Sociology

Macro-Level Orientation

A broad focus on social structures that shape society as a whole.

Micro-Level Orientation

A close-up focus on social interaction in specific situations.

Multiculturalism

A perspective recognizing the cultural diversity of the United States and promoting equal standing for all cultural traditions.

Master Status

A status that has special importance for social identity, often shaping a person's entire life.

Social Exchange

A theory that suggests that our behavior is based on maximizing benefits and minimizing costs.

Social Structure

Any relatively stable pattern of social behavior.

Social Dysfunction

Any social pattern that may disrupt the operation of society.

Functionalism

Concerns with how society functions, why and what is contributing to that function.

Subculture

Cultural patterns that set apart some segment of a society's population.

Counterculture

Cultural patterns that strongly oppose those widely accepted within a society.

Roles

Expectations of behavior attached to a particular status.

Described Status

Given to us at birth: Sex, Race.

Culture Shock

Personal disorientation when experiencing an unfamiliar way of life.

Norms

Rules and expectations by which a society guides the behavior of its members.

Subordinate Status

Statuses we will be going in to.

Role Strain

Stress associated with playing a role.

Cultural Integration

The close relationships among various elements of a cultural system.

Social Functions

The consequences of a social pattern for the operation of society as a whole.

Cultural Lag

The fact that some cultural elements change more quickly than others, disrupting a cultural system.

Ethnocentrism

The practice of judging another culture by the standards of one's own culture.

Cultural Transmission

The process by which one generation passes culture to the next.

Manifest Functions

The recognized and intended consequences of any social pattern.

Latent Functions

The unrecognized and unintended consequences of any social pattern.

Culture

The ways of thinking, acting, and the material objects that form a people's way of life.

Achieved Statuses

We earn them and go after them: Jobs, Marriage.

Role Conflict

When an expectation of a status conflics with another status.

Role Performance

When an individual plays its role.