Questions and Answers
What is socialism?
What is a nation-state?
The modern state with a sovereign government and a defined territorial area.
What is defined as the ability to achieve aims despite opposition?
What does authority refer to?
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Which type of authority is based on legal rationality?
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Define gentrification.
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What does the Malthusian theory emphasize?
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What is demography?
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What does absolute deprivation refer to?
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What is environmental racism?
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The term ______ refers to the systematic study of society's groups.
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What is modernization?
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What is secularization?
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What is the independent variable?
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What is the dependent variable?
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What defines a random sample?
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What is a control variable?
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Define hypothesis.
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What is ethnocentrism?
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What does deviance refer to?
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Define crime.
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What are white-collar crimes?
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What is corporate crime?
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Define organized crime.
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What does social stratification mean?
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Define class.
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What is caste?
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What does SES stand for?
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Define class consciousness.
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What is false consciousness?
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Define meritocracy.
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What are life chances?
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Define horizontal mobility.
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What does vertical mobility refer to?
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What is structural mobility?
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Define absolute poverty.
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What is relative deprivation?
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What does absolute deprivation mean?
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Define global stratification.
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What is colonialism?
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Define neocolonialism.
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What are world systems?
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Define race.
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What does ethnicity refer to?
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What is symbolic ethnicity?
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Study Notes
Economic Systems
- Socialism: An economic system characterized by public ownership of production and distribution of goods and services.
- Capitalism: Based on private ownership, market competition, and profit pursuit.
Political Structures
- Nation-state: A sovereign governmental entity defined by territorial boundaries with a population composed of citizens.
- Authoritarianism: A political organization where authority is concentrated in a small group, often opposing individual autonomy.
- Monarchy: A state led by a monarch, ruling typically for life and through hereditary right.
Power and Authority
- Power: The capacity to pursue and achieve goals in opposition to others.
- Authority: Legitimized power recognized by others.
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Marx's Classification of Authority:
- Rational-legal authority: Legitimacy based on legal frameworks and bureaucracy; typical in modern states.
- Charismatic authority: Derived from a leader's extraordinary personal attributes, fostering loyalty among followers.
- Traditional authority: Rooted in historical conventions and customs.
Social Dynamics
- Urbanization: The trend of increasing population concentration in urban areas.
- Gentrification: The process of wealthier individuals revitalizing and displacing existing low-income residents in urban neighborhoods.
Demographic Measures
- Demography: The scientific study of populations, focusing on fertility, mortality, and migration patterns.
- Fertility: The average number of live born children per woman.
- Fecundity: The potential number of children a woman can biologically produce.
- Infant mortality rate: The occurrence of infant deaths per thousand live births, with rates declining in industrial societies.
- Life expectancy: Average years a newborn is expected to live in a specific society.
- Sex ratio: The ratio of males to females per 100 females, influencing social aspects like marriage and labor.
Theories of Population
- Malthusian theory: Suggests population growth outstrips food supply, leading to poverty and starvation, regulated by natural disasters or moral restraint.
Social Institutions
- Family: A universal social institution for cooperation and care, often involving children.
- Kinship: Social bonds formed through ancestry, marriage, or adoption.
- Marriage: A legal relationship involving economic cooperation and childbearing.
- Cohabitation: Unmarried couples sharing a household.
Religion and Beliefs
- Religion: A social institution centered on sacred beliefs and practices.
- Secularization Thesis: Proposes that religion declines in importance with modernization, though the U.S. remains an exception.
Education and Learning
- Education: Institution providing knowledge including cultural norms and job skills.
- Hidden Curriculum: Informal teachings that instill societal values beyond academic education.
Social Changes and Movements
- Social change: A continuous process impacting societal structure and norms.
- Social movement: Organized efforts to promote or resist significant societal changes.
Sociological Concepts
- Gemeinschaft: Community characterized by close emotional ties and traditions.
- Gesellschaft: Society marked by impersonal relationships and industrial life.
- Social Facts: Norms and values external to individuals that constrain behavior.
Key Theorists
- Emile Durkheim: Focused on social solidarity and cohesion in modern society, highlighting the role of shared values.
- Max Weber: Examined religion's influence on rationalization and social change, coining the term "verstehen."
- Karl Marx: Analyzed capitalism's exploitative nature, predicting the proletariat's rise against the bourgeoisie.
Deviance and Crime
- Deviance: Behavior diverging from societal norms; not always criminal.
- Crime: Deemed socially harmful actions, defined and punishable by law.
- White-collar crime: Crimes committed within corporate roles, such as fraud or negligence.
- Corporate crime: Institutions violating laws for social harm or neglecting social responsibility.
Research and Methodology
- Hypothesis: A provisional answer to a research query.
- Random Sample: A sampling method ensuring equal inclusion chances in research.
- Independent/Dependent Variables: Independent variables are the cause; dependent variables are the effect.### Social Stratification and Class Systems
- Social stratification ranks people hierarchically based on socio-economic conditions, influencing life opportunities.
- Class refers to an individual's social standing, typically determined by material wealth and occupation.
- Caste is an intricate social system combining occupation, social class, identity, hierarchy, and power dynamics.
Socio-Economic Status (SES)
- SES is a comprehensive measure of an individual's or family's economic and social position relative to others, assessed through income, education, and occupation.
Consciousness and Awareness
- Class consciousness involves an individual's beliefs regarding their social class, economic rank, and common class interests.
- False consciousness describes how capitalist structures mislead the proletariat, obscuring true class relations.
Mobility within Social Structures
- Meritocracy signifies a system where roles are allocated based on individual merits such as intelligence and education.
- Life chances is a term introduced by Max Weber, outlining an individual's opportunities to improve quality of life.
- Horizontal mobility refers to the movement within the same social layer, while vertical mobility indicates movement upwards or downwards in the social hierarchy.
- Structural mobility arises from societal shifts affecting the distribution of status, independent of individual efforts.
Poverty and Deprivation
- Absolute poverty defines the threshold of basic necessities for survival, such as food, clothing, health care, and shelter.
- Relative deprivation refers to the discontent felt when comparing oneself to others and recognizing one's lack of entitlements.
- Absolute deprivation is the failure to meet absolute essential needs according to a fixed standard.
Global Dynamics of Stratification
- Global stratification highlights the uneven distribution of privileges, materials, and power among global populations.
- Colonialism involves the control and restructuring of a territory by outsiders, often resulting in significant changes to local systems.
- Neocolonialism uses economic and cultural influences to maintain control over a nation, often harming local cultures through dominance.
World Systems Theory
- The world-systems approach focuses on an international division of labor, categorizing countries into core (high-skill production) and periphery (labor-intensive production), which reinforces core dominance.
Race and Ethnicity
- Race categorizes people based on perceived physical differences, though these classifications are socially constructed rather than strictly biological.
- Ethnicity reflects shared cultural heritage, including language, culture, religion, and ideology.
- Symbolic ethnicity represents cultural traits removed from their original contexts, often showcased in festivals or public celebrations, promoting communal identity.
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Test your knowledge with these 100 flashcards on sociological concepts. From socialism to nation-states, deepen your understanding of important terms and definitions in sociology. Ideal for students and enthusiasts looking to enhance their grasp of social sciences.