Sociology Study Questions

The type of action guided by emotions and feelings is ______ action.

Affective

Which strategy of empowerment involves bringing people together to identify common goals and work together to achieve them? A. networking B. organization C. education

B

Empowerment is the focus of much ______ scholarship on power.

Feminist

Sociologist ______ argued that a form of rational action he calls McDonaldization is increasingly organizing our everyday lives.

George Ritzer

The concept of ______ is at the center of functional analysis.

equilibrium

The rules and routines, both formal and informal, which shape daily activity within organization is called ______ structure.

organizational

The term social structure refers to

recurring patterns of behavior

Schools, religious institutions, and the government are all examples of

social institutions

In terms of sociology, what is a role?

The sets of expected behavior associated with particular statuses

A practice or technique that is widely used in a particular social setting

convention

Economic power is the type of power that enables some people to

determine who will receive important resources and how those resources will be used.

Michel Foucault argued that

power is everywhere

Which of the following characterize what a growing number of employees in the United States believe about the workplace? a. that they must look out for themselves b. that flexibility and change are inevitable c. that loyalty to a company is the key to a company's success d. that employment is often fleeting and temporary

A, B, D

Which of the following is true according to sociologists who use conversation analysis to study social interactions? a. Formal types of communication are the best suited for conversation analysis b. Conversation has no underlying structure c. Conversations among friends are impossible to study because of their informal nature d. All talk is organized and ordered

All talk is organized and ordered

Today's workers are likely to have ______ options than their counterparts did only a decade earlier.

Fewer

George Ritzer refers to the process by which the standardized, efficient structure of fast-food restaurants has come to dominate more sectors of U.S. and global society as

Mcdonaldlization

Power is an essential part of social relationships at the ______ level of social life.

Micro, macro, meso

Rtizer suggests that the extreme rational action he calls McDonaldization may be

inefficient and dehumanizing

In terms of sociology, action is

the ability to operate independent of social constraints

In the place of manufacturing jobs, which of the following occupations became prominent in the post-World War II period? a. information and records clerks b. retail sales c. teachers d. food and beverage servers

A, C, D

Which of the following are considered to be the social functions of work? a. Jobs provide daily routines that lend stability and predictability to life. b. Work provides people with money to pay their bills. c. The labor force produces valuable goods and services for society as a whole. d. Work teaches people self-discipline.

A, D

Which of the following statements are true of mobile phone use today? a. Mobile phones make us less accessible to people within our social structure b. Mobile phones have severed the connection between person and place c. We have become more accessible to our bosses and coworkers d. Mobile phones do not help arrange face-to-face contact

B, C

The shift of manufacturing jobs to low-wage countries is part of what some analysts call the "______ of America."

deindustrialization

Power that is voluntarily accepted by those who are affected is called ______ power.

legitimate

In sociology, the position in a social system that can be occupied by an individual is called

status

According to a survey by the Pew Research Center, teens most commonly "spend time" with their friends via

text messaging

Max Weber was particularly interested in

understanding what motivates our actions

What is the relationship between action and structure?

Human action has a strong impact on social structures

______ was a leading American sociologist who pioneered the functionalist perspective in the mid-twentieth century.

Talcott Parsons

The "power to" approach in sociology emphasizes

The ability to bring about an intended outcome

The type of action motivated by custom is ______ action.

Traditional

True or False: Individuals can exercise control over their achieved status

True

True or False: The structure of news interviews constrains the behavior of both the interviewer and the interviews

True

True or false: Adopting a new role can be stressful at first

True

A status that individuals attain through their own efforts is a _____________ status

achieved

A controlled social situation in which individuals intentionally break social rules is called

a breaching experiment

The ______ perspective views society as a set of interdependent institutions that each serve a specific purpose in order to maintain social order.

functionalist

When political leaders demonize foreign enemies in rallying support for a war, they are practicing

hegemony

Disasters and accidents that take place within complex and hierarchical organizations can commonly be attributed to which of the following? a. solely to individual mistakes b. poor communication patterns within the organization c. a bureaucracy that hinders the flow of information d. a structure that encourages communication between divisions

B, C

According to Max Weber, what are the two key components of power? A. The distribution of resourcese B. The ability to overcome opposition C. The ability to reach a mutually beneficial comprise D. The ability to bring about an intended outcome

B, D

Which of the following is an example of economic power? a. a religious organization trying to encourage certain religious beliefs b. your boss exercising control over departmental supplies c. teachers setting rules for how they expect their students to behave d. the government distributing money for various public projects

B, D

Which of the following statements about the relationship between different social institutions within society are true? a. Social institutions within society are not connected. b. Social institutions within society are connected. c. Changes in one social institution will not affect any other social institution within society. d. Changes in one social institution will affect other social institutions within society.

