Intro To Sociology Clep Glossary

Front 1

accommodation

Back 1

process by which smaller society can preserve major features of its culture even after prolonged contact w/ larger culture

Front 2

acculturation

Back 2

process by which members of a civilization incorporate norms & values of other cultures

Front 3

achieved status

Back 3

position/rank earned through efforts of the individual

Front 4

age cohort

Back 4

set of ppl of @ same age passing through the life course together

Front 5

age grade

Back 5

set of statuses & roles based on age

Front 6

ageism

Back 6

ideology justifying prejudice & discrimination based on age

Front 7

agencies of socialization

Back 7

groups of ppl, along w/ interactions occurring w/in those groups, influencing a person's social development

Front 8

agents of socialization

Back 8

individuals who socialize others

Front 9

alienation

Back 9

feeling of powerlessness re: control of one's own destiny; a worker's feeling of powerlessness owing to inability to control work process

Front 10

animism

Back 10

form of religion: all forms of life & aspects of the earth are inhabited by gods/supernatural powers

Front 11

anomie

Back 11

state of normlessness

Front 12

anticipatory socialization

Back 12

prepares individual for a role he/she is likely to assume later in life

Front 13

ascribed status

Back 13

position/rank assigned to individual @ birth & cannot be changed

Front 14

assimilation

Back 14

pattern of intergroup relations: minority group is absorbed into majority pop.--> disappears as distinct group; process by which culturally distinct groups in larger civilization adopt norms, values, & language of host civilization & can gain equal statuses in its groups & institutions

Front 15

authority

Back 15

power considered legitimate by those who exercise it & those affected by it - governed by norms & statuses of organizations

Front 16

behaviorism

Back 16

thry: all behavior is learned &this learning occurs through conditioning

Front 17

bureaucracy

Back 17

formal organization characterized by clearly defined hierarchy w/ commitment to rules, efficiency, & impersonality

Front 18

capitalism

Back 18

system for organizing the production of goods & services - based on markets, provate property, & business firm/company

Front 19

charisma

Back 19

special quality/"gift" motivating ppl to follow a particular leader

Front 20

charismatic authority

Back 20

authority coming to an individual through personal calling, often claimed t/b inspired by supernatural powers, legitimated by ppl's belief that the leader does indeed have God-given powers

Front 21

civilization

Back 21

cultural complex formed by identical major cultural features of a number of societies

Front 22

civil religion

Back 22

collection of beliefs & rituals existing outside religious institutions

Front 23

civil society

Back 23

sphere of nongovernmental, nonbusiness social activity carried out by voluntary associations, congregations, etc.

Front 24

class

Back 24

social stratum defined primarily by economic criteria ie occupation, income, & wealth

Front 25

class consciousness

Back 25

group's shared subjective awareness of objective situation as a class

Front 26

closed stratification system

Back 26

stratification system: rigid boundaries b/w social strata

Front 27

collective behavior

Back 27

nonroutine behavior engaged in by large nos. of ppl responding to common stimulus

Front 28

communications media

Back 28

institutions specializing in communicating info, images, & values @ ourselves, our communitities, & our society

Front 29

community

Back 29

set of primary & secondary groups in which individual carries out imp. life functions

Front 30

conditioning

Back 30

shaping of behavior through reward & punishment

Front 31

conflict thry

Back 31

sociological perspective emphasizing role of conflict & power in society

Front 32

controlled experiment

Back 32

researcher manipulates independent variable in order to observe & measure changes in dependent variable

Front 33

core state

Back 33

technologically advanced nation w/ dominant position in world economy

Front 34

counterculture

Back 34

subculture challenging accepted norms & values of larger society & est. alternative lifestyle

Front 35

crude birthrate

Back 35

no. of births occurring during a year in a given pop, divided by midyear pop

Front 36

cultural evolution

Back 36

process by which successful cultural adaptations are passed down E 1 gen to next

Front 37

cultural lag

Back 37

time required for social institutions to adapt to a major technological change

Front 38

cultural relativity

Back 38

recognition that all cultures develop own ways of dealing w/ specific demands of their environs

Front 39

culture

Back 39

all modes of thought, behavior, & production handed down E 1 gen to next by communicative interaction rather than genetic trans.

