Sociology Ch. 1-4 Exam Review
Soledad carefully considers how she wants to present herself at an upcoming job interview. She intends to offer a very different presentation of herself than when she goes out with friends. With which theoretical paradigm does this scenario best align?
dramaturgy
(Q003) When babies are born, their biological needs are all they know. When they are hungry, they want food, and when something hurts, they cry. According to Freud, the part of the baby's brain fueling this is the _____.
id
A famous social scientist tells you that the most important task in her research was entering the social world of the people she was studying. What can you say about this researcher?
She is a qualitative researcher.
How is the study of culture different for sociologists than for anthropologists?
Sociologists usually study a society to which they belong.
A married man in the United States with several mistresses is violating a ________, but he is violating a ________ if he is married to more than one woman at the same time.
mores; law
(Q001) Thelma thinks that humans are born with an innate sense of fairness, but Keisha responds that various cultures define what is fair in different ways so fairness must be learned. Thelma and Keisha disagree about the roles of _____ in explaining the human trait of fairness.
nature and nurture
Josie wore a pair of short shorts to school. This was against the rules and violated school norms. Because this was the third time that she had broken the same rule, the principal gave her a detention. The principal's action was a means of enforcing norms through _____.
negative sanction
In the 1950s smoking cigarettes was a widely accepted behavior both in public and private. In recent years cigarette smoking has been banned in many public places and strongly discouraged in private spaces, especially when children are present. This historical shift demonstrates that what aspect of culture can change over time?
norms
(Q018) Emilee is fifteen years old and a sophomore in high school. At this time in her life, which agent of socialization is probably the most significant?
peers
If someone has no way to make money but to sell his or her own labor, then he or she must be a member of what social group?
proletariat
What term did Max Weber use to describe the process that resulted in modern life becoming an "iron cage" of disenchantment and dehumanization?
rationalization
the process of replacing previously learned norms and values with new ones as a part of a transition in life (page 107)
resocialization
(Q011) Destiny, a very conscientious student, has a physics exam in the morning and she needs to study for it. Her best friend, however, is visiting from out of town and has asked her to meet for dinner. Destiny wants to be a good friend as well as a good student, and she can't decide whether to stay in and study or go out with her friend. Destiny is experiencing _____.
role conflict
(Q014) As Karl watches his four-year-old climb to the top of the jungle gym for the first time he feels torn between wanting to let him go for it, because a good father would let their kids challenge themselves and learn from failure, and stopping him so he doesn't get hurt because good fathers protect their children from harm. Karl is experiencing _____.
role strain
(Q002) Who am I? How should I be? How do others see me? What defines me? These are questions a person might ask as they develop a sense of _____.
self
Changes in marijuana laws over the course of U.S. history illustrate _____.
that norms change over time and across contexts, and that changes in such norms are not always predictable
Among a group of military veterans who meet up regularly, the characteristic of others that they most often speak about is loyalty, which they see as the most desirable quality one can have. For this group, loyalty is a _____.
value
(Q022) Which of the following is an example of someone performing emotional labor at work?
A flight attendant who is having a bad day smiles at passengers and appears cheerful.
What does it mean if a sample of sociological research is representative?
A smaller group of people studied can tell us something about a larger group.
(Q009) Four-year-old Abbie's father is a firefighter. When Abbie dresses up, she dresses like a firefighter and pretends to put out fires. How would Mead characterize both Abbie's development and her role?
Abbie is in the play stage of development and the role of significant other.
Sociology can be approached from both a microsociological and a macrosociological perspective. Which is more useful?
Both are useful in different ways because they each provide different types of information about the same object of study.
Which of the following is one of the functions of symbolic culture?
It enables people to communicate.
that norms change over time and across contexts, and that changes in such norms are not always predictable
It is very easy to fail to see one's own culture, precisely because it is taken for granted.
Which of the following is the most serious critique of structural functionalism?
It tends to argue that any social feature that exists must serve a function.
What does it mean if a researcher has obtained informed consent from all of his or her participants?
Participants understand the nature of the research and are participating freely.
Social media influencers attract millions of followers by showcasing their personal lives and experiences through stylized photos and vlogs. How might a sociologist explain the widespread appeal of these forms of social media?
People are curious about how others in their society live.
(Q021) In her latest book, Reclaiming Conversation (2015), what concern does Sherry Turkle raise about what may happen when people replace face-to-face conversations with texts, tweets, and other forms of online interaction?
People lose the ability to show empathy.
There is a key difference between the everyday actor and the social analyst in their interactions with the social world that can be summed up in which way?
The actor takes for granted what the analyst can grasp deeply, and the analyst must struggle to understand what the actor implicitly understands.
Which of the following is an advantage of using interviews as a research method?
