psychology exam

________ was the system of social stratification in the final stages of breaking down when Karl Marx developed his ideas.

Feudalism

__________ proposed social control theory, which suggests that individuals with stronger bonds are LESS likely to commit crime.

Travis Hirshci

How is Max Weber's idea of social class different from Karl Marx's?

Weber believed that wealth, power, and prestige all affected a person's social class.

Peter Stearns (2004) consulted various existing sources for his book Anxious Parents: A History of Modern Childrearing in America. What did he find?

Whereas children were once viewed as self-sufficient mini-adults, beginning in the late 1800s children came to be seen as particularly vulnerable.

What are group members engaging in when they withhold their reservations and criticisms for the sake of consensus?

groupthink

Which of the following is a factor that can lead to increased group cohesion?

shared values

Honor killings are primarily seen in Middle Eastern and ________ cultures.

south asian

How do interviews give "voice" to people who may never have been heard before and offer privileged access to authentic experiences, private worlds, and true selves?

Interviews allow respondents to speak in their own words, which can reveal their thoughts, feelings, and beliefs.

Which of the following is a weakness of the sociological approach?

It attempts to grasp things that everyday actors understand implicitly.

Why is the article "Body Ritual among the Nacirema" useful to sociologists?

It challenges people's inability to observe their own cultures.

There are usually serious consequences when a politician is caught cheating on his spouse. In some cases, the politician is forced to resign from office when his constituents express their unhappiness with such behavior. According to Émile Durkheim, what function does this reaction serve?

It helps to clarify moral boundaries and reinforce the idea that marital infidelity is wrong.

Why is it increasingly difficult to use sociological models that assume interaction involves copresence?

New technology makes it much more common to interact with someone without being physically in the same place.

The negative effects of racism can be seen in the health of racial and ethnic minorities in the United States. Which of the following is the best example of this phenomenon?

People of color were disproportionally affected by the Covid-19 virus.

People today are more likely to identify themselves through personal characteristics than through group membership or affiliation. Why is this cause for concern to some sociologists?

People who identify themselves through personal characteristics might care less about the common good.

How does your textbook debunk the idea that white people can be victims of "reverse racism"?

White people do not suffer from the widespread cumulative disadvantages in almost every sphere of social life that are perpetuated within a historically and pervasively racist society.

Which of the following is an example of the Sapir-Whorf hypothesis?

an indigenous people have no equivalent words for planet, Earth, or world. They do not view a macro picture of multiple planets.

At the beginning of the twenty-first century, signs with crudely painted skeletons holding cell phones were placed near some roadways, usually facing freeway ramps. These signs indicated disapproval of using cell phones while driving, a practice some states have since made illegal. As a result of this social movement,

an informal norm has become a law.

what is the uniform crime report URC

an official measure of crime in the united states

According to social psychologists, what do people tend to do when they encounter a situation that seems to be unfair and they cannot or will not act to make things right?

convince themselves nothing bad has happened

Only 25 percent of subjects in the Asch experiment were "independents" who refused to

give the wrong answer.

Which part of sociology can likened to a zoom lens on a camera?

microsociology

The fact that so many people are asked, "What are you?" in reference to their race is evidence that

race must be established interactionally.

Which response would you LEAST expect to find on the survey if a sociologist measured group cohesion within a neighborhood and found a high level of group cohesion?

"I feel comfortable in all sorts of neighborhoods"

Which early social theorist sought to bring the scientific method to the discipline of sociology?

Auguste Comte

________ is the sociological term for signs people make with their bodies.

Gestures

What is one of the basic principles of social stratification?

It is maintained through beliefs that are widely shared in a society.

Carla is worried about the representativeness of her study. She is conducting interviews, but each one seems to last at least five hours. What strategy might she use to increase her sample size given that she has only one month to collect her data?

conduct a focus group

Émile Durkheim's study on suicide found that not only did suicide rates increase when the economy slumped, they also increased when the economy boomed. Which of Durkheim's concepts explains why both positive and negative economic conditions could increase suicide rates?

anomie

Halloween costume makers and retailers make generous profits from selling costumes that allow their wearers to dress as American Indians. What are they engaging in by profiting from the stereotypical display of marginalized groups without fully understanding and appreciating the culture?

cultural appropriation

Last year, Priya studied abroad in South Africa to learn about Nelson Mandela and apartheid. The summer before, they traveled to Paris to watch opera and ballet. Priya might be trying to gain ________ by taking adult education classes, attending lectures and concerts, and traveling internationally.

cultural capital

Low-income women of all ethnicities may be less likely to marry because they

feel marriage won't offer advantages that make marriage worth the risk.

