Sociology Module 1

W.E.B. Du Bois wrote in 1901

"the problem of the twentieth century is the problem of the color line."

Harriet Martineau's book, How to Observe Morals and Manners, was the first

?? WRONG: in-depth analysis of democratic culture.

The goal of sociologists is to study controversial topics with an open mind, even if this results in the discovery of "inconvenient" or disturbing information. An example of an inconvenient fact presented in the text is that

A majority of women in prison are mothers

Which of these statements is the best description of a variable?

A variable is something that can have more than one value or score.

Which of the following is an observation that Alexis de Tocqueville made in his study of American society?

Americans had little independence of mind, despite their emphasis on individualism.

Whereas earlier immigrants to the U.S. were predominantly from Europe, today most new immigrants come to the U.S. from

Asia and Latin America

What is the term for an abstract characteristic that cannot be directly observed, but that can potentially be measured?

Concept

_____ is an interdisciplinary field that builds on symbolic interactionism and is often critical of classical sociological approaches.

Cultural studies

Which of the following social theorists coined the term sui generis?

Durkheim

Sociology is a(n) _____ discipline, meaning conclusions are based on systematic observations.

Empirical

According to Durkheim, the economic organization of society is the most important influence on what humans think and how they behave.

False

An advantage of doing participant observation research is that it is very easy fast.

False

Any information that is found published on the web may be trusted as a valid source for sociological research.

False

For Durkheim, society is made up of independent parts.

False

For functionalist sociologists, society is made up of independent parts

False

Much of what is presented as common sense in the media and elsewhere about society is often correct.

False

Sociologists are not interested in historical research.

False

Sociologists avoid reading other studies about the same topic they are studying so as to avoid bias in their own research.

False

Sociologists focus on social change and ignore social stability.

False

Weber believed that people's behavior could only be understood from the objective position of the outside observer.

False

Emile Durkheim's work is the foundation for which major theoretical perspective?

Functionalism

Which of the following is not part of the definition of culture?

Globalization

Reasoning that begins with specific observations about which one draws conclusions is called _____ reasoning.

Inductive

Conflict theory originated in the work of _____.

Karl Marx

Jane Addams was the only practicing sociologist to have won a

Nobel Peace Prize

William Foote Whyte's "Street Corner Society" is an example of which method of research?

Participant observation

Which of these is an example of secondary data?

Population from the Census Bureau

When Dr. Baker collects census data on farm loss he is using _____ data.

Secondary

Which of the following is not a basic dimension of society, according to Max Weber?

Social

What role do sociologists play while conducting their research on society?

Sociologists achieve critical distance through their willingness to question the forces that shape behavior.

The idea that people give meaning to their behavior is a fundamental principle to which sociological theory?

Symbolic interactionism

In what way does symbolic interaction theory differ from conflict theory and functionalism?

Symbolic interactionism does not examine society in terms of its abstract institutions, and conflict and functionalist theory do.

Professor Stevens tells his students at the start of the class that he wants to measure how many pages of notes they take during class. Which of the following is of concern for Professor Stevens?

The Hawthorne effect

What do Emile Durkheim, Karl Marx, and Max Weber all have in common?

They are classical thinkers whose ideas continue to influence the social sciences.

According to Durkheim, examining social facts is the primary purpose of sociology.

True

According to Peter Berger, sociologists question actions and ideas that are typically taken for granted.

True

Both functionalists and conflict theorists see the source of human behavior in the structure of society.

True

C. Wright Mills defined the sociological imagination as the ability to see individual experiences within a larger social context.

True

Culture includes ways of thinking as well as patterns of behavior.

True

Facebook, Twitter, and LinkedIn are examples of social media

True

If every time a test is given the results are dramatically different, this is an indication that the test is not reliable.

True

In content analysis, the researcher does not study people directly.

True

Language reflects the value placed on different groups in society.

True

Marx was primarily interested in the study of capitalism.

True

Positivism was an important influence on empiricism.

True

Social Darwinists believed that social arrangements, including poverty and inequality, were natural and inevitable.

True

Sociological conclusions are based on careful and systematic observations.

