Chapter 1
Thinking About Social Problems
Key Terms

objective element
Refers to the existence of a social
condition.

subjective element
The belief that a particular social
condition is harmful to society.

social problem
A social condition that a segment
of society views as harmful to
members of society and in need of
remedy.

institution
Established and enduring patterns
of social relationships (family,
religion, politics, economics, and
education).

social group
Two or more people who have a
common identity, interact, and
form a social relationship.

primary group
Small, intimate, and informal
groups.

secondary group
Large or small, task-oriented,
impersonal, and formal groups.

status
Positions within a social group.

ascribed status
Assigned on the basis of factors
over which the individual has no
control (e.g. sex, race).

achieved status
Assigned on the basis of some
characteristic or behavior over
which the individual has some
control (e.g. parent, college
graduate).

master status
Status that is considered the most
significant in a person’s social
identity.

roles
The set of rights, obligations, and
expectations associated with a
status.

beliefs
Definitions and explanations about
what is assumed to be true.

values
Social agreements about what is
considered good and bad, right
and wrong, desirable and
undesirable.

norms
Socially defined rules of behavior.

folkways
The customs and manners of
society.

laws
Formalized norms that are backed
by a political authority.

mores
Norms that have a moral basis.

sanctions
Consequences for conforming to or
violating norms.

symbol
Language, gestures, and objects
whose meaning is commonly
understood by the members of a
society.

sociological imagination
The ability to see the connections
between our personal lives and the
social world in which we live.

latent function
Consequences that are unintended
and often hidden.

manifest function
Intended and recognized conflict
perspective.

anomie
Norms that are weak, conflicting,
or unclear.

alienation
Powerlessness and meaningless in
people’s lives.

macro sociology
Looks at the "big picture" of
society and suggests how social
problems are affected at the
institutional level.

micro sociology
Concerned with the social
psychological dynamics of
individuals interacting in small
groups.

labeling theory
If a social condition or group is
viewed as problematic if it is
labeled as such.

variable
Any measurable event,
characteristic, or property that
varies or is subject to change.
Researchers must operationally
define the variables they study.

operational definition
Specifies how a variable is to be
measured.

hypothesis
A prediction or educated guess
about how one variable relates to
another variable.

dependent variable
The variable the researcher wants
to explain.

independent variable
The variable that is expected to
explain change in the dependent
variable.

experiment
Involve manipulating an
independent variable to determine
how it affects the dependent
variable.

field research
Involves observing and studying
social behavior in settings in which
it occurs naturally.

survey research
Interviews, questionnaires, and talking
computers that elicit information from
respondents through questions
(important to have representative
sample).

sample
A portion of the population, selected to
be representative so the information
from the sample can be generalized to a
larger population.