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CLEP Introductory Sociology Study Hub

Learn the theories, methods, people, institutions, and social patterns that appear across the CLEP exam.

2 free pop-up tests · 431 flashcards · 126 connected lessons
2 pop-up practice tests126 connected topics1 complete flashcard deck
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CLEP Introductory Sociology Practice Center

Take a full practice test, review the explanations, then use the flashcards to repair the terms and ideas that slowed you down.

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CLEP Sociology Study Blueprint

Open each area to see what to master. The bars show how this hub distributes its lessons, so you can plan study time without mistaking the map for an official exam weighting.

126 lessons
01 Foundations, theory, and methodsLearn the major perspectives, thinkers, methods, and evidence standards. 23lessons
18% of this study map
  • Sociological imagination and theoretical lenses
  • Research design, variables, samples, and conclusions
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02 Culture, socialization, and groupsConnect culture and identity to interaction, groups, and organizations. 23lessons
18% of this study map
  • Norms, values, roles, and socialization
  • Groups, networks, bureaucracy, and organizations
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03 Deviance and social changeExplain social control, collective behavior, movements, and transformation. 23lessons
18% of this study map
  • Deviance theories and criminal justice
  • Collective action, movements, and modernization
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04 Stratification and social differenceAnalyze class, work, power, race, ethnicity, gender, and aging. 27lessons
21% of this study map
  • Inequality, poverty, mobility, and work
  • Race, ethnicity, sex, gender, and the life course
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05 Institutions, population, and environmentStudy the institutions and demographic processes that organize social life. 30lessons
24% of this study map
  • Family, religion, education, economy, politics, and health
  • Population, urbanization, community, and environment
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Study-map shares describe the learning resources on this page. They are not presented as official test percentages.

CLEP Sociology Study Hub 2026: a single starting point that brings together the lessons, worksheets, practice tests, and review material for this subject, arranged in a sensible order so you can work through it from start to finish.

College credit exam preparation

CLEP Sociology Study Hub 2026

Learn the concepts in plain language, check your recall with a full flashcard deck, and use two realistic practice tests to find exactly what to review next.

14 chapters · 112 lessons · 431 flashcards

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◫FlashcardsPop up the complete searchable deck ☰All lessonsJump to any chapter or book topic Study guideLessons, full explanations, and two more printed tests

Two Full-Length CLEP Sociology Practice Tests

These are two distinct 100-question forms built around the five public content areas. Take one in a single 90-minute sitting, submit it, then use the full explanation report to decide what to review.

TEST 1Full-length form

CLEP Sociology Practice Test 1

Start with this balanced diagnostic. It samples institutions, social patterns, social processes, stratification, and the sociological perspective in the same proportions shown in the public exam outline.

  • 100 questions
  • ⏱90 minutes
  • Instant score
  • Full explanations

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TEST 2Second full form

CLEP Sociology Practice Test 2

Use this independent form after review. It has no repeated question stems from Test 1, so it gives you a cleaner check of understanding, pace, and readiness.

  • 100 questions
  • ⏱90 minutes
  • Instant score
  • Full explanations

Start Test 2 →

Each form is publisher-created practice, not an official CLEP exam or a scaled-score report. CLEP and College Board do not endorse these materials.

Choose your next move

New to sociology? Begin with Chapter 1. Already studying? Take a practice test first, then use your missed questions to choose the lessons that deserve another pass.

Hub at a Glance
14Complete Chapters
112Topic-by-Topic Lessons
431Definition Flashcards
210Public Practice Questions

Every CLEP Sociology lesson

Open the exact topic you need. Each lesson is tied to the current book structure and returns you to this hub.

112 lessons

Chapter 1: The Sociological Imagination and the Origins of Sociology

Chapter 2: Theories and Levels of Analysis

Chapter 3: Sociological Research and Data Reasoning

Chapter 4: Culture

Chapter 5: Socialization and the Self

Chapter 6: Social Interaction, Groups, and Organizations

Chapter 7: Deviance and Social Control

Chapter 8: Collective Behavior, Social Movements, and Social Change

Chapter 9: Social Class, Work, Power, and Mobility

Chapter 10: Race and Ethnic Relations

Chapter 11: Sex, Gender, and Aging

Chapter 12: Family and Religion

Chapter 13: Education, Economy, Politics, and Health

Chapter 14: Demography, Urbanization, Community, and Environment

Use the hub like a tutor

Read one lesson, close it, and explain the central idea without looking. Then give one example and one tempting nonexample. If that feels shaky, use the flashcards for quick retrieval before returning to practice questions.

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Take Practice Test 1 in one sitting. When you finish, use the explanations and lesson directory to build a focused repair list instead of rereading everything.

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These independent study materials are not official CLEP examinations or scaled-score reports. CLEP and College Board are registered marks of their respective owners, who do not endorse this site or its materials.

