Sociology Chapter 3 Notes

Front 1

Culture is the ways of thinking, the ways of acting, and the material
objects that together form a people’s way of life.

Back 1

Nonmaterial culture is the ideas created by members of a
society

Front 2

Material culture, by contrast,
is the physical things created by members of a society

Back 2

culture shock, personal disorientation
when experiencing an unfamiliar way of life.

Front 3

A symbol is
anything that carries a particular meaning recognized by people who
share a culture.

Back 3

language a system of symbols that allows people to communicate with one another

Front 4

cultural transmission the process by
which one generation passes culture to
the next

Back 4

Sapir-Whorf thesis the idea that people
see and understand the world through the
cultural lens of language

Front 5

norms, rules
and expectations by which a society guides the behavior of its
members.

Back 5

folkways norms for
routine or casual
interaction

Front 6

social control,
attempts by society to regulate people’s thoughts and behavior

Back 6

technology, knowledge that people use to
make a way of life in their surroundings

Front 7

high culture to refer to cultural patterns
that distinguish a society’s elite and popular culture to designate cultural patterns that are widespread among a society’s
population.

Back 7

multiculturalism a perspective recognizing the cultural diversity of the United States and
promoting equal standing for all cultural traditions

Front 8

Eurocentrism the dominance of European
(especially English) cultural patterns

Back 8

Afrocentrism emphasizing and
promoting African cultural patterns

Front 9

subculture cultural patterns that set apart
some segment of a society’s population

Back 9

concounterculture
cultural patterns that strongly
oppose those widely accepted within a society

Front 10

cultural integration, the close relationships
among various elements of a cultural system

Back 10

cultural lag, the fact that some cultural elements change more
quickly than others, disrupting a cultural system.

Front 11

ethnocentrism the practice of judging another
culture by the standards of one’s own culture

Back 11

cultural relativism the practice of
judging a culture by its own standards

Front 12

sociobiology,
a theoretical approach that explores ways in which human biology affects
how we create culture.

Back 12

society people who interact in a defined territory and share a culture

Front 13

Gerhard Lenski (society is
defined by level of
technology)

Back 13

Karl Marx (society is
defined by type of social
conflict)

Front 14

Max Weber (society is
defined by ideas/mode of
thinking

Back 14

Emile Durkheim (society is
defined by type of solidarity)

Front 15

sociocultural evolution changes that occur as a society gains new technology
industrialism the

Back 15

hunting and gathering the use
of simple tools to hunt animals
and gather vegetation for food

Front 16

horticulture the use of hand tools to
raise crops

Back 16

pastoralism the domestication of animals

Front 17

agriculture large-scale cultivation
using plows harnessed to animals or
more powerful energy sources

Back 17

industrialism the production of
goods using advanced sources of
energy to drive large machinery

Front 18

postindustrialism the
production of information
using computer technology

Back 18

proletarians people who sell their
labor for wages

Front 19

social conflict the stuggle between segments of society over valued resources

Back 19

capitalists people who own and operate
factories and other businesses in pursuit
of profits

Front 20

class conflict conflict between
entire classes over the distribution
of a society’s wealth and power

Back 20

class consciousness workers’ recognition of
themselves as a class unified in opposition to
capitalists and ultimately to capitalism itself

Front 21

rationalization of society the historical change from tradition to rationality as the main
type of human thought

Back 21

tradition values and beliefs passed
from generation to generation

Front 22

rationality a way of thinking that emphasizes
deliberate, matter-of-fact calculation of the most
efficient way to accomplish a particular task

Back 22

mechanical solidarity social bonds,
based on common sentiments and
shared moral values, that are strong
among members of preindustrial
societies

Front 23

organic solidarity social bonds, based on
specialization and interdependence, that are
stong among members of industrial societies

Back 23

division of labor specialized economic activity

Front 24

anomie (p. 93) Durkheim’s term for a
condition in which society provides little
moral guidance to individuals

Back 24

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