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Sociological Imagination

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The application of imaginative thought to the asking and answering of sociological questions. Someone using the sociological imagination "thinks himself away" from the familiar routines of daily life.

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Social Structure

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The underlying regularities or patterns in how people behave and in their relationships with one another

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Socialization

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The social processes through which children develop an awareness of social norms and values and achieve a distinct sense of self. Although socialization processes are particularly significant in infancy and childhood, they continue to some degree throughout life. No individuals are immune from the reactions of others around them, which influence and modify their behavior at all phases of the life course

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Globalization

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The development of social and economic relationships stretching worldwide. In current time, we are all influenced by organizations and social networks located thousands of miles away. A key part of the study of globalization is the emergence of a world system - for some purposes, we need to regard the world as forming a single social order.

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Social Facts

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According to Emile Durkheim, the aspects of social life that shape our actions as individuals. Durkheim believed that social facts could be studied scientifically.

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Organic Solidarity

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According to Durkheim, the social cohesion that results from the carious parts of a society functioning as an integrated whole.

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Social Constraint

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The conditioning influence on our behavior of the groups and societies of which we are members. Social constraint was regarded by Emile Durkheim as one of the distinctive properties of social facts

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Division of Labor

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The specialization of work tasks, by means of which different occupations are combined within a production system. All societies have at least some rudimentary form of division of labor, especially between the tasks allocated to men and those performed by women. With the development of industrialism, the division of labor became vastly more complex than in any prior type of production system. In the modern world, the division of labor is international in scope.

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Anomie

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A concept first brought into wide usage in sociology by Durkheim, referring to a situation in which social norms lose their hold over individual behavior.

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Materialist Conception of History

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The view developed by Marx, according to which material, or economic, factors have a prime role in determining historical change.

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Capitalism

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An economic system based on the private ownership of wealth, which is invested and reinvested in order to produce profit.

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Bureaucracy

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A type of organization marked by a clear hierarchy of authority and the existence of written rules of procedure and staffed by full-time, salaried officials.

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Durkheim

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1- The main dynamic of modern development is the division of labor as a basis for social cohesion and organic solidarity. 2- Durkheim believed that sociology must study social facts as things, just as a science would analyze the natural world. His study of suicide led him to stress the important influence of social factors, qualities of a society external to the individual, on a person's actions. Durkheim argued that society exerts social constraint over our actions.

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Marx

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1- the main dynamic of modern development is the expansion of capitalism. Rather than being cohesive, society is divided by class difference. 2- Marx believed that we must study the divisions within a society that are derived from the economic inequalities of capitalism.

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Weber

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1- The main dynamic of modem development is the rationalization of social and economic life. 2- Weber focused on why Western societies developed so differently form other societies. He also emphasized the importance of cultural ideas and values on social change.

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Rationalization

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A concept used by Max Weber to refer to the process by which modes of precise calculation and organization, involving abstract rules and procedures, increasingly come to dominate the social world.

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Symbolic Interactionism

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A theoretical approach in sociology developed by George Herbert Mead, which emphasizes the role of symbols and language as core elements of all human interaction.

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Symbol

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One item used to stand for or represent another - as in the case of a flag, which symbolizes a nation.

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Functionalism

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A theoretical perspective based on the notion that social events can best be explained in terms of the functions they perform - that is, the contributions they make to the continuity of a society.

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Manifest Functions

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The functions of a type of social activity that are known to and intended by the individuals involved in the activity.

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Latent Functions

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Functional consequences that are not intended or recognized by the members of a social system in which they occur.

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Marxism

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A body of thought deriving its main elements from Marx's ideas

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Power

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The ability of individuals or the members of a group to achieve aims or further the interests they hold. Power is a pervasive element in all-human relationships. Many conflicts in society are struggles over power, because how much power an individual or group is able to achieve governs how far they are able to put their wishes into practice.

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Ideologies

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Shared ideas or beliefs that serve to justify the interests of dominant groups. Ideologies are found in all societies in which there are systematic and ingrained inequalities between groups. The concept of ideology connects closely with that of power, since ideological systems serve to legitimize the power that groups hold.

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Feminist Theory

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A sociological perspective that emphasizes the centrality of gender in analyzing the social world and particularly the uniqueness of the experience of women. There are many strands of feminist theory, but they all share the desire to explain gender inequalities in society and to work to overcome them.

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Rational Choice Approach

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More broadly, the theory that an individual's behavior is purposive. Within the field of criminology, rational choice analysis argues that deviant behavior is a rational response to a specific social situation.

