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Glossary

  • Page ID
    53319
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    Glossary Entries
    Word(s) Definition Image Caption Link Source
    Merton's Adaptations  Merton's goal means gap ways people respond        
    Authority is the institutionalized legitimate power.        
    Bureaucratic Ritualism the habit of following the rules and procedures and forgetting the main purpose of the bureaucracy's mission        
    Culture is the shared values, norms, symbols, language, objects, and way of life that is passed on from one generation to the next        
    Dysfunctions breakdowns or disruptions in society and its parts, which threaten social stability.        
    Exurbanization where upper class city dwellers moved out of the city beyond the suburbs and lived in high-end housing in the countryside        
    Functionalist theory claims that society is in a state of balance and kept that way through the function of society's component parts.        
    Group is a set of two or more people who share common identity, interact regularly, and have shared expectations (roles), and function in their mutually agreed upon roles.        
    Hunting and Gathering Societies those whose economies which are based on hunting animals and gathering vegetation were very common throughout the history of the world.        
    Involvement the more a person participates in legitimate activities, the greater the inhibition towards deviance        
    Looking-Glass Self the reflection of who we think we see by observing the treatment and behaviors of others towards us. Three steps: 1. We imagine how we appear to others; 2. We imagine and interpret their judgment of us; and 3. We react positively or negatively to that perceived judgment while developing a self-concept        
    Rebellion Merton's Adaptations - people reject both the goals and the means to attain them (They reject socially approved goals and replace with deviant goals-Terrorists and freedom fighters) Methods typically include: experiments, participant observations, non-participant observations, surveys, and secondary analysis.        
    Multiple Nuclei Theory which claims that cities have multiple centers (Nuclei) that yield influence on the growth and nature of an urban area        
    Nuclear Family is a family group consisting of mother & father and their children.        
    Organized crime crime perpetrated by covert organizations which are extremely secretive and organized, devoted to criminal activity        
    Racial group is a group of people with perceived unique biological and physical characteristics        
    Rural the geographic territory in the less populated regions of a society        
    Symbolic Interaction claims that society is composed of ever present interactions among individuals who share symbols and their meanings.        
    True rate Number of events/ Number at risk of the event.        
    Utilitarian Organizations people typically join because of some tangible benefit which they expect to receive (Girl Scouts, PTA, or a political party).        
    Voluntary Organizations formalized groups of individuals who work toward a common organizational (and often personal) set of goals        
    Zero Population Growth occurs when a population neither shrinks nor expands from year to year.        
    Young-old 65-74 years        
    World-taken-for-granted is all of the assumptions about our fit into our social and physical environment.        
    Widowers are surviving husbands        
    Widows are surviving wives        
    Widowhood occurs when one's spouse dies.        
    White-collar crime crimes committed by persons of respectable and high social status committed in the course of their occupations        
    Variables survey questions that measure some characteristic of the population        
    Values are defined standards of what is good, bad, desirable, or undesirable for ourselves and others        
    Valid Survey Questions are questions that are accurate and measure what they claim they'll measure        
    Urbanization is the societal trend where the proportion of people living in cities is increasing while the proportion living in the country side diminishes        
    Urban the geographic territory within or close to a city        
    Upward Mobility moving from a lower to higher class.        
    Unwed Mothers mothers who are not legally married at the time of the child's birth.        
    Unmarried Singles ages 20-30's persons who enjoy the city-singles scene and will probably move when they get older or marry        
    Uncontacted Tribe is a native tribe, typically a small group of people, living in a remote and isolated place who have not yet had contact with technologically advanced society members.        
    Triads are a group of three people        
    Transparency the creation of rules, regulations, and guidelines to be followed by all students, teachers, and parents        
    Trading Theory claims that the surplus was not as important as were the specialists who knew how to create it and do other occupations.        
    Totalitarian Government a political system where a small power elite controls virtually every aspect of the personal and larger social levels of society        
    Total Institution an institution that controls almost all aspects of its member's lives and all aspects of the individual life is controlled by those in authority in the institution        
    Total Fertility Rate the total number of children ever born to a woman calculated both individually and at the societal level.        
    Timid bigots are prejudiced but won't discriminate. These people tend to be afraid of acting on their prejudices, not wanting be caught or punished        
    Thomas Theorem is often called the "Definition of the situation" which is basically if people perceive or define something as being real then it is real in its consequences        
    Third Standard Deviation\ has the next 4 percent (2.1% above and below); and the Fourth Standard Deviation has the last 0.2 percent (0.1% above and below the mean)        
    Theory a set of interrelated concepts used to describe, explain, and predict how society and its parts are related to each other        
    Theistic Religions have divine beings which are Gods. There are three Monotheistic Religions that have one single all powerful God: Islam, Judaism, and Christianity.        
    Thanatology is the scientific study of death and dying        
    Tertiary Sector work which involves providing a service to others such as food, retail, computer processing, or information management        
    Terrorism the use of murder and mayhem to create a state of fear which can be used to gain political, religious, or ideological advantage        
    Taking the role of other when children put themselves in someone else's shoes, understand how he/she feels, and anticipate how he/she will act        
    Surveys research instruments designed to obtain information from individuals who belong to a larger group, organization, or society        
    Supply is the availability of goods and services in the market place        
    Suicide the purposeful ending of one's own life for any reason.        
    Suicide Rates numbers of suicides per 100,000 people in a population.        
    Suburban smaller cities located on the edges of the larger city which often include residential neighborhoods for those working in the area        
    Subculture is one in which groups which have different folkways, mores, and norms, exist within but are no completely a part of the larger society.        
    Structural-Strain Theory social problems/strains on the current social structure combined with discontent lead to movements        
    Structural large scale entrance into the various parts of the social structure including clubs, religions, workplace, schools, etc...        
