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