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Final Exam
Definitions
81
Sociology
Undergraduate 1
05/06/2008

Additional Sociology Flashcards

 


 

Cards

Term

 

 

 

Education

Definition

 

a social institution through which society provides its members with important knowledge, including basic facts, job skills, and cultural norms and values

Term

 

 

Schooling

Definition

 

 

formal instruction under the direction of specially trained teachers

Term

 

 

Tracking/Streaming

Definition

 

 

the practice of placing students in specific curriculum groups on the basis of test scores and other criteria

Term

 

 

Functional Illiteracy

Definition

 

 

a lack of the reading and writing skills needed for everyday living

Term

 

 

Mainstreaming

Definition

 

 

integrating students with disabilities or special needs into the overall educational program

Term

 

 

Hidden Cirriculum

Definition

 

 

the concepts that students must learn in order to succeed in school are not part of the formal curriculum

Term

 

 

Bureaucracy of Education

Definition

1.       Rigid Uniformity

2.       Numerical Ratings

3.       Rigid Expectations

4.       Specialization

5.       Little Individual Responsibility

Term

 

 

Authoritarianism

Definition
an extreme belief in the importance of authority and the individual responsibility to submit to it
Term

Credential society/credentialism

Definition

 

 

an increase in the focus of the level of education required to enter a field

Term

 

 

Goal displacement

Definition

 

 

the substitution by an organization, of the goal or goals which it was established to serve, for other goals

Term

 

 

Cultural Capital

Definition

 

 

knowledge of higher culture such as art and music that facilitates acceptance into high status groups

Term

 

 

Standard English

Definition

 

 

the English dialect spoken by the middle and upper classes

Term

 

 

Social Stratification

Definition

 

 

 

a system by which society ranks categories in a hierarchy

A structured ranking of entire groups of people that perpetuates unequal economic rewards and power in society

Term

 

 

Characteristics of Social Stratification

Definition

-          Social Stratification is a trait of society

-          Social Stratification is cyclical

-          Social Stratification is universal

-          Social Stratification involves inequality and beliefs

Term

 

 

Social Mobility

Definition

 

 

a change in position within the social hierarchy

Term

 

 

Caste System

Definition

 

 

social stratification based on Ascription or birth

Term

 

 Four Varna/Five classes (Descending order)

Definition

-          Brahmin

-          Ksyatriya

-          Vaishya

-          Shudra

-          Untouchable

Term

 

 

Class System

Definition

 

 

social stratification based on both birth and individual achievement

Term

 

 

Meritocracy

Definition

 

 

social stratification based on personal merit

Term

 

 

The Estate System

Definition

 

 

a caste like system of three estates based off of divine authority

Term

 

 

Three Estates

Definition

-          First Estate-Clergy

-          Second Estate-Nobles (<%5 of the N)

-          Third State-Commoners

Term

Status Consistency/Crystallization

Definition

 

 

the degree of consistency in a person’s social standing across various dimensions of social inequality

Term

 

 

Structural Social Mobility

Definition

 

 

a shift in social mobility of large numbers of people do more to changes in society itself than to individual efforts

Term

 

 

Ideology

Definition

 

 

cultures beliefs that justify particular social arrangements, including patterns of inequality

Term

 

 

Davis-Moore Thesis

Definition

 

the assertion that social stratification is a universal social pattern because it has beneficial social consequences for the operation of society

Term

 

 

Why No Marxist Revolution?

Definition

1.       The fragmentation of the capitalist class

2.       A higher standard of living

3.       More worker organizations

4.       Greater legal protections

Term

 

 

Socioeconomic Status

Definition

 

 

a composite ranking based on various dimensions of social inequality

Term

 

 

Conspicuous Consumption

Definition

 

 

buying and using products because of the “statement” they make about social position

Term

 

 

Income

Definition

 

 

earnings from work or investment

Term

 

 

Wealth

Definition

 

 

 

the total value of money and other assets, minus outstanding debts

Term

 

 

Prestige

Definition

 

 

the respect and admiration with which an occupation is regarded by society

Term

 

 

Classes

Definition

-          The Upper Class

-          Upper-Uppers

-          Upper-Lowers

-          The Middle Class

-          Upper-Middles

-          Average-Middles

-          The Working Class

-          The Lower Class

Term

Intragenerational Mobility

Definition

 

 

a change in social position occurring during a person’s lifetime

Term

Intergenerational Mobility

Definition

 

 

upward or downward social mobility of children in relation to their parents

Term

 

Characteristics of Social Mobility in the United States

Definition

-          Social mobility over the course of the past century has been fairly high

-          The long term trend in social mobility has been upward

-          Within a single generation social mobility is usually small

-          Social mobility since the 1970s has been uneven

Term

 

 

Is the American Dream real?

