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Vocabulary
Brinkerhoff
310
Sociology
Undergraduate 1
12/06/2011

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Term
Accounts
Definition
Explanations of unexpected or untoward behavior.  They are of two sorts: excuses and justifications
Term
Achieved Status
Definition
Status that an individuals earns, such as being a criminal or a college graduate
Term
Agents of socialization
Definition
All the individuals, groups, and media that teach social norms.
Term
Agricultural societies
Definition
Based on growing food using plows and large beasts of burden.
Term
Alienation
Definition
Occurs when workers have no control over the work process or the product of their labor.
Term
Anomie
Definition
A situation in which the norms of society are unclear or no longer applicable to current conditions.
Term
Anticipatory socialization
Definition
Process that prepares us for roles we are likely to assume in the future.
Term
Ascribed status
Definition
Fixed by birth and inheritance and is unalterable in a person's lifetime.
Term
Assimilation
Definition
Process through which individuals learn and adopt the values and social practices of the dominant group, more or less giving up their own values in the process.
Term
Authoritarian personality
Definition
Submissive to those in authority and antagonistic toward those lower in status.
Term
Authoritarian systems
Definition
Political systems in which the leadership is not selected by the people and legally cannot be changed by them.
Term
Authoritarianism
Definition
The tendency to be submissive to those in authority, coupled with an aggressive and negative attitude toward those lower in status.
Term
Authority
Definition
Power supported by norms and values that legitimate its use.
Term
Blended family
Definition
Includes children born to one parent as well as children born to both parents.
Term
Bourgeoisie
Definition
The class that owns the tools and materials for their work-the means of production.
Term
Bureaucracy
Definition
A special type of complex organization characterized by explicit rules and hierarchical authority structure, all designed to maximize efficiency.
Term
Capitalism
Definition
The economic system, based on competition, in which most wealth (land, capital, and labor) is private property, to be used by its owners to maximize their own gain.
Term
Caste system
Definition
Rely largely on ascribed statuses as the basis for distributing scarce resources.
Term
Charisma
Definition
Refers to extraordinary personal qualities that set an individual apart from ordinary mortals.
Term
Charismatic authority
Definition
The right to make decisions based on perceived extraordinary personal characteristics.
Term
Churches
Definition
Religious organizations that have become institutionalized.  They have endured for generations, are supported by and support society's norms and values, and have become an active part of society.
Term
Civil religion
Definition
The set of institutionalized rituals, beliefs, and symbols sacred to the U.S. nation.
Term
Class
Definition
In Marxist theory, refers to a person's relationship to the means of production.
Term
Class conciousness
Definition
Occurs when people understand their relationship to the means of production and recognize their true class identity.
Term
Class systems
Definition
Rely largely on achhieved statuses as the basis for distriuting scarce resources.
Term
Coercion
Definition
The exercise of power through force or the threat of force.
Term
Cohabitation
Definition
Living with a romantic/sexual partner outside of marriage.
Term
Cohesion
Definition
In a group, is characterized by high levels of interaction and by strong feelings of attachment and dependency.
Term
Collective behavior
Definition
Spontaneous action by groups in situations where cultural rules for behavior are vague, inadequate, or debated.
Term
Collective efficacy
Definition
Refers to the extent to which individuals in a neighborhood share the expectation that neighbors will intervene and work together to maintain social order.
Term
Color blind racism
Definition
Refers to the belief that all races are created equal, that racial equality has already been achieved, and that therefore any minorities who do not succeed have only themselves to blame.
Term
Commodification of children
Definition
The process of turning children into goods available for purchase.
Term
Community
Definition
A collection of individuals characterized by dense, cross-cutting social networks.
Term
Competition
Definition
A struggle over scarce resources that is regulated by shared rules.
Term
Complex organizations
Definition
Large formal organizations with elaborate status networks.
Term
Compulsive heterosexuality
Definition
Consists of continually demonstrating one's masculinity and heterosexuality.
Term
Concentrated poverty
Definition
Refers to areas in which very high proportions of the population live in poverty.
