Sociology Final Exam

Why does the family have such a powerful impact as an agent of socialization?

Family begins the socialization process before there are any other competing influences.

My Christian grandfather married my Muslim grandmother. These are two competing belief systems. However they arrived at a workable, smooth, and harmonious family system. As such, my mother was raised as a Christian and her sister was raised as a Muslim. Waht marriage setting is described here?

Heterogamy.

How do most sociologists differentiate between sex and gender?

Sex is biological; gender is social.

How is the study of culture different for sociologists than for anthropologists?

Sociologists usually study a society to which they belong.

Despite the fact that people snack on grasshoppers and crickets in Thailand, many people in the United States express disgust at the idea. This suggests that, in the United States, eating insects is a

Taboo

What historical events convinced Auguste Comte that society needed to be guided by thinkers who understood social laws?

The French Revolution and the instability that followed it

What is one of the principal reasons people turn to deviant behavior in the United States according to the structural strain theory of deviance as articulated by Robert Merton?

The goal of success is shared by a majority of people, but not everyone has equal means for achieving that goal.

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

They are all social institutions.

What happens to individuals who are NOT socialized?

They are unable to fully develop without contact with others.

A person who is not prejudiced may still participate in discrimination.

True

A person's biological sex and gender identity often match, but this is not always the case.

True

A sociologist's responsibility is to question everything the everyday person would take for granted.

True

Agents of socialization are mutually exclusive and do not overlap.

True

Both sides are partially right in the nature vs. nurture debate

True

C. Wright Mills described a process by which biography (individual lives) and history (larger social forces) are related. He argued that this process works in two ways: individual lives influence society, while society also influences individuals.

True

Deviance can be considered relative because whether a behavior is considered deviant depends upon the historical, cultural, and situational context in which it occurs.

True

Du Bois considered the question of black in black America and black in White America to devise the concept of double-consciousness.

True

Gender varies from culture to culture

True

Men out-earn women at every level of educational attainment.

True

Only an authoritative body or formal institution can impose negative sanctions.

True

Our sense of self is largely created through social processes.

True

Social capital is generated from one's social networks

True

Sociologists claim that culture is the lens through which we perceive and evaluate what is going on in the world around us.

True

Sociologists try to follow the steps of the scientific method or approach to gather new empirical data that can change and deepen our understanding of human social life.

True

The family is created and sustained through interactional work

True

The process of socialization tends to emphasize everyday social interaction.

True

The writings of Émile Durkheim, Karl Marx, and Max Weber were deeply influenced by their life experiences.

True

There are many members of social groups who do not conform.

True

There have been many societies throughout history with no social stratification.

True

Which theorist argued that if people define a situation as real, it is real in its consequences?

W. I. Thomas

How is culture transmitted and internalized?

We learn values and beliefs as we interact with others.

Harriet Martineau supported many ideas that were radical for her time including

Womens' rights, labor unions and the abolition of slavery.

Lili is conducting a sociological research study on the underground music scene. She has just finished collecting data for the study. What is the next step Lili should take in the scientific method?

analyze data

What sort of laws prohibited the mixing of racial groups through marriage, cohabitation, or sexual contact?

anti-miscegenation

How are norms enforced in everyday settings?

by multiculturalism

Until recently, South Korea had laws in place banning marriage between people who belonged to the same clan. This means that they practiced

exogamy

What does Karl Marx call it when individuals fail to see the ways they are oppressed by the social system in which they live?

false conciousness

Family friends who are referred to as "Aunt" or "Uncle" are examples of

fictive kin.

According to the scientific method, what are the steps in conducting research and in what order should they be completed?

form a hypothesis, define variables, choose research method, collect data

White privilege is the idea that one group in society enjoys certain unearned privileges and that group members are

largely unaware of the unequal benefits they possess.

Coca-Cola was first marketed in the 1860s as a patient medicine, designed to offer the energy boost of cocaine without the vices of alcohol. The new beverage was invigorating and popular. Today, however, cocaine is not just banned but widely demonized. This is an example of

mainstream culture once approving of behaviors that are now considered deviant.

The belief that members of one racial group are genetically predisposed to be more intelligent than members of another racial group is an example of

prejudice

Understanding that racism in the United States created and maintains inequality is characteristic of

race conciousness

The mother of a university student encourages her son to join a fraternity. She hopes that peer pressure and groupthink may lead her son to do things he hasn't tried before, such as volunteering and attending formal events. What perspective best describes her views?

symbolic interactionism

Max Weber helped lay the groundwork for sociologists who would develop symbolic interactionism as a theory because he believed that a social scientist should approach the study of human action

with verstehen (understanding), which emphasizes empathy with individuals' experiences.