Members of a(n) ________ interact with one another and think of themselves as belonging together.

group

In the 1980s, many politicians argued that listening to heavy metal music led teenagers to die by suicide. This is a(n) ________, although you might find this belief silly.

hypothesis

Sociology can be defined as the systematic and scientific study of human society and social behavior from ________ to ________.

large-scale institutions; individual interactions

Researcher Christine Williams studied patterns of occupational sex segregation by examining the ways large-scale social structures create the constraints within which individuals live their lives. Which type of analysis would this research fall under?

macrosociology

An individual belongs to a ________ if the members are mostly anonymous to one another.

secondary group

Sociologists who study social networks and employment pay attention to the frequency with which a person has been in contact with each member of their social network to

see if a particular tie is strong or weak

After the American Civil War, most southern states passed laws that barred Black people and white people from sharing most kinds of public facilities. This is an example of

segregation

For Robert Merton, a prediction that came true only because the prediction was made is a

self-fulfilling prophecy

In "The Political Brain: The Role of Emotion in Deciding the Fate of the Nation," Drew Westen argues that advocates of health care reform turn many people against universal health care when they talk about it as a way to help the "uninsured" or "underinsured." This is because there is an underlying assumption that poor people are getting what they deserve. What do sociologists call this assumption?

the just-world hypothesis

According to the text, which of the following has the effect of making poverty socially "invisible"?

the use of law enforcement to move the homeless away from visible locations

Sigmund Freud's most significant contribution to the understanding of the self is his

theory of the unconscious mind.

Ethnocentric people tend to view other cultures as abnormal because

they use their own culture as a standard of judgment.

According to Karl Marx, class consciousness is developed

through the lower classes recognizing how society works and challenging those in power.

What sort of social mobility often results from losing a job?

vertical

Research that focuses on one's own thoughts, feelings, and experiences is known as

autoethnography.

Western companies are powerful enough to impose their products on markets worldwide because of their economic strength. This phenomenon is known as

cultural imperialism.

What is it called when someone has the ability to understand another culture in terms of that culture's own norms and values without reference to any other culture's standards?

cultural relativism

Clashes over values in the United States, especially as represented by liberals and conservatives in the mass media, have been termed

culture wars

The analysis of documents such as medical records, photographs, diaries, letters, newspapers, and song lyrics comprises which of the following types of data?

existing sources

A set of assumptions, theories, and perspectives that make up a way of understanding social reality is a(n)

paradigm.

Societies that encourage racial and ethnic diversity have embraced the value of

pluralism

Graffiti, algorithms, and digital devices are all examples of

technology

The Twenty Statements Test asks respondents to make twenty true statements about themselves that begin with the phrase "I am." Why is this test discussed in a chapter about social groups?

It was developed to measure the extent to which we base our identity on membership in groups

Which of the following companies did George Ritzer view as emblematic of the spread of bureaucratic rationalization?

McDonald's

What term did sociologist George Ritzer use to describe the spread of rationalization and bureaucratic ways of operating into everyday life?

McDonaldization

"Each to each a looking-glass, / Reflects the other that doth pass." This line of poetry, associated with sociologist Charles Cooley, indicates that our sense of self originates in

interactions with other people.

When a person violates norms in the name of the good, they are often initially seen as deviant, but may later be reinterpreted as heroic. Sociologists refer to this as

positive deviance.

What term describes "actions considered deviant within a given context but are later reinterpreted as appropriate or even heroic"?

postive deviance

The criteria used by a social class system to stratify its members include

property, power, and prestige.

