Sociology

1) Sociology is the study of human groups, institutions, and societies — how people interact, organise life, and create meaning together. The term blends Latin socius (companion) and Greek logos (study). It emerged as a modern discipline when Comte, Marx, Weber, and Durkheim analysed industrialisation and urban change. Today it spans micro‑interactions (conversations, identity work) to macro systems (states, markets, culture). Everyday applications include: reading a room to understand unspoken rules; noticing how algorithms shape your news and mood; seeing why two similar pupils diverge when one has mentoring and the other does not; understanding why some reforms need coalitions across multiple institutions. Practically, sociology helps you design fairer classrooms or workplaces, evaluate policies with data and context, and improve relationships by making hidden expectations explicit.

Related: Sociology | Auguste Comte | Social Science

2) Socialisation is the lifelong process of learning norms, values, language, and skills to function in society. It includes primary (family), secondary (school, peers, work), anticipatory (practising a future role), and re‑socialisation (learning new rules after big transitions). Agents include parents, teachers, coaches, faith leaders, media, and platforms. Practical examples: adjusting tone between friends and job interviews; learning classroom turn‑taking; migrants combining home culture with local norms; new managers adopting leadership scripts. Tip: seek deliberate mentors and environments that model the kind of person you want to become — you absorb more than you intend.

Related: Socialisation | Primary vs Secondary Socialisation | Agents of Socialisation

3) Social norms are unwritten rules that coordinate behaviour. Types include folkways (manners), mores (moral rules), taboos (sacred prohibitions), and laws (codified rules). They are maintained by sanctions: praise, status, access — or gossip, side‑eye, exclusion. Norms change via influencers, shocks, and policy (e.g., smoke‑free indoors). Practical examples: lowering your voice on trains; returning trolleys; not cutting queues even when late; switching WhatsApp tone between family and colleagues. To shift a norm: model the new behaviour, recruit respected early adopters, reduce the costs of compliance, and make the new rule visible.

Related: Social Norms | Folkways | Social Control

4) Values are shared beliefs about what matters (e.g., honesty, freedom, loyalty, justice). They legitimise rules and institutions and often conflict (freedom vs. security, equity vs. merit). Practical reads: a firm valuing speed may cut corners; a family valuing harmony may avoid hard truths; a friend valuing loyalty may defend you despite evidence. Skill: frame proposals in the audience’s values (safety, fairness, dignity) to reduce resistance.

Related: Social Values | Cultural Values | Moral Foundations

5) Social roles are bundles of expectations attached to positions (parent, teacher, doctor, cashier, citizen). Concepts: role strain (too much in one role), role conflict (demands of two roles clash), role exit (leaving a role identity), and impression management (performing a role to be seen as competent). Everyday practice: switching dialects between home and office; balancing caregiver and employee duties; a student‑athlete juggling training and exams. Tip: write role boundaries and default scripts (e.g., “after 7pm I’m a parent, not on email”) to reduce conflict.

Related: Social Roles | Role Theory | Role Conflict

6) Status is the rank or standing a person holds in society. It can be ascribed (given at birth — age, family background, gender) or achieved (earned — degrees, occupation, accomplishments). Status operates through status symbols (titles, clothing, verified checkmarks), deference rituals (who speaks first), and cultural capital (accents, manners) that signal “legitimacy.” It coordinates authority and expectations but also fuels inequality and status anxiety. Everyday: a doctor is addressed as “Dr,” a manager’s email gets quicker replies, a posh accent gets the benefit of the doubt, a blue‑tick account is treated as trustworthy. Practical: separate performance from polish in hiring (structured interviews), de‑emphasise signals that advantage the already privileged, and practise “status levelling” in meetings (round‑robins) so quieter voices are heard.

7) Stratification is society’s layering by class, race, gender, and more, producing unequal life chances. Mechanisms: inheritance (wealth, networks), institutional rules (zoning, school funding), labour markets (credential paywalls), and bias (overt or implicit). It creates stability but also “sticky floors” and “glass ceilings.” Everyday: postcode predicts school quality, internships go to those who can afford unpaid work, essential workers get praise but low pay. Practical: expand mobility rungs (apprenticeships, bridge programmes), fund schools equitably, audit promotion pipelines, and design benefits that phase out smoothly to avoid “benefits cliffs.”

