Introduction to Sociology 3e: Chapter 20

Sustainable Development

Development that occurs without depleting or damaging the natural environment.

Asylum-Seekers

Those whose claim to refugee status have not been validated.

Cancer Cluster

A geographic area with high levels of cancer within its population.

Carrying Capacity

The amount of people that can live in a given area considering the amount of available resources.

Climate Change

Long-term shifts in temperature and climate due to human activity.

Concentric Zone Model

A model of human ecology that views cities as a series of circular rings or zones.

Cornucopian Theory

A theory that asserts human ingenuity will rise to the challenge of providing adequate resources for a growing population.

Demographic Transition Theory

A theory that describes four stages of population growth, following patterns that connect birth and death rates with stages of industrial development.

Demography

The study of population.

E-Waste

The disposal of broken, obsolete, and worn-out electronics.

Environmental Racism

The burdening of economically and socially disadvantaged communities with a disproportionate share of environmental hazards.

Environmental Sociology

The sociological subfield that addresses the relationship between humans and the environment.

Exurbs

Communities that arise farther out than the suburbs and are typically populated by residents of high socioeconomic status.

Fertility Rate

A measure noting the actual number of children born.

Fracking

Hydraulic fracturing, a method used to recover gas and oil from shale by drilling down into the earth and directing a high-pressure mixture of water, sand, and proprietary chemicals into the rock.

Gentrification

The entry of upper- and middle-class residents to city areas or communities that have been historically less affluent.

Human Ecology

A functional perspective that looks at the relationship between people and their built and natural environment.

Internally Displaced Person

Someone who fled his or her home while remaining inside the country's borders.

Malthusian Theory

A theory asserting that population is controlled through positive checks (war, famine, disease) and preventive checks (measures to reduce fertility).

Megalopolis

A large urban corridor that encompasses several cities and their surrounding suburbs and exurbs.

Metropolis

The area that includes a city and its suburbs and exurbs.

Mortality Rate

A measure of the number of people in a population who die.

NIMBY

"Not In My Back Yard," the tendency of people to protest poor environmental practices when those practices will affect them directly.

Pollution

The introduction of contaminants into an environment at levels that are damaging.

Population Composition

A snapshot of the demographic profile of a population based on fertility, mortality, and migration rates.

Population Pyramid

A graphic representation that depicts population distribution according to age and sex.

Refugee

An individual who has been forced to leave their country in order to escape war, persecution, or natural disaster.

Sex Ratio

The ratio of men to women in a given population.

Suburbs

The communities surrounding cities, typically close enough for a daily commute.

Urban Sociology

The subfield of sociology that focuses on the study of urbanization.

Urbanization

The study of the social, political, and economic relationships of cities.

White Flight

The migration of the economically secure white people from racially mixed urban areas toward the suburbs.

Zero Population Growth

A theoretical goal in which the number of people entering a population through birth or immigration is equal to the number of people leaving it via death or emigration.