Vocabulary List

| 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 |

A	Top
absolute poverty	Lacking the basic essentials of human life.
access	A route into something. In sociological terms, this is related to notions of inequality because people from different social groups have differing chances of succeeding at penetrating social institutions.
agencies of socialisation	Agencies of socialisation are social institutions which form part of the process of passing on to people the norms and values of their society. It is from agencies of socialisation that we learn how to act in the way that others expect of us.
agenda setting	Agenda setting is the way in which the media can decide for people which things they should worry about by reporting some stories more than others.
agents of social control	Agents of social control are social institutions which pass on to people the rules by which we all must live.
anti-school subculture	Some pupils in schools form friendship groups that reject the aims and values of the school as a whole.
audience	The people who buy or consume a media product.
B	Top
bias	Putting a slant on something so that it reflects your prejudices and views and it is not a true image of the world.
bio-medical model of illness	This suggests that the basis of disease, including mental illness, is physical in origin.
birth rates	This refers to the number of children born to each thousand women of child bearing age.
C	Top
case study	The study of one person or incident and drawing conclusions from that study that can be applied more widely.
censorship	Many countries do not allow certain subjects to be shown or discussed in the media, most commonly, sex and violence. Censorship is when the blocking of certain topics is official in some way.
church	Literally a building in which people worship. Sociologically, a church refers to an organisation of people who share a certain system of beliefs.
cohabitation	Living together in a sexual relationship without having undergone a wedding ceremony.
community	A form of social organisation that gives people a sense of belonging in some form to a larger group either geographically or as an identity.
confidentiality	Keeping secrets so that people can speak freely about things that concern them, without fear of ridicule or embarrassment.
conflict theories	Theories which suggest that society is composed of groups of people in competition for resources and power. Usually associated with Marxism and feminism.
constraints on the media	Things that control what the media may and may not report.
control	The ability to exert power over other people.
convergence theory	This suggests that different social classes are becoming more alike in norms, values and culture.
corporate crime	Criminal actions carried out by companies that ignore laws such as those relating to health and safety or which commit other illegal acts.
criminalisation	The way in which certain acts can become illegal as a result of changes in the law.
cult	Rarely used sociologically, a cult is a new religious movement.
cultural capital	The valued knowledge of a culture.
cultural deficits	Some people experience a culture which lacks the social skills needed for success.
cultural deprivation,	Some people do not have access to cultural capital and do not gain the social knowledge relevant for success.
cultural diversity	The differences between cultures.
cultural effects theory	This suggests that the media influence us through the steady repetition of ideas and images in the form of a drip-feed of ideas. It is associated with Greg Philo of the Glasgow Media Unit.
cultural transmission	The way in which a culture is passed on from one generation to the next.
culture	The way of life, knowledge, beliefs and ideas of a group of people.
D	Top
dark figure of crime	This is also known as the hidden figure of crime and refers to unreported and unrecorded crime about which little is known.
deceit	Dishonesty. It is unethical to lie to people when carrying out a research study.
decision making	The right to decide how others should act.
denomination	An large and organised religious grouping with many members, it is not linked to the state and may be an off-shoot of another religion or church.
dependency	Dependency refers to a state of relying of someone else for your needs. In sociology, dependency culture is used to refer to people who rely on benefits to live instead of getting paid work.
development	The degree of industrialisation, health, welfare and education of a nation.
devolution	This is the opposite of centralisation of power. Government rights and responsibilities have been devolved (given back) to regions of the UK.
differential attainment	The differences between the educational achievements of certain social groups.
differentiation	The social differences in status and power between various social groups.
disability	A physical or mental inability to do something that most other people would consider normal.
disease	An illness or a sickness that has recognisable symptoms.
disenchantment	A sense of being at odds with things or feeling cynical about something.
divorce	A legal statement of the end of a marriage.
domestic labour	Domestic labour is unpaid work carried out in the home, housework.
