Studied by 0 people
Looks like no one added any tags here yet for you.
Sociology
The study of human groups and societies, emphasizing analysis of the industrialized world.
Personal Troubles
Difficulties that are located in individual biographies and their immediate milieu; seemingly private experiences.
Personal Issues
Difficulties or problems linked to the institutional and historical possibilities of social structure.
Sociological Imagination
The application of imaginative thought to the asking and answering of sociological questions. Concept created by C. Wright Mills.
Structuration
The two-way process by which we shape our social world through our actions and by which we are reshaped by society.
Globalization
The economic, political, and social interconnectedness of individuals throughout the world.
Auguste Comte
French philosopher who gave sociology its name and insisted on a scientific approach.
Emile Durkheim
Focused on social facts and saw society as a body needing all parts to function in harmony.
Organic Solidarity
The social cohesion that results from various institutions of a society functioning as an integrated whole.
Social Constraint
The conditioning influence on our behavior by the groups and societies of which we are members.
Division of Labor
The specialization of tasks within a production system.
Anomie
A situation in which social norms lose their hold over individual behavior.
Karl Marx
Focused on capitalism and the inequalities perpetuated by its class system.
Materialist Conception of History
The view that material or economic factors have a prime role in determining social and historical change.
Max Weber
Emphasized the importance of culture and ideas in societal changes.
Three-component Theory of Stratification
Includes wealth, prestige, and power as key elements.
Harriet Martineau
Scholar and activist who brought sociology to England and was the first female sociologist.
W.E.B. Du Bois
First African American to earn a doctorate from Harvard and a founding member of the NAACP.
Symbolic Interactionism
A theoretical approach that emphasizes the role of symbols and languages in human interaction.
Manifest Functions
The known and intended functions of a particular social activity.
Latent Functions
The unintended functions of a particular social activity.
Conflict Theories
Sociological perspectives emphasizing political and economic power in the social order.
Marxism
A body of thought deriving from Karl Marx's ideas.
Postmodernism
The belief that society is no longer governed by history or progress.
Microsociology
The study of human behavior in small-scale face-to-face interaction.
Macrosociology
The study of large-scale groups, organizations, or social systems.
Factual Questions
Raise issues concerning matters of fact.
Comparative Questions
Draw comparisons among different human societies.
Developmental Questions
Focus on the origins and path of development of social institutions.
Theoretical Questions
Seek to explain a particular range of observed events.
Qualitative Methods
Approaches to sociological research relying on personal and collective interviews or observations.
Quantitative Methods
Approaches to sociological research drawing on objective and statistical data.
Ethnography
The firsthand study of people using observation and in-depth interviewing. (Qualitative)
Participant Observation
A method of research in which the researcher takes part in the activities of the group being studied.
Surveys
A method of sociological research using questionnaires administered to the population being studied. (Quantitative)
U.S. Census
Seeks basic info about everyone living in the United States.
Standardized Questions
Offer a fixed range of responses to choose from, easy to compare and count.
Open-Ended Questions
Provide more detailed information but may be difficult to compare statistically.
Pilot Study
A trial run in survey research.
Sample
A small proportion of a larger population.
Representative Sample
Statistically typical of a larger population.
Random Sampling
Method where every member of the population has the same probability of being included.
Experiment
Research method analyzing variables in a controlled way.
Informed Consent
Process where investigator informs potential participants about study risks and benefits.
Debriefing
Process where investigator informs participants about study's true purpose and any deception.
Culture
Values, norms, and material goods of a given group.
Non-Material Culture
Nonphysical components of culture, including values, norms, symbols, language.
Values
Abstract ideals about what is desirable, proper, good, and bad.
Norms
Rules of conduct specifying appropriate behavior in social situations.
Language
System of symbols representing objects and abstract thoughts.
Material Culture
Physical objects created by society influencing how people live.
Society
Interconnected system connecting individuals.
Instincts
Fixed behavior patterns with genetic origins in all normal animals of a species.
Subcultures
Values and norms of a group within a society distinct from the majority.