Which of the following would be considered a group in the sociological sense?

A high school chess club

Young army recruits arriving at boot camp are about to enter which of the following?

A total institution

Why do gender and sexuality discussed together in the text?

All two exist only at the micro level.

According to the text, why are divorce rates deceptive?

Because it traced actual marriages for permanence

A boy receives a B+ on his English paper with the teacher's comment, "Brilliant insight, but you're lacking focus and have some typos." How is this typical of the way schools treat boys?

Boys are more likely to receive praise for the intellectual quality of their work than girls.

Mazonga was excited. Today, is the day to visit the family of his bride. He shifted nervously on his feet. "Will they accept his gift?" he was thinking. He looked at the bundle of goods at his feet. In the bundle, was a calabash of Koala nuts, a big bundle of paper money ($5,000 of the local currency) he had worked hard for in the city; and a collection of expensive female clothing. He turned his eyes away from the bundle and looked out through the door to a pair of healthy cows chewing on curd, as well as 5 chickens. He smiled gleefully. Isata's, his bride, parents would be happy. His nervousness left. What marraige concept is this story representing?

Bride Price

Conflicts within mainstream society about which values and norms should be upheld or shifted are called

Culture wars

The Haida and Tlingit of the Pacific Northwest, societies are based on lineages. Haida society is divided into two groupings, one called "Raven" and the other "Eagle." The clans and their subgroups or matrilineal lineages, own unique combinations of crests and other intellectual properties such as songs and names. Marriages had to take place between Eagles and Ravens, rather than those who belonged to the same clan, and children became members of the same clan as their mother. Similarly, the Tlingit society is wholly divided into two distinct clans, termed Raven and Eagle or Wolf. Members of one clan traditionally may only marry a person of the opposite clan. What marriage from does this represent?

Exogamy

Children are taking on the role of the generalized other when they pretend to be a firefighter, mommy, or doctor.

False

Gender is biologically natural.

False

Our social networks consist of just our closest friends and family.

False

Stereotyping involves judging others based on their character and past behaviors.

False

The wealth gap involves the unequal distribution of prestige or social honor that some individuals receive for being members of particular groups.

False

There is only one correct theoretical explanation for any particular social phenomenon.

False

Throughout history, prison has been the most common means of punishment for criminals and deviants.

False

The royal and noble families of Europe have close blood ties. In particular, the ruling dynasties of Spain, England, Russia, and Portugal. Several Habsburgs, Bourbons, and Wittelsbachs married aunts, uncles, nieces, and nephews. Queen Elizabeth II and her husband Prince Philip, Duke of Edinburgh are second cousins both descending from King Christian IX of Denmark. They are also third cousins as great-great-grandchildren of Queen Victoria of the United Kingdom.

Homogamy

How is institutional discrimination different from individual discrimination?

Institutional discrimination is more systematic and widespread.

Which of the following is one of the basic principles of social stratification?

It is maintained through beliefs that are widely shared in a society

Many everyday cultural practices such as greeting a friend, giving someone flowers, or using the thumbs-up sign seem like natural ways of acting. Why does having an awareness of how these practices vary across cultures demonstrate a healthy sociological imagination?

It reminds us that everyday interactions are connected to larger societies and norms.

Cherokee women are the equals of men. Women have autonomy and can obtain divorce easily, work as producers/farmers, own their own homes and fields, and have significant political and economic power. The Cherokee kinship system lineage is traced through the mother and maternal ancestors. The most important male relative in a Cherokee child's life is his mother's brother, not his father. In fact, the father is not formally related to his offspring. This describe what descent structure?

Matriarchy

Dallas is an American sitcom that tells the story of the Machiavellian business exploits of the Ewing family, whose members all lived under the same roof at a sprawling ranch known as Southfork. The clan includes "Jock" Ewing and "Miss Ellie" Ewing, the patriarch and matriarch, and their three sons. This scenario depicts what family residency pattern?

Matrilocal

What term did sociologist George Ritzer use to describe the spread of rationalization and bureaucratic ways of operating into everyday life?

McDonaldization

What can be concluded regarding gendered occupations?

