Sociology 202 Final Exam

Covers second half of SOC202 : Race, age, politics, work, family, religion, education, health, population, globalization

As a sociological concept, race refers to

a socially constructed category rooted in the belief that there are fundamental differences among humans associated with phenotype and ancestry.

As a sociological concept, ethnicity refers to

cultural values and norms that distinguish the members of a given group from others.

Prejudice is to discrimination as

attitude is to behavior.

Chauncey believes that Latino Americans are harder workers than Black Americans. This is an example of

prejudice

Pollux operates a small nightclub that specializes in soul music and features up-and-coming Black singing groups. He actively discourages White couples from coming in and always gives them the worst seats if they insist on being admitted. Pollux’s behavior is best described as an example of

discrimination

Which statement best explains the relationship between prejudice, discrimination, and racism?

Racism stems from prejudice and requires power to manifest as discrimination.

During the 1920s, many Germans blamed their country’s post–World War I economic troubles on the Jews living among them. This is an example of

scapegoating

White privilege refers to the

unacknowledged and unearned assets that benefit White people in their everyday lives.

Agnieska is injured and goes to the hospital for treatment. She speaks limited English and has difficulty understanding the doctors and nurses because her English vocabulary does not include medical terminology. Despite receiving many patients like Agnieska for whom English is not their first language, the hospital has never hired a translator on its staff. This is an example of

institutional racism.

Which of the following would be an example of a microaggression?

telling a Japanese American they “speak good English”

Norms, values, and roles that are culturally associated with a particular chronological point in a person’s life make up the person’s

social age

The most important theme emphasized by life course theorists states that

relationships, events, and experiences of early life have consequences for later life.

The theory that explicitly argues that it is functional for society to remove older persons from their roles in order to free those roles for others who would be more successful and productive is called

disengagement theory.

The theory advocating that both society and people who are older can benefit if older persons remain actively engaged in work and other social roles as long as they can is called…..

Activity theory

Older adults who are engaged in community activities such as volunteering or part-time work would provide examples that work against the central proposals of

disengagement

According to socioemotional selectivity theory, what is likely to happen to Assunta’s social circle now that she is an older adult?

Assunta will experience a shrinking of her social circle, but the friendships she maintains will be of higher quality.

Ming Na is approaching 70 years of age. Rather than taking on a full range of expected roles for an older woman, she takes on just the activities that suit her preferences and that she has always enjoyed. If this choice is associated with enhanced mental and physical health for Ming Na, this would be evidence supportive of what theory?

continuity

A defining characteristic of a nation-state is that

the citizenry enjoys a common identity that fosters a sense of belonging.

T or F: Dictatorships possess authority if their citizens see them as legitimate.

True

The term that refers to the rightfully executed use of power is …

authority

Eustace has been accused of a crime. He demands the right to a fair trial, saying “That’s one of the fundamental tenets of our so-called government! A fair trial is a __________ right, and as such I am guaranteed it within the parameters of our governmental system!”

civil

We often take for granted our right to vote in elections and run for office, but as part of a democracy, these are considered to be

political rights

For more than half a century, the U.S. government has committed to providing material benefits to citizens who are unable to support themselves. This is called the

welfare state

Max Weber thought that for an effective democracy in modern, large bureaucratic states, a country must have

a body of persons with the expertise to run a government.

According to Max Weber, which factor keeps government bureaucrats from completely usurping power?

elected officials set overall policy

A politician working from a pluralist theory of modern democracy would most likely

appreciate interest groups because they limit the consolidation of political power, even if interest groups make the politician’s work more difficult.

Sociologist C. Wright Mills pointed to the role of small networks of individuals who hold concentrated power in modern societies, a group he called

the power elite

Populist movements in the United States today express concern about the deep state, meaning they are concerned about

insider control of government, which makes government unresponsive to popular interests.

In 2016, British voters decided to leave the European Union (“Brexit”), and in the United States, Donald Trump was elected president. What do these two political events have in common?

Both events were partially motivated by concerns over immigration.

Populism arises when citizens are frustrated with politics that are focused on the needs and interests of

elites rather than the general population.

Carrying out tasks that require the expenditure of mental and physical effort and have as their objective the production of goods and services that cater to human needs is more commonly known as….

Work

Work completed regularly in exchange for a wage or salary is considered

an occupation

Since the mid-1970s, the major shift in corporation obligations has been from to

stakeholders to shareholders

When workers offer loyalty and effort in exchange for job security and promotion opportunities from their employer, this is known as

the psychological contract

What is the career progression paradox?

When all employers require previous experience to get a job, it creates a dilemma of where new workers can acquire that experience.

T or F: The use of part time workers has become increasingly common.