Countercultures
Cultural groups rejecting majority values and norms.
Assimilation
Process of different cultures being absorbed into a mainstream culture.
Multiculturalism
Viewpoint where ethnic groups exist separately and share equally in economic and political life.
Ethnocentrism
Tendency to view other cultures through one's own, potentially misrepresenting them.
Cultural Universals
Values or behavior shared by all human cultures.
Hunting and Gathering Societies
Mode of subsistence involving hunting, fishing, and gathering edible plants.
Pastoral Societies
Societies subsisting from rearing domesticated animals.
Agrarian Societies
Societies subsisting based on agricultural production.
Industrialization
Emergence of machine production based on inanimate power resources.
Nation-States
States where governments have sovereign power within a defined area.
Colonialism
Process where powerful nations establish rule in territories away from home.
Developing World
Less-developed societies with limited industrial production.
Emerging Economies
Countries primarily in the Global South experiencing economic growth.
Socialization
The social process through which we develop an awareness of social norms and values and achieve a distinct sense of self.
Social Reproduction
The process whereby societies have structural continuity over time; pathway through which parents transfer values, norms, and social practices among their children.
Resocialization
The process of learning new norms, values, and behaviors when one joins a new group, takes on a new social role, or when one's life circumstances change dramatically.
Desocialization
The process whereby people unlearn rules and norms upon existing in a particular social world.
Social Self
The identity conferred upon an individual by the reactions of others.
Self-consciousness
Awareness of one's distinct social identity as a person separate from others.
Generalized other
A concept in the theory of George Hebert Mead, according to which the individual takes over the general values and moral rules of a given group or society during the socialization process.
Looking-glass self
According to Cooley's theory, the reactions we elicit in social situations create a mirror in which we see ourselves.
Sensorimotor Stage
A stage of human cognitive development in which a child's awareness of their environment is dominated by perception and touch.
Preoperational Stage
A stage of cognitive development, in Piaget's theory, in which the child has advanced sufficiently to master basic modes of logical thought.
Concrete Operational Stage
The child's thinking is based primarily on the physical perception of the world.
Formal Operational Stage
The growing child becomes capable of handling abstract concepts and hypothetical situations.
Agents of socialization
Groups or social contexts within which processes of socialization take place.
Primary socialization
The family is the main agent of socialization.
Secondary socialization
Other agents of socialization, such as schools, peer groups, organizations, the media, the workplace, religious organizations, and even the government, become socializing forces.
Nuclear family
A family group consisting of an adult or adult couple and their dependent children.
Hidden Curriculum
Traits of behavior or attitudes that are learned at school but not included in the formal curriculum.
Peer Group
A group composed of individuals of similar age and social status.
Social Roles
Socially defined expectations of an individual in a given status or occupying a particular social position.
Social Identity
The characteristics that other people attribute to an individual.
Self-identity
The ongoing process of self-development and definition of our identity through which we formulate a unique sense of ourselves and our relationship to the world around us.
Gender socialization
The learning of gender roles through social factors such as schooling, peers, the media, and family.
Race Socialization
The specific verbal and nonverbal messages that older generations transmit to younger generations regarding the meaning and significance of race.
Childhood
The initial stage of the life course, typically characterized by dependency on adults.
Teenager
The stage of adolescence, marked by physical and emotional changes.
Young Adult
The stage following adolescence, usually associated with entering the workforce and independent living.
Middle Age
The stage of life between young adulthood and old age, often characterized by career stability and family responsibilities.
Later life
The stage of life typically associated with retirement and older age.
Aging
The combination of biological, psychological, and social processes that affect people as they grow older.
Elder Abuse
Mistreatment and abuse of older adults, which may take many forms, including physical, sexual, emotional, or financial abuse; neglect; or abandonment.
Social Isolation
A common stereotype that older adults are socially isolated, but this is not true for most older people.
Ageism
Discrimination or prejudice against a person based on age.
Cohort
A group of individuals who were born during the same period and thus share a similar pattern of historical experiences from childhood to adult life.
