Sociological Glossary

Glossary

• Rational Choice Theory

  Rational choice theory suggests that individuals make decisions based on cost-benefit analyses to maximise personal advantage.

• Rational Choice Theory in Education

  Rational choice theory in education suggests that students and families make educational decisions by weighing costs and benefits, often influenced by class-based risk aversion.

• Redlining

  Redlining is a discriminatory practice in which financial and social services are denied to particular neighbourhoods, often based on race or class.

• Reflexivity

  Reflexivity in Bourdieu’s sociology refers to the need for researchers to critically examine their own position and biases when conducting social analysis.

• Reification

  Reification, as used in Marxist thought, describes how social relationships and human-made structures come to be seen as natural, inevitable, or objective realities.

• Relations of Production

  Relations of production refer to the social relationships and hierarchies that emerge in economic systems, particularly between owners and workers.

• Repressive and Ideological State Apparatuses

  Louis Althusser’s distinction between repressive state apparatuses (coercive institutions like the police and military) and ideological state apparatuses (institutions that shape ideology, such as education and media).

• Reproduction Theory

  Reproduction theory, associated with Bourdieu and others, explains how social structures perpetuate inequality across generations.

• Research Excellence Framework (REF)

  The REF evaluates research quality in UK universities, influencing funding and institutional prestige.

• Resource Mobilisation Theory

  Resource mobilisation theory explains the success of social movements based on their ability to acquire and use resources effectively.

• Role Conflict

  Role conflict occurs when an individual faces incompatible demands from different social roles they occupy.

• Role Distance

  Role distance describes how individuals sometimes deliberately act differently from their expected social roles to assert agency or identity.

• Role Strain

  Role strain occurs when an individual experiences difficulty in fulfilling multiple expectations associated with a single social role.

• Rural Educational Disadvantage

  Rural educational disadvantage highlights the barriers faced by students in remote areas, including fewer post-18 options and limited access to extracurricular activities.

• Russell Group

  The Russell Group is a self-selected association of 24 research-intensive universities in the UK, often perceived as elite institutions.