Sociology Final

__________ is the sexual attraction to the same sex; while __________ is the sexual attraction to the opposite sex.

Homosexuality; heterosexuality

As workers grew tired of toiling for the benefit of capitalists instead of for themselves, some of them banded together to form the first national labor union, the __________, in 1869.

Knights of Labor

How does the caste perspective, which is a part of the conflict theory, view racial and ethnic inequality in the U.S.?

as a permanent feature of US society

Which of the following is NOT an example of discrimination?

believing that African Americans are better dancers than white people

In theory, ___________ acts as a balance to excessive profits. When producers vie with one another for customers, they must be able to offer innovative goods and services at aggressive prices.

competition

Which perspective would argue that business cycles are the result of capitalist greed? In order to maximize profits, capitalists suppress the wages of workers. As the prices of products increase, workers are not able to purchase them in the quantities that have been produced.

conflict

According to the __________ perspective, the economy is a vital social institution because it is the means by which needed goods and services are produced and distributed in a society.

functionalist

The contact hypothesis points out that when people from different groups are exposed to each other, favorable attitudes and behavior develop when certain factors are present. What are these factors?

1. have equal status 2. pursue the same goals 3. cooperate with one another to achieve their goals 4. receive positive feedback when they interact with one another in positive, nondiscriminatory ways

In which of the following societies do you see high levels of gender inequality because male dominance became institutionalized?

Agrarian

How do teachers treat boys and girls differently?

Boys are more likely than girls to be punished for misbehaving.

Job satisfaction is used to refer to people's attitudes toward their work. Some studies have found that worker satisfaction is highest when the work environment offers employees certain characteristics. Which of following is NOT one of these characteristics?

Employees have some degree of control over their work.

__________ are tangible objects that are necessary (such as food, clothing, and shelter) or desired (such as DVDs and electric toothbrushes); while __________ are intangible activities for which people are willing to pay (such as dry cleaning, a movie, or medical care).

Goods; services

In 1991 an enormous controversy erupted after five Los Angeles police officers were caught on tape beating a motorist named Rodney King. Although there continues to be much controversy over the event, many people see it as a blatant act of discrimination. Under what circumstances would this beating be considered institutional discrimination?

If the leadership of the Los Angeles police department condoned or encouraged this type of behavior on a regular basis, it would be considered institutional discrimination.

Margaret Mead spent much of her career documenting the ways that other cultures had gender roles that differed, sometimes radically, from those of twentieth-century America. How does this relate to the idea that gender differences are socially constructed?

It shows that the meaning of masculinity and femininity differs in different societies, which demonstrates that our version of gender is not naturally occurring.

How has union membership changed over the past three decades?

Membership has been shrinking.

Sweden, Great Britian, and France are just a few of the countries that are defined as __________ because of the combination of elements of a market economy (capitalism) with elements of a command economy (socialism).

Mixed Economy

Which racial or ethnic group in the U.S. is the most disadvantaged in terms of income, employment, housing, nutrition, and health?

Native Americans

__________ is the belief that wages ought to reflect the worth of a job, not the gender or race of the worker.

Pay equity or comparable worth

How is prejudice different from discrimination?

Prejudice is an attitude; discrimination is an action.

The Brazilian census has traditionally only had four racial categories: preto, branco, amarelo, and pardo. However, in everyday life, Brazilians have many other racial categories, including moreno, mulato, neguinho, and pretinho. Most of these terms don't have an equivalent in the United States. What does this tell you about race?

Race is socially constructed.

_________ is the social institution that ensures the maintenance of society through the production, distribution, and consumption of goods and services.

The Economy

Despite demographic shifts, how can you tell that whites are still the dominant group in California?

They remain dominant in terms of power, resources, and representation in social institutions.

