Concepts And Vocab

Question 1

Content analysis

Answer 1

At its most basic, content analysis is a statistical exercise that involves counting, categorizing and interpreting words and images from documents, film, art, music and other cultural products and media in relation to an aspect or quality of social life.

Question 2

Community

Answer 2

A (usually local) social system with an implied sense of relationship and mutual identity among it’s members. As well as being locational, a community can be a group that shares a strong common interest and whose members communicate over space and through time using communication technologies.

Question 3

Communication technologies

Answer 3

Technologies used in transmitting information and entertainment between senders and receivers across various media, including newspapers, magazines, movies, broadcast, cable, satellite, radio and the Internet.

Question 4

Commodity

Answer 4

A marketable item or consumer object that can be supplied because there is a demand and that can be purchased through economic exchange.

Question 5

Acculturation

Answer 5

The process of contacts between different cultures and also the outcome of such contacts. Acculturation occurs when members of one cultural group adopt the beliefs and behaviours of another group. It may involve direct social interaction or exposure to other cultures through mass media.

Question 6

Agents of scoialisation

Answer 6

A person or institution that shapes an individual’s social development.

Question 7

Authority

Answer 7

Linked to power and the right to make decisions and to determine, adjudicate or settle issues and disputes in society. Authority is best understood as the legitimate use of power. The use of authority is important in the process of decision-making and in initiating change and maintaining continuity.

Question 8

Belief System

Answer 8

A system in which members of the group share a commitment to a set of beliefs and values that systematically defines a way of perceiving the social, cultural, physical and psychological world. Belief systems can be categorised as religious and non-religious. Both have rituals, symbols, stories, traditions and customs.

Question 9

Beliefs

Answer 9

A set of opinions or convictions; ideas we believe in as the truth. Beliefs can come from one’s own experience and reflection, or from what one is told by others.

Question 10

Case Study

Answer 10

The case study method involves the collection of data related to an individual or small group through one or more research methods – for example, observation, interviews and the collection of documentary evidence. Because case study can, and often does, include different methods to collect data, which are then combined with the purpose of illuminating the case from different angles, case study is considered as a methodology by many social researchers.

Question 11

Change

Answer 11

The alteration or modification of cultural elements in a society. Change to society can occur at the micro, meso and macro levels. It can be brought about by modernisation processes, including technological innovation. This force results in an alteration to culture.

Question 12

Commercialisation

Answer 12

The process of adding value to an idea, product or commodity with the aim of selling it and making a profit. Commercialisation is about preparing the item for sale and making money from it. The success of commercialisation often relies on marketing and advertising.

Question 13

Conflict

Answer 13

A perceived incompatibility of goals or actions. Conflict can occur at all levels in society and its resolution can involve modification to what was previously in place.

Question 14

Conformity

Answer 14

When individuals behave in certain ways as a result of group pressure, whether real or imagined.

Question 15

Consumption

Answer 15

The process of selecting and using a product. Consumption involves a conscious decision to engage with a commodity.

Question 16

Continuity

Answer 16

The persistence or consistent existence of cultural elements in a society across time. Continuity can also be referred to as the maintenance of the traditions and social structures that bring stability to a society.

Question 17

cooperation

Answer 17

The ability of individual members of a group to work together to achieve a common goal that is in the group’s interests and that contributes to the continued existence of the group.

Question 18

Cultural Diversity

Answer 18

Appears as a society becomes larger and more complex, immigrant groups join the dominant culture, and subcultures form within the society. The more complex the society, the more likely it is that its culture will become internally varied and diverse. Cultural diversity implies a two-way sharing of ideas, customs and values among the various cultural groups that comprise the society.

Question 19

Cultural heritage

Answer 19

The practices, traditions, customs and knowledge that define who we are socially and personally. Cultural heritage is an expression of the values that help us to understand our past, make sense of the present, and express a continuity of culture for the future. Cultural heritage can be analysed at the micro, meso and macro levels in society.

