Terms: Definitions

1. Sociology by approach:
The sociological approach refers to using theory and experience to go beyond
everyday understandings of people and situations. Sociologists study a range of
subjects, and they have to make sure what they're saying goes beyond 'common
sense'.

For example: Some sociologists might study the reason as to why people react a
certain way to certain situations like unemployment.

2. Sociology by Audience
Audience refers to a group of individuals attending to a common media.
Audiences receive communication from the same source, but are not active
participants and do not communicate with each other. Audience Segmentation
can drive smarter product development, and the decisions are made safer.

For example: Audiences actively choose what to watch, which is influenced by

their interests, age, gender, education etc. Censorship may also deny some
groups access to certain content, thus denying them exposure. An example of
this is with age-graded media content which parents might prevent their children
from watching.

3. Structural Functionalism
structural functionalism, in sociology and other social sciences, a school of
thought according to which each of the institutions, relationships, roles, and
norms that together constitute a society serves a purpose, and each is
indispensable for the continued existence of the others and of society as a whole

For example education, health care, family, legal system, economy, and religion.

4. Conflict Theory:
Conflict theories are perspectives in sociology and social psychology that
emphasize a materialist interpretation of history, dialectical method of analysis, a
critical stance toward existing social arrangements, and political program of
revolution or, at least, reform

For example: gender pay gap, inequalities, etc

5. Symbolic Interactionism:
Symbolic interactionism is a sociological theory that develops from practical
considerations and alludes to particular effects of communication and interaction
in people to make images and normal implications, for deduction and
correspondence with others

For example Symbolic interactionism is viewing society as composed of symbols

that people use to establish meaning, develop views about the world, and
communicate with one another. We are thinking beings who act according to how
we interpret situations.

6. Feminist Sociology:
Feminist sociology is an interdisciplinary exploration of gender and power
throughout society. Here, it uses conflict theory and theoretical perspectives to
observe gender in its relation to power, both at the level of face-to-face
interaction and reflexivity within social structures at large.

For example: Feminist theories recognize that women's experiences are not only
different to men's but are unequal. Feminists will oppose laws and cultural norms
that mean women earn a lower income and have less educational and career
opportunities than men

7. Agent of Socializations:
Agents of socialization include people such as family, friends, and neighbors,
social institutions such as religion and school, consumption of mass media, and
environments that involve interactions with other people such as sports teams
and the workplace.

For example: There are five main agents of socialization: family, education, peer
groups, religious organization and mass media

8. Culture:
Culture is an umbrella term which encompasses the social behavior, institutions,
and norms found in human societies, as well as the knowledge, beliefs, arts,
laws, customs, capabilities, and habits of the individuals in these groups. Culture
is often originated from or attributed to a specific region or location.

For example: Customs, laws, dress, architectural style, social standards and
traditions are all examples of cultural elements
9. Hegemony
The authority, dominance, and influence of one group, nation, or society over
another group, nation, or society; typically through cultural, economic, or political
means.

For example: The processes by which dominant culture maintains its dominant
position: for example, the use of institutions to formalize power; the employment
of a bureaucracy to make power seem abstract

10. Agency:
In social science, agency is the capacity of individuals to have the power and
resources to fulfill their potential. For instance, structure consists of those factors
of influence that determine or limit agents and their decisions.

For example: Examples of such agencies include county welfare departments,

county mental health departments, Family Service Association of America and
Children's Home Society

11. Subculture:
Subcultures are generally groups that are perceived to deviate from the
normative standards of the dominant culture, as this is variously defined
according to age, sexuality, and taste in economic, racial, and gendered terms

For example: there are numerous groups of people that could be classified as
subcultures, for example: hippies, anti gun groups, high school jocks,
environmental activists, people in the furry community, people in the cosplay
community;,punks, goths

12. Norms:
Norms are a fundamental concept in the social sciences. They are most
commonly defined as rules or expectations that are socially enforced. Norms
may be prescriptive (encouraging positive behavior; for example, “be honest”) or
proscriptive (discouraging negative behavior; for example, “do not cheat”)

