General key terms

Question 1

Norms

Answer 1

an agreed form of behaviour

Question 2

Values

Answer 2

a general principle/ belief that people agree on

Question 3

status

Answer 3

social standing within society

Question 4

achieved status

Answer 4

a status which someone works for/ earns

Question 5

ascribed status

Answer 5

a status which someone is born into/ inherits

Question 6

culture

Answer 6

a contested concept, commonly thought of as a way of life

Question 7

high culture

Answer 7

cultural practices of the upper class such as opera, classical music and theatre

Question 8

popular culture

Answer 8

cultural practices with mass participation, such as soap operas, pop music; culture of the masses

Question 9

subculture

Answer 9

a group with shared norms and values; a distinct group within the majority culture

Question 10

cultural diversity

Answer 10

a society with culturally embedded differences

Question 11

multiculturalism

Answer 11

different ethnic groups living side by side in society

Question 12

consumer culture

Answer 12

culture based on what we buy and consume, often based on spending and material goods

Question 13

global culture

Answer 13

globalisation; where national boundaries become less relevant and the world becomes a smaller, more interconnected place

Question 14

biological factors

Answer 14

the features an individual is born with e.g. gender

Question 15

social factors

Answer 15

the socialising factors or nurturing of an individual

Question 16

primary socialisation

Answer 16

socialisation in early life, from birth to 5 years old, only family and media influence

Question 17

secondary socialisation

Answer 17

socialisation from the ages of 4/5 upwards, family decline in influence, more media, peers, workplace, education

Question 18

gender roles

Answer 18

a set of behaviours attached to being male or female

Question 19

formal curriculum

Answer 19

the subjects studied within a school

Question 20

informal (hidden) curriculum

Answer 20

what is learnt in the school without being taught; often called the hidden curriculum

Question 21

formal social control

Answer 21

police, courts etc that can punish you according to the law

Question 22

informal social control

Answer 22

less formal social control, from parents who can punish you according to their power

Question 23

social control

Answer 23

a means by which society controls its members

Question 24

Identity

Answer 24

a contested concept, ideas of sameness = shared with others, and difference = characteristics/ features different from others

Question 25

national identity

Answer 25

collectively focused, where group identity and an attachment to a team/ country is important

Question 26

identity cards

Answer 26

the governments way of tackling issues of citizenship

Question 27

identity fraud

Answer 27

carried out by individuals taking on the persona of someone else, usually for financial gain

Question 28

corporate identity

Answer 28

the collective group identity of a company or vision

Question 29

hegemonic masculinity

Answer 29

the dominant type of masculinity

Question 30

proletariat

Answer 30

the working class, wage earners/ labouring classes

Question 31

bourgeoisie

Answer 31

the upper classes

Question 32

economic capital

Answer 32

an individuals wealth, money, earnings and property

Question 33

cultural capital

Answer 33

cultural/ traditional knowledge of literature, arts, classical music

Question 34

social capital

Answer 34

the extent to which an individual has an elite social network/ connections, is in contact with many groups

Question 35

subjective class identity

Answer 35

arguing that a class only exists if people recognise that they are the same and share interests and goals in common

Question 36

objective class identity

Answer 36

an individual is working class if they do manual work, irrespective of what class they feel they are in, and in this sense, there are fairly clear class boundaries in modern Britain.

Question 37

achieved status

Answer 37

a status an individual has achieved/ earned e.g. Alan Sugar

Question 38

ascribed status

Answer 38

a status given at birth/born into e.g. Prince William

Question 39

social mobility

Answer 39

the moving up and down of the social ladder

Question 40

open social system

Answer 40

system in exchange of matter with its environment, import and export.

Question 41

closed social system

Answer 41

are held to be isolated from their environment e.g. upper classes

Question 42

ethnicity

Answer 42

a personal cultural heritage

Question 43

race

Answer 43

a biological category referring to such things as asking colour

Question 44

othering

Answer 44

a process of defining the self in the positive ad the other in the negative

Question 45

hybridity

Answer 45

a coming together of cultures, styles and identities resulting in the formation of new ones

Question 46

code switching

Answer 46

the way in which some ethnic groups behave differently with family than with their peer groups; also described as wearing a white mask

Question 47

youth

Answer 47

a period of life between childhood and adulthood between the ages of 15 and 30

Question 48

middle age

Answer 48

a stage in life for reflection, associated with people in their 40s and 50s

Question 49

old age

Answer 49

a period stereotyped for dependancy and loneliness

Question 50

chronological age

Answer 50

age by order of date, not considering the state of mentality a person believes to be in

Question 51

three ages

Answer 51

associated with Laslett

Question 52

oldest olds

Answer 52

associated with Mckingsley, says that the segment of the population ages 85 and over is the fastest growing so we must consider an oldest old and youngest old