| Absolute poverty | A minimum level of subsistence that no family should be expected to live below. (215)
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| Achieved status | A social position that a person attains largely through his or her own efforts. (107, 204)
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| Activity theory | An interactionist theory of aging that suggests that elderly people who remain active and socially involved will be best-adjusted. (288)
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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. (311)
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| Affirmative action | Positive efforts to recruit minority group members or women for jobs, promotions, and educational opportunities. (250, 383)
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| Ageism | A term coined by Robert N. Butler to refer to prejudice and discrimination based on a person's age. (290)
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| Agrarian society | The most technologically advanced form of preindustrial society.Members are engaged primarily in the production of food, but increase their crop yield through such innovations as the plow. (120)
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| Alienation | The condition of estrangement or dissociation from the surrounding society. (136)
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| Amalgamation | The process through which a majority group and a minority group combine to form a new group. (253)
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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. (10, 185)
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| Anomie theory of deviance | Robert Merton's theory of deviance as an adaptation of socially prescribed goals or of the means governing their attainment, or both. (185)
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| Anticipatory socialization | Processes of socialization in which a person "rehearses" for future positions, occupations, and social relationships. (91)
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| Anti-Semitism | Anti-Jewish prejudice. (263)
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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. (254)
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| Argot | Specialized language used by members of a group or subculture. (69)
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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. (106, 203)
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| Asset-based community development (ABCD) | An approach to community development in which planners first identify a community's strengths and then seek to mobilize those assets. (405)
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| Assimilation | The process through which a person forsakes his or her own cultural tradition to become part of a different culture. (253)
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| Authority | Institutionalized power that is recognized by the people over whom it is exercised. (367)
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| Bilateral descent | A kinship system in which both sides of a person's family are regarded as equally important. (303)
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| Bilingualism | The use of two or more languages in a particular setting, such as the workplace or schoolroom, treating each language as equally legitimate. (73)
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| Birthrate | The number of live births per 1,000 population in a given year. Also known as the crude birthrate. (393)
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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. (256)
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| Borderlands | The area of common culture along the border between Mexico and the United States. (231)
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| Bourgeoisie | Karl Marx's term for the capitalist class, comprising the owners of the means of production. (207)
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| Brain drain | The immigration to the United States and other industrialized nations of skilled workers, professionals, and technicians who are desperately needed in their home countries. (411)
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| Bureaucracy | A component of formal organization that uses rules and hierarchical ranking to achieve efficiency. (136)
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| Bureaucratization | The process by which a group, organization, or social movement becomes increasingly bureaucratic. (138)
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| Capitalism | An economic system in which the means of production are held largely in private hands and the main incentive for economic activity is the accumulation of profits. (207, 362)
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| Caste | A hereditary rank, usually religiously dictated, that tends to be fixed and immobile. (204)
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| Causal logic | The relationship between a condition or variable and a particular consequence, with one event leading to the other. (31)
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| Census | An enumeration, or counting, of a population. (392)
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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. (368)
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| Class | A group of people who have a similar level of wealth and income. (208)
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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. (207)
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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. (139)
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| Class system | A social ranking based primarily on economic position in which achieved characteristics can influence social mobility. (205)
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| Closed system | A social system in which there is little or no possibility of individual social mobility. (220)
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| Coalition | A temporary or permanent alliance geared toward a common goal. (135)
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| Code of ethics | The standards of acceptable behavior developed by and for members of a profession. (41)
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| Cognitive theory of development | Jean Piaget's theory that children's thought progresses through four stages of development. (88)
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| Cohabitation | The practice of living together as a male-female couple without marrying. (316)
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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. (222)
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| Communism | As 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. (364)
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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. (390)
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| Concentric-zone theory | A theory of urban growth devised by Ernest Burgess that sees growth in terms of a series of rings radiating from the central business district. (401)
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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. (15)
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| Conformity | Going along with peers- individuals of our own status, who have no special right to direct our behavior. (175)
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| Contact hypothesis | An interactionist perspective that states that in cooperative circumstances, interracial contact between people of equal status will reduce prejudice. (252)
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| Content analysis | The systematic coding and objective recording of data, guided by some rationale. (40)
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| Control group | The subjects in an experiment who are not introduced to the independent variable by the researcher. (39)