    Structural Mobility mobility in social class which is attributable to changes in social structure of a society at the larger social, not personal level.        
    Street crimes are crimes committed by average persons against members, groups, and organizations        
    Stratified Random Sample a portion of the population is drawn in such a way that every member of the population and important sub-categories of the population have an equal chance of being selected for the survey, yielding a sample that is demographically similar to population        
    Stimulus-Value-Role Theory of Marital Choice states that as people find someone they are attracted to, they initiate contact, spend time together comparing values and establishing compatibility, and eventually either break things off or make commitments toward marriage or cohabitation        
    Stigma is an attribute which is deeply discrediting and that reduces the person from a whole and usual person to a tainted or discredited one        
    Stereotypes broad generalizations about a category of people who are assumed to have positive and negative traits common to every single member of that category        
    Stereotype is a broad generalization about groups based solely on the group affiliation        
    Status is a socially defined position.        
    Spurious correlation an apparent relationship between two variables which indicates their relationship to a third variable and not to each other (IE: the more education you have, the higher your family's standard of living, and the lower your likelihood of participating in criminal activities). In other words there are other correlated factors that influence criminal behavior that simultaneously are at play.        
    Solidaristic crowds are crowd which gather as an act of social unity. Breast Cancer awareness events are an example of this type crowd        
    Sociometry is the study of groups and their structures (Google Jacob L. Moreno for its founder).        
    Socio-Economic Status (SES) is a combination of one's education, occupation, and income and has been found to be highly correlated with a better quality of life for those in society who have higher SES scores        
    Sociobiology claims that human behavior is the result of natural selection.        
    Society is a population of people which shares the same geographic territory and culture.        
    Socialization is the process by which people learn characteristics of their group's norms, values, attitudes, and behaviors        
    Socialization of prejudice learning prejudice from people we look up to (family, relatives, teachers, etc...)        
    Socialism is an economy based on governmental management and control of goods and services        
    Social Structure refers to the recurring patterns of behavior in society which people create through their interactions and relationships        
    Social Structure Origin of Prejudice occurs when prejudice is built into the group, community, and social institutional components of society        
    Social Stratification is the socio-economic layering of society's members according to property, power, and prestige.        
    Social Statics study of social structure and how it influences social stability        
    Social order are the customary and typical social arrangements which society's members use to base their daily lives on.        
    Social Movements are intentional efforts by groups in a society to create new institutions or reform existing ones        
    Social Mobility the movement between economic strata in a society's system.        
    Social Learning is an approach that studies how people learn behaviors through interactions with others.        
    Social Integration the degree to which people are connected to their social groups. Let's check your own personal degree of social integration.        
    Social Gerontology is the sociological subfield of gerontology which focuses on the nonphysical and social aspects of aging.        
    Social Facts phenomena within society that typically exists independent of individual choices and actions        
    Social Exchange claims that society is composed of ever present interactions among individuals who attempt to maximize rewards while minimizing costs (REWARDS-COSTS)        
    Social Dynamics study of social structure and how it influences social change.        
    Social control formal and informal attempts at enforcing norms        
    Social Construction of Reality what people define as real because of their background assumptions and life experiences with others        
    Social Cohesion is the degree to which members of a group or a society feel united by shared values and other social bonds.        
    SMART Paradigm Smart stands for: Samples; Methods; Attitude of skepticism; Researcher bias; Thorough understanding of literature        
    Simple Supernaturalism no gods, focuses on human & non-human supernatural forces which influences us for better or worse.        
    Sexual Objectification of Women where men learn to view women as objects of sexual consumption rather than as a whole person.        
    Sexual assault can be defined as any type of sexual contact or behavior that occurs without the explicit consent of the recipient of the unwanted sexual activity. Falling under the definition of sexual assault is sexual activity such as forced sexual intercourse, sodomy, child molestation, incest, fondling, and attempted rape. Some more specific examples of sexual assault include        
    Sex is one's biological classification as male or female and is set into motion at the moment the sperm fertilizes the egg        
    Sex Ratio the number of males per 100 females in a given population.        
    Sex ratio number of males per 100 females.        
    Serial Monogamy or Serial Polygamy the process of establishing intimate marriage or cohabiting relationships that eventually dissolve and are followed by another intimate marriage or cohabiting relationships that eventually dissolve, etc. in a series.        
    Sequencing ordering news stories in such a way as to present a thematic message.        
    Self-esteem pride in oneself, a positive self-regard, an inordinately high positive self-regard, or a high self-respect        
    Secularization the trend toward worldly concerns and away from concerns for the religiously sacred in the lives of society's members        
    Sector Theory claims that cities grow in pie wedge shapes as the city        
    Sect is a group larger than a cult but still perceived as being weird and is often treated with hostility by non-sect members. A sect is relatively small by comparison to an established church.        
    Secondary socialization occurs in later childhood and adolescence when children go to school and come under the influence of non-family members        
    Secondary Sector part of the economic production involving manufacturing (factories and home-based)        
    Secondary Groups tend to be larger, more formal, and much less personal (you and your doctor, mechanic, or accountant).        
    Secondary Deviance when the individual internalizes the deviant identity others have placed upon him/her        
    Secondary Analysis the analysis of data that have already been gathered by others.        
    Second Standard Deviation has the next 28 percent of the scores (13.6% above and 13.6% below)        
    Sapir-Whorf Hypothesis claims that when we learn a language, we also learn a framework for understanding and interpreting our social reality and environment.        
    Sample some portion of the population but not all of it        
    Sample Size is the number of respondents who are designated to take the survey        
    Sacred supernatural, divine, awe inspiring, and spiritually significant aspects of our existence.        
