Definitions

Achieved Status voluntary and earned ranking in society determined by ones achievements
collection of people who just happen to be in the same place at the same time, who do not
Aggregate interact deeply and exists without common traits or goals uniting them
a social science which has fields studying the biological/ physical, social/ cultural,
Anthropology archaeological, and linguistic aspects of humankind
Ardipithecus earliest widely accepted hominin genus
Ascribed Status involuntarily assigned or inherited ranking in society
Beliefs tenets and convictions which people hold to be true
Bipedalism upright and two-legged locomotion used by the early humans
origin theory which states that the fires, floods, and other calamities, including the biblical
flood had destroyed old species. And after each destructive event, God created again,
Catastrophism leading to new species.
Charles Darwin best known proponent for the theory of evolution
clusters of people who share some kind of belief which prepare them for action,
Collectivity spontaneously forming a temporary or short-lived group
Conformity pursuit of cultural goals through society accepted means
states that biological similarities and differences originated at the creation, that the
Creationism characteristics of the lifeforms could not change
ethical insistence that other cultures can only be evaluated and understood in terms of their
Cultural Relativism own standards and values
system of knowledge, norms, and values more or less shared by the members of a particular
Culture society
Deviance recognized violation of cultural norms
preparation for more effective social participation through the systematic transfer of
Education knowledge and skills
Ethnocentrism the viewing of other peoples way of life in terms or ones own cultural assumptions
set of people related by blood, marriage, or by adoption, who share the primary
Family responsibility for reproduction and caring for the members of society
states that the self is divided into the id, the ego, and the superego. The interactions
Frueds Socialization Theory between the three determine personality
element of the state mainly involved in making, interpreting, and implementing of laws in
Government the land and providing services for its citizens
Hominids taxonomic family which includes humans, African apes, and their immediate ancestors
Hominin human line after it splits from ancestral chimps
Homo Habilis first hominin toolmaker
Homosapiens known as the wise man and the only surviving species of human
collection of beliefs, qualities, personality, looks and/or expression which make an individual
Identity or group
Material Culture includes physical objects or artifacts in a culture
process by which lifeforms most fit to survive and reproduce in a given environment do so in
greater numbers than others who are unable to cope to the conditions in the same
Natural Selection population
 includes the ideas, beliefs, norms, values and all the other non-physical constructs in a
Non-material Culture culture
Norms rules and expectations by which a society guides the behavior of its members
Peer Group group of people with approximately the same age, status, and interests
Political Science systematic study of politics
Politics the art of government, public affairs, compromise and consensus, and power
composed of the beliefs, ceremonies, experiences, and organizations concerned with
Religion supernatural beings, powers, and forces
Social Category collection of people who have certain traits in common but do not interact on a regular basis
Social Control techniques and strategies for preventing deviant human behavior in society
Social Function consequences of any social pattern for the operation of society as a whole
two or more people who identify and interact with one another under agreed upon values
Social Group and norms
Social Institution major spheres of social life, or societal subsystems, organized to meet human needs
Social Organization large secondary group tasked to achieve its goals efficiently
set of responsibilities expected to be kept by the individual based on the persons social
Social Roles status
Social Status position or rank of a particular person or group in a society
Social Structure any relatively stable pattern of behavior
lifelong process by whereby the people learn the attitudes, values, and actions appropriate
Socialization/ Enculturation for the individuals of particular society
Society people who interact in a defined territory and share a same culture
Sociology study of society and its relationship to the individual
theory which treats society as an organism with different social institutions to maintain
Structural Functionalism Theory social stability and order
theory which analyzes the society through the subjective meaning they assign to everyday
Symbolic Interaction Theory objects and experiences
belief or behavior passed down form the past to the future generations bearing cultural
Traditions significance
states that the same natural processes have been present since the beginning and have
Uniformitarianism consistently shaped earth
Values collective conceptions of what is good, desirable, and proper in a culture