Sociology Exam Final

Racial and ethnic minorities are often portrayed in visual representations as animalistic or subhuman, often as monkeys or chimpanzees. Why might racist imagery so often use animals?

Animal imagery supports the assumption that differences between groups are innate or biologically based.

An example of ________ is Asian American students being more likely to be placed in Advanced Placement classes, earn higher grades, and be treated well by teachers.

a stereotype promise

Feminist theory has contributed to our understanding of gender by supporting the claim that

women continue to have unequal positions in society, as reflected in the ways their contributions have been written out of history books.

An educator is disgusted with teaching methods that lead students to simply gain a credential rather than actually learn about the world. She decides to start a charter school that employs innovative teaching methods, doesn't give students grades, and encourages creative thinking over rote learning. How would Robert Merton's strain theory of deviance classify this educator?

as a rebel

Gender role socialization begins

before birth

In the past, a woman in North Carolina would found guilty of "lewd and lascivious association" if she lived with her boyfriend. Her behavior today would be known as

cohabitation.

Barack Obama became the first black president in 2009. Some people feel that this election demonstrates that racism is a thing of the past. This way of thinking is typical of

color-blind racism.

Many immigrants to the United States have gotten in trouble for keeping livestock in urban areas, especially chickens, goats, and pigs. Their neighbors feel it is acceptable to own a 150-pound mastiff, but "unsanitary" to have a 50-pound goat that provides milk. In this case, what is driving racism?

a negative view of a group's cultural characteristics

Doctors and parents are quick to seek a surgical "fix" for babies who are born intersex because

an ambiguously sexed person seems threatening and disturbing in Western society.

Race is defined by sociologists

as a social category based on real or perceived biological differences

A same-sex couple holding hands or kissing in public may receive disapproving looks or even abusive comments from other people. This is an example of

homophobia.

Sociologist C. J. Pascoe found that boys often use homophobic slurs toward each other in an effort to define masculinity for themselves and other boys in her ethnography of high school boys titled Dude, You're a Fag. This is an example of the

influence that peers can have as agents of socialization.

Which of the following demonstrates Karl Marx's conviction that social inequality would continue to grow?

"The modern laborer....instead of rising with the process of industry, sinks deeper and deeper below the conditions of existence of his own class. He becomes a pauper, and pauperism develops more rapidly than population and wealth."

What is the estimated number of people trapped in modern-day slavery?

40,000,000

The upper class makes up just 1 percent of the total U.S. population, but its total net worth is greater than that of ____________ of the rest of the population.

99%

___ are the types of jobs usually available to members of the lower-middle class.

Blue collar or manual labor jobs

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

California

________ argues that punishments for rule violators are unequally distributed, with those near the top of society subject to more lenient rules and sanctions than those at the bottom.

Conflict theory

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

Deviance clarifies moral boundaries and affirms norms.

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

Feudalism

Alfred Kinsey conducted research to determine what percentage of the population was heterosexual and what percentage was homosexual. Why would he have avoided asking the question, "Do you identify as gay or straight?"

He believed that people were not exclusively either gay or straight and that those two binary classifications were too limiting.

What is one of the basic principles of social stratification?

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

It is often said that you can always tell a millionaire by her shoes. She may dress like a slob in every other respect, but someone from the upper class is bound to have expensive, custom-made footwear. Whether this is true or not, it helps demonstrate the way we..

Make split-second judgments about who people are and what social statuses they occupy bases on their appearances.

Grey J. Duncan and a team of researchers analyzed the effect of parental income on the academic achievement of children. What do you think Duncan found given what you have read about socioeconomic status and life chances?

Parental income was strongly correlated with academic achievement, especially in low-income families.

In Loving v. Virginia, the Supreme Court ruled that Virginia's law banning marriage between persons of different races was unconstitutional under the Fourteenth Amendment. What attitude led many to disagree with this decision?

People should partner up with similar people and respect endogamy.

Which of the following is true regarding prison as a mechanism for punishing crime?

Prison was rarely used before the nineteenth century.

Brazilians have many other racial categories including moreno, mulato, neguinho, and pretinho. Most of these terms do not have an equivalent in the United States. What does this tell you?