8) Class is position in economic and status hierarchies shaped by income/wealth, education, occupation, and cultural capital. Marx stressed ownership (capital vs labour); Weber added prestige and power; Bourdieu added capital types (economic, social, cultural). Class shapes diet, speech, tastes, time horizons, and health. Everyday: different supermarket aisles, different leisure (paid clubs vs public parks), different “soft skills” expected at interviews. Practical: broaden hiring to skills over pedigree, teach “code‑switching” without shaming home culture, and invest in public goods (libraries, parks, transit) that narrow class gaps.

9) Culture is shared meaning — beliefs, symbols, stories, rituals, styles — that tells people how to live and belong. It includes material culture (food, clothes, tech) and non‑material culture (values, norms, language). Subcultures and countercultures innovate at the edges; memes are culture evolving at light speed. Everyday: recipes as heritage, football chants as ritual, workplace “ways we do things,” TikTok trends shaping slang. Practical: practise cultural humility (ask, don’t assume), design services with local idioms in mind, and use cultural anchors (festivals, food) to build bridges across groups.

10) Subculture is a community with distinct values, slang, symbols, and rituals inside a larger society (skaters, K‑pop stans, open‑source devs, cosplay, sneakerheads). It offers belonging, identity, and creativity; sometimes it challenges the mainstream. Online platforms supercharge niche subcultures across borders. Everyday: Discord servers as clubhouses, in‑jokes as membership tests, thrift/fashion cycles driven by niche scenes. Practical: engage subculture leaders when communicating change; respect norms (don’t “appropriate” without credit); harness subculture creativity for innovation.

11) Counterculture is organised rejection of dominant values (e.g., anti‑war, back‑to‑land, climate justice). It often incubates ideas that later mainstream (civil rights, feminism, veganism). Everyday: community gardens, co‑ops, DIY repair cafés, mutual aid networks. Practical: treat counterculture as R&D for society — listen for valid critiques, pilot small‑scale alternatives, and channel energy into policy windows when the public is ready.

12) Institutions are enduring rule systems (family, school, state, markets, faith) that coordinate behaviour over time. They persist via laws, routines, and legitimacy; they also drift and adapt. Concepts: path dependence (history constrains options), isomorphism (organisations mimic each other), and street‑level bureaucracy (frontline discretion). Everyday: school timetables shape family life; clinic hours shape who gets care. Practical: align institutional rules with lived reality (extended hours, digital access), measure outcomes not box‑ticking, and build feedback loops with users.

13) Family is the primary care and socialisation unit — biological or chosen. It transfers resources, culture, and identity; it can also transmit trauma and inequality. Policy shapes family life (leave, childcare, housing). Everyday: grandparents as childcare, siblings teaching norms, remittances supporting relatives abroad. Practical: schedule family meetings for expectations and chores, build rituals (weekly meals) that buffer stress, and use community supports (playgroups, carers) to widen the safety net.

14) Education is organised learning — knowledge, skills, and civic values. Beyond lessons, schools sort, signal, and socialise via tracking, exams, and a hidden curriculum (time rules, authority). Inequalities arise from funding, teacher access, and expectations. Everyday: a great teacher re‑routes a life; a bad timetable blocks care duties. Practical: active learning over passive lectures, tutoring for the bottom quartile, curriculum that reflects students’ lives, and pathways (vocational + academic) with bridges, not dead ends.

15) Religion is a web of beliefs, rituals, institutions, and moral codes around the sacred. Functions: belonging, meaning, moral order, social services. Risks: exclusion, dogmatism, politicisation. Everyday: Friday prayers, Sunday services, fasting, charity drives, interfaith dinners. Practical: build interfaith coalitions for shared goals (shelter, youth), protect conscience while upholding equal rights, and use rituals for healing after community shocks.

16) Economy is production, distribution, and consumption — formal and informal. Sectors (agriculture, industry, services, care), contracts (employment, gig), and institutions (banks, unions, standards) shape livelihoods. Everyday: side‑hustles smooth income; daycare costs alter work choices; exchange rates change remittances’ power. Practical: build emergency funds, diversify income where possible, upskill for resilience, and support policies that stabilise basics (housing, healthcare, energy).

17) Politics is collective decision‑making about resources, rights, and rules. Forms span deliberation, bargaining, voting, protest, and courts. Levels: household, workplace, city, state, world. Everyday: tenant boards, school governors, union ballots, community budgeting. Practical: register and vote, join local forums, learn to advocate (clear asks, evidence, coalition), and hold representatives accountable between elections — politics is a habit, not an event.

