Sociology

Sociology

The scientific study of group interaction.

Durkheim Suicide study

Saw group patters in suicide rates. Male, Protestants, Wealthy, and Single. Isolation less integration common theme.

Sociological imagination

When we look at how society impacts the individual, or when structure impacts agency.

Trouble vs issue

Issues are societal while troubles are personal. Theoretical.

From a functionalist perspective, the most basic manifest function of the family is

reproduction

When conducting research, sociologists

seek to achieve critical distance.

While Marx saw economics as the organizing influence on society, Weber focused on

three dimensions: political, economic, and cultural.

How do troubles and issues differ?

Troubles are privately felt problems that spring from events or feelings in a person’s life; issues affect large numbers of people and have their origins in the institutional arrangements and history of a society.

According to Durkheim, during an economic crisis

people will look to themselves, not the system, for failure.

How do functionalists view disorganization within society?

They believe it must result in change to reestablish equilibrium in society.

Sociologists believe that persistent problems in the United States are

embedded in society

Conflict theory originated in the work of

Karl Marx

According to Emile Durkheim,

people in society are held together by belief systems.

Comte’s conceptualization of the nature and utility of [blank] corresponds to the Enlightenment’s conceptualization of the nature and utility of [blank].

laws of human social behavior; laws of nature

Marx’s work was devoted to explaining

how capitalism shaped society.

Which Chicago School sociologist was a leader in the settlement house movement and did systematic research geared toward improving the lives of the dispossessed groups within the city?

Jane Addams

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

create a bond among the members of society.

Georg Simmel explained the concept of “critical distance,” which refers to being

able to detach from the situation at hand to view things critically.

The sociological perspective that views power struggles as the source of social change is

conflict theory.

Symbolic interactionists view [blank] as the primary motivation for human behavior.

people’s definition of the situation

In Durkheim’s view of society, people come to believe what society expects them to believe because

they internalize the existence of society in their minds.

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

lumpenproletariat; proletariat

Which theorist is regarded as having coined the term “sociology”?

Auguste Comte

The social theorist [blank] coined the term sui generis, which means [blank].

Durkheim; thing in itself

According to [blank], the primary purpose of sociology is examining social facts.

Emile Durkheim

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.

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

extends to the twenty-first century.

Durkheim conceptualized social facts as

social patterns that are external to individuals.

Which theorist made the assertion that capitalism is based on the pursuit of profit and the sanctity of private property and further argued that profit is produced through the exploitation of the working class?

Karl Marx

Theoretical frameworks that center on face-to-face social interaction are categorized as

microsociology

Theoretical frameworks that strive to understand society as a whole are referred to as

macrosociology

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

more interested in applying their research to the real world.

Conflict theory emphasizes

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

Sociological research on education has found that

more than learning takes place in schools; other social processes are at work.

Applying the sociological [blank] means that one has the ability to see the societal patterns that influence individual and group life.

perspective

Among other notable accomplishments, _____ was the first Black person in any field to earn a Ph.D. from Harvard.

W. E. B. DuBois

The text uses a discussion of the Chinese practice of footbinding to demonstrate that

it is easier to debunk knowledge of another’s culture than of one’s own.

Marx’s perspective of society argued that

profit is produced through the exploitation of the working class.

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

conflict theory

Durkheim, Marx, and Weber have which of the following in common?

They were all macrosociological theorists.

Peter Berger used the term [blank] to refer to questioning actions and ideas that are usually taken for granted.

debunking

Durkheim conceptualized social facts as

social patterns that are external to individuals.

Which contemporary social issue would most likely interest Robert Park?

The changing makeup of urban neighborhoods

Which of the following is not one of the arguments of conflict theory?

Social order is maintained by consensus and interdependence.

Television is so ever-present in people’s lives that today about _____ of U.S. households are “constant television households” in which the television is on almost all the time.

42 percent

The complex system that includes a group’s beliefs, values, dress, and way of life is called

culture

What did Max Weber find about the relationship between Protestantism and capitalism?

By promoting a strong work ethic and a need to display material success as a sign of religious salvation, the Protestant work ethic indirectly but effectively promoted the interests of an emerging capitalist economy.

Cultural relativism is the idea that

a phenomenon should be understood and judged only in relation its cultural context.

The idea of cultural capital was developed by

Bourdieu

Which of the following is true about prime-time media?

Men are a large majority of the characters shown.

Which statement is consistent with the reflection hypothesis?

As society has become more accepting of multiracial families, more multiracial families have been seen on television.

The growth of media conglomerates means that fewer organizations are involved in producing and distributing culture. Which of the following is not a consequence of this growth?

Over time, there inevitably will be a single corporation controlling all media sources.

According to symbolic interactionists, culture

creates group identity from diverse cultural meaning.

Cultural hegemony refers to

the excessive influence of one culture in society.

As it invaded countries, ISIS (the Islamic State of Iraq and Syria, also called ISIL and Daesh) often destroyed ancient, precious monuments and artwork. How can this be understood using the concept of cultural capital?