What is it called when individuals live as if they were members of a different racial category than the one into which they were born?

racial passing

In her ethnography Wheeling & Dealing, Patricia Adler investigates the social and professional worlds of mid-level cocaine and marijuana smugglers. Her research started unexpectedly when she discovered that her next-door neighbor and friend was a drug smuggler. This was a huge advantage for her because it meant that she already had ________ with one of her informants

rapport

The mother of a university student encourages her son to join a fraternity. She hopes that peer pressure and groupthink may lead her son to do things he hasn't tried before, such as volunteering and attending formal events. What perspective best describes her views?

symbolic interactionism

The most significant criticism of structural functionalism is that it

tends to argue that any social feature that exists must serve a function.

When cultures that were once distinct become increasingly similar, they are experiencing the phenomenon of

cultural leveling

A ________ consists of group members who share information and advice, provide support to one another, and have common interests, but never meet in person

virtual community

Group cohesion is likely to be highest among which group?

an elite and highly exclusive private country club

Although the term often references race, which of the following is also an example of "passing"?

A woman who, though she is out with her friends and family, conceals her identity as a lesbian at work.

________ is an example of something that would be part of an individual's or society's symbolic culture

Belonging to a political party

Which of the following states passed a law banning affirmative action in higher education?

California

Which of the following describes how deviance can be explained from the functionalist perspective?

Deviance clarifies moral boundaries and affirms norms.

Who studied the Hopi of the southwestern United States and concluded that language not only allows us to express our thoughts, but also shapes the way we think?

Edward Sapir and Benjamin Whorf

An individual believes the advancement of science and technology will solve problems and improve everyone's life. Based on this belief, they can best be described as a

Modernist

Which statement captures a major point Sherry Turkle makes about communication in her book Reclaiming Conversation?

Online communication reduces our ability to conduct meaningful face-to-face communication.

African American and Hispanic communities are much more likely to be located near toxic waste dumps than white communities. What does this tell you about race in America?

Race can have an effect on health.

The fact that immigrants from Eastern Europe, Asia, and Latin America tended to be shorter than native-born Americans was taken as evidence that there were inherent racial differences between these populations. However, the immigrants had children who grew up to be as tall as anyone else. Geneticists now understand that, although there can be considerable variation in height within a group due to genetics, height differences between groups are largely caused by diet. What does this demonstrate?

Racial differences are socially constructed and not genetic.

__________ is a set of beliefs about the superiority of one racial or ethnic group compared to another.

Racism

A sociologist wants to study how educational credential requirements for employment have changed in the last fifty years in the United States, Sweden, and Germany by using newspaper classified ads. What research concept best describes this study?

comparative historical research

What is one of the principal reasons people turn to deviant behavior in the United States, according to the structural strain theory of deviance as articulated by Robert Merton?

The goal of success is shared by a majority of people, but not everyone has equal means for achieving that goal.

Jill is visiting her boyfriend's family in China. She points at him with her index finger during a conversation, which his family doesn't seem to like. Her boyfriend later explains that she should point with an open hand instead of using a finger. Why is this instruction needed?

The meaning of gestures is not universal.

What is the relationship between Sister Pauline Quinn's program, in which prison inmates train service and therapy dogs, and sociological concepts of the self and of interaction?

The process of training dogs helps to resocialize prisoners.

Why would mentioning a sensitive issue, such as divorce or infidelity, in a survey question influence how respondents answer later questions?

The respondents may think about the sensitive issue when answering later questions.

Survey researchers often use Likert scales to construct the possible answers when they write closed-ended questions. How do Likert scales allow respondents to answer?

They allow respondents to answer along a continuum from "strongly agree" to "strongly disagree."

What defines white people as the dominant racial group in California despite demographic shifts?

They have more power, resources, and representation in social institutions.

The increased use of Facebook, Twitter, and other social media by terrorist organizations in other countries to recruit new members is an example of cultural diffusion for which reason?

Twitter and Facebook are products of the Western world that have been adopted by people in other countries.

The vast majority of crimes come to the attention of the police through citizen complaints. Citizens do not usually bother to inform the authorities if they do not think a crime is serious enough or feel that nothing can be done. This means that there might be serious bias in the

Uniform Crime Report.