For example: Social norms are unwritten rules of behavior shared by members of
a given group or society. Examples from western culture include: forming a line at
store counters, saying 'bless you' when someone sneezes, or holding the door to
someone entering a building right after you
13. Sanctions:
Sanction, in the social sciences, a reaction (or the threat or promise of a reaction)
by members of a social group indicating approval or disapproval of a mode of
conduct and serving to enforce behavioral standards of the group

For example: Some examples of sanctions for nonconformity include shame,

ridicule, sarcasm, criticism, disapproval, social discrimination, and exclusion, as
well as more formal sanctions such as penalties and fines. Different people and
groups also tend to sanction in different ways

14. Social Location:

An individual's social location is defined as the combination of factors including
gender, race, social class, age, ability, religion, sexual orientation, and
geographic location. This makes social location particular to each individual; that
is, social location is not always exactly the same for any two individuals

For example: An individual's social location is a combination of categories,

factors, or attributes such as gender, race, age, ability, immigration status,
language, sexual orientation, employment, and religion.

15. Marginalization:
Social exclusion or social marginalization is the social disadvantage and
relegation to the fringe of society. It is a term that has been used widely in
Europe and was first used in France in the late 20th century. It is used across
disciplines including education, sociology, psychology, politics and economics

For example: Denying professional opportunities because of aspects of

someone's identity (racism, sexism, ableism) Not providing equal access to
resources because of someone's identity. Derogatory language or bullying.
Assuming someone got where they are only because they “check a diversity box”

16. Power:
the ability of an individual, group, or institution to influence or exercise control
over other people and achieve their goals despite possible opposition or
resistance

For example:social power in society includes laws, voting, wealth, fame, protest
and rebellion, authority, creation control, etc. The three most common examples
of social power are wealth, fame, and laws
 17. Inequality:
Inequality—the state of not being equal, especially in status, rights, and
opportunities1—is a concept very much at the heart of social justice theories.
However, it is prone to confusion in public debate as it tends to mean different
things to different people. Some distinctions are common though

For example: Inequality of conditions refers to the unequal distribution of income,

wealth, and material goods. Housing, for example, is inequality of conditions with
the homeless and those living in housing projects sitting at the bottom of the
hierarchy while those living in multi-million dollar mansions sit at the top

Theorists: Definitions and examples.

1. Herbert Spencer:
Herbert Spencer was an English philosopher, psychologist, biologist,
anthropologist, and sociologist .Spencer originated the expression "survival of the
fittest", which he coined in Principles of Biology after reading Charles Darwin's
1859 book On the Origin of SpeciesHerbert Spencer is famous for his doctrine of
social Darwinism, which asserted that the principles of evolution, including
natural selection, apply to human societies, social classes, and individuals as
well as to biological species developing over geologic time.

2. Robert Merton:
In 1938, Merton's “Social Structure and Anomie,” one of the most important
works of structural theory in American sociology, Merton's basic assumption was
that the individual is not just in a structured system of action but that his or her
actions may be forced by the demands of the system.

3. Karl Marx:
He believed all countries should become capitalist and develop that productive
capacity, and then workers would naturally revolt, leading communism whereby
the workers would become the dominant social class and collectively control the
means of production

4. W.E.B Du Bois:
William Edward Burghardt Du Bois was an American sociologist, socialist,
historian, and Pan-Africanist civil rights activist. Born in Great Barrington,
Massachusetts, Du Bois grew up in a relatively tolerant and integrated
community
5. Herbert Mead:
Mead theorized that human beings begin their understanding of the social world
through "play" and "game". Play comes first in the child's development. The child
takes different roles he/she observes in "adult" society, and plays them out to
gain an understanding of the different social roles.

6. Dorothy Smith:
Smith, who spent most of her career at Canadian universities, was best known
for her contributions to what is called standpoint theory. She argued that while
conventional sociology claims to be the disinterested pursuit of objective truth, it
is in fact encoded with ideologies that see the male experience as universal