Men outnumber women in occupations that entail prestige and higher salaries.

What explanation does functionalism have for prejudice and discrimination today?

Prejudice and discrimination help to increase group cohesion.

Brazilians have many other racial categories, including moreno, mulato, neguinho, and pretinho. Most of these terms do not have an equivalent in the United States. What does this tell you?

Race is a social construct

How do sociologists define a minority group?

a group that makes up less than 50 percent of the total population

What did Robert Merton call a prediction that came true only because the prediction was made?

a self-fulfilling prophecy

How do sociologists define race?

a social category based on biological factors defined by the society in question.

According to the text the increasing number of Americans in single parent household is a factor in the surge of couples who practice ________.

cohabitation

An employee who has a special relationship with his boss is promoted instead of a more deserving co-worker. This is an example of the

distinction between ideal culture and real culture.

Considering that impression management relies so much on strategies of performance, scholars have called Erving Goffman's ideas

dramaturgy

In 2003, a major armed conflict began in the Darfur region of Sudan. The government carried out a deliberate and systemic extermination of Darfur's non-Arab population, resulting in several hundred thousand causalities and refugees. What best describes the actions taken by the government of Sudan against Darfur's non-Arab population?

genocide

What was probably Harriet Martineau's MOST important contribution to the development of sociology as a discipline?

her translation of the work of Auguste Comte into English

The tendency to choose romantic partners based on similarities in background and group membership is called

homogamy

A reporter who covers the police beat at a newspaper changes careers. She becomes an editor of nonfiction books and is paid a new higher salary than when she was at the newspaper. What has she experienced?

horizontal social mobility

A nightclub has several types of employees, each with a specialized task. Bartenders make drinks, bouncers check identification, bussers clear away used glasses, and so on. Unlike the other employees, bouncers can get their friends in for free. In many ways, the club is a bureaucracy, but there is at least one significant element of bureaucratic organization missing. What is it?

impersonality

Robert Merton's typology of deviance outlines the strain that people experience as they attempt to access cultural goals through legitimate, institutionalized means. In which of the following categories would gangsters and con artists be found?

innovation

A black man in the United States was convicted of a felony when he was 17. He is now 58 and has not committed any crimes since his release. However, he is still not permitted to vote. This can be described as an example of

institutional discrimination

What is it an example of when the children of working-class parents manage to attend college and get a job in a professional field?

intergenerational mobility

What do sociologists call the norms and values that people actually follow as opposed to the norms and values that people believe should be followed?

real culture

Which of the following is an example of discrimination?

refusing to sell someone a house because of his or her race

What sort of measure of poverty are we using when we compare the salaries of the lowest-paid members of a corporation with the salary of the CEO?

relative deprivation

What is a parent experiencing when he has to decide between being on time for work or helping his child with a homework assignment?

role conflict

In all probability, the sociology professor who is giving this test would be totally unable to grade a test given in the chemistry department. What aspect of bureaucracy does this illustrate?

specialization

When young people go away to college, it is often the first time they make friends with people of substantially different class statuses. Sometimes this leads to tension when the wealthier member of a friendship is oblivious to his or her friend's class status and suggests activities that are beyond the friend's means. This tension results from a lack of

status inconsistency

What school of social thought insists that all social structures, including systems of stratification, are built out of everyday interactions?

symbolic interactionalism

Sameer thinks that religion consists of meaningful displays of values and norms that are created, maintained, and changed through social interaction. What perspective best describes Sameer's views?

symbolic interactionism

Which part of the mind would Freud have described as being like a type of conscience that punishes misbehavior with feelings of guilt?

the Superego

According to George Herbert Mead, what are children learning when they begin to take the perspective of a generalized other in their games?

the attitudes and expectations of society as a whole

When women are more likely than men to live in poverty, it is often referred to as

the feminization of poverty.

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

A woman is shown in the vast majority of commercials that advertise cleaning supplies. This illustrates that

the media portrays gender roles in highly stereotypical ways.

Why would sociologists who study social networks and employment pay attention to the frequency with which a person has been in contact with each member of his or her social network?

to see if a particular tie is strong or weak

Many workers at auto plants in Michigan lost their jobs when plants closed. What has this resulted in for the vast majority of these workers?

vertical social mobility

Some subcultures have adopted branding as a form of body art, though it is no longer used as a form of punishment in the United States. This demonstrates that

what is considered deviant changed over time