Sociology Terms Flashcards
1
Q
The condition of having too little income
to buy the necessities– food, shelter, clothing, health care
A
Absolute Poverty
2
Q
A social position obtained through an individual’s own talents and efforts
A
Achieved status
3
Q
A collection of unrelated people who do not know one another but who may occupy a common space - for example, a crowd of people crossing a city street
A
Aggregate
4
Q
societies in which large scale cultivation using plows and draft animals is the primary means of subsistence
A
Agrarian societies
5
Q
The theory suggesting that deviance and crime occur when there is an acute gap between cultural norms and goals and the socially structured opportunities for individuals to achieve those goals
A
Anomia Theory
6
Q
The process of taking on the attitudes, values, and behaviors of a status or role one expects to occupy in the future
A
Anticipatory socialization
7
Q
the belief that one’s religious faith exempts one from the legal or moral codes in the wider society
A
Antinomianism
8
Q
Universally received self-evident truth (real or not)
A
Axiom
9
Q
An economic system that includes public ownership of or control over all productive resources and whose activity is planned by the government
A
Centrally planned economy
10
Q
The branch of law that deals largely with wrongs against the individual
A
Civil law
11
Q
The interweaving of religious and political symbols in public life
A
Civil Religion
12
Q
Suggests that individuals try to pattern their lives and experiences to form a reasonably consistent picture of their beliefs, actions, and values
A
Cognitive development theory
13
Q
A policy of equal pay for men and women doing similar work, even if the jobs are labeled differently by sex
A
Comparable worth
14
Q
A form of Family organization centered around the husband-wife relationship rather than around blood relationships
A
Conjugal family
15
Q
A “supercity” with more than one million people
A
Consolidated metropolitan statistical area (CMSA)
16
Q
Le Bon’s theory that the anonymity people feel in a crowd makes them susceptible to the suggestions of fanatical leaders, and that emotions can sweep through such a crowd like a virus
A
Contagion theory
17
Q
A theory suggesting that modernizing nations come to resemble one another over time. In collective behavior, a theory suggesting that certain crowds attract particular types of people, who may behave irrationally
A
Convergence theory
18
Q
A social process by which people who might otherwise threaten the stability of existence of an organization are brought into the leadership or policy-making structure of that organization
A
Cooptation
19
Q
The total number of live births per 1000 persons in a population within a particular year
A
Crude birth rate
20
Q
The number of deaths per 1000 persons occuring within a once-year period in a particualr population
A
Crude death rate
21
Q
The view that the nature of a society is shaped primarily by the ideas and values of the people living in it
A
Cultural determinism
22
Q
the process whereby an aspect of culture spreads throughout a culture or from one culture to another
A
Cultural diffusion
23
Q
a situation in which a person’s place in the occupational world is determined by his or her culutral markers (such as ethnicity)
A
cultural division of labor
24
Q
the frocing of members of one culture to adopt the practices of another culture
A
cultural imposition
25
Cultural features, such as the use of language, shared by all human societies
cultural universals
26
the functionalist phrase that oscar lewis used to describe the idea that poor people do not learn the norms and values that can help them improve their circumstances and hence get trapped in a repeated pattern of poverty
culture of poverty
27
in the sociology of sport, a theory that explains aggression and violence in sport as learned behavior that mirrors the degree of aggression and violence in the society
culture pattern theory
28
reasoning from the general to the specific
deduction
29
A theory about the place of developing nations in the world economy suggesting that major industrial nations take advantage of the cheap labor and raw materials of developing nations and hence are reluctant to see them become industrialized
dependency theory
30
the process of breaking down jobs into less complex segments that require less knowledge and judgement on the part of the workers
deskilling
31
A theory by sutherland that attributes the existence of deviant behavior to learning from friends or associates
differential association
32
the conceptual division of the private sector of the economy into monopoly (core) and competitve (periphery) sectors
dual economy
33
a group composed of two people
dyad
34
in urban sociology, the replacement of one group by another over time
ecological sucession
35
the sector of the economy characterized by large, generally very profitable, oligopolistic firms that are national or multination in scope; also called the monopoly sector
economic core
36
the sector of the economy characterized by small, local, barely profitable firms; also called the competitive sector
economic periphery
37
the ratio between the number of the elderly (65 and over) and the number of working-age people (ages 18-64)
elderly dependency ratio
38
a theory of collective behavior suggesting that people move to fform a shared definition of the situation in relatively normless situations
emergent norm theory
39
Marriage between members of the same category, class, or group
endogamy
40
the investigation of what distinguishes justified belief from opinion
epistemology
41
the view that categories of people have intrinsically different and characteristic natures or dispositions
essentialism
42
the three-tiered stratification system used during the middle ages
estate system
43
a detailed study based on actual observation of the way of life of a human group or society
