Subject specific vocabulary
The following subject specific vocabulary provides definitions of key sociological terms used in our A-level Sociology: 7192 specification.
An important way for sociology students to improve their responses is to introduce sociology vocabulary into your writing. The appropriate use of such terms as those set out for you below will help demonstrate more in depth sociological knowledge and understanding, and enable you develop in depth analysis and evaluation skills.
The terms below are a selection from those used in the specification. Most text books include a more extensive glossary of key terms or concepts at the back and you are encouraged to refer to and learn the language of sociology from them.
Conflict theory
A theory that views society as made up of groups which have conflicting interests, such as the Marxist view that society is divided into two opposed classes.
Consensus theory
In contrast to conflict theories, perspectives such as functionalism see society as essentially harmonious.
Culture
Includes the norms, values and behaviours that are shared by a social group or society that are transmitted across generations through the socialisation process.
Globalisation
The growing interconnectedness of societies across the world, as a result of factors such as the creation of global media and global markets.
Identity
An individual’s sense of self that emerges through the socialisation process and interactions with other people.
Ideology
A set of ideas, values and beliefs that are intended to justify the interests of a dominant social group.
Industrialisation
The introduction of mechanisation and mass-production that has led many societies to transform from being agricultural to adopting the factory system of production.
Life chances
The chances members of different social groups have to obtain those things that are desirable, including educational achievements, good income and health.
Modernity
The period during which logic and rational principles were applied to the development and organisation of societies, as opposed to the more religious principles applied before this.
Norms and values
These refer to the rules and expectations of what is important and right within a social group, which are passed on through the socialisation process and which serve to formally or informally control the behaviour of group members.
Postmodernity
A perspective that views society as changing rapidly which has led to growing uncertainty and risk. As a result society has become so unstable and diverse that it is not possible for any one theory (or meta-narrative) to explain how it works.
Power relationships
Differences in the power and influence of those within a relationship such as marriage, that may relate to money and decision-making and that may reflect inequality.
Secularisation
The process whereby religious thinking, participation and influence in society is seen to be less important and in decline.
Socialisation
The process of learning and internalising the culture of a society. The primary agent of socialisation is mainly the family, while secondary agents include the education system, the media and peer groups.
Social action theories
Theories that see individuals as having free will and giving meanings to their actions, they are not simply passively shaped by the structures of society.
Social change
Significant changes to the functions and structure of society, including those brought about by such processes as industrialisation and secularisation.
Social class
A social group of people who share a similar income, wealth or type of occupation, including class differences between manual and non-manual occupations.
Social construction
The construction of something through social processes rather than structural causes, for example interactionists view crime as being constructed through the meanings and interpretations given to a suspect’s actions by the crown prosecution services.
Social control
The process by which society seeks to ensure its members follow society’s norms and values by both informally and formally controlling behaviour.
Social differentiation
The physical and social separation of social groups within society.
Social groups
Groups of people who share common social interests or social injustices, including groupings by class, gender, ethnicity and sexuality.
Social mobility
The movement of individuals or groups up the social hierarchy or down, for example some sociologists argue that working class pupils who are educationally successful can become middle class.
Social problems
Social behaviour that causes public friction or unrest, and which needs collective action to resolve, for example a growth in anti-social behaviour.
Social structure
The network of social institutions and social relationships that form the organisation and authority of society.
Stratification
The division of society into a hierarchy of unequal social groups, based on wealth, power or status. The stratification may be based on gender, ethnicity and class differences. Those in groups lower down the hierarchy are likely to have correspondingly lower life-chances than those in higher groups.
Subcultures
A smaller group within the main-stream culture of a society, that are in some ways different from main-stream culture, for example some youth cultures have very different values and behaviours to those of the older generations in society.