Front 40

de facto segregation

Back 40

segregation created & maintained by unwritten norms

Front 41

de jure segregation

Back 41

segregation created by formal legal sanctions prohibiting certain groups E interacting w/ others/placing limits on such interactions

Front 42

deference

Back 42

respect & esteem shown to an individual

Front 43

demagogue

Back 43

leader who uses personal charisma & political symbols to manipulate public opinion

Front 44

demeanor

Back 44

ways in which individuals present themselves to others E body language, dress, speech, & manners

Front 45

demographic transition

Back 45

set of major changes in birth & death rates occurring most completely in urban industrial nations in past 200 years

Front 46

democratic socialism

Back 46

economic philosophy based on belief that private property may exist at same time that large corps are owned by state & run for benefit of all citizens

Front 47

denomination

Back 47

religious organization on good terms w/ institution E which it developed but must compete w/ other denominations for members

Front 48

developing nation

Back 48

nation undergoing set of transformations to increase productivity of its ppl, their health, their literacy, & their ability to participate in politcal decision making

Front 49

deviance

Back 49

behavior violating norms of a particular society

Front 50

differential association

Back 50

thry explaining deviance as a learned behavior determined by extent of a person's association w/ individuals who engage in such behaviors

Front 51

differentiation

Back 51

processes whereby sets of social activities performed by one social institution are divided among different institutions

Front 52

dramaturgical approach

Back 52

approach to reasearch on interaction in groups based on recognition that much social interaction depends on desire to impress those who m/b watching

Front 53

education

Back 53

process by which society transmits knowledge, values, norms, & ideologies & in so doing prepares young ppl for adult roles & adults for new roles

Front 54

educational achievement

Back 54

how much student actually learns, measured by mastery of reading, writing, & mathematical skills

Front 55

educational attainment

Back 55

no. of years of school an individual has completed

Front 56

ego

Back 56

part of human personality: individual's conception of him/herselg in relation to others

Front 57

endogamy

Back 57

norm specifying that a person brought up in a partcular culture may marry w/in the cultural group

Front 58

endogenous force

Back 58

pressure for social change that builds w/in a society

Front 59

equality of opportunity

Back 59

equal opportunity to achieve desired levels of material well-being & prestige

Front 60

equality of result

Back 60

equality in actual outcomes of ppl's attempts to improve their material well-being & prestige

Front 61

ethnic group

Back 61

pop w/ sense of group identity based on shared ancestry & distinctive cultural patterns

Front 62

ethnic (or racial) nationalism

Back 62

belief that one's own ethnic group constitutes a distinct ppl whose culture is & s/b separate E that of larger society

Front 63

ethnic stratification

Back 63

ranking of ethnic groups in social hierarchy on basis of e. group's similarity to dominant group

Front 64

ethnocentrism

Back 64

tendency to judge other cultures as inferior to one's own

Front 65

ethnomethodology

Back 65

study of underlying rules of behavior that guide group interaction

Front 66

exogamy

Back 66

norm specifying that a person brought up in a paricular culture may marry outside the cultural group

Front 67

exogenous force

Back 67

pressure for social change exerted E outside a society

Front 68

expulsion

Back 68

forcible removal of 1 pop E territory claimed by another pop

Front 69

extended family

Back 69

individual's nuclear family plus the nuclear familites of his/her blood relatives

Front 70

family of orientation

Back 70

nuclear family in which a person is born & raised

Front 71

family of procreation

Back 71

nuclear family a person forms E marriage/cohabitation

Front 72

feral child

Back 72

child reared outside human society

Front 73

folkways

Back 73

weakly sanctioned norms

Front 74

formal organization

Back 74

group w/ explicit, often written, set of norms, statuses, & roles that specify e/ member's relationships to others & conditions under which those relationships hold

Front 75

functionalism

Back 75

sociological perspective focusing on the ways a complex pattern of social structures & arrangements contribute to social order

Front 76

gemeinschaft

Back 76

close, personal relationships of small groups & communities

Front 77

gender

Back 77

culturally defined ways of acting as a male/female that become part of an individual's personal sense of self