    Role Strain is the burden one feels within any given role. And when one role comes into direct conflict another or other roles you might experience        
    Role Conflict conflict and burdens one feels because the expectations of one role compete with the expectations of another role        
    Riots a collection of large numbers of people who act violently in protest against some authority or action of others (typically governmental or corporate authority)        
    Revolutionary Movement seeks to overthrow existing institutions and class systems while replacing them with new ones        
    Response Rate is the percentage of the original sample who successfully completed the survey,        
    Resource Mobilization Theory a social movement succeeds or fails based on people's ability to gather and organize resources        
    Reputational Method is where researchers look to people who know the individual and subjectively report on his/her class.        
    Representative Sample is a sample drawn from the population, the composition of which very much resembles that of the population        
    Religiosity the measurable importance of religion to a person's life.        
    Religion is a unified system of beliefs, rituals, and practices that typically involve a broader community of believers who share common definitions of the sacred and the profane.        
    Reliable Survey Questions are survey questions that are relatively free from bias errors which might taint the findings. In other words, reliable survey questions are consistent.        
    Relative Deprivation the perception of not being the rightful beneficiary of something a person feels entitled to receive        
    Reformist Movement seeks partial changes in only a few institutions on behalf of interest groups.        
    Reactive perspective claims that behavior does not become deviant unless it is disapproved of by those in authority (laws)        
    Reactionary Movement seeks to return the institutions and values of the past by doing away with existing ones        
    Random Sample a portion of the population that is drawn in such a way that every member of the population has an equal chance of being selected for the survey        
    Push Factors are negatives aspects of where you live which make you consider leaving        
    Pull Factors are positive aspects of another place which draw you to migrate to it        
    Proscriptive laws laws which state what is forbidden        
    Property all the wealth, investments, deeded and titled properties, and other tangible sources of income.        
    Propenquity the geographic proximity of two potential mates to one another.        
    Pronatalist a perspective which promotes birth and increased population        
    Proletariat are the common working class, lower class, and poor members of society.        
    Profane that which is part of the regular everyday life experience.        
    Primary socialization includes all the ways the newborn is molded into a social being capable of interacting in and meeting the expectations of society        
    Primary Sector part of economic production involving agriculture, mining, fishing, and materials acquisition        
    Primary Groups tend to be smaller, less formal, and more intimate (Families and friends)        
    Primary Deviance when an individual violates a norm, becomes identified by others as being deviant while maintaining a self-definition of being a conformist        
    Prestige is the degree of social honor attached with your position in society.        
    Prescriptive laws laws that state what must be done        
    Prejudice attitudinal        
    Power-Reassurance Rapists is the most common type of rapist; he uses little to no violence; has a very weak sense of self and of lacking "manliness;" and rape is his outlet of power, domination, anger, and control        
    Power-Assertive Rapist has a very low self-concept; he attempts to reassure himself on his manhood; and uses very little force or violence        
    Power Elite the political, corporate, and military leaders of a society are uniquely positioned to commit elite crime        
    Power the ability to get one's way even in the face of opposition to one's goals.        
    Power is the ability to get what one wants even in the presence of opposition.        
    Poverty Line the official measure of those whose incomes are less than three times a lower cost food budget.        
    Postindustrial Societies societal production based on creating, processing, and storing information.        
    Positivism the scientific-based sociological research that uses scientific tools such as survey, sampling, objective measurement, and cultural and historical analysis to study and understand society        
    Positivism the objective and value-free observation, comparison, and experimentation applied to scientific inquiry.        
    Positive sanction rewards for conforming behavior        
    Population the entre membership of a country, organization, group, or category of people to be surveyed        
    Population Pyramid the graphic representation of specified 5-year age groups within a population and by being males or females        
    Population Density the number of people per square mile or square kilometer        
    Polytheistic religions with multiple Gods such as Hinduism.        
    Polygyny is marriage form permitting more than one wife at the same time and is the most common form of polygamy in the world's history.        
    Polygamy is marriage form permitting more than one spouse at the same time.        
    Polyandry is marriage form permitting more than one husband at the same time.        
    Population Change (Births-Deaths) +/- ((In-Migration)-(Out Migration)). Population Change is then added to a previous year's population to yield new population estimate        
    Polls are typically surveys which collect opinions (such as who one might vote for in an election, how one feels about the outcome of a controversial issue, or how one evaluates a public official or organization        
    Pluralistic theory of social control claims that society is made up of many competing groups whose diverse interests are continuously balanced        
    Pluralism which claims that power is diffused among many diverse interests groups and that in fact not all wealthy elite people unite on the same side of most issues        
    Phrenology an outdated scientific approach of studying the shape and characteristics of the skull        
    Personal Troubles are private problems experienced within the character of the individual and the range of their immediate relation to others.        
    Perpetual Discontent is a two-pronged advertising theme which emphasizes: 1) how broken and flawed we are and 2) how we can buy hope in the form of a product being sold.        
    Permissible assimilation permits newcomers to adapt to the mainstream culture naturally.        
    Patriarchal Families are families where males have more power and authority than females and where rights and inheritances typically pass from fathers to sons        
    Participant Observation a research method where the researcher participates in activities and more or less assumes membership in the group she studies.        
    Panic occurs when crowds or masses react suddenly to perceived entrapment, exclusion, or danger        
    Organic Solidarity is a sense of interdependence on the specializations of occupations in modern society.        
    Ordinal Data rank ordered data which has standard numerical values. This is often referred to as numerical data.        
    Open Survey Questions are questions designed to get respondents to answer in their own words (IE: "what might be the benefits of having a football team?"____ ______________ or "what might be a negative consequence of having a football team?"___ ____________).        
    Open Class System an economic system that has upward mobility, is achievement-based, and allows social relations between the classes. India has a closed caste system.        
    One drop theory claims that if there is one drop of another race's blood (mostly targeted toward Black blood) then you are tainted by it        
    Old-old 85+ years.        
