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173 Cards in this Set
- Front
- Back
Agency
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The freedom individuals have to choose and to act.
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Agency
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The freedom individuals have to choose and to act.
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Anomie
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Durkheim's term for the loss of direction felt in a society when social control of individual behavior has become ineffective.
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Applied sociology
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The use of the discipline of sociology with the specific intent of yielding practical applications for human behavior and organizations.
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Clinical sociology
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The use of the discipline of sociology with the specific intent of altering social relationships or restructuring social institutions.
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Conflict perspective
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A sociological approach that assumes that social behavior is best understood in terms of conflict or tension between competing groups.
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Dramaturgical approach
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A view of social interaction popularized by Erving Goffman in which people are seen as theatrical performers.
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Functionalist perspective
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A sociological approach that emphasizes the way in which the parts of a society are structured to maintain its stability.
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Globalization
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The worldwide integration of government policies, cultures, social movements, and financial markets through trade and the exchange of ideas.
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Interactionist perspective
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A sociological approach that generalizes about everyday forms of social interaction in order to explain society as a whole.
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Macrosociology
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Sociological investigation that concentrates on large-scale phenomena or entire civilizations.
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Microsociology
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Sociological investigation that stresses the study of small groups, often through experimental means.
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Natural science
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The study of the physical features of nature and the ways in which they interact and change.
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Private troubles
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Obstacles that individuals face as individuals rather than as a consequence of their social position.
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Public issues
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Obstacles that individuals in similar positions face; also referred to by sociologists as "social problems."
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Science
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The body of knowledge obtained by methods based upon systematic observation.
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Social inequality
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A condition in which members of society have differing amounts of wealth, prestige, and power.
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Social science
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The study of the social features of humans and the ways in which they interact and change.
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Sociological imagination
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An awareness of the relationship between an individual and the wider society, both today and in the past.
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Sociology
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The systematic study of social behavior and human groups.
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Theory
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In sociology a set of statements that seeks to explain problems, actions, or behavior.
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Causal logic
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The relationship between a condition or variable and a particular consequence, with one event leading to the other.
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Code of ethics
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The standards of acceptable behavior developed by and for members of a profession.
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Content analysis
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The systematic coding and objective recording of data, guided by some rationale.
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Control group
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The subjects in an experiment who are not introduced to the independent variable by the researcher.
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Control variable
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A factor that is held constant to test the relative impact of an independent variable.
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Correlation
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A relationship between two variables in which a change in one coincides with a change in the other.
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Dependent variable
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The variable in a causal relationship that is subject to the influence of another variable.
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Ethnography
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The study of an entire social setting through extended systematic observation.
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Experiment
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An artificially created situation that allows a researcher to manipulate variables.
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Experimental group
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The subjects in an experiment who are exposed to an independent variable introduced by a researcher.
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Hawthorne effect
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The unintended influence that observers of experiments can have on their subjects.
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Hypothesis
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A testable statement about the relationship between two or more variables.
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Independent variable
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The variable in a causal relationship that causes or influences a change in a second variable.
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Interview
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A face-to-face or telephone questioning of a respondent to obtain desired information.
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Mean
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A number calculated by adding a series of values and then dividing by the number of values.
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Median
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The midpoint or number that divides a series of values into two groups of equal numbers of values.
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Mode
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The single most common value in a series of scores.
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Observation
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A research technique in which an investigator collects information through direct participation and/or closely watching a group or community.
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Operational definition
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Transformation of an abstract concept into indicators that are observable and measurable.
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Qualitative research
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Research that relies on what is seen in field or naturalistic settings more than on statistical data.
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Quantitative research
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Research that collects and reports data primarily in numerical form.
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Questionnaire
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A printed or written form used to obtain information from a respondent.
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Random sample
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A sample for which every member of an entire population has the same chance of being selected.
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Reliability
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The extent to which a measure produces consistent results.
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Research design
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A detailed plan or method for obtaining data scientifically.