ethnography
44
marriage between members of different categories, classes, or groups
exogamy
45
a term used by goffman to refer to the actions taken by individuals to make their behavior appear consistent with the image they want to present
face-work
46
an intrinsically worthless object, such as paper money, that is deemed to be money by law
fiat currency
47
social norms to which people generally conform, although they receive little pressure to do so
folkways
48
A general idea of the expectations, attitudes, and values of a group or community
generalized other
49
the tendency of individuals to follow the ideas or actions of a group
groupthink
50
the assumption that a physically attractive person also possesses other good qualities
halo effect
51
the change in a subject's behavior caused by the wareness of being studied
Hawthorne effect
52
when socially powerful people use their influence to convince less powerful people it is in their best interest to do what is actually in the most powerful people's best interest
hegemony
53
movement from one social status to another of about equal rank in the social hierarchy
horizontal mobility
54
societies in which the cultivation of plants with hoes is the primary means of subsistence
horticultural societies
55
an economic system that blends features of both centrally planned and capitalist economies
hybrid economy
56
views suggesting that children learn gender roles by identifying with and copying the same-sex parent
identification theories
57
cloward and ohlin's term for opportunities for crimes that are a basic part of our society
Illegitimate opportunity structures
58
reasoning from the particular to the general
induction
59
the practice of voerlapping memberships on corporate boards of directors
interlocking directorates
60
in learning theory, the provision of a reward sometimes but not always when a desired behavior is shown
intermitent reinforcement
61
In george herbert mead's view, the spontaneous or impulsive portion of the self
"i" portion of the self
62
in Robert michel's view, the diea that power in an organization tends to become concentrated in the hands of a small group of leaders
iron law of oligarchy
63
the economic theory advanced by john maynard keynes which holds that government intervention, through deficit spending, may be necessary to maintain high levels of employment
Keynesian economics
64
the existence of two or more distinct labor markets, one of which is open only to individuals of a particular gender or ethnicity
Labor-market segmentation
65
the economic theory advanced by adam smith which holds that the economic system develops and functions best when left ot market forces, without government intervention
Laissez-faire economics
66
the unintended and/or unrecognized function or consequences of some thing or process in a social system
latent function
67
a job that i spart of the central operations of an organization rather than one that provides support services for the operating structure
line job
68
the sense of self an individual derives from the way others view and treat him or her
looking glass self
69
the intended function or consequence of some thing or process in a social system
manifest function
70
a situation in which the eligible individuals of one sex outnumber the supply of potential marriage partners of the other sex
marriage squeeze
71
a large impersonal society in which individual achievement is valued over kinship ties and in which people often feel isolated from one another
mass society
72
a social custom in which married couples live in the home of the wifes family
matrilocality
73
the social process whereby one advantage an indivdua; has is likely to lead to additional advantages
matthew effect
74
a federal-state matching program that provides medical assistance to certain low income persons
medicaid
75
a federl health insurance program. Individuals are eligible if they receive social security benefits or federal disability benefits
medicare
76
in george herbert meads's view, the portion of the self that brings the influence of others into the indivdual's consciousness
"me" portion of the self
77
social movements based on the expectation that society will be suddenly transformed through supernatural intervention
millenarian movements
78
strongly held social norms, a violation of which causes a sense of moral outrage
mores
79
a social custom in which married couples move to a new home of their own together
neolocality
80
procedures researchers follow to minimize distortions in observation or interpretation due to personal or social values
objectivity
81
the control of a particular industry, market, service, or commodity by a few large organizations
oligopoly
82
dealing with the nature of being (what is believed to be part of human nature)
ontology
83
a form of behvaior in organizations, particulary in bureaucracies, in which people follow the rules and regulations so closely that they forget the purpose of those rules and regulations
organizational ritualism
84
the inefficient use of ideas, expertise, money, or material in an organization
organizational waste
85
in the sociology of science, a coherent tradition of scientific law, theory, and assumptions that forms a distinct approach to problems
paradigm
86
societies in which the raising and herding of animals such as sheep, goats, and cows is the primary means of subsistence
pastoral societies
87
the science or art of teaching
pedagogy
88
in ethnic relations, the condition that exists when both majority and minority groups value their distinct cultural identities, and at the same time seek economic and political unity. In political sociology, the view that society is composed of competing interest groups, with power diffused among them
pluralism
89
research designed to assess alternative possibilities for public or social actions, in terms of their costs and/or consequences