    Oil and Water Idea About Rape we must resist the tendency to imply blame by questioning how effectively a woman went about defending herself from a possible rape while simultaneously remembering that it is always the rapist fault        
    Objectivity is the ability to study and observe without distortion or bias, especially personal bias. Bias-free research is an ideal that, if not present will open the door to extreme misinterpretation of research findings        
    Objective Method where researchers set up categories and rank people according to preset objective criteria (such as median household income).        
    Norms are shared expectations or rules of behavior        
    Normative Trust trust based on a sense of belonging and feelings (families and communities)        
    Normative perspective claims that deviance is only a violation of a specific group's or society's rules at a specific point in time        
    Normative Organizations people join these because they perceive their goals as being socially or morally worthwhile (IE: Greenpeace);        
    Norm set of expected behaviors for a given role and social status        
    Nominal Data data which has no standard numerical values. This is often referred to as categorical data (IE: what is your favorite type of pet? __Reptile __Canine __Feline __Bird __Other).        
    Net Migration ((In-Migration)-(Out Migration)) or all the in-migration minus all the out-migration in a given population over a given time period.        
    Neo-Malthusian an antinatalist who agrees with Malthus, but reject his conservative and religious proscriptions        
    Negative sanctions a punishment or negative reaction toward deviance        
    Negative sanctions a punishment or negative reaction toward breaking codified norms-laws. Jail time, criminal record, fines, and penalties are just of few of the sanctions available to law breakers        
    Near Poverty is when one earns up to 25% above the poverty line. We would say that a person near poverty has an income below 125% of the current poverty line.        
    Nature versus Nurture the debate over the influence of biological versus social influences in socialization.        
    Natural Increase (Births-Deaths) or all births minus all the deaths in a given population over a given time period        
    MorŽs are deeply held, informal norms that are strictly enforced.        
    More Developed Nations nations with comparably higher wealth than most countries of the world including: Western Europe; Canada, United States, Japan, and Australia        
    Monogamy is the marriage form permitting only one spouse.        
    Modernization Theory claims that industrialization and modernization have lowered the power and influence which the elderly once had which has lead to much exclusion of elderly from community roles.        
    Mode the number which occurs the most in a list of        
    Misogyny the physical or verbal abuse and mistreatment of women.        
    Minority group is a group living within a society which is disadvantaged in terms of power, control of their own lives, and wealth.        
    Middle-Range Theory a theory derived from specific scientific findings and focuses on the interrelation of two or more concepts applied to a very specific social process or problem.        
    Middle-old 75-84 years        
    Micropolitan an urban area with 10,000-49,000 inhabitants        
    Micro Theories are theories which best fit the study of small groups and their members (typically Symbolic Interactionism or Social Exchange theories).        
    Metropolitan Statistical Area includes one or more adjacent counties that has at least one 50,000 populated urban center that influences the economic, transportation and social connection of the area        
    Metropolitan Areas large population concentration in a city which has the influence of the city's various zones. Each city has a number of zones of influence within its boundaries        
    Men's Movement a broad effort across societies and the world to improve the quality of life and family-related rights of men. In the past two decades a social movement referred to as The Men's Movement has emerged.        
    Messianic Movements seek to bring about social change with the promise of miraculous intervention. Almost always these movements are led by a rather charismatic leader and followed by people inclined to need or want to be a part of something exceptional in their lives        
    Melting Pot Theory an ideology which suggested that all the diverse people coming to the U.S. as immigrants would blend biologically and culturally in order to form a new unique breed of "Americans."        
    Megalopolis which is an overspill of one urban area into another often where many small towns grow into one huge urban area connected by a major transportation corridor        
    Megachurches modern churches attended by thousands of followers in person and even many thousands more via television or the Internet        
    Median the exact mid-point value in the ranked list of scores        
    Mechanical Solidarity is a shared conscious among society's members who each has a similar form of livelihood.        
    Mean the arithmetic score of all the numbers divided by the total number of students        
    Mean World Syndrome the tendency to view society as being meaner and more violent than it really is because of the violent and harsh TV shows one has watched over the years        
    Matriarchal Families are families where females have more power and authority than males and rights and inheritances pass from mothers to daughter and sons.        
    Maternal Death the death of a pregnant woman resulting from pregnancy, delivery, or recovery complications        
    Masters another 2-year degree past Bachelor's        
    Master Status a status which stands out above our other statuses and which distracts others from really seeing who we are.        
    Recidivism being arrested again after having served a sentence for another crime. Recidivism rates indicate that the majority of US prisoners have been in prison before (perhaps 60-80% depending on the studies and how they were taken).        
    Master Status a social position that is so intense it becomes the primary characteristic of the individual (ex-con, gang banger, etc.). Understanding how powerful a master status can be as a labeling influence helps to understand why so many criminal reoffend and end up incarcerated again.        
    Mass is a large number of people oriented toward a set of shared symbols or social objects (media)        
    Mass Media are channels of communication in a mass society, especially electronic and print media.        
    Marriage Squeeze a shortage of males or females in the marriage market        
    Marital vast intermarriage between mainstream members and newcomers;        
    Marital Entropy the principle that if a marriage does not receive preventative maintenance and upgrades it will move towards decay and break down        
    Marginalization the tendency for adult immigrants to be rendered powerless in comparison to native-born adults because they live as a half citizen not fully capable of realizing the individual opportunities often found available to average native-born adults        
    Marginalization the purposeful mistreatment of minority group members that yields them geographically part of the society while simultaneously being functionally left out of most of its opportunities        
    Margaret Mead's Arapesh both men and women displayed what we typically call feminine traits: sensitivity, cooperation, and low levels of aggression        
    Margaret Mead's Tchambuli women were aggressive, rational and capable and were also socially dominant. Men were passive assuming artistic and leisure roles.        
    Margaret Mead's Mundugamor both men and women were: insensitive, uncooperative, and very aggressive. These were typical masculine traits at the time.        
