UNCC - SOCY 1101

Jennifer is a new student in sociology. She is having trouble in her theory class because none of the theories she is learning about seem to say the same things about society. As a more experience sociology student, what might you say to Jennifer to help her understand why this is the case?

"Sociology has multiple and competing theories and most sociologists draw on more than one at a time to make sense of their work."

How many themes do sociological theories have in common?

3

What is the difference between empirical generalizability and theoretical generalizability?

Empirical generalizability means research results can be applied to a larger population, whereas theoretical generalizability means research results can be applied to larger processes

Which of the following best describes how people commonly develop stereotypes about a group?

People will develop generalizations about a group based on little to no information

Social theories are _____.

Systematic ideas that help explain the relationship between individuals and society

Which sociological theorist is primarily associated with the development of structural functionalism?

Talcott Parons

Tam is able to attend highly competitive college because his parents have enough income to pay the tuition. Lai is only able to attend night classes at a less competitive college because she has to work during the day to pay tuition. Which statement best describes this scenario?

Tam and Lai are experiencing different social contexts.

Some social theories are macro in nature and seek to explain _____.

Universal features of societies

How did urbanization lead to the development of sociology?

Urbanization caused various social problems, and people wanted to study these problems

Imagine you are entering an elevator full of other people. When you step in you most likely turn around to face the door like everyone else. This behavior is an example of which sociological concept?

a social norm

Which area of sociologist thought focuses on how inequality produces tensions between people in society?

conflict theory

_____ is the term used to describe when two factors or two social phenomena "co-vary" with each other.

correlation

When researchers organize the data according to key categories and concepts, they are _____.

data coding

Durkheim emphasized _____, while Weber emphasized _____, in his theory of society.

social facts; social action

Rupert Murdoch, owner of one of the world's largest media conglomerates, is best characterized as _____.

A member of the bourgeoisie

Sociologist C. Wright Mills suggested that the sociological imagination is a concept that lets us think systematically about the relationship between the personal and the social. How might you apply your sociological imagination to understand how the personal issue of unemployment is tied to greater social issues in the world?

A person will face unemployment due to the recent recession, which resulted in fewer available job openings for job seekers in their field

Which of the following statements best explains the relationship between data analysis and research?

A qualitative sociologist is likely to organize her primary data into key categories and concepts

Which of the following illustrates a researcher obtaining informed consent?

A researcher describes the risks and benefits of participating in a study before enrolling the subject

Which of the following statements best describes the relationship between individuals and social institutions?

A role is a position within an institution or organization that comes with specific social expectations for how to behave and be treated

Which of the following best explains the relationship between a sociological imagination and stereotypes?

A sociological imagination challenges stereotypes by raising questions about where they come from

Which of the following correctly defines the term "sampling"?

A technique to define what or whom to include in a study

Sociologists can ask a broad array of questions. Which of the following best identifies what these sociological questions have in common?

All sociological questions consider how social contexts matter

Which of the following is the best definition of the term "institution"?

An important practice that society has followed for a long time

A sociological imagination requires that we look at the world around us and _____.

Ask deep and meaningful questions

Who coined the term "sociology"?

Auguste Comte

A sociologist wants to find out personal details about her participants' married life. Which of the following types of data collection methods is the most appropriate?

Conduct in-depth interviews

Which of the following is the best example of a causal inference?

Confusing voter registration laws result in some voters not knowing how to register

A teenager notices that he prefers action movies, whereas his sister prefers to watch comedies. What sort of sociological question could be based on his teenager's personal experience?

Do more men than women prefer action movies?

Which of the following questions asks a person to identify his or her social identity?

Do you practice a religion, and if so, what religion?

A good sociological question will help a researcher do more than make generalizations about people. Which of the following is a good sociological question?

Does being born into poverty increase the chances that a person will stay in poverty?

A researcher has formulated a clear research question that can be studied and that balances general and specific details. Also, the researcher does not know the answer to this question and cares about getting the answer. What else should the researcher consider to determine whether or not the question is good for a study?

Does the question connect to existing literature or studies?

Edward is introduced to Jessah and intends to kiss Jessah's cheek in greeting. Inadvertently, Edward ends up kissing Jessah's nose. Which of the following conclusions can be drawn based on this scenario?

Edward's mistake was a violation of social norms

A sociologist is writing a research proposal for a new project about how disciplining children in school, such as by giving them detention or suspension, may impact their academic achievement. Which theorist's work might be useful for informing this research topic?

