AQA GCSE Sociology key terms

A research method in which the researcher joins in a group’s activities while observing its behaviour.

Standards that depend on a person's particular relationships or circumstances, rather than applying equally to everyone.

Standards specific to a family or relationship, through which children are judged by their own parents rather than by rules applied equally to everyone.

For Weber, an organised group seeking political or social power; this includes political parties, pressure groups and interest groups.

A family in which a male member holds dominant authority.

Walby's term for arrangements in which men benefit from and exploit women's unpaid labour in the home.

An organised pattern of relationships or practices that helps maintain men's domination over women.

A system of social structures and practices through which men dominate, oppress and exploit women.

A noticeable relationship or arrangement in data, such as one category consistently having higher values than another.

People of a similar age or social position, whose approval can influence an individual’s behaviour.

A difference between two percentages, found by subtracting one percentage from the other.

A small-scale trial carried out before the main research to test the proposed methods and identify problems.

The view that power is distributed among competing groups and that no single group always controls political decisions.

In Marx’s prediction, the increasing division between a smaller, richer capitalist class and a larger, poorer working class.

A formal warning for a minor offence; the person must admit the offence and agree to the caution. It is not a criminal conviction.

Offences reported to or discovered by the police and entered into their crime records.

An organisation that seeks political power through elections, putting forward candidates and policies.

The process through which people acquire political beliefs and preferences, influenced by agencies such as family, education and peers.

A marriage arrangement in which a woman has more than one husband at the same time.

A marriage arrangement in which an individual has more than one spouse at the same time.

A marriage arrangement in which a man has more than one wife at the same time.

The tabloid or 'red top' newspaper press, including The Sun and the Daily Mirror.

The wider group from which a research sample is selected, such as all pupils in a school.

A reward for behaviour that meets a group’s rules or expectations.

A lack of resources needed to meet basic necessities or achieve an acceptable standard of living in a particular society.

An income level below which people are classified as living in poverty under a particular measure.

A situation in which taking paid work or increasing earnings brings little or no financial improvement because benefits are withdrawn and other costs may rise.