CHAPTER 2 REVIEW

A sociologist conducts research into the ways that Hispanic American students are historically underprivileged in the U.S. education system. What theoretical approach is the sociologist using? A. Symbolic Interactionism B. Functionalism C. Conflict Theory D. Ethnocentrism

C. Conflict Theory +Conflict theorists view social structure as inherently unequal, based on power differentials related to issues like class, gender, race, and age. +For a conflict theorist, culture is seen as reinforcing issues of "privilege" for certain groups based upon race, sex, class, and so on.

Cultural sanctions can also be viewed as ways that society: A. Establishes Leaders B. Determines Language C. Regulates Behavior D. Determines Laws

C. Regulates behavior

The existence of social norms, both formal and informal, is one of the main things that inform ___________, otherwise known as a way to encourage social conformity. A. Values B. Sanctions C. Social Control D. Mores

C. Social Control EX. In the United States, for instance, murder is considered immoral, and it's punishable by law (a formal norm). But more often, mores are judged and guarded by public sentiment (an informal norm).

Modern-day hipsters are an example of: A. Ethnocentricity B. Counterculture C. Subculture D. High Culture

C. Subculture DEF. SUBCULTURE--A smaller cultural group within a larger culture; people of a subculture are part of the larger culture but also share a specific identity within a smaller group.

The belief that one's culture is inferior to another culture is called: A. Ethnocentrism B. Nationalism C. Xenocentrism D. Imperialism

C. Xenocentrism +The Greek root word xeno, pronounced "ZEE-no," means "stranger" or "foreign guest." EX. An exchange student who goes home after a semester abroad or a sociologist who returns from the field may find it difficult to associate with the values of their own culture after having experienced what they deem a more upright or nobler way of living.

Some jobs today advertise in multinational markets and permit telecommuting in lieu of working from a primary location. This broadening of the job market and the way that jobs are performed can be attributed to: A. Cultural Lag B. Innovation C. Discovery D. Globalization

D. Globalization DEF. GLOBALIZATION--Refers as an integration of international trade and finance markets as globalization.

The American flag is a material object that denotes the United States of America; however, there are certain connotations that many associate with the flag, like bravery and freedom. In this example, what are bravery and freedom? A. Symbols B. Language C. Material Culture D. Nonmaterial Culture

D. Nonmaterial Culture +Nonmaterial culture consists of the ideas, attitudes, and beliefs of a society. Material and nonmaterial aspects of culture are linked, and physical objects often symbolize cultural ideas. EX. A school building belongs to material culture, but the teaching methods and educational standards are part of education's nonmaterial culture.

Most cultures have been found to identify laughter as a sign of humor, joy, or pleasure. Likewise, most cultures recognize music in some form. Music and laughter are examples of: A. Relativism B. Ethnocentrism C. Xenocentrism D. Universalism

D. Universalism EX. Cultural universals are patterns or traits that are globally common to all societies. One example of a cultural universal is the family unit: every human society recognizes a family structure that regulates sexual reproduction and the care of children.

3.3 Pop Culture, Subculture, and Cultural Change

Sociologists recognize high culture and popular culture within societies. Societies are also comprised of many subcultures—smaller groups that share an identity. Countercultures reject mainstream values and create their own cultural rules and norms. Through invention or discovery, cultures evolve via new ideas and new ways of thinking. In many modern cultures, the cornerstone of innovation is technology, the rapid growth of which can lead to cultural lag. Technology is also responsible for the spread of both material and nonmaterial culture that contributes to globalization.

3.4 Theoretical Perspectives on Culture

There are three major theoretical approaches toward the interpretation of culture. A functionalist perspective acknowledges that there are many parts of culture that work together as a system to fulfill society's needs. Functionalists view culture as a reflection of society's values. Conflict theorists see culture as inherently unequal, based upon factors like gender, class, race, and age. An interactionist is primarily interested in culture as experienced in the daily interactions between individuals and the symbols that comprise a culture. Various cultural and sociological occurrences can be explained by these theories; however, there is no one "right" view through which to understand culture.

3.1 What is Culture?

Though "society" and "culture" are often used interchangeably, they have different meanings. A society is a group of people sharing a community and culture. Culture generally describes the shared behaviors and beliefs of these people and includes material and nonmaterial elements. Our experience of cultural difference is influenced by our ethnocentrism and xenocentrism. Sociologists try to practice cultural relativism.

