Accommodation -

Acculturation -

activity theory -

administrative foreign policy -

Ageism -

Amalgamation -

anatomical differences -

anglo-conformity -

Assimilation -

assured destruction capability -

attitudinal discrimination -

Biosphere -

Birthrate -

The number of births per 1,000 persons in a specific population per year.

Capital -

All material objects made by humans. One of the factors of production.

Capitalism -

central authorities -

circular flow -

cognitive development theory -

A theory that includes the idea that children learn gender roles according to which stage of cognitive development they have reached. Cognitive development is the way information is processed by individuals at different stages of physical maturation.

conflict theory -

A theory that assumes that power and privilege are based on the resources an individual possesses.

Containment -

crisis foreign policy -

Urgent decisions made when one state feels that a situation will mark a turning point in its relationship with another state. Crisis decisions are a combination of general and administrative decisions.

cultural pluralism -

An ideal condition in which the cultural distinctiveness of each ethnic, racial, and religious minority group would be maintained, while individual members would still owe allegiance to the society in general.

death rate -

Demography -

The study of the growth or decline of populations, their distribution throughout the world, and their composition.

Détente -

Diplomacy -

Discrimination -

disengagement theory -

Ecology -

Ecosystem -

Ethnicity -

A group’s distinctive social, rather than biological, traits.

ethnic minority -

Ethnocentrism -

exchange theory -

expressive role -

factors of production -

Labor, land, capital, entrepreneurship, time and technology, or the basic elements that are combined in the production of goods and services.

feminist theory -

finance capitalism -

Capitalism associated with a later stage of industrialism in which business organizations are characterized by (1) dominance of investment banks and insurance companies, (2) large aggregates of capital, (3) ownership separate from management, (4) appearance of the holding company, and (5) appearance of the corporation.

Hormones -

infant mortality -

interactionist theory -

institutional discrimination -

masculine and feminine -

fertility rate -

gender roles -

Metropolitanization -

foreign policy -

Fecundity -

The biological potential for producing offspring.

general foreign policy -

industrial capitalism -

instrumental role -

Stresses rationality, competitiveness, aggression, and goal-orientation.

Labor -

Land -

Natural material things such as land, minerals, water. Another of the factors of production.

life expectancy -

male or female -

Megalopolis -

A complex in which one metropolitan area follows another without interruption. Also called urban sprawl.

melting pot theory -

minority group -

Any group in society that is kept from attaining the rewards of society on the basis of culture, race, religion, sex, or age. A category of people who possess imperfect access to positions of equal power, prestige, and privilege in the society.

modernization theory -

 In the study of the elderly, the theory that the status of older people declines as the society in which they live becomes more modern and industrial.

multinational corporations -

Prejudice -

Race -

production-possibility limits -

Racism -

An ideology, prevalent in the past but now discounted, that some racial groups are inferior to others, that they display not only physical but also behavioral differences, and that both are inherited and undesirable.

racial minority -

A group within a society that differs biologically from the dominant group in such features as skin color, hair texture, eye slant, and head shape and dimensions.

Standard Metropolitan Statistical Area (SMSA) -

Term used by the U.S. Bureau of the Census to designate units of population consisting of a county or counties that include a city of 50,000 or more people. Metropolitan areas containing one million or more people are called Consolidated Metropolitan Statistical Areas (CMSAs).

social learning theory -

zero population growth -

Monopoly -

A situation in which one firm produces the entire market supply of a specific product.

Monroe Doctrine -

Foreign policy in the guise of a warning to the European states to stay out of Latin America, which was considered to be in the American sphere of influence.

mortality rate -

The number of deaths in a population per year.

Oligopoly -

A condition of high industrial concentration in which a small number of corporations dominate an entire industry, effectively preventing price competition.

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opportunity cost -

The sacrifice involved in making an economic choice.

Pollution -

The degradation of air, land, and water as well as the esthetic aspects of the environment.

population density -

The ratio of people to a land area.

population pyramid -

A graphic expression of the age and sex distribution of a given population.

Resources -

Everything that is needed for the production of goods and services.

secondary sex characteristics -

Include height, weight, distribution of body fat and hair, and musculature.

Segregation -

An attempt to isolate a minority from the majority.

sex chromosomes -

Contain the genes that determine heredity in all living creatures.

sex ratio -

Ratio of the number of males in a population in any single year per 100 females.

