From the moment they lived in groups, humans have defined rules to make it easier for them to interact with each other. The study of this phenomenon is called sociology. If you’ve never heard about it before, this is your chance to dig deeper into this topic. You will be thankful for its utility in your life.
In this section you will find:
- The two main branches of research in sociology and definitions.
- An alphabetical list of popular words and definitions.
Read on to find out!
Whether you wish to take the IELTS, TOEIC, TOEFL, CAE, FCE, BRIDGE, BULATS (Linguaskill) or even the BRIGHT ENGLISH, you need to enhance your English vocabulary in order to prepare for your test. Vocabulary is also important if you’re planning to learn English from scratch! We have have made a long list of vocabulary worksheets:
- Anthropology Vocabulary
- Chemistry Vocabulary
- Stock Market Vocabulary
- Real Estate Vocabulary
- Purchase Vocabulary
- Product Vocabulary
- Phone Vocabulary
- Payment Vocabulary
- Office Supplies Vocabulary
- Management Vocabulary
- Law Vocabulary
- Human Resources Vocabulary
- The Factory Vocabulary
- Vocabulary List: Bank and Finance
- Computer Vocabulary
- Marketing Vocabulary
- Social Media Vocabulary
- Meteorology Vocabulary
- Culture Vocabulary List
- Architecture Vocabulary
- Sociology Vocabulary
Research Vocabulary in The Sociology Department
The two main branches of research in sociology:
Basic Research
It’s an experimental or theoretical work to broaden and deepen knowledge about phenomena’s foundations and observable occurrences, without a concrete purpose of implementation.
Applied Research
Original work is undertaken to acquire further insights. However, unlike the Basic research, it is primarily directed towards a concrete practical end or objective.
| Word | Definition |
|---|---|
| Letter A: | |
| Adaptive | The aptitudes to live through changes. People may evolve in their features to adjust to their environment, but this happens slowly and stealthily |
| ADL | Activities of Daily Living. The things we do to take care of ourselves and our body like washing, eating, etc. |
| Adultism | A hold that adults have over younger people or children, for example by dictating their life choices. |
| Affinity | People who have the same interests in life and who recognise each other, they often desire similar things and share their activities |
| Agriculturalism | A society that has founded its means of survival on growing crops and raising livestock. Mainly life in the countryside or in the open air |
| Alienation | It can refer to a person who is deprived of his or her abilities, faculties or rights.Its meaning can be extended to a society that deprives members of their rights, their actions are dictated by a higher authority in the social hierarchy |
| Allophone | An individual, excluding indigenous people, who speaks a main language other than the official languages of the country |
| Letter B: | |
| Babyboom | Strong increase in births. Refers to certain periods from 1940’s to 1960’s in Europe. |
| Bigamist | An individual in a marital relationship with two people |
| Bobby-soxer | Young people who followed a fashion trend in the 1940s. Mostly comprising a full skirt, short socks and flat shoes |
| Body Positivism | A social movement that advocates self-acceptance and recognition of the human body’s beauty in its cultural diversity. It rejects stereotypes |
| Bonding | A commitment to the recognition of norms and institutions in a community or family. An awareness of belonging to them |
| Brewing | Action of mingling, merging. It can be referred to the mixing of populations |
| Bridging | They are means that associations set up to link people beyond a divide in a society, such as race, class or religion. They serve as a ‘bridge’ over the barriers of difference |
| Letter C: | |
| Cainism | An impulse to commit murder to someone very close, either biologically or emotionally |
| Charismatic | Someone who has a natural attractiveness that makes him/her popular with the people around him/her. |
| Clan | Can be families bound by real or fictitious kinship, supposedly descended from a common ancestor, and sharing moral and cultural values |
| Class | The category which is assigned to a group of people depending on their position in a community |
| Cocooning | To build a protective shell and to try to maintain the coziness of life as much as possible |
| Letter D: | |
| Dedicated | An individual or an institution which is loyal, dutiful, devoted in doing something |
| De Parentalisation | Subordinating parenthood and patriarchal authority to other socially imposed imperatives |
| Digital Natives | The new breed familiar with the use of new technologies and the language of computers |
| Discrimination | Unfavourable treatment on an individual, based on a social or personal feature, and often in opposition to the society’s laws or values |
| Diversity | Refers to the variety of human traits and behaviours that can be encountered in a society |