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Sample
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A selection from a larger population that is statistically representative of that population.
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Scientific method
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A systematic, organized series of steps that ensures maximum objectivity and consistency in researching a problem.
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Secondary analysis
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A variety of research techniques that make use of previously collected and publicly accessible information and data.
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Survey
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A study, generally in the form of an interview or questionnaire, that provides researchers with information about how people think and act.
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Validity
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The degree to which a measure or scale truly reflects the phenomenon under study.
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Value neutrality
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Max Weber's term for objectivity of sociologists in the interpretation of data.
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Variable
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A measurable trait or characteristic that is subject to change under different conditions
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Argot
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Specialized language used by members of a group or subculture.
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Counterculture
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A subculture that deliberately opposes certain aspects of the larger culture.
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Cultural relativism
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The viewing of people’s behavior from the perspective of their own culture.
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Cultural universal
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A common practice or belief shared by all societies.
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Culture
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The totality of our shared language, knowledge, material objects, and behavior.
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Culture lag
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A period of adjustment when the nonmaterial culture is still struggling to adapt to new material conditions.
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Culture shock
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The feelings of disorientation, uncertainty, and even fear that people experience when they encounter unfamiliar cultural practices.
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Diffusion
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The process by which a cultural item spreads from group to group or society to society.
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Discovery
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The process of making known or sharing the existence of an aspect of reality.
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Dominant ideology
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A set of cultural beliefs and practices that legitimates existing powerful social, economic, and political interests.
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Ethnocentrism
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The tendency to assume that one’s own culture and way of life represent the norm or are superior to all others.
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Folkways
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Norms governing everyday social behavior, whose violation raise comparatively little concern.
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Formal norm
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A norm that generally has been written down and that specifies strict punishments for violators.
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Informal norm
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A norm that is generally understood but not precisely recorded.
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Innovation
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The process of introducing a new idea or object into a culture through discovery or invention.
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Invention
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The combination of existing cultural items into a form that did not exist before.
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Language
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A system of shared symbols; it includes speech, written characters, numerals, symbols, and nonverbal gestures and expressions.
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Laws
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Formal norms enforced by the state.
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Material culture
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The physical or technological aspects of our daily lives.
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Mores
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Norms deemed highly necessary to the welfare of a society.
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Nonmaterial culture
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Ways of using material objects, as well as customs, ideas, expressions, beliefs, knowledge, philosophies, governments, and patterns of communication.
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Nonverbal communication
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The use of gestures, facial expressions, and other visual images to communicate.
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Norm
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An established standard of behavior maintained by a society.
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Sanction
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A penalty or reward for conduct concerning a social norm.
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Sapir-Whorf hypothesis
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The idea that the language a person uses shapes his or her perception of reality and therefore his or her thoughts and actions.
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Society
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The structure of relationships within which culture is created and shared through regularized patterns of social interaction.
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Sociobiology
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The systematic study of how biology affects human social behavior.
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Subculture
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A segment of society that shares a distinctive pattern of mores, folkways, and values that differs from the pattern of the larger society.
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Technology
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Cultural information about how to use the material resources of the environment to satisfy human needs and desires.
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Value
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A collective conception of what is considered good, desirable, and proper—or bad, undesirable, and improper—in a culture.
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Anticipatory socialization
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Processes of socialization in which a person "rehearses" for future positions, occupations, and social relationships.
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Cognitive theory of development
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The theory that children's thought progresses through four stages of development.
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Degradation ceremony
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An aspect of the socialization process within some total institutions, in which people are subjected to humiliating rituals.
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Dramaturgical approach
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A view of social interaction in which people are seen as theatrical performers.
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Face-work
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The efforts people make to maintain a proper image and avoid public embarrassment.
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Gender role
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Expectations regarding the proper behavior, attitudes, and activities of males and females.
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Generalized other
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The attitudes, viewpoints, and expectations of society as a whole that a child takes into account in his or her behavior.