Foucault

Karl Marx collaborated with which other sociologist in his sociological writings?

Friedrich Engels

_____ refers to the increasing flows of goods and services across national borders.

Globalization

A student notices that his mother tends to clean more around the house than his father. What sort of sociological question could be based on this personal experience?

How much more time do women spend cleaning than men?

Symbolic interactionism focuses primarily on which aspect of social life?

How people interact and create shared meaning

Jackson joins the Marin Corps. Before going to basic training, Jackson thinks of himself as "American." Upon completing basic training, he says he is a "Marine." What does this change reveal?

How the institutions we are connected to can change our sense of identity

The color of our skin, our sex, whether or not we have a physical disability, and our socioeconomic class are all aspects of our _____.

Identities

Which of the following sociological questions reveals a comparative-historical perspective?

In what ways are modern neo-Nazis different from Nazis during World War II?

In the 1800s, the United States went through a period where there was a pronounced growth in factories known as _____.

Industrialization

Which of the following is the best example of cultural capital?

Knowing a lot about fine wine

Which of the following pairs of social theorists both emphasized how social class matters in social life?

Marx and Bourdieu

Which sociological theorist was most interested in understanding why each of us behaves the way we do?

Max Weber

Which of the following is an example of a stereotype?

Most wealthy children are spoiled

Which of the following statements best reflects the relationship between norms and whether or not an individual "fits in" to society?

Norms are the rules about what is and isn't acceptable in our community and must be followed to "fit in."

A sociologist wants to know the reasons some people break up with their romantic partners through e-mail and the reasons other people break up in person. Which of the following would be the most reliable way to conduct this research?

Observe people's real behaviors and interactions

Which of the following statements best reflects the connection between a sociological imagination and effective sociology?

Only when we develop this ability can we start to see larger trends in the world around us

Which of the following statements best highlights the key differences between qualitative and quantitative research?

Qualitative research relies on words, pictures, and observations, whereas quantitative research relies on statistical analysis

What is the difference between reliability and validity?

Reliability describes when an experiment repeatedly produces similar results, whereas validity means that results measure what they were intended to measure

Imagine you are a sociologist interest in designing a research study to investigate whether or not there are differences in college students' academic outcomes depending on whom they have in their social networks to help them through college. The works of which sociological theorist might be most useful in helping explain the theoretical basis of this research?

Simmel

Both analytical sociologists and Bourdieu are interested in which sociological concept?

Social connections

Which of the following statements best reflects the relationship between sociology and other social science disciplines?

Sociology has given birth to a number of other disciplines, including African American studies, gender studies, demography, and criminology

_____ utilizes the logic of _____ to explain social change.

Structural functionalism; biology

Which of the following statements best reflects the relationship between units of analysis and the scientific study of society?

The phenomenon studied has a great impact on the unit of analysis, and access to certain units of analysis may shape research questions.

Several major social science groups and associations were first founded in the late 1800s and early 1900s. What does this show?

The rapid industrialization and urbanization of the time resulted in the need to study society and its groups

Which of the following scenarios depicts a researcher breaking an ethical code?

The researcher publishes the full names of participants alongside the study in a research journal

Baby Alyssa is born in a hospital with a lot of resources, staff, and modern equipment. Baby Brandi is born in a hospital with older equipment, few staff, and little resources. Which statement best describes this scenario?

The two babies are born into different social contexts

Which of the following research questions would lead to a cross-national comparison?

What causes England's infant mortality rate to be lower than the United States' infant mortality rate

Angela observes that children from lower-income families tend to have higher rates of lead poisoning. She finds out that low income does not cause lead poisoning but is connected to conditions that can result in lead poisoning. Angela's results are an example of which of the following?

a correlation

A researcher is planning a study to find out whether the number of hours of sleep a student gets before an exam affects the score the student achieves The researcher thinks that fewer hours of sleep will result in the student achieving a lower exam score. This is an example of _____.

a hypothesis

A parent tells a child he is not supposed to eat food off the ground. This rule is an example of _____.

a norm

A conclusion about how one factor can result in a change in another factor is known as a _____.

causal inference

Emilio is reviewing the data he collected from historical records about immigration in the United States. He decides to organize the data by the country the immigrants came from, such as Ireland, Italy, and Russia. Based on this description, you can tell that Emilio is _____.