| Letter E: | |
| Ecology | Environmental awareness leading to study the interaction between society’s activities and their impacts on the natural habitat. |
| Equation | Matching ratio amongst different social groups |
| Ethnology | Comparative and explorative analysis of all social and cultural characteristics |
| Evolutionism | A theory of the species development in humans’ history. It assumes that any civilisation is the result of a continuous progressing process |
| Letter F: | |
| Favela | Brazilian word for a slum, built of makeshift dwellings on the outskirts of big cities |
| Francisation | Process to behave or look like a native French |
| Fringe | This theory conveys an opinion or belief that differs from the currently prevailing conventional teaching in a particular domain |
| Front | According to Erving Goffman, people behave in public as if they were actors, as though they were in a theatre at the head of the stage |
| Letter G: | |
| Gender theory | A multidisciplinary field of studies on the social relations between the sexes |
| Good society | It’s the ideal society that we intend to build around fundamental values such as equality, democracy and sufficiency |
| Letter H: | |
| Habitus | Designates a lifestyle, a general look, clothing, a mindset |
| Heterogamy | An individual seeking a spouse from a different socio-cultural background or country. It’s a phenomenon that wants to bring together unrelated entities in every possible way |
| Homogamy | An individual who seeks a spouse in a social background that matches his or her own |
| Horde | Temporary and unsettled human grouping, often prone to destruction and evil acts |
| Letter I: | |
| Identity | It’s the perception of belonging to a community, in relation to the individual’s representations of the social realities |
| Institution | A social structure that is stable and long-lasting. It embodies a set of beliefs, norms, attitudes and practices |
| Integration | Describes the ways in which members are connected to a community or society |
| Letter L: | |
| Link | A set of relationships binding members of one social group |
| Low population | Qualifying the population density by measuring it. In this case, it’s small |
| Letter M: | |
| Marginalization | The fact that an individual or a group of people strays or is removed from social standards. They are being excluded from society by breaking social ties |
| Matriarchy | It is a social group in which the woman hold the leading role |
| Melting Pot | Members of various nationalities constituting a society that becomes homogeneous, the several cultures merge and form a new rich and harmonious whole |
| Letter N: | |
| Nomadism | It’s a way of living characterised by the movement of human groups to sustain themselves |
| Nuclearity | A family structure composed of a man and a woman, and their children. A model that meets the social norms |
| Letter O: | |
| Omnivorism | Eclectic nature of the individual who used to consume a variety of foods or goods |
| Openness | The opportunity of people in a community to have access in all equity and freedom to its multiple resources |
| Letter P: | |
| Patriarchy | It is a social group in which the man hold the leading role |
| Phobia | The concept that individuals can instil fear in society to influence people to further their political or professional goals by invoking emotional pressure |
| Phratry | A group of families with a shared parentage |
| Polygamist | An individual in a marital relationship with several people thanks to the social system’s tolerance |
| Letter Q: | |
| Quotidianisation | Transforming life’s unpredictability into a certain faith built from everyday situations |
| Letter R: | |
| Race | A group of people with a common heredity and skin colour, seeing themselves or being seen as distinct from other groups |
| Radicalize | Going to the extremes, toughening up a standpoint |
| Resilience | The individual’s ability to cope with trauma and to recover from it |
| Letter S: | |
| Sexism | Involvement to gender or sex-based discriminatory or prejudicial beliefs |
| Society | People living in a community, with shared standards, patterns of behaviour and culture |
| Sociocratic | Sociocracy describes the social structure of an organisation whose governance is determined by a mutual consultation of its members |
| Letter T: | |
| Tanguy | A social tendency for young adults to be reluctant to leave the family nest |
| Testimonial | An evidence provided to corroborate an individual’s assertion |
| Tribe | It represents an early social structure made of individuals grouping together mostly by family ties |
| Letter U: | |
| Univorous | People with very wide ranges of consumption tastes. Often referred to wealthy consumers and of high status |
| Urbanology | It’s a study of the interactions on the society’s organisation and its result in the shape of the city |
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