(See related pages)
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| Absolute poverty | A standard of poverty based on a minimum level of subsistence below which families should not be expected to exist. (See page(s) 199) |
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| Achieved status | A social position attained by a person largely through his or her own efforts. (See page(s) 97, 189) |
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| Activity theory | An interactionist theory of aging that argues that elderly people who remain active will be best-adjusted. (See page(s) 267) |
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| Adoption | In a legal sense, a process that allows for the transfer of the legal rights, responsibilities, and privileges of parenthood to a new legal parent or parents. (See page(s) 295) |
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| Affirmative action | Positive efforts to recruit minority group members or women for jobs, promotions, and educational opportunities. (See page(s) 228, 360) |
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| Ageism | A term coined by Robert N. Butler to refer to prejudice and discrimination against the elderly. (See page(s) 270) |
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| Agrarian society | 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. (See page(s) 107) |
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| Alienation | The condition of being estranged or disassociated from the surrounding society. (See page(s) 123) |
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| Amalgamation | The process by which a majority group and a minority group combine through intermarriage to form a new group. (See page(s) 231) |
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| Anomie | Durkheim's term for the loss of direction felt in a society when social control of individual behavior has become ineffective. (See page(s) 10, 168) |
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| Anomie theory of deviance | A theory developed by Robert Merton that explains deviance as an adaptation either of socially prescribed goals or of the norms governing their attainment, or both. (See page(s) 168) |
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| Anticipatory socialization | Processes of socialization in which a person "rehearses" for future positions, occupations, and social relationships. (See page(s) 81) |
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| Anti-Semitism | Anti-Jewish prejudice. (See page(s) 242) |
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| Apartheid | The former policy of the South African government designed to maintain the separation of Blacks and other non-Whites from the dominant Whites. (See page(s) 232) |
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| Argot | Specialized language used by members of a group or subculture. (See page(s) 62) |
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| Ascribed status | A social position "assigned" to a person by society without regard for the person's unique talents or characteristics. (See page(s) 96, 188) |
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| Assimilation | The process by which a person forsakes his or her own cultural tradition to become part of a different culture. (See page(s) 232) |
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| Authority | Power that has been institutionalized and is recognized by the people over whom it is exercised. (See page(s) 345) |
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| Bilateral descent | A kinship system in which both sides of a person's family are regarded as equally important. (See page(s) 283) |
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| Bilingualism | The use of two or more languages in particular settings, such as workplaces or educational facilities, treating each language as equally legitimate. (See page(s) 65) |
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| Birthrate | The number of live births per 1,000 population in a given year. Also known as the crude birthrate. (See page(s) 370) |
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| Black power | A political philosophy promoted by many younger Blacks in the 1960s that supported the creation of Black-controlled political and economic institutions. (See page(s) 235) |
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| Bourgeoisie | Karl Marx's term for the capitalist class, comprising the owners of the means of production. (See page(s) 192) |
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| Bureaucracy | A component of formal organization in which rules and hierarchical ranking are used to achieve efficiency. (See page(s) 122) |
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| Bureaucratization | The process by which a group, organization, or social movement becomes increasingly bureaucratic. (See page(s) 126) |
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| Capitalism | 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. (See page(s) 192, 342) |
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| Castes | Hereditary systems of rank, usually religiously dictated, that tend to be fixed and immobile. (See page(s) 189) |
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| Causal logic | The relationship between a condition or variable and a particular consequence, with one event leading to the other. (See page(s) 30) |
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| Census | An enumeration, or counting, of a population. (See page(s) 370) |
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| Charismatic authority | Max Weber's term for power made legitimate by a leader's exceptional personal or emotional appeal to his or her followers. (See page(s) 347) |
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| Class | A term used by Max Weber to refer to a group of people who have a similar level of wealth and income. (See page(s) 193) |
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| Class consciousness | In Karl Marx's view, 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. (See page(s) 192) |
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| Classical theory | An approach to the study of formal organizations that views workers as being motivated almost entirely by economic rewards. (See page(s) 126) |
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| Class system | A social ranking based primarily on economic position in which achieved characteristics can influence mobility. (See page(s) 189) |
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| Closed system | A social system in which there is little or no possibility of individual mobility. (See page(s) 204) |
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| Coalition | A temporary or permanent alliance geared toward a common goal. (See page(s) 121) |
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| Code of ethics | The standards of acceptable behavior developed by and for members of a profession. (See page(s) 39) |
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| Cognitive theory of development | Jean Piaget's theory explaining how children's thought progresses through four stages. (See page(s) 80) |
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| Cohabitation | The practice of living together as a male-female couple without marrying. (See page(s) 296) |
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| Colonialism | The maintenance of political, social, economic, and cultural dominance over a people by a foreign power for an extended period of time. (See page(s) 208) |
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| Community | 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. (See page(s) 368, 382) |
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| Concentric-zone theory | A theory of urban growth that sees growth in terms of a series of rings radiating from the central business district. (See page(s) 387) |
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| Conflict perspective | A sociological approach that assumes that social behavior is best understood in terms of conflict or tension between competing groups. (See page(s) 14) |
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| Conformity | Going along with one's peers, individuals of a person's own status, who have no special right to direct that person's behavior. (See page(s) 158) |
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| Contact hypothesis | An interactionist perspective that states that interracial contact between people of equal status in cooperative circumstances will reduce prejudice. (See page(s) 230) |