The "American Dream"—the notion that anybody can be successful and rich if they work hard enough—is most commonly associated with which sociological theory? A. Sociobiology B. Functionalism C. Conflict Theory D. Ethnocentrism

C. Conflict Theory

3.2 Elements of Culture

A culture consists of many elements, such as the values and beliefs of its society. Culture is also governed by norms, including laws, mores, and folkways. The symbols and language of a society are key to developing and conveying culture.

A nation's flag is: A. A Symbol B. A Value C. A Culture D. A Folkway

A. A Symbol +Gestures, signs, objects, signals, and words—help people understand that world. They provide clues to understanding experiences by conveying recognizable meanings that are shared by societies. EX. The world is filled with symbols. Sports uniforms, company logos, and traffic signs are symbols. In some cultures, a gold ring is a symbol of marriage. Some symbols are highly functional; stop signs, for instance, provide useful instruction. +As physical objects, they belong to material culture, but because they function as symbols, they also convey nonmaterial cultural meanings. Some symbols are valuable only in what they represent. EX. Trophies, blue ribbons, or gold medals, for example, serve no other purpose than to represent accomplishments. But many objects have both material and nonmaterial symbolic value

The Ku Klux Klan is an example of what part of culture? A. Counterculture B. Subculture C. Multiculturalism D. Afrocentricity

A. Counterculture DEF. COUNTERCULTURE--A type of subculture that rejects some of the larger culture's norms and values. +In contrast to subcultures, which operate relatively smoothly within the larger society, countercultures might actively defy larger society by developing their own set of rules and norms to live by, sometimes even creating communities that operate outside of greater society.

Your eighty-three-year-old grandmother has been using a computer for some time now. As a way to keep in touch, you frequently send emails of a few lines to let her know about your day. She calls after every email to respond point by point, but she has never emailed a response back. This can be viewed as an example of: A. Cultural Lag B. Innovation C. Ethnocentricity D. Xenophobia

A. Cultural Lag + Technological gadgets that catch on quickly with one generation are sometimes dismissed by a skeptical older generation. A culture's objects and ideas can cause not just generational but cultural gaps. +Material culture tends to diffuse more quickly than nonmaterial culture; technology can spread through society in a matter of months, but it can take generations for the ideas and beliefs of society to change.

Rodney and Elise are U.S. students studying abroad in Italy. When they are introduced to their host families, the families kiss them on both cheeks. When Rodney's host brother introduces himself and kisses Rodney on both cheeks, Rodney pulls back in surprise. Where he is from, unless they are romantically involved, men do not kiss one another. This is an example of: A. Culture Shock B. Imperialism C. Ethnocentrism D. Xenocentrism

A. Culture Shock EX. A traveler from Chicago might find the nightly silence of rural Montana unsettling, not peaceful. An exchange student from China might be annoyed by the constant interruptions in class as other students ask questions—a practice that is considered rude in China. Perhaps the Chicago traveler was initially captivated with Montana's quiet beauty and the Chinese student was originally excited to see a U.S.-style classroom firsthand. But as they experience unanticipated differences from their own culture, their excitement gives way to discomfort and doubts about how to behave appropriately in the new situation.

An example of high culture is ___________, whereas an example of popular culture would be ____________. A. Dostoevsky style in film; "American Idol" winners B. Medical marijuana; film noir C. Country music; pop music D. Political theory; sociological theory

A. Dostoevsky style in film; "American Idol" winners DEF. HIGH CULTURE--Describes the pattern of cultural experiences and attitudes that exist in the highest class segments of a society. +People often associate high culture with intellectualism, political power, and prestige. DEF POP CULTURE-- the pattern of cultural experiences and attitudes that exist in mainstream society. +Popular culture events might include a parade, a baseball game, or the season finale of a television show.

The biggest difference between mores and folkways is that A. Mores are primarily linked to morality, whereas folkways are primarily linked to being commonplace within a culture. B. Mores are absolute, whereas folkways are temporary. C. Mores refer to material culture, whereas folkways refer to nonmaterial culture. D. Mores refer to nonmaterial culture, whereas folkways refer to material culture.

