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Mid-Term
Vocab and Theories
119
Sociology
12th Grade
01/16/2011

Additional Sociology Flashcards

 


 

Cards

Term
Sociology
Definition

The science that studies human society and social behavior.

 

Page:4

Term
Social Interaction
Definition

How people relate to one another and influence each other's behavior.

 

page:4

Term
Social Sciences
Definition

The related disciplines that study various aspects of human social behavior.

 

Page:6

Term
Function
Definition

The positive consequence that an element of society has for the maintenance of the social system.

 

 

Page:12

Term
Verstehen
Definition

Max Weber; The empathetic understanding of the meanings others attach to their actions.

 

Page:12

Term
Ideal Type
Definition

Max Weber; A description of the essential characteristics of some aspect of society.

 

Page:12

Term
Theory
Definition

A systematic explanation of the relationships among phenomena.

 

Page:12

Term
Dysfunction
Definition

The negative consequence an element has for the stability of the social system.

 

Page:13

Term
Symbolic Interpretation
Definition
Term
Phenomenon
Definition

Observable fact or event.

 

Page:4

Term
Anthropology
Definition

Comparative study of various aspects of past and present cultures.

 


Page:6

Term
Psychology
Definition

Science that deals with the behavior and thinking of organisms.

 

Page:6

Term
Social Psychology
Definition

Study of how an individual's behavior and personality are affected by the social environment.

 

Page:6

Term
Economics
Definition

Study of the choices people make in an effort to satisfy their wants and needs.

 

Page:8

Term
Political Science
Definition

Study of the organization and operation of governments.

 

Page:8

Term
History
Definition

Study of past events.

 

Page:8

Term
Social Darwinism
Definition

Perspective that holds that societies evolve toward stability and perfection.

 

Page:11

Term
Theoretical Perspective
Definition

General set of assumptions about the nature of phenomena. In the case of sociology, a theoretical perspective outlines certain assumptions about the nature of social life.

 

Page:12-13

Term
Manifest Function
Definition

Intended and recognized elements of some element of society.

 

Page:13

Term
Latent Function
Definition

Unintended and unrecognized elements of some element of society.

 

Page:13

Term
Interpersonal Perspective
Definition
Term
Symbol
Definition

Anything that stands for something else and has a shared meaning attached to it. Language, gestures, images, sounds, physical objects, events, and elements of the natural world can serve as symbols as long as people recognize that they convey a particular meaning.

 

Page:16,25

Term
Personality
Definition

Sum total behaviors, attitudes, beliefs, and values that are characteristic of an individual.

 

Page:100

Term
Heredity
Definition

Transmission of genetic characteristics from parents to children.

 

Page:100

Term
Instinct
Definition

Unchanging, biologically inherited behavior pattern.

 

Page:101

Term
Socialization
Definition

Interactive process through which individuals learn the basic skills, values, beliefs, and behavior patterns of society.

 

Page:109

Term
Looking-Glass Self
Definition

Interactive process by which we develop an image of ourselves based on how we imagine we appear to others.

 

Page:109

Term
Role Taking
Definition

Taking or pretending to take the role of others.

 

Page:110

Term
Significant Others
Definition

Specific people, such as parents, brothers, sisters, other relatives, and friends, who have a direct influence on our socialization.

 

Page:110

Term
I
Definition

Unsocialized, spontaneous, self-interested component of the personality and self-identity.

 

page:111

Term
Me
Definition

Part of the identity that is aware of the expectations and attitudes of society; the socialized self.

 

Page:111

Term
Sociobiology
Definition

Systematic study of the biological asis of all social behavior.

 

Page:102

Term
Aptitude
Definition

Capacity to learn a particular skill or acquire a particular body of knowledge.

 

Page:103

Term
Generalized Other
Definition

Internalized attitudes, expectations, and viewpoints of society that we use to guide our behavior and reinforce our sense of self.

 

Page:110

 

Term
Agents of Socialization
Definition

Specific individuals, groups, and instituions that provide the situations in which socialization can occur.

 

Page:112

Term
Peer Group
Definition

primary group composed of individuals of roughly equal age and social characteristics.

 

Page:112

Term
Mass Media
Definition

Newspapers, magazines, books, telebision, radio, films, and other forms of communication that reach large audiences without personal contact between the indiciduals sending the informations and those receiving it.


Page:113

Term
Total Institution
Definition

Setting in which people are isolated from the rest of society for a set period of time and subjected to the control of officials of varied ranks.

 

Page:115

Term
Resocialization
Definition

Break with past experiences and the learning of new values and norms.

 

Page:115

Term
Culture
Definition

Shared products of human groups. These product include both physical objects and the beliefs, values, and behaviors shared by the group.