CLEP Sociology: 431 key terms defined

Every term from the flashcards above, written out and grouped by topic, so you can revise without clicking through the cards, search the page for a term, or print the set.

abeyance structure
A group preserving movement identity and capacity during a quiet period.
absolute mobility
The share of people occupying a different social position from their parents.
absolute poverty
Lacking resources needed to meet a fixed minimum standard of basic living requirements.
access
The practical ability to obtain timely, appropriate health care.
achieved status
A social position gained through choices, actions, qualifications, or accomplishments.
activity theory
A theory linking later-life well-being with meaningful participation and replacement roles.
age cohort
People born during the same period who encounter history at similar ages.
age group
People who share a current age or defined age range.
age stratification theory
A theory explaining how age categories become social ranks with unequal roles, resources, and power.
ageism
Stereotypes, prejudice, or unequal treatment directed at people because of age.
agency
People’s capacity to act, choose, interpret, and respond within social conditions.
agenda setting
Power over which issues receive public attention and official consideration.
agent of socialization
A person, group, or institution that teaches culture and role expectations.
alienation
Separation from meaningful work, its products, other people, or one’s human potential.
alternative movement
A movement seeking limited behavioral change among selected individuals.
amalgamation
The blending of groups through intermarriage and the formation of shared identities.
anomie
A condition of weakened or unsettled social rules and expectations.
anonymity
A condition where researchers cannot connect collected responses to individual identities.
anticipatory socialization
Learning and practicing expectations for a role one expects to enter.
ascribed status
A social position assigned at birth or received without personal choice.
assembling perspective
An approach following purposeful people as they gather, coordinate, and disperse.
assimilation
A process where group differences decrease as a minority adopts dominant patterns.
attachment
Emotional closeness to others whose opinions make conformity meaningful.
authority
Power regarded as legitimate by the people expected to obey.
back stage
A setting where people can relax, prepare, or step outside a performance.
belief
An idea accepted as true, and in bond theory, acceptance of conventional rules as morally valid.
bilateral descent
A descent system recognizing relatives through both parents’ family lines.
bourgeoisie
Marx’s class of people who own productive property and employ workers.
bureaucracy
A formal organization using hierarchy, specialization, rules, records, and impersonal procedures.
bureaucratization
The movement stage when formal roles, offices, records, and procedures expand.
capitalism
An economic system centered on private ownership of productive property.
carrying capacity
The population an environment can sustain under specified social and ecological conditions.
case study
An in-depth investigation of one bounded person, group, organization, event, or setting.
caste system
A closed stratification system based mainly on inherited social position.
causation
A relationship in which change in one factor helps produce change in another.
census
An attempt to collect information from every member of a defined population.
charismatic authority
Legitimate power grounded in followers’ devotion to a leader’s exceptional qualities.
church
A large established religious organization with broad membership and relatively low social tension.
civil religion
Shared public beliefs, rituals, and symbols giving a nation sacred meaning.
class
An economic position shaped by resources, work, ownership, and market opportunities.
class consciousness
Awareness of shared class interests and a willingness to act around them.
class system
A relatively open hierarchy based mainly on economic position and achievement.
co-optation
Absorbing movement leaders or demands in ways that reduce independent pressure.
coalescence
The movement stage when participants coordinate goals, actions, and leadership.
cognitive development
Growth in how people think, reason, understand, and solve problems.
cohabitation
An intimate partnership in which unmarried partners share a residence.
cohort
A group sharing a birth period or another defining historical experience.
collective behavior
Relatively spontaneous group activity developing outside established routines and formal organization.
collective efficacy
Shared trust and willingness among residents to act for community well-being.
collective-action problem
A situation where individual incentives obstruct cooperation needed for a shared good.
commitment
Investment in conventional goals that a person risks losing through deviance.
community
People connected through place, identity, interaction, or shared social ties.
concentric-zone model
An urban model describing city growth through rings surrounding a central district.
confidentiality
Protecting participants’ identifying information from unauthorized disclosure.
conflict theory
A perspective examining how unequal power and competing interests shape rules and outcomes.
conformity
Matching behavior or judgment to group pressure, and in strain theory, accepting approved goals and means.
construct validity
How well a measure represents the concept it is intended to capture.
contact theory
The theory that equal-status cooperation toward shared goals with institutional support can reduce prejudice.
contagion theory
A theory claiming crowds spread emotion and behavior rapidly among participants.
content analysis
Systematic examination of messages, documents, images, or media using defined categories.
continuity theory
A theory explaining later-life adaptation through preserved identities, relationships, and habits.
control group
The comparison group that does not receive the tested treatment or condition.
control variable
A measured factor held constant in analysis to clarify another relationship.
convergence theory
A theory claiming crowds attract people who already share similar tendencies.
cornucopian
A view that innovation and substitution can expand available resources.
corporate crime
Illegal action committed by company officials to benefit the corporation.
correlation
A measured pattern in which two variables change together.
counterculture
