Sociology Exam #1 Study Guide

Ch2 What is multiculturalism?

An effort to enhance appreciation of cultural diversity. Multiculturalism developed as a reaction to the earlier "melting pot" idea, which was thought to result in minorities' losing their identity as they adopted mainstream cultural patterns. Multiculturalism is defined as A. efforts to encourage immigration to the United States. B. efforts to establish English as the official language of the United States. C. a perspective recognizing the cultural diversity of the United States and promoting equality of all cultural traditions. D. the idea that the United States should have a single, dominant culture.

Ch1 Who is the "father" of sociology (and coined the term Sociology)?

Auguste Comte (1975, orig. 1851-54) saw sociology as the product of three stages of historical development. Theological Stage (the Church in the Middle Ages Metaphysical Stage (the Enlightenment and the ideas of Hobbes, Locke, and Rousseau) Scientific Stage (physics, chemistry, sociology) The concept "sociology" was coined in 1838 by A. Karl Marx. B. Herbert Spencer. C. Adam Smith. *D.* Auguste Comte.

Ch4 What is role conflict? What is role strain? Be able to identify examples.

Conflict between two different statuses (police officer, family friend), Conflict between a single status (peer, student)

Ch1 What is the basic idea of the Symbolic Interactionist approach?

Everyday interactions between people on a micro-level make up society as a whole. 'We live in a world of symbols.' Which are objects which have a meaning to our culture. Which theoretical approach claims that it is not so much what people do that matters as much as what meaning they attach to their behavior? A. structural-functional approach B. social-conflict approach *C. symbolic-interaction approach* D. social-exchange approach

Ch1 What does Weber mean by Verstehen?

German for understanding, the interpretive sociologist does not just observe what people do but also tries to understand why they do it. The thoughts and feelings of subjects, which scientists tend to dismiss because they are difficult to measure, are the focus of the interpretive sociologist's attention. Which German word meaning "understanding" was used by Max Weber to describe his approach to sociological research? Verstehen

Ch3 What is Erik Erikson's view of socialization?

He explained that we face challenges throughout the life course, 8 stages. We focused on Stage 5: Adolescence—the challenge of gaining identity (versus confusion). Stage 6: Young adulthood—the challenge of intimacy (versus isolation). Stage 7: Middle adulthood—the challenge of making a difference (versus self-absorption). Stage 8: Old age—the challenge of integrity (versus despair).

Ch1 What is the sociological perspective?

It is a conscious effort to question the obvious and to remove us from familiar experiences and examine them critically and objectively. Q Making use of the sociological perspective encourages A challenging commonly held beliefs.

Ch3 Where do sociologists stand on the nature/nurture debate?

Sociologists lean towards nurture,

Ch1 What did Spencer say about society and the human body?

Spencer compared society to the human body. Just as the structural parts of the human body—the skeleton, muscles, and various internal organs—function interdependently to help the entire organism survive, social structures work together to preserve society. The structural-functional approach, then, leads sociologists to identify various structures of society and investigate their functions. Focuses on social structure promotes society as a whole Q Herbert Spencer described human society as a complex system having much in common with A. animal societies. B. planets and stars. C. the human brain. *D.* the human body.

Ch1 What historical changes stimulated the development of sociology as a discipline?

The French Revolution, which began in 1789, was an even greater break with political and social tradition. As the French social analyst Alexis de Tocqueville (1805-1859) declared, the change in society in the wake of the French Revolution amounted to "nothing short of the regeneration of the whole human race" (1955:13, orig. 1856). Declaration of Independence - "Inalienable rights"

Ch1 What does the term "social marginality" to refer to?

The greater people's social marginality, the better they are able to use the sociological perspective. People at the margins of social life, including not only racial minorities but also women, gays and lesbians, people with disabilities, and the very old, are aware of social patterns that others rarely think about. Q If marginality encourages sociological thinking, we would expect people in which category listed below to make the most use of the sociological perspective? A B. disabled persons or people who are a racial minority

Ch3 What did Mead mean by "taking the role of the other"?

Using symbols, we imagine ourselves "in another person's shoes" and see ourselves as that person does. We can therefore anticipate how others will respond to us even before we act. A simple toss of a ball requires stepping outside ourselves to imagine how another will catch our throw. All social interaction involves seeing ourselves as others see us—a process that Mead termed taking the role of the other

Ch3 How are life course stages linked to biology and society?

We are seeing these stages last longer as biology advances and as societal norms change. i.e. People in their late 70s still being in middle adulthood. People in 30s still being in adolescence.

Ch1 What is the Sociological Imagination?

a quality of mind that allows us to understand the influence of history and biography on our interactive processes (C. Wright Mills, 1959).

Ch3 What did Charles Horton Cooley mean by "the looking glass self"?

a self-image based on how we think others see us

Ch3 What is a total institution, and what is the goal of a total institution?

a setting in which people are isolated from the rest of society and manipulated by an administrative staff.

Ch4 What is a role? Can you give an example? What is a role set?

behavior expected of someone who holds a particular status.

Ch2 What is a counterculture? Can you give an example?

cultural patterns that strongly oppose those widely accepted within a society, 1960 hippies, religious militants Counterculture refers to A. people who differ in some small way. B. popular culture. C. high culture. D. cultural patterns that oppose those that are widely held.