policy research
90
the efforts of a society to prevent ethnically different groups from joining it
population exclusion
91
an appraoch to explaining human action that does not take inot account the individual's interpretation of the situation
positivist
92
deviant behavior that is invisible to others, short lived, or unimportant, and therefore does not contribute to the public labeling of an individual as being deviant
primary deviance
93
a process whereby the positive features of some institutions help to generate further benefits for them
principle of cumultive advantage
94
the difference between birth and death rates, excluding immigration
rate of natural increase
95
the process of subjecting social relationships to calculation and administration
rationalization
96
weber's theory that bureacracies would gain increasing power over modern life, eventually governing almost every aspect of society
rationalization of society
97
a type of social movement that accepts the status quo but seeks certain specific social reforms
reform movement
98
a type of social movement whose aim is to move the social world back to where members believe it was at an earlier time
regressive movement
99
people regard human relations, actions, and ideas as independent of themselves, sometimes governing them
reification
100
investments in basic research and in the practical application of basic research discoveries
research and development
101
the process of socializing people away from a group or activity in which they are involved
resocialization
102
the theory that social movements are affected by their ability to marshal various key resources
resource mobilization theory
103
in anomie theory, a form of deviance that occurs when individuals abandon culturally valued means and goals
retreatism
104
in anomie theory, a form of deviance in which indivdiuals lose sight of socially valued goals but conform closely to socially prescribed means
ritualism
105
a systematic method of collecting information from respondents, using personal interviews or written questionaires
sample survey
106
the dramatic overthrow of one intellectual paradigm by another
scientific revolution
107
according to lemert, repeated deviant behavior that is brought on by other people's negative reactions to the original act of deviance
secondary deviance
108
the sector of an economy in which raw materials are turned into manufactured goods
secondary economic sector
109
a social group bound together for the accomplishment of common tasks, with few emotional ties amoong members
secondary group
110
a theory of urban development explaining that cities develop in wedge-shaped patterns following transportation systems
sector theory
111
Goffman's term for the ,echanisms we use to present ourselves to others. consist of setting, appearance, and manner of interacting
sign vehicles
112
groups of people who may not interact but who share certain social characteristics or statuses
social categories
113
the process of socially creating definitions of situations so that they appear to be natural
social construction of reality
114
the organization of economic life on the basis of owning or not owning the means of production, purchasing or selling labor power, and controlling or not controlling other people's labor power
social relations of production
115
a theory suggesting that nations go through various systematic stages of development
stage theory
116
a system under which resources and means of production are privately owned but closely monitored and regulated by the government
state capitalism
117
a view of social mobility suggesting the importance of father's education, father's occupation, son's education, and son's first job for a man's adult status (early research was based only on men)
status-attainment model
118
may occur when an individual occupies two or more unequal statuses in a society
status inconsistency
119
people who share a social identity based on similar values and life-styles
status group
120
a person's own perception of his or her class positino
subjective social class
121
the belief that technological development shapes social life in rather fixed ways
technological determinism
122
a view of organizational behavior suggesting that people hate their jobs, want to avoid responsibility, rsist change, and do not care about organizational needs
theory x
123
a view of organizational behaviro suggesting that people have the desire to work, to be creative, and to take responsibility for their jobs and for the organization
theory y
124
a form of organizational culture that values long-term employment, trust, and close personal relationships between workers and managers
theory z
125
the theory espousing sociologist W. I. Thomas's idea that " if a person perceives a situation as real, it is real in its consequence
thomas theorem
126
a place where peole spend 24 hours every day for an extended part of their lives, cut off from the rest of society and tightly controled by ther people in charge
total institution
127
the practice of grouping students by ability, curriculum, or both
tracking
128
the hiriing of people in jobs that are not customarily filled by individuals with their relatively high levels of experience or education
underemployment
129
a theory suggesting that many instances of collective behavior represent efforts to change the social environment
value-added theory
130
a form of business organization that attempts to control the business environment by assuming control of one or more of its resources or business outlets
vertical integration
131
wallerstein's theory that as societies industrialized, capitalism became the dominant economic system, leadsing to the globalization of capitalism
world systems analysis
132
the situation that occurs when the population of a nation or the world remains stable from one year to the next by only replacing oneself
zero population growth