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Postmodernism

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The belief that society is no longer governed by history or progress. Postmodern society is highly pluralistic and diverse, with no "grand narrative" guiding its development.

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Micro-sociology

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The study of human behavior in contexts of face-to-face interaction.

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Macro-sociology

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The study of large-scale groups, organizations, or social systems.

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Theoretical Approaches

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Perspectives on social life derived from particular theoretical traditions. Some of the major theoretical traditions in sociology include functionalism, symbolic interactionism, and Marxism. Theoretical approaches supply overall perspectives within which sociologists work and influence the areas of their research as well as the modes in which research problems are identified and tackled.

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Science

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In the sense of physical science, the systematic study of the physical world. Science involves the disciplined marshaling of empirical data, combined with theoretical approaches and theories that illuminate or explain those data. Scientific activity combines the creation of boldly new modes of thought with the careful testing of hypotheses and ideas. One major feature that helps distinguish science from other idea systems is the assumption that all scientific ideas are open to criticism and revision.

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Empirical Investigation

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Factual inquiries carried out in any area of sociological study.

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Hypotheses

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Ideas or guesses about a given state of affairs, put forward as bases for empirical testing.

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Causation

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The causal influence of one factor, or variable, upon another. A cause and effect relationship exists whenever a particular event or state of affairs (the effect) is produced by the existence of another (the cause). Casual factors in sociology include the reasons individuals give for what they do, as well as external influences on their behavior.

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Correlation

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The regular relationship between two variables, often expressed in statistical terms. Correlations may be positive or negative. A positive correlation between two variables exists when a high rank on one variable is associated with a high rank on the other. Negative correlation exists when a high rank on one variable is associated with a low rank on the other.

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Variable

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A dimension along which an object, individual, or group may be categorized such as income or height.

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Independent Variable

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A variable, or factor, that causally affects another (the dependent variable).

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Dependent Variable

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A variable, or facto, causally influenced by another (the independent variable).

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Controls

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Statistical or experimental means of holding some variables constant in order to examine the causal influence of others.

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Research Methods

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The diverse methods of investigation used to gather empirical (factual) material. Different research methods exist in sociology, but the most commonly used are fieldwork (or participant observation) and survey methods. For many purposes, it is useful to combine two or more methods within a single research project.

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Ethnography

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The firsthand study of people using participant observation or interviewing. Strengths: usually generates richer and more in-depth information than other methods. Ethnography can provide a broader understanding of social processes. Limitations: can be used to study only relatively small groups of communities. Finding might apply only to groups of communities studied; not easy to generalize on the basis of a single fieldwork study.

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Survey

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A method of sociological research in which questionnaires are administered to the population being studied Strengths: make possible the efficient collection of data on large numbers of individuals. Allow for precise comparisons to be made among the answers of respondents. Limitations: material gathered may be superficial; if questionnaire is highly standardized, important differences among respondents' viewpoints may be glossed over. Responses may be what people profess to believe rather than what they actually believe.

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Experiment

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A research method in which variables can be analyzed in a controlled and systematic way, either in an artificial situation constructed by the researcher or in naturally occurring settings Strengths: influence of specific variables can be controlled by the investigator. Are usually easier for subsequent researchers to repeat. Limitations: many aspects of social life cannot be brought into the laboratory. Responses of those studied may be affected by the experimental situation

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Participant Observations

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A method of research widely used in sociology and anthropology, in which the researcher takes part in the activities of the group or community being studied.

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Population

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The people who are the focus of social research.

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Pilot Study

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A trial run in survey research.

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Sample

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A small proportion of a larger population

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Sampling

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Studying a proportion of individuals or cases from a larger population as representative of that population as a whole.

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Random Sampling

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Sampling method in which a sample is chosen so that every member of the population has the same probability of being included.

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Life Histories

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Studies of the overall lives of individuals often based on both self-reporting and documents such as letters.

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Comparative Research

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Research that compares one set of findings on one society with the same type of findings on other societies.

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Triangulation

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The use of multiple research methods as a way of producing more reliable empirical data than is available from any single method.

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Measures of Central Tendency

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The ways of calculating averages.

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Correlation Coefficients

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The measure of the degree of correlation between variables.

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Standard Deviation

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A way of calculating the spread of a group of figures.

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Degree of Dispersal

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The range or distribution of a set of figures.

