sociology terms Flashcards
action theory
Talcott Parsons’s belief that social science must consider people’s motives when studying their actions
adoption
Legal process in which the parenting rights and responsibilities are transferred from one person to another
affirmative actions
Policies that benefit minorities or special interest groups in business or education
antipositivism
The belief that social sciences are not subject to the same methods of understanding as the natural sciences
antisemitism
Discrimination against Jews
assimilation
Process by which minorities and immigrants become part of the dominant culture
black power
Slogan for ideologies promoting the collective interests of blacks
cohabitation
An unmarried male and female living together
cultural relativism
The belief of Franz Boas that civilization is relative, not absolute, and that there is not a relationship between culture and race
demography
The study of living populations
diffusion
The process of how innovations spread within an organization or social group
endogamy
Practice of marrying only a person of a certain group or class
functionalism
View that society’s parts work together to create stability
gemeinschaft and gesellschaft
Translated as “ community and society” are two normal types of human association according to Ferdinand Tönnies
gentrification
High-income people acquiring property in low-income areas, as a result of which property values increase and lower-income residents are displaced
hidden curriculum
Lessons learned in the classroom that were not intentionally taught
institutional racism
System of inequality based on race
labeling theory
tendency of majorities to label minorities with a word or phrase
macrostructure
large scale organization of a society
norm
guideline that determines behavior of society
overchoice (aka choice overload)
The problem of consumers having too many choices, this can lead to a consumer making a poor choice or no choice at all
phonerology
study of social injustice
positivism
The belief that in the social and natural sciences the only valid truth is scientific truth
role homogeneity
multiple community roles performed by one individual
scapegoat
A person or group that is singled out to receive unwarranted blame
social capital
The collective benefits resulting from social cooperation between people or groups
social stigma
Disapproval of someone who differs from social norms
tertius gardens
one person gaining from a disagreement between two others
underclass
the lowest position in a social hierarchy
vertical mobility
a persons movement up or down the social-status ladder
xenocentrism
Preference for products and ideas from another culture, this is the opposite of ethnocentrism
xenophobia
A fear of people or things from a different culture
