GCSE Vocabulary List

Download list A B C D E F G H I I J L M N O P Q R S T U V W X Y Z A Achieved status This is the respect a person has from something that they have done in their lives. Ageism This is behaviour in which people are treated differently because of age. Young and older people are particularly likely to experience ageism. Agency of socialisation A social institution which socialises people, for example, the family, education, the mass media or religion. Alternative status This is when you gain respect in a sub-culture, or a small group of people. Ascribed status This is the status or respect that you are born with an it can be based on gender, or family, or ethnicity Asylum seeker Person seeking to escape oppression or political violence in his or her home countrytop of page B Birth rate Number of babies born per thousand people Blended family This is also known as a reconstructed family. A blended family has parents and children from more than one relationship in it. Britain This is the name of the large island that comprises Scotland, Wales and England (sometimes called Great Britain) top of page C Canalisation Parents try and push children in certain directions, for instance by giving them gendered clothing Capitalism This is the economic structure of countries such as the USA and Britain where people acquire wealth through making profits. Class Group of people of similar work, wealth, education and status Class identity This is a way of seeing yourself as being part of a social class Cohabitation People live together without marriage Community A group of people with a shared culture Comprehensive School A type of school where people all have an equal chance to do well in education Conjugal roles This is the work that is done in the home depending on the gender. Consumption This means to use or to buy Contemporary Happening now Crime This is an act that is against the law. Cultural capital Cultural capital is the type of knowledge that can give you power over other people. top of page Cultural relativity This is the idea that right and wrong depends upon the norms and values of the culture to which you belong. Cultural universal There are certain features of social life that are common to all cultures. All societies share these features. Examples of cultural universals are:
• religions
• families
• traditions
• laws
• norms Culture This is the way of life of a group of people and consists of norms and values. top of page D Dark figure of crime The crime we do not know about is the ‘dark figure’ or sometimes the ‘hidden figure’. Death rate Number of people who die per thousand people (also called mortality rate) Delinquent A young criminal Democracy This is a society where everyone has a right to have a say in who governs him or her. Deviant A deviant breaks social rules such as norms or values. Other people see a deviant as either ‘mad’ or ‘bad’. Devolution Power is moved from London to other areas of the country, so in Wales, the Assembly has power to make rules Dictatorship This is a society that is ruled by one person. Differentiation This is the term used to describe the way that some people and some social groups are made different from others. The most common forms of differentiation are on the basis of social class, age, gender and ethnicity. Discrimination This is the power to act on a prejudice so that you act differently and in a way that is unfair to people in some social groups. Divorce The legal end of a marriage Domestic labour Housework, or unpaid work in the hometop of page E Education The process of learning the skills needed for your culture Election People are able to choose a government by voting in an election Emigrants Emigrants move out of an area. Equality of access People all do equally well or badly in society regardless of their age, gender or background Equality of opportunity Everyone has the same legal chance to do well Ethics Ethics is an important part of sociological research. It means that researchers should not put themselves or anyone else at risk of embarrassment or danger because of the work that they are doing. Ethnicity This refers to the cultural or religious group to which people may feel that they belong. Ethnocentrism This is the idea that your own culture is more important than anyone else’s culture. Evaluate This is a judgement on the value of an idea, a concept or a study. Evidence should be used to back up opinions as to both strengths and weaknesses. Evidence This is the proof or examples that we can use to support our points of view Exclusion Some people are too poor to participate properly in society Expectations This is expected behaviour top of page F Family This is a group of people to whom you feel related by ties of blood or marriage. Family structure This is the way that families organise themselves into family groups Femininity This refers to the behaviour that is considered by a culture to be typical of females and of women. Feminism This is the belief that men and women should be equal. Feral child This is a child who has been brought up without contact with other people. Feral children have not been socialised properly. Folk Devil A group of people whom everyone fears in a moral panictop of page G Gender These are the social rules and ways of acting in all societies, which are based upon whether you are male or female. Sex is biological; gender depends on your society. Globalisation This term refers to the idea that the world is developing one mass global culture based on American ideas and values. The world is seen to be getting smaller as we all share similar cultural ideas and fashions. top of page H Hate crime A crime that is caused by people’s racism or hatred of another group of people Hidden curriculum We learn a great deal in schools and colleges, which is neither intended for us to learn or part of what we are supposed to learn. Hobby Work that you do for pleasuretop of page I Identity This is a person’s sense of who he or she actually is. Ideology It refers to a set of political beliefs or principles by which one lives one’s life. Imitation A process of socialisation where children copy the behaviour of adults Immigrants Immigrants move into an area. Inequality People do not have the same chances, opportunities or wealth Interactionism This is a form of sociology that looks at how people react together.top of page J Judicial system This term refers to the law system and courts that we have in this country.top of page K Kinship Our sense of family relationships and dutiestop of page L Labelling theory This is the idea that if we see someone in a certain way, for example as bad, we interpret everything they do as being negative and wrong Ladettes Young women who act like boys and do hard drinking and violence. Lads Young men who act in an old fashioned masculine way: drinking and violence are part of being a lad Law A written rule for all of our society Leisure Leisure is people’s free time. It is what they do when they are not working or doing the things that they must do in order to live. Life chance This refers to the opportunities that present themselves to people. Life choice These are the kinds of decisions that we make that can affect the whole pattern and course of our lives. Life style This refers to the way that we live our lives and how we spend our money. Life-long learning This is the view that education takes place all through our lives and not just in school. Lone Parent Person bringing up his or her children without a partner to support him or her top of page M Marxism This is a form of sociology based on the idea that rich people dominate poorer people. They are able to do it in such a way that poor people do not recognise what is happening to them. Masculinity This refers to the behaviour that is considered by a