    Manifest functions are the apparent and intended functions of institutions in society        
    Male Supremacy Model where males erroneously believe that men are superior in all aspects of life and that should excel in everything they do.        
    Male Bashing is the verbal abuse and use of pejorative and derogatory language about men.        
    Main Stream Culture the culture shared by the dominant groups, coinciding with the culture shared in the main social institutions (government, education, religion, family, technology, media, and the economy).        
    Macro theory a sociological theory designed to study the larger social, global, and societal level of sociological phenomena.        
    Macro Theories are theories which best fit the study of massive numbers of people (typically Conflict and Functional theories).        
    Retreatism Merton's Adaptations - people withdraw and reject most of the goals (they reject and don't pursue their goals-Street people, bag ladies, and hoboes)        
    Ritualism Merton's Adaptations - people try but fail and lower their goals (they appear to pursue goals but confuse means and goal-Someone who focuses on following rules, fitting in, or conforming instead of attaining the dream)        
    Judgement Merton's Adaptations - We react positively or negatively to that perceived judgment while developing a self-concept        
    Innovation Merton's Adaptations - people commit crime to attain their goals (they accept and pursue their goals by replacing legitimate with deviant/criminal means to attain them-Criminals)        
    Conformity Merton's Adaptations   - people live with what they have and get by (they accept and pursue their goals with socially accepted means-Average US Citizen)        
    Longitudinal Survey is a survey given to the same people more than once and typically over a set of years or decades.        
    Likert Scale Questions are the most common response scale used in surveys and questionnaires. These questions are statements which respondents are asked to agree or disagree with (IE: Our campus would be deeply hurt by a football team). The respondents choose from the scale below for their answer:        
    Life expectancy the average numbers of years a person born today may expect to live.        
    Life course an ideal sequence of events and positions the average person is expected to experience as he/she matures and moves through life        
    Life Chances is an individual's access to basic opportunities and resources in the marketplace        
    Life Chances access to basic opportunities and resources in the marketplace. Not all of us have the same life chances as others.        
    Less Developed Nations nations located near to or south of the Equator which have less wealth and more of the world's population of inhabitants including: Africa, India, Central and South America, most island nations, and most of Asia (Excluding China)        
    Le Bon's Contagion Theory claimed that in a crowd people get caught up in the collective mind of the crowd and evade personal responsibility for their actions        
    Laws are codified norms or norms written and recorded from which the behavior of society's members can be judged        
    Latent functions are the less apparent, unintended, and often unrecognized functions in social institutions and processes        
    Larger Social Issues lies beyond one's personal control and the range of one's inner life. These pertain to society's organization and processes        
    Language is a complex set of symbols which allow us to communicate verbally, nonverbally, and in written form        
    Labeling theory claims that the labels people are given affect their perceptions and channel their behaviors into deviance or conformity.        
    Inverse correlation means that the variables change in opposite directions (IE: the more education you have the less criminal activity you get caught doing).        
    Intra-generational Mobility research of mobility within a generation.        
    Intimacy the social, emotional, spiritual, intellectual, and physical trust that is mutually shared between family members. Family members share confidences, advice, trust, secrets, and ongoing mutual concern        
    Inter-generational Mobility research of mobility between generations (IE: grandparents to parents to grandchildren to great-grandchildren).        
    Interdependence the dependence on others for support in order to be able to succeed. This principle works just the opposite of competition        
    Instrumental Tasks goal directed activities which link the family to the surrounding society, geared toward obtaining resources. This includes economic work, breadwinning, and other resource-based efforts.        
    Infant Mortality Rate the number of infant deaths per 1,000 live births. The CDR and IMR vary greatly between countries and regions        
    Industrial Societies utilize machinery and energy sources (steam engine) rather than humans and animals for production        
    Industrial Revolution a technological development of knowledge and manufacturing that began in the late 1600s and continued until the early 1900s.        
    Indian Religions which originated from the Sub-Asian continent of India.        
    Independent Variables survey variables that when manipulated will stimulate a change upon the dependent variables        
    In general Agents people involved in our socialization        
    Immigration the arrival of a foreigner into a country they will reside in and likely become a citizen of on some future date        
    Ideological racism is an ideology that considers a group's physical characteristics to be causally related to inferiority or superiority        
    Ideal Type the abstract description of a social phenomena by which actual social phenomena may be compared (You'll see an ideal type in Chapter 9 on caste versus class economic systems).        
    Human Ecology studies the form, structure, and development of the community in human populations        
    Horticultural and Pastoral Societies characterized by domestication of animals and the use of hand tools to cultivate plants developed and have also endured for centuries.        
    Horizontal Mobility remaining in the same class.        
    Homosexuality sexual preference for person of same sex.        
    Homogamy the tendency to pair off with another person who is similar to us. Most people are attracted to people of about the same beauty, about the same economic status, about the same value system, and often about the same cultural background        
    Homemaker is typically a women who occupies her life with mothering, housekeeping, and being a wife while depending heavily on the breadwinner.        
    Hijab the Arabic word that means to cover or veil has become more common (_ij_b or ____,).        
    Heterogamy is the tendency to pair off with another person who is different in some ways from us.        
    Heritability is the proportion of our personality, self, and biological traits which stem from our genetic or socialization environmental factors.        
    Hate Crimes are perpetrated by individuals who attack others based on their own intense feelings of bias and bigotry        
    Hate Crimes acts of racial, religious, anti-immigration, sexual orientation, gender, and disability motivated violence        
    Grief the feeling of loss we experience after a death, disappointment, or tragedy.        
