Sociology - Real World - Ch 10

Structural Functionalism

Aside from the religious message, children also learn morals and values from their religions.

What does a sociological perspective tell us about education in the United States?

Educational success often has as much to do with social stratification as it does with individual ability.

opinion leaders

High-profile individuals whose interpretation of events influences the public (page 296)

Conflict Theory

Ivy League colleges are expensive to attend, so those who want to go to one generally need access to money. people who graduate from these colleges might find better jobs, and would then have more money to send their children to a great college

secular

Nonreligious; a secular society separates church and state and does not endorse any religion (page 316)

527 committees

Organizations that have no official connection to a candidate but that raise and spend funds like a campaign does; named after the section of the tax code that authorizes their existence (page 294)

school vouchers

Payments from the government to parents whose children attend failing public schools; the money helps parents pay private school tuition (page 309)

charter schools

Public schools run by private entities to give parents greater control over their children's education (page 306)

Reasons for not voting

Some groups of people are disenfranchised.

education

The process by which a society transmits its knowledge, values, and expectations to its members so they can function effectively (page 301)

social solidarity

The state of having shared beliefs and values among members of a social group, along with intense and frequent interaction among group members.

special interest groups

organizations that raise and spend money to influence elected officials and/or public opinion (page 293)

Reasons for not voting

people feel to busy

Unchurched

people who consider themselves spiritual but not religious

online education

Any educational course or program in which the teacher and the student meet via the internet, rather than meeting physically in a classroom (page 310)

religion

Any institutionalized system of shared beliefs and rituals that identify a relationship between the sacred and the profane (page 311)

Reasons for not voting

Elections are held on Tuesdays.

early college high schools

Institutions in which students earn a high school diploma and two years of credit toward a bachelor's degree (page 307)

hidden curriculum

Values or behaviors that students learn indirectly over the course of their schooling because of the structure of the educational system and the teaching methods used (page 303)

Social institutions are paradoxical for sociologists because

they impact our everyday interactions and our everyday interactions also impact them.

politics

methods and tactics intended to influence government policy, policy-related attitudes, and activities (page 287)

monarchy

A government ruled by a king or queen, with succession of rulers kept within the family (page 288)

liberation theology

A movement within the Catholic Church to understand Christianity from the perspective of the poor and oppressed, with a focus on fighting injustice (page 312)

intrinsic religiosity

A person's inner religious life or personal relationship to the divine (page 313)

extrinsic religiosity

A person's public display of commitment to a religious faith (page 313)

Spirituality

A person's system of beliefs and values, feelings of connectedness to self and others, and experience of finding meaning and purpose in life.

Symbolic Interactionism

A political campaign is important because it gives voters the opportunity to "get to know a candidate. Candidates try to give voters a good impression of themselves (and sometimes a bad impression of their opponents), because they know this will influence their vote.

democracy

A political system in which all citizens have the right to participate (page 288)

ritual

A practice based on religious beliefs (page 311)

belief

A proposition or idea held on the basis of faith (page 311)

Public schools that are run by private entities are called:

Charter school

Consider the major theoretical perspectives routinely explored throughout the text. Which theoretical perspective might note that most positions of importance in the United States are held by a small, concentrated group of men, and thus, men wield the most power in decision making. The masses, in turn, have little power in this process.

Conflict Theory

Manny believes that religion gives meaning to his life. He believes that religion helps him understand the most fundamental questions about life and existence. Manny understands religion through which sociological lens?

Structural Functionalism

Consider the major theoretical perspectives routinely explored throughout the text. Which theorist might explore the ways in which television advertisements influence public opinion about political candidates?

Symbolic Interactionist

authoritarianism

System of government by and for a small number of elites that does not include representation of ordinary citizens (page 287)

power

The ability to impose one's will on others (page 287)

power

The ability to impose one's will on others is called

homeschooling

The education of children by their parents, at home (page 307)

government

The formal, organized agency that exercises power and control in modern society, especially through the creation and enforcement of laws (page 287)

sacred

The holy, divine, or supernatural (page 311)

authority

The legitimate, noncoercive exercise of power (page 287)

Fourth Estate

The media, which are considered like a fourth branch of government (after the executive, legislative, and judiciary) and thus serve as another of the checks and balances on power (page 294)

profane

The ordinary, mundane, or everyday (page 311)

What was Jonathan Kozol's impression of the poorly funded schools he visited in urban Chicago?