E	Top
elite theory	It is believed that a small group of very wealthy and powerful people control society.
environmental movement	People whose primary concern is the state of the planet. They form loose groupings as well as organised pressure groups.
equality of opportunity	The equal ability to access the benefits of social institutions such as government and education.
ethics	The study of right and wrong. In sociology, it is essential that studies do not harm the people who participate in them. There is a code of ethics organised by the British Sociological Association which should be followed in any social research.
ethnicity	A sense of the culture or nationality to which one belongs.
ethnography	This is the study of ordinary people. The term was coined by Garfinkel and an ethnographic study usually suggests that an observation has been carried out
exclusion	Not to be allowed access to something. This can be in school, where children are excluded as a punishment. More importantly, exclusion is seen as a form of poverty where people cannot participate fully in normal life because they cannot afford it.
experiments	The experimenter sets up a situation in which he can manipulate and then observe the behaviour of people.
F	Top
family	A group of people linked by a sense of kinship through blood or marriage.
family diversity	A term used to describe the differing forms of family organisation typical of modern Britain .
fear of crime	People are frightened of being the victim of a crime, sometimes more than is necessary given their realistic chances of being a victim.
federalism	A group of states join together to form one larger government with a degree of power over them all.
feminism	A belief that women are subjected to male domination or patriarchy in society and a desire for social, political and economic equality of genders.
formal curriculum	The curriculum refers to that which is taught by schools. The formal curriculum is the stated knowledge which children are expected to acquire.
formal socialisation	Some socialisation is deliberate and structured within society, through institutions such as schools.
Functionalism	A form of sociology where social institutions are studied in terms of their usefulness for society.
functions	The purpose of a thing
fundamentalism	The desire to return to a ‘pure’ form of religious belief often associated with conservativism and a desire to return to the values of the past.
G	Top
gender	The social roles people take on according to their biological sex.
generalisation	The extent to which the findings of a particular study can be said to apply to wider society.
global crime	Crime that takes place across a number of countries, for instance drug smuggling.
globalisation	The view that the world is becoming smaller in the sense that links between countries in terms of economics and communication technology are improving all the time.
H	Top
health	A state of physical and mental well-being.
hidden curriculum	A concept associated with Pierre Bourdieu and later with feminism. This suggested that schools taught social ideas such as patriarchy but were unaware it.
households	People who share living accommodation.
hypodermic syringe model	A belief that the mass media act as a drug so that people cannot feel the pain of existence.
I	Top
iatrogenesis	Any sickness or physical disability caused by the actions of a doctor.
identity	A sense of who you are.
ideology	This is a belief system.
illness	Lack of a sense of health and well-being.
illness iceberg	The amount of physical and mental ill-health in a community which is not reported and not known about.
income	Money which comes into a household from earnings, interest or benefits.
indicators of development	Data which allows researchers to compare rates of welfare, health and education between nations. Note that these indicators may vary between countries.
individualism	This is a political philosophy which promotes the rights and well-being of the individual. It opposes state intervention for social well-being.
industrialisation	The process of a culture or a region becoming more economically dependent on manufacturing than on farming.
inequality	Differences in levels of access to wealth and power between social groups.
informed consent	Participants in research give their permission for research to be conducted on them in full knowledge of what it is that they are agreeing to.
interpretivism	A social research style that emphasises understanding how people act in relation to others around them.
interview	A research method that involves asking people questions. These can be structured where all the questions are written down in advance, or unstructured, where the interview is like a conversation.
invasion of privacy	Any research which reveals personal details without regard to the fundamental right of an individual not to reveal personal details.
L	Top
locality	A geographical region.
longitudinal studies	Studies which follow a cohort of people through a number of years of their lives.
M	Top
mainstream cultures	These are the ideas and ways of living of the majority of people in a culture.
marriage	A legal contract between two people of opposing sexes offering rights and obligations under law.