Term
Conflict
Definition
A struggle over scarce resources that is not regulated by shared rules; it may include attempts to destroy, injure, or neutralize one's rivals.
Term
Conflict theory
Definition
Addresses the points of stress and conflict in society and the ways in which they contribute to social change.
Term
Consumerism
Definition
The philosophy thatsyas "buying is good" because "we are what we buy."
Term
Content Analysis
Definition
Refers to the systematic examination of documents of any sort.
Term
Control group
Definition
The group in an experiment that does not receive the independent variable.
Term
Cooperation
Definition
Interaction that occurs when people work together to achieve shared goals.
Term
Core societies
Definition
Are rich, powerful nations that are economically diversified and relatively free from outside control.
Term
Correlation
Definition
Exists when there is an empirical relationship between two variables (for example, income increases when education increases).
Term
Countercultures
Definition
Groups that have values, interests, beliefs, and lifestyles that are opposed to those of the larger culture.
Term
Countermovement
Definition
Seeks to reverse or resist change advocated by another social movement.
Term
Credentialism
Definition
The assumption that some are better than others simply because they have a particular educational credential.
Term
Crime
Definition
Behavior that is subject to legal or civil penalties.
Term
Cross-sectional design
Definition
Uses a sample (or cross sectio) of the population at a single point in time.
Term
Crude birth rate
Definition
Refers to the number of live births per 1,000 persons in a given population.
Term
Crude death rate
Definition
Refers to the number of deaths per 1,000 persons in a given population.
Term
Cultural capital
Definition
Refers to having the attitudes and knowledge that characterize the upper social classes.
Term
Cultural diffusion
Definition
The process by whcih aspects of one culture or subculture are incorporated into another.
Term
Cultural lag
Definition
Occurs when one part of a culture changes more rapidly than another.
Term
Cultural relativity
Definition
Requires that each cultural trait be evaluated in the context of its own culture.
Term
Culture
Definition
The total way of life shared by members of a community.  It includes not only language, values, and symbolic meanings but also technology and material objects.
Term
Culture of poverty
Definition
Set of values that emphasizes living for the moment rather than thrift, investment in the future, or hard work.
Term
Culture shock
Definition
Refers to the discomfort that arises from exposure to a different culture.
Term
Deduction
Definition
The process of moving from theory to data by testing hypotheses drawn from theory.
Term
Deinstitutionalization of marriage
Definition
Refers to the gradual erosion of social norms that stress the need for marriage and dictate how spouses should behave.
Term
Democracies
Definition
Political systems that provide regular, constitutional opportunities for a change in leadership according to the will of the majority.
Term
Demographic transition
Definition
The shift from a society characterized by high birth rates and low life expectancies to one characterized by low birth rates and high life expectancies.
Term
Demography
Definition
The study of population-its size, growth, and composition.
Term
Denomination
Definition
A church that accommodates both to the society at large and to the presence of other churches.
Term
Dependent variable
Definition
The effect in cause-and-effect relationships. It is dependent on the actions of the independent variable.
Term
Deterrence theories
Definition
suggest that deviance results when social sanctions, formal and informal, provide insufficient rewards for conformity.
Term
Development
Definition
Refers to the process of increasing the productivity and standard of living of a society-longer life expectancies, more adequate diets, better education, better housing, and more consumer goods.
Term
Deviance
Definition
Norm violations that exceed the tolerance level of the community and result in negative sanctions.
Term
Dialectic
Definition
Philosophy views change as a product of contradictions and conflict between the parts of society.
Term
Differential
Definition
A difference in the incidence of a phenomenon across social groups.
Term
Differential association theory
Definition
Argues that people learn to be deviant when more of their associates favor deviance than favor conformity.
Term
Disclaimer
Definition
A verbal device employed in advance to ward off doubts and negative reactions that might result from one's conduct.
Term
Discrimination
Definition
The unequal treatment of individuals on the basis of their membership in categories.
Term
Double jeopardy
Definition
Having low status on two different dimensions of stratification.
Term
Dramaturgy
Definition
Version of symbolic interaction that views social situations as scenes manipulated by the actors to convey the desired impression to the audience.