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Reflexivity

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This describes the connections between knowledge and social life. The knowledge we gain about society can affect the way in which we act in it. For instance, reading a survey about the high level of support for a political party might lead an individual to express support for that party, too.

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Culture

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The values, norms, and material goods characteristic of a given group

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Values

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Ideas held by individuals or groups about what is desirable, proper, good, and bad

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Norms

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Rules of conduct that specify appropriate behavior in a given range of social situations. A norm either prescribes a given type of behavior or forbids it. All human groups follow definite norms, which are always backed by sanctions of one kind or another - varying from informal disapproval to physical punishment.

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Material Goods

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The physical objects that a society creates, which influence the ways in which people live

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Society

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A group of people who live in a particular territory, are subject to a common system of political authority, and are aware of having distinct identity from other groups

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Cultural Turn

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Sociology's recent emphasis on the importance of understanding the role of culture in daily life

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Sociobiology

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An approach that attempts to explain the behavior of both animals and human beings in terms of biological principles

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Instincts

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Fixed patterns of behavior that have genetic origins and that appear in all normal animals within a given species

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Subcultures

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Values and norms distinct from those of the majority, held by a group within a wider society

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Assimilation

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The acceptance of a minority group by a majority population, in which the new group takes on the values and norms of the dominant culture

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Multiculturalism

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Ethnic groups exist separately and share equally in economic and political life

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Ethnocentrism

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The tendency to look at other cultures through the eyes of one's own culture, and thereby misrepresent them

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Cultural Relativism

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The practice of judging a society by its own standards

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Cultural Universals

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Values or modes of behavior shared by all human cultures

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Language

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The primary vehicle of meaning and communication in a society, language is a system of symbols that represent objects and abstract thoughts

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Marriage

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A socially approved sexual relationship between two people

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Signifier

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Any vehicle of meaning and communication

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Semiotics

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The study of the ways in which nonlinguistic phenomena can generate meaning - as in the example of a traffic light

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Hunting and Gathering Societies

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Societies whose mode of subsistence is gained from hunting animals, fishing, and gathering edible plants

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Pastoral Societies

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Societies whose subsistence derives from the rearing of domesticated animals

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Agrarian Societies

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Societies whose means of subsistence are based on agricultural production

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Industrialization

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The process of the machine production of goods

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Industrialized Societies

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Strongly developed nation-states in which the majority of the population work in factories or offices rather than in agriculture, and most people live in urban areas

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Nation-states

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Particular types of state, characteristic of the modern world, in which governments have sovereign power within defined territorial areas, and populations are citizens who know themselves to be part of single nations

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Colonialism

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The process whereby western nations established their rule in parts of the world away from their home territories

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Developing World

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The less-developed societies, in which industrial production is either virtually nonexistent or only developed to a limited degree

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Third World

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A term used during the Cold War to describe developing nations

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First World

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The group of nation-states that possesses mature industrialized economies based on capitalistic production

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Second World

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Before the 1989 democracy movements, this included the industrialized Communist societies of Easter Europe and the Soviet Union

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Newly Industrialized Economies (NIE's)

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Developing countries that over the past two or three decades have begun to develop a strong industrial base. Such as Singapore and Hong Kong

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Nationalism

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A set of beliefs and symbols expressing identification with a national community

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Social Reproduction

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The process of perpetuating values, norms, and social practices through socialization, which leads to structural continuity over time.

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Cognition

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Human thought processes involving perception, reasoning, and remembering.

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Social Self

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The basis of self-consciousness in human individuals, according to the theory of G. H. Mead. The social self is the identity conferred upon an individual by the reactions of others. A person achieves self-consciousness by becoming aware of this social identity.

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Self-Consciousness

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Awareness of one's distinct social identity as a person separate from others. Human beings are not born with self-consciousness but acquire an awareness of self as a result of early socialization. The learning of language is of vital importance to the processes by which the child learns to become a self-conscious being.

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Generalized Other

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A concept in the theory of G. H. Mead, according to which the individual takes over the general values of a given group or society during the socialization process.

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Sensorimotor Stage

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According to Piaget, a stage of human cognitive development in which the child's awareness of its environment is dominated by perception and touch.

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Pre-operational Stage

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A stage of cognitive development, in Piaget's theory, in which the child has advanced sufficiently to master basic modes of logical thought.

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Egocentric

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According to Piaget, the characteristic quality of a child during the early years of her life.Egocentric thinking involves understanding objects and events in the environment solely in terms of the child's own position.