A group whose cultural patterns actively oppose important dominant values or arrangements.
countermovement
An organized effort opposing another movement’s goals, claims, or proposed changes.
counterurbanization
Population movement from large urban areas toward smaller towns or rural places.
credential inflation
Rising qualification requirements without matching changes in a job’s skill demands.
credentialism
Reliance on formal qualifications to assign jobs, status, or opportunity.
crime
An act or omission prohibited and punishable under criminal law.
crime rate
The number of recorded crimes relative to a population during a stated period.
crowd
People physically gathered in one place around a shared focus.
crude birth rate
Annual live births per one thousand people in the midyear population.
crude death rate
Annual deaths per one thousand people in the midyear population.
cultural capital
Socially valued knowledge, styles, and credentials that aid institutional success.
cultural lag
A delay as nonmaterial culture adjusts to changed material conditions.
cultural pluralism
Equal social participation while groups maintain distinctive cultural traditions and identities.
cultural relativism
Understanding a practice through its local meanings and conditions before evaluation, without requiring approval.
cultural universal
A broad cultural feature found in every known society, though its form varies.
culture
A group’s learned and shared meanings, practices, knowledge, and material objects.
culture of prejudice
The view that shared cultural messages teach and normalize prejudiced beliefs.
culture shock
Disorientation that can occur when familiar cultural cues and routines no longer work.
dark figure of crime
Crimes missing from official records because they were undiscovered or unreported.
Davis–Moore thesis
The functionalist claim that unequal rewards motivate training for and filling socially important positions.
de facto segregation
Group separation produced through practice and conditions rather than explicit law.
de jure segregation
Group separation required or explicitly enforced by law.
debt
Money or other obligations owed to another person or institution.
decline
Reduced movement activity caused by success, failure, repression, cooptation, or fragmentation.
degradation ceremony
A public process that strips an old identity and marks a lowered status.
delivery
The organizations and workers that provide health-care services.
democracy
A form of government giving citizens a recognized role in political decisions.
demographic change
A shift in a population’s size, composition, distribution, or growth.
demographic transition
A model describing shifts from high birth and death rates to low rates.
demography
The systematic study of population size, composition, distribution, and change.
denomination
An established religious organization that accepts other religious bodies as legitimate.
dependency ratio
Conventionally dependent-age people per one hundred conventionally working-age people.
dependent variable
The outcome a researcher seeks to explain or predict.
deviance
Behavior, belief, or appearance that violates a group’s norms.
diagnostic frame
A movement’s explanation of what the problem is and who caused it.
differential association
The theory that close relationships teach definitions favorable or unfavorable to lawbreaking.
diffusion
The spread of cultural objects, ideas, or practices between groups.
discovery
Recognizing something that already existed but was not previously understood.
discrimination
Unequal treatment of people based on their actual or perceived group membership.
disengagement theory
A theory proposing mutual withdrawal between older adults and wider society.
division of labor
The separation of work into specialized tasks performed by different people.
divorce rate
A measure comparing divorces with a defined population at risk during a period.
dominant culture
Cultural patterns with enough institutional power to shape widely recognized standards.
dominant group
A group holding greater power, resources, and influence over social institutions.
double consciousness
Du Bois’s idea that Black Americans see themselves directly and through a racist society’s gaze.
dramaturgy
Goffman’s approach to interaction as performances shaped for particular audiences and settings.
dyad
A two-person group whose survival depends on both members remaining involved.
dysfunction
A consequence that disrupts stability, adaptation, or effective operation for a social system.
ecclesia
An inclusive religious organization closely tied to the state and claiming broad social membership.
education
The institution through which societies transmit knowledge, skills, values, and expectations.
egalitarian
A family authority pattern sharing decision-making power relatively equally.
ego
Freud’s reality-oriented part that balances impulses, moral demands, and practical limits.
elite theory
A theory that a small, resource-rich minority holds disproportionate social power.
emergence
The movement stage when shared concern develops around a recognized problem.
emergent group
A new group that organizes in response to an unexpected situation.
emergent norm theory
A theory explaining how new situational rules develop during collective action.
emigration
Movement out of a country to establish residence elsewhere.
endogamy
A rule or expectation favoring marriage within a defined group.
environmental inequality
Unequal distribution of environmental hazards, protections, and benefits across social groups.
environmental justice
Fair environmental treatment and meaningful participation in decisions affecting health and place.
environmental racism
Racialized environmental inequality produced through policies, practices, or unequal political influence.
estate system
A hierarchy of legally defined ranks carrying different rights and obligations.
ethnicity
A shared identity based on ancestry, history, language, religion, or cultural practices.
ethnocentrism
Judging other cultures by one’s own assumptions, often treating one’s culture as superior.
ethnography
Close study of social life through sustained observation and participation in a setting.
exchange mobility
Mobility where upward moves are balanced by downward moves within a stable structure.
exchange theory
A theory linking bargaining power in relationships to control of resources that others value.
exogamy
A rule or expectation requiring marriage outside a defined group.
experiment
A study that manipulates a condition and compares outcomes across controlled groups.