B, D

Which of the following is an example of cultural power? a. a government distributing money for social programs b. a manager determining how a workplace will operate c. parents encouraging their children to read certain books

C

Which of the following is an unintended consequence of McDonaldization? a. Creativity has replaced efficiency as the main goal of many workplaces. b. Workers have more flexibility in how they approach their work. c. We do an increasing amount of unpaid labor for ourselves. d. Jobs have become increasingly complex.

C

Which of the following types of tactics focuses on relationships? a. rational tactics b. unilateral tactics c. soft tactics d. bilateral tactics

C

Which of the following are effects that cell phones have had on human action? a. Cell phones have increased the amount of private time people have away from work b. Cell phones have strengthened the boundaries between our jobs and our personal lives c. Cell phones make us more accessible to one another d. Cell phones have helped blur the distinction between work time and time off

C, D

______ theories point out that power can involve competence and ability, rather than a form of dominance.

Feminist

______ theories of power focus on the capacity of social systems to achieve collective goals.

Functionalist

What is the impact of human action on social structures?

Human action can reproduce or alter existing structures

In manufacturing plants in the 1950s and 1960s, there was an unwritten understanding that

If you did your job well, you would likely be employed for life

In societies where women have little power, practices such as forcing children to be brides serve as examples of "power over" and inequality at both the ______ and societal levels.

Individual

Which of the following are examples of conventions? a. dressing appropriately for a job interview b. standing in line at a store c. wearing jeans to go swimming d. pointing at people when they do something wrong

A, B

Which of the following statements regarding the application of functionalist theories to "power to" approaches are true? a. A society is powerful to the extent that it can accomplish its goals. b. Powerful societies can maintain high standards of living. c. Wealthy societies are more powerful. d. The "power to" approach cannot apply to social systems.

A, B, C

Organizational structure directly shapes which of the following? (Select all that apply.) a. the flow of information within an organization b. the decision-making process within an organization c. the number of vacation days an employee can expect to have within an organization d. communication patterns within an organization

A, B, D

Sociologist Diane Vaughn found which of the following to be true about NASA as an organization? (Choose every correct answer.) a. It provided few opportunities for managers to voice concerns. b. It made it difficult to contradict one's superiors in public. c. It promoted free-flowing communication between engineers and managers. d. It was not conducive to addressing hunches or concerns not supported by evidence.

A, B, D

Which of the following would be examples of formal rules in an organizational structure? (Choose every correct answer.) Multiple select question. a. codes of conduct b. how to share office space c. job descriptions d. unstated ways in which students and faculty communicate with each other

A, C

Which of the following are ways in which the migration of jobs overseas as part of globalization has affected the structure of work for U.S. employees? a. It has devastated entire communities. b. It has expanded the middle class by creating many new, higher-paying jobs. c. It has ended a period of stable, long-term employment for many Americans in the post-World War II period. d. It has meant the loss of millions of manufacturing jobs.

A, C, D

Which of the following were typical responses by U.S. workers to the loss of manufacturing jobs in the wake of globalization at the beginning of the twenty-first century? a. returning to school to learn new skills b. rioting in working-class neighborhoods c. seeking opportunities by moving to new areas d. fighting plant closings and layoffs

A, C, D

Which of the following are examples of structures that have been dysfunctional in American society? a. slavery b. family c. public education d. racial discrimination

A, D

Which of the following is an example of a breaching experiment? a. A sociologist has students fill out a survey to determine their attitudes about marriage and family b. A researcher conducts an experiment using two groups to determine the impact that watching television has on study effectiveness c. Researchers at a grocery store take items out of other people's shopping carts to study their reaction

Researches at a grocery store take items out of other people's shopping carts to study their reaction

A federal solar tax credit allowing businesses or individuals to deduct a percentage of the cost of installing solar panels on their home or building is an example of using the _____________________ strategy to overcome opposition.

Reward

How do roles shape your life?

