MATSEC AM Sociology flashcards

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

Manifest and latent functions

Merton's distinction: manifest functions are the intended, recognised consequences of an institution; latent functions are unintended and often unrecognised. Dysfunctions are consequences that weaken social stability or integration.

Verstehen

Weber's method of interpretive understanding: the researcher reconstructs the subjective meanings and motives actors attach to their behaviour, rather than merely recording external behaviour as natural science does.

False consciousness

A Marxist concept describing workers' failure to recognise their exploitation and shared class interest, so they accept ruling-class ideas (religion, nationalism, consumerism) instead of developing revolutionary class consciousness.

Looking-glass self

Cooley's concept that the self develops through imagining how others see us: we imagine our appearance to others, interpret their judgement, and develop self-feeling such as pride or shame.

Structuration

Giddens's theory that structure and agency form a duality: social structures exist only as reproduced rules and resources enacted by knowledgeable agents, who can thereby also change them.

Legal-rational authority

Weber's type of legitimate domination resting on impersonal rules and legally established office rather than tradition or charisma; it underpins bureaucracy and modern state administration.

Dramaturgical model

Goffman's analogy treating social interaction as theatrical performance, with front-stage impression management, back-stage preparation, scripts and audiences shaping how actors present themselves.

Validity versus reliability

Validity is the degree a measure captures the intended concept; reliability is consistency across repeated measurement. A measure may be reliable but invalid, but cannot be valid if unreliable.

Stratified random sampling

A probability technique dividing the population into strata (e.g. by age or class) and drawing random samples within each, ensuring representation of key groups and reducing sampling error.

Snowball sampling

A non-probability technique where existing participants recruit further participants from their networks; useful for hidden or hard-to-reach populations but biased toward interconnected respondents.

Operationalisation

The process of translating an abstract concept (e.g. social class or religiosity) into concrete, measurable indicators so that data can be collected, coded and compared systematically.

Triangulation

Using multiple methods, data sources, investigators or theories to study one phenomenon, cross-checking findings to increase confidence and reduce the bias inherent in any single method.

Observer effect

Reactivity: the change in participants' behaviour caused by awareness of being observed, which can distort findings and is reduced by covert or prolonged observation, though at ethical cost.

Informed consent

An ethical requirement that participants understand the research purpose, procedures, risks and their right to withdraw, and agree voluntarily without deception or coercion before taking part.

Dark figure of crime

The gap between crimes committed and those recorded in official statistics, caused by non-reporting, non-recording and definitional changes; it undermines the validity of official crime data.

Norms and values

Norms are specific shared rules of behaviour in given situations; values are broader general standards of what is desirable. Sanctions, formal or informal, enforce conformity to norms.

Cultural relativism

The methodological stance that beliefs and practices should be understood within their own cultural context rather than judged by the observer's standards, countering ethnocentrism in research.

Primary socialisation

Early socialisation, mainly within the family, through which a child acquires language, basic values, gender identity and a sense of self; it forms the foundation for later learning.

Hidden curriculum

The unofficial lessons of schooling: punctuality, obedience, competition, hierarchy and deference, transmitted through routine practices rather than formal syllabi; Marxists see it as reproducing class inequality.

Ascribed and achieved status

Ascribed status is assigned at birth or by inheritance (sex, caste, ethnicity); achieved status is earned through effort and choice (occupation, education). Open societies emphasise achievement.

Stigma

Goffman's term for an attribute that discredits a person and spoils their social identity; the stigmatised may attempt passing, covering or forming supportive in-groups.

Generalised other

Mead's concept for the internalised attitudes of the wider community or 'organised society', which the mature self uses to evaluate its own conduct and guide action.

Caste system

A closed stratification system where status is ascribed at birth, endogamy is enforced, and mobility between groups is effectively impossible; traditionally linked to occupational and ritual purity.

Weber's three dimensions

Weber argues stratification has three independent axes: class (economic market position), status (social honour and lifestyle) and party (organised power); these can coincide or diverge.

Intergenerational mobility

Movement in social position between parents and their children, usually measured by comparing occupational class; high rates indicate an open, meritocratic society.

Relative poverty

A standard of deprivation defined against prevailing living standards in a society (often 60% of median income), so it changes over time and place unlike absolute poverty.

Institutional racism

Macpherson's definition: the collective failure of an organisation to provide appropriate service because of colour, culture or ethnic origin, shown in processes, attitudes and behaviour, often unwitting.

Glass ceiling

An invisible barrier of organisational practices, attitudes and networks that prevents women and minorities from advancing to senior positions despite formal equality of opportunity.

Secularisation thesis

The claim that industrialisation and rationalisation reduce the social significance of religion, measured by declining church attendance, belief and institutional influence; contested by religious revival and pluralism.

Moral panic

Cohen's concept: media amplify a perceived threat from a 'folk devil', generating public concern and calls for control, which can produce deviance amplification and a spiral of reaction.

Medicalisation

Illich's concept that everyday conditions (childbirth, ageing, deviance) are redefined as medical problems under professional control, expanding medicine's social power and reducing individual autonomy.

Sick role

Parsons's concept: illness is a sanctioned social role granting exemption from normal duties, but only if the person seeks competent help and wants to recover, thus limiting deviance.