    Grand Theory a theory which deals with the universal aspects of social processes or problems and is based on abstract ideas and concepts rather than on case specific evidence. These include Conflict, Functionalism, Symbolic Interactionism, and Social Exchange Theories        
    Gordon Allport's Emotional level of prejudice refers to prejudiced feelings which are aroused by expression or thoughts        
    Gordon Allport's Cognitive level of prejudice refers to our perceptions and beliefs and is based on logical and rational thoughts        
    Gordon Allport's Action-orientation level of prejudice is a predisposition to act in favor of or against certain groups        
    GNI PPP the gross national income of a country converted to international dollars using a factor called the purchasing power parity. In other words this lets you understand how much a person could buy in the US with a given amount of money, regardless of the country's currency.        
    Gesellschaft (Guh-zell-shoft) means" impersonal associations"        
    Gerontology is the scientific study of the processes and phenomena of aging and growing old        
    Gentrification the purchase of rundown buildings in the city center which were remodeled for upper class apartments        
    Generalized other are classes of people with whom a person interacts on the basis of generalized roles rather than individualized characteristics.        
    Generalizability means that the results from the sample can be assumed to apply to the population with confidence (as though the population itself had been studied).        
    General Fertility Rate the numbers of live births per 1,000 women aged 15-44.        
    Gender is the cultural definition of what it means to be a man or a woman.        
    Gender Socialization is the shaping of individual behavior and perceptions in such a way that the individual conforms to the socially prescribed expectations for males and females        
    Gender Roles socialized expectations of what is normal, desirable, acceptable, and conforming for males and females in specific jobs or positions in groups and organizations over the life course        
    Gemeinschaft (Guh-mine-shoft) means "intimate community"        
    Framing involves placing the news story into a preexisting frame of reference for the public, so that they understanding it as journalists would have it be understood.        
    Formatting is the design and construction of the news story        
    Forced assimilation is where those in power in the mainstream refuse to allow immigrants to maintain their various cultures.        
    Folkway is a traditional or customary norm governing everyday social behaviors.        
    First Standard Deviation the area in the distribution where about two-thirds of the scores fall (1/3 above and 1/3 below the mean)        
    Filtering is the process of eliminating potential mates from the pool of eligible's in the market place.        
    Filial piety is the value, respect, and reverence of one's elderly which is often accompanied by caregiving and support of the elderly        
    Field Experiments studies which utilize experimental design but are initiated in everyday settings and non-laboratory environments. For example, a sociologist might manipulate the levels of lighting to study how factory work performance is impacted (Google Hawthorn Effect). A few other methods are sometimes used by Sociologists.        
    Fertility is a measure of the number of children born to a woman.        
    Feral Children are wild or untamed children who grow up without typical adult socialization influences        
    Female Genital Mutilation the traditional cutting, circumcision, and removal of most or all external genitalia of women for the end result of closing off some or part of the vagina until such time that the woman is married and cut open.        
    Fecundity the physiological ability to conceive or give birth to children.        
    FBI's hate crime perpetrators: Thrill Seekers tends to commit hate crimes with peer group members but does not belong to hate group        
    FBI's hate crime perpetrators: Reactive Offender grounds his attack on a perceived transgression, such as an insult, interracial dating, or a neighborhood integration        
    FBI's hate crime perpetrators: Hard-core offenders extremely violent and aggressive (typically a Hate Group Member)        
    Fatalistic Suicide suicide which occurs when people are over regulated or over-constrained. This might happen in oppressive societies where people prefer to die rather than continue under the hopeless state of oppression (IE: prisoners of war, inmates, and refugees).        
    False Social Conscious is an ignorance of social facts and the larger social picture        
    False Consciousness when members of groups which are relatively powerless in society accept beliefs that work against their self-interests        
    Fair-weather liberal are not prejudiced but do discriminate. These people tend to be those who go along with the crowd or obey orders        
    Fad is a novel form of behavior that catches on in popularity but later fades        
    Extreme value the especially low or high number in the series        
    Extended Family are one's relatives beyond nuclear and blended family levels (IE Cousins, aunts & uncles, Grand and great grandparents)        
    Expressive Tasks pertain to the creation and maintenance of a set of positive, supportive, emotional relationships within the family unit.        
    Expressive Movement seeks to allow for expression of personal concerns and beliefs. Punk, Goths, and Emos are examples of this type        
    Experiments are studies in which researchers can observe phenomena while holding other variables constant or controlling them        
    Ethnocentrism is the tendency to judge others based on our own experiences.        
    Ethnic Villagers are city dwellers who group together with others of the same ethnic background and set up miniature enclaves        
    Ethnic group consist of people who share a common orientation toward the world, who develop a sense of peoplehood, and who are perceived by others as having a distinctive culture        
    Equity a sense that the interactions are fair to us and fair to others involved by the consequences of our choices        
    Equilibrium is the state of balance maintained by social processes that help society adjust and compensate for forces that might tilt it onto a path of destruction        
    Epidemiology the scientific study of diseases, their transmission, and their management        
    Emigration is the departure from your country of origin to reside in another        
    Emergent Norm Theory claims that as crowds form and people interact, new norms develop in the crowd and facilitate certain actions        
    Elite Crime Crimes of insider nature that typically are difficult to punish and have broad social consequences upon the masses        
    Egoistic Suicide suicide which occurs when people are under-involved or under-committed to groups. This is the loner-type suicide when an individual is disconnected (or never connected) to others.        
    Egalitarian Families ones with power and authority more fairly distributed between husband and wife.        
    Educational Attainment number of years of school completed        
    Educational Achievement refers to how much the student has learned in terms of reading, writing, and arithmetic        
    Economy is a system of producing and distributing goods and services and can be local, state, national, international, and global        
    Ecclesia are religious organizations which have grown to be large and are integrated with government and other social institutions.        
    Dyads are a group of two people        
    Dr. Elisabeth KŸbler-Ross Stages of Grief: denial "All is fine or it didn't happen"; anger "why me? Or I hate God for this;" bargaining I be a better person if you (God) will just let him live;" depression "all is lost or why try?;" and acceptance "we'll be okay or we can get through this together"        
    Downward Mobility moving from a higher to a lower class.        