Suburbs -

Smaller communities on the outskirts of central cities and somewhat dependent on them.

structural functionalist theory -

One of the most dominant theories in sociology, which assumes that those elements are retained in a social system that aid in the survival of that system.

Urbanism -

A condition, a set of attitudes, a quality, or a way of life distinct from the rural.

Urbanization -

discount rate -

The interest rate charged by the Federal Reserve Bank for lending money to member banks.

discretionary spending -

The portion of the federal budget that consists of current spending, rather than carryovers from previous years.

disposable income -

National income less taxes and plus welfare payments. What people really have to spend or to save.

Equilibrium -

The price and quantity at which both buyers and sellers are compatible—the quantity supplied equals the price buyers are willing to pay.

factor or resource markets -

Markets in which households sell the factors of production that they control.

Firms -

Units that decide how to use labor, land, and capital and which goods and services to produce.

fiscal policy -

The use of public expenditures and taxation powers by the government to change the outcomes of the economy.

full employment -

gross domestic product (GDP) -

The total output of goods and services produced within the confines of the United States, by American or foreign-supplied resources, as well as all income earned.

gross national product (GNP) per capita -

The total output or dollar value of the economy divided by the total population.

Household -

All the people who live under one roof and who make financial decisions as a unit. Also called the consumer.

incomes policy -

An attempt to use wage and price controls to direct economic outcomes.

Inflation -

marginal productivity -

The value people’s work adds to total output.

market demand - .

The combined willingness of individuals and firms to buy a specific number of products at a specific price.

market supply -

The combined willingness of individuals or firms to supply specific resources or products at specific prices.

1. monetary policy -

The use of money and credit to control economic outcomes.

multiplier effect -

Government spending that produces more income, results in higher consumption expenditures, and translates into a higher aggregate demand.

Phillips curve -

A graphic illustration of the conflict between full employment and price stability: lower rates of unemployment are usually accompanied by higher rates of inflation.

product markets -

Markets in which firms sell their production of goods and services.

public sector -

social indicators -

Ways of measuring the level of real benefits resulting from a specific level of output.

uncontrollable expenditures -

Expenditures from previous years that are built into the annual federal budget.

achieved status -

A position attained through individual effort or merit.

Aggregate -

A number of people who are in the same place at the same time, but who do not interact with one another.

ascribed status -

An inherited position—one that is not attained through individual effort or merit.

Bureaucracy -

The hierarchical system of administration prevailing within a formal organization. The hierarchy depends on job specialization, a set of rules and standards to promote uniformity, and an attitude of impersonal impartiality.

Category -

(referring to people) A number of people who have some characteristics in common but who do not interact with one another.

Competition -

A social process (form of interaction) that occurs when two or more individuals try to obtain possession of the same scarce object or intangible value using rules and limits.

Conflict -

Cooperation -

A basic social process (interaction) involving two or more individuals or groups working jointly in a common enterprise for a shared goal.

Dyad -

The smallest type of group, consisting of two members.

Exchange -

formal organizations -

Large-scale associations of people in which most of the activities of complex societies are handled. They are highly organized groups displaying a formal structure, a body of officers, the expectation of permanence, and a hierarchical organization of authority (bureaucracy).

Gemeinschaft -

A small, homogeneous, communal, and traditional society. Relationships among members are personal, informal, and face-to-face, and behavior is dictated by tradition.

Gesellschaft -

Group -

A number of people who engage in symbolic interaction; who are mutually aware of and influence one another; who recognize their membership in the group and are in turn recognized as members by the group; who are aware of the roles, duties, obligations, and privileges of membership; and who agree to a point about the behavioral guidelines, values, and goals they share.

in-group -

Group to which the individual belongs and which confers on the individual a social identity.

Organization -

A formal process that deliberately brings into existence a group of people to perform tasks directed at achieving a specific goal. It allows people who are unacquainted with each other to cooperate effectively on complex projects.

out-group -

Group to which others belong, excluding the individual defining group membership.

.

reference group -

A group providing individuals with standards against which to measure themselves.

Role -

The carrying out of a status. A way of behaving that befits a status and is transmittable as well as fairly predictable.

secondary group -

A group that is in general larger and of shorter duration than a primary group. Interaction among members is formal, role-based, utilitarian, specialized, and temporary.

social organization -

The network of patterned human behavior that is the product of interaction and, at the same time, guides interaction.

social processes -

social structure -

The content of the social system, consisting of statuses, roles, groups, norms, and institutions.

social system -

A conceptual model of social relationships in which each part is interdependent and interconnected to every other part.

