HSC Community and Family Studies flashcards

32 cards. Read the term and the definition here. The deck at the top of this page is optional.

Human resources

Resources that come from within people, including energy, knowledge, skills, motivation and intelligence, which individuals use to satisfy needs and achieve goals.

Non-human resources

Tangible resources outside the individual, such as money, time, equipment, food, shelter and space, which can be acquired, saved or shared to meet needs.

Needs versus wants

Needs are essential for survival and wellbeing, such as food and shelter; wants improve comfort but are not essential, so they are ranked lower when prioritising.

Resource management process

A cyclical sequence of identifying needs and wants, prioritising, planning, implementing and evaluating, with evaluation informing future planning and adjustment.

Maslow's hierarchy

A ranked model of needs ordered as physiological, safety, love and belonging, esteem, and self-actualisation, with lower-level needs generally addressed first.

SMART goals

A goal-setting rule requiring goals to be specific, measurable, achievable, relevant and time-bound, which makes progress easier to monitor and evaluate.

Decision-making styles

Patterns used when choosing between options: impulsive, intuitive, hesitant and confident, differing in speed, information gathered and certainty before acting.

Interchangeable resources

The principle that one resource can substitute for another, such as using money to buy time-saving services, helping manage scarcity.

Group definition

Two or more people who interact and share a common purpose, identity or goal, which distinguishes a group from a random collection of individuals.

Group roles

Expected behaviours assigned to members, such as leader, facilitator, recorder and timekeeper; clear roles reduce conflict and improve task completion.

Autocratic leadership

A leadership style where the leader makes decisions with little or no input from members, which can be efficient in emergencies but lowers group morale.

Democratic leadership

A leadership style where decisions are shared and members contribute ideas, generally increasing commitment and satisfaction but sometimes slowing decision-making.

Laissez-faire leadership

A hands-off leadership style giving members minimal direction and maximum autonomy, suitable for skilled groups but risky when guidance is needed.

Tuckman's group stages

The sequence forming, storming, norming, performing and adjourning, describing how groups develop, with conflict most likely during the storming stage.

Conflict resolution

Strategies for managing disagreement, including negotiation, mediation by a neutral third party, arbitration with an imposed decision, and avoidance.

Primary socialisation

The first stage of learning norms, values and roles, occurring mainly within the family during early childhood and shaping later social behaviour.

Secondary socialisation

Later social learning through peers, schools, media and workplaces, which reinforces or modifies values acquired during primary socialisation in the family.

Family structures

The composition of a family, including nuclear, extended, blended, sole-parent, same-sex-parent, foster and childless forms, each affecting roles and resources.

Family functions

The roles families perform, including physical care, emotional support, socialisation, economic provision and reproduction, which support member wellbeing.

Family life cycle

Stages a family passes through: beginning, expanding, developing, launching and ageing, each bringing changed needs, roles and resource demands.

Geographic community

A community defined by shared location, such as a neighbourhood or town, whose members share local services, infrastructure and physical environment.

Community of interest

A community formed around shared identity, culture, religion or activity rather than location, connecting members through common values or goals.

Formal support networks

Services provided by government agencies, non-government organisations and professionals, such as health, education, housing and welfare services for families.

Informal support networks

Assistance from family, friends, neighbours and community members, offering practical help and emotional support without formal service involvement.

Authoritative parenting

A parenting style combining high warmth with clear, reasonable expectations and explanation, often associated with positive social and emotional outcomes in children.

Research purpose types

Categories describing why research is conducted: descriptive to outline what exists, explanatory to identify causes, predictive to forecast, evaluative to judge effectiveness.

Random sampling

A sampling method where every member of the population has an equal chance of selection, reducing bias and improving representativeness of results.

Stratified sampling

A method dividing the population into subgroups such as age or gender, then sampling from each to ensure all groups are represented.

Reliability and validity

Reliability is consistency of results across repeated measures; validity is the extent to which research measures what it claims to measure.

Informed consent

An ethical requirement that participants understand the research purpose, procedures and risks, and voluntarily agree to take part before data collection begins.

Quantitative and qualitative data

Quantitative data are numerical and analysed statistically; qualitative data are descriptive and analysed thematically to capture meaning and experience.

Research bias

Systematic error distorting findings, arising from leading questions, unrepresentative samples, researcher expectations or inaccurate self-reported information.