Sociology Exam 1 (ch.1-6) Test Question Bank
Which scenario best exemplifies the concept of institutional isomorphism?
A brand new online clothing company realizes they need to offer free returns because that's what consumers expect when they buy clothes online.
Which scenario involves the use of peer pressure?
A college sophomore is afraid to report a sexual assault because she believes her sorority sisters will ostracize her.
Resocialization would be most likely to occur in which situation?
An American woman who takes a full-time job in Saudi Arabia after graduating from college ends up marrying a local man.
Sociology emerged in the nineteenth century, with the idea of a secular morality from what thinker
Auguste Comte
Which sociologist of the twentieth century introduced the concept of the sociological imagination
C.Wright Mills
The changing attitudes toward marijuana can be difficult to fit into our understanding of crime. At the federal level, the drug is classified as a controlled substance, and possession and distribution may carry severe penalties. In most states, possession is a criminal offense with penalties including jail. In a few states, possession is treated as a misdemeanor, and in a handful of states, beginning with Colorado and Washington, recreational marijuana possession is now legal. What does this suggest about the difficulties of measuring changes in crime rates over time?
Definitions of crimes change over time.
Where is the "right to be forgotten" a policy?
European Union
he Sociological Conversations interview with Victor Rios highlights the differential treatment that racial and ethnic minorities, particularly those in the inner cities, receive from a young age. In his youth, Rios often encountered police intrusion upon his daily life, including at school. What sociological idea epitomizes Rios's experience?
Foucault's panopticon
You are interested in investigating how honest Facebook users can be on the site. You have added several family members as your Facebook friends. You plan to interview them as part of your investigation. How does this approach create a problem for you as a researcher?
It will result in a challenge for reflexivity because of the ways your prior relationships will influence your family members' responses in the interviews.
The contemporary social movement with the slogan "Fight for 15" seeks a $15 minimum wage and unionization. This attempt to mobilize and make gains for workers can be viewed as in line with the view of the social world of which classical sociological theorist?
Karl Marx
Rather than complaining about "kids these days"...
Max weber
According to Durkheim, why is a society predominantly bound by mechanical solidarity more likely to apply punitive justice rather than rehabilitative justice to a person who violates a law or social norm?
People in such a society are bound by sameness, and any violation of social norms must be punished severely to reinforce the boundaries of acceptable behavior.
How do street crime and white-collar crime compare in terms of cost to society and prevalence?
Street crime is the most prevalent type of crime, but white-collar crime has greater financial impact.
A researcher spends time with small organic farmers on their land and at market in order to understand their particular subculture, noting the brands of work clothes they prefer...
Symbolic interactionism
A group of people is waiting to be helped at a customer service desk in a store. A woman in the waiting area suddenly clears her throat and spits on the floor. Everyone else in the room is taken aback and gives her horrified looks. How can this reaction be explained in sociological terms?
The woman who spit on the floor is not conforming to social norms that are shared by the other people in the room.
Voter turnout in the United States for national elections has never been high, with about half of eligible voters, on average, not showing up at the polls. At the local level, though, estimates suggest that less than a quarter of eligible voters turn out. This lack of local engagement means that people miss the opportunity to influence decisions that affect their everyday lives and immediate environments. What larger social trend does this suggest?
There is a decline in the amount of civic engagement.
Which American sociologist was the first to undertake ethnography in African American community
W.E.B. DuBois
What is an example of a negative relationship between an independent and a dependent variable?
Wealthier individuals tend to be less concerned about environmental problems.
Which scenario represents the highest amount of embeddedness? (Note that any knowledge is reciprocal; that is, if A knows B, then B knows A.)
You know Ted, Alice, Bob, and Carol. Bob knows Carol, Ted, and Alice. Carol knows Ted and Alice. Ted knows Alice.
What is an example of using cultural relativism to think about cultural differences?
You see a news story about a country where people often eat spicy seafood dishes in the morning, and you reason that their long coastline and hot climate provide easy access to both seafood and hot peppers.