18) Deviance is behaviour that violates norms because no single rule system fits everyone or every context. Mechanisms include anomie (norm confusion during rapid change), strain (blocked goals push rule‑bending), differential association (learning deviance in close groups), and labelling (a “deviant” tag alters self‑image and opportunities). Societies also experience moral panics that exaggerate harm. Deviance can be destructive (fraud) or constructive (whistleblowing, science challenging orthodoxy, civil disobedience). Everyday: ignoring a minor dress code, teenagers breaking curfew, a colleague skipping rigid procedure to help a client, or a student questioning an unfair rule. Practical: channel “constructive deviance” — set guardrails for safe experimentation, review rules that block purpose, and protect good‑faith dissent while sanctioning harm.

19) Crime is deviance that violates laws, ranging from street offences to white‑collar, corporate, state, and cybercrime. Risks rise when motivated offenders meet suitable targets without capable guardians (routine activity theory). Context matters: neighbourhood cohesion, lighting and design, poverty, and fair policing shape rates and trust. Everyday prevention: lock bikes and accounts (2FA), verify messages (anti‑phishing), use lighting and sightlines (CPTED), and support rehabilitation over pure punishment where effective. Fair, transparent processes (procedural justice) increase compliance; biased systems breed resentment and recidivism. Distinguish harms: street theft and wage theft are both crimes; the latter can dwarf the former in losses. Smart policy blends targeted enforcement, social supports, and opportunities to exit crime (education, jobs, record relief).

20) Social control are ways societies keep behaviour aligned with norms and laws — through formal mechanisms (constitutions, statutes, police, courts, prisons, regulators) and informal ones (family expectations, gossip, praise, workplace culture, community norms). It works because belonging and reputation matter: people seek approval and avoid shame or exclusion. Everyday examples include queueing without a guard present, moderating speech in professional settings, platform content policies, and neighbourhood watch. Well‑designed control protects safety and fairness (seat‑belt laws, food standards, anti‑fraud rules). Poorly designed control suppresses dissent, entrenches bias, or criminalises poverty. Alternatives to purely punitive control include restorative justice (repairing harm with victims and communities), procedural justice (fair processes that build legitimacy), and prevention by design (lighting, street layout, and platform UX that reduce harms). In families and schools, consistent rules plus warm relationships outperform fear‑based tactics. In workplaces, clear norms plus psychological safety reduce misconduct better than surveillance alone. In cities, CPTED (lighting, sightlines, mixed use) lowers opportunity for crime without heavy policing. Online, transparent, proportionate, and appealable moderation with clear community standards reduces arbitrary enforcement and builds trust. Under the surface, control mixes carrots (recognition, access, trust), sticks (fines, bans), and scaffolding (nudges, designs that make the right thing easy). Watch for unequal enforcement (over‑policing vs under‑protection) and repair it with oversight, data transparency, community review, and right of redress. The root driver is social approval — one of the strongest regulators of behaviour — so effective systems align what earns respect with pro‑social conduct and provide fair pathways to restore standing after harm.

21) Inequality is unequal income, wealth, status, power, and voice, reproduced by compounding returns (Matthew effect), institutional rules (zoning, school funding, bail), gatekeeping networks, health disparities, and political influence. It shows up in life expectancy gaps by postcode, digital divides, and who can risk unpaid internships. Measures include Gini, Palma, top‑10% shares, poverty rates, mobility (how parents’ status predicts children’s), and wealth‑to‑income ratios. Mechanisms: asset appreciation outpaces wages; credential inflation; exclusionary hiring; unequal exposure to pollutants; unequal access to justice. Everyday: fee‑paying shortcuts, predatory loans, childcare costs shaping careers, multi‑hour commutes eroding time wealth. Levers: child benefits and credits, housing supply + fair letting, universal basics (primary care, broadband, transit), wage floors tied to prices, pay transparency and equity audits, anti‑monopoly enforcement, and civic voice reforms (independent redistricting, small‑donor matching). Personally: mentor outside your circle, hire on skills not pedigree, buy from worker‑positive firms, and back policies that widen genuine opportunity.

22) Poverty is material deprivation and social exclusion (absolute and relative) driven by low wages, unstable hours, high costs (rent, energy, food), debt traps, and thin or punitive safety nets. Barriers stack: time poverty from multiple jobs, transport deserts, childcare gaps, employer unpredictability, and “benefits cliffs” where small pay rises cut support. Intergenerational effects run through stress, housing instability, school moves, and health. Everyday: choosing rent over food, delaying prescriptions, borrowing at high APRs, overcrowded rooms, saying no to school trips due to cost. Effective responses pair cash and in‑kind supports (child credits, housing vouchers), affordable services (clinics, transit, childcare), fair scheduling, emergency buffers, and mobility ladders (paid apprenticeships, recognition of prior learning). Respect matters: simplify forms, cut stigma, co‑design with users, and measure success as stability plus opportunity — not just caseload reduction.