Marxist theory	This is a view of society that suggests that social classes are in conflict with each other. The people who own the means of production exploit the people who work for them for wages.
material deprivation	Lack of the physical things that you need for a good standard of living.
medicalisation	A social process whereby natural events such as birth come to be seen as something that requires the input and control of medical staff.
meritocracy	The best people rise to the top of the social structure because they are the most talented and best equipped to govern us.
methodological plurality	The use of more than one sociological method in a single study to ensure reliability and validity.
modernisation theory	This theory suggests that the wealthier countries of the west support the improving living and political conditions in underdeveloped countries.
modernism	A social and artistic movement of the beginning of the C20th which tried to criticise tradition and encourage people to do things in a new and ‘better’ way.
moral panics	A public over-reaction to a recent event caused by exaggerated media reporting.
morbidity and morbidity rate	Morbidity is illness and morbidity rates are the number of people who experience illness per thousand of a population.
mortality and mortality rates	Mortality is death, mortality rates are the number of people who die per thousand of a population.
multi-nationals	Large companies with business interests in a number of different countries.
N	Top
nation state	An area controlled and ruled by one government.
nationalism	An sense of allegiance to a single geographical area.
neo-modernisation theory	A blend of traditional and modernist solutions to the question of how countries can develop economically.
neo-tribes	This is a post-modern view of youth culture which suggest that the cultural expressions of young people are individualistic, short term and life style orientated.
New Age	As traditional religious beliefs have become less important in people’s lives, they have turned to other forms of spiritual expression such as candles, whale music, herbs, crystals and astrology. It is these beliefs that are views as New Age.
New Age movements	Many people who accept alternative spirituality form semi organised groupings such as Wicca or the Druids.
new religious movements (NRM)	A small and private group of people who follow a new religion or a new version of an established religion.
new social movements (NSM)	Instead of joining traditional organised political parties, many people are drawn to single issue politics such as concern with the environment, anti-arms trade or anti-capitalism.
news values	Certain stories are more likely to be reported in the media than others according to criteria which are termed news values. These include good visual images for television.
non-Christian religions	Any world faiths that do not focus on a belief in Jesus.
norms	The normal and expected way to behave in a culture.
O	Top
objectivity	The attempt to be scientific and unbiased in study.
observation	A study technique that involves watching people in their normal social settings.
official statistics	Data collected by official government bodies.
operationalisation	Defining an abstract concept in such a way that it can be studied.
P	Top
personal data	Information about individuals such as diaries, memorabilia.
piloting	A small scale study designed to test the methods intended for use in a large scale study.
plagiarism	This is the copying of other people’s work, or the use of their ideas without their permission. It is strictly illegal.
pluralism	A variety of different views and perspectives on society make up our culture.
political ideologies	An ideology is a belief system, so a political ideology refers to a belief system about the way in which society should be organised for the benefit of its members.
positivism	Scientific sociology, based on the view that only observable and measurable behaviours should be studied.
postmodernism	There are no social or political truths so people have a choice about how they act and what they believe.
poverty	A sense of being unable to afford necessary things.
power	The ability to control others.
practical	The method a sociologist uses can actually be done effectively in real life.
pressure and interest groups	A group of people who share political aims and join together to further their point of view.
primary methods	Reserarch methods conducted by the sociologist him or herself.
Q	Top
qualitative	This refers to quality. It refers to research that is concerned with meaning and emotions.
quantitative	Concerned with numerical and statistical data.
questionnaire	A list of questions is created for respondents to answer in order to analyse statistical data arising from the responses.
