Sociology Vocabulary Worksheets

Press Print worksheet to match twelve sociology terms, from culture and norm to social class, to their meanings.

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NameDateMade at homeroomtools.comDraw a line from each one on the left to its partner on the right.Sociology vocabularysociologysocietyculturenormrolestatusinstitutionvaluesocializationdeviancesocial structuresocial classa standard of conduct that acommunity enforcesa long-standing custom ororganization of a communitythe duties and conduct tied to aplace in a groupacts that go against what mostpeople accept as properhow a child comes to live as thecommunity expectsa layer of people ranked togetherby wealth or powera belief about what is right, goodor worth wantinga person's position or rankcompared with othersa people's whole manner of living,thinking and creatingthe patterned arrangement ofgroups that people live inpeople who live as one organized,lasting communitythe social science of how peoplerelate and form groups
NameDateMade at homeroomtools.comDraw a line from each one on the left to its partner on the right.Sociology vocabularyAnswer keysociologysocietyculturenormrolestatusinstitutionvaluesocializationdeviancesocial structuresocial classa standard of conduct that acommunity enforcesa long-standing custom ororganization of a communitythe duties and conduct tied to aplace in a groupacts that go against what mostpeople accept as properhow a child comes to live as thecommunity expectsa layer of people ranked togetherby wealth or powera belief about what is right, goodor worth wantinga person's position or rankcompared with othersa people's whole manner of living,thinking and creatingthe patterned arrangement ofgroups that people live inpeople who live as one organized,lasting communitythe social science of how peoplerelate and form groups
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All 36 terms

Key sociology terms 12

  • culture A people's whole manner of living, thinking and creating. "She grew up between two cultures and cooks from both."
  • deviance Acts that go against what most people accept as proper. "Wearing pajamas to the office would count as deviance there."
  • institution A long-standing custom or organization of a community. "The report treats schooling as an institution, not a building."
  • norm A standard of conduct that a community enforces. "At her school, raising a hand before speaking is the norm."
  • role The duties and conduct tied to a place in a group. "The role of team captain comes with duties off the field."
  • social class A layer of people ranked together by wealth or power. "The story follows two friends from different social classes."
  • social structure The patterned arrangement of groups that people live in. "The chart showed the village's social structure, from elders to newcomers."
  • socialization How a child comes to live as the community expects. "Learning to wait your turn is part of socialization."
  • society People who live as one organized, lasting community. "The novel imagines a society with no money."
  • sociology The social science of how people relate and form groups. "In sociology class we mapped who sits with whom at lunch."
  • status A person's position or rank compared with others. "Her status as class president got her a seat at the meeting."
  • value A belief about what is right, good or worth wanting. "Honesty is a value his grandparents taught early."
Show all 36 terms (24 more)

Culture and socialization 12

  • counterculture A group whose values oppose those of mainstream society. "Members of the counterculture in the film refuse to buy anything new."
  • cultural lag The delay as a culture catches up with new technology. "The teacher called the missing rules for new gadgets a cultural lag."
  • cultural relativism Judging a culture by its own standards, not by another's. "Using cultural relativism, she asked what the custom meant to those who kept it."
  • culture shock Anxious confusion on meeting customs unlike one's own. "He felt culture shock when dinner was served at ten at night."
  • ethnocentrism The habit of judging other cultures by one's own. "Calling another country's breakfast strange is a small case of ethnocentrism."
  • extended family Kin beyond the household: grandparents, aunts, cousins. "Her extended family fills three long tables at reunions."
  • material culture The physical objects a people makes and uses. "Bowls, tools and toys are part of a people's material culture."
  • nuclear family A household of a couple and their children only. "The survey asked whether a nuclear family lived at the address."
  • peer group The people close to you in age and social position. "Her peer group all joined the robotics club the same year."
  • resocialization Unlearning old ways and taking on a new set of norms. "Moving to a boarding school meant resocialization: new rules, new habits."
  • role model An admired figure whose conduct people imitate. "His older cousin, a nurse, is his role model."
  • subculture People within a society who keep distinct customs. "Skateboarders at the park form a subculture with slang of their own."