expressive leadership
Leadership focused on relationships, group harmony, and emotional support.
expulsion
The forced removal of a population from a territory or society.
extended family
A family network including relatives beyond parents or caregivers and dependent children.
external validity
How well study findings apply beyond the people, place, and conditions studied.
fad
A short-lived practice or enthusiasm adopted rapidly by many people.
false consciousness
Beliefs that conceal shared class interests or make unequal arrangements appear natural.
family
A socially recognized group connected by kinship, partnership, adoption, or caregiving.
family of orientation
The family into which a person is born, adopted, or raised.
family of procreation
The family a person forms through marriage, partnership, birth, or adoption.
fashion
A socially approved style that changes over time and may follow cycles.
feminist theory
A family of perspectives examining gendered power, inequality, experience, and social change.
fertility
The occurrence and social patterning of live births within a population.
financing
The arrangements determining who pays for health care and how.
folkway
An everyday norm whose violation usually brings mild disapproval.
formal organization
A deliberately structured group created to accomplish specific goals.
formal sanction
An official reward or punishment imposed by an organization or authority.
frame alignment
Connecting a movement’s interpretation with an audience’s beliefs and experiences.
framing
Creating an interpretation that defines a problem, proposes action, and motivates support.
free-rider problem
The temptation to receive collective benefits without contributing to the effort.
front stage
A setting where people perform for an audience and manage impressions.
functionalism
A perspective asking how social arrangements affect coordination, continuity, and adaptation.
game stage
Mead’s stage when children coordinate several roles and shared rules together.
Gemeinschaft
Personal, lasting relationships rooted in kinship, tradition, and shared life.
gender
Social identities, meanings, roles, and expectations associated with perceived sex categories.
gender expression
How someone presents gender through clothing, speech, appearance, or mannerisms.
gender identity
A person’s internal understanding and sense of their gender.
gender pay gap
The measured difference in average earnings between gender groups.
gender role
Social expectations about behavior attached to a particular gender position.
gender socialization
The process of learning a society’s gender expectations, meanings, and behaviors.
generalized other
Mead’s term for the organized expectations of a wider group or community.
genocide
The intentional destruction, in whole or part, of a protected human group.
Gesellschaft
Impersonal, formal relationships organized around contracts, tasks, and individual goals.
glass ceiling
Structural barriers limiting women’s advancement into an organization’s highest positions.
glass escalator
Patterned advantages that speed some men’s advancement in women-dominated occupations.
globalization
Growing cross-border connections in economies, institutions, communication, migration, and culture.
goal displacement
A process where following procedures becomes more important than achieving original goals.
government
The organizations and officials making and carrying out authoritative decisions for a state.
groupthink
Poor group decisions caused when agreement becomes more important than critical evaluation.
health disparity
A systematic difference in health outcomes or risks between social groups.
health outcome
A measured result of health or care, such as survival or functioning.
hidden curriculum
Unwritten lessons about behavior, authority, and inequality learned through institutional routines.
hierarchy
A ranked structure where higher positions supervise and direct lower positions.
homogamy
The tendency to choose partners with similar social characteristics.
horizontal mobility
Movement between positions at roughly the same social level.
horizontal segregation
The concentration of groups in different occupations at roughly similar ranks.
household
One person or several people who share the same dwelling.
human capital
Knowledge, skills, health, and experience that increase a person’s productive capacity.
human ecology
The study of how populations interact with physical and social environments.
hypothesis
A focused, testable prediction about a relationship that evidence can support or weaken.
I
Mead’s term for the spontaneous, creative response of the self.
id
Freud’s unconscious source of instinctive drives seeking immediate satisfaction.
ideal culture
The values and standards a group publicly says it follows.
ideal type
Weber’s analytical model emphasizing key features for comparison with real cases.
ideology
A system of ideas that explains, supports, or challenges social arrangements.
immigration
Movement into a country to establish residence.
impersonality
Applying formal rules without basing decisions on personal relationships or feelings.
impression management
Efforts to shape how other people understand one’s identity and behavior.
in-group
A group someone belongs to and sees as their own.
in-migration
Movement into a defined geographic area to establish residence.
incidence
The number of new cases developing within a population during a period.
income
Money received during a period from work, investments, benefits, or transfers.
independent variable
The proposed cause or predictor in a study’s explanation.
individual discrimination
Unequal treatment carried out by one person against another person.
infant mortality rate
Deaths before age one per one thousand live births.
informal sanction
An unofficial social response such as praise, ridicule, approval, or avoidance.
informed consent
Voluntary agreement to participate after receiving understandable information about the study.
innovation
Accepting valued goals while using disapproved or illegal means to reach them.
institution
A durable system of roles, norms, and practices organizing a major social need.
institutional discrimination
Policies or routines that systematically produce unequal outcomes between groups.
instrumental leadership
Leadership focused on completing tasks, reaching goals, and organizing work.
intergenerational mobility
A difference in social position between parents and their children.
internal validity
How strongly a study supports its claimed causal conclusion within the studied setting.
intersectionality
