Sociology Exam Study Guide

The term values can be defined as:

A culture's standard for discerning what's good and just in society.

A cultural universal is:

A pattern or trait common to all societies.

The term interpretive framework can be defined as:

A sociological research approach that seeks in-depth understanding of a topic or subject through observation or interaction; this approach is not based on hypothesis testing.

The term language can be defined as:

A symbolic system through which people communicate and through which culture is transmitted.

A hypothesis can be defined as:

A testable proposition

In 1999, Sean Fanning, John Fanning, and Sean Parker invented Napster, a global, free-of-charge, peer-to-peer music sharing program. Prior to Napster, no such program existed. The three men created _____.

An innovation

Which of the following men coined the term positivism, and is widely considered the father of sociology?

Auguste Comte

Society and culture _____.

Could not exist without each other

Kurt and Mitch visit an Amish village on a class trip. "Let's see if we can round up some old radios and appliances and drop them off for them later this week. I think they'll appreciate it. They just don't understand what they're missing." Mitch rolls his eyes. Kurt's perspective is an example of _______.

Cultural imperialism

Which of the following is NOT an example of a formal norm within the United States?

Driving on the right hand side of the road

Elise travels across Thailand with her friends and, to her surprise, finds the country quite unlike the United States. "I hate the food," she tells her family at home. "I hate the language, I hate the weird customs and awful music. America is clearly the best place to be." This is an example of _______.

Ethnocentrism

Tyson is researching whether actors on prime-time television and hit movies negatively impact teenagers' body images. He is going undercover at a local high school to observe and participate with the students to better understand the world they live in. Tyson is conducting which research method?

Field research

Which of the following is an example of nonreactive research?

Gathering data from government studies

What group defines themselves through a rejection of the mainstream?

Hipsters

Please define C. Wright Mill's sociological imagination.

How individuals understand their own and others' pasts in relation to history and social structure.

Which of the following is an example of a cultural universal?

Incest taboos

What is the importance of interpretive framework?

It leads to in-depth knowledge of a participant's social world.

____ believed that societies grew and changed as a result of the struggles of different social classes over the means of production and greatly favored ____.

Karl Marx; Communism

What is one difference between a more and a folkway?

Mores may carry serious consequences if violated; folkways do not.

Many Americans pay for haircuts, trips to the dentist, or transportation on the metro and bus systems. These actions support the notion of capitalism, an example of _____.

Non-material culture

In order to better understand the sorority pledging process at her university for her sociology thesis, Carmen pledges with a popular sorority. This is an example of _____.

Participant observation

A paradigm can be defined as:

Philosophical and theoretical frameworks used within a discipline to formulate theories, generalizations, and the experiments performed in support of them.

Alexis wants to research the 1960's feminist movement. She reads articles from the time period, watches documentaries, reads scholarly journals on the topic, and interviews influential women from the movement. What kind of research method is Alexis using?

Secondary data analysis

Thomas wants to better understand the trends in literacy rates in Baltimore city over the past 50 years using Baltimore city data. What type of research should Thomas conduct?

Secondary data analysis

Janet is visiting her childhood friend in the Hamptons. Janet wears ripped jeans and Chuck Taylors to an infamous "White" party. The majority of party-goers refuse to socialize with her. Janet is experiencing a form of ____.

Social control

After weeks of protest in Zuccotti Park, NYC's "Occupy Wall Street" divided into two camps: one composed of higher income protestors, and one composed of lower-income protesters. A ______ would be most interested in the relationship and nature of day-to- day exchanges between the two groups.

Symbolic interactionist

Which of the following is an example of a counterculture?

The hippie movement of the 1960's

Xenocentrism is:

The opposite of ethnocentrism

____ view society as a structure with interrelated parts designed to meet the biological and social needs of individuals who make up that society.

structural Functionalists

Which theorist claimed that people rise to their proper level in society based solely on their belief in a meritocracy?

Émile Durkheim

Miguel is doing a research paper on New York City's Stone Wall riots of 1969. He visits the scene of the riots, interviews people who were there, reads the police reports of the event, and watches video footage. Miguel is conducting a(n) ______.

Case study

Which of the following is an example of an informal sanction?

The football team throwing a slushy in Finn's face because he tried to join the Glee club.