Key Terms Flashcards
1
Q
Access
A
Before any information can be collected, the researcher needs access to those under study. Some groups are more difficult to reach than others ad access might be negotiated via a gatekeeper
2
Q
Achieved status
A
Some positions in life do not come automatically, we have to earn them
3
Q
Adolescent
A
A term used to describe a teenager, the period between childhood and adulthood
4
Q
Agents of socialisation
A
These are the parts of society that help transmit culture
5
Q
Ascribed status
A
Some positions in life are given automatically; being a child or pupil.
6
Q
Aspirations
A
Another term for ambitions or aims in life
7
Q
Beanpole family
A
The extended family of several generations with few people in each generation
8
Q
Bedroom culture
A
The subculture of young teenage girls who do not have the freedom boys often have to spend leisure time outside the home
9
Q
Boomerang children
A
Adult children, returning to their parents’ home after a period away living independently
10
Q
Casual relationship
A
One thing brings about or causes another. In the natural sciences it is often possible to identify a casual relationship. In sociology , identifying direct cause and effect relationships is more difficult as behaviour is subject to many different influences at the same time.
11
Q
Child-centred
A
The modern family is said to be child centred in contrast to the ‘children should be seen and not heard’ attitude of the past
12
Q
Cohabitation
A
When a couple live together as though they are married, but without having gone through the legal process of marriage
13
Q
Collective conscience
A
Durkheim introduced this term to describe the shared ways of thinking to society
14
Q
Collectivism
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This view of society emphasises the group over the individual; in collectivist societies the group shares responsibility for the well-being of all
15
Q
Companionate marriage
A
A marriage in which the parents share activities and also share responsibility for each others emotional well-being
16
Q
Content analysis
A
This is a way of studying the nature of media content. It can be either quantitative or qualitative
17
Q
Correspondence principle
A
Bowles and Gintis used this the term; the education ‘corresponds’ to, or matches, a young person is prepared for their adult life is a worker
18
Q
Counter-culture
A
A counter-culture is a subculture that rejects the morality of the mainstream culture
19
Q
Counter-school culture
A
A subculture based around challenging the expectations of teachers and the school
20
Q
Crisis of masculinity
A
Social changes such as changing job structures and increased rights, opportunities and independence for women have, say some, resulted in men no longer being clear about their role in society. Old ideas of what it is to be a man, are no longer relevant
21
Q
Cult of the individual
A
In modern societies the focus is on individual rights and responsibilities rather than social groups
22
Q
Cultural diversity
A
Cultures may vary across the world and change over time; this is used as evidence for the importance of nurture theories
23
Q
Culture
A
This refers to the shared, learned, way of life in society
24
Q
Culture of resistance
A
When a group develops its own values that are opposed to those of the culture of the dominant class
25
Delinquent subculture
These are informal youth groups who break the law
26
Demographic
Demography is the study of the population. In addition to counting how many people there are, statistics are also collected about patterns of growth, migration and the age structure. The information is used to inform social policy and planning
27
Deterministic
Some theories suggest that people have little or no choice about how to behave, social structures and expectations determine behaviour.