True

According to research reported by Richard Freeman and Joel Rogers, what U.S. workers want most from their jobs is more

influence

The term for a group of individuals related to one another by blood ties, marriage, or adoption who form an economic unit in which the adult members are responsible for the upbringing of children is

family

A sociologist observes that couples today express a desire for equality and symmetry, but in reality, women still do much more housework than men. If the sociologist develops this observation into a research study, which theoretical perspective is most directly related to the topic?

feminist

Which term is used to describe a marriage formed through personal selection and based on love?

affective individualism

As a process of assimilation, schooling and its focus on an “official” curriculum—common language and the facts of a common history and geography—

promote a sense of nationalism and an affinity among societal members.

Dr. Bain is a professor at an elite university. Over the years, she has noticed that many students seem much more concerned with the letter grade they will receive than with the knowledge and skill acquisition the class requires. She also notices that many employers focus on special certificates and GPAs but ask few questions about the content of the academic programs they hire from. These are both examples of

credentialism

Marta’s high school requires students to take Latin or Greek, classical art and music appreciation, English literature, and public speaking. The school believes these courses instill particular values and tastes that students need for a successful future, which constitute

cultural capital

Xuxa is from an upper-middle-class home. She is not a very disciplined student, but she knows what kinds of wisecracks teachers find amusing. Dino comes from a working-class home. He is just as smart as Xuxa, and he gets better grades because he studies harder. However, because of his accent and style of dress some teachers think he is unsophisticated and uncultured. Sociologically speaking, in comparison to Dino, Xuxa possesses greater

cultural capital

When sociologists measure variation between different groups in standardized test scores, grades, graduation rates, and college admission, they are focusing on

the achievement gap

Sociologist Sean Reardon proposed four explanations for educational achievement gaps based on socioeconomic status. Which explanation would apply to parents actively reading to their children on a nightly basis?

Middle- and upper-middle-class parents tend to invest heavily in their children’s cognitive development.

George is a Black student who is quick to understand new material and studies hard for exams. However, he always gets nervous when taking exams because he worries his professors will accuse him of cheating because he is Black. George’s anxiety is an example of

stereotype threat.

… occurs when people believe they are being judged not as individuals but as members of a group.

Stereotype threat

T or F: Belief in a god is the central element of any religion, according to the sociological definition.

F

A sociologist encounters a group of people and wants to study whether their group constitutes a religion. Which question incorporates a sociological definition of religion?

Does the group engage in a set of ritual practices?

Karl Marx called religion the “opium of the people” because religion

soothes and hides the reality of economic oppression.

T or F: Karl Marx considered religion an obstacle to social revolution.

True

Why did Émile Durkheim fail to deeply analyze the role of religion in causing conflict and change in society?

He focused on how religion functions to stabilize society.

According to Émile Durkheim, the social function of religion is to

strengthen solidarity by making people meet regularly to affirm common beliefs and values.

The thinker most likely to assert that “capitalism and industrialization expanded faster in those countries where Protestantism, rather than Catholicism, dominated the country” was

Max Weber

The largest religion in the world, with approximately 2.5 billion followers, is

Christanity

Which event is an example of religious disestablishment?

The Islamic Ottoman Empire gave way to the secular Republic of Türkiye in 1923.

Sociology of the body refers to how

health and illness are affected by social and cultural influences.

Medicalization

refers to the process by which conditions and problems of social life become defined and treated as medical conditions.

Which characteristic applies to sick role theory?

It doesn’t apply well to chronic illnesses because there is no single formula for chronically ill people to follow.

Sociologist Erving Goffman was a proponent of the notion of ??? referring to any physical or social characteristic that is labeled by society as undesirable.

stigma

When people have diseases such as cancer, they receive comfort and compassion. People with diseases such as HIV/AIDS, however, tend to be stigmatized because

HIV/AIDS patients may be seen as partially responsible for their condition.

According to Richard Wilkinson, the healthiest societies in the world are those with the most

egalitarian distribution of income.

Demography is considered part of the discipline of sociology because it focuses on population dynamics shaped by

social and cultural factors.

Industrialization generated the movement of the population from the countryside into towns and cities, which is known as

urbanization

Like plant and animal populations, cities grow following principles of adaptation and equilibrium so that neighborhoods are settled in a process of competition, invasion, and succession. This is the idea behind

the ecological approach to urban analysis.

Cities can be seen as a series of concentric circles, with the inner ring designated as the inner city and the outer rings as

suburbs

The process of more affluent groups moving back into cities and renovating dilapidated buildings and neighborhoods is called

gentrification

Often, urban renewal begins with

the large-scale demolition of slum housing.

T or F: Most people accept that important transformations are occurring and agree on the extent to which one can attribute them to globalization.

False

T or F: Globalization is primarily an economic phenomenon.

False

If the hybridity found in the global film industry is also found in the clothing industry, we might expect to see

clothing styles that fuse, blend, and borrow from various cultures.

Fausto survived a devastating magnitude 7.2 earthquake and was curiously reflective afterward. “What can you do?” Fausto mused. “It’s part of living in the natural world, and sometimes something like this is going to happen.” In his own way, Fausto is acknowledging that an earthquake is a(n) … risk

external

As a result of globalization, humans now face risks created by the effects of their own knowledge and technology on the natural world, otherwise known as () risks

manufactured