    Doubling Time the time required for a population to double if the current growth rate continues. To calculate the doubling time you simply divide 70 by the current growth rate of the country and that yields the number of years required for the double        
    Dominant group is the group within a social system which has more power, control, and wealth        
    Doctorate another 4-6 years past Bachelor's degree        
    Divorce the legal dissolution of a marriage        
    Disengagement Theory claims that as elderly people realize the inevitability of death and begin to systematically disengage from their previous youthful roles, society simultaneously prepares the pre-elderly and elderly to disengage from their roles.        
    Discrimination behaviors which result in the unfair or unequal treatment of others. Discrimination is an action (not just a feeling or thought)        
    Discrimination behavioral        
    Direct correlation means that the variables change in the same direction (IE: the more education you have the more money you make).        
    Definitions favorable to breaking law Definitions unfavorable to breaking law        
    Differential Association the process of learning deviance from others in your close relationships who provide role models of and opportunities for deviance. There's a useful formula to remember:        
    Deviance is a violation of norms or rules of behavior that are typically outside of the norms        
    Deprived and Trapped are the very poor, disabled, or emotionally disturbed who are often victims of other city dwellers        
    Deprivation Theory claims that people feel relatively deprived in comparison to some other group or institution and use the social movement to equalize things        
    Dependent Variables survey variables that change in response to the influence of independent variables.        
    Demography is the scientific study of population growth and change.        
    Demographic Transition Theory claims that populations go through 3 distinct stages that correspond to the onset of the Industrial Revolution with changes in birth and death rates        
    Demographic Questions are questions which provide the basic categorical information about your respondent including: age, sex, race, education level, marital status, birth date, birth place, income, etc.        
    Democratic Socialism is a economic system based on the merger of capitalism and socialism that often is accompanied by vague boundaries between governmental management of goods and services and diminished "hands-off" governmental involvement in the individual pursuit of economic stability        
    Demand is the desire in the marketplace for goods and services        
    Death the termination of the body, its systems, and brain activity in an irreversible way        
    De Jure discrimination is legalized discrimination which is typically built into the social structure        
    De Facto discrimination is the actual experience of members of society with discrimination        
    Deaf Culture is the culture of those who were born deaf, raised using ASL to communicate, and/or educated as adults to serve as interpreters for the Native Deaf        
    Culture shock is the disoriented feeling which occurs in the context of being in a new culture.        
    Cultural acculturation into the host culture        
    Cultural Universals are certain aspects of cultures which are found among peoples of all cultures throughout the world        
    Cultural Relativism is the tendency to look for the cultural context in which differences in cultures occur        
    Cultural leveling is the process in which cultures of the world become similar.        
    Cultural lag is the process whereby one part of culture changes faster than another part to which it is related.        
    Cultural diffusion is when certain aspects of one culture are spread to another culture        
    Cultivation Theory which claims that the types of TV viewing we watch accumulate within us and impact our world view        
    Cult a newer religion with few followers whose teachings are perceived to be at odds with the dominant culture and religion        
    Crude Death Rate the number of deaths in a given population per 1,000 people living in that population        
    Crude Birth Rate is the number of live births per 1,000 people living in the population        
    Crude Birth Rate the numbers of births per 1,000 population in a given year.        
    Crowds are large numbers of people in the same space at the same time        
    Cross-Sectional Survey is a survey given once to a group of people.        
    Crime is behavior which violates laws and to which governments can apply negative sanctions        
    Credentialed Societies are societies which use diplomas or degrees to determine who is eligible for a job.        
    Counterculture occurs when a group's values, norm, and beliefs are in conflict or opposition to those of the larger society and mainstream culture.        
    Cosmopolites are intellectuals, professional, and artists who are attracted to the city because of opportunities and community that are found there        
    Cooptation the absorption of new (threatening) ideas and people into the policy making structure        
    Convergence Theory claims that motivations are not born in the crowd but develop in individuals who carry them to the crowd        
    Conventional Crowd a crowd which gathers for a typical event that is more routine in nature (IE: Moody Blues concert, Super Bowl Game, or Midsummer's Night Dream play)        
    Convenience Sample a portion of the population that is NOT scientifically drawn, but is collected because they are easy to access        
    Continuity Theory claims that older adults maintain patterns in their later years which they had in their younger years.        
    Content Analysis when the researcher systematically and quantitatively describes the contents of some form of media.        
    Content Analysis the counting and tabulating of words, sentences, and themes from written, audio, video, and other forms of communication        
    Conservative Movement seeks to uphold the values and institutions of society and generally resist attempts to alter them        
    Conformity adherence to the normative and legal standards of a group society. An example might be the clothes you wore to class today-legal and normal        
    Conflict theory claims that society is in a state of perpetual conflict and competition for limited resources.        
    Concentric Zone Theory claims that cities grow like the rings of a tree starting in the center and growing outward        
    Comte's Definition of Sociology the science of society. In his observation Comte believed that society's knowledge passed through 3 stages which he observed in France.        
    Competition Origin of Prejudice prejudice occurs when members of one group feel threatened and or deprived by members of another group for limited resources        
    Communism is an extreme socialistic economy with extreme governmental management of goods and services along with management of public and private ideologies        
    Commitment the stronger our loyalty to legitimate opportunity, the greater the advantages of conforming        
    Collective Behavior unusual or non-routine behaviors that large numbers of people participate in. There are a variety of types of collective behaviors        
    Cohort a group of people who share a statistical or demographic trait such as those born between 1946-1964.        