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| Content analysis | The systematic coding and objective recording of data, guided by some rationale. (See page(s) 38) |
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| Control group | Subjects in an experiment who are not introduced to the independent variable by the researcher. (See page(s) 37) |
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| Control theory | A view of conformity and deviance that suggests that our connection to members of society leads us to systematically conform to society's norms. (See page(s) 161) |
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| Control variable | A factor held constant to test the relative impact of an independent variable. (See page(s) 32) |
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| Correlation | A relationship between two variables whereby a change in one coincides with a change in the other. (See page(s) 30) |
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| Correspondence principle | A 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. (See page(s) 328) |
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| Counterculture | A subculture that deliberately opposes certain aspects of the larger culture. (See page(s) 63) |
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| Creationism | A 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. (See page(s) 334) |
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| Credentialism | An increase in the lowest level of education required to enter a field. (See page(s) 327) |
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| Crime | A violation of criminal law for which formal penalties are applied by some governmental authority. (See page(s) 175) |
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| Cult | Due to the stereotyping, this term has been abandoned by sociologists in favor of new religious movements. (See page(s) 321) |
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| Cultural relativism | The viewing of people's behavior from the perspective of their own culture. (See page(s) 65) |
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| Cultural transmission | A school of criminology that argues that criminal behavior is learned through social interactions. (See page(s) 169) |
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| Cultural universals | General practices found in every culture. (See page(s) 52, 307) |
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| Culture | The totality of learned, socially transmitted behavior. (See page(s) 51) |
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| Culture lag | Ogburn's term for a period of maladjustment during which the nonmaterial culture is still adapting to new material conditions. (See page(s) 55, 410) |
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| Culture shock | The feeling of surprise and disorientation that is experienced when people witness cultural practices different from their own. (See page(s) 63) |
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| Curanderismo | Latino folk medicine using holistic health care and healing. (See page(s) 381) |
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| Death rate | The number of deaths per 1,000 population in a given year. Also known as the crude death rate. (See page(s) 370) |
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| Defended neighborhood | A neighborbood that residents identify through defined community borders and through a perception that adjacent areas are geographically separate and socially different. (See page(s) 391) |
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| Degradation ceremony | An aspect of the socialization process within total institutions, in which people are subjected to humiliating rituals. (See page(s) 82) |
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| Deindustrialization | The systematic, widespread withdrawal of investment in basic aspects of productivity such as factories and plants. (See page(s) 354) |
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| Demographic transition | A term used to describe the change from high birthrates and death rates to relatively low birthrates and death rates. (See page(s) 371) |
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| Demography | The scientific study of population. (See page(s) 369) |
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| Denomination | A large, organized religion not officially linked with the state or government. (See page(s) 320) |
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| Dependency theory | An approach that contends that industrialized nations continue to exploit developing countries for their own gain. (See page(s) 208) |
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| Dependent variable | The variable in a causal relationship that is subject to the influence of another variable. (See page(s) 30) |
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| Deviance | Behavior that violates the standards of conduct or expectations of a group or society. (See page(s) 162) |
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| Differential association | A theory of deviance proposed by Edwin Sutherland that holds that violation of rules results from exposure to attitudes favorable to criminal acts. (See page(s) 170) |
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| Diffusion | The process by which a cultural item is spread from group to group or society to society. (See page(s) 53) |
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| Discovery | The process of making known or sharing the existence of an aspect of reality. (See page(s) 53) |
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| Discrimination | The process of denying opportunities and equal rights to individuals and groups because of prejudice or other arbitrary reasons. (See page(s) 225) |
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| Disengagement theory | A functionalist theory of aging introduced by Cumming and Henry that contends that society and the aging individual mutually sever many of their relationships. (See page(s) 266) |
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| Domestic partnership | Two unrelated adults who have chosen to share one another's lives in a relationship of mutual caring, who reside together, and who agree to be jointly responsible for their dependents, basic living expenses, and other common necessities. (See page(s) 298) |
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| Dominant ideology | A set of cultural beliefs and practices that helps to maintain powerful social, economic, and political interests. (See page(s) 61, 141, 195) |
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| Downsizing | Reductions taken in a company's workforce as part of deindustrialization. (See page(s) 354) |
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| Dramaturgical approach | A view of social interaction, popularized by Erving Goffman, under which people are examined as if they were theatrical performers. (See page(s) 16) |
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| Dyad | A two-member group. (See page(s) 121) |
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| Dysfunction | An element or a process of society that may disrupt a social system or lead to a decrease in stability. (See page(s) 14) |
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| Ecclesia | A religious organization that claims to include most or all of the members of a society and is recognized as the national or official religion. (See page(s) 320) |
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| E-commerce | Numerous ways that people with access to the Internet can do business from their computers. (See page(s) 355) |
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| Economic system | The social institution through which goods and services are produced, distributed, and consumed. (See page(s) 341) |
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| Education | A formal process of learning in which some people consciously teach while others adopt the social role of learner. (See page(s) 307) |
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| Egalitarian family | An authority pattern in which the adult members of the family are regarded as equals. (See page(s) 284) |
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| Elite model | A view of society as ruled by a small group of individuals who share a common set of political and economic interests. (See page(s) 351) |