Front 78

gender role

Back 78

set of behaviors considered appropriate for an individual of a particular gender

Front 79

gender socialization

Back 79

ways in which we learn our gender identity & develop according to cultural norms of masculinity & femininity

Front 80

generalized other

Back 80

a person's internalized conception of the expectations & attitudes held by society

Front 81

gerontology

Back 81

study of aging & older ppl

Front 82

gesellschaft

Back 82

term used to refer to well-organized but impersonal relationships among the members of modern societies

Front 83

group

Back 83

any collection of ppl who interact w/ one another on the basis of shared expectations regarding one another's behavior

Front 84

Hawthorne effect

Back 84

unintended effect resulting E attn given to subjects in an experimental situation

Front 85

homogamy

Back 85

tendency to marry a person who is similar to oneself in social background

Front 86

horticultural society

Back 86

society whose primary means of subsistence is raising crops, which it plants & cultivates, often developing an extensive system for watering the crops

Front 87

human ecology

Back 87

sociological perspective emphasizing relationships among social order, social disorganization, & distribution of pops in time & space

Front 88

hypothesis

Back 88

statement specifying a relationship b/w 2/more variables that c/b tested E empirical observation

Front 89

id

Back 89

part of human personality E which all innate drives arise

Front 90

ideas

Back 90

ways of thinking that organize human consciousness

Front 91

identification

Back 91

social process whereby an individual chooses role models & attempts to imitate their behavior

Front 92

ideologies

Back 92

systems of values & norms that members of a society are expected to believe in & act on S question

Front 93

impression management

Back 93

strategies on uses to "set a stage" for one's own purposes

Front 94

in-group

Back 94

social group to which an individual has a feeling of allegiance; us., but not always, a primary group

Front 95

informal organization

Back 95

group whose norms & statuses are generally agreed upon but are not set down in writing

Front 96

informed consent

Back 96

right of respondents t/b informed of purpose for which info they supply w/b used & to judge degree of personal risk involved in answering questions, even w/ an assurance of confidentiality

Front 97

institution

Back 97

more/less stable structure of statuses & roles devoted to meeting the basic needs of ppl in a society

Front 98

institutional discrimination

Back 98

systematic exclusion of ppl E equal participation in a particular institution b/c of group membership

Front 99

interactionism

Back 99

sociological perspective viewing social order & change as resulting E all repeated interactions among individuals & groups

Front 100

interest group

Back 100

organization that attempts to influence elected & appointed officials regarding a specific issue/set of issues

Front 101

intergenerational mobility

Back 101

change in the social class of family member E 1 gen to the next

Front 102

internal colonialism

Back 102

thry of racial & ethnic inequality that suggests that some minorities are essentially colonial ppls w/in larger society

Front 103

intragenerational mobility

Back 103

change in the social class of an individual w/in his/her own lifetime

Front 104

Jim Crow

Back 104

system of formal & informal segregation existing in US E late 1860s to early 1970s

Front 105

kinship

Back 105

role relations among ppl who consider themselves t/b related by blood, marriage,/adoption

Front 106

labeling

Back 106

thry explaining deviance as a societal reaction that brands/labels as deviant ppl who engage in certain behaviors

Front 107

laissez-faire capitalism

Back 107

economic philosophy based on the belief that the wealth of a nation c/b measured by its capacity to produce goods & services & that these c/b maximized by free trade

Front 108

laws

Back 108

norms written by specialists, collected in codes/manuals of behaviour, & interpreted & applied by other specialists

Front 109

legal authority

Back 109

authority legitimated by ppl's belief in the supremacy of the law; obedience is owed not to a person but to a set of impersonal principles

Front 110

legitimacy

Back 110

ability of a society to engender & maintain belief that existing political institutions are most appropriate for that society

Front 111

linguistic-relativity hypothesis

Back 111

belief that language determines possibilities for thought & action in any given culture

Front 112

macro-level sociology

Back 112

approach to study of society focusing on major structures & institutions of society

Front 113

market

Back 113

economic institution regulating exchange behavior E est. of different values for particular goods & services