Society -

The largest social group. An interrelated network of social relationships that exists within the boundaries of the largest social system.

Status -

A ranked position in a social group. Statuses are rated according to their importance in a social group.

symbolic interaction -

Communication through speech, gestures, writing, or even music.

total institution -

An extreme type of coercive organization that isolates individuals from the rest of society, providing an all-encompassing social environment in which special norms and distinctive physical features prevail, with the goal of changing the individual’s attitudes, behaviors, and personality.

Triad -

A group consisting of three individuals. A more stable social unit than a dyad.

Authoritarianism -

Autocracy -

An ideology directly opposed to democracy, in which government rests in the hands of one individual or group who holds supreme power over the people.

charismatic authority -

According to Max Weber, a type of authority based on the leadership of a person with charisma. A charismatic leader is thought to possess special gifts of a magnetic, fascinating, and extraordinary nature.

Communism -

A political and economic ideology whose ultimate goal is total government control of the economy and total income redistribution, leading to the creation of a classless society.

.

Democracy -

An ideology, philosophy, theory, and political system assuming the basic value of the individual, as well as his or her rationality, morality, equality, and possession of specific rights.

democratic capitalism -

A blend of political and economic ideology whose tenets include the private ownership of property, the profit motive, a free market economy, and competition. The function of government in this system is to ensure that the economic game is played fairly.

democratic socialism -

A blend of political and economic ideology whose chief assumption is that participation in political decision making should be extended to economic decision making. The function of the government in this system is to control and guide the economy for the benefit of the voters who elected it.

Fascism -

Government -

A pivotal institution arising out of the need to maintain order, control, organize, protect, and defend the people of a society. Government is the acting arm of the state; it includes a political process in which a body of representatives is endowed with authority and power to make and carry out decisions for the society and see to it that order is maintained and laws are obeyed.

Ideology -

A system of ideas, values, beliefs, and attitudes that a society or groups within a society share and accept as true.

legal-rational authority -

According to Weber, a type of authority accepted by members of society because it is based on rational methods and laws and is exerted for their benefit.

Nation -

A culture group residing within the territory of a political state.

Nationalism -

Nazism -

The German version of fascism that flourished under the leadership of Adolf Hitler.

Politics -

The people and processes that make up and direct the government of the state, its policies, and its actions.

Power -

The probability that one individual in a social relationship will carry out his or her own will despite resistance. The ability of one person or group to direct the behavior of another person or group in a desired direction, under the ultimate, though not always obvious, threat of force.

rule of law -

A constitutional principle holding that those in public authority derive, maintain, and exercise their powers on the basis of specific laws, and not on the basis of their personal power.

State -

The abstract embodiment, or the symbol, of the political institution or government.

Totalitarianism - .

traditional authority -

According to Weber, authority that is based on reverence for tradition.

case study -

A method of research consisting of a detailed, long-term investigation of a single social unit.

Concept -

A generalized idea about people, objects, or processes that are related to one another; an abstract way of classifying things that are similar.

cross-section -

A survey of a broad spectrum of a population at a specific point in time.

ethical neutrality -

An attitude of the scientific method in the social sciences, requiring that scientists not pass moral judgment on their findings.

Experiment -

A method of research in which the researcher controls and manipulates variables in one group to test the effects of an independent variable on a dependent variable.

Hypothesis -

A tentative statement, in clearly defined terms, predicting a relationship between variables.

Longitudinal -

A survey that continues over a long period, engaging in contrasts and comparisons.

Objectivity -

A principle of the scientific method, especially in the social sciences, requiring researchers to divest themselves of personal attitudes, desires, beliefs, values, and tendencies when confronting their data.

participant observation -

Population -

In the social sciences, a statistical concept referring to the totality of phenomena under investigation (e.g., all college students enrolled in four-year private universities).

Research -

An aspect of scientific methodology that bolsters and complements theories. In the social sciences, four fundamental formats are used: the sample survey, the case study, the experiment, and participant observation.

sample survey -

A method of research consisting of an attempt to determine the occurrence of a particular act or opinion in a particular sample of people.

Theory -

 A set of concepts arranged so as to explain and/or predict possible and probable relationships.

Variables -

Factors whose relationships researchers try to uncover; characteristics that differ (vary) in each individual case.