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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. (180)
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| Control variable | A factor that is held constant to test the relative impact of an independent variable. (34)
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| Corporate welfare | Tax breaks, direct payments, and grants that the government makes to corporations. (234)
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| Correlation | A relationship between two variables in which a change in one coincides with a change in the other. (31)
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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 type of job typically held by members of their class. (347)
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| Counterculture | A subculture that deliberately opposes certain aspects of the larger culture. (71)
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| Creationism | A literal interpretation of the Bible regarding the creation of humanity and the universe, used to argue that evolution should not be presented as established scientific fact. (354)
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| Credentialism | An increase in the lowest level of education needed to enter a field. (346)
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| Crime | A violation of criminal law for which some governmental authority applies formal penalties. (191)
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| Cult | Due to stereotyping, this term has been abandoned by sociologists in favor of new religious movement. (340)
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| Cultural relativism | The viewing of people's behavior from the perspective of their own culture. (72)
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| Cultural transmission | A school of criminology that argues that criminal behavior is learned through social interactions. (187)
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| Cultural universal | A common practice or belief found in every culture. (58, 327)
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| Culture | The totality of learned, socially transmitted customs, knowledge, material objects, and behavior. (55)
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| Culture lag | Ogburn's term for a period of maladjustment when the nonmaterial culture is still struggling to adapt to new material conditions. (61, 432)
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| Culture shock | The feeling of surprise and disorientation that people experience when they encounter cultural practices that are different from their own. (71)
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| Curanderismo | Latino folk medicine, a form of holistic health care and healing. (415)
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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. (393)
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| Defended neighborhood | A neighborbood that residents identify through defined community borders and a perception that adjacent areas are geographically separate and socially different. (404)
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| Degradation ceremony | An aspect of the socialization process within some total institutions, in which people are subjected to humiliating rituals. (92)
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| Deindustrialization | The systematic, widespread withdrawal of investment in basic aspects of productivity, such as factories and plants. (378)
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| Demographic transition | A term used to describe the change from high birthrates and death rates to low birthrates and death rates that occurs during a nation's development. (394)
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| Demography | The scientific study of population. (391)
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| Denomination | A large, organized religion that is not officially linked with the state or government. (339)
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| Dependency theory | An approach to stratification that contends that industrialized nations continue to exploit developing countries for their own gain. (224)
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| Dependent variable | The variable in a causal relationship that is subject to the influence of another variable. (31)
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| Deviance | Behavior that violates the standards of conduct or expectations of a group or society. (180)
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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. (187)
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| Diffusion | The process by which a cultural item spreads from group to group or society to society. (59)
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| Discovery | The process of making known or sharing the existence of an aspect of reality. (58)
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| Discrimination | The denial of opportunities and equal rights to individuals and groups because of prejudice or other arbitrary reasons. (245)
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| Disengagement theory | A functionalist theory of aging introduced by Cumming and Henry that implicitly suggests that society and the aging individual mutually sever many of their relationships. (286)
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| Domestic partnership | Two unrelated adults who share a mutually caring relationship, reside together, and agree to be jointly responsible for their dependents, basic living expenses, and other common necessities. (322)
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| Dominant ideology | A set of cultural beliefs and practices that helps to maintain powerful social, economic, and political interests. (68, 157, 211)
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| Downsizing | Reductions taken in a company's workforce as part of deindustrialization. (379)
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| Dramaturgical approach | A view of social interaction, popularized by Erving Goffman, in which people are seen as theatrical performers. (18, 86)
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| Dyad | A two-member group. (134)
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| Dysfunction | An element or process of a society that may disrupt the social system or reduce its stability. (14)
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| Ecclesia | A religious organization that claims to include most or all members of a society, and is recognized as the national or official religion. (338)
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| Economic system | The social institution through which goods and services are produced, distributed, and consumed. (361)
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| Education | A formal process of learning in which some people consciously teach while others adopt the social role of learner. (327)
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| Egalitarian family | An authority pattern in which spouses are regarded as equals. (303)
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| Elite model | A view of society as being ruled by a small group of individuals who share a common set of political and economic interests. (371)
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| Endogamy | The restriction of mate selection to people within the same group. (307)
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| Environmental justice | A legal strategy based on claims that racial minorities are subjected disproportionately to environmental hazards. (382)
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| Equilibrium model | Talcott Parsons's functionalist view that society tends toward a state of stability or balance. (430)
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| Established sect | A religious group that is the outgrowth of a sect, yet remains isolated from society. (339)
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| Estate system | A system of stratification under which peasants were required to work land leased to them by nobles in exchange for military protection and other services. Also known as feudalism. (204)
