Quiz 1

Bernard McGrane suggests we should practice using a beginner's mind, the opposite of an expert's mind. Usually it's good to be an expert. Why should we try to think like the beginner's instead?

A. An expert's mind is so full of facts and assumptions that it has difficulty learning anything new.

Sociology can be defined as the systematic and scientific study of human society and social behavior. Given this definition, what level of social structure might sociologists examine?

Almost any level- from interactions between two people to large-sclae institutions

Even though a small number of people have been academically trained as sociologist, we can all be described as "natural sociologists" because:

we are all members or society and so have a great deal of background knowledge about how society works

In Great Britain in the 18th century, a series of Enclosure acts were established, which broke up small farms, forced many small farm owners to move to large cities in search of wage labor, and increased agricultural profits for landowners. What large-scale social system was this a part of?

Capitalism

According to C. Wright Mills, what one quality of mind for all great sociologists possess?

Sociological imagination

Taking the sociological perspective means thinking sociologically about a problem

TRUE

The writings of Emile Durkheim, Karl Marx, and Max Weber were deeply influenced by their life experiences.

TRUE

What institutions does Max Weber believe characterize modern industrialized societies?

bureaucracies

Which of the following theories focuses on how our behaviors are dependent upon the ways we interpret, make sense of, and define ourselves, others, and social institutions?

symbolic interactionism

One of the key challenges sociologists face is studying something they are intimately familiar with. Like fish in water, sociologists often find it hard to see what is right in front of their faces. To overcome this, what might you try?

Doing nothing

Which of the following could NOT be used as a synonym for the term "theory?"

Method

According to C. Wright Mills, most people think about their problems as issues of social structure rather than as matters of character, psychology, or chance

false

The "beginner's" mind a concept borrowed from the Zen Buddhist tradition, is the opposite of the sociological perspective

false

Harriet Martineau supported many ideas that were radical for her time, including:

labor unions and the abolition of slavery

Howard Becker said that sociology can be best understood as the study of people "doing things together." This definition reminds us that:

neither society nor the individual exists in isolation; each is dependent on the other.

Emile Durkheim suggested that, in traditional societies, people were bound together through mechanical solidarity. What was the basis of these sorts of bonds?

shared traditions with similar experience