| Term | Definition |
|---|
| contested activities | activities for which there are no timeless and universal agreements about meaning, purpose, and organization |
| cultural ideology | webs of ideas and beliefs that people use to explain and give meaning to experiences, objects, people, and events |
| cultural theories | systematically and logically organized analytical frameworks that sociologists use to explain what is known about the ways that people think and express their values, ideas, and beliefs as they live together and create social worlds |
| culture | shared ways of life and shared understandings that people develop as they live together |
| disability | a social condition created when accommodations in social or physical contexts are not or cannot be made to allow the full participation of people with physical or intellectual impairments |
| dramatic spectacle | a performance meant to entertain an audience |
| fieldwork | a form of social research that involves on-site data collection through observations and interviews |
| gender | generally agreed-upon meanings, performances, and forms of social organization expressing what is considered masculine and feminine in a social world |
| gender ideology | a web of ideas and beliefs about masculinity, femininity, and male-female relationships |
| handicapped | a label used when a person with perceived impairments or disability is defined as inferior and "unable" (see also disabled athletes) |
| ideologies | webs of ideas and beliefs that people use to give meaning to the world and make sense of their experiences |
| images | visual representations of symbols, ideas, people, and things |
| impairment | a physical, sensory, or intellectual condition that potentially limits a person's full participation in social or physical environments |
| knowledge claims | statements that explain the "how and why" about a particular topic |
| media | forms of communication that provide information, interpretation, entertainment, and opportunities for interactivity to collections of people |
| media, electronic | radio, television, and film |
| media, new | the Internet and other technology-based communications controlled by users |
| media, print | newspapers, magazines, fanzines, books, catalogs, event programs, and even trading cards—words and images on paper |
| minority | a socially identified population that suffers disadvantages due to systematic discrimination and has a strong sense of social togetherness based on their shared experiences of past and current discrimination |
| narratives | the stories that people tell about themselves and their social worlds |
| norm | a shared expectation that people use to identify what is acceptable and unacceptable in a social world; norms serve as moral standards that people use to identify deviance |
| personal theories | integrated summaries of our ideas and explanations of social life and the contexts in which it occurs |
| play | an expressive activity done for its own sake |
| power | an ability to influence people and achieve goals, even in the face of opposition from others |
| qualitative approach | a research method that involves collecting information about people and social worlds, identifying patterns and unique features, and analyzing the information by using interpretive procedures and tests |
| quantitative approach | a research method that involves collecting information about people and social worlds, converting the information into numbers, and analyzing the numbers by using statistical procedures and tests |
| race | a population of people widely believed to be naturally or biologically distinct from other populations |
| racial ideology | web of ideas and beliefs that people use to give meaning to skin color and evaluate people in terms of racial classifications |
| site | an identifiable social context |
| social constructions | parts of the social world that are created by people as they interact with one another under the social, political, and economic conditions that exist in their society |
| social mobility | changes in wealth, education, and occupation over a person's lifetime or from one generation to the next in families; can occur in downward or upward directions |
| social research | investigations in which we seek answers to questions about social worlds by systematically gathering and analyzing data; used to expand what we know and to develop, revise, and refine theories about sports in society |
| social structure | established patterns of relationships and social arrangements that take shape as people live, work, and play with each other, and which in turn influence actions and relationships |
| social theories | logically interrelated explanations of the actions and relationships of human beings and the organization and dynamics of social worlds |
| social world | a social sphere with a way of life and an associated mind-set that revolve around a particular set of activities and encompass all the people and relationships connected with them |
| socialization | a process of learning and social development that occurs as people interact with one another and become familiar with the social world in which they live |
| society | a collection of people living in a defined geographical territory and united by a political system and a shared sense of self-identification that distinguish them from other people |
| sociology | the study of the social worlds that people create, organize, maintain, and change through their relationships with each other |
| spectacle, dramatic | a performance that is intended to entertain an audience |
| sports | established, officially governed competitive physical activities in which participants are nearly equally motivated by internal and external rewards |
| structural theories | systematically and logically organized analytical frameworks that sociologists use to explain what we know about forms of social organization that influence actions and relationships |
| symbols | shared representations of the values, beliefs, and moral principles around which people organize their ways of life |
| technology | the application of scientific or other organized forms of knowledge to solve problems, expand experiences, or alter the conditions of reality |
| social interaction | people taking each other into account and, in the process, influencing each other's feelings, thoughts, and actions |
| social capital | social resources that link people positively to social worlds |
| meritocracy | a social world in which rewards go to people who deserve them due to their abilities and qualifications |
| interactionist theories | systematically and logically organized analytical frameworks that sociologists use to explain what we know about the origins, dynamics, and consequences of social interaction among people in particular social worlds |
| ethnography | a form of field research that involves observations and interviews; literally means writing about people and how they live with each other |
| impairment | a physical, sensory, or intellectual condition that potentially limits a person's full participation in social or physical environments |
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