Why might expressions given off seem like more trustworthy guides than expressions given when we try to understand how other people define a situation?

We tend to believe that it is harder to manipulate expressions given off.

Churches usually teach their members rules and often codify these rules into formal commandments to be followed. Given this, churches can be considered

agents of socialization.

Individuals who are NOT socialized

are unable to fully develop without contact with others.

Critical race theory is associated with which of the major theoretical perspectives of sociology?

conflict theory

According to diversity training studies, which of the following leads to increases in managerial diversity?

efforts to establish responsibility for diversity

Physical beauty is considered a(n) ________ status

embodied

Durkheim discussed how in industrial societies individuals' lives are impacted daily by strangers who provide necessary services such as electricity, water, and food. Which term did he use to describe this interdependence?

organic solidarity

The tendency of research participants to change their behavior in response to being studied is known as

reactivity

A sociologist wants to study racial discrimination in hiring, and decides to either distribute a survey asking employers about their hiring methods, or conduct an experiment that involves sending fake resumes to employers to see who gets an interview. Which method would best examine racial discrimination in hiring and why?

the experimental method because the researcher can isolate the effect of race by creating otherwise identical resumes

________ authority is rooted in the personal qualities of a leader.

charismatic

In what year did the Supreme Court rule that laws against interracial marriage were unconstitutional?

1967

What metaphor best describes cultures that have embraced pluralism or multiculturalism?

a salad bowl

Henrik is addicted to smoking cigarettes and would smoke all day long at work if it were allowed. However, he knows that if he broke the rule against smoking in his office he would get in serious trouble and may even be fired, so he only smokes outside of work. A sociologist would describe this type of conformity as

compliance

Almost any __________ can have a stigmatizing effect, including a physical disability, an addiction, or a mental illness.

departure from the norm

Of the following options, which was probably Harriet Martineau's most important contribution to the development of sociology as a discipline?

her translation of the work of Auguste Comte into English

In the movie Mean Girls, students identify each other using categories like "jocks," "cheerleaders," "skaters," and "nerds." These classifications of different groups represent what aspect of culture?

the Sapir-Whorf hypothesis

What is the sociological imagination?

the ability to understand the interplay between the self and larger social forces

Karl Marx has often been quoted as saying, "Religion is the opiate of the masses." What did he mean by this statement?

Religion helps create and maintain a false consciousness in the working class.

Andrew was convicted of attacking an Uber driver. The judge sentenced him to three years in prison with the justification that Andrew is a threat to others and the public needs to be protected from him. This is an example of which type of justification for punishment?

incapacitation

Texas has never had a Hispanic governor, and the percentage of Hispanic Americans in Texas state government is low. However, many Hispanic Americans live in Texas. In 2012, they made up nearly 40 percent of the state's population. Would a sociologist in Texas call Hispanic Americans a minority group?

Yes, because they are denied access to power and resources.

Students for a Democratic Society (SDS) was an activist organization in the 1960s that protested the Vietnam War, racial injustice, and economic exploitation. The organization largely favored direct action and protest, most of which opposed traditional organizing and politics. What could you say that members of SDS were part of based on this information?

a counterculture

Although many people believe that expectations for personal space are inborn, members of many cultures are accustomed to noticeably less personal space than those of others. This helps demonstrate that people's expectations for personal space are

a part of our culture and, as such, are learned rather than inborn.

When a sample provides the same chance of being included to every member of the population, it is known as

a simple random sample

Which of the following is an example of resocialization?

a woman learning basic life skills after a car accident

Bernard McGrane suggested that individuals adopt a(n) ________ to unlearn what we already know and better understand the social world.

beginner's mind

Which types of jobs are usually available to members of the lower-middle class?

blue collar or manual labor jobs

Arlie Hochschild was concerned that her sample of interviewees was too small to guarantee representativeness. How did Hochschild attempt to overcome this problem?

by comparing information about her interviewees with a national survey

Poverty can be defined in either relative or absolute terms. How is poverty defined according to relative deprivation?

by comparing the poor with more affluent members of society

Poverty can be defined in either relative or absolute terms. How is poverty defined according to absolute deprivation?

by considering access to food, shelter, clothing, and medical care

Stealing avocados or almost any other agricultural product is a felony in California if the product is worth more than $100. A __________ would say that such laws target homeless people who have little power in society and are simply trying to eat.

conflict theorist

John is the CEO of a large bank who is charged with fraud. John pays $13 billion to settle the case, and he does not go to jail. Andy is arrested for stealing money out of a parked car. Andy spends a month in jail while waiting for his trial because he is unable to pay his bail or bond. John and Andy exemplify the perspective of

conflict theorists like Richard Quinney.