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| Endogamy | The restriction of mate selection to people within the same group. (See page(s) 287) |
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| Environmental justice | A legal strategy based on claims that racial minorities are subjected disproportionately to environmental hazards. (See page(s) 360) |
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| Equilibrium model | Talcott Parsons's functionalist view of society as tending toward a state of stability or balance. (See page(s) 407) |
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| Established sect | A religious group that is the outgrowth of a sect, yet remains isolated from society. (See page(s) 320) |
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| Esteem | The reputation that a particular individual has earned within an occupation. (See page(s) 196) |
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| Ethnic group | A group that is set apart from others because of its national origin or distinctive cultural patterns. (See page(s) 221) |
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| Ethnocentrism | The tendency to assume that one's culture and way of life represent the norm or are superior to all others. (See page(s) 63, 225) |
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| Ethnography | The study of an entire social setting through extended systematic observation. (See page(s) 35) |
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| Evolutionary theory | A theory of social change that holds that society is moving in a definite direction. (See page(s) 405) |
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| Exogamy | The requirement that people select mates outside certain groups. (See page(s) 287) |
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| Experiment | An artificially created situation that allows the researcher to manipulate variables. (See page(s) 36) |
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| Experimental group | Subjects in an experiment who are exposed to an independent variable introduced by a researcher. (See page(s) 37) |
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| Exploitation theory | A Marxist theory that views racial subordination in the United States as a manifestation of the class system inherent in capitalism. (See page(s) 230) |
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| Expressiveness | A term used by Parsons and Bales to refer to concern for maintenance of harmony and the internal emotional affairs of the family. (See page(s) 255) |
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| Extended family | A family in which relatives--such as grandparents, aunts, or uncles--live in the same home as parents and their children. (See page(s) 281) |
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| Face-work | A term used by Erving Goffman to refer to the efforts of people to maintain the proper image and avoid embarrassment in public. (See page(s) 78) |
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| False consciousness | A term used by Karl Marx to describe an attitude held by members of a class that does not accurately reflect its objective position. (See page(s) 193, 404) |
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| Familism | Pride in the extended family, expressed through the maintenance of close ties and strong obligations to kinfolk. (See page(s) 290) |
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| Family | A set of people related by blood, marriage (or some other agreed-upon relationship), or adoption who share the primary responsibility for reproduction and caring for members of society. (See page(s) 281) |
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| Feminist perspective | A sociological approach that emphasizes inequity in gender as central to all behavior and organization. (See page(s) 16) |
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| Fertility | The amount of reproduction among women of childbearing age. (See page(s) 368) |
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| Folkways | Norms governing everyday social behavior whose violation raises comparatively little concern. (See page(s) 58) |
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| Force | The actual or threatened use of coercion to impose one's will on others. (See page(s) 344) |
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| Formal norms | Norms that generally have been written down and that specify strict rules for punishment of violators. (See page(s) 58) |
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| Formal organization | A special-purpose group designed and structured for maximum efficiency. (See page(s) 121) |
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| Formal social control | Social control carried out by authorized agents, such as police officers, judges, school administrators, and employers. (See page(s) 160) |
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| Functionalist perspective | A sociological approach that emphasizes the way that parts of a society are structured to maintain its stability. (See page(s) 13) |
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| Gatekeeping | The process by which a relatively small number of people control what material eventually reaches the audience. (See page(s) 140) |
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| Gemeinschaft | A term used by Ferdinand Tönnies to describe close-knit communities, often found in rural areas, in which strong personal bonds unite members. (See page(s) 106) |
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| Gender roles | Expectations regarding the proper behavior, attitudes, and activities of males and females. (See page(s) 83, 251) |
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| Generalized others | A term used by George Herbert Mead to refer to the child's awareness of the attitudes, viewpoints, and expectations of society as a whole that a child takes into account in his or her behavior. (See page(s) 77) |
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| Genocide | The deliberate, systematic killing of an entire people or nation. (See page(s) 231) |
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| Gerontology | The scientific study of the sociological and psychological aspects of aging and the problems of the aged. (See page(s) 266) |
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| Gesellschaft | A term used by Ferdinand Tönnies to describe communities, often urban, that are large and impersonal with little commitment to the group or consensus on values. (See page(s) 107) |
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| Glass ceiling | An invisible barrier that blocks the promotion of a qualified individual in a work environment because of the individual's gender, race, or ethnicity. (See page(s) 225, 261) |
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| Globalization | The worldwide integration of government policies, cultures, social movements, and financial markets through trade and the exchange of ideas. (See page(s) 53, 208) |
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| Goal displacement | Overzealous conformity to official regulations within a bureaucracy. (See page(s) 124) |
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| Group | Any number of people with similar norms, values, and expectations who interact with one another on a regular basis. (See page(s) 100, 117) |
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| Growth rate | The difference between births and deaths, plus the difference between immigrants and emigrants, per 1,000 population. (See page(s) 371) |
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| Hawthorne effect | The unintended influence that observers or experiments can have on their subjects. (See page(s) 37) |
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| Health | As defined by the World Health Organization, a state of complete physical, mental, and social well-being, and not merely the absence of disease and infirmity. (See page(s) 375) |
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| Hidden curriculum | Standards of behavior that are deemed proper by society and are taught subtly in schools. (See page(s) 326) |
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| Homophobia | Fear of and prejudice against homosexuality. (See page(s) 252) |