What is an example of a total institution?
a convent
One of the classes you are enrolled in fills up every semester it is offered, and students rave about it. There's something about it beyond the topic and the instructor, which makes you curious. You have an idea about why this is so, so you decide to test your theory by jotting down a hypothesis, asking other students a few questions, and then seeing if the results fit your theory. You are employing what kind of research in your sociological search for answers?
a deductive approach
What is a moderating variable?
a factor that affects the relationship between the independent and dependent variables
What is an example of a primary group?
a group of three best friends who grew up together on the same block and see each other regularly
Think about your own experience of going to school. More than simply "what you learned in school today," much of our lives in the United States are shaped by that entire experience: what we choose to wear, with whom we make friends, whom we avoid, and how we respond to authority figures, whether teachers or preachers or police. Overall, our experience of school is
a major part of socialization.
Jasmine has begun attending a large weekly support group for atheists raised in religious families. She hasn't felt very close to her family since she came out as an atheist, but when she is at these meetings she feels like for the first time in her life she is accepted and valued for who she really is. Her support group would be considered
a secondary group.
What is the collective conscience?
a set of norms by which members of society abide
Our birth families (mother, father, sister, and so on) are a central part of our lives. Suppose you family decides to host a foreign exchange student for a year. It goes well, and, the next year, the student's entire family (all nine of them) decides to visit America and your family. In the ensuing year, various members of the two families stay in touch, and you share these relationships with your own friends. In the context of social networks, what's happening between your two families, as well as the way you share the experience with your friends, is what sociologists call a tie, and although the two families are unrelated, this "tie that binds" is made real because of
a set of stories that explains our relationship to the other members of our network.
Drivers stop at red lights for no other reason than that there is a shared understanding that this is what you're supposed to do at a red light. This shared meaning becomes the basis for how people act and interact with each other on the road and thus takes on the appearance of an objective fact. This is an example of
a social construction.
What is defined as a complex group of interdependent positions that, together, perform a social role and reproduce themselves over time
a social institution
What is an example of a panel survey?
a survey of 1,000 high-school seniors who are then contacted every two years for a 10-year period to participate in a follow-up survey
Professor Chang has spent years studying human history and social change and developed an abstract, systematic model that explains how as countries become wealthier their cultures shift to become more tolerant and open. This would be an example of
a theory.
In her interview with Dalton Conley, Julia Adams talks about the differences between sociology and history. As a self-identified historical comparative sociologist, Adams makes the point that sociologists are less concerned with uniqueness than they are with commonalities. Consider Henry the VIII of England during the mid-1500s. Henry's succession of marriages (six wives in all) is often seen as a unique case. Six wives is a lot by the norms of many European societies. A sociologist, however, might well look at it by considering the ways in which Henry's marriages
affected religious life in England then, with ramifications that continue through the present.
In traditional societies, the village in which a person grew up shaped their identity and how others treated them. This is an example of
an ascribed status.
Building on Émile Durkheim's classic theory of suicide, sociologist Matt Wray describes a contemporary "American Suicide Belt." Wray finds elevated suicide rates in the American West, particularly among white men isolated from social contact by unemployment or being unmarried. What type of suicide are residents of this area prone to, according to Durkheim's typology?
anomic
In his interview with Dalton Conley, Victor Rios shares his own experience as a gang member in Oakland, California. His description of watching his best friend die in his arms, how police randomly upended his own and his friends' daily lives, and the sense of despair, chaos, and disconnection from society that resulted are a powerful reflection on what Durkheim called Correct Answer
anomie.
Thinking like a sociologist means that you
apply analytical tools to the things you've always done without much conscious thought in the past
Suppose you are part of a research team stationed in Uganda to do sociological surveys. You are there with your same-sex spouse of eight years. In Uganda, homosexuality was criminalized in 2009 and is currently punishable by life imprisonment. Attitudes in the country are not favorable toward homosexuality, but you have not experienced difficulties in daily life. As you begin the write-up of your research, you are especially aware of the scholarly need to
avoid letting your own beliefs about same-sex relationships enter your writing.
The case of a young girl named Genie is the most carefully documented and well-studied instance of what happens to a child who does not experience adequate contact with other people during infancy and childhood. Genie was locked in a room alone for nearly 13 years and never developed language skills the way most children do. Obviously, this is a story in part of severe parental neglect, but it also provides insight into whether such abilities as language are innate. Fundamentally, this case about a feral child is about whether
biology or socialization shapes human behavior.
