Welcome to the fascinating world of sociology, where understanding the intricate tapestry of society is key. As you embark on your sociological journey, we are pleased to present to you this comprehensive glossary.
Within its pages, you will find a treasure trove of terms that illuminate the concepts, theories, and phenomena central to the study of society. From deviance and social change to power dynamics and cultural values, this glossary will serve as your trusted companion, unraveling the complexities and nuances that shape our social world. So, let us delve into this sociological lexicon together, expanding our understanding and unlocking the doors to profound insights into the human experience.
Instructor Note
This Glossary is currently incomplete. Terms in black are forthcoming.
A
- Absolute Poverty
- Achieved Status
- Affirmative Action
- Age of Reason
- Aggregate
- Agrarian Societies
- Alienation
- Amalgamation
- Anomalies
- Anomie
- Anomie Theory
- Anticipatory Socialization
- Apartheid
- Ascribed Status
- Assimilation
- Association
- Auguste Comte
- Autocracy
B
- Baby Boom
- Behavior
- Bias {in researchers}
- Bicultural
- Birth Rate
- Bureaucracy
C
- Calling
- Capitalism
- Caste System
- Centrally Planned Economy
- Charismatic Leader
- Charter School
- Church
- City
- Civil Law
- Civil Religion
- Class
- Class Conflict
- Class Consciousness
- Class System
- Closed System
- Coercion
- Cognitive Development
- Cognitive Development Theory
- Cohort
- Collective Identity
- Commitment
- Community
- Comparable Worth
- Competition
- Complementary Marriage
- Complexity
- Concentric-zone Theory
- Concept
- Conflict
- Conflict Approach
- Conformity
- Conjugal Family
- Consolidated Metropolitan Statistical Area (CMSA)
- Contact Hypothesis
- Contagion Theory
- Content Analysis
- Content of Socialization
- Contest Mobility
- Context of Socialization
- Control Group {Research}
- Controlling For {Research}
- Convergence Theory
- Cooperation
- Cooptation
- Correlation
- Counterculture
- Creationism
- Credential
- Crime
- Criminal Law
- Critical Thinking
- Cult
- Cultural Capital
- Cultural Change
- Cultural Determinism
- Cultural Division of Labor
- Cultural Imposition
- Cultural Relativism
- Cultural Revolution
- Cultural Universals
- Culture
- Culture Lag
- Culture of Poverty
- Culture Pattern Theory
- Cyclical Theories
D
- Data
- Deduction
- Democracy
- Democratic-collective Organization
- Demographic Transition
- Demography
- Denomination
- Dependency Theory
- Dependent Variable
- Descriptive Study
- Desegregation
- Deskilling
- Deterrence Theory
- Deviance
- Deviant Career
- Differential Association
- Diffusion
- Discrimination
- Division of Labor
- Dominant Status
- Double Standard
- Dramaturgical Analysis
- Dual-career Families
- Dual-career Responsibilities
- Dual Economy
- Dyad
- Dysfunction
E
- Ecological Paradigm
- Ecological Succession
- Ecology
- Economics
- Economic Core
- Economic Growth
- Economic Institution
- Economic Periphery
- Ecosystem
- Education
- Egalitarian Marriage
- Ego {in Freudian theory}
- Elderly Dependency Ratio
- Emergent Norm Theory
- Émile Durkheim
- Empirical Evidence
- Enlightenment
- Equilibrium
- Ethnic Group
- Ethnocentrism
- Ethnography {in sociological research}
- Ethnomethodology
- Evangelicalism
- Evolutionary Theories
- Exchange
- Exchange Theory
- Experiment
- Experimental Group
- Explanatory Study
- Expressive Role
- Expressive Leader
- Extended Family
F
- Face-work
- Fads
- Family
- Fashion
- Feminism
- Figuration
- Flow
- Folkways
- Formal Organizations
- Formal Sanction
- Functional Approach
- Functional Equivalent
- Fundamentalism
G
- Gender
- Gender Differences
- Gender Gap
- Gender-role Expectations
- Gender Stratification
- Generalizable Results {in sociological research}
- Generalized Other
- Genocide
- Gentrification
- Global Economy
- Globalization
- Government
- Green Revolution
- Groups
- Groupthink
H
- Healthcare
- Health Maintenance Organizations (HMOs)
- Heterosexual
- Hebert Spencer
- Hierarchy
- Hispanics
- Homosexual
- Horizontal Mobility
- Horticultural Societies
- Hospice
- Hunting and Gathering Societies
- Hybrid Economy
- Hyperinflation
- Hypothesis {in sociological research}
I
- Id {in Freudian Theory}
- Ideal values
- Identification Theories
- Ideology
- Immanuel Kant
- Impression Management
- Incest
- Incest Taboo
- Income
- Independent Variable {in sociological research}
- Individualism
- Induction
- Industrialization
- Industrial Revolution
- Industrialized Societies
- Inflation
- Informal sanction
- Innovation
- Instinct
- Institution of Science
- Institutionalized
- Institutions
- Instrumental roles
- Instrumental leader
- Interest group
- Intergenerational mobility
- Intermittent reinforcement
- Internalization
- Interpretive Approach
- Interpretive Framework
- Interaction
- Interrelated Parts
- Interview {in sociological research}
- Invention
J
K
L