The monuments were deemed important by the culture that ISIS sought to supplant. By destroying them, ISIS sought to destroy that culture.

The Sapir–Whorf hypothesis suggests that

language provides the lens through which social reality is defined.

The discussion of birthday traditions demonstrates that

even seemingly “normal” practices have cultural roots.

Which of the following statements about values is true?

Values are ideals forming the abstract standards for group behavior, although those ideals may not always be realized. They also define what is considered desirable and morally correct.

Which of the following is an example of nonmaterial culture?

Ideas

How does language influence patterns of social inequality?

Language may reproduce inequalities through stereotypes and assumptions that may be built into what people say.

The difference between subcultures and countercultures is that

countercultures reject and defy the dominant culture, while subcultures exist within and share some elements with the dominant culture.

In their day-to-day lives, most people

take the expectations of their culture for granted.

The theoretical perspective that examines how culture creates group identity from diverse cultural meanings is

symbolic interaction.

The richness of American culture stems from

the many traditions that different groups have brought to this society.

Which statement about characters in programs on the major U.S. television networks is the most accurate?

Professional women are young, thin, and beautiful.

Conflict theorists view culture in which of the following ways?

Controlled by economic monopolies

What is the relationship between language and social inequality?

Language may reproduce the inequalities that exist in society.

Which statement would a conflict theorist be likely to make?

Popular culture is produced by corporations that serve the interests of the 1 percent.

America’s dominant culture is characterized by which of the following?

Middle-class values

As an element of culture, language is important because

I enables a person to become a part of society, it enables us to learn social skills, and it permits the formation of culture

What is the relationship between other animals and humans, according to scientists?

Other animals lack the elaborate symbol-based forms of knowing and communication that are common in human societies.

Some argue that many of the recent conflicts in the world are the result of a struggle between the values of a consumer-based, capitalist Western culture and the

traditional values of local communities.

A major tenet of cultural studies is that

material culture is increasingly important.

Regardless of where it is found in the world, culture is

shared by those who are a part of it.

Vaccines against high-risk types of human papillomavirus (HPV) are currently available and could, if widely used, nearly eliminate cervical cancer and also reduce the rates of several other types of cancer. However, giving them to preteens remains controversial because HPV is sexually transmitted and some argue that giving the vaccine encourages early sexual activity. This an example of cultural

lag

According to Max Weber,

culture influences other institutions.

Which of the following statements about culture shock is false?

Culture shock can be experienced only in a foreign country.

Which of the following statements is false regarding how conflict theorists view culture?

Culture promotes solidarity within society.

The average person spends about _____ hours per day on some form of media (smartphone, tablet, television, radio, and other devices).

11

Norms, values, laws, and customs are all examples of _____ culture.

nonmaterial

Culture shock refers to the

feeling of disorientation one feels when placed in a new or rapidly changing cultural environment.

From the perspective of cultural relativism, in order to understand a particular cultural practice, we must know

the cultural values that it is based on.

Content analyses of media show that there are patterns for how race, gender, and social class are presented. For example, research on the content of television reveals that

racial and gender stereotypes continue to dominate on television.

Sociological theory

Set of statements that explain problems, actions, and behavior.

Social structure

the enduring, patterned social arrangements and relationships that organize society and influence the behavior of individuals

Macro vs micro theories

Macro is usually institutions, countries, big trends. Macro believes that people can impact large structures like the government. Micro is face to face interactions

Structural functionalism (functionalism)

Society works together to promote stability. Order benefit, integration, balance, and cohesion.

Conflict

Groups in society have competing interests that are often against each other. Individuals shaped by those who have power. The goal is to change the status quo. Inequality, power, and disadvantaged. Macro

Symbolic interaction

A micro-level sociological framework analyzing how individuals create meaning through daily social interactions, communication, and shared symbols.

The Smith family always has the latest model of luxury vehicles even though they don’t really need new vehicles every year. They also have the latest smartphones, tablets, and e-readers and a wide range of other luxury goods that they often manage to display to others. The Smith family is engaging in

conspicuous consumption.

Sociologists define beliefs as

shared ideas held collectively by people within a given culture about what is true.

With its focus on the increasing importance of material culture, cultural studies is most closely related to

conflict theory.

The strength or seriousness of social sanctions is

generally lighter for violations of folkways than violations of mores.

According to researchers who study culture and language,

language affects people’s perception of reality.

Which statement about social media is the most accurate?

There are almost two billion Facebook users.

The digital divide refers to

inequality based on access to electronic information.

Members of a subculture

exist within and share some elements of the dominant culture.

The concept of cultural hegemony implies that culture is highly _____ since those in control of cultural institutions can control people’s awareness by creating cultural beliefs that make the rule of those in power seem inevitable and right.

politicized

Culture is best described as

multifaceted

The diffusion of a single culture throughout the world is termed

global culture.