Sociology: Key Concepts and Theories

Social Structure and Stratification

• Social Structure: Individuals and organizations that make up society.
• Social Hierarchy: Groups of people ranked based on income, wealth, status, or power.
• Intergenerational Mobility: Changes in social status between generations within a family.
• Social Stratification: Division of society into classes based on power.
• Social Mobility: Movement of individuals or groups within the social hierarchy.
• Meritocracy: System where power is held by those with the most ability.
• Feminization of Poverty: Growing gap between women and men in economic deprivation.

Culture and Society

• Culture: Arts and intellectual achievements of a society.
• Ethnocentrism: Evaluating other cultures based on one's own cultural standards.
• Socialization: Process of learning social norms and values.
• Mainstream Culture: Culture shared by a large majority of a society.
• Subculture: Cultural group within a larger culture with distinct beliefs or interests.
• Cultural Relativism: Judging other cultures based on their own cultural context.

Social Issues

• Discrimination: Unjust treatment based on group membership.
• Stereotype: Oversimplified and fixed image of a group of people.
• Power and Dominate Culture: Influence of dominant culture in societies with multiple cultures.
• Privilege: Special advantages or immunities granted to certain groups.

Sociological Research

• Sociological Research: Study of society using methods like interviews, surveys, and focus groups.
• Quantitatively: Measuring something based on size, not quality.
• Qualitatively: Gathering non-numerical data.
• Institutional Review Board: Protects the rights of human subjects in research.

Other Key Concepts

• Demography: Statistics related to birth, death, and income.
• Institution: Organization founded for a specific purpose (e.g., religious, educational).
• One Drop Rule: Notion that a single drop of"black bloo" makes a person black.
• Racial Stratification: Process of creating laws that maintain racial inequality.
• Transgender: Individuals whose gender identity does not match their birth sex.
• Transsexual: Individuals who feel they belong to the opposite sex.
• Gender Differences: Result of evolutionary sexual selection.
• Migration: Seasonal movement of animals or people.
• Emigration: Leaving one country.
• Immigration: Entering a new country.
• Bracero Program: Program that brought Mexican workers to the US during World War II.
• LPR: Lawful Permanent Resident.
• Hidden Curriculum of Schools: Unintended lessons learned in school.
• Human Capital Theory: Knowledge and skills that contribute to economic productivity.