An approach examining how linked systems of inequality jointly shape people’s positions and experiences.
intersex
Natural variations in sex characteristics that do not fit typical female or male classifications.
intragenerational mobility
Movement in social position during one person’s lifetime.
invention
Creating a new cultural object, idea, practice, or combination.
involvement
Time spent in conventional activities that limits opportunities for deviance.
iron law of oligarchy
The tendency for power in large organizations to concentrate among a few leaders.
kinship
A culturally defined network of relatives, bonds, duties, and expected relationships.
labeling theory
A theory examining how social reactions and labels shape identity and later behavior.
language
A shared system of symbols and rules used to communicate meaning.
latent function
An unintended consequence outside a social practice’s recognized purpose.
law
A formal rule created and enforced by an authorized political body.
liberal feminism
A perspective seeking gender equality through legal and institutional reform.
life chances
The opportunities people have to obtain valued outcomes and avoid hardships.
life course
The socially organized sequence of roles, transitions, and trajectories across life.
life expectancy
Expected years of life based on current age-specific mortality rates.
life-course perspective
An approach studying how social transitions and historical timing shape lives over time.
linguistic relativity
The idea that language influences habitual perception without rigidly determining thought.
linked lives
The life-course principle that transitions among close people affect one another.
looking-glass self
Cooley’s idea that imagined judgments from others help shape self-understanding.
macro
A level of analysis focused on societies, institutions, and large-scale patterns.
Malthusian
A view that population growth can outpace food and other resources.
manifest function
An intended and recognized consequence of a social practice or institution.
mass
A large dispersed audience whose members interact little with one another.
master status
A position that strongly shapes how others identify and respond to someone.
material culture
The physical objects and built environments people create and use.
matriarchal
A family authority pattern giving women greater decision-making power.
matrilineal
A descent system tracing family membership mainly through the mother’s line.
matrilocal
A residence pattern where couples live with or near the wife’s relatives.
McDonaldization
The spread of efficiency, calculability, predictability, and control across social institutions.
me
Mead’s term for the self shaped by internalized social expectations.
mechanical solidarity
Social cohesion based mainly on shared beliefs, similar work, and common ways of life.
medicalization
The process of defining and treating a nonmedical issue as medical.
meritocracy
An ideal system that allocates social rewards according to talent, effort, and achievement.
meso
A level of analysis focused on organizations, communities, and networks between micro and macro.
metropolitan area
A central city and surrounding communities linked through commuting and economic activity.
micro
A level of analysis focused on face-to-face interaction and everyday meaning.
middle-range theory
An explanation of a limited set of social patterns under stated conditions.
migration
A change of usual residence across a defined geographic boundary.
minority group
A socially subordinate group facing unequal treatment, regardless of numerical size.
mixed economy
An economy combining private and public ownership with markets and planning.
modernization
Broad social transformation associated with industrialization, urbanization, bureaucracy, and technological development.
modernization theory of aging
A theory linking industrialization to declining social status for older adults.
monarchy
A form of government headed by a hereditary sovereign.
monogamy
A marriage system permitting one spouse at a time.
moral reasoning
The thinking people use to judge right, wrong, fairness, and obligation.
mores
Strongly held moral norms whose violation brings serious disapproval.
mortality
The occurrence and social patterning of deaths within a population.
motivational frame
A movement’s reason people should act now and believe action matters.
multiple-nuclei model
An urban model describing several specialized activity centers within one metropolis.
national health service
Tax-funded health care delivered substantially through publicly operated facilities and workers.
natural increase
Population change calculated by subtracting deaths from births.
neolocal
A residence pattern where couples establish a home apart from both families.
net migration
Population change calculated by subtracting out-migration from in-migration.
network
A set of social ties through which information, support, influence, or resources travel.
new religious movement
A recently formed religious group distinct from established religious traditions.
new social movement theory
A perspective emphasizing identity, culture, recognition, autonomy, and everyday life.
nonmaterial culture
Shared ideas, language, values, beliefs, symbols, and norms.
nonresponse
Missing data caused when selected people do not participate or answer.
norm
A shared rule or expectation guiding behavior in a group or society.
nuclear family
A family unit containing parents or caregivers and their dependent children.
obedience
Following a direct instruction from someone recognized as an authority.
occupation
A recognized category of paid work with related tasks and responsibilities.
occupational crime
Illegal action using one’s job for personal gain rather than company benefit.
occupational prestige
The social honor or respect commonly attached to a particular occupation.
occupational segregation
The patterned concentration of gender groups in different occupations or job levels.
official crime data
Crime information recorded by police, courts, prisons, or other government agencies.
oligarchy
A form of government in which a small group holds ruling power.
operational definition
A precise rule for observing or measuring an abstract concept.
organic solidarity
Social cohesion based mainly on specialized roles and mutual dependence.
out-group
A group that in-group members see as different or outside.
out-migration
Movement out of a defined geographic area to establish residence elsewhere.
patriarchal
A family authority pattern giving men greater decision-making power.
patriarchy
