SOC 1001 Midterm Review Q's

How does Karl Marx differentiate between members of the proletariat and the bourgeoisie?

Members of the bourgeoisie own the means of production, while the proletariat possess only their own labor.

Which of the following is an example of material culture?

Weapons of war.

The term "total institution" applies to which of the following?

Prisons.

According to Kluckhorn, "Queer Customs", what is not a definition of culture?

A group of people who cooperate with each other to achieve certain ends.

In 2005 the Northwestern University women's lacrosse team won an NCAA championship and was invited to the White House to receive congratulations from the president. Controversy erupted after their visit, when the official photograph revealed that several team members were wearing flip-flops. Despite the outcry, the athletes took the criticism in stride, talking about it on the Today Show and auctioning the offending footwear for charity. Given the reaction and the team's responses, what sort of norm did the athletes break by wearing flip flops to the White House?

A folkway.

How does an individual come to possess an achieved status?

An achieved status is earned.

What is the scientific method?

The standard procedure for acquiring and verifying empirical knowledge.

According to sociologists, what are signs?

Anything designed to meaningfully represent something else.

According to conflict theory, why are vagrancy laws passed?

As a way to target groups who threaten society's elites.

In many middle eastern countries, showing someone the bottom of your foot or shoe is considered rude, so American military in the middle east are instructed to keep feet inside helicopters when flying low, why is this needed?

Because gestures are not universal.

According to the Code of the Streets article, which is true?

Both "decent" and "street" children need to learn to code of the street.

How is a subculture different from a counterculture?

Both are distinct from mainstream culture, but a counterculture actively opposes mainstream culture.

In recent years, sociologists who study deviance learned that they can measure the quantities of narcotics consumed by a community by testing its sewage before treatment what part of the research process would the sociologists be carrying out when they visit the sewage treatment plans?

Collecting data.

What do sociologists say is true about culture?

Culture includes the habits and lifestyle choices of a group of people, customs and rituals, as well as tools and artifacts, shapes and defines who we are, and encompasses every aspect of social life.

In order for a behavior, trait, or belief to be considered deviant, it must:

Depart from the norm and generate a negative reaction.

While a dishonest judge must pretend to be an honest judge, even an honest judge must play the role of "honest judge" for an audience in order to interact and work with others effectively. What theoretical perspective considers this performance?

Dramaturgy.

What do sociologists call it when an individual's job requires her to manage her feelings as part of her official duties?

Emotional labor.

Which of the following is an advantage of using ethnography to study social life?

Ethnography allows the researcher to gather abundant data on a small population.

Which of the following statements regarding "expressions given" and "expressions given off" is true (Erving Goffman, The Presentation of Self in Everyday Life)?

Expressions given are perceived to be intentional and expressions given off are perceived to be unintentional, expressions given off provide a means of gauging the authenticity of expressions given.

Which of the following sources of socialization forms the foundation for all other socializing agents?

Family.

Which of the following is one of the functions of non-material culture?

It allows people to communicate.

How does Miners, "Nacirema" demonstrate sociological imagination?

It challenges preconceptions by looking at a familiar culture in an unexpected light.

When a politician is caught cheating on a spouse, there are usually serious consequences, and sometimes the politician is forced to resign from his office when his constituents loudly express their unhappiness with such behavior. According to Emile Durkheim, what function does this reaction serve?

It helps to clarify moral boundaries, reinforcing the idea that marital infidelity is wrong.

Which of the following could NOT be considered a strong critique of symbolic interactionism?

It is insufficiently concerned with the meaning that individuals give to their actions.

Today, using the wrong fork to eat a salad at a dinner party would not be considered deviant, why not?

It is not a serious enough norm violation to provoke sanctions.

What can the Institutional Review Board (IRB) do if it has reservations about the safety or ethics of a research project?

It may stop the project from going forward, at least until changes have been made.

Imagine that you're trying to rewrite a survey. You find a multiple-choice question that asks, "what is your favorite recreational activity?" and gives three response options: watching tv, shopping, or sports. You rewrite the question so that it reads simply, "what is your favorite recreational activity?" and allow the respondent to fill in any response that they choose. What kind of question have you just made?

Open-ended.

What do you call broad theoretical models of the social or natural world?

Paradigms.

What subculture was being socialized by the Cadaver Stories articles?

Premed students who have not yet taken the anatomy classes.

What sorts of things do students learn from the hidden curriculum?

Punctuality, neatness, and discipline.

Sometimes it's hard for college students to use new forms of technology to communicate with their parents or grandparents. It's very convenient to be able to use an instant message to ask family members a quick question, but they might not know the difference between laughing and yelling face, which could lead to serious miscommunication. The problem is that older people may not know the same _________ as younger people.

Signs or symbols.

Why are adults not considered to be completely socialized?

Socialization is a life-long process. There will always be new situations and new norms to learn.

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

Sociological imagination.

Which of the following is an example of an altered life circumstance that rill require a significant degree of resocialization?

Starting college, adopting a baby, getting a promotion at work, and retiring.

What school of social theory believes that society is a stable system of structures, each of which contributes to the equilibrium of the whole?

Structural functionalism.

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

Symbolic interactionism.

Which of the following lists norms in order from the most severely enforced to the least?

Taboos, mores, folkways.

According to Messner, "Boyhood", why are young boys so attracted to organized sports?

The competitive and rule bound atmosphere allows boys to form "safe" (non-intimate) connections with other males.

According to the structural strain theory of deviance as articulated by Robert Merton, what is one of the principal reasons people turn to deviant behavior in the U.S.?

The goal of success is shared by a majority of people, but not everyone has equal means for achieving that goal.

A college student plans to go to graduate school because she thinks of herself as having excellent critical thinking skills and a brilliant mind. What would Charles Cooley's theory of the looking-glass self say about where she got these ideas?

These ideas came from fellow students and teachers expressing admiration or her and her work.

If you possess a sociological imagination and someone asks you to study unemployment rates in a city of 50 million people where 15 million are unemployed what would you conclude?

We should consider economic and political structures of society.

Imagine that a powerful and influential person decided to tattoo her own face with symbols and images that told parts of her life story. Would this person be treated as deviant?

Yes it would in the U.S., though there are many cultures that would consider it normal or desirable.

Sociologists observe society:

by studying the various parts of society and the way they interact and influence each other.

A monetary fine, harsh words, and a raised fist are examples of:

negative sanctions.

A high school football coach is worried about handling her roster. On one hand, it's her job to try and win all the games, on the other hand, she should play all of her players, the tension she feels is called:

role strain.

Together and in groups, people organize their lives and their social interactions to produce a real and meaningful world. Sociologists can study this because:

such organization is done in patterned ways.

The social sciences are all those disciplines that study:

the human, or social, world.