Sociology test 1

When cultures that were once distinct become increasingly similar, they are experiencing the phenomenon of

cultual leveling

An employee who has a special relationship with his boss is promoted instead of a more deserving co-worker. This is an example of the

distinction between ideal culture and real culture

We occasionally see stories in the media about a high-profile individual, such as a religious or political leader who gets caught doing something the society views as wrong despite the individual often being seen as a moral leader. These are examples of a disconnect between which two cultural concepts?

ideal culture and real culture

What is a closed-ended question?

one that limits the possible responses

What practice did Bernard McGrane suggest that individuals adopt to better understand the world around them?

. beginner's mind

What is a sociologist's theoretical perspective if they argue that we have seen the "dissolution of master narratives or metanarratives"?

. postmodernism

Which of the following is an example of the Sapir-Whorf hypothesis? (language influences ideology)

An indigenous people have no equivalent words for planet, Earth, or world. They do not view a macro picture of multiple planets.

Why is the term "queer" used to describe queer theory?

It emphasizes the importance of difference and rejects a single gay or lesbian identity.

Why is it beneficial for sociologists to experience culture shock?

It makes us realize we lack an understanding of our surroundings so we can perceive what is right in front of us.

How do sociologists study the way in which people, as part of groups, organize their lives and social interactions to produce a real and meaningful world?

People organize their lives in patterned ways.

Why did Durkheim, in The Elementary Forms of Religious Life, argue that religion was a powerful source of social solidarity?

Religion reinforced collective bonds and cultivated shared moral values.

Macrosociology and microsociology approach the study of society from different perspectives. How does the discipline of sociology deal with these two very different approaches?

These two perspectives are on a continuum, and sociologists can adopt the perspective most useful for a particular problem.

A pilot study is

a smaller study used to investigate the feasibility of a larger one

he increased use of Facebook, Twitter, and other social media by terrorist organizations in other countries to recruit new members is an example of cultural diffusion for which reason?

b. Twitter and Facebook were originally products of the Western world that have been adopted by people in other countries.

________ is an example of something that would be part of an individual's or society's symbolic culture.

belonging to a political party

The Yale sociologist Kai Erikson wrote a book called Wayward Puritans, in which he drew on court records from colonial Massachusetts. He learned that the rate of out-of-wedlock births was much higher than it is now and that the amount of alcohol consumed per capita was higher as well. What research methodology was Erikson using?

comparative-historical research

The French social theorist Jean-François Lyotard described contemporary culture in this way: "One listens to reggae, watches a Western, eats McDonald's food for lunch and local cuisine for dinner, wears Paris perfume in Tokyo and 'retro' clothes in Hong Kong." He was writing about postmodernism, but what concept can help explain this mixture of activities?

cultural diffusion

Which of the following is a characteristic of otaku culture?

east influencing the west

________ are informal rules and guidelines for behavior that are considered acceptable within a group.

folkways

If conducting research, what steps must you take to follow the scientific method? Identify them in the correct order in which you should do them.

form a hypothesis, define variables, choose research method, collect data

Which of these uses an inductive method that involves collecting data and then generating a theory by looking for relationships among categories?

grounded theory

A study found a strong correlation between parental bonding and adolescent drug use. Children with stronger bonds to their parents were far less likely to try drugs or alcohol. After examining their data more closely, the researchers discovered that parental bonding was really a predictor for teen religiosity. Consequently, high levels of religiosity, rather than parental bonding, actually prevent drug use. This means that religiosity was a(n)

interventing variable

The slogan "What happens in Vegas, stays in Vegas" is an example of what cultural concept?

moral holiday

A sociologist performs an experiment designed to investigate the effect of marriage counseling on divorce. They divide research participants into two similar groups of troubled couples, provides only one group with counseling, and observes whether or not, over time, the two groups eventually divorce at different rates. What is the independent variable in this experiment?

marriage counseling

he Egg McMuffin is a vastly more efficient version of eggs Benedict. Egg McMuffins are cheaper, ready almost instantly at drive-through windows, and can be eaten with one hand while driving. However, they do not improve on the taste of or experience eating eggs Benedict. Max Weber might have described the Egg McMuffin as the ________ of breakfast.

rationalization

A graduate student is almost done with his dissertation when he is informed that twenty years ago someone did a similar project and already demonstrated what he had hoped to be the first to discover. What basic step of the scientific method should have saved him from this problem?

reviewing the literature

An ideal whereby researchers identify facts without allowing their own personal beliefs or biases to interfere is known as

value-free sociology

What school of social theory believes that society is a stable system of structures that contribute to the equilibrium of the whole?

structural functionalism

What is the sociological imagination?

the ability to understand the interplay between the self and larger social forces

hat are researchers doing when they use a social networking site like Facebook to obtain data?

using existing sources