They reveal attitudes and beliefs not accessible by any other means.
Why do ethnocentric people tend to view other cultures as abnormal?
They use their own culture as a standard of judgment.
Culture is _____.
a guide to living our lives
(Q023) Zina is a nineteen-year-old American who spends most of her time online. She feels like her identity has been shaped by the multitude of interests she has pursued online, such as the beauty videos she watches on YouTube, the gaming communities she participates in on Reddit, the Korean pop music she listens to on SoundCloud and discusses on Twitter, and the people from around the world whom she interacts with on Instagram. Postmodern theorists would describe Zina as having _____.
a saturated self
(Q020) What is a benefit some sociologists see in online communication?
a space for teens to have privacy
social groups, institutions, and individuals (especially the family, schools, peers, and the mass media) that provide structured situations in which socialization takes place (page 103)
agents of socialization
Émile Durkheim's study on suicide found that suicide rates went up when the economy slumped, but 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
What basic idea associates George Herbert Mead with symbolic interactionism?
assigned meanings as social processes requiring the interaction of many individuals
the places where we rehearse and prepare for our performances (page 101)
backstage
In the recent past, hip-hop was a distinctly American form of music, emanating from major urban centers in the United States. Now, you can find hip-hop artists almost anywhere in the world, from Beijing, China to Santiago, Chile. This an example of _____.
cultural diffusion
According to the theoretical position developed by Karl Marx, what is the engine of social change?
conflict between social groups
behaviors that help others to save face or avoid embarrassment, often referred to as civility or tact (page 101)
cooling the mark out
(Q017) What is becoming less and less frequent, according to sociologists, as people spend more time on Facebook and less time having coffee with friends?
copresence
values or behaviors that students learn indirectly over the course of their schooling (page 104)
hidden curriculum
Talia is from a working-class family, and she pays for her own college tuition by working nights as a waitress. On television, she sees a commercial that says, "You deserve a luxury car." She starts thinking that she wants the car despite knowing she cannot afford it. This is an example of what?
cultural hegemony
While on vacation in Montreal, Canada, Candice wants to go to a restaurant where the locals go, hoping for something different than what she can get back home in Jacksonville, Florida. However, while looking for a place to eat, all she sees are the same chain restaurants she has near her home. This is an example of _____.
cultural leveling
Nasko moved to the United States from Bulgaria at the age of nine. After moving, he felt disoriented because the environment was so strange to him. He experienced _____.
culture shock
While driving to work one day, a sociologist noticed a bumper sticker on a large pickup truck that stated: "Gun control means using both hands!" Later, he saw a small electric vehicle with a bumper sticker that stated: "Protect children, not guns!" The sociologist would most likely describe this debate over guns as an example of a(n) _____.
culture war
In contrast to cultural anthropologists, sociologists usually focus on what kind of cultures?
cultures close to home
(Q012) Bethany sees a person fall down on the street a few feet in front of her. She has no idea what has happened but quickly makes the decision to call 911 as others around her also attempt to help. In dramaturgical terms, her reaction exemplifies _____.
definition of the situation
In the 1980s, many politicians argued that listening to heavy metal music led teenagers to die by suicide. Though you might find this belief silly, it is a(n)
hypothesis
When she arrived at her host family's home on her study abroad in Cambodia, Jamie was treated to a welcome dinner consisting of local delicacies, including fried spiders. Jamie refused to eat any of it because it sounded gross, and asked her hosts if they had any "normal" food, such as hamburgers. What behavior is she exhibiting?
ethnocentrism
Which method of social research might involve shifting between participating in a social situation and being an observer?
ethnography
Which methodology MOST closely resembles the scientific method?
experimental research
What term did Karl Marx use to describe the fact that most of the population accepts inequality even when it does not benefit them personally?
false consciousness
(Q024) Pilar just won a coveted award at work, even though many of her colleagues told her she didn't have a chance of getting it. While standing on the stage at the company's banquet dinner, she wanted to gloat and call out the people who didn't support her, but she knew this would not be appropriate. Instead, she stayed positive and smiled, thanked all of her colleagues, and graciously accepted the award. Pilar ended up conforming to this particular social setting's _____.
feeling rules
Which theory developed as a result of applying conflict theory assumptions specifically to gender inequality?
feminist theory
Alanna was annoyed because several guests at her dinner party showed up without letting her know they would be attending, and she had to adjust her plans. These guests violated a _____.
folkway
(Q016) When Kris is on the restaurant floor serving tables, he's a suave, confident, and friendly person. But when he's in the kitchen away from customers, he makes insulting remarks about customers and has to practice smiling for when he returns to his tables. In the dramaturgical perspective, the restaurant floor would be Kris's _____.