Front 114

mass

Back 114

large no. of ppl who are all oriented twd a set of shared symbols/social objects

Front 115

mass public

Back 115

large pop of potential spectators/participants who engage in collective behavior

Front 116

master status

Back 116

status taking precedence over all of an individual's other statuses

Front 117

material culture

Back 117

patterns of possessing & using products of culture

Front 118

megalopolis

Back 118

complex of cities distributed along a major axis of traffic and communication, w/ total pop exceeding 25mil

Front 119

mercantilism

Back 119

economic philosophy based on belief tat wealth of a nation c/b measured by its holdings of gold/other precious metals & the state should control trade

Front 120

metropolitan area

Back 120

central city surrounded by no. of smaller cities & suburbs closely related to it socially & economically

Front 121

micro-level sociology

Back 121

approach to study of socity focusing on patterns of scoial interaction at individual level

Front 122

middle-level sociology

Back 122

approach to study of society focusing on relationships b/w social structures & individual

Front 123

minority group

Back 123

pop that, b/c of members' physical/cultural characteristics, is singled out E others in society for differential & unequal tx

Front 124

monotheistic

Back 124

term used to describe a theistic belief system centered on belief in single all-powerful God

Front 125

mores

Back 125

strongly sanctioned norms

Front 126

nationalism

Back 126

belief of ppl that they have the right & duty to consitute themselves as a nation-state

Front 127

nation-state

Back 127

largest territory w/in which a society's political institutions can operate S facing challenges to their sovereignty

Front 128

natural selection

Back 128

relative success of organisms w/ specific genetic mutations in reproducing new generations w/ new trait

Front 129

nonterritorial community

Back 129

newtork of relationships formed @ shared goals

Front 130

normative order

Back 130

array of norms permitting a society to achieve relatively peaceful social control

Front 131

norms

Back 131

specific rules of behavior

Front 132

nuclear family

Back 132

2/more ppl related by blood, marriage,/adoption who share a household

Front 133

objective class

Back 133

social class w/ visible, specific relationship to means of production

Front 134

occupational prestige

Back 134

honor/prestige attributed to specific occupations by adults in a society

Front 135

oligarchy

Back 135

rule by a few ppl who stay in office indefinitely rather than for limited terms

Front 136

open question

Back 136

question not requeiring respondent to choose from predetermined answers. Respondent may answer in his/her own words

Front 137

open society

Back 137

society in which social mobility is possible for everyone

Front 138

open stratification system

Back 138

stratification system in which boundaries b/w social strata are easily crossed

Front 139

opinion leader

Back 139

individual who consistently influences attitudes & behavior of others

Front 140

out-group

Back 140

any social group to which an individual does not have a feeling of allegiance; m/b in competition/conflict w/ in-group

Front 141

paradigm

Back 141

model comprising existing thries & methods; general way of seeing world that dictates what kind of scientific work s/b done & what kinds of thry are acceptable

Front 142

participant observation

Back 142

form of observation in which researcher participates to some degree in lives of ppl being observed

Front 143

patriarchy

Back 143

dominance of men over women

Front 144

patronage

Back 144

jobs & economic benefits that party leaders can exchange for votes & political influence

Front 145

peer group

Back 145

interacting group of ppl of @ same age w/ significant influence on norms & values of members

Front 146

peripheral area

Back 146

region supplying basic resources & labor power to more advanced states

Front 147

pluralist model

Back 147

thry stating no single group controls political decisions; plurality of interest groups influence those decisions E process of coalition building & bargaining

Front 148

pluralistic society

Back 148

society in which different ethnic & racial groups are able to maintain their own cultures & lifestyles while gaining equality in the institutions of the larger society

Front 149

political institution

Back 149

set of norms & statuses pertaining to exercise of power & authority

Front 150

political party

Back 150

organization of ppl who join together to gain legitimate control of state authority

Front 151

political revolution

Back 151

set of changes in political structures & leadership of a society

Front 152

power

Back 152

ability to control behavior of others, even against their will

Front 153

power-elite model

Back 153

thry stating that political decisions are controlled by an elite of rich & powerful individuals even in societies w/ democratic political institutions