This chapter concludes with a look at the criminal justice system of the United States, noting that incarceration rates have risen significantly. A close look at current prison populations in America shows that the largest percentage of prison inmates are
black
While today the phrase "mass media" might bring to mind a cable TV network or a print publication with hundreds of thousands of subscribers, the earliest mass media were
books.
There was an empty lot in a middle-class neighborhood, maintained by a nearby resident. That man moved away, and within a few weeks several bags of garbage and some old furniture were sitting in the lot. Then an old car was parked in the lot and teenagers started to gather there to drink beer and hang out. Within a few months, there was a mugging by the lot and the police made a handful of arrests for drug dealing there. This series of events is an illustration of __________ theory.
broken windows
Material culture includes
buildings, artworks, and technological devices.
Both quantitative and qualitative methods (the way sociologists can gather data about a social issue or problem) are approaches that ideally attempt to establish a __________ between social elements.
causal relationship
Definitions of deviant behavior tend to
change over time and vary from one context to another.
While you're riding a crowded city bus, a woman sits on the seat next to you. Rather than strike up a conversation, she briefly rifles through her purse, then puts in earbuds, turns on some music, and stares past you out the bus window. The woman is exercising
civil inattention.
When children who speak languages other than English at home attend public schools in the United States, they not only are expected to learn and use academic English, they also are exposed to and expected to act in accordance with rules such as waiting in line to go through the lunch line and sitting in the cafeteria to eat lunch. When these children go home, they speak with their family in their shared language and follow different practices regarding shared meals. Moving between these different settings, these children grow adept at
code switching.
Kalani has busy summers planned for her daughters. They take music lessons, play on soccer and basketball teams, and attend summer school classes. This summer schedule is an example of
concerted cultivation
What is the best example of a quantitative research method?
conducting a survey of how frequently people exercise
In the United States, media ownership is
consolidated in the hands of a few big companies.
In the "Sociological Conversations" video, Allison Pugh discusses how parents in very different socioeconomic strata decide whether or not to purchase the current popular toy for their children. She introduces us to the ideas of symbolic indulgence and deprivation. Families choosing which toys to purchase for children are participating in
consumer culture.
Amber is conducting research on the negative portrayal of Latinos in the media. She searches through newspapers to document instances of discriminatory language toward Latinos. What type of research is Amber conducting?
content analysis
The US surgeon general published a report in 1964 that clearly outlined the health dangers of smoking. In 1994, the government began what would become a decades-long effort to prosecute the tobacco companies for fraud: criminal misrepresentation of the health issues and deliberate intent to deceive and cover up evidence about tobacco's effects. Despite the government's efforts, however, the tobacco industry continues to market tobacco products. In 2014, the industry finally agreed to publicly state that their advertising campaigns had lied about the harms of smoking. Taken together, the tobacco industry's actions can be understood as a protracted case of __________ crime.
corporate
You've noticed that when you sleep less, your grades suffer. At the same time, you realize that lower grades could also lead to a lack of sleep: that worrying about a possible dip in your grade point average could keep you up at night. What kind of relationship between the two variables, lack of sleep and lower grades, are you noticing here
correlation
What three factors are needed to establish causation?
correlation, time order, and ruling out alternative explanations
Robert Cornelius took a self-portrait on a daguerreotype in 1839, which is believed to be the first American portrait, but it wasn't until the 2000s that "selfie" became a word. It was the Oxford English Dictionary's word of the year in 2013. The gap between the first instance of self-portraiture by camera and the proliferation of the term "selfie" more than a century later is an (extreme) example of
cultural lag.
Every year, as many as 20,000 devotees of Harley Davidson motorcycles convene in Sturgis, South Dakota. Their numbers frequently overwhelm nearby towns and cities, including the Mt. Rushmore National Monument. For some tourists visiting the monument at that time, the cultural collision with tattooed and long-haired bikers might be jarring. For the tourist who thinks like a sociologist, such an encounter is an opportunity to observe a different group of people by applying
cultural relativism.