Term
Dysfunctions
Definition
Consequences of social structures that have negative effects on the stability of society.
Term
Economic determinism
Definition
Economic relationships provide the foundation on which all other social and political arrangements are built.
Term
Economy
Definition
Consists of all social structures involved in the production and distribution of goods and services.
Term
Edge cities
Definition
Suburban areas that now have an existence largely separate from the cities thatspawned them.
Term
Education
Definition
The institution responsible for the formal transmission of knowledge.
Term
Emerging churches
Definition
Characterized by (1) the belief that American life and modern Christian churches are atomized, bureaucratic, and inauthentic and (2) an emphasis on informal rituals, a more open perspective toward scripture and behavior, and living a life of mission, faith, and community.
Term
Emotional labor
Definition
The work of smiling, appearing happpy, or in other ways suggesting that one enjoys providing a service.
Term
Empirical research
Definition
Research based on systematice, unbiased examination of evidence.
Term
Endogamy
Definition
The practice of choosing a mate from within one's own racial, ethnic, or religious group.
Term
Environmental racism
Definition
The disproportionately large number of health and environmental risks faced by minorities.
Term
Ethnic group
Definition
Category whose members are thought to share a common origin and important elements of a common culture.
Term
Ethnocentrism
Definition
The tendency to judge other cultures according to the norms and values of one's own culture.
Term
Ex-felon disenfranchisement
Definition
The loss of voting privileges suffered by those who have been convicted of a felony.  In some states, ex-felon disenfranchisement applies only to those in prison; in other states, it is lifelong.
Term
Exchange
Definition
A voluntary interaction from which all parties expect some reward.
Term
Excuses
Definition
Accounts in which one admits that the act in question is wrong or inappropriat but claims one couldn't help it.
Term
Experiment
Definition
Method in which the researcher manipulates independent variables to test theories of cause and effect.
Term
Experimental group
Definition
The group in an experiment that experiences the independent variable.  Results for this group are comparedwith those for the control group.
Term
Extended family
Definition
A family in which a couple and their children live with other kin, such as the wife's or husband's parents or siblings.
Term
Exogamy
Definition
The practice of choosing a mate from outside one's own racial, ethnic, or religious group.
Term
False conciousness
Definition
Lack of awareness of one's real position in the class structure.
Term
Family
Definition
A group of persons linked together by blood, adoption, marriage or quasi-marital mommitment.
Term
Fertility rate
Definition
The number of births per every 1,000 women in a population during a given time period.
Term
Folkways
Definition
Norms that are the customary, normal, habitual ways a group does things.
Term
Formal social controls
Definition
Administrative sanctions such as fines, expulsion, or imprisonment.
Term
Frame
Definition
An answer to the question, What is going on here? It is roughly identical to a definition of the situation.
Term
Frame alignment
Definition
The process used by a social movement to convince individuals that their personal interests, values, and beliefs are complementary to those of the movement.
Term
Functions
Definition
Consequences of social structures that have positive effects on the stability of society.
Term
Fundamentalism
Definition
Religious movements that stress traditional interpretations of religion and the importance of living in ways that mesh with those traditional interpretations.
Term
Gemeinschaft
Definition
Societies in which most people share close personal bonds.
Term
Gender
Definition
The expected dispositions and behaviors that cultures assign to each sex.
Term
Gender roles
Definition
The rights and obligations that are normative for men and women in a particular culture.
Term
Generalized other
Definition
The composite expectations of all the other role players with whom we interact; it is Mead's term for our awareness of social norms.
Term
Genocide
Definition
Mass killings aimed at destroying a population.
Term
Gesellschaft
Definition
Societies in which people are tied primarily by impersonal, practical bonds.
Term
Globilization
Definition
The process through which ideas, resources, practices, and people increasingly operate in a worldwide rather than local framework.
Term
Globilization of culture
Definition
The process through which cultural elements (including musical styles, fashion trends, and cultural values) spread around the globe.
Term
Group
Definition
Two or more people who interact on the basis of shared social structure and recognize mutual dependency.
Term
Groupthink
Definition
Exists when pressures to agree are strong enough to stifle critical thinking.
