Terms, Concepts and Their Use in Sociology — Class 11 Sociology

Sociology needs a precise vocabulary precisely because its subject matter — family, status, social control — is so familiar that we cannot see it clearly. Concepts are keys that open locks to understanding society, but they must be constantly questioned and modified. The chapter explains how individuals form social groups, which differ from mere aggregates (people in the same place, like a bus queue) and quasi-groups (unorganised collections such as a social class that may later become an organised group). A social group has persistent interaction, a sense of belonging, shared norms and a definable structure. Sociologists classify groups into primary (small, intimate, face-to-face, like family) and secondary (large, formal, goal-oriented, like a school), and into community versus society or association, in-groups versus out-groups, peer groups and reference groups. Social stratification refers to structured inequalities between groups; four historical systems are slavery, caste, estate and class. Caste rests on ascribed status fixed by birth and ideas of purity and pollution, while modern class is open and achievement-based, explained variously by Marx, Weber and functionalism. Status is a position in society, role is its dynamic behavioural aspect; statuses may be ascribed or achieved, and individuals occupy a whole status set, facing role conflict and role stereotyping. Finally, social control — formal (law, state) and informal (ridicule, family, custom) — uses sanctions to manage deviance and maintain order, viewed differently by functionalist and conflict theorists.