Your friend Jerome tells you that he believes culture is an innate biological aspect of human societies. Having already taken an introductory sociology class, you disagree, arguing that modes of behavior and understanding are not universal or natural. You give the example of the disagreement between indigenous Americans and colonial Europeans about whether land was something that could be owned. You are trying to illustrate the idea of
cultural scripts.
Josie comes up with an idea to create and distribute satirical advertisements that expose the hypocrisy of a large tech company that promotes itself as a force for good in the world while exploiting factory workers in poor countries. This would be an example of
culture jamming
What is an example of informal deviance?
cutting in line at the cafeteria
Sociology is distinct from other academic disciplines in its attempt to
detect patterns in how different societies respond to similar phenomena
To combat rising crime rates, a state introduces tough new sentencing laws. The hopes of politicians and law enforcement officials for a subsequent decrease in crime are based on
deterrence theory.
Using sociological imagination helps sociologists (and students of sociology)
develop the ability to see the connections between our own personal experience and the larger forces of history
You and a date are at a cocktail party. As you pluck a drink off a tray, you turn and almost run into actor Idris Elba of Luther fame. You discover after a short chat that he knows your date. You remark that it sure is a small world and that maybe that six degrees thing is true. In his interview with Dalton Conley, Duncan Watts confirms the work of Stanley Milgram, but also notes that the "six degrees" idea can apply to
disjointed populations.
North Korea has been ruled for more than 50 years by a single powerful family. The citizenry, as best as can be determined, is highly regimented in daily life, without access to outside information, and suffering frequent famine. Sociologically speaking, the leadership of North Korea is
dominating.
Jamar enters a clothing store and a security guard immediately notices him and follows his actions on a security monitor
double consciousness
A friend of yours has invited you to a big social event. Knowing you might meet people who could offer you a job after graduation, you polish your shoes, buy a new outfit, and practice introducing yourself and explaining the insights you've gained during college, all in the hopes of making a strong professional impression. In sociological terms, you're preparing to present yourself as a young professional, in accordance with
dramaturgical theory.
Differential opportunity theory links what two things in analyzing deviance?
economic opportunities and crime rates
Which description captures a feature of feminist approaches to social research?
engaging in research that may bring about policy changes to help improve women's lives
In an effort to understand how group dynamics change under duress, a research team gathers 100 people at a remote mountain location, bringing them all in by helicopter. Using carefully designed interviews, the researchers begin the lengthy process of interviewing the participants. After the second day, however, there are a dozen participants who express unhappiness and want to leave. The research team reminds them that they signed an agreement to be interviewed knowing what it entailed, that leaving is not practical, and that they need to continue with the process. The research team is failing to fulfill what golden rule of research?
ensuring voluntary participation
The process of choosing a urinal in a men's restroom may seem simple, but there is an underlying, implicit protocol that has actually been studied. One researcher found that the unspoken rule was to always ensure a "buffer zone" of at least one "open" urinal between yourself and another person. Being an intrepid sociologist, you have decided to see what happens when this norm is breached. In doing so, you are practicing
ethnomethodology.
What is an example of an application of midrange theory
exploring the role of churches in maintaining community ties in rural areas
Allison is concerned with the subtle messages her niece receives from her kindergarten teacher about suitable careers
feminist
The early sociological writer, Harriet Martineau, wrote a book in 1838 that examined the institution of marriage and challenged assumptions about women's inferiority. In this respect, Martineau espoused what kind of theoretical position in her sociological writing
feminist
Students, faculty, and staff at Flint River College interact with each other as they all contribute to the mission of the college in various ways. They also have identification cards that mark them as belonging on the campus. This social network would be defined as a(n)
formal organization.
A theoretical perspective most popular in the mid-twentieth century held that social realties such as the roles that men and women play in heterosexual couples or the existence of inequality could be explained by the necessary purpose they served in society. What was this theoretical perspective
functionalism
In her interview with Dalton Conley, C. J. Pascoe talks about the ways in which boys in high school police the boundaries of masculinity, specifically by using the term "fag." What is at stake is not sexual orientation, but gender norms regarding what is perceived as "masculine." In 2010, Billy Lucas, a 15-year-old high-school student, hanged himself after repeatedly being called a "fag" by his peers for "looking different." Lucas's peers were enforcing norms based on
gender-role socialization.