Race is a social construct.

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

Racism

What did David Rosenhan describe in "On Being Sane in Insane Places"?

Researchers posing as "pseudo-patients" in a mental hospital but otherwise acting normally were treated as mentally ill by the hospital staff.

For most sociologists, what is the difference between sex and gender?

Sex is biological; gender is social.

Plantation owners in early America often argued that enslaved Africans were better off because they did not have the mental capacity to run their own lives. Today, this seems both racist and idiotic. How could such racist beliefs flourish?

Such beliefs justify social arrangements between dominant and minority groups that benefit those who accept them.

In the 1900s, there was a strong prejudice against Irish immigrants and their descendants. What does this tell you about the history of the Irish in the United States?

The Irish were once considered to be a separate race.

The names given to positions of power and authority, like "chairman" and "policeman," often emphasize the male gender. Why does this matter?

The names imply that one gender is more suited for a particular job than another.

What might a conflict theorist conclude about deviance if an upper-middle-class white college student is sentenced to rehab for the same drug crime that a lower-class black man is sentenced to jail for committing?

The rules are applied unequally, and those with power or influence are punished much less harshly than others.

Why does Elijah Anderson, in his book Streetwise, argue that young African American men are more likely to be arrested?

They are perceived as more criminal than others.

Why do the authors of your textbook reject definitions of family that depend on particular types of people, such as parents, and specific types of ties, such as marriage?

They want the definition to be broad enough to encompass a variety of living arrangements.

How do we decide when to display situational ethnicity?

We do a cost-benefit analysis.

Priests, ministers, rabbis, imams, and clergy are often prestigious members of their communities, although they make very little money. Which social theorist first suggested that this is an important element of class status?

Weber

Which of the following is an example of fictive kin?

Your dad's best friend whom you refer to as "Uncle Pete" even though he's not really your uncle.

Aggressive men are often described as "go-getters" in the workplace, but aggressive women are often described as "bitches." This is an example of

a microaggression.

Most Americans claim they

are middle class

According to conflict theory, women's contributions to family life are devalued because

as a social group, men benefit from maintaining their dominant status.

An example of prejudice is

believing that Asians are better at math.

A woman is married to another woman. She is attracted to her wife, but she is also attracted to men. In the past, she has dated both women and men. How would this woman MOST likely identify?

bisexual

In the 1940s and 1950s, Alfred Kinsey surveyed Americans to find out about their sexual behavior. His findings were important because they

challenged the view that Americans were either exclusively heterosexual or homosexual.

Every presidential candidate nominated by a major political party in the United States has been, at least publicly,

cisgender

American criminologist Richard Quinney theorized that capitalism—and the exploitation and oppression of the working class—make deviant and even criminal behavior nearly inescapable for workers. The ruling class can make laws that target the poor. When the poor act out against repression, they become targets for law enforcement, while the rich and powerful remain free to do what they like. Quinney's theory falls under which sociological perspective?

conflict theory

Imprisonment was a rare type of punishment before the nineteenth century because earlier societies

did not have sufficient resources to operate prisons.

Nowhere to Grow by Les Whitbeck and Dan Hoyt explored the lives of homeless and runaway teens in the Midwest. The authors found that "associating with deviant peers" had a dramatic effect on a wide range of deviant behaviors including increasing "the likelihood of serious substance abuse almost 32 times." What theory of deviance considers the way in which such interpersonal relationships help to predict deviant behavior?

differential association

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

economic factors.

What is the belief that the lived experiences of women and men differ as a result of biological differences?

essentialism

Family friends who are referred to as "Aunt" or "Uncle" are examples of

fictive kin.

Your textbook describes the Vanatinai society in New Guinea as an example of

gender equality.

A person's self-conception of being male or female based on their association with masculine or feminine gender roles can be defined as

gender identity

Although "like usually marries like," ________ is more common for heterosexual women, whereas ________ is more common for heterosexual men when class boundaries are crossed in marriage.

hypergamy;hypogamy

What is it an example of when the children of working-class parents manage to attend college and get a job in a professional field?

intergenerational mobility

What sort of jobs can support a middle-class lifestyle in America today?

jobs in the service, information, and technology sectors.