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I
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The acting self that exists in relation to the Me.
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Impression management
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The altering of the presentation of the self in order to create distinctive appearances and satisfy particular audiences.
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Life course approach
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A research orientation in which sociologists and other social scientists look closely at the social factors that influence people throughout their lives, from birth to death.
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Looking-glass self
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A concept that emphasizes the self as the product of our social interactions.
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Me
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The socialized self that plans actions and judges performances based on the standards we have learned from others.
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Midlife crisis
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A stressful period of self-evaluation that begins at about age 40.
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Resocialization
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The process of discarding former behavior patterns and accepting new ones as part of a transition in one's life.
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Rite of passage
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A ritual marking the symbolic transition from one social position to another.
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Role taking
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The process of mentally assuming the perspective of another and responding from that imagined viewpoint.
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Sandwich generation
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The generation of adults who simultaneously try to meet the competing needs of their parents and their children.
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Self
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A distinct identity that sets us apart from others.
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Significant other
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An individual who is most important in the development of the self, such as a parent, friend, or teacher.
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Socialization
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The lifelong process through which people learn the attitudes, values, and behaviors appropriate for members of a particular culture.
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Symbol
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A gesture, object, or word that forms the basis of human communication.
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Total institution
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An institution that regulates all aspects of a person's life under a single authority, such as a prison, the military, a mental hospital, or a convent.
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Achieved status
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A social position that is within our power to change.
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Agrarian society
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The most technologically advanced form of preindustrial society. Members are engaged primarily in the production of food, but they increase their crop yields through technological innovations such as the plow.
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Alienation
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Loss of control over our creative human capacity to produce, separation from the products we make, and isolation from our fellow producers.
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Ascribed status
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A social position assigned to a person by society without regard for the person's unique talents or characteristics.
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Avatar
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A person's online representation as a character, whether in the form of a 2-D or
-D image or simply through text. |
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Bureaucracy
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A component of formal organization that uses rules and hierarchical ranking to achieve efficiency.
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Bureaucratization
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The process by which a group, organization, or social movement increasingly relies on technical-rational decision making in the pursuit of efficiency.
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Classical theory
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An approach to the study of formal organizations that views workers as being motivated almost entirely by economic rewards.
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Coalition
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A temporary or permanent alliance geared toward a common goal.
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Gemeinschaft
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A close-knit community, often found in rural areas, in which strong personal bonds unite members.
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Gesellschaft
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A community, often urban, that is large and impersonal, with little commitment to the group or consensus on values.
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Goal displacement
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Overzealous conformity to official regulations of a bureaucracy.
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Group
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Any number of people with similar norms, values, and expectations who interact with one another on a regular basis.
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Horticultural society
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A preindustrial society in which people plant seeds and crops rather than merely subsist on available foods.
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Human relations approach
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An approach to the study of formal organizations that emphasizes the role of people, communication, and participation in a bureaucracy and tends to focus on the informal structure of the organization.
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Hunting-and-gathering society
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A preindustrial society in which people rely on whatever foods and fibers are readily available in order to survive.
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Ideal type
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A construct or model for evaluating specific cases.
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Industrial society
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A society that depends on mechanization to produce its goods and services.
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In-group
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Any group or category to which people feel they belong.
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Iron law of oligarchy
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A principle of organizational life under which even a democratic organization will eventually develop into a bureaucracy ruled by a few individuals.
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Master status
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A status that dominates others and thereby determines a person's general position in society.
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Mc Donaldization
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The process by which the principles of efficiency, calculability, predictability, and control shape organization and decision making in the United States and around the world.
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Mechanical solidarity
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Social cohesion based on shared experiences, knowledge, and skills in which things function more or less the way they always have, with minimal change.
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Organic solidarity
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A collective consciousness that rests on mutual interdependence, characteristic of societies with a complex division of labor.
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Out-group
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A group or category to which people feel they do not belong.