Term
Health belief model
Definition
Proposes that individuals will be most likely to adopt healthy behaviors if (1) they believe their health is at risk, (2) they believe the risk is a serious one, (3) they believe that changing their behaviors would significantly reduce those risks, and (4) they face no significant barriers that would make changing their behaviors difficult.
Term
Heterogamy
Definition
Choosing a mate who is different from oneself.
Term
Hidden curriculum
Definition
Consists of the underlying cultural messages taught by schools.  Both public and private schools teach oung people to accept inequality.
Term
High culture
Definition
The cultural preferences associated with the upper class.
Term
Homogamy
Definition
Choosing a mate who is similar to oneself.
Term
Homosexuals
Definition
(also known as gays and lesbians) are people who prefer sexual and romantic relationships with members of their own sex.
Term
Horticultural societies
Definition
Characterized by small-scale, simple farming, without plows or large beasts of burden.
Term
Hunting-and-gathering societies
Definition
Those in which most food must be obtained by killing wild animals or finding edible plants.
Term
Hypothesis
Definition
Statement about relationships that we expect to find if our theory is correct.
Term
Id
Definition
The natural, unsocialized, biological portion of self, including hunger and sexual urges.
Term
Ideology
Definition
Set of beliefs that strengthen or support a social, political, economic, or cultural system.
Term
Immigration
Definition
The movement of people to find new homes in a different country.
Term
Impression management
Definition
Consists of actions and statements made to control how others view us.
Term
Incidence
Definition
The frequency with which an attitude or behavior occurs.
Term
Income
Definition
Refers to money received in a given time period by an individual, household, or organization.
Term
Income inequality
Definition
The extent to which incomes vary within a given population.
Term
Independent Variable
Definition
The cause in cause-and-effect relationships.
Term
Indirect inheritance model
Definition
Argues that children have occupations of a status similar to that of their parents because the family's status and income determine children's aspirations and opportunities.
Term
Induction
Definition
Process of moving from data to theory by devising theories that account for empirically observed patterns.
Term
Industrial societies
Definition
Characterized by mass production of nonagricultural goods.
Term
Infant mortality rate
Definition
Number of babies who die during or shortly after childbirth per every 1,000 live births in a given population.
Term
Informal social control
Definition
Self-restraint exercised because of fear of what others will think.
Term
Information technology
Definition
Comprises computers and telecommunication tools for storing, using, and sending information.
Term
Institutionalized racism
Definition
Occurs when the normal operation of apparently neutral processes systematically produces unequal results for majority and minority groups.
Term
Institution
Definition
An enduring social structure that meets basic human needs.
Term
Internal migration
Definition
The movement of people to new homes within a country.
Term
Insurgent consciousness
Definition
The individual sense that change is both needed and possible.
Term
Justifications
Definition
Accounts that explain the good reasons the violator had for choosing to break the rule; often they are appeals to some alternate rule.
Term
Labeling theory
Definition
Concerned with the processes by which labels such as deviant come to be attaached to specific people and specific behaviors.
Term
Language
Definition
The ability to communicate in symbols-orally, by manual sign, or in writing.
Term
Latent functions or dysfunctions
Definition
Consequences of social structures that are neither intended nor recognized.
Term
Laws
Definition
Rules that are enforced and sanctioned by the authority of government.  They may or may not be norms.
Term
Least-developed countries
Definition
Characterized by poverty and political weakness and rank low on most or all measures of development.
Term
Less-developed countries
Definition
Tose nations whose living standards are worse than those in the most-developed countries but better that in the least-developed nations.
Term
Linguistic relativeity hypothesis
Definition
Argues that the grammer, structure, and categories embodied in each language ffect how its speakers see reality.  Also known as the Sapir-Whorf hypothesis.
Term
Longitudinal research
Definition
Any research in which data are collected over a long period of time.
Term
Looking-glass self
Definition
The process of learnign to view ourselves as we think others view us.
Term
Macrosociology
Definition
Focuses on social structures and organizations and the relationships between them.
