Sociology Exam Review Flashcards

Flashcards to help review key concepts from sociology lecture notes.

Culture

The shared way of life of a group of people, including norms, values, language, and traditions.

Norms

Expected rules people should follow in a culture, dictating behavior in certain situations.

Values

Things that people consider important to them, passed on from person to person.

Roles

The 'parts' people play in society, such as jobs or roles in the family.

Status

The position and importance someone holds in society.

Ascribed Status

A status you are born with, such as sex or position in the family.

Achieved Status

A status you earn based on actions, such as qualifications.

Sanctions

Actions used in society to ensure people follow norms and maintain social order.

Positive Sanctions

Positive actions taken by people in society to reward good behavior.

Negative Sanctions

Punishing actions taken by people in society to stop negative behavior.

Cultural Diversity

The existence of many different cultures within the same society.

Subcultures

Smaller cultures within a larger society, with their own norms and values.

Nature

The belief that our behavior is innate and comes from our parents.

Nurture

The belief that our behavior is learned from others in society.

Social Control

The way people are made to follow norms, values, and laws of society using different sanctions.

Informal Control

Social control carried out by agents of socialization like family, education, and peers.

Formal Control

Social control carried out by powerful groups like the police, courts, and army.

Socialization

The process of learning behavior in society.

Primary Socialization

Socialization carried out by parents and family at a young age.

Secondary Socialization

Socialization carried out by other groups as a child gets older, including peer groups, education, and media.

Feral Children

Wild or unsocialized children without human care and support.

Identity

Who somebody is, including gender, class, ethnicity, and nationality.

Gender

Social differences between male and female.

Class

A status based on wealth and lifestyle.

Ethnicity

Someone’s cultural background (not skin color).

Nationality

The country someone associates themselves with.

Family

A group of people related to one another by blood or marriage.

Nuclear Family

A family including a married Mum and Dad with children.

Lone-Parent Families

One parent with their dependent children.

Reconstituted Families

Step families where 2 adults remarry a new partner.

Same-Sex Families

A couple from the same sex.

Cohabitation

Couples living together but not married.

Extended Family

A family that is close to other members like grandparents, aunts, and uncles.

Beanpole Families

An extended family with lots of generations but not many members in each generation.

Polygamy

When a person is married to more than one person at the same time.

Arranged Marriage

A marriage between two people organized by other family members, with the couple's consent.

One-Child Policy

A law from China that said families should only have one child or pay a huge fine.

Family Diversity

This refers to having different types of families.

Divorce

This refers to the ending of a marriage.

Serial Monogamy

People are choosing to enter shorter-term relationships, with small gaps between partners

Child-Centred Families

Families are more focused on spending money and time with children.

Sandwich Generation

People in the family who are required to look after their parents and own children.

Boomerang Children

Adult children who return to live at their parents' house.

Conjugal Roles

Refers to the roles played by men and women in the relationship and family.

Segregated Roles

The roles between partners are different and the amount done is unequal.

Integrated Roles

Duties and responsibilities shared equally.

Symmetrical Families

Family roles were more equal, but jobs weren’t identical.

New Man

Men are becoming more involved in the family in childcare and being more caring.

Decision Making

Women have more decision-making in the home and over children, but men still make important decisions.

Dual Career Families

Both men and women are now ‘breadwinners’

Leisure Time

Adults are now spending more of free time with the nuclear family.

Stratified Diffusion

Argued working-class families will start to earn more money until eventually, only one parent works, making roles unequal again!

Working Class Attainment

Working-class children did worse than ‘middle-class’ students.

Material Factors

Working-class have less money and are less likely to afford equipment and good housing to be successful.

Cultural Factors

Working-class have lower language skills, less value on education, and less social capital.

Cultural Capital

Schools teach a middle-class culture and curriculum which benefits them more.

Labelling + Setting

Working-class students are more likely to have negative labels and be put in lower sets.

Catchment Areas

Working-class are less likely to be able to afford travel to a school further away.

Types of School

Working-class families are less likely to afford private schools.

Ethnic-Minority Attainment

Chinese and Indian students tend to achieve well in school the most.

Material Factors (Ethnic Minorities)

Ethnic-minorities are more likely to be in poverty and can’t afford the resources to succeed.

Cultural Factors (Ethnic Minorities)

Some ethnic-minorities might not speak English, and some might reject authority.

Curriculum in Schools

Schools teach white culture which could disengage ethnic-minorities from learning.

Labelling + Setting (Ethnic Minorities)

Some ethnic-minorities are more likely to be labelled negatively due to appearance and differences.

Racism

Students face ‘unconscious racism’ based on stereotypes where some students are picked on more.

Gender Attainment

Girls have outperformed boys at all levels of education.

More Employment Opportunities for Women

Girls have more employment opportunities means they are more likely to be motivated.

Work of Feminists

Feminists have helped change laws, like the National Curriculum, allowing girls and boys to do the same subjects.

Feminisation of Schools

More female teachers means more of a role model for girls, schools are no longer competition based.

Crisis of Masculinity

Boys are confused about their position after school and aren’t always guaranteed a job, therefor are messing around.

Peer Pressure

Boys are more concerned with impressing their peers, rather than teachers.

Labelling

Teachers make labels of students based on appearance and relationship with other children, can lead to a self-fulfilling prophecy.

Anti-School Subcultures

Some students are against school norms and values and form their own cultures.

Hidden Curriculum

The subliminal messages and ideas picked up by students by following rules and norms.

Functionalists

A consensus theory; school is good as it teaches norms and values .

Meritocracy

Say school rewards the best students with the top jobs, making sure everyone has the job fit for them in society.

Marxists

A conflict theory; education is bad as schools benefit the bourgeoisie in different ways.

Formal Curriculum (Marxist)

Argues schools teach the culture of the middle class (cultural capital) which gives the middle class more chance of success.

Unfair Opportunities

Schools do not give equal opportunity to all as the middle class have a ‘headstart’ and meritocracy is a myth

Correspondence Theory

Schools create obedient students that are prepared to be the proletariat.

Feminists

A conflict theory; education is bad as schools are still patriarchal (dominated by men) in many ways.

Formal Curriculum (Feminist)

Subjects taught in schools are based on male achievements and work, not women’s.

Men in Top positions (School)

Top jobs in schools (headteachers) are most likely male, most normal teachers are female.

Gendered Subjects

Some subjects are seen as more male/female creating a divide between boys and girls.

Dominating Space

Boys dominate space and attention in schools, girls are often ignored by teachers.

Social Control (School)

Boys are more likely to police girls more, schools and peer groups have higher expectations of girls.

Primary Data

Collected by the sociologist in their own ways.

Secondary Data

Data that a sociologist gets that other people have collected, not the sociologist

Quantitative Data

Data that is in number form/statistics, can be easily turned into graphs and compared

Qualitative Data

Data that is in words, a lot of detail and can give context

Practical

The research does not take a lot of time or money to plan, carry out and analyse

Economically Friendly

The research does not need a lot of money to be carried out

Representative

The research uses relevant people and often uses a lot of them to make generalisable (accurate) comments

Valid

The research uncovers more detail about society

Ethical

The research is morally right and follows the correct rules of research

Reliable

The research can be repeated to get similar results and results can be compared easily

Time-Friendly

The research does not take a lot of time to plan/carry out

Hawthorne Effect

The change in someone’s behaviour if they’re being watched.

Pilot Study

The ‘test’ that a sociologist does before they carry out the main research.

Content Analysis

Uses tally charts to investigate the media and the number of something.