Basin Concepts in Sociology Definition
1. Socialization the process beginning during childhood by
which individuals acquire the values, habits,
and attitudes of a society.
is the process through which people are
taught to be proficient members of a society.
It describes the ways that people come to
understand societal norms and
expectations, to accept society’s beliefs, and
to be aware of societal values.
2. Culture refers to the cumulative deposit of
knowledge, experience, beliefs, values,
attitudes, meanings, hierarchies, religion,
notions of time, roles, spatial relations,
concepts of the universe, and material
objects and possessions acquired by a
group of people in the course of generations
through individual and group striving.
Culture can be defined as all the ways of life
including arts, beliefs and institutions of a
population that are passed down from
generation to generation. Culture has been
called "the way of life for an entire society."
As such, it includes codes of manners,
dress, language, religion, rituals, art. norms
of behavior, such as law and morality, and
systems of belief.
3. Social Institutions Social institutions are the established
patterns of beliefs, behaviors and
relationships that organize social life. Social
institutions exist to meet society’s
fundamental needs, such as providing
structure, guidance and order. Common
examples of social institutions include family,
religion, education and government.
A social institution is often defined as a
structure of society that intends to meet the
needs of society's members.
4. Social Structure Social structure, in sociology, the distinctive,
stable arrangement of institutions whereby
human beings in a society interact and live
together. Social structure is often treated
together with the concept of social change,
which deals with the forces that change the
social structure and the organization of
society.
The concept of social structure has been
defined in different ways by different thinkers
and sociologists. Herbert Spencer was the
first thinker who wrote about structure of a
society. He came up with biological
analogies (organic structure and evolution)
to define the social structure.
5. Social Stratification Sociologists use the term social stratification
to describe the system of social
standing. Social stratification refers to a
society’s categorization of its people into
rankings based on factors like wealth,
income, education, family background, and
power.
Social stratification refers to a ranking of
people or groups of people within a society.
But the term was defined by the earliest
sociologists as something more than the
almost universal inequalities that exist in all
but the least complex of societies. Social
stratification refers to a system with
predictable rules behind the ranking of
individuals and groups which theories of
social stratification are meant to uncover and
understand.
6. Social Class A social class is a group of people who are
similar in terms of their income, the kind of
job they do, and their level of education,
among other factors.
Social class, a group of people within a
society who possess the same
socioeconomic status. Besides being
important in social theory, the concept of
class as a collection of individuals sharing
similar economic circumstances has been
widely used in censuses and in studies of
social mobility.
7. Social Mobility Social mobility is the movement in time of
individuals, families, or other social units
between positions of varying advantage in
the system of social stratification of a
society. Classical authors have studied
social mobility primarily in its contribution to
class or status group formation.
Social mobility refers to the shift in an
individual’s social status from one status to
another. The shift can either be higher, lower,
inter-generational, or intra-generational, and
it cannot necessarily be determined if the
change is for good or bad.
8. Socialization Agents are the people, groups, and social
institutions that affect one’s self-concept,
attitudes, and behaviors. For example,
parents, teachers, priests, television
personalities, rock stars, etc.
Socialization agents are a combination of
social groups and social institutions that
provide the first experiences of socialization.
Families, early education, peer groups,
the workplace, religion, government, and
media all communicate expectations and
reinforce norms. People first learn to use the
tangible objects of material culture in these
settings, as well as being introduced to the
beliefs and values of society.
9. Deviance the quality of not being usual, and of being
generally considered to be unacceptable.
Deviance is a concept that describes non-
conformity to social norms, values and civic
expectations. Hence, it is a form of non-
conformity. Nonetheless, not all non-
conformity is deviant. Social norms vary from
place to place, so what is considered deviant
in one society may not be considered
deviant in another.
10. Social Control Social control is the process whereby society
seeks to ensure conformity to the dominant
values and norms in that society. This
process can be either informal, as in the
exercise of control through customs, norms,
and expectations, or formal, as in the
exercise of control through laws or other
official regulations.
Social control is achieved through social,
economic, and institutional structures.
Societies cannot function without an agreed-
upon and enforced social order that makes
daily life and a complex division of labor
possible. Without it, chaos and confusion
would reign.
11. Gender Gender refers to the characteristics of
women, men, girls and boys that are socially
constructed. This includes norms,
behaviors and roles associated with being a
woman, man, girl or boy, as well as
relationships with each other. As a social
construct, gender varies from society to
society and can change over time.
refers to the cultural and social
characteristics attributed to men and women
on the basis of perceived biological
differences. In the 1970s, feminists focused
on sex roles, particularly the socialization of
men and women into distinct masculine and
feminine roles and the apparent universality
of patriarchy. More recent work has critiqued
the idea of two distinct genders, calling into
question the notion of gender dichotomies
and focusing attention on gender as a
constitutive element of all social
relationships.
12. Race and Ethnicity Race refers to the concept of dividing people
into groups on the basis of various sets of
physical characteristics and the process of
ascribing social meaning to those groups.
Ethnicity describes the culture of people in a
given geographic region, including their
language, heritage, religion and customs.
Race and ethnicity are used to categorize
sections of the population. Race refers to
dividing people into groups, often based on
physical characteristics. Ethnicity refers to
the cultural expression and identification of
people of different geographic regions,
including their customs, history, language,
and religion.
In basic terms, race describes physical traits,
and ethnicity refers to cultural identification.
Race may also be identified as something
you inherit, whereas ethnicity is something
you learn.
13. Social Change Social change, in sociology, the alteration of
mechanisms within the social structure,
characterized by changes in cultural
symbols, rules of behavior, social
organizations, or value systems.
Sociologists define social change as
changes in human interactions and
relationships that transform cultural and
social institutions. These changes occur
over time and often have profound and long-
term consequences for society. Well-known
examples of such change have resulted from
social movements in workers’ rights, civil
rights, women's rights and LGBTQIA+ rights,
to name just a few. Relationships have
changed, institutions have changed, and
cultural norms have changed as a result of
these social change movements.
14. Globalization Globalization is a term used to describe how
trade and technology have made the world
into a more connected and interdependent
place. Globalization also captures in its
scope the economic and social changes that
have come about as a result. It may be
pictured as the threads of an immense
spider web formed over millennia, with the
number and reach of these threads
increasing over time. People, money,
material goods, ideas, and even disease and
devastation have traveled these silken
strands, and have done so in greater
numbers and with greater speed than ever in
the present age.
Globalization refers to the economic,
political, social, cultural, and technological
exchanges that take place among people,
nations, and regions. The world is becoming
more and more integrated in economics,
values and ideas, inventions, lifestyles, and
government policies.
Globalization started with early humans
migrating from Africa to other parts of the
world. Over the next millennia, ancient
peoples established links and traded goods,
customs, and knowledge. The discovery and
colonization of new lands beginning in the
15th century contributed greatly to
globalization by facilitating exchanges
between the Old World and the New World.
15. Social Network Social networks are websites and apps that
allow users and organizations to connect,
communicate, share information and form
relationships. People can connect with
others in the same area, families, friends,
and those with the same interests. Social
networks are one of the most important uses
of the internet today.
Social networking refers to using internet-
based social media sites to stay connected
with friends, family, colleagues, or
customers. Social networking can have a
social purpose, a business purpose, or both
through sites like Facebook, X (formerly
Twitter), Instagram, and Pinterest.
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