Term
Majority group
Definition
Group that is culturally, economically, and politically dominant.
Term
Manifest functions or dysfunctions
Definition
Consequences of social structures that are intended or recognized.
Term
Manufacturers of illness
Definition
Groups that promote and benefit from deadly behaviors and social conditions.
Term
Marriage
Definition
Institutionalized social structure that provides an enduring framework for regulating sexual behavior and childbearing.
Term
Mass media
Definition
All forms of communication designed to reach broad audiences.
Term
McDonaldization
Definition
Process by which the principles of the fast-food restaurant-efficiency, calculability, predictability, and control-are coming to dominate more sectors of American society.
Term
Medicalization
Definition
Process through which a condition or behavior becomes defined as a medical problem requiring a medical solution.
Term
Metropolitan statistical area
Definition
A country htat has a city of 50,000 or more in it plus any neighboring counties that are significantly linked, economically or socially, with the core country.
Term
Microsociology
Definition
Focuses on interactions among individuals.
Term
Migration
Definition
Movement of peopl form one geographic area to another.
Term
Minority group
Definition
Group that is culturally, economically, and politically subordinate.
Term
Mobilization
Definition
Process by which a social movement gains control of new resources.
Term
Modernization theory
Definition
Sees development as the natural unfolding of an evolutionary process in which societies go from simple to complex economies and institutional sturcures.
Term
Monogamy
Definition
Term for marriages in which there is only one wife and one husband.
Term
Moral entrepreneurs
Definition
People who attempt to create and enforce new definitions of morality.
Term
Mores
Definition
Norms associated with fairly strong ideas of right or wrond; they carry a moral connotation.
Term
Mortality rate
Definition
The number of deaths per every 1,000 people in a given population during a given time period.
Term
Most-developed countries
Definition
Those rich nations that have relatively high degrees of economic and political autonomy.
Term
Multicultrualism
Definition
The belief htat the different cultural strands within a culture should be valued and nourished.
Term
Near poor
Definition
Live in househods earnign from just above the federal poverty level to twice the federal poverty level.
Term
New religious movements (NRMs)
Definition
Religious or spiritual movements begun in recent decades and not derived from a nation's mainstream religions.
Term
Nonmetropolitan statistical area
Definition
Country that has no major city in it and is not closely tied to such a city.
Term
Norm of reciprocity
Definition
Expectation that people will return favors and strive to maintain a balance of obligation in social relationships.
Term
Normal accidents
Definition
Accidents that can be expected to happen sooner or later, o matter how many safeguards are built into a system, simply becaue the system is so complex.
Term
Norms
Definition
Shared rules of conduct that specify how people ought to think and act.
Term
Nuclear family
Definition
Family in which a couple and their children form an independent household living apart from other kin.
Term
Operational definition
Definition
Describes the exact procedure by which a variable is measured.
Term
Operationalizing
Definition
The process of deciding exactly how to measure a given variable.
Term
Organizational culture
Definition
Pattern of norms and values that structures how business is actually carried out in an organization.
Term
Participant observation
Definition
Conducting research by participating, interviewing, and observing "in the field."
Term
Peer group
Definition
All individuals who share a similar age and social status.
Term
Peer
Definition
Member of a peer group.
Term
Peripheral societies
Definition
Poor and weak, with highly specialized economies over which they have relatively little control.
Term
Pluralism
Definition
Peaceful coexistence of separate and equal cultures in the same society.
Term
Political economy
Definition
The interaction of political and economic forms within a nation.
Term
Politics
Definition
Social structure of power within a society.
Term
Political opportunities
Definition
Resources that allow a social movement to grow; they include preexisting organizations that can provide the new movement with leaders, members, phone lines, copying machines, and other resources.
Term
Political process theory
Definition
Suggests that social movements develop when political opportunities are available and whnen individuals have developed a snese that change is both needed and possible.
Term
Polygamy
Definition
Any form of marriage in which a person may have more than one spouse at a time.
Term
Popular culture
Definition
Refers to aspects of culture that are widely accessible and commonly shared by most members of a society, especially those in the middle, working, and lower classes.