True

Sociologists who were part of the Chicago School were primarily interested in how society shaped people's identities.

True

Sociology as a discipline began due to social changes in the eighteenth and nineteenth centuries.

True

The method best suited for determining cause and effect is the controlled experiment.

True

The more complex the society, the more likely its culture will be internally diverse.

True

Violations of mores carry heavier sanctions than violations of folkways.

True

Contemporary feminist scholarship has produced which of the following?

Vital knowledge about women

_____ was the first Black person in any field to earn a Ph.D from Harvard.

W.E.B. Du Bois

Which of the following social thinkers is associated with the concept of the sociological imagination?

Wright Mills

Conflict theory emphasizes

a person's or group's ability to exercise influence and control over others.

The early American sociologists are characterized by their

belief that sociology could alleviate the negative consequences of society.

Shared ideas that help bind people in society together are called

beliefs

Auguste Comte is known for:

coining the term "sociology."

A criticism of _____ is that it understates the cohesion and stability found in society.

conflict theory

According to Durkheim, public rituals, including punishment, are important because they

create a bond among the members of society.

Augus te Comte believed sociology could:

discover the laws of human nature.

When group differences are created by the social structure of society, sociologists refer to this as _____.

diversity

According to conflict theorists, social order in society is maintained by

domination by the powerful.

Sociologists believe that persistent problems in the U.S. are

embedded in society.

According to the text, the problem of the color line described by W.E.B. DuBois:

extends to the 21st century.

When one part of society is not working, it affects the rest of society and causes social problems. This statement reflects the _____ approach.

functionalist

Sociology is defined as the study of _____.

human behavior in society

Qualitative research is based on

interpretive observations

According to Karl Marx, capitalism

is built on the exploitation of workers.

From a functionalist perspective, unequal distribution of resources

is fair because some roles are more important to society than others

When one aspect of culture changes more slowly than other aspects, sociologists call this cultural

lag

Marx used the term _____ for those people in society who are discarded by the capitalist system and _____ for those in the working class.

lumpenproletariat; proletariat

Classical theorists of sociology were primarily interested in the relationship of culture to

nonmaterial culture such as values and beliefs.

Material culture consists of

objects created in a given culture

According to Emile Durkheim,

people in society are held together by belief systems.

According to Durkheim, during an economic crisis:

people will blame others for taking their jobs.

Symbolic interactionists view _____ as the primary motivation for human behavior.

people's definition of the situation

Sociological research on education has debunked many common assumptions. It has found that

poor children rarely have the same resources in schools that middle-class and elite students have.

According to the text, a significant difference between the early American sociologists and their European counterparts was that the American sociologists were more _____.

practical

According to Marx, capitalism is based on

profit and private property

Positivism refers to

scientific observation and description

The best way to ensure that a sample is representative of the population is to

select it randomly

According to The Sociological Imagination, the current high numbers of college graduates moving back in with their families reflect:

social forces impacting private lives.

Durkheim conceptualized social facts as

social patterns that are external to individuals.

Social Darwinists believed that

social reforms should not be implemented because they interfered with the natural progression of society.

The text includes a discussion of the practice of footbinding in China in order to demonstrate all of the following, except

sociologists rely on anecdotal evidence to support conclusions

The text includes a discussion of the practice of footbinding in China in order to demonstrate all of the following, except

sociologists rely on anecdotal evidence to support conclusions.

Sociology differs from media programs that feature human problems in that

sociologists use research techniques and theories that the media may not use to explain social issues.

In their day-to- day lives, most people

take the expectations of their culture for granted

The type of applied sociological thinking that focused on how society shaped the mind and identity of people was called _____.

the Chicago School

Elaine Bell Kaplan's research on black teenage motherhood concluded that

the black teens felt embarrassed and stigmatized by being pregnant.

Cultural hegemony is the term for

the excessive influence of one culture in society

A fundamental concept for using one's sociological imagination is the distinction that Mills made between

troubles and issues.

An important concept in Weber's sociology is verstehen which refers to:

viewing social behavior from the perspective of those engaged in it.

Harriet Martineau was an early sociologist and a British citizen. Her book, Society in America

was overlooked for many years.