Which theory suggests that crimes committed by the upper classes are typically treated more leniently than crimes committed by the lower classes because laws represent the interests of those in power?

conflict theory

If changing one variable seems to lead to a change in another variable, this shows ________ but does not necessarily prove ________.

correlation; causation

A famous monologue from Shakespeare's As You Like It begins as follows: All the world's a stage, And all the men and women merely players; They have their exits and their entrances, And one man in his time plays many parts. Which theory of social life could be seen as taking its inspiration from these lines?

dramaturgy

According to William Julius Wilson, racism has created a Black underclass, but this underclass is perpetuated by

economic factors

Karl Marx spent much of his life attempting to understand and describe how capitalism works. In one particularly vivid passage, he described the turbulence he saw as inherent in capitalism: "All that is solid melts into air, all that is holy is profaned, and man is at last compelled to face with sober senses his real condition of life and his relations with his kind." What sort of relationships did he think his readers had with other people?

economic relationships

The famous anthropologist Margaret Mead said that the United States of America is the best place to raise a female child. Her assertion is an example of

ethnocentrism

Microsociology is an approach that

examines interactions between individuals and how those interactions reflect larger societal patterns.

If conducting research, what steps must you take to follow the scientific method? Identify them in the correct order in which you should do them.

form a hypothesis, define variables, choose research method, collect data

What term describes the tendency to choose romantic partners based on similarities in background and group membership?

homogamy

A reporter who covers the police beat at a newspaper changes careers. They become an editor of nonfiction books and are paid the same salary as they were at the newspaper. What have they experienced?

horizontal social mobility

Tony worked as a waiter for most of his adult life. When the restaurant that employed him closed, he decided to work as a bartender at the local sports bar because it paid similarly and was close to where he lived. Which of these describe Tony's experience?

horizontal social mobility

What does the concept of the looking-glass self help explain?

how we develop a self-concept based on our perceptions of others' judgments of us

According to Sigmund Freud, the mind's ________ is composed of biological drives and is the source of psychic energy.

id

According to Erving Goffman, stigmatized individuals who do not believe they should have to change or conceal their identities to make "normal" people more comfortable have

in-group orientation

A sociology student conducts a study of objects commonly left unclaimed in the "lost and found" at their college. They are researching

material culture.

Which of the following is a form of stratification in which all positions are awarded on the basis of accomplishment and skill?

meritocracy

Which term describes the slights, insults, and misperceptions directed at members of a minority group that play out in everyday interactions?

microaggressions

Durkheim theorized that the rapidly changing conditions of modern life lead to anomie. What is anomie?

normlessness or a loss of connections to the social world

Imagine that you are trying to rewrite a survey. You find a multiple-choice question that asks, "What is your favorite recreational activity?" and gives three response options: watching television, shopping, or sports. You add a fourth response option, "other," and invite respondents to write an activity of their choice. What kind of question have you just created?

open-ended

Which of the following research techniques focuses on gaining an insider's perspective of the everyday lives of participants under investigation, which often dispels stereotypes about the group being investigated?

participant observation

Rey's right arm was amputated when she was a child due to complications from cancer. Even though she is more comfortable without it, she will often wear her prosthetic arm when she is in public in order to avoid people staring at her or asking questions about her amputation. This is an example of

passing

The conclusions of Mark Granovetter's findings in "The Strength of Weak Ties" were that

people tend to form homogeneous social networks.