Term
Postindustrial societies
Definition
Focus on producing either information or services.
Term
Power
Definition
The ability to direct others' behavior even against their wishes.
Term
Power elite
Definition
Comprises the people who occupy the top positions in three bureaucracies-the military, industry, and the executive branch of government-and who are thought to act together to run the U.S. in their own interests.
Term
Prejudice
Definition
An irrational, negative attitude toward a category of people.
Term
Prestige
Definition
The amount of social honor or value afforded one individual or group relative to another.  Also referred to as status.
Term
Primary groups
Definition
Groups characterized by intimate, face-to-face interaction.
Term
Primary sector
Definition
That part of the economy concerned with extracting raw materials from the environment.
Term
Primary socialization
Definition
Personality development and role learning that occurs during early childhood.
Term
Privitization
Definition
Process through which government services are "farmed out" to corporations, redesigned to follow corporate structures and goals, or redefined as individual responsibilities.
Term
Profane
Definition
Represents all that is routine and taken for granted in the everdy world, things that are known and familiar and that we can control, understand, and manipulate.
Term
Professional socialization
Definition
Process of learnign the knowledge, skills, and cultural values of a profession.
Term
Professions
Definition
Occupations that demand specialized skills and creative feedom.
Term
Proletariat
Definition
Class that does not own the means of production.  They must support themselves by selling their labor to those who own the means of production.
Term
Propinquity
Definition
Spatial nearness.
Term
Protestant Ethic
Definition
The belief that work, rationalism, and plain living are moral virtues, wheras idealness and indulgence are sinful.
Term
Race
Definition
Category of people treated as distinct because of physical characteristic to which social importance has been assigned.
Term
Racism
Definition
Belief that inherited physical characterisics associated with racial groups determine individuals' abilities and personalities and provide a legitimate basis for unequal treatment.
Term
Random samples
Definition
Samples chosen through a random procedure, so that each individual in a given population has an equal chance of being selected.
Term
Rational-legal authority
Definition
The right to make decisions based on rationally established rules.
Term
Reference groups
Definition
Groups that individuals compare themselves to regularly, either because they identify with the group or aspire to it.
Term
Relative deprivation
Definition
Exists when we compare ourselves to others who are better off than we are.
Term
Relative-deprivation theory
Definition
Argues that social movements arise when people experience an intolerable gap between their expectations and the rewards they actually receive.
Term
Religion
Definition
System of beliefs and practices related to sacred things that unites believers into a moral community.
Term
Religiosity
Definition
An individual's level of commitment to religious beliefs and to acting on those beliefs.
Term
Religious economy
Definition
Competition between religious organizations to provide better "consumer products," thereby creating greater "market demand" for their own religions.
Term
Replication
Definition
Repetition of empirical studies by another researcher or with different samples to see if the same results occur.
Term
Reproductive labor
Definition
Traditionally female tasks such as cooking, cleaning, and nurtuting that make it possible for a society to continue and for others to work and play.
Term
Resocialization
Definition
Process of learning a new self-concest and a radically different way of life (often against our will). 
Term
Resource mobilization theory
Definition
Suggests that social movements emerge when individuals who experience deprivation can garner the resources they need to mobilize for action.
Term
Rites of passage
Definition
Formal rituals that mark the end of one age status and the beginning of another.
Term
Role
Definition
Set of norms specifying the rights and obligations asssociated with a status.
Term
Role conflict
Definition
When incompatible role demands develop because of multiple statuses.
Term
Role strain
Definition
When incompatible role demands develop within a single status.
Term
Role taking
Definition
Involves imagining ourselves in the role of others in order to determine the criteria they will use to judge our behavior.
Term
Sacred
Definition
Consists of events and things that we hold in awe and reverence-what we can neither understand nor control.
Term
Sampling
Definition
Process of systematically selecting representative cases from the larger population.
Term
Sanctions
Definition
Rewards for conformity and punishments for nonconformity.
Term
Sapir-Whorf hypothesis
Definition
Argues that the grammar, structure, and categories embodied in each language affect how its speakers see reality.  Also known as the linguistic relativity hypothesis.