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| Esteem | The reputation that a specific person has earned within an occupation. (212)
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| Ethnic group | A group that is set apart from others primarily because of its national origin or distinctive cultural patterns. (241)
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| Ethnocentrism | The tendency to assume that one's own culture and way of life represent the norm or are superior to all others. (72, 245)
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| Ethnography | The study of an entire social setting through extended systematic observation. (38)
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| Evolutionary theory | A theory of social change that holds that society is moving in a definite direction. (429)
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| Exogamy | The requirement that people select a mate outside certain groups. (307)
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| Experiment | An artificially created situation that allows a researcher to manipulate variables. (39)
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| Experimental group | The subjects in an experiment who are exposed to an independent variable introduced by a researcher. (39)
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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. (251)
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| Expressiveness | A term used by Parsons and Bales to refer to concern for the maintenance of harmony and the internal emotional affairs of the family. (277)
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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. (301)
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| Face-work | A term used by Erving Goffman to refer to the efforts people make to maintain the proper image and avoid public embarrassment. (86)
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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 their objective position. (207, 427)
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| Familism | Pride in the extended family, expressed through the maintenance of close ties and strong obligations to kinfolk outside the immediate family. (309)
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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. (301)
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| Feminist view | A sociological approach that views inequity in gender as central to all behavior and organization. (16)
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| Fertility | The level of reproduction in a society. (309)
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| Focus group | A group of 10 to 15 people assembled by a researcher to discuss a predetermined topic, guided by a moderator. (133)
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| Folkway | A norm governing everyday behavior whose violation raises comparatively little concern. (65)
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| Force | The actual or threatened use of coercion to impose one's will on others. (367)
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| Formal norm | A norm that has been written down and that specifies strict punishments for violators. (65)
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| Formal organization | A group designed for a special purpose and structured for maximum efficiency. (135)
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| Formal social control | Social control that is carried out by authorized agents, such as police officers, judges, school administrators, and employers. (177)
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| Functionalist perspective | A sociological approach that emphasizes the way in which the parts of a society are structured to maintain its stability. (41)
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| Gatekeeping | The process by which a relatively small number of people in the media industry control what material eventually reaches the audience. (156)
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| Gemeinschaft | A term used by Ferdinand Tönnies to describe a close-knit community, often found in rural areas, in which strong personal bonds unite members. (118)
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| Gender roles | Expectations regarding the proper behavior, attitudes, and activities of males and females. (93, 272)
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| Generalized other | A term used by George Herbert Mead to refer to the attitudes, viewpoints, and expectations of society as a whole that a child takes into account in his or her behavior. (86)
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| Genocide | The deliberate, systematic killing of an entire people or nation. (253)
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| Gerontology | The scientific study of the sociological and psychological aspects of aging and the problems of the aged. (286)
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| Gesellschaft | A term used by Ferdinand Tönnies to describe a community, often urban, that is large and impersonal, with little commitment to the group or consensus on values. (119)
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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. (247, 282)
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| Globalization | The worldwide integration of government policies, cultures, social movements, and financial markets through trade and the exchange of ideas. (59, 224)
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| Goal displacement | Overzealous conformity to official regulations of a bureaucracy. (137)
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| Group | Any number of people with similar norms, values, and expectations who interact with one another on a regular basis. (110, 130)
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| Growth rate | The difference between births and deaths, plus the difference between immigrants and emigrants, per 1,000 population. (393)
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| Hawthorne effect | The unintended in- fluence that observers of experiments can have on their subjects. (39)
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| Health | As defined by the World Health Organization, a state of complete physical, mental, and social wellbeing, and not merely the absence of disease and infirmity. (409)
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| Health maintenance organization | An organization that provides comprehensive medical services for a preestablished fee. (418)
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| Hidden curriculum | Standards of behavior that are deemed proper by society and are taught subtly in schools. (346)
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| Homophobia | Fear of and prejudice against homosexuality. (273)
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| Horizontal mobility | The movement of an individual from one social position to another of the same rank. (220)
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| Horticultural society | A preindustrial society in which people plant seeds and crops rather than merely subsist on available foods. (120)
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| Human ecology | An area of study concerned with the interrelationships between people and their environment. (380, 400)
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| Human relations approach | An approach to the study of formal organizations that emphasizes the role of people, communication, and participation in a bureaucracy and tends to focus on the informal structure of the organization. (139)
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| Hunting-and-gathering society | A preindustrial society in which people rely on whatever foods and fibers are readily available in order to survive. (120)
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| Hypothesis | A speculative statement about the relationship between two or more variables. (31)
