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110 Cards in this Set
- Front
- Back
Diversity
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The variety of group experiences resulting from the social structure.
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Critical Thinking
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The process by which students learn to apply sociological concepts to observable events in society.
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Mass Media
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Channels of communication that are available to very wide segments of the population.
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Globalization
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Increased economic, political, and social interconnectedness and interdepnedence among societies in the world.
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Sociology
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The study of human behavior in society.
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Sociological Imagination
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The ability to see the societal patterns that influence individual and group life.
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Applied Sociology
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The use of sociological research and theory in solving real human problems
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Capitalism
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An economic system based on the pursuit of profit and the sanctity of private property
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Conflict Theory
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A theoretical perspective that emphasizes the role of power and coercion in producing social order
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Dramaturgical model
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A perspective that sees society like a stage (that is, a drama) wherein social actors are "on stage," projecting and portraying social roles to others
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Empirical
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Refers to something that is based on careful and systematic observation
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Enlightenment
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The period in seventeenth and eighteenth-century Europe characterized by faith in the ability of human reason to solve society's problems
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Functionalism
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A theoretical perspective that interprets each part of soecity in terms of how it contributes to the stability of the whole.
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Humanitarianism
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The principle that human reason can successfully direct social change for the betterment of society.
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Issues
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Problems that affect large numbers of people and have their origins in the institutional arrangements and history of a society
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Latent Fuctions
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Indirect, nonobvious consequences (functions) emerging from the activities of institutions
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Manifest Functions
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The stated and open goals of social behavior
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Organic Metaphor
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Refers to the similarity early sociologists saw between society and other organic systems.
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Positivism
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A system of thoughtin which accurate observation and description is considered the highest form of knowledge
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Postmodernism
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A theoretical perspective based on the idea that society is not an objective thing but is found in the words and images--or discourses--that people use to represent behavior and ideas
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Power
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A person or group's ability to excercise influence and control over others
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Social Action
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Behavior to which people give meaning
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Social Darwinism
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The idea that society evolves to allow the survival of the fittest
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Social facts
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Social patterns that are external to individuals
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Social Institution
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An established and organized system of social behavior with a recognized purpose
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Social Structure
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The patterns of social relationshiops and social institutions that comprise society
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Sociological Imagination
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The ability to see the societal patterns that influence individual and group life
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Symbolic Interaction Theory
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A theoretical perspective claiming that people act toward things because of the meaning things have for them.
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Troubles
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Privately felt problems that come from events or feelings in one individual's life
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Verstehen
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The process of understanding social behavior from the point of view of those engaged in it.
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Concept
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Any abstract characteristic or attribute that can be potentially measured
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Content Analysis
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The analysis of meanings in cultural artifacts suchs as books, songs, and other forms of cultural communication
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Controlled Experiment
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A method of collecting data that can determine whether a given factor causes something independently of other factors
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Correlation
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A statistical technique that analyzes patterns of association between pairs of sociological variables
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Cross-Tabulation
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A table showing the relationship between two variables.
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Data
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The systematic information that sociologists use to investigate research questions
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Data analysis
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The process by which sociologists organize collected data to discover what patterns and uniformities are revealed
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Deductive Reasoning
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A form of reasoning in which specific hypoteses, or predictions, are derived from general principles
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Dependent variable
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The variable that is a presumed effect
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Empirical
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Refers to something that is based on careful and systematic observation
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Evaluation Research
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Research assessing the effect of policies and programs
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Field Research
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Research which usually invovles the participation of the researcher with the people or group(s) being studied.
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Generalization
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A claim that a finding represents something greater than the specific observations on which finding is based
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Hypothesis
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A statement about what one expects to find in research
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Independent variable
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A variable treated as the presumed cause of a particular result
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Indicator
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Something that points to or reflects an abstract concept
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Inductive reasoning
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A logical process of building general principles from specific observations
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Informant
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A group member secretly in alliance with the researcher, as an aid the researcher in studying the group
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Intervening variable
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A variable caused by the independent variable and which in turn causes the dependent variable.