28
Deviant
A deviant is someone who breaks social rules
29
Discourse
This refers to how we think and discuss ideas about people, society and how it is organised ; it includes the relationships within society. What we think about how we think reflect the society we live in: the language available, the distribution of power and the ideas we are exposed to
30
EAL
This is an abbreviation for ‘English as an Additional Language
31
Elective single-hood
This occurs when someone chooses to be single rather than part of a couple
32
Ethos
The ethos of a school refers to its sprit of atmosphere
33
Expressive roles
These are those aspects of family life that are based on emotional ties, rather than on practical needs
34
Extended family
This refers to relatives beyond the nuclear family such as grandparents, uncles/aunts and cousins
35
Fatalistic
Those who are fatalistic tend not to plan for the future because they believe that they have little influence over what happens to them
36
Feminist critique
The challenge to traditional views of the family developed by feminists
37
Feral children
Some children do not need to experience the usual process of socialisation and are known as feral or ‘wild’ children. They are under, or un-socialised
38
Fit thesis
Functionalists have argued that the nuclear family emerged in industrial societies because it was a good fit for the new way that the economy operated
39
Folk devils
These are groups of people that have been demonised by the media
40
Forced single-hood
When a partnership ends, unwillingly
41
Formal control
Some social control is done one the basis of clearly aid down written rules and laws
42
Genderquake
The effects of campaigning for women’s rights have been called a ‘Genderquake’: there as been a fundamental change in attitudes towards women and their role in society
43
Golden age
Those who believe the family is in decline often refer to an unspecified period past, when families were happy and supportive, and children well behaved
44
Habitus
This is the social setting we are used to and feel comfortable in, we fit in
45
Halo effect
This idea is linked to labelling theory. Those who have been labelled positively tend to be seen positively in the future; this might mean being given the benefit of the doubt
46
Hawthorne effect
People behave differently when they know they are being studied. This can affect the validity of the data that is collected
47
Hegemonic masculinity
Aims to explain how and why men are able to maintain their dominance over women; this is done by presenting anything that is ‘feminine’ as inferior
48
Hidden curriculum
At school we learn a great deal more than the subjects on the timetable: functionalists point out tat norms and values are also transmitted. For Marxists, the hidden curriculum reflects the ideology of capitalism; for feminists patriarchies ideas are reinforced
49
Hierarchy
This refers to different levels within an organisation; the higher up the position is, the more power and authority it has. Instructions go down the hierarchy from top to bottom
50
Hypothesis
A hypothesis is a testable statement or prediction; different theories make different predictions
51
Ideological state apparatus
A Marxist term for a social institution that transmits the ideology of the dominant class and thus helps maintain their power
52
Ideology
An ideology is a set of ideas hat attempts to explain why society is organised the way it is =, based on a view of how society should be organised
53
Individualism
This contrasts with collectivism: the individual is valued above the group. It is up to everybody to look after themselves
54
Informal control
This type of control is not so clearly defined as a formal control, but is still important. The expectations of our family, friends or bosses influence our behaviour
55
Institutional racism
Racism is discrimination against someone due to their race of ethnicity. Institutions racism occurs when the way an institution is organised and operates results in racial discrimination
56
Joint conjugal roles
Conjugal roles refers to the roles of men and women in relationships. Joint conjugal roles is when there is little difference in the roles, and activities and interests are shared
57
Ladder of opportunity
Those who see the education system as meritocratic believe it offers opportunities for talented and hardworking people to improve their position in society
58
Laddishness
This term is used derogatively to describe rowdy, often sexist, behaviour by young men. In the classroom this can mean disruptive behaviour and challenges to the teachers expectations
59
Lagged adaption
As the roles of women have changed, men have had to change too. This is usually a delayed reaction, as men lagged behind women
60
Lone parent
An adult with no partner with responsibility for a children’s. Also known as a single-parent
61
Magical solutions
Mike Brake and others are associated with the idea that working-class youth turn to subcultures to provide solutions to economic and social problems. These solutions are imaginary and ‘magical’
62
Malestream
Feminists introduced this world to describe the way that much sociology either ignored women or failed to treat them as different from men
63
Malestream bias
Before the impact of feminism on sociology, research typically focused on males; it is a play on the term ‘mainstream’
64
Material culture
Some aspects of a way of life are physical things, clothing or buildings, for example
65
Material deprivation
To be deprived means that you lack something. Material deprivation refers to a lack of money, which in turn results in limited access to other important things such as decent housing, food and a pleasant lifestyle
66
Meritocratic
If a system is based on fair competition, where talent and effort decide who succeeds, then it is meritocratic. Functionalists see the education system as meritocratic
67
Micro-sociology
Micro sociology starts with people and their interaction, before moving on to look at social institutions and society
68
Nature-nurture debate
This debate is about influences on social behaviour: are we born knowing how to behave or do we learn what to do?