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| Horizontal mobility | The movement of an individual from one social position to another of the same rank. (See page(s) 205) |
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| Horticultural societies | Preindustrial societies in which people plant seeds and crops rather than subsist merely on available foods. (See page(s) 107) |
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| Human ecology | An area of study concerned with the interrelationships between people and their spatial setting and physical environment. (See page(s) 358, 385) |
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| Human relations approach | An approach to the study of formal organizations that emphasizes the role of people, communication, and participation within a bureaucracy and tends to focus on the informal structure of the organization. (See page(s) 127) |
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| Hunting-and-gathering society | A preindustrial society in which people rely on whatever foods and fiber are readily available in order to live. (See page(s) 107) |
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| Hypothesis | A speculative statement about the relationship between two or more variables. (See page(s) 30) |
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| Ideal type | A construct or model that serves as a measuring rod against which specific cases can be evaluated. (See page(s) 11, 123) |
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| Impression management | A term used by Erving Goffman to refer to the altering of the presentation of the self in order to create distinctive appearances and satisfy particular audiences. (See page(s) 78) |
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| Incest taboo | The prohibition of sexual relationships between certain culturally specified relatives. (See page(s) 287) |
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| Incidence | The number of new cases of a specific disorder occurring within a given population during a stated period of time. (See page(s) 380) |
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| Income | Salaries and wages. (See page(s) 187) |
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| Independent variable | The variable in a causal relationship that, when altered, causes or influences a change in a second variable. (See page(s) 30) |
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| Industrial city | A city characterized by relatively large size, open competition, an open class system, and elaborate specialization in the manufacturing of goods. (See page(s) 384) |
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| Industrial society | A society that depends on mechanization to produce its economic goods and services. (See page(s) 108, 341) |
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| Infant mortality rate | The number of deaths of infants under one year of age per 1,000 live births in a given year. (See page(s) 370) |
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| Influence | The exercise of power through a process of persuasion. (See page(s) 344) |
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| Informal economy | Transfers of money, goods, or services that are not reported to the government. (See page(s) 344) |
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| Informal norms | Norms that generally are understood but are not precisely recorded. (See page(s) 58) |
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| Informal social control | Social control carried out by people casually through such means as laughter, smiles, and ridicule. (See page(s) 160) |
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| In-group | Any group or category to which people feel they belong. (See page(s) 119) |
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| Innovation | The process of introducing new elements into a culture through either discovery or invention. (See page(s) 52) |
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| Institutional discrimination | The denial of opportunities and equal rights to individuals and groups that results from the normal operations of a society. (See page(s) 227, 257) |
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| Instrumentality | A term used by Parsons and Bales to refer to emphasis on tasks, focus on more distant goals, and a concern for the external relationship between one's family and other social institutions. (See page(s) 255) |
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| Interactionist perspective | A sociological approach that generalizes about fundamental or everyday forms of social interaction. (See page(s) 16) |
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| Intergenerational mobility | Changes in the social position of children relative to their parents. (See page(s) 205) |
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| Interview | A face-to-face or telephone questioning of a respondent to obtain desired information. (See page(s) 34) |
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| Intragenerational mobility | Changes in a person's social position within his or her adult life. (See page(s) 205) |
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| Invention | The combination of existing cultural items into a form that did not previously exist. (See page(s) 53) |
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| Iron law of oligarchy | A principle of organizational life developed by Robert Michels under which even democratic organizations will become bureaucracies ruled by a few individuals. (See page(s) 126) |
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| Issei | The early Japanese immigrants to the United States. (See page(s) 238) |
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| Kinship | The state of being related to others. (See page(s) 283) |
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| Labeling theory | An approach to deviance that attempts to explain why certain people are viewed as deviants while others engaging in the same behavior are not. (See page(s) 171) |
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| Labor unions | Organized workers who share either the same skill or the same employer. (See page(s) 129) |
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| Laissez-faire | A form of capitalism under which people compete freely, with minimal government intervention in the economy. (See page(s) 342) |
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| Language | An abstract system of word meanings and symbols for all aspects of culture. It also includes gestures and other nonverbal communication. (See page(s) 56) |
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| Latent functions | Unconscious or unintended functions; hidden purposes. (See page(s) 14) |
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| Law | Governmental social control. (See page(s) 58, 161) |
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| Legal-rational authority | Max Weber's term for power made legitimate by law. (See page(s) 346) |
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| Liberation theology | Use of a church, primarily Roman Catholicism, in a political effort to eliminate poverty, discrimination, and other forms of injustice evident in a secular society. (See page(s) 315) |
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| Life chances | Max Weber's term for people's opportunities to provide themselves with material goods, positive living conditions, and favorable life experiences. (See page(s) 203) |
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| Life expectancy | The average number of years a person can be expected to live under current mortality conditions. (See page(s) 371) |
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| Looking-glass self | A concept used by Charles Horton Cooley that emphasizes the self as the product of our social interactions with others. (See page(s) 76) |
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| Luddites | Rebellious craft workers in nineteenth-century England who destroyed new factory machinery as part of their resistance to the industrial revolution. (See page(s) 410) |
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| Machismo | A sense of virility, personal worth, and pride in one's maleness. (See page(s) 290) |
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| Macrosociology | Sociological investigation that concentrates on large-scale phenomena or entire civilizations. (See page(s) 13) |