 

Page:24

Term
Material Culture
Definition

Physical objects created by human groups. Sociologists and anthopologists use the term aritfacts to refer to the physical objects of material culture.

 

Page:24

Term
Nonmaterial Culture
Definition

Abstract human creations, such as language, ideas, beliefs, rules, skills, family patterns, work pratices, and political and economic systems.

 

Page:24

Term
Society
Definition

Group of mutually interdependent people who have organized in such a way to share a common culture and feeling of unity.

 

Page:24-25

Term
Values
Definition

Shard beliefs about what is good or bad, right or wrong, desirable or undesirable.

 

Page:26

Term
Norms
Definition

Shared rules of conduct that tell people how to act in specific situations.

 

Page:26

Term
Folkways
Definition

Norms that do not have great moral significance attached to them-the common customs of everyday life.

 

Page:27

Term
Ethnocentrism
Definition

Tendency to view one's own culture and group as superior to all other cultures and groups.

 

Page:36,60

Term
Cultural Relativism
Definition

Belief that cultures should be judged by their own standards.

 

Page:37

Term
Internalization
Definition

Process by which a norm becomes a part of an indicidual's personality, thereby conditioning the indicidual to conform to society's expectations.

 

Page:52

Term
Sanctions
Definition

Rewards or punishments used to enforce conformity to norms.

 

Page:52

Term
Social Contract
Definition
Term
Positive Sanction
Definition

Sanction in the form of a reward.

 

Page:52

Term
Negative Sanction
Definition

Sanction in the form of a punishment of the threat of punishment.

 

Page:53

Term
Ideology
Definition

System of beliefs or ideas that justifies some social, moral, religious, political, or economic interests held by a social group or by society.

 

Page:55

Term
Social Movement
Definition

Long-term conscious effort to promote or prevent social change.

 

Page:55,417

Term
Technology
Definition

Knowledge and tools people use to manipulate their environment for practical purposes.

 

Page:56

Term
Cultural Lag
Definition

Situation in which some aspects of the culture change less rapidly, or lag behind, other aspects of the same culture.

 

Page:60

Term
Language
Definition

Organization of written and spoken symbols into a standardized system.

 

Page:25

Term
Mores
Definition

Norms that have great moral significance attached to them.

 

Page:27

Term
Law
Definition

Written rule of conduct that is enacted and enforced by the government. By definition, the violation of these norms is considered a criminal act.

 

Page:27

Term
Cultural Pattern
Definition

Combination of a numer of culture complexes into an interrelated whole.

 

Page:30

Term
Cultural Trait
Definition

Individual tool, act, or belief that is related to a particular situation or need.

 

Page:30

Term
Culture Complex
Definition

Cluster of interrelated culture traits.

 

Page:30

Term
Cultural Universals
Definition

Common features that are found in all human cultures.

 

Page:32

Term
Subculture
Definition

Group with its own unique values, norms, and behaviors that exists within a larger culture.

 

Page:37

Term
Counterculture
Definition

Group that rejects the values, norms, and practices of the larger society and replaces them with a new set of cultural patterns.

 

Page:38

Term
Narcissism
Definition

Extreme self-centeredness

 

Page:51

Term
Formal Sanction
Definition

Reward or punishment that is given by some formal organization or regulatory body, such as the government, the police, a corporation, or a school.

 

Page:53

Term
Informal Sanction
Definition

Spontaneous expression of approval or disapproval given by an individual or individuals.

 

Page:53

Term
Diffusion
Definition

Spread of culture traits (ideas, acts, beliefs, and material objects) from one society to another.

 

Page:57

Term
Deviance
Definition

Behavior that violates significant social norms.

 

Page:176

Term
Anomie
Definition

Situation that arises when the norms of society are unclear or are no longer applicable.

 

Page:182

Term
Recidivism
Definition

Repeated criminal behavior.

 

Page:193

Term
Cultural Pluralism
Definition

Policy that allows each group within society to keep its unique cultural identity.

 

Page:242

Term
Genocide
Definition

Extermination aimed at intentionally destroying an entire targeted population.

 

Page:243

 

Term
Assimilation
Definition

Blending of culturally distinct roups ointo a single group with a common culture and identity.

 

Page:59,242

Term
Stigma
Definition

Mark of social disgrace that sets the deviant apart from the rest of society.

 

Page:177

Term
Crime
Definition

Any act that is labeled as such by those in authority, is prohibited by law, and is punishable by the government.

 

Page:187

Term
Race
Definition

Category of people who share inherited physical characteristics and who are percieved by others as being a distinct group.

 

Page:232

Term
Prejudice
Definition

Unsupported generalization about a category of people.