A woman is hired at a restaurant. She is given strict instructions on her first day to always wear black pants with a white shirt, to never carry a notepad, and to always address customers as "Sir" or "Madam." All of these things are elements of the waitress's

personal front

Steph sometimes takes printer paper, ink, and other stationery supplies from the store where they work. However, when they heard that someone had been stealing cash from the safe, they were appalled. Steph may not steal money, but what they do is somewhat similar, and it is called

pilfering

The Egg McMuffin is a vastly more efficient version of eggs Benedict. Egg McMuffins are cheaper, ready almost instantly at drive-through windows, and can be eaten with one hand while driving. However, they do not improve on the taste or experience of eating eggs Benedict. Max Weber might have described the Egg McMuffin as the ________ of breakfast.

rationalization

Someone who is newly divorced after a long marriage and now wants to start dating again may find that many of the norms of dating have changed. Behaviors like splitting the check or talking about safe sex may be new for this person. This process of having to learn and adjust to the new rules of dating is an example of

resocialization

A woman gives up on the "American Dream" and instead decides to quit her job, drop out of society, and live on the road in her van. Into what category does this fit, according to Robert Merton's typology?

retreatism

A graduate student is almost done with his dissertation when he is informed that twenty years ago someone did a similar project and already demonstrated what he had hoped to be the first to discover. What basic step of the scientific method should have saved him from this problem?

reviewing the literature

David Rosenhan argues that misdiagnosis is particularly a problem for psychologists, as a diagnosis of a mental illness is as influential on the patient as it is on their relatives and friends. It should not surprise anyone that the diagnosis acts as a(n)

self-fulfilling prophecy.

The managers of a company realized that as they hired more employees each one tended to do less work and their entire organization became less efficient. If they consulted a sociologist they would most likely say that the cause of this was

social loafing

The sociologist Duncan Watts examined the way people may change their minds about whom to vote for based on the opinions of friends and acquaintances. What concept was Watts studying?

social networks

Victor of Aveyron was a feral child who wandered out of the woods in 1800 when he was approximately twelve years old. After being reintroduced to human society, Victor was incapable of talking and never fully adjusted to life with other humans. This case shows the importance of

socialization

Sociologists often point out that systems of stratification in the United States systematically favor white men. People sometimes contest this by referencing wealthy and powerful Black women like Oprah Winfrey or Michelle Obama. A valid counterpoint to this argument is that

stratification is a characteristic of a society rather than a reflection of individual differences.

Casimir Pulaski Day is an important holiday in Chicago, which has more Polish Americans than anywhere else in the United States. Although not well remembered in the rest of the country, Pulaski was a Polish-born hero of the American Revolution and a cavalry general. What concept helps to explain why this holiday is so much more important to people who trace their ancestry to Poland?

symbolic ethnicity

A team of sociologists is commissioned to study the effects of lighting levels and amount of time for breaks on workers' productivity in an office setting. Before the study begins, office workers are told why the researchers are there. When the team analyzes their data, they find that no matter what they do, productivity levels go up while they are physically present. When the team is not physically present, productivity levels return to normal. What is the likely explanation for these findings?

the Hawthorne effect

Financial collapses, such as those of the 1930s, have occurred when rumors of insolvency, when believed by enough depositors, resulted in real bank failures. What sociological concept describes this phenomenon?

the Thomas theorem

Max Weber believed that society became increasingly rationalized as the Industrial Revolution progressed. How did he define rationalization?

the application of economic logic to all aspects of social life

Unlike folkways, mores are closely related to

the core values of a group.

What defines so-called official poverty in the United States based on household income?

the federal poverty line

Read the quote from Freud below, which describes a part of the mind as he theorized it. "It is the dark, inaccessible part of our personality, what little we know of it we have learnt from our study of the dream-work and of the construction of neurotic symptoms. . . . We all approach [it] with analogies: we call it a chaos, a cauldron full of seething excitations." Which part of the mind was he talking about?

the id

Which part of the mind of feral children would Sigmund Freud expect to be most fully developed?

the id

What general predictions can sociologists make about a person's life prospects if all that is known is the person's social class?

the level of education they may receive

Julian is a child who consistently earns mediocre grades and is often picked last for team games. He likes to make silly jokes and play pranks, and he notices that people laugh when he does so. The child starts to think that others are laughing with him, not at him. Charles Cooley would say this development is part of

the looking-glass self.