23) Race is a social construct that sorts people by perceived traits and assigns meaning and hierarchy; biology does not support discrete races, yet states, markets, and media have historically enforced categories (slavery, colonial codes, redlining, exclusion acts). Mechanisms: implicit and explicit bias, discriminatory policy, environmental racism, unequal enforcement, algorithmic bias, and stereotype threat. Everyday: name‑based CV screening, misdiagnosed pain, stop‑and‑search, under‑representation in advanced classes, caricature in media. Practical: audit outcomes (not just intent), anonymise stages where sensible, build inclusive pipelines, ensure language access, repair past harms (targeted investment), and centre affected communities in redesign and accountability.

24) Ethnicity is shared culture, language, history, and practice that creates belonging and continuity. Boundaries are made and remade at group edges (Barth) via markers (dress, food, dialect) and institutions (schools, temples, clubs). Trajectories include assimilation, integration, separation, and marginalisation; diaspora identities mix “here” and “there.” Everyday: bilingual households code‑mixing, ethnic grocery clusters, cultural Saturdays for kids, festivals anchoring pride. Practical: design services with language access and cultural mediators, include community calendars in planning, hire from communities served, and support spaces where groups can maintain heritage without exclusion.

25) Gender is socially constructed roles, expectations, and power relations mapped onto perceived sex differences; it shapes education, pay, care work, leadership, health, and safety. Mechanisms: early socialisation, biased evaluation, unequal leave, care burdens, harassment/violence, and norms policing masculinity and femininity. Everyday: girls channelled from STEM, boys discouraged from tenderness, women interrupted more, men penalised for taking leave, trans and non‑binary people facing barriers. Practical: equal parental leave, transparent pay bands, rota‑based housework, harassment reporting and bystander training, inclusive language/facilities, and curricula that normalise diverse identities and contributions.

26) Intersectionality is the idea that overlapping structures (race, gender, class, disability, sexuality, immigration status) interact to create distinct experiences. Examples: higher maternal mortality among Black women, disability access gaps compounded by poverty, immigration enforcement chilling crime reporting. Design rule: collect disaggregated data, co‑create with affected groups, and build layered supports (e.g., childcare + transport + training) rather than one‑size‑fits‑all fixes.

27) Urbanisation is population and economy concentrating in cities, raising productivity through density and networks but also costs, congestion, and segregation. Issues: housing affordability, gentrification and displacement, air quality, and transport. Solutions: transit‑oriented development, mixed‑income housing, safe cycling, clean buses, and 15‑minute neighbourhoods. Everyday choices — where to live, commute modes, local participation — shape city outcomes.

28) Globalisation is denser flows of goods, services, capital, people, and culture. Supply chains span continents; shocks propagate quickly. Upsides: specialisation, lower prices, knowledge diffusion. Downsides: job dislocation, race‑to‑the‑bottom labour standards, fragility to disruptions. Everyday: foreign study/work, global teams on Zoom, imported foods, streaming global music, sudden price spikes after a distant port closure. Resilience: diversify suppliers, invest in local capacity, fair trade, and portable skills.

29) Migration is movement within and across borders: internal, international, seasonal, family reunification, labour, study, asylum, and forced displacement. Drivers are push (conflict, climate, repression) and pull (jobs, rights, education). Impacts: remittances supporting households, skill flows (brain drain and gain), cultural renewal, and policy strain when support lags. Everyday: language services at clinics and schools, remittance apps, diaspora business networks. Good practice: recognition of foreign credentials, language access, anti‑exploitation enforcement, and welcoming plans.

30) Social movements are organised efforts to change institutions, policies, or norms when routine channels fail. Building blocks: shared grievances and identity, compelling frames, resources (time, skills, money), and political opportunities. Repertoires include petitions, boycotts, strikes, marches, mutual aid, litigation, and electoral work. Digital tools mobilise quickly but risk shallow engagement; durable wins pair online reach with offline organisation. Everyday participation: write representatives, donate skills, join a local chapter, or support strike funds.