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Concrete Operational Stage

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A stage of cognitive development, as formulated by Piaget, in which the child's thinking is based primarily on physical perception of the world. In thin phase, the child is not yet capable of dealing with abstract concepts or hypothetical situations.

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Formal Operational Stage

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According to Piaget's theory, a stage of cognitive development at which the growing child becomes capable of handling abstract concepts and hypothetical situations.

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Agents of Socialization

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Groups or social contexts within which processes of socialization take place.

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Peer Group

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A friendship group composed of individuals of similar age and social status.

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Age-Grades

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The system found in small traditional cultures by which people belonging to a similar age-group are categorized together and hold similar rights and obligations.

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Mass Media

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Forms of communication, such as newspapers, magazines, radio, and television, designed to reach mass audiences.

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Social Roles

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Socially defined expectations of an individual in a given status or social position.

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Identity

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The distinctive characteristics of a person's or group's character that relate to who they are and what is meaningful to them. Some of the main sources of identity include gender, sexual orientation, nationality or ethnicity, and social class.

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Social Identity

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The characteristics that are attributed to an individual by others.

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Self-Identity

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The ongoing process of self-development and definition of our personal identity through which we formulate a unique sense of ourselves and our relationship to the world around us.

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Gender Socialization

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The learning of gender roles through social factors such as schooling, the media, and family.

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Gender Roles

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Social roles assigned to each sex and labeled as masculine or feminine.

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Civil Inattention

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The process whereby individuals in the physical setting demonstrate to one another that they are aware of each other's presence.

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Social Interaction

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The process by which we act and react to those around us.

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Nonverbal Communication

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Communication between individuals based on facial expression or bodily gesture rather than on language.

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Roles

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The expected behaviors of people occupying particular social positions. The idea of social role originally comes from the theater, referring to the parts that actors play in a stage production. In every society, individuals play a number of social roles.

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Status

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The social honor or prestige that a particular group is accorded by other members of a society. Status groups normally display distinct styles of life - patterns of behavior that the members of a group to follow. Status privilege may be positive or negative. Pariah status groups are regarded with disdain or treated as outcasts by the majority of the population.

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Social Position

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The social identity an individual has in a given group or society. Social positions may be general in nature (those associated with gender roles) or may be more specific (occupational positions).

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Impression Management

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Preparing for the presentation of one's social role.

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Unfocused Interaction

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Interaction occurring among people present in a particular setting but not engaged in direct face-to-face communication.

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Focused Interaction

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Interaction between individuals engaged in a common activity or in direct conversation with one another.

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Encounter

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A meeting between two or more people in a situation of face-to-face interaction. Our daily lives can be seen as a series of different encounters strung out across the course of the day. In modern societies, many of these encounters are with strangers rather than people we know.

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Back Region

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Areas apart from front region performance, as specified by Erving Goffman, in which individuals are able to relax and behave informally.

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Front Region

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Settings of social activity in which people seek to put on a definite "performance" for others.

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Conversation Analysis

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The empirical study of conversations, employing techniques drawn from ethnomethodology. Conversation analysis examines details of naturally occurring conversations to reveal the organizational principles of talk and its role in the production and reproduction of social order.

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Interactional Vandalism

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The deliberate subversion of the tacit rules of conversation.

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Response Cries

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Seemingly involuntary exclamations individuals make when, for example, being taken by surprise, dropping something inadvertently, or expressing pleasure.

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Time-Space

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When and where events occur.

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Regionalization

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The division of social life into different regional settings or zones.

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Compulsion of Proximity

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People's need to interact with others in their presence.

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Social Group

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A collection of people who regularly interact with one another on the basis of shared expectations concerning behavior and who share a sense of common identity.

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Social Aggregate

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A simple collection of people who happen to be together in a particular place but do not significantly interact or identify with one another.

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Social Category

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People who share a common characteristic (such as gender or occupation) but do not necessarily interact or identify with one another.

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In-Groups

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Groups toward which one feels particular loyalty and respect - the groups to which "we" belong

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Out-Groups

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Groups toward which one feels antagonism and contempt - "those people."

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Primary Groups

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Groups that are characterized by intense emotional ties, face-to-face interaction, intimacy, and a strong, enduring sense of commitment.

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Secondary Groups

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Groups characterized by large size and by impersonal, fleeting relationships.

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Reference Group

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A group that provides a standard for judging one's attitudes or behaviors.

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Transformation Leaders

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Leaders who are able to instill in the members of a group a sense of mission or higher purpose, thereby changing the nature of the group itself.