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| Manifest functions | Open, stated, and conscious functions. (See page(s) 14) |
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| Mass media | Print and electronic instruments of communication that carry messages to often widespread audiences. (See page(s) 137) |
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| Master status | A status that dominates others and thereby determines a person's general position within society. (See page(s) 97) |
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| Material culture | The physical or technological aspects of our daily lives. (See page(s) 54) |
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| Matriarchy | A society in which women dominate in family decision making. (See page(s) 284) |
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| Matrilineal descent | A kinship system that favors the relatives of the mother. (See page(s) 283) |
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| McDonaldization | The process by which the principles of the fast-food restaurant have come to dominate certain sectors of society, both in the United States and throughout the world. (See page(s) 117) |
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| Megalopolis | A densely populated area containing two or more cities and their surrounding suburbs. (See page(s) 385) |
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| Microsociology | Sociological investigation that stresses study of small groups and often uses laboratory experimental studies. (See page(s) 13) |
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| Minority group | A subordinate group whose members have significantly less control or power over their own lives than the members of a dominant or majority group have over theirs. (See page(s) 221) |
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| Model or ideal minority | A group that, despite past prejudice and discrimination, succeeds economically, socially, and educationally without resorting to political or violent confrontations with Whites. (See page(s) 237) |
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| Modernization | The far-reaching process by which a society moves from traditional or less developed institutions to those characteristic of more developed societies. (See page(s) 211) |
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| Modernization theory | A functionalist approach that proposes that modernization and development will gradually improve the lives of people in peripheral nations. (See page(s) 211) |
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| Monogamy | A form of marriage in which one woman and one man are married only to each other. (See page(s) 282) |
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| Monopoly | Control of a market by a single business firm. (See page(s) 342) |
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| Morbidity rates | The incidence of diseases in a given population. (See page(s) 380) |
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| Mores | Norms deemed highly necessary to the welfare of a society. (See page(s) 58) |
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| Mortality rate | The incidence of death in a given population. (See page(s) 380) |
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| Multilinear evolutionary theory | A theory of social change that holds that change can occur in several ways and does not inevitably lead in the same direction. (See page(s) 406) |
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| Multinational corporations | Commercial organizations that are headquartered in one country but do business throughout the world. (See page(s) 209) |
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| Multiple-nuclei theory | A theory of urban growth that views growth as emerging from many centers of development, each of which may reflect a particular urban need or activity. (See page(s) 387) |
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| Narcotizing dysfunction | The phenomenon whereby the media provide such massive amounts of information that the audience becomes numb and generally fails to act on the information, regardless of how compelling the issue. (See page(s) 139) |
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| Natural science | The study of the physical features of nature and the ways in which they interact and change. (See page(s) 6) |
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| Negotiated order | A social structure that derives its existence from the social interactions through which people define and redefine its character. (See page(s) 96) |
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| Negotiation | The attempt to reach agreement with others concerning some objective. (See page(s) 95) |
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| Neocolonialism | Continuing dependence of former colonies on foreign countries. (See page(s) 208) |
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| New religious movement (NRM) or cult | A generally small, secretive religious group that represents either a new religion or a major innovation of an existing faith. (See page(s) 321) |
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| New social movements | Organized collective activities that promote autonomy and self-determination as well as improvements in the quality of life. (See page(s) 405) |
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| New urban sociology | An approach to urbanization that considers the interplay of local, national, and worldwide forces and their effect on local space, with special emphasis on the impact of global economic activity. (See page(s) 388) |
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| Nisei | Japanese born in the United States who were descendants of the Issei. (See page(s) 238) |
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| Nonmaterial culture | Cultural adjustments to material conditions, such as customs, beliefs, patterns of communication, and ways of using material objects. (See page(s) 54) |
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| Nonverbal communication | The sending of messages through the use of posture, facial expressions, and gestures. (See page(s) 16) |
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| Normal accidents | Failures that are inevitable, given the manner in which human and technological systems are organized. (See page(s) 414) |
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| Norms | Established standards of behavior maintained by a society. (See page(s) 58) |
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| Nuclear family | A married couple and their unmarried children living together. (See page(s) 281) |
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| Obedience | Compliance with higher authorities in a hierarchical structure. (See page(s) 158) |
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| Objective method | A technique for measuring social class that assigns individuals to classes on the basis of criteria such as occupation, education, income, and place of residence. (See page(s) 196) |
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| Observation | A research technique in which an investigator collects information through direct participation in and/or observation of a group, tribe, or community. (See page(s) 35) |
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| Open system | A social system in which the position of each individual is influenced by his or her achieved status. (See page(s) 204) |
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| Operational definition | An explanation of an abstract concept that is specific enough to allow a researcher to measure the concept. (See page(s) 29) |
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| Opinion leader | Someone who, through day-to-day personal contacts and communication, influences the opinions and discussions of others. (See page(s) 146) |
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| Organized crime | The work of a group that regulates relations between various criminal enterprises involved in the smuggling and sale of drugs, prostitution, gambling, and other activities. (See page(s) 175) |
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| Out-group | A group or category to which people feel they do not belong. (See page(s) 119) |
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| Patriarchy | A society in which men dominate family decision making. (See page(s) 283) |