Term
Scapegoating
Definition
Occurs when people or groups blame others for their failures.
Term
School choice
Definition
Range of options (vouchers, tax credits, magnet and charter schools, home schooling) that enable families to choose where their children go to school.
Term
Secondary groups
Definition
Groups that are formal, large, and impersonal.
Term
Secondary sector
Definition
That part of the economy concerned with the processing of raw materials.
Term
Sects
Definition
Religious organizations that arise in active rejection of changes they find repugnant in churches.
Term
Secularization
Definition
Process of transferring things, ideas, or events from the sacred realm to the nonsacred, or secular, realm.
Term
Segregation
Definition
Physical separation of minoriyt and majority group members.
Term
Self-concept
Definition
Our sense of who we are as individuals.
Term
Self-fulfilling prophecies
Definition
Occur when something is defined as real and therefore becomes  real in its consequences.
Term
Sex
Definition
Biological characteristic, male or female.
Term
Sexism
Definition
Belief that men and women have biologically different capacities and that these form a legitimate basis for unequal treatment.
Term
Sexual harassment
Definition
Consists of unwelcome sexual advances, requests for sexual favors, or other verbal or physical conduct of a sexual nature.
Term
Sexual scripts
Definition
Cultural expectations regarding who, where, when, why, how, and with whom one should have sex.
Term
Sick role
Definition
Consists of four social norms regarding sick people.  They are assumed to have good reasons for not fulfilling their normal social roles and are not held responsible for their illnesses.  They are also expected to consider sickness undesirable, to work to get well, and to follow doctor's orders.
Term
Significant others
Definition
Role players with whom we have close personal relationships.
Term
Single-payer system
Definition
Health care system in which doctors and hospitals are paid solely by the government
Term
Social change
Definition
Any significant modification or transformation of social structures and sociocultural processes over time.
Term
Social class
Definition
A category of people who share roughly the same class, status, and power and who have a sense of identification with each other.
Term
Social construction of race and ethnicity
Definition
The process through which a culture (based more on social ideas than on biological facts) defines what constitutes a race or an ethnic group.
Term
Social control
Definition
Consists of the forces and processes thatencourage conformity, including self-control, informal control, and formal control.
Term
Social-desirability bias
Definition
The tendency of people to color the truth so that they sound more desirable and socially acceptable than they really are.
Term
Social interaction
Definition
Refers to the ways individuals interact with others in everyday, face-to-face situations.
Term
Social mobility
Definition
Process of changing one's social class.
Term
Social movement
Definition
An ongoing, goal-directed effort to fundamentally challenge social institutions, attitudes, or ways of life.
Term
Social network
Definition
An individual's total set of relationships.
Term
Social processes
Definition
Forms of interaction through which people relate to one another; they are the dynamic aspects of society.
Term
Social structure
Definition
Recurrent pattern of relationships among groups.
Term
Socialism
Definition
An economic structure in which productive tools (land, labor and capital) are owned and managed by the workers and used for the collective good.
Term
Socialization
Definition
Process of learning the roles, statuses, and values necessary for participation in social institutions.
Term
Society
Definition
Popuation that shares the same territory and is bound together by economic and political ties.
Term
Sociobiology
Definition
The study of the biological basis of all forms of human (and nonhuman) behavior.
Term
Socioeconomic status (SES)
Definition
A measure of social class that ranks individuals on income, education, occupation, or some combination of these.
Term
Sociological imagination
Definition
The ability to see the intimate realities of our own lives in the context of common social structures; it is the ability to see personal troubles as public issues.
Term
Sociology
Definition
Systematic study of human society, social groups, and social interactions.
Term
Sociology of everyday life
Definition
Focuses on the social processes that sturcture our experience in ordinary, face-to-face situations.
Term
Spurious relationship
Definition
Exists when one variable seems to cause changes in a second variable, but a third variable is the real cause of the change.
Term
Stakeholder mobilization
Definition
Organized political opposition by groups with a vested interest in a particular political outcome.
Term
State
Definition
Social structure that successfully claims monopoly on the legitimate use of coercion and physical force within a territory.
