TASC Sociology key terms

The ability to connect a person's private troubles to larger public issues and historical forces. It involves seeing how biography and social structure shape each other.

A perspective that treats society as a system of interdependent parts, each contributing to stability. Social problems are explained as disruptions in the normal working of those parts.

A perspective holding that society is marked by competition over scarce resources, and that dominant groups use power and ideology to protect their advantages against subordinate groups.

A perspective focusing on small-scale face-to-face encounters, arguing that people act toward things based on meanings they assign, and those meanings arise through communication with others.

Manifest functions are the intended, recognized consequences of a social practice; latent functions are unintended or unrecognized consequences. Distinguishing them helps explain why institutions persist despite criticism.

A testable, falsifiable statement predicting a relationship between two or more variables. It guides research design and must be stated precisely enough that evidence could contradict it.

Any characteristic, attitude, or behavior that can take different values across cases. Researchers distinguish independent variables, which are proposed causes, from dependent variables, which are the outcomes being explained.

A statistical association in which changes in one variable accompany changes in another. Correlation alone does not establish causation, since a third factor may influence both.

A qualitative research method in which the researcher observes and interacts with a group over an extended period, often participating in daily life, to describe its practices and meanings in depth.

The shared knowledge, beliefs, values, norms, symbols, and material objects that members of a society learn and transmit across generations, shaping how they interpret and act in the world.

Shared expectations about how people should behave in given situations. Folkways are everyday conventions, mores carry moral weight, and laws are norms formally codified and enforced by the state.

A reward for conforming to a norm or a punishment for violating it. Sanctions may be positive or negative, and either formal, as with laws, or informal, as with praise or gossip.

The practice of understanding a group's beliefs and practices within its own cultural context rather than judging them by another culture's standards. It is a methodological stance, not a claim that all practices are equally acceptable.

The tendency to evaluate other cultures by the standards of one's own and to regard one's own as superior. It can distort research and fuel hostility toward outsiders.

The lifelong process through which individuals learn the values, norms, skills, and identities of their society. Primary socialization occurs in childhood; secondary socialization continues in later institutions such as school and work.

The idea that people develop a sense of self by imagining how others see them, interpreting those imagined judgments, and reacting emotionally to them. Identity thus grows out of social interaction.

The people, groups, and institutions that transmit culture and shape identity, including family, peers, schools, religion, and mass media. Their influence varies by life stage and social position.

The relatively stable pattern of relationships, roles, and institutions that organizes social life and constrains individual action. It persists beyond particular individuals while shaping their opportunities.

A socially defined position in a group or society, carrying certain expectations and privileges. Ascribed statuses are assigned at birth; achieved statuses are attained through effort or choice.

The set of behaviors, obligations, and expectations attached to a particular status. Because people occupy several statuses at once, they often must manage competing demands.

The tension experienced when the expectations of one status clash with those of another, such as when work demands interfere with family obligations. It differs from role strain, which arises within a single role.

A small, intimate, enduring group characterized by face-to-face interaction and emotional ties, such as family or close friends. Members treat one another as ends rather than merely as means.

A larger, more impersonal, and often temporary group organized around a specific goal or activity, such as a committee or class. Relationships are formal and role-based rather than deeply personal.

A formal organization marked by a clear hierarchy of authority, written rules, division of labor, and impersonal recordkeeping. It promotes efficiency and predictability but can produce rigidity and alienation.

The hierarchical arrangement of social groups according to unequal access to valued resources such as wealth, power, and prestige. Systems include slavery, caste, estate, and class.

A broad grouping of people who share similar economic resources, occupations, and lifestyles, and who tend to pass their advantages or disadvantages to their children. Class boundaries are relatively open compared with caste.

Movement of individuals or families between positions in a stratification system. Vertical mobility involves rising or falling rank; horizontal mobility involves a change of position without a change in rank.

The idea that overlapping social identities such as race, gender, and class combine to produce distinct experiences of advantage and disadvantage that cannot be understood by examining each category alone.

An established, enduring pattern of norms and roles organized around a basic social need, such as the family, education, religion, the economy, and government. Institutions persist across generations and shape individual behavior.

The unofficial lessons schools teach through routine practices, such as punctuality, obedience to authority, and competition. These transmit values and expectations not listed in formal course content.

The mechanisms by which a society encourages conformity and discourages deviance. Informal control works through family, peers, and public opinion; formal control operates through laws, police, and courts.

Behavior that violates significant social norms and draws disapproval or punishment. What counts as deviant varies across cultures and time periods, and labeling plays a large role in defining it.

The view that deviance is not simply an act but a status conferred through social reaction. Being publicly labeled deviant can alter self-concept and opportunities, encouraging further rule-breaking.

Relatively spontaneous, unstructured activity by a group responding to a shared situation, such as a crowd, panic, rumor, or fad. It is typically short-lived and lacks established organization.

An organized, sustained effort by a group to promote or resist change in society, typically using collective action such as protest, lobbying, or mutual aid. Movements often develop formal organizations over time.

A significant alteration over time in the structure, culture, or institutions of a society. Causes include technological innovation, demographic shifts, social movements, and conflict.

The shared understanding people create about what is happening in a given encounter. Once established, it guides how participants interpret behavior and respond, even if the shared understanding is mistaken.

A fieldwork method in which the researcher joins a setting and takes part in its routines while recording observations. It yields rich detail but raises questions about bias and researcher influence.