Roles clarify what is expected of you in different contexts

Imagine you have spent many hours discussing LGBTQ issues with your aunt, who once supported the idea that conversion therapy was an effective "treatment" for LGBTQ youth. Through conversation and sharing stories about friends who suffered from such treatments, you help her realize that these practices are harmful. In the next election, she votes against a candidate because he advocates the use of conversion therapy. Your face-to-face interactions with your aunt, and her subsequent change of heart and behavior, serve as an example of how micro-level interactions can

Shape the society

True or false: As women have become empowered, they have accomplished gains without dominating men, making their achievements examples of "power to" acts.

True

True or false: The recent #MeToo movement has shined a light on how rigid workplace gender structure is dysfunctional.

True

Ethnomethodologists believe that social structure exists because

We are constantly creating it as we construct and reconstruct social order in our daily routines

The rise in numbers of adults living alone has triggered fears that Americans are becoming more socially isolated. Sociologists argue that this rise actually reflects

a change in the structure of social connections

The most significant change that globalization has had for the United States is

a decline of manufacturing in the United States

Which of the following are key strategies to increase empowerment? a. education b. organization c. stratification d. networking

a, b, d

The German sociologist who defined sociology as the science concerned with understanding social action was

Max Weber

Max Weber defined ______ as the ability to bring about an intended outcome, even when opposed by others.

Power

Drivers obeying speed limits in order to avoid expensive speeding tickets is a form of using ______ to overcome opposition.

coercion

A sociologist who analyzes the patterns in face-to-face conversations that produce the smooth, back-and-forth turn-taking of such exchanges is using ______ analysis

conversation

Social structure is a. inevitable b. a natural occurrence c. created by humans d. an unchanging component of society

created by humans

The dimension of McDonaldization where people seek the best possible method for completing a task is called

efficiency

An approach that examines the methods people use to make sense of their daily activities and emphasizes the ways in which we collectively create social structure in our everyday activities is called

ethnomethodology

A psychiatrist has _________________ power in matters relating to mental health. A person using a psychiatric study to support their argument for universal access to mental health care has _________________ power.

expert, informational

According to Georg Simmel, what is it that creates society?

face-to-face, micro-level interactions

Talcott Parsons was widely criticized for his view that the traditional separation of gender roles in the family was ______ for society.

functional

Whatever potential a new technology has, ______ are the keys to understanding its social significance

human action and how people use it

Talcott Parsons was particularly interested in questions of social ______, the process by which values and social structures bind people together within a society

integration

Marx and Weber focused much of their attention on the operation of power at the ______ level of society.

macro

To which of the following types of social interactions did sociologists Steven Clayman and John Heritage apply conversation analysis in a 2002 study? a. parent child interactions b. informal conversations between friends c. news interviews d. doctor-patient consultations

news interviews

Although they knew about the technical problems that caused the shuttle accidents, NASA engineers proceeded with the fatal launches of the shuttles Challenger in 1986 and Columbia in 2003. Sociologist Diane Vaughn discovered that this was due to communication blocks and limitations by studying NASA's

organizational structure

Sociologist Claude Fischer found all of the following to be true about the structure of friendship in the 21st century EXCEPT that

people socialize less often than they did in the 1970s

The specific strategies people use to influence others in everyday life are called ______ tactics

power

The "______" approach to understanding power focuses on overcoming opposition or dominating others.

power over

Michel Foucault coined the term ______ to show that how we understand and interpret the world both enlightens and restricts us.

power/knowledge

A company that strives to provide the same products and services at all its locations is focused on which dimension of McDonaldization?

predictability

Functionalists argue that the social structures that fulfill specific functions in society

remain in balance with others

A parent who distributes a weekly allowance to their child is exercising ______________ power. On the other hand, a parent withholding that same allowance as a punishment is exercising ______________ power.

reward, coercive

When we attend a college course and expect that the professor will teach us the material outlined in the syllabus, we are holding the proffessor to a

role

Political power, as opposed to economic or cultural, is the type of power that enables some people to

set the conditions under which others are expected to live.

Sociologist Eric Klinenberg differentiates between "singles," who may live with roommates or family members, and ______, who live alone, but may still have robust social connections.

singletons

According to the functionalist perspective, the family, government, economy, and education are all examples of

social institutions

The major arenas of social life where durable routines and patterns of behavior take place are called

social institutions

Sociologists refer to recurring patterns of behavior as

social structure

For sociologists, "President of the United States," "mother," and "wife" are all examples of _____________ positions.

status

When a homeowner and prospective buyer negotiate a sale price for a house, they are using ______ power tactics

bilateral

Feminist theorists have pointed out that rigid gender roles constrain the behavior of

both women and men