Term
State church
Definition
One that is strongly supported or even mandated by the government.
Term
Status
Definition
An individual's position within a group relative to other group members; also social honor, expressed in lifestyle.
Term
Status set
Definition
The combination of all statuses held by an individual.
Term
Stereotype
Definition
A preconceived, simplistic idea about the members of a group.
Term
Strain theory
Definition
Suggests that deviance occurs when culturally approved goals cannot be reached by culturally approved means.
Term
Stratification
Definition
An institutionalized pattern of inequality in which social statuses are ranked on the basis of their access to scarce resources.
Term
Strong ties
Definition
Relationships characterized by intimacy, emotional intensity, and sharing.
Term
Structural-functional theory
Definition
Addresses the question of social organization (structure) and how it is maintained (function).
Term
Subcultures
Definition
Groups that share in the overall culture of society but also maintain a distinctive set of values, norms, and lifestyles and even a distinctive language.
Term
Suburbanization
Definition
The growth of suburbs.
Term
Suburbs
Definition
Communities that develop outside of citiesand that, historically, primarily provided housing rather than services or employment.
Term
Superego
Definition
Composed of internalized social ideas about right and wrong.
Term
Survey research
Definition
Method that involves asking a relatively large number of people the same set of standardized questions.
Term
Symbolic interaction theory
Definition
Addresses the subjective meanings of human acts and the processes through which people come to develop and communicate shared meanings.
Term
Technological imperative
Definition
The idea that once a technology becomes available, it becomes difficult to avoid using it.
Term
Technology
Definition
Involves the human application of knowledge to the making of tools and to the use of natural resources.
Term
Terrorism
Definition
The deliberate and unlawful use of violence against civilians for political purposes.
Term
Tertiary sector
Definition
The part of the economy concerned with the production of services.
Term
Theory
Definition
Interrelated set of assumptions that explains observed patterns.
Term
Total institutions
Definition
Facilities in which all aspects of life are strictly controlled for the purpose of radical resocialization.
Term
Tracking
Definition
Occurs when evaluations made relatively early in a child's career determine the educational programs the child will be encouraged to follow.
Term
Traditional authority
Definition
The right to make decisions for others that is based on the sanctity of time-honored routines.
Term
Transgendered persons
Definition
Individuals whose sex or sexual identity is not definitively male or female.  Some are hermaphrodites, some are transsexuals.
Term
Transnational corporations
Definition
Large corporations that produce and distribute goods internationally.
Term
Trend
Definition
A change in a variable over time.
Term
Underemployed
Definition
People hold jobs more appropriat for someone with fewer skills or hold part-time jobs only because they can't find full-time jobs.
Term
Underground economy
Definition
Economic activity associated with workers who are trying to hide from state regulation such as prostitutes, unlicensed contractors, and work by undocumented laborers.
Term
Unemployed
Definition
People who lack a job, are available for work, and are actively seeking work.
Term
Urbanization
Definition
The process of concentrating populations in cities.
Term
Value-free
Definition
Sociology that concerns itself with establishing what is, not what ought to be.
Term
Values
Definition
Shared ideas about desirable goals.
Term
Variables
Definition
Measured characteristics that vary from one individual or group to the next.
Term
Vested interests
Definition
Stakes in either maintaining or transforming the status quo.
Term
Victimless crimes
Definition
Such as drug use, prostitution, gambling, and pornography are voluntary exchanges between persons who desire illegal goods or services from each other.
Term
Voluntary associations
Definition
Nonprofit organizations designed to allow individuals an opportunity to pursue their shared intersts collectively.
Term
War
Definition
An armed conflict between a national army and some other group.
Term
Weak ties
Definition
Relationships characterized by low intensity and little intimacy.
Term
Wealth
Definition
The sum value of money and goods owned by an individual or household.
Term
White-collar crime
Definition
Crimes committed by respectable people of high status in the course of their occupation.
Term
White privilege 
Definition
The benefits whites receive simply because they are white.
Term
World-systems theory 
Definition
A conflict perspective of the economic relationships between developed and developing countries, the core and peripheral societies.
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