Intro to Sociology: Midterm Defintions.

Midterm Defitnions for SO_100

Sociology (socius, Latin)

and the greek word Logos (study of) meaning “The study of companionship.” Study all aspects and levels of society. Study of culture.

Sociology

The systematic study of society and social behavior.

Sociological Perspective

A way of seeing the general patterns in the behavior of individuals, and the strange in the familiar.

Sociological Imagination (Mills, 1959)

The capacity to connect personal troubles with public issues; links biography with history.

Social Structure

The patterned relationships and institutions that shape society as a whole.

Private Troubles

Difficulties experienced within an individual’s immediate life (family, job, neighborhood).

Public Issues

Larger societal forces that shape personal experiences (economic crises, systemic inequality, war).

Social Location

A person’s position within society based on class, race, gender, religion, and other categories.

Social Institution

Organized systems (family, education, religion, economy) that meet collective needs.

Social Function

The consequences of any social pattern for the operation of society.

Sociological Perspective

Seeing how personal experiences are connected to larger social patterns.

Civic Engagement

Active participation in community life through service, activism, or policy involvement.

Public Sociology

The practice of applying sociological insights to public issues, bridging research and real-world change.

Democracy (in context)

Beyond voting; includes dialogue, participation, and social responsibility.

Economic Lens

Viewing public problems primarily through growth, GDP, and efficiency.

Sociological Lens

Focusing on identity, social roles, inequality, and lived experience when analyzing social issues.

Council of Economic Advisers (CEA)

Established group of economists advising U.S. presidents on policy.

Council of Social Advisers (proposed, 1967)

Suggested but never created—would have given sociologists institutional influence comparable to economists.

Stigma

Negative social labels or stereotypes that marginalize groups, reinforcing poverty and exclusion.

Income share

The portion of all national income earned by a specific income group (top 10%, top 1%).

Recovery-era inequality

The phenomenon whereby economic recovery disproportionately benefits higher-income individuals.

“New Gilded Age”

Term used to describe the current era’s extreme income inequality, likened to the late 19th century.

Ethical Concern

The American Sociological Association’s Code of Ethics. Reliability and validity. Scientific logic and objectivity. Value Neutrality.

Hypothesis

an assumption about how two or more variables are related.

Ethnography

Observation of the social perspective and cultural values of an entire social setting.

Theory

A framework for understanding how society works.

Macro-Level Theory

Focuses on large social structures (economy, politics, institutions).

Micro-Level Theory

Examines everyday interactions and meanings.

Social Fact

Ways of acting, thinking, and feeling that exist outside the individual, are coercive, and are common to a group or society.

Externality

Social facts exist independently of the individual’s will (e.g., laws, language).

Constraint/Coercion

Social facts exert pressure or force over individuals to conform.

Collective Consciousness

The shared beliefs and moral attitudes that operate as a unifying force in society.

Objective Reality

Social facts must be treated as things, existing independently of subjective interpretation.

Culture

The beliefs and practices of a group.

Society

The people who share those beliefs and practices.

Material culture

Objects.

Nonmaterial culture

Ideas, attitudes, beliefs of a society

Culture of universe

Shared human experiences.

Ideology

A system of ideas (“isms”)

Free-market capitalism

Economic ideology.

Quantitative Research

Collects numerical data (surveys, experiments).

Qualitative Research

Collects descriptive data (interviews, observations).

Mixed Methods

Combines qualitative and quantitative research.

Reliability

Consistency of results.

Validity

Accuracy of findings.

Socialization

The lifelong process of inheriting and disseminating norms, customs, and ideologies of a group.

Status

The responsibilities and benefits that a person experiences according to their ranks and roles in society.

Roles

Patterns of behavior that are representative of a person’s social status.

Social Construction

Category (race & gender) created and developed by society. Gender, sexuality, and race.

Habitualization

Any action that is repeated frequently becomes cast into a pattern.

Gender as Social Construction:

Masculinity (and femininity) are not fixed or biologically determined.

Ellective Affinity

How individual traits and institutional demands resonate. Personality vs. Structures.

Ambivalence toward Intimacy:

mixed feelings about closeness, emotional vulnerability, and intimacy.

Tight culture:

A society with strong norms, clear rules, and low tolerance for deviance. 

Loose culture:

A society with weaker norms, more tolerance for deviation, and more individual freedom.

Cultural tightening / loosening:

The ability of a culture to become stricter (tighten) under threat or loosen over time.

Cultural identity:

 how groups and individuals see themselves (values, heritage, norms) and their sense of belonging in society.

Cultural heritage preservation:

use of AI to reconstruct, archive, or revitalize artifacts, languages, traditions.

Authenticity:

the quality of being original or genuine, especially in cultural artifacts or narratives. The article raises concerns that AI reconstructions may blur authenticity.

Marginalized voices / narrative erasure:

risk that AI models emphasising dominant cultural data will suppress or misrepresent minority cultures.