The Asch test provides insight into what concept?
group conformity
Facebook surpassed 1 billion monthly active users in 2012, and that number has continued to climb. Facebook wasn't the first social media site, of course; it had to compete with earlier sites, such as Friendster and MySpace. Today, though, Facebook is many people's default way of staying in touch with family, friends, and colleagues through messages, posts, likes, and event invitations. Widespread reliance on the site is a good example of
hegemony
Hypothesis: Children in families that eat dinner together at least four times per week experience fewer behavioral problems in school. In this hypothesis, what is the dependent variable?
how often children misbehave in school
Climate change has evoked a politically polarized debate in the United States. For many, the cause and effect relationship between human activity and climate change seems obvious based on the science available. For others, such a claim seems ludicrous. Although it may seem that climate change is a matter of science, underlying the disagreement are attachments to opposing
ideologies
According to George Herbert Mead's stages of development, children first start to learn to recognize an "other" through
imitation.
What is an example of a given-off gesture?
inadvertently glancing at the clock during a boring lecture
A researcher observes that most teens entering a café choose to sit near other occupied tables, whereas most retirees choose a table that is farther away from other customers. The researcher then theorizes that youth like to feel that they are part of a larger group of people, whereas the elderly are more comfortable being alone. This is an example of which kind of research approach?
inductive
Suppose you are a participant in an online forum where people review online games, and one participant recently posted an angry rant in all caps, which elicited a harsh rebuke from several other users. Such a reprimand is a kind of
informal social sanction.
In an interview with Dalton Conley, Mitchell Duneier describes his desire to conduct research that adheres to the ethical guidelines of social research. If Duneier had interviewed street vendors by secretly recording their interactions, what ethical guideline would he have violated?
informed consent
Joey grew up in an impoverished rural community in the Appalachian Mountains with a high joblessness rate. He learned early on that to be successful meant achieving financial wealth, but without any hope of landing a lucrative career in his hometown, he turned to selling stolen opioid painkillers and became relatively wealthy. According to Merton's strain theory, Joey is a(n)
innovator.
Many cell phone companies have similar offers and restrictions on changing numbers, adding numbers to a plan, getting a new phone, paying for minutes used beyond those allotted, and so on. These similarities are due to which of the following processes?
institutional isomorphism
One of the challenges faced by many colleges and universities is binge drinking on campus. Imagine you are tasked with developing solutions to this problem. Thinking sociologically, you suggest that it would be useful to understand the meaning placed on the parties where binge drinking happens, so solutions are based on a deeper understanding of the experience itself. Your approach relies on the methodology of
interpretive sociology.
Chad is the captain of the high-school golf team and son of a prominent business owner in town. Orhan is a refugee from Syria who attends the same school and lives with his single mother on the poor side of town. Both Chad and Orhan were caught cheating on a recent biology exam, but only Orhan was punished, which led him to drop out of school due to the shame he felt and to become involved in the illicit economy of street crime. Chad, on the other hand, went on to become a successful corporate executive after attending a prestigious college. This is an example of which theory of deviance?
labeling theory
Montrice attends an orientation session on her first day of college. There are 45 students and two orientation leaders in her session. This type of group is known as a
large group.
Under Adolf Hitler, the Nazis developed a carefully planned network of concentration camps. These were designed to hold all those deemed "undesirable" by the Nazi leadership. An individual consigned to a camp was forced to work, wore a specific uniform, had a limited ration of food, and faced a near certain death. This tragic episode in human history is an extreme example of
life in a total institution.
You have decided to conduct an interview-based study on your campus that examines sexual assault with the hope of offering recommendations to the administration for policy changes. You have selected as your sample the members of all the campus fraternities, as this is a subpopulation of the entire campus and seems often to be at the center of the cases. Although this is an interesting approach, your results will likely be
limited in generalizability because of your sampling decision.