A social system where men as a group hold disproportionate institutional power.
patrilineal
A descent system tracing family membership mainly through the father’s line.
patrilocal
A residence pattern where couples live with or near the husband’s relatives.
peer group
People of similar social standing who influence one another through interaction.
personal trouble
A difficulty experienced within one person’s immediate life and relationships.
play stage
Mead’s stage when children practice taking one particular role at a time.
pluralism
The view that political power is dispersed among competing groups.
policy implementation
The process of putting an adopted rule or program into practice.
political opportunity
An institutional opening or constraint that changes prospects for collective action.
polyandry
A marriage form joining one woman with multiple husbands.
polygamy
A marriage system permitting one person to have multiple spouses.
polygyny
A marriage form joining one man with multiple wives.
population
The complete set of people or cases a researcher wants to understand.
population composition
The characteristics of a population, such as age, education, or occupation.
population distribution
The geographic pattern showing where members of a population live.
population pyramid
A chart displaying a population’s age and sex composition.
population size
The number of people within a defined boundary at a stated time.
positivism
The approach of studying society through systematic observation, comparison, and evidence.
postindustrial economy
An economy where services, information, and knowledge work outweigh manufacturing.
poverty line
An official income threshold used to identify households classified as poor.
power
The ability to achieve goals despite resistance from other people.
power elite
Mills’s term for overlapping leaders who dominate major political, military, and economic institutions.
prejudice
A favorable or unfavorable attitude toward people based on group membership.
preparatory stage
Mead’s early stage when children imitate actions without fully understanding roles.
prevalence
All existing cases within a population at a point or during a period.
primary deviance
Initial rule breaking that has not become central to a person’s identity.
primary group
A small group marked by close, lasting, emotionally significant relationships.
primary labor market
Jobs offering greater stability, pay, benefits, advancement, and worker protection.
primary socialization
Early foundational learning, usually through close caregivers and family relationships.
privilege
An unearned advantage connected to membership in a socially favored group.
profane
Things belonging to ordinary life rather than being set apart as sacred.
profession
An occupation claiming specialized knowledge, credentials, autonomy, and ethical standards.
professionalization
The process of adding trained paid staff to movements or credentials and autonomy to occupations.
prognostic frame
A movement’s proposed solution and plan for addressing the problem.
proletariat
Marx’s class of workers who sell their labor to property owners.
psychosocial development
Development through life challenges involving identity, relationships, and social expectations.
public
A dispersed group discussing an issue and considering different viewpoints.
public issue
A widespread difficulty rooted in shared institutions, history, or social organization.
public sociology
Sociological work that engages wider communities in discussing and addressing shared concerns.
pull factor
A condition attracting people toward a new place of residence.
push factor
A condition encouraging people to leave their current place of residence.
race
A social category based on perceived physical differences given social meaning.
racialization
The process of assigning racial meaning to people, practices, or institutions.
racism
Beliefs, practices, or institutions that create or defend racial hierarchy.
radical feminism
A perspective treating patriarchy as a fundamental system organizing gendered power.
random assignment
Using chance to place participants into study conditions, improving group comparability.
random sample
A sample selected so every population member has an equal chance of selection.
rational-legal authority
Legitimate power grounded in formal rules, laws, and official positions.
rationalization
The growing organization of social life around calculation, efficiency, rules, and predictability.
real culture
The behavior and practices people display in everyday life.
rebellion
Replacing existing goals and approved means with a proposed alternative social order.
redemptive movement
A movement seeking deep personal transformation among selected individuals.
reference group
A group used as a standard for evaluating oneself or guiding behavior.
reform movement
A movement seeking limited changes within an existing social system.
relative deprivation
A perceived unfair gap between expected conditions and actual conditions.
relative mobility
The degree to which social origins shape people’s chances of reaching destinations.
relative poverty
Having far fewer resources than the usual standard in one’s society.
reliability
The consistency of a measure across repeated observations or researchers.
religion
A system of beliefs and practices concerning sacred meanings and communities.
replacement-level fertility
The fertility level needed for one generation to replace itself without migration.
resistance movement
A movement seeking to prevent or reverse a proposed social change.
resocialization
A process that substantially replaces earlier routines, meanings, or role expectations.
resource mobilization
An approach explaining movements through money, leadership, organizations, skills, and networks.
retreatism
Rejecting both valued goals and approved means while withdrawing from participation.
revolutionary movement
A movement seeking fundamental transformation of an entire social order.
ritual
A repeated symbolic action expressing shared meanings, identities, or commitments.
ritualism
Abandoning valued goals while continuing to follow approved rules and routines.
role
The expected behaviors, rights, and duties connected to a social status.
role conflict
Tension caused by incompatible expectations attached to two or more statuses.
role exit
The process of leaving a central role and rebuilding one’s identity.
role strain
Tension among competing expectations attached to one social status.
role taking
Imagining another person’s viewpoint to guide interpretation and action.
rumor
