Key terms & definitions

The media’s influence over which issues receive public attention, helping to shape the direction of public opinion and debate.

The media's influence on which issues the public regards as important through the attention given to particular stories.

The process through which media emphasis can influence which issues audiences regard as important.

Typical test results for people of a particular age, used as a reference when interpreting an individual's performance.

A psychological state in which someone sees themselves as acting on behalf of an authority figure and feels that the authority is responsible for their actions.

Wording that identifies the person or thing responsible for an action, such as ‘She broke the vase’.

A person or organisation that encourages conformity and enforces rules, such as the police or courts.

A person, group or institution that helps people learn culture and develop their identity.

A toxic herbicide used by US forces to destroy vegetation in Vietnam, with lasting environmental and health consequences.

The age at which a person is legally old enough to agree to sexual activity. In the UK, this is 16.

The minimum age at which a person can be held legally responsible for committing a criminal offence. It is 10 in England and Wales.

A disease rate adjusted to a standard age structure, allowing fairer comparisons between populations with different age distributions.

The distribution of a population between different age groups.

The benefits businesses and workers gain from being concentrated near one another, including sharing skills, suppliers and knowledge.

The clumping together of pathogens when antibodies bind to their antigens, which makes the pathogens easier for phagocytes to destroy.

The clumping together of pathogens when antibodies link them.

A feature of an offence or offender that increases its seriousness or supports a more severe sentence, such as relevant previous convictions.

One of the five interacting aspects that make up a person: form, sensation, perception, mental formations and consciousness. Together they are called the Five Aggregates or skandhas.

A deliberate intention to harm or injure another person physically or mentally.

Behaviour intended to harm another person, physically or psychologically.

The ability to change direction quickly while maintaining control.

Movement of a mixture, such as stirring or whisking a sauce, to mix ingredients and distribute heat.

The Hindu deity of fire, addressed in Rig Veda 10.87 as a divine protector against evil.

A person who holds that the existence of God is unknown or cannot be known with certainty. T. H. Huxley coined the term.

The position that claims about God should be approached through the limits of what can be known, rather than asserted with certainty.

The position of not claiming to know whether God exists.

Latin for ‘Lamb of God’: a prayer before Holy Communion asking Christ, who takes away the world’s sins, for mercy and peace.

Sparta’s organised system of upbringing and education for boys, intended to develop disciplined, physically tough citizens prepared for military service.

The main muscle responsible for producing or controlling a particular movement; also called the prime mover.

A proposed written constitution developed by the Levellers in several versions between 1647 and 1649, intended to establish rights and make government accountable to the electorate.