Getting ready to go out on a first date with someone she first contacted through a dating app, Jada tries on a dress and stilettos. Then, remembering that the person mentioned liking sporty women, Jada reconsidered and changed into shorts and a tank top. Jada's wardrobe change illustrates what social theory?
looking-glass self
In his experiment, Duncan Watts created a website where respondents could rate songs. His sample size was 14,341 respondents. If Watts selected a new sample of 14,341 different respondents and their average ratings of each song were significantly different than the first sample, what problem would Watts's research suffer from?
low reliability
Montrice is conducting a study of the effect of economic recessions on marriage rates in European countries. What type of sociology is this?
macrosociology
Despite being a business executive and competitive athlete, Jorge is often treated as helpless by people he encounters in his daily life because he is paraplegic and uses a wheelchair. Jorge's disability is a(n)
master status.
Observing and analyzing the conversations patients have with their doctors would be an example of what kind of sociology?
microsociology
Today, some people engage in open relationships, or polyamory, wherein all partners share details about their sexual health. In some relationships, the size of the group may be as large as a dozen people who share links to one or more of the others in the group. To protect all those involved, everyone agrees to disclose information upon testing positive for a sexually transmitted disease (STD). If someone fails to do this, or simply does not know he or she has an infection, what could the group employ to try to determine what happened? Correct! network analysis
network analysis
Through network analysis a hidden rule was discovered that governs romantic relationships among teenagers. It prohibits dating the ex of your ex's current boyfriend or girlfriend. This rule is known as "______."
no cycles of four
In the effort to stop the spread of HIV, organizations and countries have invested in research to understand how the virus spreads within a population. Often, this research investigates transmission through "having sex." Here, one of the challenges is to precisely define what "having sex" means, so that researchers can identify the relevant variables. This challenge of specifying a key idea is crucial to any good sociological study and is called
operationalization.
There are many different student organizations on a college campus, each of which appeals to different segments of the student body. Like a larger society, such organizations have
organizational culture.
A company changes from a hierarchical approach to product development, with managers alone promoted or fired based on how well a product eventually sells, to a team-based approach, where team members' salaries rise or fall in relation to how a product fares. This is a fundamental change to the company's
organizational structure.
In the United States, atheists are one of the most disliked religious groups. In fact, most Americans believe atheists, who make up about three percent of the population, should not be allowed to put up public displays that celebrate their beliefs. Atheists are a(n)
out-group.
What data collection method was primarily used by Mary Pattillo to study the influx of black professionals into a Chicago neighborhood where many lower-class blacks already lived?
participant observation
Whether Muslim women in veil themselves, especially in countries such as the United States and France, is often a controversial topic...
postmodernism
Certain ideals about women's appearance are highly valued in the United States, such as thinness, muscular definition, and blemish-free skin. Reflection theory suggests that this obsession in our culture with the "perfect female body" emerges from our social structures and shapes the kinds of relationships we seek and value: we want to be around people who meet this standard of perfection. That is, the culture of women's bodies is a result of our own proclivities, and not a result of how women are depicted in the media. The primary difficulty with this idea is that it
presumes culture is a one-way process.
Suppose you're at a party at a friend's apartment. One of the guests strikes up a conversation with you about voter apathy and claims he has a pretty good idea as to why it is so high, calling it a "well-educated hypothesis." You point out (much to his annoyance) that his idea is really nothing more than a guess. In order to accurately call his idea a hypothesis, he would need to
propose a relationship between two variables
Devah Pager's research on employment prospects for individuals with a prior criminal record exemplifies the serious consequences for certain stigmas. If an individual with a criminal record cannot easily find a job and decides to return to committing crimes to support his or her family, what sociological idea is this an example of?
recidivism
At finals time, you are studying at a downtown coffee shop. Feeling stressed, you are relieved to hear two students from a college across town who are sitting at a nearby table and talking about how tough their tests are. You strike up a conversation with the pair, and you all end the conversation by agreeing that both schools could give students an extra study day to relieve the pressure. This insight came about thanks to your use of the other students as a
reference group.
Some businesses in the United States, especially food-service establishments, will post signs that read, "No shirt, no shoes, no service." These signs
reinforce a cultural norm
Suppose that researchers find that if they ask respondents to report their happiness twice over the course of an interview, the respondents nearly always give identical responses. However, they also find that respondents are generally unwilling to report feeling unhappy because they think they will be judged negatively by the interviewer. This measure of happiness would be
reliable but not valid.
