Sociology Answers

In colonial America, a pickpocket might have had a hand cut off as punishment. Why was this particular method of punishment chosen?

It was considered symbolically appropriate to punish the part of the body most directly connected with the crime.

Which of the following statements best describes the approach taken by macro sociologists?

Macrosociology examines large-scale social structure to see how it affects individual lives.

A college student plans to go to graduate school because they believe in having excellent critical thinking skills and a brilliant mind. Where would Charles Cooley's theory of the looking-glass self suggest that they got these ideas?

These ideas come from teachers and fellow students expressing admiration.

How does social class relate to race, ethnicity, gender, and age in the United States today?

These multiple dimensions of status and inequality intersect to shape who we are and how we live.

There are many sushi restaurants in the United States and many McDonald's-style fast-food restaurants in Japan. This is an example of:

cultural diffusion

The ability to understand another culture in terms of that culture's own norms and values, without reference to any other culture's standards, is called:

cultural relativism.

Social movements that are organized around a belief in the social, political, and economic equality of the sexes are called:

feminism.

What do sociologists call informal rules and guidelines for behavior that are considered acceptable within a group?

folkways

According to the scientific method, what are the steps in conducting research and in what order should they be completed?

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

Many expectant parents get a sonogram to find out the sex of their babies and they only start decorating the nursery after learning the sex. This is an example of:

gender role socialization.

The term "socialization" refers to the:

lifelong process by which people learn the norms, values, and beliefs of their culture.

Kea tries to take good care of herself. She works out regularly, gets plenty of rest, and eats well. Her approach to health is MOST closely aligned with:

preventive medicine.

What kind of research are you doing if you observe a group in order to determine its norms, values, rules, and meanings?

qualitative

A set of beliefs about the superiority of one racial or ethnic group compared to another is:

racism.

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

reviewing the literature

A young person from Southern California has four German grandparents. They lived in Los Angeles all of their life before accepting a job in Milwaukee. They have never really thought about their German heritage. In Milwaukee, they discover many other people with similar ancestries and begin using their ethnicity as a way to develop social and professional relationships. Of what is this an example?

situational ethnicity

In recent years, salsa has overtaken ketchup as America's most popular condiment. This is an example of:

social change.

The transformation of culture over time is called:

social change.

What system of stratification is commonly used in modern capitalist societies?

social class

Systems and structures that persist over time and help organize group life are called:

social institutions.

What does Pierre Bourdieu call the tendency of social class to be passed down from one generation to the next and consequently remain relatively stable over time?

social reproduction

Periods in which social change happens so rapidly that whole societies are dramatically redefined are called:

social revolutions.

Parents often buy their children gender-specific toys. Boys are given action figures that encourage active and aggressive play, while girls are given dolls and toy ovens that reinforce traditional gender roles. This is part of what process?

socialization or gender role socialization

Good health is:

socially defined.

In the ________ approach to addiction, people who become addicted may be responding to strains in the social system and their own lives by escaping through drugs and alcohol.

structural functionalist

Sociologist observe society by:

studying the various parts of a society and the ways they interact and influence one another.

What is the definition of "culture"?

Culture is the entire way of life of a group of people and it acts as a lens through which we view the world.

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

Deviance clarifies moral boundaries and affirms norms.

Why is playing organized games an important part of an older child's development of the self according to the symbolic interactionist George Herbert Mead?

Game playing involves learning to anticipate and coordinate with other players' actions.

Which of the following statements about social change is true?

It is always happening.

Which of the following is one of the basic principles of social stratification?

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

Why would culture shock be a useful state of mind for a sociologist?

It makes us realize we lack an understanding of our surroundings so we can perceive what is right in front of us.

Many everyday cultural practices such as greeting a friend, giving someone flowers, or using the thumbs-up sign seem like natural ways of acting. Why does having an awareness of how these practices vary across cultures demonstrate a healthy sociological imagination?

It reminds us that everyday interactions are connected to larger societies and norms.

Which best describes the research goals of sociologists who use a macro sociological approach and the research goals of sociologists who use a micro sociological approach?

No matter what approach they take, all sociologists aim to illuminate the connection between the individual and society.

You are walking across campus and see a large group of students gathered outside the student union listening to someone talk. You stop and try to listen, but you cannot get close enough. You ask another member of the crowd what is happening and you are told that someone was proselytizing and some students gathered to listen while others argued with them. What does this tell you about crowds?

People have many different motivations in any crowd.

Pablo lives in the United States, where most people assume that he is Arab until they learn his name and hear his accent. They are surprised when Pablo tells them that he is from Spain and identifies as white, not Hispanic. Some even tell Pablo that he isn't really white. What does this suggest about race?

