Sociology Exam 2

How is a sociological definition of religion different from a commonsense, everyday definition?

A sociological definition must be broad enough to encompass all varieties of religious experiences.

What is the term for the legitimate right to wield power?

authority

A society that separates church and state is a(n) ________ society.

secular

The Information Revolution changed the nature of work and the economy because it has

shifted the economy toward the production of knowledge and services.

What are systems and structures within society that shape the activities of groups and individuals called?

social institutions

What racial issue does functionalism help to explain?

the everyday mechanisms of racial passing

What is religiosity?

the extent of a person's consistent and regular practice of their religious beliefs

Beyond just money, the economy is about

the production, distribution, and consumption of goods and services.

Regarding class conflict, Karl Marx argues that

there have been class conflicts throughout all of human history

The second-wave feminist movement was associated with the issue of

women's equal access to employment and education.

With what issue is first-wave feminism MOST strongly associated?

women's suffrage

Sociologists define ethnicity

as a group with a shared ancestry or shared cultural heritage

Race is defined by sociologists

as a social category based on real or perceived biological differences.

What is it called when a minority group is absorbed into the dominant group?

assimilation

Gender role socialization begins

before birth

A benefit of telecommuting is that

businesses get increased productivity and fewer sick days.

According to C. Wright Mills, a small and unified group of people occupy the highest positions of the major economic, political, and military institutions and exercise tremendous influence in American social life. What does he call this group?

the power elite

Who led campaigns to end child labor and increase workplace safety?

unions

What sort of social mobility often results from losing a job?

vertical

Sociologists define a minority group as a group

with members who are denied access to power and resources

The cultural and economic changes that result from dramatic increases in international trade and exchange are called

globalization

What is the definition for the "hidden curriculum" concept?

lessons that students learn indirectly through the method in which the curriculum is presented and the way the school is organized

One of the primary principles of capitalism is

privatization of the means of production.

In which decade did the Information Revolution begin?

1970s

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

90

The ________ was a macro-level social change that resulted in new innovations in farming such as mechanized seed spreaders and new techniques of crop rotation.

Agricultural Revolution

Advocates of social justice claim that affirmative action gives members of one group unfair preferential treatment

False

An individual's sex refers to the physical, behavioral, and personality characteristics considered normal, while their gender relates to membership in a distinct, biological category.

False

Capitalism and socialism are two examples of political systems throughout the world.

False

Microaggressions consist of overt or obvious verbal, but not nonverbal, communications that are meant to denigrate or dismiss members of particular groups.

False

The middle class is made up of mostly blue-collar workers.

False

What is one of the basic principles of social stratification?

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

What is the principal sociological critique of the culture of poverty?

It tends to blame the victims of poverty for their own misfortunes while ignoring the structural causes of inequality.

Which of the following is true regarding gendered occupations?

Men outnumber women in occupations with more prestige and higher salaries.

What makes the just-world hypothesis psychologically appealing to the average person?

Most people have a strong need to believe that the world is orderly, predictable, and fair.

How is prejudice different from discrimination?

Prejudice is an attitude; discrimination is an action.

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

Sex is biological; gender is social.

What do schools, churches, and governments all have in common?

They are all social institutions.

________ is the MOST extreme form of authoritarianism.

Totalitarianism

A person who is not prejudiced may still participate in discrimination.

True

Educational systems can help to reproduce systems of inequality.

True

Gender varies from culture to culture.

True

Prejudice is rooted in generalizations or stereotypes

True

The process of socialization tends to emphasize heteronormativity.

True

"Homogamy" is a term sociologists use to explain the tendency to choose romantic partners based on similarities in background and group membership. Why is this common?

We tend to have more access to people like ourselves.

How is Max Weber's idea of social class different from Karl Marx's?

Weber believed that wealth, power, and prestige all affected a person's social class.

Patriarchy can be defined as a society

in which men dominate women.

An example of a microaggression is

men who whistle at and catcall a woman who is walking down the street.

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

social stratification

The school of social thought that insists all social structures, including systems of stratification, are built out of everyday interactions is called

symbolic interactionism.