Karnataka SSLC Sociology (KSEAB) key terms

The systematic study of human society, social relationships and social behaviour, using observation and reasoning rather than mere opinion to explain how groups shape individual lives.

The mental habit of linking a person's private troubles to wider public issues and social forces, so that individual experience is understood within its historical and structural setting.

A large, enduring web of interacting people who share a territory, a culture and institutions, and who depend on one another for survival and collective life.

A group whose members live in a defined locality and share close, face-to-face relationships, common interests and a sense of belonging, such as a village or neighbourhood.

A deliberately formed group organised around a specific stated purpose, with rules, membership criteria and offices, such as a cooperative society, trade union or club.

An established pattern of norms, roles and procedures that fulfils a basic social need and persists beyond particular individuals, as seen in family, education, religion and government.

Two or more people who interact, recognise one another as members and are bound by shared expectations, distinguishing them from a mere crowd or statistical category.

A small group marked by intimate, personal and enduring face-to-face ties, where members relate to one another as whole persons, as in family, close friends and play groups.

A larger, impersonal and formally organised group in which relationships are specific, utilitarian and often temporary, such as a factory workforce or a college class.

The total learned way of life of a people, including knowledge, beliefs, values, norms, customs, language, art and material objects transmitted from generation to generation.

Shared rules and expectations that guide behaviour in a group, telling members what is considered appropriate, obligatory or forbidden in given situations.

The relatively stable arrangement of roles, statuses, groups and institutions in a society, which sets limits on action and patterns how people relate to one another.

The social position a person occupies within a group or society, carrying certain rights and expectations; it may be ascribed by birth or achieved through effort.

The set of expected behaviours, duties and privileges attached to a particular status, guiding how the person holding that position is supposed to act.

The hierarchical ranking of people into layers that differ in wealth, power and prestige, with unequal access to valued resources and opportunities across generations.

Movement of individuals or groups between social positions or strata, which may be upward or downward, and either within a person's lifetime or across generations.

A universal institution based on kinship ties, usually formed through marriage or blood relationship, that organises reproduction, child-rearing, economic cooperation and emotional support.

A socially approved and usually legally recognised union between partners that establishes rights and duties, legitimises offspring and creates new kinship bonds between groups.

The network of relationships based on blood, marriage and adoption, defining who counts as relatives and carrying rules about inheritance, residence, marriage and mutual obligation.

The lifelong process through which individuals learn the culture of their society, acquiring language, values, norms and skills needed to function as accepted members.

The relatively enduring pattern of thinking, feeling and behaving that develops in a person through the interaction of biological endowment with social experience and cultural environment.

Any significant alteration over time in the structure, culture and functioning of a society, including shifts in institutions, values, technology and patterns of social relationships.

A social process in which individuals or groups work jointly towards shared goals, combining efforts and resources because the desired end cannot be reached alone.

A social process in which two or more parties strive for the same limited goal or resource, often following agreed rules, without necessarily intending to harm the rival.

A social process in which parties deliberately seek to defeat, injure or eliminate the opposition in pursuit of incompatible interests, goals or values.

A process of adjustment in which conflicting parties arrive at a workable arrangement, ending open hostility while leaving underlying differences partly unresolved.

A gradual process in which individuals or groups adopt the culture of another group so completely that they merge into it and distinct boundaries of identity fade.

A condition widely regarded as harmful to society, which a substantial section of people wants changed and which is seen as requiring collective rather than purely personal remedy.

The means by which a society maintains order and enforces its norms, ranging from informal sanctions like praise, ridicule and gossip to formal agencies such as courts and police.

A hereditary, endogamous and hierarchically ranked social category in Indian society, traditionally linked with occupation and ritual purity, and historically marked by untouchability.

A social stratum defined mainly by economic position, such as income, occupation and ownership, whose membership is comparatively open and permits movement between levels.

A category of communities, often living in defined regions, distinguished by shared descent, language and customs, close ties to land and forest, and a degree of social distinctness.

The idea that rural and urban settlements are not opposites but lie along a graded scale, differing in density, occupational mix, anonymity and closeness of social ties.

The growth in the proportion of a population living in towns and cities, accompanied by changes in occupation, family patterns, density and social relationships.

An organised, sustained collective effort by a section of society to promote or resist change in social institutions, values or policies, often lasting years or decades.

Deliberate action aimed at removing specific social evils or injustices, such as child marriage or untouchability, usually through law, education, campaigns and voluntary organisations.

The process by which societies adopt industrial, scientific, bureaucratic and secular outlooks and practices, altering values, institutions and everyday patterns of living.

A process of social mobility in which a lower caste or group adopts the customs, rituals, diet and lifestyle of a higher caste in order to raise its social standing.