Race is socially defined and the criteria used to determine a person's race varies.

How do most sociologists differentiate between sex and gender?

Sex is biological; gender is social.

Jill is visiting her boyfriend's family in China. During a conversation, she points to him with her index finger, which his family doesn't seem to like. Later, her boyfriend 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.

Which is true of social mobility in a caste system?

There is little or no chance of social mobility.

Recent research by marine biologists suggests that bottlenose dolphins have names for themselves. Scientists played sounds they had identified as the names of particular dolphins by putting them through a synthesizer so that they did not sound like the voices of particular dolphins. The researchers found that dolphins would respond to the names of other dolphins to which they were related or with which they were associated, but they ignored the names of strangers. This discovery suggests a much greater degree of self-awareness in aquatic mammals than was previously suspected. If this research is accurate, what does it suggest about dolphins?

They have a sense of self similar to that of humans.

Educational systems can help to reproduce systems of inequality.

True

Gender varies from culture to culture.

True

Human rights groups have long protested state governments' disenfranchisement of convicted felons.

True

The process of socialization tends to emphasize heteronormativity.

True.

How do self-fulfilling prophecies work?

We respond not only to the objective features of a situation but also to its meaning. Once meaning has been assigned to our behavior, the consequences of that behavior are determined by the meaning.

Most sociologists argue that gender is a social construction and they acknowledge the possibility that binary male-female categories are not the only way of classifying individuals. This perspective is called

a constructionist perspective.

What do large numbers of people form when they come together?

a crowd

How do sociologists define ethnicity?

a group with a shared ancestry or shared cultural heritage

What is a paradigm?

a set of assumptions, theories, and perspectives that makes up a way of understanding social reality

How do sociologists define race?

a social category based on real or perceived biological differences

According to your textbook, what do all religions have in common?

a system of beliefs and rituals that establish a relationship between the sacred and the profane

Sid feels horrible. He goes to his doctor, who tells Sid he has a bad cold and should feel better soon. How would Sid's illness be classified?

acute

Ori went to eat at their favorite restaurant and got food poisoning. Their illness was treated right away. This type of illness would be classified as:

acute.

What is a political system called that denies ordinary people participation or representation in their government?

authoritarian

The term that refers to the legitimate use of power is called:

authority.

When does gender role socialization begin?

before birth

What are the tastes, habits, and expectations called that children "inherit" or learn from their parents and that help to achieve material success in life?

cultural capital

Jai is conducting a sociological research study on differences in interactions between similar and dissimilar co-workers. After reviewing the literature, he developed a hypothesis and has operationalized the variables he will study. What is the next step Jai should take in the scientific method?

choose a research design or method

What do sociologists call awareness of our own and others' class statuses?

class consciousness

You want to conduct some sociological research on whether people on social networking sites are less likely to meet in person as a result of their online community participation. What is the next step in the scientific method?

conduct a literature review

Samantha believes corporations are not punished enough for polluting the planet, manufacturing unsafe products, and manipulating prices. At the same time, she sees homeless people imprisoned for stealing food; she believes we should all have access to regardless of wealth. Samantha has taken a ________ perspective to explain the way deviance is viewed in society.

conflict theory

Which theory suggests 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

What was one of the earliest theories of collective behavior?

contagion

What theory of collective behavior would suggest that when crowds come together a "mob mentality" takes over and rational thought disappears?

contagion theory

What must behavior, trait, or belief do in order to be considered deviant?

depart from a norm and generate a negative reaction

After a Mother's teenage child engages in deviant behavior, she says the reason for their child's behavior is that "they fell in with a bad crowd." Which symbolic interactionist theory of deviance does this explanation MOST closely resemble?

differential association

Considering that impression management relies so much on strategies of performance, scholars have called Erving Goffman's ideas:

dramaturgy.

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 tendency to use your own group's way of doing things as the yardstick for judging others is called:

ethnocentrism.

What do sociologists ask you to consider regarding health and illness?

how health and illness are shaped by social factors

The concept of the looking-glass self explains:

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

The fact that the top causes of death in the United States are due to chronic illness while people in the developing world are continually affected by the threat of acute illnesses indicates that:

illness is impacted by social factors.

Regardless of their various approaches to social phenomena, what are all sociologists trying to do?

illuminate the connection between the individual and society

Susie isn't old enough to go to school yet, but she loves to play house. She has a toy stove and she pretends to be a mother. Sometimes, when playing house gets boring, she goes outside, takes a garden hose, and pretends to be a firefighter. George Herbert Mead would say that Susie is:

in the play stage.