31) Power is the ability to influence others and shape outcomes even against resistance. It can be visible (rules, commands), hidden (agenda‑setting, gatekeeping), or invisible (shaping beliefs about what is normal or possible). Weber saw power in the probability of getting one’s way; later scholars added structural power embedded in institutions and markets. Power flows through governments, firms, communities, families, and platforms. Everyday power appears when employers set schedules, algorithms prioritise content, or senior students informally decide club norms. Used well, it enables coordination and public goods; used poorly, it entrenches domination and silences weaker voices. Understanding who has which kind of power — and how it is legitimated or challenged — explains why some reforms succeed while others stall.

32) Authority is power seen as legitimate by those who comply. People obey not just from fear but because they accept rules as rightful — whether traditional (custom and lineage), charismatic (personal magnetism), or legal‑rational (impersonal rules and offices). Authority lowers the cost of coordination, yet it depends on performance and fairness: corruption, incompetence, or abuse erode legitimacy and trigger crises of obedience. Everyday authority ranges from teachers’ classroom rules to doctors’ clinical recommendations to referees’ decisions in sport. When authority fails, societies renegotiate who should rule and on what grounds.

33) Ideology is a system of ideas that explains how society works and justifies who gets what. It filters facts, sets moral priorities, and defines what solutions feel realistic. Examples include meritocracy (“effort alone explains success”), free‑market naturalism (“markets are neutral and self‑correcting”), or nationalism (“the nation is the supreme community”). Ideology circulates through curricula, entertainment, think‑tanks, advertising, and everyday “common sense.” It can mobilise justice or mask inequality; studying it reveals whose interests are served by dominant narratives and how counter‑narratives gain traction.

34) Social change is the transformation of culture, institutions, and relationships over time. Mechanisms include technological innovation and diffusion, demographic shifts (ageing, migration), economic restructuring, policy reform, cultural entrepreneurship, and conflict. Change is uneven and path‑dependent: old structures constrain new possibilities until tipping points open. From the printing press and mass schooling to decolonisation and the internet, change resets what feels normal, often with winners, losers, and unintended effects. Effective reform pairs evidence, coalition‑building, and design that anticipates backlash.

35) Social networks are webs of relationships that move information, support, and opportunity. Strong ties (family, close friends) supply care and mobilisation; weak ties (acquaintances) supply novel information and jobs. Bridging ties connect different groups and expand horizons; bonding ties deepen trust within groups. Concepts like structural holes explain advantage at the intersection of groups; homophily explains why networks often mirror ourselves. Platforms amplify reach but also echo chambers. Practical takeaway: curate diverse, reciprocal ties for resilience and opportunity.

36) Identity is how people define themselves in relation to groups, roles, narratives, and values. It meets needs for belonging and meaning, guiding choices and affiliations. People hold multiple identities (student, parent, Sudanese, Muslim, coder) whose salience shifts by context; clashes create role conflict and strain. Identity can motivate generosity and courage or harden boundaries (us vs. them). Healthy identity integrates personal history with chosen commitments while remaining open to growth.

37) Stigma is the social process that marks traits or groups as discrediting. It operates as enacted stigma (discrimination), felt stigma (anticipation of rejection), and internalised stigma (self‑stigma). Courtesy stigma extends to associates (families of prisoners, carers). Labelling theory shows how labels can become identities when opportunities shrink. Evidence‑based antidotes include structured intergroup contact, counter‑stereotypical stories, confidentiality and access protections, and rights enforcement.

38) Technology and society are co‑shaping systems. Determinism overstates tech’s inevitability; social construction emphasises design choices, incentives, and power. Affordances (what tech makes easy/hard) steer behaviour; externalities distribute costs unevenly. Platforms illustrate feedback loops among design, business models, and politics. Governance options include standards, audits, liability, and participatory design. Every fix creates new problems to solve — so build with evaluation in mind.

39) Environment and society are interdependent: economies draw on ecosystems, while social arrangements allocate both harms and protections. Core issues include externalities, unequal exposure (environmental racism), commons dilemmas, and climate justice (who caused vs. who suffers). Solutions mix mitigation (emissions cuts, clean energy, conservation), adaptation (resilient housing, heat plans), and governance (polluter‑pays, zoning, insurance reform, international finance).

40) Sociology today links data and theory across levels — from micro‑interactions to global systems — to explain inequalities, cultures, networks, institutions, and change. Methods range from ethnography and interviews to surveys, experiments, causal inference, and computational text/graph analysis. Applications span policy, public health, product/UX, education, criminal justice, and cities. The aim is practical understanding that improves human wellbeing.