Important vocabulary 

Life Chances: The degree to which people succeed in life in such areas as education, income, and health.

Social Environment: A general term for social backgrounds and other aspects of society.

Sociology:  The scientific study of social behavior and social institutions.

Sociological perspective: The belief that people’s social backgrounds influence their attitudes, behaviors, and life chances.

Debunking motif: From Peter L. Berger, a theme of sociology in which the aim is to go beyond superficial understandings of social reality.

Social Structure: The social patterns through which society is organized.

Horizontal Social Structure: The social relationships and social and physical characteristics of communities to which individuals belong.

Vertical social structure:A term used interchangeably with social inequality.

Social inequality: The unequal distribution of resources, such as wealth, that a society values.

Personal Troubles: C. Wright Mills’s term for the personal problems that many individuals experience.

Public Issues: C. Wright Mills’s term for problems in society that underlie personal troubles.

Sociological Imagination: From C. Wright Mills, the realization that personal troubles are rooted in public issues.

Blaming the victim: The belief that people experiencing difficulties are to blame for these problems.

Blaming the system: The belief that personal difficulties stem from problems in society.

Macrosociology:That part of sociology that deals with issues involving large-scale social change and social institutions.

Microsociology:  That part of sociology that deals with social interaction in small settings.

Functionalism:  The view that social institutions are important for their contributions to social stability.

Collective conscience: The result is that socialization and social integration help establish a strong set of social rules—or, as Durkheim called it, a strong collective conscience which is From Émile Durkheim, the combined norms of society.

Anomie: Normlessness, a state in which social norms are unclear.

Conflict theory: The view that society is composed of groups with different interests arising from their placement in the social structure.

Bourgeoisie: The ruling class

Proletariat: The working class 

class consciousness: Awareness of one’s placement in the social structure and the interests arising from this placement.

Feminist Theory: The view that society is filled with gender inequality characterized by women being the subordinate sex in the social, political, and economic dimensions of society.

Symbolic interactionism:  A micro perspective in sociology that focuses on the meanings people gain from social interaction.

Utilitarianism: The view that people interact so as to maximize their benefits and minimize their disadvantages.

• Exchange theory

• Rational choice theory

Generalization: A conclusion drawn from sociological research that is meant to apply to broad categories of people but for which many exceptions will always exist.

Scientific method: The classic steps by which scientific research is conducted, including the formulation of a hypothesis and the gathering and analysis of data  

Hypothesis:A statement of the relationship between two variables concerning the units of analysis the researcher is studying.

Unit of analysis: The focus of sociological research, usually a person, organization, or geographical region.

Variable: Any characteristic that varies among units of analysis.

Independent variable: A variable that affects the dependent variable

Dependent variable:A variable that is influenced by an independent variable.

Sample: A subset of the population

Random sample: A subset drawn from the larger population in which every unit in the population has the same chance of being included in the subset.

Convenience sample:  A nonrandom sample that is used because it is relatively quick and inexpensive to obtain

Quota sample: A nonrandom sample in which units in the sample are chosen according to one or more characteristics so that the sample resembles these characteristics of the population as closely as possible.

Spurious relationships: A relationship between an independent variable and a dependent variable that exists only because the effects of a third variable have not been taken into account.

Response Rate:  The percentage of a sample that agrees to be included in a study, usually a survey.

Experiential Group: In an experiment, the group that experiences the experimental condition

Control Group: In an experiment, the group that does not experience the experimental condition.

Participant Observation: Field research in which the researcher is an active member of the group or setting being observed.

Nonparticipant observation: Field research in which the researcher merely observes a group or setting.

Secondary Data analysis: The analysis of data from existing records.

Culture: The artifacts and ways of thinking, feeling, and acting that are part of any society.

Sociobiology: The view that genes and other aspects of human biology influence human behavior and values.

Eugenics: The view, popular in the early 20th century, that certain categories of people were biologically inferior and hence should be sterilized.

Nonmaterial culture: The symbols, language, norms, and values that constitute a major part of a society’s culture. 

Material culture: An element of culture consisting of society’s material objects, or artifacts.

Symbols: Things that stand for something else and that often evoke various reactions and emotions.

Gestures: Movements of the hands, arms, head, and other parts of the body that are meant to convey ideas or emotions nonverbally. 

Sapir-Whorf hypothesis: The view that language influences the thoughts and perceptions of people in a society

Norms: Socially acceptable ways of behaving.