Unverified information passed between people when facts are uncertain or important.
sacred
Things set apart from ordinary life and treated with special reverence.
sample
The smaller set of cases selected from a population and studied.
sampling frame
The practical list or source from which a sample is selected.
sanction
A reward or punishment used to encourage conformity to a norm.
scapegoat hypothesis
The idea that frustration may be redirected toward a less powerful group.
second shift
Unpaid household and caregiving work performed after paid employment.
secondary deviance
Further rule breaking influenced by labels, exclusion, and a changed identity.
secondary group
A larger, less personal group organized mainly around a task or goal.
secondary labor market
Jobs offering lower pay, fewer benefits, instability, and limited advancement.
secondary socialization
Later learning for roles in schools, workplaces, organizations, and other settings.
sect
A relatively exclusive religious group maintaining high tension with surrounding society.
sector model
An urban model describing wedge-shaped development along transportation routes.
secularization
A decline in religious belief, participation, authority, or influence at a specified social level.
segregation
The physical or social separation of groups in major areas of life.
selection
Systematic differences between migrants and people who do not migrate.
self-fulfilling prophecy
A belief that prompts behavior which helps make the expected outcome occur.
self-report study
A study asking participants to disclose their own rule breaking or illegal behavior.
sex
Biological traits used to classify bodies, including reproductive anatomy, hormones, and chromosomes.
sick role
Parsons’s expectations that ill people receive exemptions without blame while seeking competent care and recovery.
slavery
A stratification system where people are legally treated as property.
social bond theory (social control theory)
The theory that strong conventional bonds reduce a person’s likelihood of deviance.
social change
A lasting transformation in social relationships, institutions, culture, or behavior.
social closure
Restricting access to opportunities through credentials, licensing, exclusion, or group boundaries.
social construction
A category or meaning created and maintained through social agreement and practice.
social control
The methods groups use to encourage conformity and discourage rule breaking.
social determinants of health
Social conditions shaping health, including housing, work, income, education, and discrimination.
social disorganization theory
A theory linking neighborhood crime to weakened networks, institutions, and informal control.
social exchange
Interaction shaped by expected rewards, costs, fairness, and reciprocity.
social fact
A collective way of acting or thinking that exists beyond individuals and exerts constraint.
social insurance
Required pooled financing that can pay independently operated health-care providers.
social learning theory of deviance
The theory that reinforcement, imitation, and associations help people learn deviance.
social movement
A sustained collective effort to create, resist, or reverse social change.
social movement organization
A formal group that coordinates people and resources toward movement goals.
social reproduction
The process through which inequality and advantage continue across generations.
social stratification
A system that ranks social categories and distributes valued resources unequally.
social structure
The recurring arrangement of institutions, roles, relationships, and inequalities shaping social life.
socialism
An economic system centered on social or public ownership of productive resources.
socialist feminism
A perspective explaining gender inequality through connected systems of patriarchy and capitalism.
socialization
The lifelong process of learning culture, developing a self, and preparing for social roles.
socioeconomic status
A combined measure of social position using income, education, and occupation.
sociological imagination
The ability to connect personal experience with history and larger social arrangements.
sociology
The systematic study of social relationships, institutions, groups, and patterned outcomes.
spurious relationship
An apparent relationship produced by another variable rather than direct causation.
state
A political community successfully claiming a monopoly on legitimate physical force within a territory.
status
A socially recognized position that a person occupies within a group or society.
status inconsistency
Holding social rankings that differ sharply across income, education, occupation, or prestige.
status set
All the social positions one person occupies at the same time.
stereotype
An oversimplified belief applied broadly to members of a social category.
stigma
An attribute that others deeply discredit within a particular social setting.
strain theory
Merton’s explanation linking deviance to gaps between valued goals and approved means.
structural functionalism
Another name for functionalism, emphasizing interdependent social structures and their consequences.
structural mobility
Mobility produced when economic change expands or contracts categories of positions.
subculture
A group sharing distinctive cultural patterns while participating in a wider society.
suburbanization
Population movement and growth from central cities into surrounding suburbs.
superego
Freud’s internalized moral standards and ideals, learned through social life.
sustainable development
Meeting present needs while protecting future generations’ ability to meet theirs.
symbol
Something that carries a shared meaning beyond its immediate physical form.
symbolic interactionism
A perspective studying how people create meaning through symbols and everyday interaction.
theory
An organized explanation connecting concepts to show why a social pattern occurs.
threshold
The amount of participation a person needs to observe before joining collective action.
total fertility rate
Expected lifetime births per woman if current age-specific fertility rates continue.
total institution
A residential setting where one authority extensively regulates most daily activities.
totalitarianism
Centralized rule seeking extensive control over public and private life.
tracking
Sorting students into different instructional paths based on judged ability or performance.
traditional authority
Legitimate power grounded in inherited customs, offices, and long-standing practices.
triad
A three-person group where coalitions and mediation can develop.