culture to be typical of males and men. Mass media These are forms of communication which reach a lot of people at one time: radio, television, CD Rom, DVD, films, newspapers, computer games, music, advertising and packaging for products. Methodology This term refers to the methods that sociologists use to form their conclusions. The most common methods are: Questionnaires, Interviews and Observations Middle class Middle class people tend to work in professions. Migration This is a movement of people to or from an area Minority Ethnic Group A minority ethnic group consists of people who have a background that is not the same as the majority of people. Monogamy This is used to describe single partner marriage; people are married to only one person at a time. Moral panic This is when the media build up a news story to get people worked up into a frenzy of panic about a social issue. Mores The term is pronounced ‘more rays’. These are morals held by groups of people.top of page N National Curriculum This is the information which teachers must teach children in school. Nature Theory This is the idea that people behave as they do because they are controlled by their biology. New Man This is a man who has thought about his gender behaviour and who acts in a way that is different from traditional macho men. New Right This is a set of political views associated with extreme conservatism and the politics of Margaret Thatcher who was elected Prime Minister in 1979. It emphasised traditional values Norms A norm is a normal way to behave. Nurture Theory This is a sociological theory. It says that people’s actions and behaviour are based on what they are taught by others around them.top of page O Objective It means to be scientific and value free. Official statistics Official statistics are collected by government agencies. You can find out more about official statistics by looking at www.statistics.gov.uktop of page P Parliament The place in London where the law-makers meet to create laws for the rest of us Peer Group People around you, your equals are your peer group. Plagiarism Copying someone’s work and pretending that it is your own Political party This is a group of people who have views about the world that are similar. Examples include: the Labour party, the Conservatives and the Liberal Democrats Polygamy This is marriage to multiple partners at a time. Poverty This means that you have to do without things Power This is the ability of other people to make us do what they want, whether we want to or not. Prejudice This is when people judge others without knowing them. Pressure Group A pressure group is a group of people who join together in order to influence government in some way. Prestige This is your standing or status within a given group. It is a bit more particular than status, which refers to social standing. top of page Primary poverty This is a lack of the things essential for life Primary This is the type of socialisation that takes place in the home. Young children experience primary socialisation when they learn the norms and values typical of their culture from their families. Professional work This is work which is paid a salary and which is non-manual. top of page Q Qualitative data This refers to quality. It refers to research that is concerned with meaning and emotions Quantitative data Quantitative data is information that can be counted in some way.top of page R Racism This is when people treat you differently because of your cultural, religious or ethnic background. Reliability The dependability of a piece of research or data. Can it be trusted to be repeatable and accurate? Religion A set of beliefs about God and the spiritual side of life or a group of people who share those beliefs Role model This is someone we admire someone and want to be like. Roles We change our behaviour depending on the situation we find ourselves in. Each situation will have different rules for how to act.top of page S Sanction This word means a punishment. Secondary data This is information that sociologists can use as evidence that already exists in one form or another. Someone else has collected the information and it is in a book or report. Secondary poverty This is a lack of the things most people feel are important for life. People who exist on benefit may experience secondary poverty in Britain. Secondary socialisation This is the kind of socialisation that takes place outside the family. Secularisation The term is used to describe a view that some people have that our society is becoming less religious and that traditional Christianity is less important than it was in the past. Self fulfilling prophecy This is the idea that what you believe will come true because you act in a way that makes it happen. If people are told they will fail in school, they come to believe in that view and have no self-confidence Sexism This is a way of treating people differently because of their biological sex. Social class Sociologists put people into categories according to their relative wealth and status in society. This is usually done on the basis of the type of work that they do and the level of education that they have. Social conflict This is the idea that groups of people have different interests and values. Social identity These are the identities, which we carry which are linked to our position in society. A job may be a social identity, think of the way that people think about the people who have the jobs of doctors. top of page Social Trends A book published annually with information about British society Socialisation The process of learning to behave in a way that is right for your culture. Primary socialisation takes place in the home. Secondary socialisation takes place in the wider world. Statistics These are the numbers that are collected about our society. Status This is the respect that others have for you Stereotype This is an unthinking way of categorising people by some characteristic such as their age, gender or ethnicity. Stratification This is the layering of society into groups such as social classes or castes. Sub-culture This is a smaller group within society who have norms and values that are different from those of mainstream society.top of page T Trade Union This is an organisation of people who work in the same types of job or in the same industry.top of page U Underclass These are the very poorest people in a society United Kingdom This refers to the countries of England, Wales, Scotland and Northern Ireland, and some islands such as the Channel Islands and the Isle of Man. It is governed by the monarch and by Parliament top of page V Validity Information or research is valid if it is true to life. It measures what happens accurately and reflects reality in some way. Values This word describes a shared moral system where most people believe in certain ideas. Victim study A way of discovering how much crime has taken place by asking people if they have been the victims of crime Victimless crimes The crimes that take place when both people involved want it to happen even though both are breaking the law.top of page W Wealth This is money or property that is extra or surplus to what you need to live. It can be sold to give you money if you need it: jewellery, stocks and shares, antiques, investments and artworks. White-collar crime This is crime carried out by middle class people. Examples could consist of fiddling tax returns or committing fraud. Work This is what you do to earn income or because other people want or need you to do it. Working class Working class people tend to work with their skills. top of page Y Youth cultures This is a set of fashions, values and shared norms that are typical of a group of young people such as punks or hippies. top of page A B C D E F G H I J K L M N O P Q R S T U V W X Y Z