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| Patrilineal descent | A kinship system that favors the relatives of the father. (See page(s) 283) |
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| Personality | In everyday speech, a person's typical patterns of attitudes, needs, characteristics, and behavior. (See page(s) 73) |
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| Peter principle | A principle of organizational life, originated by Laurence J. Peter, according to which each individual within a hierarchy tends to rise to his or her level of incompetence. (See page(s) 125) |
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| Pluralism | Mutual respect between the various groups in a society for one another's cultures, which allows minorities to express their own cultures without experiencing prejudice. (See page(s) 233) |
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| Pluralist model | A view of society in which many competing groups within the community have access to governmental officials so that no single group is dominant. (See page(s) 352) |
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| Political socialization | The process by which individuals acquire political attitudes and develop patterns of political behavior. (See page(s) 348) |
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| Political system | The social institution that relies on a recognized set of procedures for implementing and achieving the goals of a group. (See page(s) 341) |
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| Politics | In Harold D. Lasswell's words, "who gets what, when, and how." (See page(s) 344) |
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| Polyandry | A form of polygamy in which a woman can have several husbands at the same time. (See page(s) 282) |
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| Polygamy | A form of marriage in which an individual can have several husbands or wives simultaneously. (See page(s) 282) |
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| Polygyny | A form of polygamy in which a husband can have several wives at the same time. (See page(s) 282) |
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| Population pyramid | A special type of bar chart that shows the distribution of the population by gender and age. (See page(s) 373) |
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| Postindustrial city | A city in which global finance and the electronic flow of information dominate the economy. (See page(s) 384) |
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| Postindustrial society | A society whose economic system is primarily engaged in the processing and control of information. (See page(s) 108) |
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| Postmodern society | A technologically sophisticated society that is preoccupied with consumer goods and media images. (See page(s) 108) |
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| Power | The ability to exercise one's will over others. (See page(s) 193, 344) |
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| Power elite | A term used by C. Wright Mills for a small group of military, industrial, and government leaders who control the fate of the United States. (See page(s) 351) |
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| Preindustrial city | A city with only a few thousand people living within its borders and characterized by a relatively closed class system and limited mobility. (See page(s) 383) |
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| Prejudice | A negative attitude toward an entire category of people, such as a racial or ethnic minority. (See page(s) 225) |
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| Prestige | The respect and admiration that an occupation holds in a society. (See page(s) 196) |
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| Prevalence | The total number of cases of a specific disorder that exist at a given time. (See page(s) 380) |
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| Primary group | A small group characterized by intimate, face-to-face association and cooperation. (See page(s) 117) |
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| Profane | The ordinary and commonplace elements of life, as distinguished from the sacred. (See page(s) 309) |
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| Professional criminal | A person who pursues crime as a day-to-day occupation, developing skilled techniques and enjoying a certain degree of status among other criminals. (See page(s) 175) |
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| Proletariat | Karl Marx's term for the working class in a capitalist society. (See page(s) 192) |
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| Protestant ethic | Max Weber's term for the disciplined work ethic, this-worldly concerns, and rational orientation to life emphasized by John Calvin and his followers. (See page(s) 315) |
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| Qualitative research | Research that relies on what is seen in the field or naturalistic settings more than on statistical data. (See page(s) 35) |
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| Quantitative research | Research that collects and reports data primarily in numerical form. (See page(s) 34) |
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| Questionnaire | A printed research instrument employed to obtain desired information from a respondent. (See page(s) 34) |
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| Racial group | A group that is set apart from others because of obvious physical differences. (See page(s) 221) |
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| Racism | The belief that one race is supreme and all others are innately inferior. (See page(s) 225) |
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| Random sample | A sample for which every member of the entire population has the same chance of being selected. (See page(s) 31) |
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| Reference group | Any group that individuals use as a standard in evaluating themselves and their own behavior. (See page(s) 119) |
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| Relative deprivation | The conscious feeling of a negative discrepancy between legitimate expectations and present actualities. (See page(s) 403) |
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| Relative poverty | A floating standard of deprivation by which people at the bottom of a society, whatever their lifestyles, are judged to be disadvantaged in comparison with the nation as a whole. (See page(s) 199) |
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| Reliability | The extent to which a measure provides consistent results. (See page(s) 32) |
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| Religion | According to Émile Durkheim, a unified system of beliefs and practices relative to sacred things. (See page(s) 307) |
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| Religious beliefs | Statements to which members of a particular religion adhere. (See page(s) 317) |
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| Religious experience | The feeling or perception of being in direct contact with the ultimate reality, such as a divine being, or of being overcome with religious emotion. (See page(s) 319) |
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| Religious rituals | Practices required or expected of members of a faith. (See page(s) 308) |
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| Research design | A detailed plan or method for obtaining data scientifically. (See page(s) 33) |
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| Resocialization | The process of discarding former behavior patterns and accepting new ones as part of a transition in one's life. (See page(s) 82) |
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| Resource mobilization | The ways in which a social movement utilizes such resources as money, political influence, access to the media, and personnel. (See page(s) 404) |
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| Rites of passage | Rituals marking the symbolic transition from one social position to another. (See page(s) 80) |
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| Role conflict | Difficulties that occur when incompatible expectations arise from two or more social positions held by the same person. (See page(s) 98) |