- Labeling Theory
- Labor-market Segmentation
- Laissez-faire Economics
- Language
- Latent Function
- Laws
- Learning Theory
- Legal Protection
- Legitimate
- Lesbian
- Liberty
- Life Chances
- Life Course
- Life-course Analysis
- Life Expectancy
- Lifestyle
- Life Table
- Line Job
- Lobbying
- Looking-glass Self
- Literature Review {in sociological research}
- Logical Reasoning
M
- Macro Level
- Magic
- Manifest Function
- Marriage
- Marriage Rate
- Marriage Squeeze
- Marxian Approach
- Mass Hysteria
- Mass Media
- Matthew Effect
- Max Weber
- Medicaid
- Medicare
- Method of Comparison
- Methodology
- Metropolitan Statistical Area (MSA)
- Micro Level
- Migration
- Minority Group
- Modeling
- Modernization
- Monopoly
- Mores
- Mortality Rate
- Multinational Corporation
- Multiple-nuclei Theory
N
- Nation
- Nation-state
- Natural Rights
- Negative Sanctions
- Negotiation
- Nomadic
- Nonverbal Communication
- Norm
- Normal Science
- Nuclear Family
O
- Objectivity
- Occupation
- Occupational Segregation
- Oligarchy
- Oligopoly
- Open System
- Operational Definition {in sociological research}
- Opportunity
- Organization
- Organizational Ritualism
- Organizational Waste
P
- Panic
- Paradigm
- Parallel Marriage
- Participant Observation {in sociological research}
- Pastoral Societies
- Patriarchal Family
- Peer Group
- Play
- Pluralism
- Policy Research
- Political Economy Model
- Political Order
- Political Party
- Population
- Population Exclusion
- Population Transfer
- Positive Sanctions
- Positivist
- Postindustrial Society
- Power
- Power Elite
- Power Dynamics
- Prejudice
- Prestige
- Primary Deviance
- Primary Economic Sector
- Primary Group
- Principle of Cumulative Advantage
- Privatization
- Profession
- Projection
- Property
- Proposition
- Prostitution
Q
- Qualitative Research {in sociology}
- Quantitative Research {in sociology}
R
- Race
- Racism
- Random Sample
- Rape
- Rate of Natural Increase
- Rationalization
- Real Values
- Rebellion
- Reference Group
- Reform Movement
- Regressive Movement
- Relative Poverty
- Religion
- Religious Movement
- Research Design
- Resocialization
- Resource Mobilization Theory
- Retreatism
- Revolution
- Revolutionary Movement
- Riot
- Rising Expectations
- Ritual
- Ritualism
- Rival Hypothesis
- Role
- Role Accumulation
- Role Conflict
- Role Exit
- Role Expectations
- Role Performance
- Role Set
- Rowdyism
- Ruling Class
- Rumor
S
- Sanction
- Scapegoating
- Schooling
- Science
- Scientific Method {in sociological research}
- Scientific Revolution
- Secondary Deviance
- Secondary Economic Sector
- Secondary Group
- Sect
- Sector Theory
- Secularization
- Self-classification
- Self-fulfilling Prophecy
- Sex
- Sibling
- Skepticism {in sociological research}
- Social Categories
- Social Change
- Social Class
- Social Cohesion
- Social Construction of Reality
- Social Context
- Social Control
- Social Forces
- Social Facts
- Social Inequality
- Social Institutions
- Social Interaction
- Social Learning Theory
- Social Mobility
- Social Movement
- Social Network
- Social Patterns {in sociological research}
- Social Phenomenon
- Social Psychology
- Social Reforms
- Social Sciences
- Social Stratification
- Social Structure
- Social Symbols
- Social Ties
- Social Values
- Socialist Societies
- Socialization
- Society
- Sociobiology
- Socioeconomic Status (SES)
- Sociological Imagination
- Sociological Lens
- Sociological Methods {research}
- Sociological Perspective
- Sociological Study
- Sociologist
- Sociology
- Sovereignty
- Sponsored Mobility
- Staff Job
- Stage Theory
- State
- State Sector
- State Terrorism
- Statistical Analysis
- Status
- Status-attainment Model
- Status Group
- Status Inconsistency
- Stigmatization
- Structural Change
- Structural-functional Theory
- Subculture
- Subjective Meanings
- Subjective Social Class
- Subjectivity {in sociological research}
- Suburb
- Suicide
- Sunbelt
- Superego {in Freudian theory}
- Survey {in sociological research}
- Symbol
- Symbolic Interactionism
- Systematic Research {in sociology}
T
- Taboo
- Technological Determinism
- Technology
- Tension Release Theory
- Terrorism
- Tertiary Economic Sector
- Theoretical Approach
- Theory
- Theory X
- Theory Y
- Theory Z
- Thomas Hobbes
- Total Fertility Rate
- Total Institution
- Totalitarianism
- Triad
U
- Underemployment
- Underground Economy
- Unemployment
- Unit of Analysis
- Urbanization
V
- Validity {in sociological research}
- Value-added Theory
- Voltaire
- Values
- Variable
- Vertical Integration
- Vertical Mobility
W
- Wealth
- Weberian Approach
- White-collar Crime
- White Ethnics
- World Systems Analysis
- Zero population growth (ZPG)
X
Y
Z
Resources on Other Sites
- American Sociological Association’s Glossary
Modification History File Created: 06/14/2023 Last Modified: 04/16/2024
This work is licensed under an Open Educational Resource-Quality Master Source (OER-QMS) License.
