Sociology - Chap 10 quiz

Religion fulfills what role in society from a structural functionalist perspective?

It provides its adherents with a set of values, norms, and rules by which to live

What do schools, churches, and governments all have in common?

They are all social institutions.

Systems and structures that persist over time and help organize group life are called

social institutions.

In 2008, the Obama family's search for a church to attend in Washington, D.C., was big news. A sociological analysis of the national curiosity about the president's church might argue that

being a Christian is an unofficial requirement for the presidency.

What is it called when a government bars an individual, either temporarily or permanently, from voting?

disenfranchisement

A society that separates church and state is a(n) ________ society.

secular

The fact that school schedules are organized around Christmas is evidence

that the United States is not a totally secular society.

Sociologists have noted that the informal teaching practices and power relationships by which schools operate produce a disconnect between democratic values and what actually goes on in schools. About what concept are such arguments referring?

the hidden curriculum

C. Wright Mills identifies the small and unified group of people who occupy the highest positions of the major economic, political, and military institutions and exercise tremendous influence in American social life as

the power elite

What is the process called when students are tested and the test results are used to place them in a certain category of classes (remedial, advanced, college prep, etc.)?

tracking