Formal norms: Norms that are very important and usually written down; also called laws and mores.

Informal norms: Relatively unimportant norms, often unwritten, that still affect people’s behavior. 

Rituals: Established procedures and ceremonies that often mark transitions in the life course.

Artifacts: The material objects that constitute a society’s material culture.

Cultural diversity: Variation in the elements of culture from one society to the next.

Subculture: A smaller culture within a larger culture with distinctive ways of thinking, feeling, and acting.

Counterculture: A subculture whose norms and values directly oppose those of the larger culture.

Cultural relativism: The belief that no culture’s norms, values, or practices are superior or inferior to those of any other culture.

Ethnocentrism: The tendency to judge another culture by the standards of our own, and the belief that our own culture is superior to another culture.

Feral: A term used for children who have been extremely socially isolated.

Self: Self-image, self-identity, or self-concept.

Charles Horton Cooley

• Looking glass self: Charles Horton Cooley’s term for one aspect of the process whereby we gain an understanding of our self-image and self-identity.

George Herbert Mead

• Take the role of the other: George Herbert Mead’s term for what children do when they play that helps them acquire an understanding of their self.

Significant others: George Herbert Mead’s term for parents and other important individuals in the lives of children.

Generalized other: George Herbert Mead’s term for society’s conscience.

Sigmund Freud

• Id: Sigmund Freud’s term for the instinctual, selfish part of the personality.

• Ego: Sigmund Freud’s term for the rational part of the personality.

• Superego: Sigmund Freud’s term for society’s conscience.

Hidden curriculum: The beliefs and values that children learn in school.

Resocialization: A dramatic change in a person’s beliefs, values, and behavior, often occurring in total institutions.

Total institutions: Institutions that have total control over their residents’ lives.

Degradation ceremony: An encounter designed to humiliate an individual.

Social structure: The social patterns through which a society is organized; can be horizontal or vertical.

Social inequality: The ways in which a society or group ranks people in a hierarchy.

Status: The position that someone occupies in society.

Status Set: All the positions an individual occupies.

Ascribed Status: The status that someone is born with and has no control over.

Achieved Status: A status achieved at some point after birth, sometimes through one’s own efforts and sometimes because of good or bad luck.

Master Status: A status that is so important that it overrides other statuses a person may hold.

Status Symbols: An object that signifies a particular status that a person holds.

Role: The behavior expected of someone with a certain status.

Social Network: The totality of relationships that link us to other people and groups and through them to still other people and groups.

Social Group: Two or more people who regularly interact on the basis of mutual expectations and who share a common identity.

Formal Organization: A large group that follows explicit rules and procedures to achieve specific goals and tasks.

Social Institution: Patterns of beliefs and behavior that help a society meet its basic needs.

Society: A group of people who live within a defined territory and who share a culture.

 Gemeinschaft: A human community, particularly a small society with a strong sense of community and strong group ties.

Gesellschaft: A large society characterized by weak and impersonal social ties.

Hunting-and-gathering societies: Societies of a few dozen members whose food is obtained from hunting animals and gathering plants and vegetation.

Horticultural societies: Societies that use hoes and other simple tools to raise small amounts of crops.

Pastoral societies: Societies that raise livestock as their primary source of food.

Agricultural societies: Societies that cultivate large amounts of crops with plows and other relatively advanced tools and equipment.

Industrial societies: Large societies that rely on machines and factories as their primary modes of economic production.

Postindustrial societies: Societies in which information technology and service jobs have replaced machines and manufacturing jobs as the primary dimension of the economy.

Social interaction: The ways in which people act with other people and react to how other people are acting.

Background Assumptions: Our understanding of the roles expected of people in a given encounter.

Social Construction of Reality: The process by which individuals understand and create reality through their interaction with other individuals.

Role conflict:The problems arising when a person has to deal with competing demands on two or more roles that the person is expected to play.

Role Strain: The problems arising when a person performing a role has to deal with competing demands on that role.

Dramaturgical approach: Erving Goffman’s metaphor that likens social interaction to a performance in a dramatic production.

Impression Management: Erving Goffman’s term for the process whereby individuals who are interacting try to convey a favorable impression of themselves.

Emotions: Feelings that begin with a stimulus and that often involve psychological changes and a desire to engage in specific actions.

Nonverbal communication: Ways of communicating that do not involve talking.

Social group: Two or more people who regularly interact on the basis of mutual expectations and share a common identity.

A Social Category: A collection of individuals who have at least one attribute in common but otherwise don’t necessarily interact.