Front 154

prejudice

Back 154

attitude that pejudges a person based on real/imagined characteristic of a group to which that person belongs

Front 155

primary deviance

Back 155

act resulting in labeling of the offender as deviant

Front 156

primary group

Back 156

small group characterized by intimate, face-to-face associations

Front 157

privacy

Back 157

right of a respondent to define when & on what terms his/her actions m/b revealed to general public

Front 158

profane

Back 158

phenomena not considered sacred

Front 159

profession

Back 159

occupation w/ body of knowledge & developed intellectual technique transmitted by formal educational process & testing procedures

Front 160

projection

Back 160

psychological process whereby we atribute to other ppl behaviors & attitudes that we are unwilling to accept in ourselves

Front 161

psychosocial risk behaviors

Back 161

behaviors that are detrimental to health

Front 162

race

Back 162

inbreeding pop devloping distinctive physical characteristics that are hereditary

Front 163

rate of reproductive change

Back 163

difference b/w crude birthrate & crude death rate for given pop

Front 164

recidivist

Back 164

criminal who is returned to prison after having served at least 1 term there

Front 165

religion

Back 165

set of coherent answers to dilemmas of human existence making the world meaningful; system of beliefs & ritual serving to bind ppl together into a social group

Front 166

religiosity

Back 166

depth of a person's religious feelings

Front 167

resocialization

Back 167

intense, deliberate socialization designed to change major beliefs & behaviors

Front 168

rite of passage

Back 168

ceremony marking transition to a new stage of a culturally defined life course

Front 169

ritual

Back 169

formal pattern of activity that expresses symbolically a set of shared meanings

Front 170

role

Back 170

way a society defines how an individual is to behave in a particular status

Front 171

role conflict

Back 171

conflict occurring when in order to perform 1 role well a person must violate the expectations associated w/ another role

Front 172

role expectations

Back 172

society's expectations @ how a role s/b performed, together w/ the individual's perceptions of what is requred in performing that role

Front 173

role strain

Back 173

conflict occurring when the expectations associated w/ a single role are contradictory

Front 174

role taking

Back 174

trying to look at social situations E standpoint of another person E whome 1 seeks a response

Front 175

sacred

Back 175

term used to describe phenomena regarded as extraordinary, transcendent, & outside everyday course of events

Front 176

sample

Back 176

set of respondents selected E specific pop

Front 177

sample survey

Back 177

survey administered to selection of respondents drawn E specific pop

Front 178

sanctions

Back 178

rewards & punishments for abiding by/violating norms

Front 179

science

Back 179

knowledge obtained as a result of process of developing & testing hypotheses

Front 180

scientific method

Back 180

process by which thries & explanations are contructed E repeated observation & careful description

Front 181

secondary deviance

Back 181

behavior engaged in as a reaction to experience of being labeled as a deviant

Front 182

secondary group

Back 182

social group whose members have shared goal/purpose but are not bound together by strong emotional ties

Front 183

sect

Back 183

religious organization rejecting beliefs & practices of existing churches; us. formed when a group leaves the church to form a rival organization

Front 184

segregation

Back 184

ecological & institutional separation of races/ethnic groups

Front 185

semiperipheral area

Back 185

state/region in which industry & financial institutions are developed to some extent but that remains dependent on capital & technology provided by other states

Front 186

sexuality

Back 186

manner in which a person engages in the intimate behaviors connected w/ genital stimulation, orgasm, & procreation

Front 187

simple supernaturalism

Back 187

form of religion in which ppl may believe in great force/spirit but do not have a well-defined concept of God/set of rituals involving God

Front 188

social category

Back 188

collection of individuals grouped together b/c they share a trait deemed by observer t/b socially relevant

Front 189

social change

Back 189

variations over time in ecological ordering of pops & communities, patterns of roles & social interactions, structure & functioning of institutions, & cultures of societies

Front 190

social conditions

Back 190

realities of the life we create together as social beings

Front 191

social control

Back 191

set of rules & understandings controlling behavior of individuals & groups in a particular culture

Front 192

social Darwinism

Back 192

notion that ppl who are more successful @ adapting to environ are more likely to survive & have children who will also be successful

