Sociology Mid Term Exam Prep
Which of the following statements best illustrates the career advantage a person gains by studying sociology?
A police officer understands which categories of people are at high risk of becoming victims of crime.
The term "sociology" was coined in 1838 by ________
Auguste Comte.
The pioneering sociologist who studied patterns of suicide in Europe was
Emile Durkheim.
The language widely spoken by people in more nations of the world than any other is ________
English
The claim that U.S. culture is wrongly dominated by a European, and especially English, way of life characterizes our culture as
Eurocentric
_______ had an important influence on the development of the social-conflict approach.
Karl Marx
_____ distinguish between right and wrong; _____ distinguish between right and rude.
Mores; folkways
Which concept is used to describe relatively stable patterns of social behavior?
Social structure
Which discipline defines itself as "the systematic study of human society"?
Sociology
An apparent, although false, association between two variables that is caused by a third variable is called
a spurious correlation.
A simplified description unfairly applied to every person in the same category is called ________
a stereotype.
Unlike simple stereotypes, sociological generalizations ________
are based on all available facts.
Today, hunting and gathering societies ________
are close to disappearing from the world.
Cultural universals are elements of culture that ________
are part of every known culture
The dominant values of U.S. culture include ________
belief in individuality
The dominant values of U.S. culture include __________.
belief in individuality
Making use of the sociological perspective encourages _______
challenging many commonly-held beliefs.
Cultural integration refers to the fact that ________
change in one cultural pattern is usually linked to changes in others.
According to Lenski, the term "sociocultural evolution" refers to ________
changes that occur as a society acquires new technology
The fact that instant messaging is based on a new set of symbols shows us that ________
culture changes over time
The concept of _____ refers to a shared way of life, and the term ____ refers to a political entity.
culture; nation
The concept of ________ refers to a shared way of life and the term ______ refers to a political entity.
culture; nation
Following the thinking of C. Wright Mills, we would expect the sociological imagination to be more widespread in a population ________
during times of social crisis
Because there is more social isolation in rural areas of the United States than in urban areas, we would expect suicide rates to be ________
higher in rural areas
An accurate criticism of the structural-functional approach is that it ________
ignores inequality that can generate tension and conflict
The term "Homo sapiens", the name of our species, comes from the Latin meaning ________.
intelligent person
Ethnocentrism refers to ________
judging another culture using the standards of your own culture.
An example of a latent function of college is ________
keeping young people out of a tight labor force, which may not have jobs for them.
Using the symbolic-interaction approach, sports becomes ________
less a system than an ongoing process of interaction.
According to Emile Durkheim, categories of people with a higher suicide rate typically have ________
lower levels of social integration.
The recognized and intended consequences of a social pattern are referred to as
manifest functions
Robert Merton explained that what is functional for people in one category of a society's population ________
may not be functional for people in another category.
In hunting and gathering societies _______
men hunt animals while women gather vegatation
Cultural transmission refers to the process of ______.
passing cultural patterns form one generation to another
A social-exchange analysis states that ________
people typically seek mates who offer as much as they do.
C. Wright Mills claimed that the "sociological imagination" transformed ________
personal problems into public issues.
The fact that some married men and married women are sexually unfaithful to their spouses is an example of _____ culture, while the fact that most adults say they support the idea of sexual fidelity is an example of _____ culture.
real; ideal
The "framework for building theory that sees society as an arena of inequality that generates conflict and change" is the ________
social-conflict approach
Sociology is considered a science because
systematic, objective research methods are used.
Herbert Spencer described human society as a complex system having much in common with ________
the human body.
Agrarian technology developed based on the use of ________
the plow, animal power, and the development of metals
Racial discrimination in professional sports is evident today in ________
the positions typically played by white and black players.
The basic idea of the symbolic-interaction approach is that society is _______
the product of people interacting in countless everyday situations.
The distinction between high culture and popular culture is based mostly on ________
the social standing of the people who display the cultural pattern
Who helped launch the discipline of sociology by studying the evils of slavery and also by translating the writings of Auguste Comte?
Harriet Martineau
Which early sociologist received the first doctorate ever awarded by Harvard University to a person of color?
W. E. B. Du Bois
In the process of measurement, reliability refers to
Whether repeating the measurement yields consistent results
Cars, computers, and iPhones are all examples of which of the following?
material culture
Social problems in the United States, such as poverty and gender inequality, are _______
more serious in poorer countries.
Wrong-doing, such as an adult forcing a child to engage in sexual activity, is an example of violating cultural ________
mores
____ distinguish between right and wrong; _____ distinguish between right and rude.
mores; folkways
Culture acts as a constraint, limiting human freedom because ________
much culture is habit, which members of a society repeat again and again.