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| Role exit | The process of disengagement from a role that is central to one's selfidentity and reestablishment of an identity in a new role. (See page(s) 100) |
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| Role strain | Difficulties that result from the differing demands and expectations associated with the same social position. (See page(s) 99) |
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| Role taking | The process of mentally assuming the perspective of another, thereby enabling one to respond from that imagined viewpoint. (See page(s) 77) |
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| Routine activities theory | The notion that criminal victimization increases when there is a convergence of motivated offenders and suitable targets. (See page(s) 170) |
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| Sacred | Elements beyond everyday life that inspire awe, respect, and even fear. (See page(s) 309) |
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| Sample | A selection from a larger population that is statistically representative of that population. (See page(s) 31) |
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| Sanctions | Penalties and rewards for conduct concerning a social norm. (See page(s) 59, 158) |
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| Sapir-Whorf hypothesis | A hypothesis concerning the role of language in shaping cultures. It holds that language is culturally determined and serves to influence our mode of thought. (See page(s) 56) |
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| Science | The body of knowledge obtained by methods based upon systematic observation. (See page(s) 6) |
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| Scientific management approach | Another name for the classical theory of formal organizations. (See page(s) 126) |
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| Scientific method | A systematic, organized series of steps that ensures maximum objectivity and consistency in researching a problem. (See page(s) 28) |
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| Second shift | The double burden--work outside the home followed by child care and housework--that many women face and few men share equitably. (See page(s) 263) |
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| Secondary analysis | A variety of research techniques that make use of publicly accessible information and data. (See page(s) 37) |
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| Secondary group | A formal, impersonal group in which there is little social intimacy or mutual understanding. (See page(s) 118) |
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| Sect | A relatively small religious group that has broken away from some other religious organization to renew what it views as the original vision of the faith. (See page(s) 320) |
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| Secularization | The process through which religion's influence on other social institutions diminishes. (See page(s) 307) |
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| Segregation | The act of physically separating two groups; often imposed on a minority group by a dominant group. (See page(s) 232) |
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| Self | According to George Herbert Mead, the sum total of people's conscious perceptions of their own identity as distinct from others. (See page(s) 76) |
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| Serial monogamy | A form of marriage in which a person can have several spouses in his or her lifetime but only one spouse at a time. (See page(s) 282) |
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| Sexism | The ideology that one sex is superior to the other. (See page(s) 257) |
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| Sexual harassment | Behavior that occurs when work benefits are made contingent on sexual favors (as a "quid pro quo") or when touching, lewd comments, or appearance of pornographic material creates a "hostile environment" in the workplace. (See page(s) 258) |
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| Sick role | Societal expectations about the attitudes and behavior of a person viewed as being ill. (See page(s) 376) |
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| Significant others | A term used by George Herbert Mead to refer to those individuals who are most important in the development of the self, such as parents, friends, and teachers. (See page(s) 78) |
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| Single-parent families | Families in which there is only one parent present to care for children. (See page(s) 292) |
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| Slavery | A system of enforced servitude in which people are legally owned by others and in which enslaved status is transferred from parents to children. (See page(s) 189) |
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| Small group | A group small enough for all members to interact simultaneously, that is, to talk with one another or at least be acquainted. (See page(s) 120) |
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| Social change | Significant alteration over time in behavior patterns and culture, including norms and values. (See page(s) 402) |
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| Social constructionist perspective | An approach to deviance that emphasizes the role of culture in the creation of the deviant identity. (See page(s) 172) |
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| Social control | The techniques and strategies for preventing deviant human behavior in any society. (See page(s) 157) |
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| Social epidemiology | The study of the distribution of disease, impairment, and general health status across a population. (See page(s) 380) |
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| Social inequality | A condition in which members of a society have different amounts of wealth, prestige, or power. (See page(s) 18, 187) |
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| Social institutions | Organized patterns of beliefs and behavior centered on basic social needs. (See page(s) 103) |
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| Social interaction | The ways in which people respond to one another. (See page(s) 94) |
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| Socialism | An economic system under which the means of production and distribution are collectively owned. (See page(s) 343) |
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| Socialization | The process whereby people learn the attitudes, values, and actions appropriate for individuals as members of a particular culture. (See page(s) 73) |
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| Social mobility | Movement of individuals or groups from one position of a society's stratification system to another. (See page(s) 204) |
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| Social movements | Organized collective activities to bring about or resist fundamental change in an existing group or society. (See page(s) 402) |
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| Social network | A series of social relationships that links a person directly to others and therefore indirectly to still more people. (See page(s) 101) |
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| Social role | A set of expectations of people who occupy a given social position or status. (See page(s) 97) |
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| Social science | The study of various aspects of human society. (See page(s) 6) |
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| Social structure | The way in which a society is organized into predictable relationships. (See page(s) 94) |
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| Societal-reaction approach | Another name for labeling theory. (See page(s) 171) |
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| Society | A fairly large number of people who live in the same territory, are relatively independent of people outside it, and participate in a common culture. (See page(s) 51) |
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| Sociobiology | The systematic study of the biological bases of social behavior. (See page(s) 76) |
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| Sociocultural evolution | Long term trend in human societies that results from the interplay of innovation, continuity, and selection. (See page(s) 107) |