data coding

After completing a study on the elderly and the costs of healthcare, a sociologist notices a pattern. The sociologist notices that the cost of prescription medications increases as the age of the elderly person increases. This pattern became easily noticeable after the sociologist constructed a _____.

data display

Michael is going to conduct a study in a college dorm. He decides to include in the study only students in every third dorm room. This is an example of which of the following?

developing a random sample

Sociological theories tend to have _____ areas of focus, but all have _____ in mind.

different; the same goals

Marx's theories are primarily focuses on explaining how _____ perpetuate(s) social inequality, while Du Bois's theories focus on how _____ perpetuate(s) inequality.

economics; racism

The field of sociology has spawned other areas of study. Which of the following is an area of study spawned by sociology?

gender studies

Before conducting research, sociologists often come up with a prediction about what might be discovered by the research. This prediction is called a _____.

hypothesis

Which of the following concepts would symbolic interactionists most likely use in their research?

impression management

What term describes when a researcher sits down one-on-one with a participant in order to ask a series of questions?

in-depth interview

The sociological theories of Marx are focused primarily on _____.

inequality in economic systems

An institutional review board at a university has evaluated a particular research study and submitted a request to the researcher requiring that she have all participants sign a document stating that they agree to participate in the study. This IRB is focusing on _____.

informed consent

Sociologist A completes an experiment and records the results. Sociologist B completes the same experiment, following the same steps as Sociologist A, but gets different results. This means that the experiment _____.

is not reliable

Relative to its sibling disciplines, sociology _____ draw(s) on interdisciplinary research.

is the most likely discipline to

Data collected over a long period, such as many years, is called _____.

longitudinal data

Based on her data, Tamara infers that children from higher income families are more likely to receive tutoring. She wants to make the general claim that children from higher income families tend to receive more school support. This is an example of _____.

making a generalization

As part of a study, a sociologist observes a group of people. Then the sociologist applies the gathered data toward a broader theory of human behavior. This is called _____.

making a theoretical generalization

According to the theories of Karl Marx, capitalism, feudalism, and communism are all examples of _____.

modes of production

_____ solidarity, unlike _____ solidarity, is associated with an extensive division of labor in society.

organic; mechanical

A sociologist plans to conduct a study that involves observing families interacting at the zoo. The sociologist documents all of her observations, takes photos of the families, and writes down descriptions of what she sees. This study illustrates _____.

qualitative research

_____ relies on the statistical analysis of data.

quantitative research

Prior to the work of theorists like W. E. B. Du Bois, it was believed that _____ was the result of biological differences between groups of people.

racial inequality

Lengthier versions of research notes are known as _____.

research memos

According to feminist theory, there is an empirical difference between an individual's _____ and _____.

sex; gender

The displacement of many jobs once done in the United States now being done by workers in other countries is an example of how _____ shape our understanding and experiences in the world.

social and historical contexts

Over time, social theorists have helped us understand how characteristics of individuals, such as race and gender, are _____.

social constructions

According to Simmel, the difference between how emotionally close you may feel to your parent when compared to how emotionally unclose you may feel to your dentist is an example of how _____ matters in your daily life.

social distance

Family, marriage, education, government, and religion are all examples of _____.

social institutions

The theoretical works of Emile Durkheim focus primarily on what theme?

social order

Sending children to school is one way we engage individuals in the _____ process.

socialization

Imagine you are a sociologist studying poverty in society. As a result of your research, you conclude that many jobs are created for individuals in society due to other people being in poverty. For example, there are vast numbers of social workers and nonprofit and government employees who all have jobs to help people in poverty, all of which would be eliminated if poverty itself were eradicated. Which theoretical framework could best help you explain this conclusion?

structural functionalism

Jennifer is studying the effects of nutrition on student performance in school. She researches a group of students and finds that students who miss breakfast often do poorly during the school day. What is the dependent variable in this scenario?

student school performance

In a symbolic interactionist framework, physical, social, and abstract objects are all potential _____.

subjects of interpretation

A group of questions asked to a large group of people is called a(n) _____.

survey

Sociologists often use conceptual frameworks inherited from earlier scientists. These historical conceptual framework are called _____.

theoretical traditions

Unlike economics, sociology has many _____ to learn about.

theoretical traditions

_____ can help explain social change.

theories

A sociologist supports marriage equality, and he decides to conduct a research project on marriage laws in each state. His support of marriage equality could also be called his _____.

values