Chapet 1: Sociology

What is a key difference between psychology and sociology?

Psychology specializes in internal states of mind while sociology looks at the individual in relationship to external social forces.

How do sociologists observe society?

by studying the various parts of a society and the ways they interact and influence one another

beginner's mind

During the COVID-19 pandemic, vaccination requirements and mask mandates have become a point of controversy. Many individuals argue such mandates violate their personal rights, whereas others see them as sound public health measures. Which sociological concept best allows one to see the connection between the personal and the public?

Capitalism

________ is the economic system that emerged during the Industrial Revolution.

The most significant criticism of structural functionalism is that it

tends to argue that any social feature that exists must serve a function.

symbolic interactionism

Which of the following theories focuses on how our behaviors are dependent on the ways we interpret, make sense of, and define ourselves, others, and social situations?

Jane Addams was an early advocate of applied sociology. This meant in addition to doing research, she also

addressed social problems through activity in the communities she researched.

postmodernism

If a sociologist is critical of what they call "grand narratives," which theoretical perspective do they most likely believe in?

Which of the following is a latent function of the U.S. educational system?

keeping children out of trouble while parents are at work

Weberian theory

Which theory discusses rationalization, or the application of economic logic to all human activity?

social inequality.

In 2021, the richest 1 percent of the American population owned 32.1 percent of the country's wealth, and the bottom 50 percent of the population owned 2.5 percent. Karl Marx would call this

symbolic interactionism

Which sociological theory focuses on micro-level interactions?

form a hypothesis

Imagine you are a sociologist who wants to study how people decide what to include in their dating app profiles and the role of gender in these decisions. You've already conducted a thorough literature review on this topic. What is the next step in the scientific method?

is easy to transmit to the public.

Survey research tends to produce quantitative data. One key advantage of this kind of data is that it

participant observation

Which of the following research techniques focuses on gaining an insider's perspective of the everyday lives of participants under investigation, which often dispels stereotypes about the group being investigated?

Interviews are very time-consuming.

Why can sociologists who conduct interviews only gather data from a limited number of people?

Qualitative

________ researchers focus on the meaning of the social world from the perspective of those they study.

intervening variable.

A sociological study found that the reason higher income is associated with better physical and mental health is because higher income increases access to health care. In this study, access to health care was a(n)

rapport.

In his research, ethnographer Richard Mitchell kept his identity a secret while studying militant survivalist groups. Sometimes, he even presented himself as a believer in the survivalists' paranoid, racist ideologies in order to establish

field notes

Julie Bettie's ethnography Women without Class: Girls, Race, and Identity examined the role of race and class in the lives of girls in California's Central Valley. She did most of her work at a high school, hanging out with students and writing down her observations. What do ethnographers call her written observations?

autoethnography

Research that focuses on one's own thoughts, feelings, and experiences is known as

representativeness.

When a sociologist argues that their study of a particular group tells us something about a larger group, they are claiming

comparative historical research

A sociologist wants to study how educational credential requirements for employment have changed in the last fifty years in the United States, Sweden, and Germany by using newspaper classified ads. What research concept best describes this study?

reflexivity

The sociologist Mitch Duneier wrote his ethnography Sidewalk about street vendors in New York City's Greenwich Village. While writing the book, Duneier was particularly concerned that the people he was studying would alter their behavior when he was present, especially since his background was different from their own. This caused him to think critically about his activities and role as a researcher. What do sociologists call this?

If a researcher has obtained informed consent from all of their participants, it means that

the participants understand the nature of the research and are participating freely.