    Coercive Organizations people typically are forced into these against their will (prison)        
    Closed Survey Questions are questions designed to get respondents to choose from a list of responses you provide to them (IE: About how many college football games have you ever attended? __1 __2 __3 __4 __5 __6 __7 __8 __9 __10+).        
    Closed Caste System is an economic system that allows no mobility between caste levels, you are born into the caste you stay in your entire life, and you can't have social relations between the castes.        
    Church is a sect that has gained numerous followers and has become highly bureaucratized.        
    Chicago School a center for sociological research that focuses on urban and ecological sociological issues.        
    Charisma means having outstanding personality which magnetically attracts others to you        
    Certificate 1-year past high school        
    Central Place Theory claims that farmers needed a central place to trade or sell their surplus and cities developed in those central places        
    Centenarian a living person who has had their 100 birthday        
    Census Enumeration the formal counting of a population by its government.        
    Causation means that a change in one variable leads to or cause a change in another variable, or XYZ chewing gum causes less Herpes outbreaks.        
    Category is a number of people who share common characteristics.        
    Categorical Thinking the human cognitive process of storing and retrieving information in sections of our memory that are highly associated with one another        
    Capitalism an economy based on the amount of goods and services produced in a free trade setting        
    Calculative Trust trust based on performance and competence (instrumental relationships)        
    Breadwinner is a parent or spouse who earns wages outside of the home and uses them to support the family.        
    Bourgeoisie wealthy elite (royalty, political, and corporate leaders) have the most power. Bourgeoisie are the "Goliaths" in society who often bully their wishes into outcomes.        
    Blended Family is the family created by remarriage including step siblings and parents. Today, very few families are multiple generational beyond parents and their children.        
    Biological Needs innate urges that require some action on our part if we are to survive        
    Bereavement the circumstances and conditions that accompany grief.        
    Belief strong understanding in values of conventional morality promote conformity        
    Bachelor's 4-year degree        
    Baby Boomers Born between 1946-1964        
    Attachments strong social mutual bonds that encourage society's members to conform        
    Associates 2-year degree        
    Assimilation is the process by which people from different cultures are acculturated and ultimately absorbed into the mainstream culture        
    Ascribed Status is present at birth(race, sex, or class)        
    Apartheid South African formalized separateness between Blacks and Whites, mandating White supremacy and privileged treatment between 1948 and 1990        
    Antinatalist a perspective which opposes childbearing        
    Anticipatory socialization is practice in advance for some future role.        
    Anomie a state of relative normlessness that comes from the disintegration of our routines and regulations. Anomie is common when we go through sudden changes in our lives or when we live in larger cities.        
    Anomie is a state of social normlessness which occurs when our lives or society has vague norms        
    Anomic Suicide suicide which occurs when people are under-regulated by familiar norms that serve as anchors to their social reality. You'd expect this type of suicide in very large cities or when dramatic social changes have transpired (IE: 9-11 terrorist attacks or recent economic recessions).        
    Animism no gods, focuses on good or evil spirits which inhabit animals, rocks and /or people and animals        
    Anger-Retaliatory Rapist has plenty of self-confidence (perhaps to the point of too much); he tends to demean, degrade, humiliate, and punish his victim for things she did not do (for example his bad day at work might be taken out on her); and he tends to be brutal, blitzing his victims so that they offer little resistance        
    Anger-Excitation Rapist is the least common type, yet the most evil; he will torture, kidnap, and even kill his victim out of pleasure-seeking at the cost of another's pain; he is sadistic and predatory; and he uses his intelligence to plot and prey upon unsuspecting victims        
    An Expressive Crowd a crowd gathered to gather to express an emotion (IE: Woodstock; the Million Man March; or the 9-11 Memorial Services)        
    Altruistic Suicide suicide which occurs when people are over involved and overcommitted to a group or society as a whole. This occurs when the needs of society as a whole override the needs of the individual. Soldiers often do this to protect their comrades.        
    All-weather liberal is neither prejudiced nor does he/she discriminate        
    Alienation the resulting influence of industrialization on society's members where they feel disconnected and powerless in the final direction of their destinies. To Marx, the social systems people created in turn controlled the pattern of their social life.        
    Agricultural Surplus Theory claims that as farming skills increased, a surplus of basic foodstuffs existed. The surplus freed certain people from having to produce their own food and let them develop other occupations        
    Agricultural Societies utilize advanced technologies to support crops and livestock (plow) and in Western societies became the mainstay which enabled the Industrial Revolution to transpire by feeding society's members.        
    Aggregate is a number of people in the same place at the same time. So people in the same movie theater, people at the same bus stop, and even people at a university football game are considered in aggregates, not groups.        
    Agents people who use their agency to make choices based on their varied motivations        
    Agenda setting is the processes of selecting and screening topics which will be presented to the general public        
    Agency's represents the organizations involved in our socialization        
    Ageism is the prejudice and discrimination against a person based on his/her chronological age.        
    Adult socialization occurs as we assume adult roles such as wife/husband/employee/etc.        
    Activity Theory claims that the elderly benefit from high levels of activities, especially meaningful activities that help to replace lost life roles after retirement.        
    Active bigots are both prejudiced and they discriminate        
    Acting Crowds are crowds which are emotionally charged against an event or goal. Some become mobs, but not all of them        
    Achieved Status is attained through one's choices and efforts (college student, movie star, teacher, or athlete)        
    Acculturation the process by which immigrant people adjust and adapt their way of life to the host culture.        
    Abstract Ideals religions that focus on sacred principles and thoughts which guide our lives and typically have no divine beings in charge of the world and universe. Buddhism is an example of an abstract ideal religion.        
    Absolutist perspective claims that deviance resides in the very nature of an act and is wrong at all times and in all places        
    Absolute Poverty the level of poverty where individuals and families cannot sustain food, shelter, warmth, and safety needs.        
    Abrahamic Religions religions which trace their religious ancestry back through "Father" Abraham.