frontstage
the places where we deliver our performances to an audience of others (page 101)
frontstage
What has been achieved when the dominant culture, without the use of force, persuades the rest of society that its beliefs and values are the only or best values?
hegemony
(Q013) Throughout junior high and high school, Seela's teachers made more comments about her and the other girls' clothes than they did about their academic performance, and never commented on what the boys were wearing. Seela and the other girls learned that they should care deeply about and focus on their appearance from their school's _____.
hidden curriculum
Auguste Comte is credited with coining the term "sociology," largely through the development of a theory of human thinking called positivism. What does positivism attempt to do?
identify laws that describe the behavior of a reality
In the United States, forgetting to pay back your friend for a meal would violate a(n) ______, whereas purposefully leaving a restaurant without paying the bill would violate a(n) _______.
informal norm; formal norm
Sociologists who conduct interviews can only gather data from a limited number of people because
interviews are too time-consuming.
Survey research tends to produce quantitative data. One key advantage of this kind of data is that it
is easy to transmit to the public.
Which of the following is a latent function of the educational system in the United States?
keeping children out of trouble while parents are at work
The Sapir-Whorf hypothesis suggests that
language can structure our perception of reality.
(Q005) According to George Herbert Mead, a sense of self begins to develop simultaneously with the acquisition of _____.
language skills
In the field of education, teaching students to solve math problems is an example of what kind of function?
manifest
(Q010) If a woman is a mother, sister, and office manager, but her status as a woman precedes all the others, being a woman is her _____.
master status
A sociologist who studies the use of architectural elements, building materials, paint, and lighting in a historic district is studying _____.
material culture
Recently, curators at museums have experienced problems with the preservation of plastic objects, almost all of which disintegrate over time. The Smithsonian collection contains the first-ever plastic toothbrush, which soon will be nothing more than a pile of crumbs. This problem is leading many historians to worry that we will lose the history of our
material culture.
Which of the following theories focuses on how our behaviors are dependent on the ways we interpret, make sense of, and define ourselves, others, and social situations?
symbolic interactionism
According to Émile Durkheim, what did mechanical solidarity create?
social bonds that held agrarian societies together`
the process by which a concept or practice is created and maintained by participants who collectively agree that it exists (page 101)
social construction
(Q004) To ensure their society's continued existence, the older members of a remote tribe in the Amazon rainforest in Brazil must pass on critical knowledge and skills to the younger members of the tribe. This process is known as _____.
socialization
Howard Becker reminds us that humans are social beings when he uses the phrase "the study of people 'doing things together'" to describe _____.
sociology
(Q015) No matter how often it happens, Charli finds it upsetting every time someone assumes just because she is paralyzed below the waist and uses a wheelchair that she doesn't have a job, romantic partner, or home of her own. Charli is tired of experiencing _____.
stereotyping
What school of social theory believes that society is a stable system of structures, which contribute to the equilibrium of the whole?
structural functionalism
Billie is studying how changes in the economy over the last several decades have affected the family and other parts of society. Which sociological perspective is most relevant to her study?
structural functionalist
Connor is very active in the "cosplay" scene. He designs costumes that embody his favorite sci-fi film characters and wears them to comic conventions (comic-cons). Jordan has a mohawk and wears a leather jacket. He is a member of an anarchist collective that seeks to destroy the current political and economic system, and replace it with a fairer and more just society. The difference between Connor and Jordan is that Connor is a member of a(n) ______, whereas Jordan is a member of a ______.
subculture; counterculture
Anthropologists claimed to have discovered that the Hopi tribe of the American Southwest had no words to distinguish past, present, or future. They concluded that the Hopi did not "see" or experience time in the same way as those whose language provided such words. Such results demonstrate which of the following concepts?
the Sapir-Whorf hypothesis
What is the sociological imagination?
the ability to understand the connections between biography and history or the self and the world
Max Weber believed that as the Industrial Revolution progressed, society became increasingly rationalized. How did he define rationalization?
the application of economic logic to all aspects of social life
In regard to social classes, what sharp distinction did Karl Marx draw between the proletariat (laborers) and the bourgeoisie (owners) in a society?
the control and ownership of the means of production
Unlike folkways, mores are closely related to
the core values of a group.
What was Marx criticizing when he said that religion is "the opiate of the masses"?
the use of religion by the ruling class to oppress the working class
Rates of ice cream consumption and rates of shark attacks are positively correlated. However, the real reason for this relationship is the fact that hotter temperatures lie behind the increase in both. This is an illustration of the ______ problem in correlational research.
third variable
institutions in which individuals are cut off from the rest of society so that they can be controlled and regulated for the purpose of systematically stripping away previous roles and identities in order to create new ones (page 109)
total institutions