As a budding sociologist, you decide to study American politics by attending presidential caucuses. You identify as a liberal independent, but you are interested in the process from different perspectives. Your first stop is at a caucus for Republican candidates. Everyone in the audience is passionate about their beliefs, and you find yourself swept up in the process, reacting against ideas that you see as extreme. In developing the paper discussing your study results, what is one of the challenges you in particular must overcome to produce an unbiased study?
remembering that everyone, including you, is inculcated into systems of beliefs that influence thinking and perceptions
In Discipline and Punish, the French theorist Michel Foucault examines how the modern penal system
represents a transformation in social control.
Zayvon has conducted a study in which he found that college students with more friends tend to have higher GPAs. He concluded that as a person makes more friends, she has more social support and that helps her do better academically. However, when he collected longitudinal data in a follow-up study and was able to take into account time order, Zayvon found that, actually, as a person increases her GPA, she gains status on campus and attracts more friends. This is a case of
reverse causality.
Since the 1970s, both violent and overall crime rates have gone down, while at the same time, incarceration rates in the United States have
risen dramatically.
Roberto works as regional sales manager, a job that requires him to travel frequently for long periods of time. He often dreams of quitting his job so that he can spend more time with his daughters and be a better father. Roberto is experiencing
role conflict.
As a mother, Linda sometimes feels torn. Most of the time she focuses on being loving and supportive, but sometimes she needs to be firm to discipline her children. These opposing expectations are an example of
role strain.
The decision to marry is a major life step. Contemporary Americans do so with certain cultural expectations: that our partner will love and care for us, will share the duties of managing a household (nowadays, fairly equally and regardless of gender), and will support us in our lives when problems arise at work or with other family members. These expectations of a spouse are an example of
roles.
A classmate has been talking for weeks about trying out for the school dance team. The day after the tryouts, you ask her how it went, and she answers that she couldn't go because she was sick. (In reality, however, she did try out but wasn't selected.) The way your classmate reported the situation to you is an example of what?
saving face
Suppose a teenage girl caught smoking marijuana in her car in the high-school parking lot is suspended. As a result, she gains a reputation around school as a "druggie." After that, she begins using cocaine and eventually tries heroin. The girl's actions following the initial suspension are an example of
secondary deviance.
A television ad campaign for a new toy starts playing nationwide in late October. Within weeks, big box retailers are selling out of the toy as parents prepare for the holidays. This response is an example of a
short-term, intended media effect.
Tig tells her best friends Shonice and Petra about a job interview she had recently as they drink coffee in the student union building. Shonice then recounts her latest trip back home, after which Petra shares a story about her most recent rock-climbing adventure. This social group would best be described as a
small group.
Suppose you attend a dinner party, to which you were invited by a close friend who is trying to help you land a job in your chosen field of human resources. Your friend was unable to attend, and you knew nobody at the dinner, even though the dozen guests were all employed in human resource departments in the area. During the dinner, you were quiet and reserved, just listening to conversations around you. Afterward, you worry you missed the chance to gain new
social capital.
When fears of contagious diseases such as avian flu and Ebola arise, public health officials encourage people to replace greetings involving close contact (handshakes, hugs) with an elbow bump. This change in greetings represents a shift in
social norms.
At a friend's housewarming, you meet a young engaged couple from India. They tell you that their relationship was arranged when they both very young (she was 12, he was 14). They seem happy with this arrangement, but you're taken aback. The couple's comfort with the arrangement, as well as your initial discomfort, are examples of
socialization.
Following the attack on Pearl Harbor in 1941, the United States undertook the internment of all people of Japanese ancestry living in the United States. The government stated that this action was to protect national security. Many of those sent to these internment camps were US citizens, with parents or grandparents born in Japan. This action relied on the use of
stereotypes.
Devah Pager's research on how criminal records affect hiring illustrates the consequences of
stigma
In her interview with Dalton Conley, Devah Pager discusses her field work in Milwaukee and New York, in which she sent out job applicants, both black and white, with half of them pretending to have prison records. Pager found that having a criminal record negatively affected an applicant's ability to be offered a job. In addition, she found that black applicants were far less likely to be called back for an interview than white applicants. This racial disparity in hiring indicates unconscious stereotypes in the minds of the hirers, in addition to the challenge of a criminal record's
stigma.
