Social Theory Exam 1

A social scientific theory should be:

Falsifiable, generalizable, parsimonious (simple explanation), and concrete.

A parsimonious theory is one in which:

A few propositions are derived from many assumptions.

According to Durkheim, a moral order is most effective if:

If moral offenders have internalized a sense of guilt or remorse for the violation.

Bentham advised that, if we wish to deter crime, we should institute a system in which punishment are:

Swift, certain, and proportional.

Historians describe the Industrial Revolution as a period during which economic productivity was a dramatically increased by:

Rational division of labor and new technologies.

According to Durkheim, the fundamental and necessary components of religion include:

A belief system, rituals, and a moral community.

For Durkheim, religion can be seen as an important and persistent social fact because:

All of the other answers are reasons why religion is an important and persistent social fact.

In order to validate theory, social scientific research must be:

Transparent, skeptical, methodical (systematic procedure), inferential (making conclusions based on evidence).

Merton argued which of the following points about the proper relationship between empirical research and theory?

Investigating cases in depth that do not conform to our expectations can help refine and extend theory.

The following are examples of social facts according to Durkheim:

Religion, law, social stratification, and social solidarity.

Following from Meron's reinterpretation of functionalism, a latent function of mass education could be:

To socialize people into a new way of life.

The process by which social norms and social roles are transmitted to individuals is called:

Socialization.

Which of the following would be classified as a non-material social fact?

The level of social solidarity within a society.

Durkheim argued that modern social order relies not only on the enforcement of norms and laws but also on institutions that help promote:

Moral education.

The Utilitarians of the 19th century:

Wanted a pragmatic approach to government focused on the greatest good for the greatest number of people.

Enlightenment thinkers generally thought that the condition of society was:

Improvable through science and reason.

Weber's principle of methodological individualism is premised on:

Explaining purposive social action.

Weber made which of the following arguments concerning orientation to action:

Both material interests and values motivate purposive (intentional) action.

For Weber, a motive can be described as:

Subjective understanding that guide social action.

In Weber's methodology of the social sciences an ideal type is:

An analytical construct.

In Weber's thought, which basic factor drives social change?

Competition.

Humans posits: "Interaction between people is an exchange of goods, material, and nonmaterial." A logical implication of this is that:

People that voluntarily interact with each other frequently do so because they feel rewarded.

According to Homan's behaviorism, people respond favorably to rewards of desired goods. But this response is not unlimited. Over time or in large volumes individualism experience:

Satiation.

According to Adam Smith, the mechanism propelling the expanding division of labor in a capitalist economy is:

Free economic competition.

Which of the following statements accurately compares Adam Smith and Thomas Hobbes?

They disagree about the likely effects of unleashing people's economic self-interest.

Which of the following assumptions does Smith make a regard to human nature?

Humans are inclined to "truck and barter" to get what they want.

According to Durkheim, the kind of social solidarity based on the likeliness of group members is called:

Mechanical.

Which theorists does not rely upon some version of a purposive, rational individual in his theoretical explanations?

Durkheim.

How does Durkheim explain the historical shift from mechanical forms of solidarity to organic solidarity in some societies?

Increasing population density stimulates an expanding division of labor, allowing a shift from mechanical to organic solidarity.

According to Smith, factory production is more efficient than traditional craft production because labor can be:

Combined and specialized.

When Utilitarians evoked the image of an "invisible hand" that would create social order they meant:

The spontaneous effect of each individual pursuing his/her self-interest.

The kind of social solidarity based on the interdependence of group members when the division of labor is advanced is called:

Organic.

According to Durkheim, a religion must contain which of the following:

Rituals.

Which of the following would Durkheim regard as the most important function of religion behavior?

It produces communally integrative emotions.

Which of the following assertions is not consistent with the Durkheim's theory of moral order?

Crime is only a reflection of economic struggle.

Durkheim refers to the stage of heightened emotion and awareness that is expected in group rituals and events are:

Collective effervescence.

To characterize a religious practice or symbol as set apart from everyday experiences and revered is reminiscent of Durkheim's distinction between the ___ and ___

Sacred; profane.

The author Franz Kafka related the following parable: "Leopards break into the temple and drink to the dregs what is in the sacrificial pitchers; this is repeated over and over again; finally it can be calculated in advance and it becomes part of the ceremony."

From a Durkheimian perspective, one could say that the invasion of the leopards has become:

Ritually incorporated into the social life of the group.

Which of the following is not an outcome of Randall Collins' theory of interaction ritual chains?

In-group conflict.

Following from the logic of Durkheim's theory of religion, religious participation produces moral consensus in a group by fostering:

Collective conscience.

Goffman’s dramaturgical theory of self-identity relies heavily on the metaphor of:

Stage performance. 

For Goffman, behavior in public settings congruent with one’s social status in a demonstration of the proper:

Demeanor.

Goffman’s concept of face work refers to:

Attempts by actors to manage their self-presentation.

If members of a status “team” conspire to help a fellow actor save face in an unpleasant, difficult or embarrassing social situation, it is probably because people prefer:

To stabilize relations in their status group.

According to Foucault, the maintenance of power became more certain in modern societies through pervasive and efficient means of:

Discipline.

Foucault’s Theory of Discipline and Elias’ Theory of Civilization agree on which of the following?

The rise of the centralized state shifted the focus of power from external social control to internal discipline.

One of Weber’s assertions about social order is that anyone in a position of domination has a very strong incentive to achieve legitimacy since that makes his/her rule:

Less costly and more readily enforceable.

To say that a social order is legitimate means that it:

Has achieved at least some willing submission among its subjects.

In which of Weber’s type of legitimate domination would the leader have the greatest discretion to rule as they pleased?

Charismatic.

Compared with pre-modern empires, Mann might argue that expanding apparatuses of bureaucratic governance have allowed modern nation-states substantially to increase their:

Intensity of rule.

According to Blau, repeated exchange tends to produce trust through the expectation of:

Reciprocity.

According to exchange theory, which of the following might help us understand how power differentials arise from exchange relationships?

The legitimacy of exchange partners.

If people prefer to engage in social exchange among equals what leads them to engage in exchange with partners of their status group?

Need for goods from unlike actors. 

How does Blau define the concept of social exchange?

Social transaction, based on expected value of intrinsic and extrinsic rewards.

Levi-Strauss suggests that under some conditions social exchange can foster conflict rather than cooperation. Which of the following would be one of those conditons?

There is no third-party enforcement to turn to if exchange agreements are violated.