Dictionary of Sociology
By Students’ Academy
Copyright@2011Students’ Academy
Smashwords Edition
Chapter 1
A
Absolute Poverty
Absolute Poverty refers to a standard of poverty which is based on a minimum level of subsistence below which families should not be expected to exist.
Achieved Status
Achieved Status refers to a social position which is attained by a person largely through his or her own efforts.
Activity Theory
Activity Theory refers to an interactionist theory of aging that argues that elderly people who remain active will be best-adjusted.
Adoption
Adoption is a legal term. It is a process that allows for the transfer of the legal rights, responsibilities, and privileges of parenthood to a new legal parent or parents.
Affirmative Action
Affirmative Action refers to the positive efforts to recruit minority group members or women for jobs, promotions, and educational opportunities.
Ageism
Ageism is a sociological term which was coined by Robert N. Butler to refer to prejudice and discrimination against the elderly.
Agrarian Society
Agrarian Society refers to the most technologically advanced form of preindustrial society. Members are primarily engaged in the production of food but increase their crop yield through such innovations as the plow.
Alienation
Alienation is generally defined as the condition of being estranged or disassociated from the surrounding society.
Amalgamation
Amalgamation is the process through which a majority group and a minority group combine through intermarriage to form a new group.
Anomie
Anomie is a sociological term given by Durkheim for the loss of direction felt in a society when social control of individual behavior has become ineffective.
Anomie Theory of Deviance
Anomie Theory of Deviance was first developed by Robert Merton that explains deviance as an adaptation either of socially prescribed goals or of the norms governing their attainment, or both.
Anticipatory Socialization
Anticipatory Socialization is a specialized sociological term; It refers to the processes of socialization in which a person "rehearses" for future positions, occupations, and social relationships.
Anti-Semitism
Anti Semitism means Anti-Jewish prejudice.
Apartheid
Apartheid refers to a social policy or racial segregation involving political and economic and legal discrimination against people who are not Whites. Apartheid was the former official policy in South Africa.
Argot
Argot is the name of a specialized language used by members of a group or subculture.
Ascribed Status
Ascribed Status refers to the social position "assigned" to a person by society without regard for the person's unique talents or characteristics.
Assimilation
Assimilation refers to the process by which a person forsakes his or her own cultural tradition to become part of a different culture.
Authority
Authority is defined as the power which has been institutionalized and is recognized by the people over whom it is exercised.
Chapter 2
B
Bilateral Descent
Bilateral Descent is a system of the kinship in which both sides of a person's family are regarded as equally important.
Bilingualism
Bilingualism refers to the use of two or more languages in particular settings, such as workplaces or educational facilities, treating each language as equally legitimate.
Birthrate
Birthrate is defined as the number of live births per 1,000 population in a given year. It is also known as the crude birthrate.
Black Power
Black Power is the political philosophy which was promoted by many young Blacks in the 1960s; it supported the creation of Black-controlled political and economic institutions.
Bourgeoisie
The term Bourgeoisie was introduced by Karl Marx for the capitalist class, comprising the owners of the means of production.
Bureaucracy
Bureaucracy is generally defined as a component of formal organization in which rules and hierarchical ranking are used to achieve efficiency.
Bureaucratization
Bureaucratization is the process by which a group, organization, or social movement becomes increasingly bureaucratic.
Chapter 3
C
Capitalism
Capitalism is an economic system in which the means of production are largely in private hands and the main incentive for economic activity is the accumulation of profits.
Castes
Castes are generally defined as the hereditary systems of rank, usually religiously dictated, that tend to be fixed and immobile.
Causal Logic
Casual Logic refers to the relationship between a condition or variable and a particular consequence, with one event leading to the other.
Census
Counting of a population in a given area is called Census.
Charismatic Authority
The term Charismatic Authority was introduced by Max Weber for power made legitimate by a leader's exceptional personal or emotional appeal to his or her followers.
Class
Class is the term used by Max Weber to refer to a group of people who have a similar level of wealth and income.
Class Consciousness
Class Consciousness refers to a subjective awareness held by members of a class regarding their common vested interests and need for collective political action to bring about social change.
Classical Theory
Classical Theory is a formal approach to the study of formal organizations that views workers as being motivated almost entirely by economic rewards.
Class System
Classic System means a social ranking which is based primarily on economic position in which achieved characteristics can influence mobility.
Closed System
Closed System is a kind of social system in which there is little or no possibility of individual mobility.
Coalition
Coalition is the temporary or permanent alliance geared toward a common goal.
Code of Ethics
In terms of Sociology, Codes of Ethics are the standards of acceptable behavior developed by and for members of a profession.
Cognitive Theory of Development
It is Jean Piaget's theory explaining how children's thought progresses through four stages.
Cohabitation
Cohabitation refers to the practice of living together as a male-female couple without marrying.
Colonialism
Colonialism refers to the maintenance of political, social, economic, and cultural dominance over a people by a foreign power for an extended period of time.
Communism
Communism is an ideal type, an economic system under which all property is communally owned and no social distinctions are made on the basis of people's ability to produce.
Community
Community is a spatial or political unit of social organization that gives people a sense of belonging, based either on shared residence in a particular place or on a common identity.
Concentric-Zone Theory
Concentric Zone Theory is a theory of urban growth that sees growth in terms of a series of rings radiating from the central business district.
Conflict Perspective
Conflict Perspective is a kind of sociological approach that assumes that social behavior is best understood in terms of conflict or tension between competing groups.
Conformity
Conformity refers to going along with one's peers, individuals of a person's own status, who have no special right to direct that person's behavior.
Contact Hypothesis
Contact Hypothesis is an interactionist perspective that states that interracial contact between people of equal status in cooperative circumstances will reduce prejudice.
Content Analysis
Content Analysis refers to the systematic coding and objective recording of data, guided by some rationale.
Control Group
Control Group refers to the subjects in an experiment who are not introduced to the independent variable by the researcher.
Control Theory
Control Theory refers to a view of conformity and deviance that suggests that our connection to members of society leads us to systematically conform to society's norms.
Control Variable
Control Variable is a factor held constant to test the relative impact of an independent variable.
Correlation
Correlation is a relationship between two variables whereby a change in one coincides with a change in the other.
Correspondence Principle
Correspondence Principle is a sociological term used by Bowles and Gintis to refer to the tendency of schools to promote the values expected of individuals in each social class and to prepare students for the types of jobs typically held by members of their class.
Counterculture
Counterculture refers to a subculture that deliberately opposes certain aspects of the larger culture.
Creationism
Creationism is the literal interpretation of the Bible regarding the creation of man and the universe used to argue that evolution should not be presented as established scientific fact.
Crime
Crime is an act in violation of criminal law for which formal penalties are applied by some governmental authority.
Cult
Cult generally refers to the followers of a particular belief.
Cultural Relativism
Cultural Relativism is the viewing of people's behavior from the perspective of their own culture.
Cultural Transmission
Cultural Transmission is a school of criminology that argues that criminal behavior is learned through social interactions.
Cultural Universals
Cultural Universals refers to the general practices found in every culture.
Culture
Culture is the totality of learned, socially transmitted behavior.
Culture Lag
Ogburn’s term for a period of maladjustment during which the nonmaterial culture is still adapting to new material conditions.
Culture Shock
Culture Shock is the feeling of surprise and disorientation that is experienced when people witness cultural practices different from their own.
Chapter 4
D
Death Rate
Death Rate is the number of deaths per 1,000 population in a given year. Death Rate is also known as the crude death rate.