Sociology Exam 1: Chapters 1-4

Date: June 14, 2024 Additional notes: When studying, use only writing format. That way you will only have to type the letters or T/F.

The American Sociological Association (ASA) is the major professional organization of sociologists in North America.  The ASA provides formal guidelines for conducting sociological research called __________________________.

a). code of ethics

b). case study

c). content analysis

d). primary data

a). code of ethics

C. Wright Mills once said that sociologists need to develop a sociological ___________________ to study how society affects individuals.

a). tool

b). method

c). culture

d). imagination

d). imagination

Sociologists are required to omit or distort data when sharing research findings. True or False?

False

This early sociologist believed societies changed due to social class struggle?

a). Herbert Spencer

b). Karl Marx

c). Emile Durkheim

d). Plato

b). Karl Marx

Value neutrality means striving to overcome personal biases, particularly subconscious biases when analyzing data. True or False?

True

If people are protesting, a _______________________ interactionist would focus on the interaction of the protesters and the messages on the signs.  

a). positivist

b). conflict

c). functional

d). symbolic

d). symbolic

Sociology is the scientific study of society and human behavior, but it is also defined as the study of groups and group ________________________, societies and social interactions, from small and personal groups to very large groups.  

a). interactions

b). ideas

c). mates

d). awareness

a). interactions

A _________________________ theorist studying a political protest might focus on the difference in social class.

a). functional

b). symbolic

c). feminist

d). conflict

d). conflict

Sociology is not different from other social scientists. True or False?

False

A group of people who live in a defined geographic area, who interact with one another, and who share a common culture is what sociologists call a _____________________.

a). team 

b). society

c). cohort

d). figuration

b). society

Functionalism grew out of the writings of English philosopher and biologist, Herbert Spencer, who saw similarities between society and the human body. He argued that just as the various organs of the body work together to keep the body functioning, the various parts of society called social institutions work together to keep society functioning. Spencer published The Study of Sociology, the first book with the term “sociology” in the title. Spencer rejected much of Comte’s philosophy, as well as Marx’s theory of class struggle and his support of communism.

True or False?

True

A measurement of a study is considered _________________ if it actually measures what it was intended to measure (the topic of study).

a). quantitative

b). reliable

c). sociological

d). valid

d). valid

According to your textbook, a random sample is an effective way to choose participants. Why?

a). It is larger than an ordinary sample

b). The researcher has no control over who is in the study

c). Everyone has the same chance of being part of the study 

d). Participants do not know they are part of a study

c). Everyone has the same chance of being part of the study

What’s the first step of the scientific method?

a). Draw Conclusions

b). Design & Conduct a Study

c). Ask a Question

d). Formulate a Hypothesis

c). Ask a question

Sociologists are required to continue with a study even if the subject is in harm's way. True or False?

False

In 1966 sociologists Peter Berger and Thomas Luckmann wrote a book called The Social Construction of Reality.  In it, they argued that society is created by humans and human _____________________, which they called habitualization.  

a). prophecy

b). strain

c). status

d). interaction

d). interaction

Sociologists believe the sociological perspective should not be used to explain human behavior. True or False?

False

Which of the following fictional societies is an example of a hunter-gatherer society during the preindustrial period? 

a). The Rositian Clan, a small community of farmers who live on their family's land and use plows.

b). The Deswan people, a group of people that stay in one place and trade with local groups.

c). The Amaganda, an extended family of warriors who serve a single noble family.

d). The Conti, a wandering group of people that hunt wild animals and search for uncultivated plants for food.

d). The Conti, a wandering group of people that hunt wild animals and search for uncultivated plants for food.

Emile Durkheim's ideas about the operations of society can best be described from a _____________________ perspective.

a). symbolic interactionist

b). functionalist

c). feminist

d). conflict

b). functionalist

Your eighty-three-year-old grandmother has been using a computer for some time now.  As a way to keep in touch, you frequently send emails of a few lines to let her know about your day.  She calls after every email to respond point by point, but she has never emailed a response.  This is best described as  _________________________. 

a). cultural lag

b). subculture

c). discovery

d). diffusion

a). cultural lag

This society relied on permanent tools, and it’s often labeled as the dawn of civilization because of the development of thoughtful activities, such as music and poetry.

a). Hunter-gatherer

b). Information

c). Agricultural

d). Feudal

c). Agricultural

Ethnocentrism is the opposite of xenocentrism (pronounced ZEE-no-sen-trism). Ethnocentrism is the belief that your culture is less than someone else's culture. True or False?

False

Linguistic reality is based on the idea that people experience their world through their language, and therefore understand their world through the cultural meanings embedded in their language. The belief is that language shapes thoughts and behavior. In other words, it is believed people cannot feel or experience something that they do not have a word for can be explained by ___________________________.

a). diffusion

b). Sapir-Whorf hypothesis

c). bilingualism

d). ethnocentrism

b). Sapir-Whorf hypothesis

In a study, a group of ten-year-old boys are fed doughnuts every morning for a week and then weighed to see how much weight they gained.  Which factor is the dependent variable?

a). every morning

b). doughnuts

c). duration of a week 

d). weight

d). weight

Which materials are considered secondary data?

a). Books and articles written by other authors about their studies

b). Photos and letters given to you by another person

c). Information that you have gathered and now have included in your results

d). Responses from participants whom you both surveyed and interviewed

a). Books and articles written by other authors about their studies

The Amish are an example of what part of a culture?

a). globalization

b). high culture

c). innovation

d). counterculture

d). counterculture

Sociologists often study culture using the ________________________, which pioneer sociologist C. Wright Mills described as an awareness of the relationship between a person’s behavior and experience and the wider culture that shaped the person’s choices and perceptions.  

a). gentrification

b). sociological imagination

c). self-fulfilling prophecy

d). social class

b). sociological imagination

The focus on the importance of symbols in building society led sociologist Erving Goffman (1922-1982) to develop a procedure called _________________________. Goffman used theater as an analogy for social interaction and recognized that people's interactions showed patterns of cultural "scripts." He argued that individuals were actors in a play because we present ourselves to others as we hope to be perceived. We switched roles, sometimes minute to minute --- for example, from student or daughter to dog walker. 

a). dramaturgical analysis

b).false consciousness

c). self-fulfilling prophecy 

d). looking-glass self

a). dramaturgical analysis

Which theoretical paradigm is used to look at the social world at a micro-level?

a). conflict theory

b). symbolic interactionism

c). positivism

d). structural functionalism

b). symbolic interactionism

The term ________________________ refers to the group’s shared practices, values, and beliefs. It encompasses a group’s way of life, from routine, everyday interactions to the most important parts of group members' lives. It also includes everything produced by a society, including all of the social rules.

a). recidivism

b). gentrification

c). culture

d). sociology

c). culture

With its systematic approach, this method has proven useful in shaping sociological studies. The ________________ provides a systematic, organized series of steps that help ensure objectivity and consistency in exploring a social problem. They provide the means for accuracy, reliability, and validity.

a). operational definition

b). interpretive framework

c). hypothesis

d). scientific method

d). scientific method

Sociologists are interested in the experiences of individuals and how those experiences are shaped by interactions with social groups and society. To a sociologist, an individual's personal decisions do not exist in a vacuum. _____________________, social forces, and influences put pressure on people to select one choice over another. Therefore, sociologists try to identify these general patterns by examining the behavior of large groups of people living in the same society and experiencing the same societal pressures.

a). Grand theories

d). Paradigms

c). Cultural patterns

d). Dramaturgy

c). Cultural patterns