69
Negotiated families
As families and relationships are less restricted by tradition and social expectations than in the past, people are able to arrange or negotiate their relationships on more personal terms
70
Neo-conventional family
As more women have entered the job market, the new conventional family consists of two employed adults and fewer children than in the past
71
Neo-tribe
A loose group of people of similar tastes and interests
72
Non-material culture
This refers to those aspects of culture such as language, laws and attitudes based on ideas that people share
73
Norms
These are the rules or guidelines for expected behaviour
74
Nuclear family
A nuclear family consists of two generations; parents and children
75
Particularist values
Sometimes values are associated with a small group such as a family, and often there are different expectations for different individuals
76
Primary socialisation
We first learn about culture in the family, this is our primary socialisation
77
Property
Something owned by someone; in patriarchal societies women are treated as though they are owned by men
78
Public schools
The oldest, most exclusive fee-paying schools
79
Repressive state apparatus
A Marxist term for social institutions that help maintain the power of the dominant class through the threat of force and coercion
80
Risk society
A term used by Postmodernists; as our social roles are less rigidly defined and we have more choices so we may face more risk as relationships are less certain
81
Role
The part or function we play in a situation, organisation or group
82
Role allocation
Functionalists see this as one of the main reasons that we have an education system. Through the process of selection, people are directed towards different types of work depending on their interests and abilities
83
Role model
Those people who we look up to and copy behaviour from are our role models
84
Sandwich generation
This occurs when adults have responsibilities not only for their children, but also for the older generation
85
Saturated family
The family is no longer a place of shared experiences and values. It is individuals who are increasingly involved or saturated by activities, often away from other family members or using technology inside the home
86
Secondary socialisation
As we grow older, agents of socialisation outside the family begin to have an influence. These include the peer group and the education system
87
Secularisation
This refers to the decline in participation and religion and the accompanying decline in the influence that religion has on society
88
Segregated conjugal roles
This refers to relationships where there are clear differences between the responsibilities of women and men within the family
89
Sink schools
This is a pejorative term used to describe schools, usually in deprived areas, that have poor examination results. This makes it difficult to attract both teachers and bright pupils, and so results continue to be lower than elsewhere; the school sinks to the bottom of the league table
90
Social change
Over time societies change; the expected ways of behaving, or the way that social institutions are organised
91
Social class
One form of social differentiation is social class. This decision is often based on occupation
92
Social cohesion
Durkheim thought that to operate smoothly society needed values that were shared by all of its member. If people identify with their society and are committed to its vales, then there is social cohesion
93
Social construction
This refers to how people define concepts and social rules. As they are socially constructed they can change over time and vary from place to place.
94
Social control
This refers to the unwritten and written rules that we follow
95
Social power
Power is the ability to influence the behaviour and thinking of others
96
Status
Position in society
97
symbolic annihilation
When a social group is either absent from the media or mis-represented. Feminists argue this happens to women
98
Tertiary socialisation
Some sociologist distinguish between secondary and tertiary socialisation; tertiary socialisation happens in adulthood
99
Toxic childhood
As children are increasingly exposed to a wide range of social pressures, they are less able to enjoy a care-free existence, instead their experience is being poisoned
100
Transgressive women
If women do not conform too traditional stereotypes and expectations they can be seen as ‘transgressing’ or going beyond their roles. They are often targeted for criticism
101
Trickle-down theory
This theory suggests that as the rich get richer, in turn the poor will benefit as wealth will trickle down to them
102
Triple shift
This is a feminist idea; women have three responsibilities; their paid job, household tasks, and providing emotional support to family
103
Under-attainment
A teacher might be concerned at the underachievement of a particular individual who i snot fulfilling their potential
104
Underclass
Refers to the people who rely solely on welfare benefits rather than work for their income
105
Unit of consumption
This is a Marxist term; in modern societies members of family go out to work and earn money which is spent of buying goods and services consumed by the family. In traditional societies families often worked together to produce their own goods
106
Universalistic values
These are associated with society as a whole, rather than a group within it. The values are applied to everyone equally
107
Values
The basic beliefs that members of a society share; they provide the basis for acceptable behaviour
108
Welfare system
The support provided to families from the government, either i the form of benefits or services such as education, health and welfare support