Adaptation -

Australopithecus -

A prehuman who lived from about 4.5 million to 1 million years ago. Some researchers maintain that this type of prehuman is not a direct ancestor of modern humans but rather is a contemporary of an upright-walking, meat-eating, large-brained species that survived; others insist that Australopithecusis on the human ancestral line.

Chromosomes - .

Carriers of genes, or the hereditary blueprints of organisms. Each human inherits a set of 23 chromosomes from each parent.

Cro-Magnon -

The closest predecessors or perhaps contemporaries of modern humans, who lived about 35,000 years ago. They were expert toolmakers and artists, and they lived in tribes that displayed evidence of rules and kinship systems.

directional selection -

Change in gene frequencies is promoted because an adaptation to a new environment is needed.

DNA -

Deoxyribonucleic acid. A complex biochemical substance that is the basic building block of life. It determines the inheritance of specific traits.

Estrus -

Period of sexual receptivity and ability to conceive.

Evolution -

gene flow -

The movement of genes from one gene pool to another. It results in new combinations of genes in the offspring.

gene frequency -

The proportion in which the various genes occur in an inbreeding population.

gene pool -

All of the genetic material available to a population to be inherited by the next generation.

Genes -

Hereditary units that transmit an individual’s traits. They are contained in the chromosomes and made up of DNA.

genetic drift - .

The fluctuations in frequencies of specific traits in a small, isolated population, so that visible differences between an isolated population and the population from which it broke away become obvious.

Genetics -

The science of heredity.

Genotype -

The actual genetic composition of an organism, which is not necessarily expressed.

Hominids -

Prehuman creatures who walked on two feet.

Homo erectus -

The upright hominid thought to be a direct ancestor of modern humans.

Homo sapiens -

A species whose fossils date back 75,000 years (or perhaps 195,000 years) and includes Neanderthals. The species label for modern humans is Homo sapiens sapiens, whose fossils date back 30,000 years and include Cro-Magnon.

Mutation -

natural selection -

A process of evolution in which random traits are tested for their survival value; the successful traits are passed on, while organisms possessing less successful traits eventually become extinct.

Neanderthal -

A subspecies of Homo sapiens (but some consider them hominids) whose fossil remains date from 70,000 to 35,000 years ago. They are known to have buried their dead.

Phenotype -

The physical, or outward, appearance of an organism.

Primates - .

An order of mammals to which monkeys, apes, and humans belong.

Ramapithecus -

A hominoid having hominid-like features, dated between 14 and 8 million years ago.

stabilizing selection -

When natural selection promotes the status quo rather than change, because change would be detrimental to the organism’s adaptation to its environment.

Authority -

closed, or caste, stratification system -

A system in which class, status, and power are ascribed, mobility is highly restricted, and the social system is rigid.

conflict theory of stratification -

A theory of stratification according to which the natural conditions of society are constant change and conflict resulting from class struggles. Inequality is the product of such conflict, as one group is victorious over others and asserts itself over the rest of society.

estate system of stratification -

The prevailing system of feudal Europe, consisting of three estates of functional importance to the society. The estates were hierarchically arranged and permitted a limited amount of social mobility.

functionalist theory of stratification -

A theory in which social inequality is viewed as inevitable because society must use rewards to ensure that essential tasks are performed. The natural conditions of society are thought to be order and stability (equilibrium).

life chances -

open, or class, society -

A society in which the stratification system allows for social mobility and in which a person’s status is achieved rather than being ascribed on the basis of birth. Open systems are characteristic of industrial societies.

Power -

A dimension of stratification consisting of the ability of one person or group to control the actions of others with or without the latter’s consent.

social class -

A dimension of stratification consisting of an aggregate of persons in a society who stand in a similar position with regard to some form of power, privilege, or prestige.

social mobility -

An individual’s ability to change his or her social class membership by moving up (or down) the stratification system. Upward or downward mobility is vertical, whereas mobility that results in a change of status without a consequent change of class is horizontal.

social status -

A dimension of stratification consisting of an individual’s ranked position within the social system, the rank being determined mainly by the individual’s occupational role.

social stratification (ranking) -

stratification system -

The overlapping manner in which members of society are ranked according to classes, status groups, and hierarchies of power. Analyzed on a continuum from closed to open.

structural mobility -

Upward mobility caused by industrial and technological change that pushes skilled workers into higher-status occupations.

developmental theories -

A school of thought in modern psychology whose chief exponent was Jean Piaget. Developmentalists hold that personality development proceeds in stages that are dependent on physical maturation (sensory-motor, preoperational, and concrete-and formal-operational).

ego (Freud) -

A part of the personality that functions on a conscious level. It attempts to force the id to satisfy its instinctual needs in socially acceptable ways.

generalized other (Mead) -

The individual’s perception or awareness of social norms; learning to take the role of all others with whom one interacts or of society as a whole.

id (Freud) -

The representative of the libido in the personality, existing on an unconscious level and making up the primitive, irrational part of the personality.