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Peter principle
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A principle of organizational life according to which every employee within a hierarchy tends to rise to his or her level of incompetence.
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Postindustrial society
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A society whose economic system is engaged primarily in the processing and control of information.
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Postmodern society
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A technologically sophisticated, pluralistic, interconnected, globalized society.
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Primary group
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A small group characterized by intimate, face-to-face association and cooperation.
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Reference group
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Any group that individuals use as a standard for evaluating themselves and their own behavior.
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Role conflict
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The situation that occurs when incompatible expectations arise from two or more social positions held by the same person.
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Role exit
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The process of disengagement from a role that is central to one's self-identity in order to establish a new role and identity.
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Role strain
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The difficulty that arises when the same social position imposes conflicting demands and expectations.
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Scientific management approach
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Another name for the classical theory of formal organizations.
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Secondary group
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A formal, impersonal group in which there is little social intimacy or mutual understanding.
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Social institution
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An organized pattern of beliefs and behavior centered on basic social needs.
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Social interaction
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The ways in which people respond to one another.
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Social network
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A series of social relationships that links individuals directly to others, and through them indirectly to still more people.
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Social role
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A set of expectations for people who occupy a given social position or status.
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Social structure
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The way in which a society is organized into predictable relationships.
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Status
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A term used by sociologists to refer to any of the full range of socially defined positions within a large group or society.
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Trained incapacity
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The tendency of workers in a bureaucracy to become so specialized that they develop blind spots and fail to notice potential problems.
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Anomie
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Durkheim's term for the loss of direction felt in a society when social control of individual behavior has become ineffective.
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Anomie theory of deviance
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Merton's theory of deviance as an adaptation of socially prescribed goals or of the means governing their attainment, or both.
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Conformity
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The act of going along with peers—individuals of our own status who have no special right to direct our behavior.
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Control theory
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A view of conformity and deviance that suggests that our connection to members of society leads us to systematically conform to society's norms.
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Crime
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A violation of criminal law for which some governmental authority applies formal penalties.
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Cultural transmission
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A school of criminology that argues that criminal behavior is learned through social interactions.
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Deviance
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Behavior that violates the standards of conduct or expectations of a group or society.
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Differential association
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A theory of deviance that holds that violation of rules results from exposure to attitudes favorable to criminal acts.
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Differential justice
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Differences in the way social control is exercised over different groups.
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Formal social control
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Social control that is carried out by authorized agents, such as police officers, judges, school administrators, and employers.
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Index crimes
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The eight types of crime reported annually by the FBI in the Uniform Crime Reports: murder, forcible rape, robbery, aggravated assault, burglary, larceny-theft, motor vehicle theft, and arson.
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Informal social control
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Social control that is carried out casually by ordinary people through such means as laughter, smiles, and ridicule.
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Labeling theory
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An approach to deviance that attempts to explain why certain people are viewed as deviants while others engaged in the same behavior are not.
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Law
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Governmental social control.
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Obedience
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Compliance with higher authorities in a hierarchical structure.
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Organized crime
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The work of a group that regulates relations among criminal enterprises involved in illegal activities, including prostitution, gambling, and the smuggling and sale of illegal drugs.
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Sanction
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A penalty or reward for conduct concerning a social norm.
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Social control
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The techniques and strategies for preventing deviant human behavior in any society.
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Social disorganization theory
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The theory that attributes increases in crime and deviance to the absence or breakdown of communal relationships and social institutions, such as the family, school, church, and local government.
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Societal-reaction approach
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Another name for labeling theory.
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Stigma
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A label used to devalue members of certain social groups.
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Transnational crime
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Crime that occurs across multiple national borders.
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Victimization survey
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A questionnaire or interview given to a sample of the population to determine whether people have been victims of crime.
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Victimless crime
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A term used by sociologists to describe the willing exchange among adults of widely desired, but illegal, goods and services.
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White-collar crime
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Illegal acts committed by affluent, "respectable" individuals in the course of business activities.
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