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Sociology vocabulary · Migration, Race and Ethnicity

Ethnicity

Meaning in sociology, with examples

/eθˈnɪsəti/nounCore term

In sociology, ethnicity means: A shared cultural identity based on things such as common ancestry, language, religion, traditions or a sense of shared history.

In Turkish: etnisite, etnik köken, etnik kimlik

How it is used

Used in census forms, surveys and research on migration and identity. Sociologists usually treat ethnicity as cultural and self-defined, and distinguish it from race, which is based on perceived physical differences. The adjective is ethnic: ethnic group, ethnic minority.

Example sentences

  1. The questionnaire asked respondents to describe their ethnicity in their own words.

  2. Ethnicity can become more important to people after they migrate.

Common collocations

  • ethnic group
  • ethnic minority
  • ethnicity and identity
  • ethnic diversity
  • raceA way of classifying people into groups on the basis of perceived physical differences such as skin colour, which sociologists treat as a social rather than a biological category.
  • minority groupA group that has less power, status or access to resources than the dominant group in a society, often because of its ethnicity, religion, language or another shared characteristic.
  • identityA person's sense of who they are, shaped both by how they see themselves and by the social groups, such as nation, class, gender or religion, they belong to or are placed in.
  • multiculturalismThe coexistence of several cultural or ethnic groups in one society, and the policies or ideas that support recognising and respecting their differences.
  • migrationThe movement of people from one place to another to live, either within a country or across national borders, for reasons such as work, family, education or safety.

More terms: Migration, Race and Ethnicity

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