Sociology 201 Exam One

If you were interested in studying the relationship between date and acquaintance rape victims and the characteristics of the rapist, your first step would be to A) Conduct interviews B) Define a problem to study C) Create a hypothesis D) Choose a research design

B) Define a problem to study

W. E. B. Du Bois investigated power and inequality based on _____

Race

What does an effective survey question need to be?

Simple and clear enough for people to understand

What are the steps for the scientific method?

1) Define the problem 2) Review the literature 3) Formulate a testable hypothesis 4) Collect and analyze the data 5) Develop a conclusion

What is social inequality?

A condition in which members of society have differing amounts of wealth, prestige, or power

What is a research design?

A detailed plan or method for obtaining data scientifically

What is the control variable?

A factor that is held constant to test the relative impact of an independent variable • Doesn't change

The view that social order is maintained through cooperation and consensus would most likely be held by

A functionalist

What is a variable?

A measurable trait or characteristic that is subject to change under different conditions

What is correlation?

A relationship between two variables in which a change in one coincides with a change in the other

What is casual logic?

A relationship exists between variables in which change in one brings about change in the other

What is observation?

A research technique in which an investigator collects information through direct participation and/or by closely watching a group or community

What is a random sample?

A sample for which every member of an entire population has an equal chance of being selected • Sociologists frequently use • Eliminates possibility of a bias

What is a sample?

A selection from a larger population that is statistically representative of that population

What is argot?

A specialized language used by members of a group or subculture * Allows communication that outsiders can't understand

What is a survey?

A study, generally in the form of an interview or questionnaire, that provides researchers with information about how people think and act

What is the scientific method?

A systematic, organized series of steps that ensures maximum objectivity and consistency in researching a problem

What is secondary analysis?

A variety of research techniques that make use of previously collected and publicly accessible information and data

What is the functionalist perspective?

An approach that emphasizes the way in which the parts of society are structures to maintain its stability. • Macro level • People are socialized to perform functions • Everyone is a part in the big picture to help function • Ex. Public punishment reinforce the social order

What is an experiment?

An artificially created situation that allows a researcher to manipulate variables • Sociologists don't use as much because of ethics

Using sociology with the specific intent of yielding practical applications for human behavior and organizations is referred to as _______ _________

Applied Sociology

One way to develop a sociological imagination is to view your own society ______

As an outsider

Karl Marx argued that in order to understand social order we must include analysis of A) Anomie B) Ownership of the means of production C) The sociological imagination D) Microsociology

B) Ownership of the means of productions

In sociological and scientific research, a hypothesis A) is an educated guess B) is a testable statement about the relationship between two or more variables C) Insists that science can deal only with observable entities known directly to experience

B) is a testable statement about the relationship between two or more variables

The career path with the specific intent of altering social relationships or restructuring organizations is known as A) Dramaturgical sociology B) Applied sociology C) Clinical sociology D) Academic sociology

C) Clinical Sociology

A sociologist observing behavior at a college football game would probably focus on: A) The coach's demeanor on the sideline B) A fan who has fallen asleep during the game's fourth quarter C) The interaction among fans during the pre-game ritual of tailgate parties D) The cleanliness of the restroom facilities in the stadium

C) The interaction among fans during the pre-game ritual of tailgate parties

Unemployment can be viewed as A) A private troubles. B) A Public issue. C) Neither a public or private issue D) Both a public and a private issue

D) Both a public and a private issue

According to C. Wright Mills, the sociological imagination focuses on the intersection between A) Natural science and social science B) Power and access to resources C) Theory and research D) History and biography

D) History and biography

What is culture?

Everything that humans create in establishing our relationships to nature and with each other • Facilitates social interaction • Enables us to work together

True or False: Sociology can most accurately be considered a natural science because it involves the systematic examination of the effects of human nature on society.

False

True or False: The main purpose of the "hamburger as miracle" story is to show that, when the need arises, all individuals are capable of achieving their goals without the help of others

False

True or False: Karl Marx recommended studying everyday interactions as we are all actors on a stage seeking to successfully put on a performance and called it the dramaturgical approach.

False, it was Erving Goffman who recommended this approach

True or False: Sociologists tend not to use experiments frequently because they are almost always invalid

Fasle, they tend to not use them because they are typically more interested in understanding people's natural responses, and there are ethical questions about doing so

Which sociological perspective would argue that public punishments reinforce the social order?

Functionalist Perspective

Which sociological perspective would argue that social change is predictable in its progression toward greater order?

Functionalist Perspective

Ida Wells-Barnett investigated power and inequality based on _______ ___ ______

Gender and Race

What is the interactionalist perspective?

Generalizes about the everyday forms of social interaction in order to explain society as a whole • Micro level • Ex. People respect laws or disobey them based on their own past experiences • Mead, Cooley, Goffman

Why did Durkheim think people committed suicide?

He believed that people commit suicide because they lack the social connections and obligations to prevent them from taking their own life

What did Karl Marx view as the key factor distinguishing humans from animals?

Humans' ability to transform raw material into finished products.

What is a theory?

In sociology it is a set of statements that seeks to explain problems, actions, or behaviors

The primary relationships studied by sociologists are the ones between

Individuals and society

What is a con to the survey design?

It can be expensive and time consuming

What is the conflict perspective?