A. Mores are primarily linked to morality, whereas folkways are primarily linked to being commonplace within a culture. DEF. MORES-- norms that embody the moral views and principles of a group. Violating them can have serious consequences. The strongest mores are legally protected with laws or other formal norms. DEF. FOLKWAYS--Norms without any moral underpinnings. Rather, folkways direct appropriate behavior in the day-to-day practices and expressions of a culture +EX. The mores of the U.S. school system require that a student's writing be in the student's own words or use special forms (such as quotation marks and a whole system of citation) for crediting other writers. Writing another person's words as if they are one's own has a name—plagiarism. The consequences for violating this norm are severe and usually result in expulsion.

The Occupy Wall Street movement of 2011 grew to be an international movement. Supporters believe that the economic disparity between the highest economic class and the mid to lower economic classes is growing at an exponentially alarming rate. A sociologist who studies that movement by examining the interactions between members at Occupy camps would most likely use what theoretical approach? A. Symbolic Interactionism B. Functionalism C. Conflict theory D. Ethnocentrism

A. Symbolic Interactionism +Symbolic interactionism is a sociological perspective that is most concerned with the face-to-face interactions between members of society. Interactionists see culture as being created and maintained by the ways people interact and in how individuals interpret each other's actions. +Proponents of this theory conceptualize human interactions as a continuous process of deriving meaning from both objects in the environment and the actions of others. This is where the term symbolic comes into play. Every object and action has a symbolic meaning, and language serves as a means for people to represent and communicate their interpretations of these meanings to others. +Those who believe in symbolic interactionism perceive culture as highly dynamic and fluid, as it is dependent on how meaning is interpreted and how individuals interact when conveying these meanings.

The terms _________________ and ______________ are often used interchangeably, but have nuances that differentiate them. A. Imperialism and Relativism B. Culture and Society C. Society and Ethnocentrism D. Ethnocentrism and Xenocentrism

B. Culture and Society +In everyday conversation, people rarely distinguish between the terms culture and society, but the terms have slightly different meanings, and the distinction is important to a sociologist. +A society describes a group of people who share a community and a culture. By "community," sociologists refer to a definable region—as small as a neighborhood as large as a country. +To clarify, a culture represents the beliefs and practices of a group, while society represents the people who share those beliefs and practices. Neither society nor culture could exist without the other.

That McDonald's is found in almost every country around the world is an example of: A. Globalization B. Diffusion C. Culture Lag D. Xenocentrism

B. Diffusion +Alongside the process of globalization is diffusion, or the spread of material and nonmaterial culture.

The major difference between invention and discovery is: A. Invention is based on technology, whereas discovery is usually based on culture. B. Discovery involves finding something that already exists, but invention puts things together in a new way. C. Invention refers to material culture, whereas discovery can be material or theoretic, like laws of physics. D. Invention is typically used to refer to international objects, whereas discovery refers to that which is local to one's culture.

B. Discovery involves finding something that already exists, but invention puts things together in a new way. DEF. DISCOVERIES--Discoveries make known previously unknown but existing aspects of reality. DEF. INVENTIONS--Inventions result when something new is formed from existing objects or concepts—when things are put together in an entirely new manner.

What theoretical perspective views society as having a system of interdependent inherently connected parts? A. Sociobiology B. Functionalism C. Conflict theory D. Ethnocentrism

B. Functionalism +Functionalists view society as a system in which all parts work—or function—together to create society as a whole. In this way, societies need culture to exist. +Cultural norms function to support the fluid operation of society, and cultural values guide people in making choices. Just as members of a society work together to fulfill a society's needs, culture exists to meet its members' basic needs. +Functionalists also study culture in terms of values. EX. Education is an important concept in the United States because it is valued. The culture of education—including material culture such as classrooms, textbooks, libraries, dormitories—supports the emphasis placed on the value of educating a society's members.

The notion that people cannot feel or experience something that they do not have a word for can be explained by: A. Linguistics B. Sapir-Whorf C. Ethnographic Imagery D. Bilingualism

B. Sapir-Whorf The Sapir-Whorf hypothesis is based on the idea that people experience their world through their language, and that they therefore understand their world through the culture embedded in their language. The hypothesis, which has also been called linguistic relativity, states that language shapes thought. +Studies have shown, for instance, that unless people have access to the word "ambivalent," they don't recognize an experience of uncertainty from having conflicting positive and negative feelings about one issue. +Essentially, the hypothesis argues, if a person can't describe the experience, the person is not having the experience.