CSS Forums - View Single Post

Somayya · #1 Saturday, November 12, 2005

A

ABSOLUTE POVERTY. Poverty as defined in terms of the minimal requirements necessary to afford minimal standards of food, clothing, health care and shelter.

ACHIEVED STATUS. A position attained through personal ability and effort.

ACUTE DISEASE. A short-term disease (such as influenza or pneumonia) from which a person either dies or recovers.

ADAPTATION. Refers to the ability of a socio-cultural system to change with the demands of a changing physical or social environment. The process by which cultural elements undergo change in form and/or function in response to change in other parts of the system.

AFFIRMATIVE ACTION. Government programs intended to assure minorities and women of equal hiring or admission opportunities.

AGE STRUCTURE. The relative proportions of different age categories in a population.

AGEISM. Prejudice against a person on the grounds of age in the belief that the age category is inferior to other age categories and that unequal treatment is therefore justified.

AGENCIES OF SOCIALIZATION. Groups or institutions within which processes of socialization take place (see also SOCIAL REPRODUCTION).

AGRARIAN SOCIETIES. Societies whose mode of production is based on agriculture (crop-growing) primarily through the use of human and animal energy. Also referred to as agricultural societies.

AGRIBUSINESS. The mass production of agricultural goods through mechanization, and rationalization.

AIDS (Acquired Immune Deficiency). A disease that attacks the immune system of the body that is often passed on through sexual contact.

AIR POLLUTION. Refers to the contamination of the atmosphere by noxious substances.

ALIENATION. The sense that we have lost control over social institutions that we have created. Often characterized as estrangement from the self and from the society as a whole. Marx believed that general alienation was rooted in the loss of control on the part of workers over the nature of the labor task, and over the products of their labor.

ANDROGYNY. The blending of traditional feminine and masculine traits.

ANOMIA. A condition of anxiety and confusion that exists in individuals who are not given clear social guidance through social norms.

ANOMIE. A structural condition in which social norms are weak or conflicting.

ANOMIE THEORY. Robert K. Merton's theory of deviance which holds that many forms of deviance are caused by a disjunction between society's goals and the approved means to achieve these goals.

ANIMISM. A type of religion that believes that events in the world are often caused by the activities of spirits.

ANTHROPOLOGY. A social science, closely linked to sociology, which concentrates (though not exclusively) on the study of traditional cultures--particularly hunting and gathering and horticultural societies--and the evolution of the human species.

APPROPRIATE TECHNOLOGY. Technology that is designed with the needs, values, and capabilities of the user in mind.

ARMS RACE. A competition between nations in which each side attempt to achieve or maintain military superiority.

ARMS TRADE. The international selling of armaments for profit, carried on by governments and by private contractors around the world.

ARRANGED MARRIAGE. Marriage based on the family ties rather than the couple's personal preferences.

ASCRIBED STATUS. A social position that is given at birth (such as race or sex).

ASSIMILATION. A minority group's internalization of the values and norms of the dominant culture.

AUTHORITARIAN PERSONALITY. A set of distinctive personality traits, including conformity, intolerance, and an inability to accept ambiguity.

AUTHORITY. Power that is attached to a position that others perceive as legitimate.

AUTOCRATIC RULE. Rule by a specific leader, who concentrates power in his own hands.

AUTOMATION. The replacement of many workers by machines, as well as the monitoring and coordination of workers by machines with only minimal supervision from human beings.

The Following 15 Users Say Thank You to Somayya For This Useful Post:
dr.alam39@yahoo.com (Thursday, March 18, 2010), GEOLOGIST AK (Thursday, November 28, 2013), hsan (Thursday, May 30, 2013), Huriya (Friday, July 27, 2007), kamal yusufzai (Thursday, November 20, 2008), M Zahid Gondal (Tuesday, March 05, 2013), madiha alvi (Wednesday, November 13, 2013), multithinker (Sunday, January 13, 2013), pisceankhan (Thursday, July 03, 2014), Saadoo (Monday, April 06, 2020), Sabah Hunzai (Thursday, May 28, 2009), Saqib Riaz (Saturday, September 12, 2009), shahmalik (Wednesday, December 21, 2011), tahirashraf (Monday, April 30, 2018), waleedbaig (Thursday, December 31, 2009)