Instincts -

Genetically transmitted, universal, complex patterns of behavior.

libido (Freud) -

The instinctual drive toward pleasure, which is the motivating energy behind human behavior.

looking-glass self (Cooley) -

midlife crisis -

What many people in middle adulthood experience when they reflect on their personal and occupational roles and find them wanting.

mind (Mead) -

The abstract whole of a person’s ideas.

Personality -

A complex and dynamic system that includes all of an individual’s behavioral and emotional traits, attitudes, values, beliefs, habits, goals, and so on.

psychoanalytic theory -

A theory of personality developed by Sigmund Freud. It assumes the existence of unconscious as well as conscious processes within each individual.

psychosexual stages (Freud) -

The manner in which individuals attempt to gratify the force of the libido at different periods of physical maturation. The phases are oral, anal, phallic (or Oedipal), latent, and genital.

Resocialization -

A process in which the individual’s existing self-concept and identity are erased in favor of a new personality or are altered to fit new roles.

self (Mead) -

The individual’s self-conception or self-awareness.

significant others (Mead) -

Important people in an individual’s life whose roles are initially imitated.

Socialization -

superego (Freud) -

A final element of personality, existing largely on an unconscious level and functioning to impose inhibition and morality on the id.

symbolic interactionism -

A school of thought founded by George Herbert Mead whose theories center around the interrelationship of mind, self, and society and include the belief that society and the individual give rise to each other through symbolic interaction.

total institution -

An organization or a place of residence in which inmates live isolated from others and where their freedom is restricted in the attempt to resocialize them with new identities and behavior patterns.

Anomie -

Durkheim’s term for a condition of normlessness. Merton used anomie to explain deviance, which he thought occurred when cultural goals cannot be achieved through legal institutional means.

bipolar disorder -

A psychosis characterized by extreme swings in emotion from deep depression to a high degree of excitement.

cultural transmission (or differential association) -

Deviance -

Norm-violating behavior beyond the society’s limits of tolerance.

differential association -

See cultural transmission.

.

Ectomorph -

In Sheldon’s typology (biological theory of deviance), a thin and delicate body type whose personality tends to be introspective, sensitive, nervous, and artistic.

electroconvulsive shock therapy -

A treatment of severe mental disorders (particularly depression) through the application of severe electric shock. It is a painful procedure and is sometimes abused.

Endomorph -

In Sheldon’s typology, a round and soft body type whose personality is social, easygoing, and self-indulgent.

index crimes -

The eight crimes whose rates are reported annually by the FBI: murder, rape, robbery, aggravated assault, burglary, arson, larceny, and auto theft.

Labeling -

A sociological theory of deviance that explains deviant behavior as a reaction to the group’s expectations of someone who has once been decreed as deviant.

Mesomorph -

Neurosis -

A mild personality disorder; an inefficient, partly disruptive way of dealing with personal problems, but seldom troublesome enough to require institutionalization. Neuroses include amnesia, phobias, obsessive ideas or repetitive actions, and repression of thoughts or experiences.

Paranoia -

A psychosis characterized by the feeling of being persecuted or of being an important personage (delusions of grandeur).

personality disorders -

Mental disorders that lie somewhere between the neuroses and the psychoses in severity. They include sociopathy, sexual deviance, and addiction.

Psychosis -

A serious mental disorder in which there is loss of contact with reality. Requires institutionalization when individuals become incapable of functioning in society. Psychoses include schizophrenia, paranoia, and bipolar disorder.

psychosomatic disorders -

Physical ailments developed as a result of emotional tension or anxiety.

Psychotherapy -

A treatment for psychoses and mental disturbances that includes analysis, group therapy, family therapy, and others, centering around verbal exchanges.

Schizophrenia -

A label for a psychosis that varies in severity from inability to relate to others to total withdrawal from reality.

Sociopath -