Definition

-          For many workers earnings have stalled

-          Multiple job holding is up

-          More jobs offer little income

-          Young people are remaining at home

Term

 

 

Poverty

Definition

 

 

a state in which resources, usually material but sometimes cultural, are lacking

Term

 

 

Relative Poverty

Definition

 

 

the depravation of some people in relation to those who have more

Term

 

 

Absolute Poverty

Definition

 

 

a depravation of resources that is life threatening

Term

 

 

Feminization of Poverty

Definition

 

 

the trend of women making up an increasing proportion of the poor

Term

 

 

Minority Groups

Definition

 

 

a subordinate group whose members have significantly less control or power over their own lives that the members of a dominant or majority group

Term

 

 Dominant Ideology

Definition

 

 

a set of beliefs and cultural practices that help to maintain powerful social, economic, and political interests

Term

 

 

Race

Definition

 

 

a socially constructed category of people who share biologically transmitted traits that members of a society consider important

Term

 

 

Ethnicity

Definition

 

 

a group which is set apart from others because of its national origin or distinctive cultural patterns

Term

 

 

Stereotype

Definition

 

 

an unreliable generalization about all members of a group that does not recognize individual differences within the group

Term

 

 

Racism

Definition

 

 

the belief that one racial category is superior or inferior to another

Term

 

 

Scapegoat

Definition

 

 

a person or category of people typically with little power, whom people unfairly blame for their own troubles

Term

 

 

Discrimination

Definition

 

 

unequal treatment of various categories of people

Term

Institutional Discrimination and Racism

Definition

 

 

 

bias built into the operation of society’s institutions

Term

 

Four controlling images of black women

Definition

-          Mammy

-          Matriarch

-          Welfare Queen

-          Jezebel

Term

 

 

Pluralism

Definition

 

 

a state in which people of all races and ethnicities are distinct but have equal social standing

Term

 

 

Assimilation

Definition

 

 the process by which minorities gradually adopt patterns of the dominant culture

 

Mixing pot - Salad bowl

Term

 

 

Segregation

Definition

the physical and social separation of categories of people

-          De facto                               - De jure (by law)

Term

 

 

Gender

Definition

 

 

the personal traits and social positions that members of a society attach to being male or female

Term

 

 

Gender Stratification

Definition

 

 

the unequal distribution of wealth, power, and privilege between men and women

Term

 

 

Gender Roles

Definition

 

 

attitudes and activities that a society links to sex

Term

Intersection Theory/Intersectionality

Definition

 

 the interplay of race, class, and gender often resulting in multiple dimensions of disadvantage

Term

 

 

Feminism

Definition

 

 

the advocacy of social equality for women and men in opposition to patriarchy and sexism

Term

 

 

Collective Behavior

Definition

 

 

activity involving a large number of people that is unplanned, often controversial, and sometimes dangerous

Term

 

 

Collectivity

Definition

 

 

a large number of people whose minimal interaction occurs in the absence of well-defined and conventional norms

Term

 

 

Tenets of Collectivity

Definition

-

          People who are part of collectives have little or no social interaction

-          Collectivities have not clear social boundaries

-          Collectivities generate weak, unconventional norms

Term

 

Localized Collectivites

Definition

 

 

 

people who are physically close to one another

Term

 

 

Crowd

Definition

 

 

a temporary gathering of people who share a common focus of attention and who influence one another

Term

 

 

Mob

Definition

 

 

 

a highly emotional crowd that pursues violent or destructive goals

Term

 

 

Riot

Definition

 

 

a social eruption that is highly emotional, violent, and undirected

Term

 

 

Dispersed Collectivities

Definition

 

 

people who influence one another despite spatial separation

Term

 

 

Mass Behavior

Definition

 

 

collective behavior among people spread over a wide geographical area

Term

 

 

Rumor

Definition

 

 

unconfirmed information that people spread informally, often by word of mouth

Term

 

 

Characteristics of Rumors

Definition

-          Rumors thrive on uncertainty

-          Rumors are unstable

-          Rumors are difficult to stop

Term

 

 

Gossip

Definition

 

 

a rumor about people’s personal affairs

Term

 

 

Public Opinion

Definition

 

 

widespread attitudes about controversial issues

Term

 

 

Propaganda

Definition

 

 

information presented with the intention of shaping public opinion

Term

 

 

Fashion

Definition

 

 

 

a social pattern favored by a large number of people

Term

 

 

Fad

Definition

 

 

an unconventional social pattern that people embrace briefly but enthusiastically

Term

 

 

Panic

Definition

 

a form of collective behavior in which people in one place react to a threat or other stimulus with irrational, frantic, and often self-destructive behavior

Term

 

 

Mass Hysteria/Moral Panic

Definition

 

 

a form of dispersed collective behavior in which people react to a real or imagined event with irrational frantic fear

Term

 

 

Disaster

Definition

 

 an event, generally unexpected, that causes extensive harm to people damage and property

Term

 

 

Types of Disasters

Definition

 

 

Natural & Technological

Term

 

 

Claims Making

Definition

 

 

the process of trying to convince the public and public officials of the importance of joining a social movement to address a particular issue

Term

 

 

Relative Depravation

Definition

 

 

a perceived disadvantage arising from some specific comparison

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