Sociology Final

Continuity Theory: States that the elderly make specific choices to maintain consistency in
internal (personality structure, beliefs) and external structures (relationships), remaining active and
involved throughout their elder years

Nuclear Family: Two parents and children living in the same household.
Extended Family: A household that includes grandparents, aunts, uncles, and cousins.
Marriage: A legally recognized contract between two or more people.
Monogamy: The practice of being married to one person at a time.
Endogamy: Marriage between people of the same social category.

Exogamy: Marriage between people of different social categories.
Homogamy: Marriage between individuals who are, in some culturally important way, similar to
each other.
Heterogamy: Marriage between individuals who are culturally different from each other.
Functionalism: Views the family as a social institution that performs essential functions for
society.
Symbolic Interactionism: A theoretical perspective that focuses on the meanings people derive
from social interaction
Patrilineal Descent: A type of unilateral descent that follows the father’s line only.
Matrilineal Descent: A type of unilateral descent that follows the mother’s line only.
Ambilineal Descent: A type of unilateral descent that follows either the father’s or the mother’s
side exclusively.
Complex Family/Blended/Step family: A family where one or both parents have children from a
previous relationship.
Intimate Partner Violence: Occurs between individuals who maintain a romantic or sexual
relationship.
Neglect: The most common form of child abuse, involving the failure to provide for a child's basic
needs.
Patrilocal Residence System: Customary for the wife to live with or near her husband’s family of
orientation.
Matrilocal Residence System: Customary for the husband to live with or near his wife’s family of
orientation.
Sandwich Generation: Families who are taking care of their children and their parents at the same
time

Ecclesia: A religious group that is well integrated into the larger society.
Fundamentalism: A form of religion that upholds belief in the strict, literal interpretation of
scripture.
Liberation Theology: A movement in Christian theology that emphasizes social concern for the
poor and political liberation for oppressed peoples.
Secularization: The process by which religious institutions, practices, and beliefs lose their social
significance

Informal Education: Learning cultural values and norms by participating in society.
Formal Education: Learning academic facts through a formal curriculum.
Equal Opportunity: The equal ability of all people to participate in an education system.
Credentialism: The emphasis on certificates or degrees to show qualifications.

Tracking: The practice of placing students in specific curriculum groups based on their test scores
and other criteria.
Bilingual Education: A program where students are taught in two languages.
Hidden Curriculum: The informal teaching done in schools that socializes children to societal
norms.
Charter Schools: Publicly funded independent schools established by teachers, parents, or
community groups.
Self-fulfilling Prophecy: A belief that leads to its own fulfillment.
Cultural Transmission: The process by which one generation passes culture to the next.
Social Placement: The use of education to improve one's social standing

Pluralist Model: A theory that views politics as a competition among various interest groups.
Power Elite Model: A theory that suggests a small, cohesive elite class holds the majority of
power.
Political Socialization: The process by which individuals learn and develop political attitudes and
behaviors.
Political Action Committee (PAC): An organization that raises money privately to influence
elections or legislation.

Socialism: An economic system characterized by collective or governmental ownership and
administration of the means of production and distribution of goods.
Capitalism: An economic system characterized by private ownership and the pursuit of profit.

Market Socialism: An economic system that combines elements of socialism and capitalism.
Mercantilism: An economic policy that emphasizes the accumulation of wealth through trade and
the control of markets.
Convergence Theory: A theory that suggests that as economies develop, they begin to resemble
each other.
Mechanical Solidarity: Social cohesion based on shared experiences, knowledge, and skills in
which things function more or less the way they always have.
Organic Solidarity: Social cohesion based on the dependence individuals have on each other in
more advanced societies.
Career Inheritance: The tendency for children to enter the same or similar occupation as their
parents.
Automation: The use of machinery to replace human labor.
Global Assembly Lines: A production process in which components of a product are made in
different countries and then assembled in another country.
Bartering: The exchange of goods and services without using money.
Chapter 20: Population, urbanization, and the environment
Demography: The scientific study of population characteristics, including size, growth, density,
distribution, and vital statistics.
Fertility Rate: The average number of children born to a woman during her lifetime.
Mortality Rate: The number of deaths in a given area or period.
Migration: The movement of people from one place to another, often for reasons such as
employment, education, or safety.
Urban Expansion: The process by which cities grow and spread into surrounding areas.
Urbanization: The process by which an increasing percentage of a population lives in cities and
suburbs.
Suburbanization: The growth of areas on the fringes of cities, often characterized by residential
communities.
Gentrification: The process of renovating and improving a house or district so that it conforms to
middle-class taste, often leading to the displacement of lower-income residents.
Sustainable Development: Policies and practices that aim to meet the needs of the present
without compromising the ability of future generations to meet their own needs, balancing
economic growth with environmental protection.

Environmental Sociology: The study of the interactions between societies and their environments.
Zero Population Growth: A condition in which the number of births plus immigrants equals the
number of deaths plus emigrants, resulting in no net population growth.
Carrying Capacity: The maximum population size that an environment can sustain indefinitely,
given the available resources