R	Top
radicalism	Extremism in some form, often associated with feminism or Marxism.
rates	Number per thousand of a relevant population.
rationalisation	Providing a logical reason for an idea.
rationalisation	Reorganisation of an organisation to make it more efficient.
realism	Constructing sociology in a way that represents the real world and rejects theoretical explanations.
regionalism	A sense of identity based on a geographical area. In political terms, it is a desire to be governed by people who share the same identity.
relative poverty	Lacking the things that others in your culture expect to be able to afford.
reliability	The extent to which a study can be trusted to be dependable. If it is repeated, then broadly similar results will be obtained.
representation in media	The way in which people from certain social categories are represented in a stereotypical form in the media.
representativeness,	The extent to which a small group can be said to reflect the social characteristics of a larger group from which it is drawn.
resistance theories	People reject dominant ideas or behaviours and act in a way that is counter to the common trend of thought.
respondent	Someone who answers questions from a sociologist.
risk behaviour	People engage in activities that can put them at risk of illness or danger.
roles	A term used by Erving Goffman who suggested that people act in a specific way in certain situations.
S	Top
sampling	Using a smaller group within a population to represent the whole group.
sanctions	Systems of punishments and rewards.
secondary methods	Sociological data collected by people other than the research team.
sect	A small religious group that has broken away from a larger one; often secretive and closed to outsiders.
secularisation	A process whereby traditional organised religion is losing significance in Western culture.
self fulfilling prophecy	Related to education, a prediction is made and then, because it has been made, it comes or is made to come true.
self report surveys	People report on their own behaviour, often used in studies of criminal behaviour.
sensitivity	Being aware of the feelings and rights of others.
sick role	The appropriate way to act when one has been defined as unwell by other people.
singlehood	Being unmarried and without a long term partner.
social action	This is behaviour that comes about in terms of other people; it has a purpose that others would recognise. It is associated with the sociology of Max Weber.
social change	Alteration of economics, norms or values of a society.
social class	A layer in society based on education and wealth.
social construction	A generally agreed view of a social phenomenon.
social control	The way in which people’s behaviour is affected by the social rules of the cultures in which in they live.
social exclusion	Being unable to participate in society because of poverty.
social inclusion	Being a full member of society.
social inequality	Having unequal access to rewards and power in society.
social mobility	Being able to move up and down the social class system.
social relationships	Your position or actions in terms of other people.
social roles	An expected way of acting for a specific social situation.
social selection	A way of screening people so that only certain ones have opportunities and that others are not accepted.
social structure	These are organisations that go to create a society. They are the systems around which society is organised for example, education and family are often seen as social structures.
socialisation	The process of learning how to behave in a way that is appropriate for your culture.
society	There is no fully agreed definition of society; however, it usually refers to groups of people who live and work together or who share ideas and values.
statistics	Data gathered in number form.
status	The standing or respect a person or a group has in society.
stereotypes	People develop a generalised and simplistic image of members of other social groups and then behave as though these images were true.
stigma	Something which marks a person out as different from others in society.
sub-culture	A small group of people with different norms and values from mainstream society.
subjectivity	An emotional way of looking at things.
survey	A study of a large number of people.
T	Top
the new right	Associated with Margaret Thatcher, members of the new right believe in individualism or the rights of the individual over those of society.
trends	Patterns over a period of time.
triangulation	Using more than one social research method so that there is some form of check one against the other.
two-step flow model	A view of the effect of the media on people which suggests that there are powerful opinion makers in communities and they are able to influence other people without people being fully aware of the process.
U	Top
uses and gratifications theory	The idea that people choose media products to fulfil certain of their own personal needs.
V	Top
validity	The extent to which a study is truthful and reflects the reality of everyday life.
values	The guiding principles or beliefs which affect how people act.
victim surveys	People are asked if they have had a crime committed against them .
victimisation	The extent to which people are the victims of criminal actions.
vocational education	Education designed simply to prepare students for a life in work.
voting behaviour	The way that people choose to vote.
W	Top
wealth	Goods and investments which can be bought or sold.
white-collar crime	Crime is committed by middle class professional people. The term was coined by Sutherland.
Y	Top
youth cultures	Young people express themselves in a way that is different from the traditions of mainstream culture.