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| Sociological imagination | An awareness of the relationship between an individual and the wider society. (See page(s) 3) |
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| Sociology | The systematic study of social behavior and human groups. (See page(s) 3) |
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| Status | A term used by sociologists to refer to any of the full range of socially defined positions within a large group or society. (See page(s) 96) |
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| Status group | A term used by Max Weber to refer to people who have the same prestige or lifestyle, independent of their class positions. (See page(s) 193) |
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| Stereotypes | Unreliable generalizations about all members of a group that do not recognize individual differences within the group. (See page(s) 142, 224) |
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| Stigma | A label used to devalue members of deviant social groups. (See page(s) 166) |
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| Stratification | A structured ranking of entire groups of people that perpetuates unequal economic rewards and power in a society. (See page(s) 187) |
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| Subculture | A segment of society that shares a distinctive pattern of mores, folkways, and values that differs from the pattern of the larger society. (See page(s) 61) |
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| Suburb | According to the Census Bureau, any territory within a metropolitan area that is not included in the central city. (See page(s) 391) |
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| Surveillance function | The collection and distribution of information concerning events in the social environment. (See page(s) 139) |
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| Survey | A study, generally in the form of interviews or questionnaires, that provides sociologists and other researchers with information concerning how people think and act. (See page(s) 33) |
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| Symbols | The gestures, objects, and language that form the basis of human communication. (See page(s) 77) |
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| Teacher-expectancy effect | The impact that a teacher's expectations about a student's performance may have on the student's actual achievements. (See page(s) 329) |
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| Technology | Information about how to use the material resources of the environment to satisfy human needs and desires. (See page(s) 54, 107, 411) |
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| Telecommuters | Employees who work fulltime or part-time at home rather than in an outside office and who are linked to their supervisors and colleagues through computer terminals, phone lines, and fax machines. (See page(s) 128, 412) |
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| Terrorism | The use or threat of violence against random or symbolic targets in pursuit of political aims. (See page(s) 346) |
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| Theory | In sociology, a set of statements that seeks to explain problems, actions, or behavior. (See page(s) 8) |
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| Total fertility rate (TFR) | The average number of children born alive to a woman, assuming that she conforms to current fertility rates. (See page(s) 370) |
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| Total institutions | A term coined by Erving Goffman to refer to institutions that regulate all aspects of a person's life under a single authority, such as prisons, the military, mental hospitals, and convents. (See page(s) 82) |
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| Tracking | The practice of placing students in specific curriculum groups on the basis of test scores and other criteria. (See page(s) 327) |
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| Traditional authority | Legitimate power conferred by custom and accepted practice. (See page(s) 346) |
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| Trained incapacity | The tendency of workers in a bureaucracy to become so specialized that they develop blind spots and fail to notice obvious problems. (See page(s) 123) |
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| Triad | A three-member group. (See page(s) 121) |
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| Underclass | Long-term poor people who lack training and skills. (See page(s) 201) |
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| Unilinear evolutionary theory | A theory of social change that holds that all societies pass through the same successive stages of evolution and inevitably reach the same end. (See page(s) 406) |
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| Urban ecology | An area of study that focuses on the interrelationships between people and their environment. (See page(s) 387) |
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| Urbanism | Distinctive patterns of social behavior evident among city residents. (See page(s) 385) |
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| Validity | The degree to which a scale or measure truly reflects the phenomenon under study. (See page(s) 32) |
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| Value neutrality | Max Weber's term for objectivity of sociologists in the interpretation of data. (See page(s) 40) |
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| Values | Collective conceptions of what is considered good, desirable, and proper--or bad, undesirable, and improper--in a culture. (See page(s) 60) |
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| Variable | A measurable trait or characteristic that is subject to change under different conditions. (See page(s) 30) |
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| Verstehen | The German word for "understanding" or "insight"; used by Max Weber to stress the need for sociologists to take into account people's emotions, thoughts, beliefs, and attitudes. (See page(s) 10) |
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| Vertical mobility | The movement of a person from one social position to another of a different rank. (See page(s) 205) |
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| Vested interests | Veblen's term for those people or groups who will suffer in the event of social change and who have a stake in maintaining the status quo. (See page(s) 409) |
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| Victimization surveys | Questionnaires or interviews used to determine whether people have been victims of crime. (See page(s) 177) |
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| Victimless crimes | A term used by sociologists to describe the willing exchange among adults of widely desired, but illegal, goods and services. (See page(s) 176) |
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| Vital statistics | Records of births, deaths, marriages, and divorces gathered through a registration system maintained by governmental units. (See page(s) 370) |
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| Voluntary associations | Organizations established on the basis of common interest, whose members volunteer or even pay to participate. (See page(s) 127) |
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| Wealth | An inclusive term encompassing all of a person's material assets, including land and other types of property. (See page(s) 187) |
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| White-collar crime | Crimes committed by affluent individuals or corporations in the course of their daily business activities. (See page(s) 176) |
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| World systems analysis | Immanuel Wallerstein's view of the global economic system as divided between certain industrialized nations that control wealth and developing countries that are controlled and exploited. (See page(s) 208, 388) |
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| Xenocentrism | The belief that the products, styles, or ideas of one's society are inferior to those that originate elsewhere. (See page(s) 65) |
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| Zero population growth (ZPG) | The state of a population with a growth rate of zero, achieved when the number of births plus immigrants is equal to the number of deaths plus emigrants. (See page(s) 374) |