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| Ideal type | A construct or model for evaluating specific cases. (11, 136)
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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. (86)
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| Incest taboo | The prohibition of sexual relationships between certain culturally specified relatives. (307)
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| Incidence | The number of new cases of a specific disorder occurring within a given population during a stated period. (413)
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| Income | Salaries and wages. (203)
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| Independent variable | The variable in a causal relationship that causes or in- fluences a change in a second variable. (31)
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| Industrial city | A relatively large city characterized by open competition, an open class system, and elaborate specialization in the manufacturing of goods. (399)
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| Industrial society | A society that depends on mechanization to produce its goods and services. (120, 362)
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| Infant mortality rate | The number of deaths of infants under one year old per 1,000 live births in a given year. (393)
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| Influence | The exercise of power through a process of persuasion. (367)
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| Informal economy | Transfers of money, goods, or services that are not reported to the government. (364)
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| Informal norm | A norm that is generally understood but not precisely recorded. (65)
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| Informal social control | Social control that is carried out casually by ordinary people through such means as laughter, smiles, and ridicule. (177)
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| In-group | Any group or category to which people feel they belong. (132)
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| Innovation | The process of introducing a new idea or object to a culture through discovery or invention. (58)
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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. (249, 279)
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| Instrumentality | An emphasis on tasks, a focus on more distant goals, and a concern for the external relationship between one's family and other social institutions. (277)
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| Interactionist perspective | A sociological approach that generalizes about everyday forms of social interaction in order to explain society as a whole. (17)
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| Intergenerational mobility | Changes in the social position of children relative to their parents. (220)
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| Interview | A face-to-face or telephone questioning of a respondent to obtain desired information. (36)
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| Intragenerational mobility | Changes in social position within a person's adult life. (220)
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| Invention | The combination of existing cultural items into a form that did not exist before. (58)
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| Iron law of oligarchy | A principle of organizational life developed by Robert Michels under which even democratic organizations will eventually develop into bureaucracies ruled by a few individuals. (138)
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| Issei | Japanese immigrants to the United States. (259)
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| Kinship | The state of being related to others. (303)
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| Labeling theory | An approach to deviance that attempts to explain why certain people are viewed as deviants while others engaged in the same behavior are not. (188)
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| Labor union | Organized workers who share either the same skill or the same employer. (144)
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| Laissez-faire | A form of capitalism under which people compete freely, with minimal government intervention in the economy. (362)
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| Language | An abstract system of word meanings and symbols for all aspects of culture; includes gestures and other nonverbal communication. (62)
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| Latent function | An unconscious or unintended function that may reflect hidden purposes. (14)
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| Law | Governmental social control. (65, 178)
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| Legal-rational authority | Max Weber's term for power made legitimate by law. (368)
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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 from a secular society. (334)
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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. (218)
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| Life-course approach | A research orientation in which sociologists and other social scientists look closely at the social factors that influence people throughout their lives, from birth to death. (90)
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| Life expectancy | The median number of years a person can be expected to live under current mortality conditions. (393)
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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. (84)
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| Luddites | Rebellious craft workers in 19th-century England who destroyed new factory machinery as part of their resistance to the industrial revolution. (433)
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| Machismo | A sense of virility, personal worth, and pride in one's maleness. (309)
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| Macrosociology | Sociological investigation that concentrates on large-scale phenomena or entire civilizations. (13)
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| Manifest function | An open, stated, and conscious function. (14)
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| Mass media | Print and electronic means of communication that carry messages to widespread audiences. (152)
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| Master status | A status that dominates others and thereby determines a person's general position in society. (107)
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| Material culture | The physical or technological aspects of our daily lives. (61)
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| Matriarchy | A society in which women dominate in family decision making. (303)
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| Matrilineal descent | A kinship system in which only the relatives of the mother are significant. (303)
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| McDonaldization | The process by which the principles of the fast-food restaurant are coming to dominate more and more sectors of American society as well as of the rest of the world. (130)
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| Mechanical solidarity | A collective consciousness that emphasizes group solidarity, characteristic of societies with minimal division of labor. (118)
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| Megalopolis | A densely populated area containing two or more cities and their surrounding suburbs. (400)
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| Microsociology | Sociological investigation that stresses the study of small groups, often through experimental means. (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. (241)
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| Model or ideal minority | A group that despite past prejudice and discrimination, succeeds economically, socially, and educationally without resorting to confrontations with Whites. (259)