Groups, status and roles 12

  • achieved status A rank in society won by one's own merit and work. "Team captain is an achieved status; she worked for it."
  • ascribed status A social position given at birth or without any choice. "Being the youngest child is an ascribed status."
  • master status The position that overshadows all a person's others. "In town, 'the doctor' was her master status; few knew she also painted."
  • primary group A small, close circle with lasting personal ties. "Her primary group is her family and two lifelong friends."
  • reference group The set of people one measures oneself against. "He took the varsity players as his reference group and trained as they did."
  • role conflict A clash between the duties of two separate positions. "A referee asked to judge her best friend's match faces role conflict."
  • role strain Tension among the duties of one single position. "A teacher who must both cheer on and grade the same students can feel role strain."
  • secondary group A larger, impersonal set of people joined for a goal. "The students in a big lecture class form a secondary group."
  • social mobility A person's rise or fall between the ranks of a society. "A scholarship gave her family a path of social mobility."
  • social movement A large group's organized push to cause or resist change. "The class studied a social movement that pushed for cleaner rivers."
  • social stratification The sorting of a society into upper and lower tiers. "The unit on social stratification compared the layers of an old market town."
  • status symbol A possession shown off as a sign of wealth or rank. "In the story, a gold watch is the banker's status symbol."

How this list was compiled: Term list chosen for this site on 2026-10-12. Each meaning is written in our own words and was checked that day in two references: the entry for the term in Wiktionary, the free dictionary (https://en.wiktionary.org/), whose text is under the Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike license, and the entry in the Cambridge Dictionary (https://dictionary.cambridge.org/us/). Where a dictionary has no entry for a term, the reference is an article of English Wikipedia (https://en.wikipedia.org/), whose text is under the Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike license: Social structure, Social class, Cultural relativism, Cultural lag, Counterculture, Material culture, Achieved status, Ascribed status, Master status, Role conflict, Social stratification and Social movement for the terms they are named after; Types of social groups for primary group, secondary group and reference group; and Role for role strain. Seven terms have no entry in either dictionary and rest on their article alone: social structure, cultural relativism, cultural lag, primary group, secondary group, role strain and social stratification. The answers under the list rest on the Wiktionary entry role conflict and on the articles Role, Types of social groups, Cultural lag and Sociology. The sentence in quotation marks after each meaning is our own. Licence: own work

How it works

These sociology vocabulary worksheets are matching sheets: twelve terms on the left and their meanings, in another order, on the right. Three sets cover key terms, culture and socialization, then groups, status and roles.

Read the full guide

Key sociology terms

Set opens on Key sociology terms: sociology, society, culture, norm, role, status, institution, value, socialization, deviance, social structure and social class. Culture and socialization runs from material culture, culture shock, cultural relativism and cultural lag to peer group, role model, nuclear family, extended family and resocialization.

Groups, status and roles

The third set prints primary group, secondary group, reference group, achieved status, ascribed status, master status, role conflict, role strain, social mobility, social stratification, status symbol and social movement. Under the tool each term has a sentence that uses it, such as "In the story, a gold watch is the banker's status symbol."

Questions and answers

What is the difference between role conflict and role strain?

The number of statuses involved. In role conflict the clashing roles belong to two or more statuses, such as worker and parent. In role strain the incompatible demands all come from a single status, such as student.

What is the difference between a primary group and a secondary group?

A primary group is small and personal, such as a family or childhood friends. A secondary group is more impersonal and exists for a shared purpose, such as coworkers. Charles Cooley introduced the idea of the primary group in 1909.

Who coined the term cultural lag?

William F. Ogburn, in his 1922 work Social Change with Respect to Culture and Original Nature. He held that material culture changes quickly while non-material culture resists change and stays fixed far longer.

Who coined the word sociology?

Emmanuel-Joseph Sieyès, a French essayist, first coined it in 1780, in a manuscript that was not published. Auguste Comte defined the word on his own in 1838, as a new way to look at society.

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