Skateboarding is a popular youth pastime. Within the activity, there are distinct variations on how it's done, and the skating vocabulary can vary by place. In addition, skateboarders have distinctive gear, such as skate shoes designed to provide grip and durability. All this sets skaters apart as a kind of
subculture.
A sociologist studying the meaning of bicycle theft finds that the young men in her neighborhood who steal bicycles do so as a way of proving that they are more clever than the owners of expensive bicycles, since they can get away with rifling through unlocked or poorly secured garages, porches, and basements unnoticed. In a way, stealing these pieces of sports equipment is a sport in itself for the thieves. This researcher's focus on how those who steal bicycles think of their actions is an example of
symbolic interactionism.
Melinda and Alex are co-leads on a project at work, but their working styles differ greatly and they are having trouble agreeing on procedures and objectives. Elena, a member of their team who is relatively new to the company, steps in and pulls together a crucial part of the project to meet a tight deadline. The account manager is impressed with Elena's work, and Elena ends up getting a promotion after the project is completed. In this triad, Elena could be said to have assumed what role?
tertius gaudens
For a research project in an introductory sociology course, a student decides to compare how women's magazines cover health and beauty topics versus career and professional topics. This student is conducting
textual analysis
In her interview with Dalton Conley, Annette Lareau discusses the work found in her book, Unequal Childhoods, and gives numerous examples of the ways in which different parenting strategies play out in the home, and the results of those different strategies. Socioeconomic class differences (middle-class, working-class, and poor) figure prominently into the results, and she notes that the success of the child often hinges upon the knowledge and acceptance that what matters is
that children enter institutions, and institutions have rules.
One of the consequences of mass incarceration in the United States has been
the disenfranchisement of millions of former felons.
Talib was starving as he got on the crowded bus with a greasy cheeseburger he had just purchased. As tempting as it was to eat his messy meal right then and there, he worried what the other passengers might think of him if he did so, and decided to wait until he got home. As illustrated here, Talib is fully socialized because he has developed a concept of
the generalized other.
According to the sociologist Georg Simmel, what can you use to predict the behavior of members of a social group?
the number of people in the group
What is an example of nonmaterial culture?
the rules for using the weight room at the gym
The Chicago school of sociology emphasized the importance of
the social environment in shaping peoples behaviors and personality
Martha wants to get a highly competitive internship with a state senator. She has shared this interest with her family and friends, but no one seems to have any useful contacts who can help her. One day, she runs into a former classmate she has not seen for several years and learns that the classmate has a cousin who worked as the assistant campaign manager for that senator in a recent election. The classmate then offers to introduce Martha to his cousin. This is an example of what concept?
the strength of weak ties
In August 2014, police in Ferguson, Missouri, shot Michael Brown, a young black man. The incident sparked a wave of protest and elicited a dialogue about police and race relations nationwide. The town of Ferguson is predominantly African American, having become increasingly so as white residents moved to the suburbs. Some people have argued that part of the problem in Ferguson originated from the disparity between the residents and police department, where the city was comprised of one population (black) and the police department of another (white). This underlies a more fundamental problem faced by many communities, in that the decline of communal ties has lessened the amount of
trust
Comparative research usually involves studying
two or more units of analysis that have a number of things in common but differ on a dimension (or dimensions) of interest.
What is an example of using ones sociological imagination
understanding that divorce of ones parents is part of a larger societal trend toward marriage dissolution
Sociologist Allison Pugh researched consumer culture and socioeconomic class differences through parental purchases for children. In their relationship with their children, low-income parents tended to strive for symbolic indulgence, whereas high-income parents tended toward symbolic deprivation. Both of these approaches are an attempt to ensure that kids "fit in" at school, indicating that parents of all classes shy away from difference. These actions reflect
values
If you were to tell someone that you were conducting breaching experiments, you would be telling them that you were intentionally
violating social norms to see what happens.
You would like to understand why some high-school students in a private religious school are prone to being cyberbullied. After thoroughly operationalizing the terms, developing well-honed variables, and identifying a sample, you must apply to an institutional review board in order to conduct the research. One of the main concerns is that
you are dealing with a protected population group.