They were extraordinarily unhappy places.

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

Tracking

community college

Two-year institution that provides students with general education and facilitates transfer to a four-year university (page 310)

Which of the following is an advantage cited by supporters of school vouchers?

Vouchers give more choices to parents for their children's education.

The adhan is the Islamic call to prayer, recited five times each day. This means that, in theory, five times each day every Muslim is doing the exact same thing at the exact same time. What function or dysfunction of religion does the adhan help bring about?

it creates social solidarity

Secular

nonreligious; no endorsement of religion

In their Pygmalion in the Classroom, how did Jacobson and Rosenthal select the students they identified as ready to academically "bloom" in the coming school year?

randomly

Structural Functionalism

religion, thus, also serves the purpose of socializing children

According to Randall Collins, our educational system is much like a "tribal initiation rite," a "secret society," or a "closed occupational caste," not a rational system that produces more efficient production but a mechanism for:

reproducing the existing class structure.

A society that separates church and state

secular

disenfranchised

stripped of voting rights, either temporarily or permanently (page 290)

According to the text, one of the largest studies of homeschooled students found

their academic achievements are significantly above those of public school students.

power elite

A relatively small group of people in the top ranks of economic, political, and military institutions who make many of the important decisions in American society (page 292)

pluralist model

A system of political power in which a wide variety of individuals and groups have equal access to resources and the mechanisms of power (page 292)

evangelical

A term describing conservative Christians who emphasize converting others to their faith (page 316)

monotheistic

A term describing religions that worship a single divine figure (page 312)

unchurched

A term describing those who consider themselves spiritual but not religious and who often adopt aspects of various religious traditions (page 316)

simulacrum

An image or media representation that does not reflect reality in any meaningful way but is treated as real (page 298)

political action committee (PAC)

An organization that raises money to support the interests of a select group or organization (page 293)

Reasons for not voting

The weather impacts people's ability or desire to get to the polls.

tracking

The placement of students in educational "tracks," or programs of study (e.g., college prep, remedial), that determine the types of classes students take (page 303)

fundamentalism

The practice of emphasizing literal interpretation of texts and a "return" to a time of greater religious purity; represented by the most conservative group within any religion (page 315)

religiosity

The regular practice of religious beliefs, often measured in terms of frequency of attendance at worship services and the importance of religious beliefs to an individual (page 313)

In Savage Inequalities, Jonathon Kozol contends that because schools are funded via property taxes, children in low-income areas are trapped in poor schools and thus get an inferior education. Ultimately, this continually perpetuates inequality. Jonathon Kozol explored the educational system from which perspective?

conflict

Evangelical

conservative Christians who emphasize converting others

Leroy feared that because his son Carl completed classwork very slowly he'd be labeled as an underachiever in school and placed in remedial courses. This might ultimately cost Carl access to key courses as he progresses through school. This process exemplifies

educational tracking

Arthur does not leave his house each morning until after he puts on his chain with the Star of David on it. This exemplifies his

extrinsic religiosity

Religious groups that emphasize literal interpretation of sacred texts are called:

fundamentalist

When schools fail to make any mention of gays or lesbians in the curriculum, what message is being sent?

gays and lesbians aren't full members of society

What are the most significant consequences of a high school freshman being assigned to a remedial math course?

she has been effectively locked out of certain careers

The academic achievements of home-schooled children was

significantly higher than that of public school students

social institutions

systems and structures within society that shape the activities of groups and individuals (page 286)

In Schooling in Capitalist America, Samuel Bowles and Herbert Gintis argued that schools train a labor force in the skills and attitudes necessary for the health of a modern economy. What are these skills and attitudes?

taking orders and performing repetitive tasks

What variable would account for the dramatic jump in test scores evidenced by the students in Rosenthal and Jacobson's Pygmalion in the Classroom?

teacher attitudes

The fact that school schedules are organized around Christmas is evidence:

that the United States is not a totally secular society.

What is religiosity?

the extent of a person's commitment to a religion

What do sociologists call the lessons that students learn indirectly but which they are not officially or formally tested on?

the hidden curriculum

Which of the following changes has been most transformative to the way distance learning, once known as correspondence courses, is now offered?

the internet

Charter schools are public schools run by private entities intended to give parents greater control over their children's education. True or false?

true