Question 20

Cultural Relativism

Answer 20

The idea that concepts are socially constructed and vary across cultures. Therefore, individuals and groups must always view other cultures objectively and not judge them using the values and norms of their own culture as a measure of right or wrong.

Question 21

Cultural Transmission

Answer 21

The transmission of culture – such as traditions, values, language, symbols, cultural traits, beliefs and normative behaviour – across and between generations in society.

Question 22

Customs

Answer 22

Established ways of acting or cultural practices that are unique to groups in society. Customs have important links to the heritage, values and traditions of people.

Question 23

Deindividuation

Answer 23

When individuals lose self-awareness and self-restraint when acting within a group that allows more anonymity. When deindividuation occurs, individuals feel less responsible for their actions and will do things in groups that they otherwise would not do.

Question 24

Discrimination

Answer 24

Treating a person or group differently, often in a negative manner, usually as a result of prejudice. Discrimination may also be positive, designed to redress perceived injustice.

Question 25

Empowerment

Answer 25

A social process that gives power or authority to people at a micro level, to groups at a meso level, and to institutions at a macro level, allowing them to think, behave, take action, control and make decisions.

Question 26

Equality

Answer 26

Occurs when individuals and groups within a society have the same chances of access to education, wealth, power, equal rights under the law, and so on. True social equality occurs when there is social mobility and access to opportunities and resources that are socially valued. True equality is often thought of as an ideal, rather than an achievable reality.

Question 27

Ethical

Answer 27

Ethics refers to moral issues of what is right or wrong. Ethical behaviour follows understood codes of what is morally right when undertaking any study of people or society. In terms of social research, this means informed consent, confidentiality and privacy, consideration of the possible effects on research participants and on the researcher herself or himself, consideration of vulnerable groups, such as children, and the avoidance of any covert research, which would mean that no informed consent from research participants was given. Ethical research also means that any material from sources other than the researcher’s own work is clearly acknowledged.

Question 28

Ethnicity (Ethnic Identity)

Answer 28

An individual’s identification with, or sense of belonging to, an ethnic group. This is based on perceived common origins that people share, such as a specific ancestry and culture, that mark them as different from others.

Question 29

Evolutionary change

Answer 29

The process of structural change that creates a slow alteration in the institutions or social roles of a society that are then integrated into that society. Evolutionary change, like all social change, can occur as a result of internal sources, such as ideological and/or cultural shifts or technological innovation, or external sources, such as environmental conditions, acculturation or cultural diffusion.

Question 30

Family

Answer 30

A social group characterised by (usually) common residence, economic cooperation and reproduction.

Question 31

Focus Group

Answer 31

A research method used to collect data from an in-depth planned discussion of a defined topic held by a small group of people brought together by a moderator. An interview schedule, time and place are organised. The recording of responses increases the success of this method. The techniques of conducting the focus group are similar to those of conducting an in-depth interview. However, the researcher needs to be able to manage the discussion.

Question 32

Gender

Answer 32

The socially constructed differences between females and males. Social life – including family life, roles, work, behaviour and other activities – is organised around the dimensions of this difference. Gender also refers to the cultural ideals, identity and stereotypes of masculinity and femininity and the sexual division of labour in institutions and organisations. Gender reflects the values a society places on these social constructs, which are particular and unique to a society.

Question 33

Globalisation

Answer 33

A process of integration and the sharing of goods, capital, services, knowledge, leisure, sport, ideas and culture between countries. It has been brought about by improved technologies. Globalisation is evidenced in the emergence of global patterns of consumption and consumerism; the growth of transnational corporations; the emergence of global sport; the spread of world tourism; and the growth of global military and economic systems. Globalisation has created a consciousness of the world as a single place.

Question 34

Hybrid Society

Answer 34

A society that comprises a range of social and cultural influences and components, rather than having a homogenous identity.