 

Page:236

Term
Differential Association
Definition

Proportion of associations a person has with deviant versus non-deviant individuals.

 

Page:179

Term
Plea Bargaining
Definition

Process of legal negotiation that allows an accused person to plead guilty to a lesser charge in return for a lighter sentence.

 

Page:192

Term
Ethnicity
Definition

Set of cultural characteristics that distinguishes one group from another group.

 

Page:233

Term
Discrimination
Definition

Denial of equal treatment to individuals based on their group membership.

 

Page:236

Term
Stereotype
Definition

Oversimplified, exaggerated, or unfavorable generalization about a category of people.

 

Page:238

Term
Slavery
Definition

Ownership of one group of people by another group.

 

Page:243

Term
Subjugation
Definition

Maintaining control over a group throgh force.

 

Page:243

Term
Scapegoating
Definition

Practice of placing blame for one's troubles on an innocent individual or group.

 

Page:293

 

Term
Minority Group
Definition

Category of people who share physical characteristcs or cultural practices that result in the group being denied equal treatment.

 

Page:235

 

 

Term
Self-Fulfilling Prophecy
Definition

Prediction that results in behavior that makes the prediction come true.

 

Page:237

 

 

Term
Secondary Deviance
Definition

Nonconformity that results in the indiciduals who commit acts of secondary deviance being labeled as deviant and accepting that label as true.

 

Page:186

Term
Ascribed Status
Definition

Status assigned according to standards that are beyond a person's control. Age, sex, family heritage, and race are examles of ascribed statuses.

 

Page:68

Term
Achieved Status
Definition

Status acquired by an individual on the basis of some special skill, knowledge, or ability.

 

Page:69

 

Term
Group
Definition

Set of two or more people who ineract on the basis of shared expectations and who possess some degree of common identity.

 

Page:71

Term
Aggregate
Definition

Group of people gathered in the same place at the same time who lack organization or lasting patterns of interaction.

 

Page:71

Term
Social Institution
Definition

System of statuses, roles, values, and norms that is organized to satisfy one or more of the basic needs of society.

 

Page:70,294

Term
Division of Labor
Definition

Specialization by individuals or groups in the performance of specific economic activities.

 

Page:74

Term
Horticulture
Definition

Type of society characterized by a reliance on vegetables grown in garden plots as the main form of subsistence.

 

Page:76-77

Term
Exchange Theory
Definition

Theory that holds that people are motivated by self-interests in their interactions with other people.

 

Page:80

Term
Bureaucracy
Definition

Ranked authority structure that operates according to specific rules and procedures.

 

Page:83

Term
Voluntary Association
Definition

Nonprofit association formed to pursue some common interest.

 

Page:85

Term
Iron Law of Oligarchy
Definition

Tendency of organizations to become increasingly dominated by small groups of people.

 

Page:88

Term
Accommodation
Definition

State of balance between cooperation and conflict.

 

Page:81

Term
Cooperation
Definition

Interaction that occurs when two or more persons or groups work together to achieve a goal that will benefit many people.

 

Page:81

Term
Conflict
Definition

Deliberate attempt to control by force, oppose, harm, or resist the will of another person or persons.

 

Page:80

Term
Competition
Definition

Interaction that occurs when two or more persons or groups oppose each other to achieve a goal that only one can attain.

 

Page:80

Term
Exchange
Definition

Individual, group, or societal interaction undertaken in an effort to recieve a reward in return for actions.

 

Page:80

Term
Hunting and Gathering Society
Definition

Type of society characterized by the daily collection of wild plants and animals as the main form of subsistence.

 

Page:76

Term
Role Conflict
Definition

Situation that occurs when fulfilling the expectations of one role makes it difficult to fulfill the expectations of another role.

 

Page:70

Term
Reciprocal Roles
Definition

Corresponding roles that define the patterns of interaction between related statuses.

 

Page:69

Term
Status
Definition

Socially defined position in a group or in a society.

 

Page:68

Term
Role
Definition

Behavior--the rights and obligations--expected of someone occupying a particular status.

 

Page:68

Term
Social Structure
Definition

Network orf interrelated statuses and roles that guides human interaction.

 

Page:68

Term
Master Status
Definition

Status that plays the greatest role in shaping a person's life and determining his or her social identity.

 

Page:69

Term
Role Expectation
Definition

Socially determined behaviors expected of a person performing a role.

 

Page:69

Term
Preindustrial Society
Definition

Type of society in which food production--carried out throught the use of human and animal labor--is the main exonomic activity.

 

Page:74

Term
Oligarchy
Definition
Term
Juvenile Court
Definition
Term
Barter
Definition

Practice of exchanging one good for another.

 

Page:77

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