Chapter 3
T/F: cultural relativism and ethnocentrism are extremely similar concepts.
False
How is the study of culture different for sociologists than anthropologists?
Sociologists usually study a culture they belong to
Which of the following is NOT TRUE of technological change?
When sociologists discuss technology and technological change, they are referring to electronic technology alone, and not to other tools to reshape our material and cultural environments
A subculture is...
a group within society that is differentiated by its distinctive values, norms, and lifestyle
Which of the following is an example of a sanction?
a. A child being put into time-out b. A smile c. A speeding ticket d. All of these ALL of these
Which of the following statements about culture is true?
a. Culture is the entire way of life of a group of people. b. Culture includes both symbolic and material elements. c. Culture acts as a lens through which one views the world and is passed on from one d. All of these statements about culture are true ALL of these statements about culture are TRUE
Which of the following statements about norms is false?
a. Norms are similar in every culture, time period, and situation. b. Norms are always written down in official laws. BOTH of these are FALSE statements
Which of the following is a way to suspends one's own ethnocentrism, at least temporarily?
adopting cultural relativism
According to sociologists, what are signs?
anything designed to meaningfully represent something else
How is a subculture different from a counterculture?
both are distinct from mainstream culture, but a counterculture actively opposes important aspects of the mainstream
The spread of McDonald's restaurants throughout Asia is an example of...
cultural diffusion
A student who tries to objectively analyze the food that the people of a different culture eat is using...
cultural relativism
The ability to understand another culture in terms of its own norms and values, without reference to any other cultural standards is called...
cultural relativism
Let's say you go on a study abroad program with classmates this summer. Where you get off the plane in a different country, some of your friends start making fun of the locals because the way they dress is "ridiculous." What behavior are they exhibiting?
ethnocentrism
What is the tendency to use your own group's way of doing things as the yardstick for judging others called?
ethnocentrism
A person wearing sandals while dressed in a suit is likely violating a...
folkway
Norms that are not strictly enforced, such as etiquette in the cafeteria and the dress code for class, are referred to as...
folkways
Which of the following is clearly an example of a taboo in American society?
incest
The article "Body Ritual Among the Nacirema" is useful to sociologists because...
it challenges people's inability to observe their own cultures
Cultural groups have physical objects that are collectively known as that group's...
material culture
In America, a married man who has several mistresses is violating a ____, but if he is married to more than one woman at the same time he is violating a ____.
more; law
A perspective that values diverse racial, ethnic, national, and linguistic backgrounds and encourages the retention of cultural differences within society is called...
multiculturalism
Which of the following is true concerning ideal culture and real culture?
real culture and ideal culture do clash with each other at times
Countercultural groups like the hippies of the 1960s...
rejected the norms of the dominant culture
If you are trying to get your friends to conform to your values and norms, and increase social cohesion amongst your group members, the formal and informal mechanisms you might use would be called...
social control
How is the study of culture different for sociologist than for anthropologists?
sociologists usually study a culture they belong to
Which of the following lists norms in order from the most severely enforced to the least?
taboos, mores, folkways
Marijuana laws over the course of U.S. history illustrate...
that norms change over time and across contexts, and that changes in such norms are not always predictable
Which of the following would be considered a counterculture?
the Black Panthers
It might be hard for you to picture an animal called a "gato" if you don't speak Spanish. The idea that language structures our thoughts and influences our way of looking at the world is called...
the Sapir-Whorf Hypothesis
In many Middle Eastern countries, showing someone the bottom of your foot or shoe is considered to be very rude, so American military personnel stationed in the Middle East has to be instructed to keep their feet inside helicopters when flying low. Why was this instruction needed?
the meaning of gestures is not universal
Although more and more people are reading newspapers on portable electronic devices (such as Kindles, iPhones, and laptops) there are many ways in which reading on an electronic device is not the same as reading on newsprint. For instance, a sheet of newsprint allows the editors to use space to indicate the relative importance of a story in a way that a small electronic screen does not, which has led to many commentators to conclude that...
the medium is the message
When Marshall McLuhan said that "the medium is the message," what did he mean?
the medium through which we deliver our cultural content has the greatest power to change our cultural framework
In an academic honors society, everyone would probably agree that getting "straight A's" in school is a worthwhile cause. Why?
these are values of the group
Why do ethnocentric people tend to view other cultures as abnormal?
they use their own culture as a standard of judgment
Which of the following is least likely to be considered a subculture in the United States?
white males
If you get a ticket for speeding, you got in trouble because...
you broke a law