (e.g., violence, unemployment, persecution).

Pull Factors

Positive conditions in a new location that attract migrants (e.g., jobs, safety,political freedom, family ties).

Gentrification

The process of renovating and improving urban neighborhoods that oftenleads to rising rents and the displacement of lower

Diffusion of Responsibility

The tendency for individuals in a group to feel less personal responsibility totake action, especially in emergencies (bystander effect).

Agents of Socialization

people, groups, or institutions that teach individuals the norms, values, and behaviors of society.

Anticipatory Socialization