SOC 101 Flashcards
If a researcher’s presence influences the subjects’ behavior, it is said to create _____.
A: value neutrality
B: Interference
C: reactivity
D: subjectivity
E: objectivity
C
Sociologists say we must look beyond individual states of mind to explain human behavior. What do sociologists focus on in their explanations of human behavior?
A: social causes
B: television programs
C: individual psychology
D: market forces
E: social relations and individual psychology
A
According to feminists, women are subordinate to men in contemporary society because of
A: biological necessity.
B: women’s desires to be taken care of.
C: structures of power and social convention.
D: the need for stability and consistency in modern society.
E: complementary and functional roles.
C
According to sociologists, what is the most likely outcome of increasing globalization and widespread postindustrialism?
A: increased freedom for all
B: increased opportunity for all
C: a loss of freedom for all
D: a loss of opportunity for all
E: there will likely be losses and gains in freedom and opportunity
E
The first major sociological research project on African American communities in the United States, The Philadelphia Negro, concluded that the supposed “natural” inferiority of African Americans was actually a result of _____.
A: white prejudice
B: class inequality
C: historical change
D: redlining
E: self esteem
A
Which sociologist was most concerned with the study of how individual identity is formed in the course of interacting with other people?
A: Karl Marx
B: Emile Durkheim
C: Max Weber
D: George Herbert Mead
E: Talcott Parsons
D
_____ is the American sociologist known as the foremost proponent of functionalism.
A: Emile Durkheim
B: C.W. Mills
C: Karl Marx
D: Talcott Parsons
E: Max Weber
D
Who is the only sociologist to win a Nobel Prize?
A: Marianne Weber
B: Harriet Martineau
C: Mary Wollstonecraft
D: Auguste Comte
E: Jane Addams
E
W.E.B. Du Bois believed that the elimination of white prejudice would reduce racial conflict and create more equality between blacks and whites. In order to advance his interest in creating racial equality, Du Bois
A: wrote the Communist Manifesto.
B: relocated to Liberia.
C: co-founded the National Association for the Advancement of Colored People (NAACP).
D: abandoned the study of race relations.
E: founded La Raza Unida.
C
A sociologist believes that high levels of education create the opportunity for better-paid work after graduation. Levels of education would be the _____ variable in this hypothesis.
A: independent
B: dependent
C: spurious
D: sociological
E: randomized
A
A researcher uses a series of questions to gauge the commitment level of members of a new religious movement. She is concerned that her questions may not actually be measuring levels of commitment. This is a concern about _____.
A: replicability
B: a testable hypothesis
C: validity
D: reliability
E: researcher subjectivity
C
Experiments to measure the impact of media violence on children are most like to lack _____ because of the artificial setting in which experiments are conducted.
A: reliability
B: validity
C: generalizability
D: causality
E: accuracy
B
According to Durkheim’s typology, “suicide bombers” would be an example of _____.
A: altruistic suicide
B: anomic suicide
C: egoistic suicide
D: fatalistic suicide
E: individualistic suicide
A
Which scholar is often called the first woman sociologist?
A: Marianne Weber
B: Harriet Martineau
C: Mary Wollstonecraft
D: Auguste Comte
E: Mary Mills
B
The sociologist best known for emphasizing that various institutions must work to ensure the smooth operation of society as a whole is _____.
A: Robert Merton
B: C.W. Mills
C: Karl Marx
D: Talcott Parsons
E: Max Weber
D
From the perspective of symbolic interactionism, the primary purpose of fashion is to
A: express and share information about one’s identity.
B: make profits for large clothing manufacturers.
C: help to mark and maintain boundaries between members of different social classes.
D: distract people from more serious and pressing social issues.
E: maintain gender roles.
A
Feminists view fashion as one aspect of _____ or the system of male domination of women.
A: patrilineage
B: patriarchy
C: patrimony
D: structural functionalism
E: hegemony
B
Which of these is not considered one of the key features of functionalism?