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Transactional Leaders

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Leaders who are concerned with accomplishing the group's tasks, getting group members to do their jobs, and making certain that the group achieves its goal.

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Groupthink

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A process by which the members of a group ignore ways of thinking and plans of action that go against the group consensus.

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Networks

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Sets of informal and formal social ties that link people to each other.

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Organization

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A large group of individuals with a definite set of authority relations. Many types of organizations exist in industrialized societies, influencing most aspects of our lives. While not all organizations are bureaucratic, there are close links between the development of organizations and bureaucratic tendencies.

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Formal Organization

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Means by which a group is rationally designed to achieve its objectives, often by means of explicit rules, regulations, and procedures.

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Ideal Type

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A "pure type," constructed by emphasizing certain traits of a social item that do not necessarily exist in reality. An example is Max Weber's ideal type of bureaucratic organization.

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Formal Relations

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Relations that exist in groups and organizations, laid down by the norms, or rules, of the official system of authority.

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Informal Relations

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Relations that exist in groups and organizations developed on the basis of personal connections; ways of doing things that depart from formally recognized modes of procedure.

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Timetables

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The means by which organizations regularize activities across time and space.

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Surveillance Society

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Term referring to how information about our lives and activities is maintained by organizations.

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Iron Law of Oligarchy

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A term coined by Weber's student Robert Michels meaning that large organizations tend toward centralization of power, making democracy difficult.

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Oligarchy

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Rule by a small minority within an organization or society.

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Human Resource Management

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A style of management that regards a company's work force as vital to its economic competitiveness.

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Corporate Culture

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An organizational culture involving rituals, events, or traditions that are unique to a specific company.

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Information and Communication Technology

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Forms of technology based on information processing and requiring microelectronic circuitry.

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International Governmental Organization (IGO)

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An international organization established by treaties between governments for purposes of conducting business between the nations making up its membership.

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International Nongovernmental Organization (INGO)

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An international organization established by agreements between the individuals or private organizations making up its membership.

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Social Capital

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The social knowledge and connections that enable people to accomplish their goals and extend their influence.

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Deviance

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Modes of action that do not conform to the norms or values held by most members of a group or society. What is regarded as deviant is as variable as the norms and values that distinguish different cultures and subcultures from one another. Forms of behavior that are highly esteemed by one group are regarded negatively by others.

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Deviant Subculture

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A subculture whose members hold values that differ substantially from those of the majority.

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Sanction

answer

A mode of reward or punishment that reinforces socially expected forms of behavior.

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Psychopaths

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Specific personality types; such individuals lack the moral sense and concern for others held by most normal people.

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Differential Association

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An interpretation of the development of criminal behavior proposed by Edwin H. Sutherland, according to whom criminal behavior is learned through association with others who regularly engage in crime.

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Labeling Theory

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An approach to the study of deviance that suggests that people become "deviant" because certain labels are attached to their behavior by political authorities and others.

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Primary Deviation

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According to Edwin Lemert, the actions that cause other to label one as a deviant.

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Secondary Deviation

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According to Edwin Lemert, following the act of primary deviation, secondary deviation occurs when an individual accepts the label of deviant and acts accordingly.

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Conflict Theory

answer

Argument that deviance is deliberately chosen and often political in nature.

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New Criminology

answer

A branch of criminological thought, prominent in Britain in the 1970s that regarded deviance as deliberately chosen and often political in nature. The new criminologists argued that crime and deviance could only be understood in the context of power and inequality within society.

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Control Theory

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A theory that views crime as the outcome of an imbalance between impulses toward criminal activity and controls that deter it. Control theorists hold that criminals are rational beings who will act to maximize their own reward unless they are rendered unable to do so through either social or physical controls.

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White-Collar Crime

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Criminal activities carried out by those in white-collar, or professional, jobs.

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Corporate Crime

answer

Offenses by large corporations in society. Examples of corporate crime include pollution, false advertising, and violations of health and safety regulations.

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Organized Crime

answer

Criminal activities carried out by organizations established as business.

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Cybercrime

answer

Criminal activities by means of electronic networks or involving the use of new information technologies. Electronic money laundering, personal identity theft, electronic vandalism, and monitoring electronic correspondence are all emergent forms of cybercrime.

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Community Policing

answer

A renewed emphasis on crime prevention rather than law enforcement to reintegrate policing within the community.

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Shaming

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A way of punishing criminal and deviant behavior based on rituals of public disapproval rather than incarceration. The goal of shaming is to maintain the ties of the offender to the community.

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