Sociology Concepts and Definitions

Sociology Correlation is where there is a relationship between two variables. An example would be that there is a relationship between baseball season and an increase in beer consumption. This may be true, but baseball seasons is also summer, so it is unclear whether baseball is legitimately a causal factor in the increase in beer consumption. Causation is when there is a causal relationship between the two variables. Causation means that one variable is the cause of the change in the other. This is harder to demonstrate.

But for example, high temperatures can be found to have a causal relationship with air conditioner use. Critical sociology is a technique based on the idea that intellectual analysis or interpretation of works can be conducted, so in other words studying in a more structured way. It is basically bringing a more dogmatic approach to the study of certain sociological elements. Structural functionality is something different. It is the study of structures in society, perhaps to better understand how society functions.

This is important to understand how the different elements of structures interact with one another to form a society. So one is a structured study and the other is the study of structure; this makes for a fine semantic pairing, but conceptually they are very different from one another. 3. The realization of culture is how a culture manifests. Consumerism is one manifestation of culture, specifically a cultural trait that encourages the purchase and consumption of goods.

Realization of culture may involve some elements of consumer products, but it does not imply that consumption is the objective of the culture, whereas consumerism is a cultural trait in itself. Culture is realized in a number of different ways, many of which are not relevant to consumerism or any aspect of consumer culture. Consumerism by contrast is basically a belief system that can manifest in a culture, and specifically relates to views on consumption, but not to other aspects of a culture that may not be consumption-related in nature. 4.

Ageism is discrimination against the aged; ableism is discrimination against the handicapped. Both are forms of discrimination, but they differ in terms of the traits against which someone is discriminated. Both are illegal under law, but there are elements of each in our society. These two might be different with respect to the norms of society, too, but they can manifest themselves in any number of different ways in a given society, so is good to be aware of them.

In spirit, thus, these are the same; it is only in the specific application of the discrimination -- the victim -- in which they differ. 5. Crime is a violation of a statute. Deviance is a violation of a.