Which of these workers would be most typical of the economy in America today?

a 30-year-old woman who works as a customer service representative for a cell phone company

How do sociologists define a minority group?

a group whose members suffer from unequal treatment

How do sociologists define ethnicity?

a group with a shared ancestry or shared cultural heritage

How do sociologists define race?

a social category based on real or perceived biological and physical differences

An action or behavior that results in the unequal treatment of an individual because of his membership in a racial or ethnic group is called:

discrimination

Consider the following argument: "Women's roles as nurturers and caregivers are even more pronounced in contemporary industrialized societies; this division of family labor ensures that important societal tasks will be fulfilled and it also provides for family members." What perspective does this statement most closely reflect?

functionalist perspective

Homer Simpson, a character on the TV show The Simpsons, has a wife who stays home to take care of the children while he works, but he is often responsible for disciplining the children when they are particularly bad. Even if this is all that you know about the show, you know that Homer:

has taken the instrumental role

In their collective struggles to improve their work environment and bargain with employers for better wages and benefits, workers have used a number of methods including joining ___________ to gain strength through collective action.

labor unions

The policy of __________, which means "leave alone," was advocated by economist Adam Smith in his 1776 treatise An Inquiry into the Nature and Causes of Wealth of Nations. It is part of the ideal of capitalism where there is little to no government intervention in the marketplace.

laissez-faire

A women's group fights for better childcare options, women's right to choose an abortion, and the elimination of sex discrimination in the workplace, arguing that the roots of women's oppression lie in women's lack of equal civil rights and educational opportunities. The platform of this group reflects:

liberal feminism

The belief that all Irish are drunks is an example of:

prejudice

The textbook argues that sexism directed at women has three components. Which of the following is NOT one of these components?

prejudice that highlights the strength and achievements of women.

Most workers in preindustrial economic structures engage in __________ production, which is the extraction of raw materials and natural resources from the environment.

primary sector

Which of the following is one of the primary principles or ideals of capitalism?

privatization of the means of production

At the heart of Nazi power was the belief that the Aryan race was superior to all others. This belief is an example of what?

racism

A community leader argues in favor of women's organizations seeking better health and daycare and shelters for victims of domestic violence, pointing out that in order for women's condition to improve, patriarchy must be abolished. This leader's point of view is reflected in:

radical feminism

Steel workers who process metal ore and autoworkers, who then convert the ore into automobiles, trucks, and buses, are engaged in __________ production.

secondary sector

In the vast majority of commercials that advertise cleaners, a woman is shown using the product even though the high percentage of men who live alone surely means that men also clean. This shows that:

sex roles are portrayed highly stereotypically by the media.

The biological and anatomical differences between females and males refer to _________; while __________ refers to the distinctive qualities of men and women that are culturally created.

sex; gender

Canada has an economic system that is based on collective ownership of the means of production, where the needs of members of the society are more important than the pursuit of personal profit. What type of economic system is this?

socialism

A postindustrial economy is based on __________ production, which is the provision of services rather than goods as a primary source of livelihood for workers and profit for owners and corporate shareholders.

tertiary sector

In 2008 and 2009, the United States government initiated a large-scale economic bailout of the banking and auto industries, in which the government invested enormous amounts of money, becoming the majority shareholder in some corporations. This means that:

the United States is a capitalist nation with a degree of socialism in government subsidies to businesses.

Sociologist Talcott Parsons stated that in contemporary industrialized societies, the wife assumes the __________ of providing affection and emotional support for the family.

the expressive role

Chrysler was one of America's original automobile makers, established in Detroit in 1925. But from 1998 to 2007, they were part of the German-based company Daimler-Chrysler, and after they declared bankruptcy in 2009, they explored a merger with Fiat, an Italian automotive manufacturer. This example reminds us that most big companies today are:

transnational

Recently, some analysts have suggested that the United States has assumed many of the characteristics of a(n) __________ (a state that uses extensive government action to provide support and services to its citizens) as it has attempted to meet the basic needs of older persons, young children, unemployed people, and persons with a disability.

welfare state

According to the human capital model, women as a category earn less money than men because:

women diminish their earning capacity when they leave the labor market to engage in childbearing and child-care activities