glossary terms: chaps 6-9

Question 1

define substantive birth cohort

Answer 1

an umbrella term that includes the ideas captures by ‘lives in time and place’ while also representing the generation, gender, ethnicity, race, and class positions into which ppl are born through no choice of their own

Question 2

define Action

Answer 2

meaningful human behaviour from the point of view of the actor involved

Question 3

define morphogenesis

Answer 3

processes that elaborate or transform an existing system or structure

Question 4

define compulsory heterosexuality

Answer 4

the lack of freedom woman have to decide whether they will be heterosexual or homosexual. the phrase also refers to the pressures that confront lesbians when they are forced to act as if they were heterosexual or risk facing discriminatory actions

Question 5

Define class reproduction

Answer 5

occurs when ones class position is reproduced across generations

Question 6

define morphostasis

Answer 6

processes that work ar maintaining a systems organizational structure

Question 7

define resistance

Answer 7

the process through which individuals reject and act against established social structures

Question 8

define surplus value

Answer 8

value of the surplus product that results when workers labour for more hours that would be required for them. the excess time which they work result in the surplus product that results from it is appropriated by the owners

Question 9

define realist social ontology

Answer 9

philosphical assumptions about the realism of observable social phenomena. realism is the idea that abstract ideas are real in their consequences. social structures, for instance, are not directly observable but their social influence is real. ontology refers to the philosophical beliefs about the nature of essence of being

Question 10

define social action

Answer 10

according to weber, action that is meaningful only in relation to another person behavior

Question 11

define generation

Answer 11

the subjectively meaningful cohort into which one is born. This concept is similar to the “lives in time and place” concept in Elder’s life-course perspective but reflects mannheims ideas involving the sociological relevance of being born ar a particular historical time in a given society

Question 12

define lives in time and place

Answer 12

the effects of contextual change caused by a particular historical event on individual life trajectories.

Question 13

define relative mobility

Answer 13

an estimate of the chance of upward or downward movement for a member of ones social class in comparison with a member from another social class

Question 14

define primary labour markets

Answer 14

a pool of good jobs that are characterized by high pay, good benefits, and job security

Question 15

define social mobility

Answer 15

the process of moving b/w status positions in society. studies of social mobility sometimes examine contry v_ariations in opportunities for occupational or educational mobility_. other social mobility studies examine intergenerational mobility and whether children have surpassed the occupational status or educational attainment of their parents

Question 16

define nuclear family

Answer 16

a family consisting of a husband and wife who live together with their biological or adopted children

Question 17

define skill

Answer 17

the combination of job complexity and autonomy

Question 18

define symbolic interactionism

Answer 18

an approach to sociological study that situates analysis within the interaction. ppl evaluate and define themselves on the basis of how they think others view them. we imagine ourselves in other social roles, and through role playing we learn appropriate and inappropriate forms of behaviour.

Question 19

define timing of lives

Answer 19

an umbrella concept that captures issues relating to social time, the timing of significant transitions, historical time, and the duration and sequencing of life events.

Question 20

define paternity leave

Answer 20

the time a father takes off work ar the birth or adoption of a child. this can either be paid or unpaid depending on ones qualifications

Question 21

define autonomy

Answer 21

ability for workers to make their own decisions about how to do their work

• refers to the control that workers have over their work process

Question 22

define ideal types

Answer 22

theoretical abstractions of a particular social phenomenon. observations that are exaggerated and used as a methadological tool to provide insight into the observed phenomena and for assesing variations from the abstraction

• introduced by weber

Question 23

define Meritocracy

Answer 23

the allocations of positions, roles, prestige, power, and economic reward whereby “excellent” individuals are overbenefited in relation to others

Question 24

define alienation

Answer 24

marx defined 4 dimensions of alienation

1. workers seperated from products of their labour
2. workers separated from their labour process (little autonomy over work done)
3. workers are alienated from themselves (cuz they are alienated from the products and process of their own labor)
4. separation of workers from eachother

Question 25

define conformation

Answer 25

the process through which individuals comply with and accept the various schemas and resources that structure society

Question 26

define fertility rate

Answer 26

the average number of children born to women of child-bearing age

Question 27

define capitalism

Answer 27

the economic and social organization of production process in modern industrialized countries

Question 28

define cluttered nest

Answer 28

the situation facing parents when children return to live with them after the parents have experiences the “empty nest” phase

Question 29

define cumulative advantage/disadvantage hypothesis

Answer 29

social and economic advantage and disadvantage cumulate over time.

individuals retaining their advantage/disadvantage beyond individual merit

• “the rich get richer and the poor get poorer”

Question 30

define sandwich generation

Answer 30

the generation in which adult children, usually daughters, are “caught” between caring for their young children and elderly parents