A: shared values
B: equilibrium
C: competing interests
D: social structure
E: social stability
C
Conflict theory originated in the work of _____.
A: Talcott Parsons
B: Robert Merton
C: Emile Durkheim
D: Karl Marx
E: Kingsley Davis
D
The transformation from agrarian production to manufacturing is termed _____.
A: the scientific revolution
B: the age of reason
C: the enlightenment shift
D: the industrial revolution
E: the Neolithic revolution
D
The sociological concept of culture
A: is limited to what is commonly called “popular culture.”
B: is limited to what is commonly called “high culture.”
C: has the same meaning as “mass culture.”
D: includes “high,” “popular,” and “mass” culture, as well as ordinary aspects of everyday life.
E: cannot be applied to everyday experience.
D
Sociologists think of language as
A: the least important component of the cultural tool kit.
B: a cultural invention that separates humans from other animals.
C: more important in advanced cultures than in less developed cultures.
D: material culture.
E: the part of culture that is least likely to change.
B
When Kyle holds up two fingers in the peace sign, she is using _____.
A: values
B: a symbol
C: a norm
D: a method
E: sociology
B
Jim traveled to Thailand for a vacation and became shocked and judgmental toward “foreign” practices. Which term best describes Jim’s reaction?
A: cultural relativism
B: material culture
C: ethnocentrism
D: mass culture
E: subcultural revolt
C
Cultural diversification
A: is not apparent in postindustrial societies.
B: is limited to agricultural societies.
C: is not evident in preliterate or tribal societies.
D: refers to the homogeneity of society.
E: only occurs in societies with very traditional values.
C
When people make purchases in order to feel good about themselves or their situation, they are engaging in _____.
A: rationalization
B: counterculture
C: consumerism
D: deviance
E: identity crisis
C
Which of these processes destroys political, economic, and cultural isolation on the largest scale?
A: socialization
B: multiculturalism
C: industrialization
D: globalization
E: diversification
D
How do preliterate or tribal societies differ from preindustrial and postindustrial societies?
A: preliterate tribal cultures are more similar in beliefs and practices
B: preliterate tribal peoples are more individualistic
C: rituals within preliterate societies are very private and personal
D: there is more cultural diversity within more traditional societies
E: there are no significant differences between preliterate tribal societies and industrial and postindustrial societies.
A
Today, the most radical forms of hip-hop music
A: are found outside of the U.S. and other English-speaking countries.
B: are produced by young white musicians.
C: are found in urban areas within the U.S.
D: are appealing to the U.S. middle-class.
E: are not political.
A
Ideas or standards for what is right or wrong, good or bad, and other types of judgments are called _____.
A: abstractions
B: symbols
C: norms
D: values
E: cooperation
D
The necessity to understand that other people have values that differ from ours and that we should not see these values as inferior but merely different is known as _____.
A: ethnocentrism
B: cultural relativism
C: holism
D: universalism
E: cultural confrontation
B
Critics of cultural relativism claim that all cultures are not of equal value because
A: some cultures are better than others.
B: some cultures are in greater stages of development than American culture.
C: cultural production is a global process.
D: many cultures have practices that most Americans consider inhumane.
E: cultural diversification hurts the interests of the poor.
D
The individualistic brand of dissent encouraged by hip-hop appeals to an audience that is
A: exclusively black.
B: mixed in terms of race and social class.
C: primarily middle-aged.
D: limited to the coasts of the U.S.
E: uniquely American.
B
What form of culture involves an eclectic mixing of elements from different times and places, the erosion of authority, and the decline of consensus around core values?
A: premodern
B: industrial
C: modern
D: postmodern
E: traditional
D
American Indian sovereignty movements are an illustration of _____.
A: a rite of passage
B: material culture
C: the rights revolution
D: ethnocentrism
E: cultural constraints
C
The belief that all cultures and all cultural practices have equal value is known as _____.