It focuses on power and the allocation of valued resources in society • Macro level • People are shaped by power • Ex. Laws enforce the positions of those in power • Marx, Du Bois, Wells-Barnett

What is a con to the experimental design?

It has ethical limitations

What is a con to the observation design?

It involves months if not years of labor-intensive data collection

What is sociological imagination?

It is an awareness of the relationship between individuals and social forces.

What is a pro to the secondary analysis design?

It is cost efficient

What is a con to the secondary analysis design?

It is limited to other's data

What is the Thomas theorem?

It says that how we see the world shapes what we do

What is a pro to the observation design?

It yields detailed information about specific groups or organizations

What is a pro to the experimental design?

It yields direct measures of people's behavior

What is a pro to the survey design?

It yields information about specific issues

______ ________ recognized that personal values would influence the topic that sociologists select for research

Max Weber

What is value neutrality?

Max Weber's term for objectivity of sociologists in the interpretation of data • No bias • Report no matter your own beliefs

Ethnography is an example of __________

Observation

What is Sociological imagination?

Our recognition of the interdependent relationship between who we are as individuals and the social forces that shape our lives

What is called when sociologist actually join the group for a period to get an accurate sense of how it operates?

Participant observation

What are public issues?

Problems that we face as a consequence of the positions we occupy within the larger social structure

What are private troubles?

Problems we face in our immediate relationships with particular individuals in our personal lives

What is personal sociology?

Recognizing the impact that our individual position has on who we are, and how we think and act

What is quantitative research?

Research that collects and reports data primarily in numerical form

What is qualitative research?

Research that relies on what is seen in field or naturalistic settings more than on statistical data • Focuses more on smaller groups • More in-depth

What is macrosociology?

Sociological investigation that concentrates on large-scale phenomena or entire civilizations • Looks at society as a whole

What is microsociology?

Sociological investigation that stresses the study of small groups and the analysis of our everyday experiences and interactions • Focused on the smaller groups in a society

What is the mean?

The average number • Add all the numbers and divide by total amount of numbers

What is science?

The body of knowledge obtained by methods based on systematic observations

What perspective is this? Society represents a struggle over resources. Those who control valued resources have greater power to get their way.

The conflict perspective

What is validity?

The degree to which a measure or scale truly reflects the phenomenon under study

What is reliability?

The extent to which a measure produces consistent results

What is agency?

The freedom that individuals have to choose and to act

What is the experimental group?

The group that is exposed to the independent variable

What is the control group?

The group that is not exposed to the independent variable in an experiment

What is anomie?

The loss of direction felt in a society when social control of an individual behavior has become ineffective • Term created by Emile Durkheim

What was Durkheim particularly concerned with?

The loss of social order

What is the median?

The midpoint

What is the mode?

The most common number

What is the code of ethics?

The standards of acceptable behavior developed by and for members of a profession

What is ethnography?

The study of an entire social setting through extended systematic observation • Form of qualitative research

What is natural science?

The study of the physical features of nature and the ways in which they interact and change

What is social science?

The study of the social features of humans and the ways in which they interact and change

What is content analysis

The systematic coding and objective recording of data, guided by a given rationale • Good for coding open-ended questions in a survey

Hawthorne Effect

The unintended influence that observers of experiments can have on their subjects, even though later studies show the situation there was more complex

What is clinical sociology?

The use of discipline of sociology with the specific intent of altering organizations or constructing social institutions

What is applied sociology?

The use of discipline of sociology with the specific intent of yielding practical applications for human behavior and organizations

What is the dependent variable?

The variable in a casual relationship that is subject to the influence of another variable • The factor that is measured

What is the independent variable?

The variable that the scientist changes on purpose in an experiment

What is globalization?

The world wide integration of government policies, cultures, social movements, and finical markets through trade and the exchange of ideas

What did Wells-Barnett and Addams accomplish?

They were able to prevent racial segregation in Chicago public schools

What is operational definition?

Transformation of an abstract concept into indicators that are observable and measurable • A clear description of what is being measured

True or False: A sociologist who views religion as a societal institution that functions to preserve existing inequalities is most likely to be a conflict theorist in terms of perspective.

True

True or False: According to Durkheim's theory about the causes of suicide, the more interconnected and interdependent a society's members, the lower its suicide rate should be.

True

True or False: Given C. Wright Mills' description of the sociological imagination as our ability to see the interaction between history and biography, it follows that neither society nor the individual can be understood in isolation from the other.

True

True or False: Of the various ways to practice sociology, the way that offers the most direct link between theory and practice is clinical sociology.

True

True or False: The fact that sociologists have found little difference between the sexes in terms of talkativeness is an example of why the systematic analysis of facts is generally more reliable than common sense knowledge.

True

True or False: The observation by sociologists that the 2004 Indian Ocean tsunami killed a higher proportion of men than women is an example of the importance of the consequences of difference.

True

True or False: Of the three main sociological perspectives, the dramaturgical approach, as popularized by Erving Goffman, would best be considered an example of the interactionist perspective.

True

True or False: Society consists of persistent patterns of relationships and social networks within which we operate.

True

True or False: We depend on culture to interpret sensations

True

Erving Goffman popularized the dramaturgical approach, which ________

compares everyday life to a theatrical performance.

Which sociological perspective would suggest that social change is reflected in people's communication patterns and social positions?

interactionist perspective