unpaid labor
Work producing goods, services, or care without direct monetary payment.
urban growth
An increase in the number of people living in urban places.
urbanization
An increase in the proportion of a population living in urban places.
value
A culturally shared idea about what is good, right, or desirable.
value-added theory
A theory tracing six accumulating conditions that build toward collective action.
verstehen
Weber’s method of understanding the meanings people attach to their actions.
vertical mobility
Movement upward or downward between unequal positions in a hierarchy.
vertical segregation
The unequal placement of groups across higher and lower occupational ranks.
victimization survey
A survey asking people about crimes they experienced, including incidents never reported.
wealth
The total value of assets a person owns minus outstanding debts.
white-collar crime
Crime committed by a high-status person through an occupation or professional position.
xenocentrism
Treating another culture’s practices or products as inherently better than one’s own.
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01The Sociological Imagination and the Origins of Sociology 02What Sociology Studies 03The Sociological Imagination 04Why Sociology Emerged 05Comte, Martineau, and Spencer 06Marx, Durkheim, and Weber 07Du Bois, Addams, and Public Sociology 08Theories and Levels of Analysis 09What a Theory Does 10Functionalism 11Conflict Approaches 12Symbolic Interactionism 13Feminist Theory and Intersectionality 14Middle-Range Theory and Evidence 15Sociological Research and Data Reasoning 16From a Question to Operationalization 17Variables, Correlation, and Causal Reasoning 18Experiments 19Surveys, Samples, and Nonresponse 20Qualitative, Content, and Existing-Record Methods 21Research Ethics and Participant Protection 22Reliability, Validity, and Bias 23Reading Tables, Percentages, and Graphs 24Culture 25Culture, Material Life, and Learned Meaning 26Symbols, Language, and Linguistic Relativity 27Values, Beliefs, Norms, and Sanctions 28Dominant Culture, Subcultures, and Countercultures 29Ethnocentrism, Relativism, and Cross-Cultural Encounters 30Invention, Discovery, Diffusion, and Cultural Change 31Socialization and the Self 32What Socialization Is and Is Not 33Agents and Conflicting Messages 34Cooley's Looking-Glass Self 35Mead's Role Taking and Social Self 36Freud, Piaget, Erikson, and Moral Reasoning 37Life Course, New Roles, and Resocialization 38Socialization, Inequality, and Agency 39Social Interaction, Groups, and Organizations 40Statuses and the Status Set 41Roles, Conflict, Strain, and Exit 42Impression Management and Regions 43Group Types, Boundaries, Dyads, and Triads 44Leadership, Exchange, Cooperation, and Groupthink 45Conformity, Obedience, and Situational Influence 46Formal Organizations, Bureaucracy, and Concentrated Power 47Deviance and Social Control 48Deviance, Crime, Harm, and Social Definition 49Social Control and Sanctions 50Durkheim, Functions, and Anomie 51Merton's Strain Theory and Adaptations 52Differential Association and Social Learning 53Hirschi's Social Bond Theory 54Labeling, Stigma, and Secondary Deviance 55Conflict, White-Collar Crime, and Corporate Power 56Crime Data, the Dark Figure, and Justice Patterns 57Collective Behavior, Social Movements, and Social Change 58Collective Behavior and Routine Organization 59Contagion, Convergence, and Emergent Norms 60Crowds, Publics, and Masses 61Rumors, Fads, Fashions, and Mass Behavior 62Disasters and Collective Response 63From Collective Behavior to Social Movements 64Relative Deprivation 65Resource Mobilization 66Political Opportunity and Framing 67Movement Stages and Outcomes 68What Produces Social Change? 69Cultural Lag, Modernization, and Globalization 70Social Class, Work, Power, and Mobility 71Stratification, Life Chances, and Unequal Dimensions 72Slavery, Caste, Estate, and Class Systems 73SES, Income, Wealth, Debt, and Prestige 74Absolute Poverty, Relative Poverty, and Measurement 75Why Inequality Persists 76Work, Occupations, Professions, and Segmented Labor Markets 77Power, Authority, Pluralism, and Elites 78Mobility, Opportunity Structures, and Mobility Tables 79Race and Ethnic Relations 80Race as a Social Construction 81Ethnicity and Minority-Group Status 82Stereotypes, Prejudice, and Discrimination 83Racism, Institutional Discrimination, and Privilege 84Patterns of Intergroup Relations 85Why Prejudice and Conflict Develop 86Double Consciousness and Intersectionality 87Studying Inequality Responsibly 88Sex, Gender, and Aging 89Sex and Gender 90Gender Socialization and Social Structure 91Work, Pay, and Occupational Segregation 92Paid Work, Care, and the Second Shift 93Feminist Perspectives 94Age, Cohort, and the Life Course 95Ageism and Population Aging 96Theories of Aging 97Family and Religion 98Family, Household, Kinship, and Family Position 99Descent, Residence, and Authority 100Marriage Forms, Boundaries, and Partner Similarity 101Family Change, Cohabitation, Divorce, and the Second Shift 102Functionalist, Conflict, Feminist, and Interactionist Views of Family 103Religion, Ritual, and Classical Perspectives 104Ecclesia, Church, Denomination, Sect, and New Religious Movement 105Secularization, Religious Change, and Civil Religion 106Education, Economy, Politics, and Health 107Education as a Social Institution 108Tracking, Hidden Curriculum, Credentials, and Unequal Signals 109Functionalist, Conflict, and Interactionist Views of Education 110Capitalism, Socialism, Mixed Economies, and Postindustrial Change 111Division of Labor, Alienation, Labor Markets, and Professions 112Power, Authority, Government, and the State 113Bureaucracy, Pluralism, Elite Theory, and the Power Elite 114Health Disparities, the Sick Role, and Medicalization 115Incidence, Prevalence, and the Organization of Health Care 116Demography, Urbanization, Community, and Environment 117Demography, Population Size, Composition, and Distribution 118Rates, Fertility, Mortality, and Reader-Friendly Calculations 119Migration, Direction, Selection, and Policy 120Population Pyramids, Cohorts, and Dependency Ratios 121Demographic Transition and the Population-Resource Debate 122Urbanization, Urban Growth, Suburbanization, and Metropolitan Regions 123Community, Gemeinschaft, and Gesellschaft 124Human Ecology and Urban Spatial Models 125Collective Action, Environmental Inequality, and Environmental Racism 126Sustainable Development and Population-Urban-Environment Synthesis
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