A: cultural relativism
B: ethnocentrism
C: cultural production
D: representation
E: cultural diversification
A
A counterculture is
A: an inferior culture.
B: a culture that is perceived to be inferior.
C: any postmodern culture.
D: a set of distinctive values, norms, and practices within a larger culture.
E: a culture that challenges and opposes the values of the dominant culture.
E
What is the difference between society and culture?
A: Society is a group of people who share territory and may share culture.
B: Cultures are generally more geographically defined than societies.
C: societies refer to shared practices; cultures are shared boundaries.
D: Society is shared, culture is not.
E: There is no difference in meaning between society and culture.
A
American society is undergoing rapid cultural diversification, and marriage between people of different races is increasingly common. While only 1 percent of African Americans married non-blacks in 1970, the figure had increased to _____ by 2008.
A: 3 percent
B: 7 percent
C: 10 percent
D: 16 percent
E: 24 percent
B
If a group of teenagers have distinctive dress, beliefs, ideas, and language that separate them from others in a society, they can be said to belong to a _____.
A: counterculture
B: subculture
C: reference group
D: outgroup
E: gang
B
In theories of socialization, _____ are most likely to emphasize the creativity of individuals as they attach meaning to their experiences.
A: functionalists
B: conflict theorists
C: feminists
D: symbolic interactionists
E: psycholanalysts
D
Which of these are examples of mass media?
A: television, radio, movies, videos, books, and the Internet
B: personal testimony
C: diaries and individual journal keeping
D: personal journals
E: email correspondence
A
According to Mead, the development of the self occurs through the process of learning to
A: imitate other people.
B: pretend to be other people.
C: see oneself reflected in others’ reactions.
D: take the role of the generalized other.
E: control impulses.
D
Which of these is not one of the stages in an initiation rite?
A: individuation
B: separation from one’s old status and identity
C: degradation, disorientation, and stress
D: acceptance of the new group culture and status
E: ritual rebirth
A
The idea of the hidden curriculum was first proposed by _____.
A: conflict theorists
B:functionalists
C: symbolic interactionists
D: psychologists
E: school administrators
A
According to Freud, the development of one’s personality is achieved
A: through a very short process of resocialization.
B: through play and learning games.
C: as an infant learns that his or her needs are different than those of the parent.
D: only through a process of severe discipline.
E: through the continual gratification of needs.
C
Which of these statements about agents of socialization is false?
A: Agents of socialization operate throughout a person’s life.
B: Through agents of socialization we learn to control impulses and how to behave in groups.
C: Acquiring self-identity is an important process within agents of socialization.
D: Agents of socialization each deliver consistent and similar messages in order to facilitate development.
E: Important values and social roles are learned through agents of socialization.
D
_____ emphasize how socialization serves to create orderly social relations.
A: Functionalists
B: Conflict theorists
C: Feminists
D: Symbolic interactionists
E: Psychologists
A
The dominant socializing agent from middle childhood through adolescence is most often the _____.
A: family
B: school
C: peer group
D: mass media
E: extracurricular school activities
C
Cooley’s “looking glass self” is based on the idea that we attach and create meanings through the process of interaction. This is the foundation of which of these types of sociological theory?
A: conflict theory
B: symbolic interactionism
C: functionalism
D: feminist theory
E: structuralism
B
Widely shared expectations about how males and females are supposed to act are called_____.
A: media roles
B: gender roles
C: family roles
D: sexuality norms
E: gender patterns
B
George Herbert Mead is best known for his study of _____.
A: economic principles
B: bureaucracy
C: the self
D: aging
E: rhesus monkeys
C
Today, those who watch the most TV tend to be _____.
A: female
B: male
C: upper class
D: middle class
E: socially disadvantaged
E
The basic idea of _____ is that our feelings about who we are depend largely on how we see ourselves judged by others.