Front 193

social group

Back 193

set of 2/more individuals who share a sense of common identity & belonging & who interact on a regular basis

Front 194

social mobility

Back 194

mov't by individual/group E 1 social stratum to another

Front 195

social movement

Back 195

orgaized collective behavior aimed @ changing/reforming social institutions/social order itself

Front 196

social revolution

Back 196

complete transformation of social order, incl institutions of gov't & system of stratification

Front 197

social stratification

Back 197

society's system for ranking ppl hierarchically according to wealth, power, & prestige; prcess whereby members of a society are sorted into different statuses

Front 198

social structure

Back 198

recurring patterns of behavior creating relationships smong individuals & groups w/in a society

Front 199

socialism

Back 199

economic philosophy based on concept of pblic ownership of property & sharing of profits, together w/ belief that economic decisions s/b controlled by workers

Front 200

socialization

Back 200

processes whereby we learn to behave according to norms of our culture

Front 201

society

Back 201

pop organized in cooperative manner to carry out major functions of life

Front 202

sociobiology

Back 202

hypothesis that all human behavior is determind by genetic factors

Front 203

socioeconomic status (SES)

Back 203

broad social-class ranking based on occupational status, family prestige, educational attainment, & earned income

Front 204

sociological imagination

Back 204

ability to see how social conditions affect our lives

Front 205

sociology

Back 205

scientific study of human socieites & human behavior in groups making up a society

Front 206

spatial mobility

Back 206

mov't of individual/group E 1 location/community to another

Front 207

state

Back 207

set of political institutions operating in particular society

Front 208

status

Back 208

socially defined position in a group

Front 209

status group

Back 209

category of ppl w/in social class, defined by how much honor/prestige they receive E society in general

Front 210

status symbols

Back 210

material objects/behaviorsindicating social status/prestige

Front 211

stigma

Back 211

attribute/qulaity of an individual that is deeply discrediting

Front 212

structural mobility

Back 212

mov't of individual/group E 1 social stratum to another caused by elimination of an entire class as a result of changes in means of existence

Front 213

subculture

Back 213

group of ppl holding many values & norms of larger culture but also hold certain beliefs, values,/norms setting them apart E that culture

Front 214

subjective class

Back 214

way members of a given social class perceive their situation as a class

Front 215

superego

Back 215

part of human personality that internalized the moral codes of adults

Front 216

technologies

Back 216

products & norms for using them found in a given culture

Front 217

technology

Back 217

tools, procedures, & forms of social organization increasing human productive capactiy; use of tools & knowledge to manipulate physical environ in order to achieve desired practical goals

Front 218

technology assessment

Back 218

efforts to anticipate consequences of particular technologies for individuals & society as a whole

Front 219

terrtorial community

Back 219

pop fuctioning w/in a particular geographic area

Front 220

theism

Back 220

belief system conceiving of a god/gods as separate E humans & E other living things on earth

Front 221

theoretical perspective

Back 221

set of interrelated thries offering explanations for imp. aspects of social behavior

Front 222

theory

Back 222

set of interrelated concepts seeking to explain causes of an observable phenomenon

Front 223

total institution

Back 223

setting in which ppl undergoing resocialization are isolated E larger society under control of a specialized staff

Front 224

totalitarian regime

Back 224

regime that accepts no limits to its power & seeks to exert its rule at all levels of society

Front 225

traditional authority

Back 225

authority that is hereditary & is legitimated by traditional values, particularly ppl's idea of the sacred

Front 226

two-step flow of communication

Back 226

process in which messages communicated by the media are evaluated by certain respected individuals, who in turn influence attitudes & behaviors of others

Front 227

unobtrusive measures

Back 227

observational techniques measuring behavior but intruding as little as possible into actual social settings

Front 228

upward mobility

Back 228

mov't by individual/group to a higher social stratum

Front 229

values

Back 229

ideas supporting/justifying norms

Front 230

voluntary association

Back 230

formal organization whose members pursue shared interests & arrive @ decisions E some sort of democratic process

Front 231

welfare capitalism

Back 231

economic philosophy in which markets determine what goods w/b produced & how, but gov't regulates economic competition