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| Monogamy | A form of marriage in which one woman and one man are married only to each other. (302)
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| Monopoly | Control of a market by a single business firm. (362)
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| Morbidity rate | The incidence of disease in a given population. (414)
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| Mores | Norms deemed highly necessary to the welfare of a society. (65)
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| Mortality rate | The incidence of death in a given population. (414)
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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. (426)
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| Multinational corporation | A commercial organization that is headquartered in one country but does business throughout the world. (224)
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| Multiple-nuclei theory | A theory of urban growth developed by Harris and Ullman that views growth as emerging from many centers of development, each of which reflects a particular urban need or activity. (401)
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| Narcotizing dysfunction | The phenomenon in which the media provide such massive amounts of information that the audience becomes numb and fails to act on the information, regardless of how compelling the issue. (156)
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| Natural science | The study of the physical features of nature and the ways in which they interact and change. (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. (106)
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| Negotiation | The attempt to reach agreement with others concerning some objective. (105)
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| Neocolonialism | Continuing dependence of former colonies on foreign countries. (222)
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| New religious movement (NRM) or cult | A small, secretive religious group that represents either a new religion or a major innovation of an existing faith. (340)
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| New social movements | An organized collective activity that addresses values and social identities, as well as improvements in the quality of life. (428)
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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. (402)
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| Nisei | Children born in the United States to the Issei. (260)
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| Nonmaterial culture | Ways of using material objects, as well as customs, beliefs, philosophies, governments, and patterns of communication. (61)
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| Nonverbal communication | The sending of messages through the use of gestures, facial expressions, and postures. (17)
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| Norm | An established standard of behavior maintained by a society. (64)
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| Nuclear family | A married couple and their unmarried children living together. (301)
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| Obedience | Compliance with higher authorities in a hierarchical structure. (175)
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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. (212)
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| Observation | A research technique in which an investigator collects information through direct participation and/or by closely watching a group or community. (38)
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| Open system | A social system in which the position of each individual is influenced by his or her achieved status. (220)
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| Operational definition | An explanation of an abstract concept that is specific enough to allow a researcher to assess the concept. (30)
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| Opinion leader | Someone who influences the opinions and decisions of others through day-to-day personal contacts and communication. (162)
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| Organic solidarity | A collective consciousness that rests on mutual interdependence, characteristic of societies with a complex division of labor. (118)
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| Organized crime | The work of a group that regulates relations among criminal enterprises involved in illegal activities, including prostitution, gambling, and the smuggling and sale of illegal drugs. (192)
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| Out-group | A group or category to which people feel they do not belong. (132)
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| Patriarchy | A society in which men dominate in family decision making. (303)
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| Patrilineal descent | A kinship system in which only the relatives of the father are significant. (303)
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| Peace | The absence of war, or more broadly, a proactive effort to develop cooperative relations among nations. (375)
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| Personality | A person's typical patterns of attitudes, needs, characteristics, and behavior. (81)
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| Peter principle | A principle of organizational life, originated by Laurence J. Peter, according to which every employee within a hierarchy tends to rise to his or her level of incompetence. (138)
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| Pluralism | Mutual respect for one another's cultures among the various groups in a society, which allows minorities to express their own cultures without experiencing prejudice. (255)
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| Pluralist model | A view of society in which many competing groups within the community have access to government so that no single group is dominant. (373)
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| Political system | The social institution that is founded on a recognized set of procedures for implementing and achieving society's goals. (361)
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| Politics | In Harold Lasswell's words, "who gets what, when, and how." (367)
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| Polyandry | A form of polygamy in which a woman may have more than one husband at the same time. (302)
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| Polygamy | A form of marriage in which an individual may have several husbands or wives simultaneously. (302)
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| Polygyny | A form of polygamy in which a man may have more than one wife at the same time. (302)
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| Population pyramid | A special type of bar chart that shows the distribution of the population by gender and age. (395)
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| Postindustrial city | A city in which global finance and the electronic flow of information dominate the economy. (399)
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| Postindustrial society | A society whose economic system is engaged primarily in the processing and control of information. (121)
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| Postmodern society | A technologically sophisticated society that is preoccupied with consumer goods and media images. (121)
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| Power | The ability to exercise one's will over others. (208, 367)
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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. (371)
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| Preindustrial city | A city of only a few thousand people that is characterized by a relatively closed class system and limited mobility. (398)
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| Prejudice | A negative attitude toward an entire category of people, often an ethnic or racial minority. (245)
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