Social Aggregate: A collection of people who are in the same place at the same time but who otherwise don’t necessarily interact, except in the most superficial of ways, or have anything else in common.

Primary Group: A group that is usually small, that is characterized by extensive interaction and strong emotional ties, and that lasts over time.

Secondary groups: A group that is larger and more impersonal than a primary group and that exists to achieve a specific purpose.

Reference groups: A group that sets a standard for guiding our own behavior and attitudes.

In-groups: A group to which members feel particularly loyal and take great pride in belonging.

Out-group: A group with which an in-group feels it is competing for various kinds of rewards and compared to which the in-group feels superior.

Social networks: The totality of relationships that link us to other people and groups and through them to still other people and groups.

Triad: A three-person group.

Dyad: A two-person group.

Instrumental leader: A leader whose main focus is to achieve group goals and accomplish group tasks.

Expressive leader: A leader whose main focus is to maintain and improve the quality of relationships among group members and more generally to ensure group harmony.

Authoritarian leadership: Leadership with a primary focus on achieving group goals and on rigorous compliance with group rules.

Democratic leadership: Leadership that involves extensive consultation with group members on decisions.

Laissez-faire leadership: Leadership that allows a group to function on its own.

Groupthink: The tendency of group members to remain silent and, against their better judgments, to go along with the desires and views of other group members.

Formal organizations: A large group that follows explicit rules and procedures to achieve specific goals and tasks.

Utilitarian organizations: Organizations that people join to provide them an income or some other personal benefit.

Normative organizations: Formal organizations that people join to pursue their moral goals and commitment.

Voluntary organizations: Normative organizations.

Coercive organizations: Formal organizations that people enter involuntarily

Bureaucracies: A formal organization with certain organizational features designed to achieve goals in the most efficient way possible.

Law of oligarchy: Robert Michels’s prediction that large organizations inevitably develop an oligarchy, or the undemocratic rule of many people by just a few people, because their leaders monopolize knowledge and act to advance their own positions.

Whistle-blowing: The revealing by an employee of organizational practices that the employee believes to be illegal and/or immoral.

Deviance: Behavior that violates norms and arouses negative social reactions.

Crime: Behavior that violates criminal laws.

Social control: The ways in which society prevents and sanctions behavior that violates social norms.

Durkheim’s views:Deviance has several functions: 

(a) it clarifies norms and increases conformity

 (b) it strengthens social bonds among the people reacting to the deviant, and 

(c) it can help lead to positive social change.

Social ecology approach: The view that certain characteristics of neighborhoods and communities influence the likelihood of committing deviance and crime.

Social disorganization: The weakening of social bonds and conventional social institutions in a community.

Strain Theory: Robert Merton’s view that deviance is caused by a failure to achieve the American goal of financial success through the conventional means of working.

Differential opportunity theory: Richard Cloward and Lloyd Ohlin’s view that differential access to illegitimate means helps determine the types of deviance in which poor people engage.

Status frustration theory: Albert Cohen’s view that delinquency results from school failure and the concomitant need to regain self-esteem by being successful in delinquent activities.

focal concerns:Walter Miller’s term for the key values of lower-class subcultures.

Subculture of violence: Marvin Wolfgang and Franco Ferracuti’s term for the value system of poor, urban neighborhoods that calls for violent responses to insults and other interpersonal problems.

Social control theory: Travis Hirschi’s view that deviance results from weak bonds to conventional social institutions, such as the family and schools.

Differential association theory: Edwin Sutherland’s view that deviance stems from interacting with primary group members who commit deviance and have values conducive to deviance.

Uniform Crime Reports (UCR): The FBI’s regular compilation of crime statistics, most of them on Index Crimes.

Part I Offenses: The FBI’s term for the major crimes included in the Uniform Crime Reports, including homicide, rape, robbery, aggravated assault, burglary, larceny, motor vehicle theft, and arson.

National Crime Victimization Survey (NCVS): An annual survey conducted by the U.S. Department of Justice that asks a representative sample of the American public about crimes they have suffered.

Self-report survey: A survey given to individuals, usually adolescents, that asks them about offenses they have committed.

conventional crime: Violent and property offenses, including homicide, rape, robbery, assault, burglary, larceny, and motor vehicle theft.

White-collar crime: Crime committed in the course of one’s occupation.

Victimless crime: Illegal behavior in which people participate voluntarily, including drug use, prostitution, and gambling.