Ch1 What is the Structural-Functionalist view of society?

framework for building theory that sees society as a complex system whose parts work together to promote solidarity and stability Q Which theoretical approach states that the stability of U.S. society rests on the core values shared by the majority of people AStructural-functionalist

Ch1 What is the main focus of the Social-Conflict view?

framework for building theory that sees society as an arena of inequality that generates conflict and change. Focuses on instead on how social patterns benefit some people while hurting others. The theoretical approach that highlights the link between culture and social inequality is the A. structural-functional approach. *B.* social-conflict approach. C. symbolic-interaction approach. D. sociobiology approach.

Ch3 There will be questions about the first 14 minutes of Genie: Secret of the Wild Child which is available on Youtube.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=hmdycJQi4QA

Ch3 What is the id? the ego? the superego?

id (Latin for "it") represents the human being's basic drives, which are unconscious and demand immediate satisfaction. ego (Latin for "I"), which is a person's conscious efforts to balance innate pleasure-seeking drives with the demands of society human personality, the superego (Latin for "above or beyond the ego") is the cultural values and norms internalized by an individual. The superego operates as our conscience, telling us why we cannot have everything we want.

Ch1 What is a mean? A median? A correlation?

mean is the value obtained by dividing the sum of several quantities by their number; an average. the median value of a range of values. correlation is a quantity measuring the extent of interdependence of variable quantities. What term refers to the arithmetic average of a series of numbers? mean What is the term for the value that occurs most often in a series of numbers? mode Q Two variables are said to display correlation if A they vary together

Ch2 What are mores and folkways? Can you give an example?

norms that are widely observed and have great moral significance. Mores, which include taboos, are the norms in our society that insist, for example, that adults not walk around in public without wearing clothes. Folkways, norms for routine or casual interaction. Examples include ideas about appropriate greetings and proper dress. In short, mores distinguish between right and wrong, and folkways draw a line between right and rude. The early U.S. sociologist who described the difference between folkways and mores was B. William Graham Sumner.

Ch2 What is culture shock?

personal disorientation when experiencing an unfamiliar way of life. Disorientation due to the inability to make sense out of one's surroundings

Ch3 What does the case of Anna show us?

personality, a person's fairly consistent patterns of acting, thinking, and feeling. We build a personality by internalizing—taking in—our surroundings. But as the Harlows might have predicted, five long years of socialisolation had caused permanent damage. At age eight, her mental development was less than that of a two-year-old. Not until she was almost ten did she begin to use words. Because Anna's mother was mentally retarded, perhaps Anna was also. The riddle was never solved, however, because Anna died at age ten of a blood disorder, possibly related to the years of abuse she suffered. But without social experience, as Anna's case shows, personality hardly develops at all. Anna's case makes clear that humans depend on others to provide the care and nurture needed not only for physical growth but also for personality to develop. A century ago, however, people mistakenly believed that humans were born with instincts that determined their personality and behavior.

Ch2 What is a norm?

rules and expectations by which a society guides the behavior of its members.

Ch4 What is a status? Can you give an example? What is a status set?

social position a person holds eg. doctor, daughther, friend

Ch2 What is a subculture? Can you give an example?

subculture refers to cultural patterns that set apart some segment of a society's population. People who ride "chopper" motorcycles traditional Korean Americans New England "Yankees Ohio State football fans the southern California "beach crowd Elvis impersonators wilderness campers Subculture refers to A. a part of the population lacking culture. B. people who embrace popular culture. *C. cultural patterns that set off a part of a society's population.* D. people who embrace high culture.

Ch2 What is cultural lag? Can you give an example?

the fact that some cultural elements change more quickly than others, disrupting a cultural system. For example, in a world in which a woman can give birth to a child by using another woman's egg, which has been fertilized in a laboratory with the sperm of a total stranger, The term "cultural lag" refers to the fact that A. the rate of cultural change has been slowing. B. some societies advance faster than others do. C. some people are more cultured than others. D. some cultural elements change more quickly than others.

Ch2 What is the Sapir-Whorf hypothesis?

the idea that people see and understand the world through the cultural lens of language. Though evidence doesn't support this, an example would be the word man having a strict definition in islamic countries rather than the encompasing western definition. Which of the following MOST closely conveys the point of the Sapir-Whorf thesis? A. Language involves attaching labels to the real world. *B. People see the world through the cultural lens of their language.* C. Most words have the same meaning if spoken in different languages. D. Every word exists in all known languages.

Ch3 What is socialization?

the lifelong social experience by which people develop their human potential and learn culture

Ch2 What is cultural relativism?

the practice of judging a culture by its own standards The practice of understanding another culture on its own terms and using its own standards is called A. ethnocentrism. B. cultural relativism. C. cultural diffusion. D. cultural integration.

Ch2 What is ethnocentrism?

the practice of judging another culture by the standards of one's own culture A person who criticizes the Amish farmer as being "backward" for tilling his fields with horses and a plow instead of using a tractor is displaying A. ethnocentrism. B. cultural relativism. C. cultural diffusion. D. cultural integration.