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Market research
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A type of evaluation research, the purpose of which is to evaluate the sales potential of some product or service
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Mean
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The sum of a set of values divided by the number of cases from which the values are obtained; an average
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Median
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The midpoint in a series of values that are arranged in numerical order
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Mode
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The value that appears most frequently in a set of data
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Participant Observation
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A method whereby the sociologist becomes both a participant in the group being studied and a scientific observer of the group
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Percentage
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Parts per hundred
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Policy Research
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Research intended to produce results for social policy
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Population
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A relatively large collection of people (or other unit) that a researcher studies and about which generalizations are made
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Probability
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The likelihood that a specific behavior or event will occur
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Qualitative Research
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Research that is somewhat less structured yet focused on a question being asked; it is more interpretive and tends to have greater depth than quanitative research
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Quantitative Research
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Research that uses statistival methods
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Random Sample
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A sample that gives everyone in the population an equal chance of being selected
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Rate
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Parts per a given number (for example, per 10,000 per 100,000)
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Reliability
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The likelihood that a particular measure would produce the same results if the measure were repeated
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Replication Study
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Research that is repeated exactly but on a different group of people at a different time
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Research Design
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The overall logic and strategy used in a research project
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Sample
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Any subset from a population that a researcher studies.
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Scientific Method
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The steps in a research process including observation, hypothesis testing, analysis of data, and generalization
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Validity
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The degree to which an indicator accurately measures or reflects a concept
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Variable
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Something that can havemore than one value
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Beliefs
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Shared ideas held collectively by people withina given culture
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Couterculture
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Subculture created as a reaction against the values of the dominant culture
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Cultural Diffusion
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The transmission of cultural elements from one society or culture to another
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Cultural Hegemony
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The pervasive and excessive influence of one culture throughout society
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Cultural Relativism
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The idea that something can be understood and judged only in relationship to the cultural context in which it appears
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Culture
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The complex system of meaning and behavior that defines the way of life for a given group or society
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Culture lag
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The delay in cultural adjustments to changing social conditions
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Culture Shock
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The feeling of disorientation that can come when one encounters a new or rapidly changed cultural sitsuation
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Dominant Culture
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The culture of the most powerful group in society
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Ethocentrism
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The belief that one's in-group is superior to all out-groups
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Ethnomethodology
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A technique for studying human interactionby deliberatley disrupting social norms and observing how individuals attempt to restore normalcy
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Folkways
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The general standards of behavior adhered to by a group
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Global culture
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Diffusion of a single culture throughout the world
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Language
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A set of symbols and rules that, put together in a meaningful way, provides a complex communication system
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Law
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The written set of guidelines that define what is right and wrong in society
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Adult Socialization
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The process of learning new roles and expectations in adult life
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Anticipatory Socialization
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The process of learning the expectations associated with a role one expects to enter in the future
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Ego
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The part of the self representing reason and common sense
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Game Stage
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The stage in childhood when children become capable of taking a multitude of rolesat the same time
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Generalized Other
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The abstract composite of social roles and social expectations
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Id
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The part of the personality that inlcudes various impulses and drives, including sexual passions and desires, biological urges, and human instincts
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Identity
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How one defines oneself
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Imitation Stage
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The stage in childhood when chilldren copy the behavior of those around them
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Life Course Perspective
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Sociological framework for studying aging that connects people's personal attributes, the roles they occupy, the life events they experience, and their sociohistorical context
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Looking-glass self
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The idea that people's conception of self arises through reflection about their relationship to others
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Object relations theory
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A psychoanalytic theory of socialization arguing that social relationships children experience early in life determine the development of their personality
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Peers
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Those of similar status
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Personality
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The relatively consistent parttern of behavior, feelings, and beliefs in a given person
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Play Stage
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The stage in childhood when children begin to take on the roles of significant peopl in thier environment
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Psychoanalytic Theory
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A theory of socialization positing that the unconscious mind shapes human behavior
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Resocialization
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The process by which existing social roles are radically altered or replaced
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Rite of Passage
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Ceremony or ritual that symbolizes the passage of an individual from one role to another
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Roles
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The expected behavior associated with a given status in society
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Self
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Our concept of who we are, as formed in relationship to others
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Self-esteem
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The value a person places on his or her identity
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Significant others
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Those with whom we have a close affiliation
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Social identity complexity
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A term referring to how a person sugjectively interprets the interrelationships among multiple group identities
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Social learning Theory
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A theory of socialization positing that the formation of identity is a learned response to social stimuli
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socialization
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The process through which people learn the expectations of society
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Socialization agents
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Those who pass on social expectations
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Taking the role of the other
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The process of imagining oneself from the point of view of another
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