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

microaggressions

A young girl from a poor family is sent to live with wealthy distant relatives. Her relatives expect her to take care of the household, cooking and cleaning instead of going to school. They do not pay her and threaten her when she attempts to return home. Her situation is an example of

modern slavery

Some Americans are angry about how many immigrants enter the country every year. A supporter of structural functionalism would argue that this anger

promotes social cohesion among nonimmigrants as they come together and label immigrants as outsiders.

The increasing number of Americans who move out of state to attend college will decrease the importance of ________, assuming that students start new romantic relationships in school.

propinquity

Critical race theory explores the relationship among race and what two other concepts?

racism and power

A researcher examines the effects of learning communities on a college campus. In these communities, students live in a small dorm hall together, have one faculty advisor, attend a first-year seminar together, and participate in social activities together. After completing her study, the researcher finds that compared to students living in regular dorms or off-campus, students in these communities are less likely to engage in either academic cheating or underage drinking and have fewer disciplinary actions on their records. Which sociological perspective best explains this finding?

social control theory

What term describes the division of society into groups arranged in a social hierarchy?

social stratification

Observers determine someone's socioeconomic status when meeting them for the first time by their

speech and gestures.

What is Mother Teresa an example of, given that she was a person with tremendous power and prestige yet she was very good?

status inconsistency

Maria is the school chess champion and is invited to compete at a regional tournament. An opponent tells Maria that men are naturally better at chess than women. Upon hearing this, Maria becomes upset and worried about her performance and subsequently loses her first match. What has Maria just experienced?

stereotype threat

Marco is a fourth-generation Mexican American. Both his grandparents and parents were born in the United States. Neither he nor his parents have learned Spanish and he does not often think of his heritage. Most of his friends do not think of him as Hispanic or Latino. However, on Cinco de Mayo, Marco likes to go out and celebrate by eating Mexican food and wearing a sombrero. Marco's relationship with his ethnicity can be described as

symbolic.

What racial issue does functionalism help to explain?

the everyday mechanisms of racial passing

Some people worry about maintaining a tan. If they do not have the time to tan naturally, they sometimes go to a tanning salon or use chemicals to simulate a tan. This might seem bizarre in some cultures, which can help us realize that

the line between beauty and deviance is fluid and changes across time and place.

According to the text, ________ is one of several reasons people live their lives unmarried.

the single lifestyle

What would a music critic call "musical miscegenation" if they used the term "miscegenation" metaphorically?

the way white country music and black blues music come together to make rock and roll

W. I. Thomas famously argued that "if men define situations as real,

they are real in their consequences."

A math teacher writes problems with stories that have male characters who are always given an occupation like Bob the janitor or James the lawyer, but the female characters have no occupation. This is an example of the

way schools socialize children into gender roles.

The current demographics of California challenge the way the term "minority" has been used in the past because

whites are now less than half of the population of California.

Which of the following is an example of how teachers treat boys and girls differently in a classroom setting?

Boys are more likely than girls to be punished for misbehaving.

Michelle was born and raised in the United States, but her grandparents are from Korea. Her white classmate was also born and raised in the United States, but his grandparents are from Poland. He tells Michelle that she speaks English very well because he assumes, based on her race, that she is an immigrant. This is an example of

a microaggression.

Robert Merton's typology of deviance outlines the strain that people experience as they attempt to access cultural goals through legitimate, institutionalized means. In which of the following categories would gangsters and con artists be found?

innovation

___ is a system of stratification commonly used in modern capitalist societies.

Social class

The Amish have neither the resources nor the desire to use prison as a sanction against members of their community who violate the rules. What sanction do they use instead?

They use meidung, or shunning, which is a process whereby community members will not associate with a rule breaker for a set period of time.

What are unmarried adults who are romantically involved and live together under the same roof participating in?

cohabitation

Judge Aaron Persky was asked by prosecutors to sentence a man found guilty of rape to six years in prison. Instead, Judge Persky handed down a sentence of six months in county jail. Many felt that, by handing down a light sentence for a serious crime, Aaron Persky was normalizing

rape culture

A symbolic interactionist studying the family would be MOST interested in

the way gift giving within an extended family makes some bonds more important than others.