The United States is the most _______ of all countries.
multicultural
As a part of human culture, religion is an example of _____.
nonmaterial culture
A small number of people that are used to represent a much larger population is called a
sample
Elements of social control in everyday life include shame, guilt, and ________
sanctions
A criticism of the symbolic-interaction approach is that it _______
says little about the influence of structural factors such as culture, class, gender, and race.
Cultural change is set in motion in three general ways. What are they?
Invention, discovery, and diffusion
_______, one of the founding sociologists, urged sociologists to understand a social setting from the point of view of the people in it.
Max Weber
_____ is a way of understanding the world based on science.
Positivism
Social structures sometimes have negative consequences for the operation of society as a whole. Which of the following concepts refers to these negative consequences?
Social dysfunctions
The ancient Romans saw the stars as being gods. Auguste Comte would classify Roman society as being in which of the following stages ofhistory?
Theological stage
Which research method asks subjects to respond to a series of items in a questionnaire or an interview?
a survey
Culture is a source of human freedom because ________
as cultural creatures, humans make and remake the world for themselves
Learning more sociology can help you ________
assess the opportunities and constraints in our lives
Counterculture refers to ________
cultural patterns that oppose those that are widely held
What's the term for the beliefs, values, behavior, and material objects that together make up the way of life for a group of people?
culture
The fact that instant messaging is based on a new set of symbols show us that ______.
culture changes over time
Sarah is spending a summer living in another country where people have a way of life that differs from her own. A sociologist might expect that this experience would lead her to ________
end up with a greater understanding of both a new way of life and her own way of life.
The social standing of women and men in hunting and gathering societies is _______
fairly equal, with men and women each making a vital contribution to survival
The sociological perspective
focuses on how the social structures and forces of our society shape our individual lives.
An act of kindness, such as opening the door for an elderly man, illustrates conforming to ________
folkways
________ are rules about everyday, casual living; _________ are rules with great moral significance.
folkways; mores
__________ are rules about everyday, casual living; __________ are rules with great moral significance.
folkways; mores
A good example of cultural lag is ________
gaining the ability to modify genetic patterns in humans before understanding the possible social consequences of doing so.
To evaluate a theory using evidence, sociologists ________
gather data or facts
The first type of society to generate a material surplus was ________
horticultural and pastoral.
Sociology differs from the older discipline of philosophy by focusing on ________
how society actually operates.
Sociologists cannot identify "laws of society" that allow us to precisely predict the behavior of an individual because ________
human behavior may be patterned, but it is also spontaneous
Unrecognized and unintended consequences of a social pattern are called ______
latent functions.
Understanding the differences between countries encourages ________
increasing our understanding of both of our own lives and the lives of others
Building social relationships and creating tens of thousands of jobs are two of the _________ of sports
latent functions
In deciding what kinds of questions to ask in their research, sociologists are guided by ______
one or more theoretical approaches
In deciding what kinds of questions to ask in their research, sociologists are guided by ________
one or more theoretical approaches.
Looking at the operation of U.S. schools guided by the social-conflict approach might lead a sociologist to conclude that ________
our society provides some students with far better schooling than others
Cultural transmission refers to the process of ________
passing cultural patterns form one generation to another
The Sapir-Whorf thesis states that ________
people see the world through the cultural lens of their language
A manifest function of sports is ________
providing recreation and physical conditioning
By stating that the sociological perspective shows us "the strange in the familiar," the text argues that sociologists ________
reject the familiar idea that people simply decide how to act in favor of the initially strange idea that society shapes our lives.
Among all forms of life, humans stand out as the only species that _____.
relies on culture to ensure survival
Among all forms of life, humans stand out as the only species that________
relies on culture to ensure survival
The concept "cultural lag" refers to the fact that ________. a. the rate of cultural change has been slowing.
some cultural elements change more quickly than others.
The _____ approaches are macro-level, describing societies in broad, structural terms.
structural-functional and social-conflict
The theoretical approach in sociology that assumes society is a complex system whose parts work together to promote solidarity and stability is the _______
structural-functional approach
Harley Davidson motorcycle riders, computer programmers, and jazz musicians all display _____ patterns.
subcultural
Among the historical changes that stimulated the development of sociology as a discipline was ________
the rise of the industrial economy and growth of cities.
A statement that explains how and why specific facts are related is called a(n) _______
theory
Two variables are said to display correlation if
they vary together
The major goal of sociology's pioneers, including Auguste Comte and Emile Durkheim, was ________
to discover how society actually operates.
Standards by which people who share culture define what is desirable, good, and beautiful are called ________
values