tracking
driving students into groups according to availability
hidden curriculum
Traits of behavior or attitudes that are learned at school but not included within the formal curriculum� for example, gender differences.
intelligence
level of intellectual ability, particularly as measured by IQ
IQ
a score attained on tests of symbolic or reasoning abilities
religion
set of beliefs adhered to by the members of a community, incorporating symbols regarded with a sense of awe or wonder together with ritual practices. Religions do not universally involve a belief in supernatural entities.
theism
a belief in one or more supernatural entities
alienation
the sense that our own abilities as human beings are taken over by other entities.
sacred
describing something that inspires awe or reverence among those who believe in a given set of religious ideas
profane
that which belongs to the mundane, everyday world
secular thinking
Worldly thinking, particularly as seen in the rise of science, technology, and rational thought in general.
secularization
A process of decline in the influence of religion. Although modern societies have become increasingly secularized, tracing the extent of secularization is a complex matter. Secularization can refer to levels of involvement with religious organizations (such as rates of church attendance), the social and material influence wielded by religious organizations, and the degree to which people hold religious beliefs.
religious economy
A theoretical framework within the sociology of religion, which argues that religions can be fruitfully understood as organizations in competition with one another for followers.
churches
large, established religious bodies, normally having a formal bureaucratic structure and a hierarchy of religious officials
sects
religious movement that breaks away from orthodoxy
denomination
A religious sect that has lost its revivalist dynamism and become an institutionalized body, commanding the adherence of significant numbers of people.
cult
most loosely knit and transient of all religious organizations. composed of individuals who reject what they see as the values of the outside society, unlike sects, which try to revive an established church.