The "Jim Crow" laws, which mandated separate facilities for whites and blacks, were an example of:

institutional discrimination.

A study found a strong correlation between parental bonding and adolescent drug use. Children with stronger bonds to their parents were far less likely to try drugs or alcohol. However, the researchers, after examining their data more closely, discovered that parental bonding was really a predictor for teen religiosity. Consequently, high levels of religiosity prevent drug use rather than parental bonding. This means that religiosity was a(n):

intervening variable.

The Sapir-Whorf hypothesis suggests that:

language can structure our perception of reality.

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

large-scale institutions; individual interactions

Coca-Cola was first marketed in the 1860s as a patient medicine, designed to offer the energy boost of cocaine without the vices of alcohol. The new beverage was invigorating and popular. Today, however, cocaine is not just banned but widely demonized. This is an example of:

mainstream culture once approving of behaviors that are now considered deviant.

What do sociologists call it when a large number of people either collectively or individually engage in similar behaviors?

mass behavior

As the process of ________ develops, we will be less likely to treat someone who has a mental health issue as having something he or she should just "deal with" alone. Instead, we will be more likely to think of the issue as having to do with a disease.

medicalization

Obesity is now often treated with surgery. Previously, weight loss was not usually considered a medical problem that could be addressed through surgery. This is evidence of:

medicalization and the social construction of health and illness.

Which of the following is an example of a microaggression?

men who whistle at and catcall a woman who is walking down the street

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

microaggressions

Which term describes a policy of honoring diverse racial, ethnic, national, and linguistic backgrounds?

multiculturalism

A paradigm shift is a major break in the assumptions that are used to understand the world. For social scientists, what causes a paradigm shift?

new data forcing a new way of looking at the world

A social research methods class wants to study smoking. First, the professor asks how many people in the class are smokers. Two people indicate that they are. Then she asks how many people have smoked a cigarette in the past week and ten people indicate that they had. From this, the class decides, for the purposes of the survey, a smoker will be anyone who has smoked a cigarette in the past week and currently owns a pack of cigarettes. This is a(n):

operational definition.

The methods and tactics of managing and influencing government are called:

politics.

The belief that members of one racial group are genetically predisposed to be more intelligent than members of another racial group is an example of:

prejudice.

Casimir Pulaski Day is always an important holiday in Chicago, a city with more Polish people 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

Displays of ethnic identity that only occur on special occasions are called:

symbolic ethnicity.

A man recently learned that he has a mental illness. Since his diagnosis, he has begun to act according to the illness and in ways that he thinks others expect someone with a mental illness to act. Which theory of health and illness best explains his situation?

symbolic interactionism

What school of social thought insists that all social structures, including systems of stratification, are built out of everyday interactions?

symbolic interactionism

Despite the fact that people snack on grasshoppers and crickets in Thailand, many people in the United States express disgust at the idea. This suggests that, in the United States, eating insects is a:

taboo.

What historical events convinced Auguste Comte that society needed to be guided by thinkers who understood social laws?

the French Revolution and the instability that followed it

What is the sociological imagination?

the ability to understand the connections between biography and history or the self and the world

The nature vs. nurture debate helps us understand:

the complex interaction between hereditary traits and social learning.

What is religiosity?

the extent of a person's commitment to a religion

When women are more likely than men to live in poverty, it is often referred to as:

the feminization of poverty.

Imagine a child who consistently gets 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. This is part of the process that Charles Cooley called:

the looking-glass self.

What is the scientific method?

the procedure for acquiring and collecting concrete data

The majority of households in the United States now have personal computers. The federal government has encouraged this trend for many reasons, including increased productivity, better education, and a better-informed public. At the same time, there has been an increase in acute injuries related to computers or computer tools. This is an example of:

the unintended consequences of social change.

From an interactionist perspective, what is the MOST important way that schools socialize children into their gender identities?

through interactions between teachers and students

According to the textbook, what is the goal of early college high schools?

to make it easier for students from underserved backgrounds to enter college

What is the process called when students are tested and the test results are used to place them in a certain category of classes (remedial, advanced, college prep, etc.)?

tracking

Which of the following would sociologists consider the best definition of deviance?

violations of social norms

You are doing a research project on the effects of contemporary media. What are your variables if your hypothesis is "watching violence on television causes an increase in violent behavior"?

violence on television and violent behavior

What criteria does a social class system use to stratify its members?

wealth, property, power, and prestige

Some subcultures have adopted branding as a form of body art, though it is no longer used as a form of punishment in the United States. This demonstrates that:

what is considered deviant changes over time.

Under what circumstances does a deviant label transition from primary to secondary deviance?

when the deviant label is internalized