A: Freud’s model of the unconscious
B: the significant other
C: socialization
D: roles
E: the “looking glass self”
E
Peer groups
A: have the most influence on the educational aspirations and social preferences of adolescents.
B: have more influence than parents over political and religious preferences.
C: create conflict but have little influence.
D: may help to integrate young people into the larger society.
E: have less influence among middle-class adolescents than others.
D
If the hidden curriculum is successful
A: students will understand the role of race in how they are evaluated.
B: girls will understand that their sex may contribute to how they are evaluated.
C: teachers will be completely fair and neutral in their evaluations of students.
D: students will be convinced they are judged solely on the basis of their performance.
E: most students would lack adequate preparation for the social world.
D
The conflict between adolescents and parents may be intense. It is also usually _____
A: permanent
B: long lasting
C: temporary
D: violent
E: artificial
C
Many students from poor and racial minority families reject the hidden curriculum in schools. They tend to
A: be skeptical or rebellious, and may perform poorly.
B: be hostile toward other poor groups.
C: be receptive to alternative classes to take advantage of job opportunities.
D: accept that the school will open job and work opportunities for them.
E: work harder to prove the hidden curriculum wrong.
A
A recognized social position that an individual can occupy is known as a _____.
A: life stage
B: peer group
C: role model
D: status
E: role
D
Declining adult supervision, increasing media influence, less involvement in extracurricular activities, and the need for paid employment are all contributing to what is being called _____.
A: the hidden curriculum
B: the self-fulfilling prophecy
C: the vanishing adolescent
D: the “Lost Boys:
E: the age of innocence
C
While status cues may be useful in helping people define a situation, they can quickly degenerate into _____.
A: stereotypes
B: norms
C: values
D: roles
E: none of these choices
A
The boundary between an in-group and an out-group is most likely to fade when
A: someone with greater authority pulls the two groups together.
B: they are made to compete against each other in a some type of sport.
C: they are of equal status and interact face-to-face in a situation of established norms.
D: they will be rewarded for doing so.
E: they are different enough so as not to appear in competition with each other.
C
Dramaturgical analysis originated in the work of _____.
A: Max Weber
B: Emile Durkheim
C: Georg Simmel
D: Jack Haas
E: Erving Goffman
E
In 2003, the space shuttle Columbia broke apart upon reentry into the Earth’s atmosphere, due to damage caused by insulation debris. An engineer on the management team expressed his concern but was overruled when everyone went along with the person in charge. This was probably due to _____.
A: bad timing
B: groupthink
C: poorly trained personnel
D: not enough time to prepare
E: out-groups
B
Studies of male/female communication in general support the understanding that
A: gender roles to not extend to social interaction.
B: it is not possible to study patterns of social interaction.
C: one’s social status influences patterns of social interaction.
D: there are not real patterns to social interaction.
E: one’s social status has little impact on patterns of interaction.
C
The difficulty of simultaneously meeting the role expectations for being a father, construction worker, and husband is an example of _____.
A: role strain
B: cooperation
C: stereotyping
D: role conflict
E: operationalizing
D
_____ are visual indicators of other people’s social position.
A: Norms
B: Status cues
C: Stereotypes
D: Roles
E: Emotions
B
The pressure to conform despite individual misgivings is sometimes called _____.
A: network analysis
B: social network
C: groupthink
D: inclusion
E: exclusion
C
An area of space that is situated in the area roughly four to twelve feet away from someone is known as the _____zone.
A: intimate
B: personal
C: social
D: group
E: public
C
Which of these statements about social groups is false?
A: Their members identify with each other.
B: They may involve intense relations.
C: People may measure their conduct against them.
D: They may impose conformity on members.
E: Groups encourage members to be individualistic.
E
People who share a similar status but do not identify with one another are called a _____.
A: social category
B: status collection
C: aggregate
D: social group
E: clique
A
In the early 1970s corporations from which of these countries were at the forefront of bureaucratic innovations?
A: U.S.A. and Sweden
B: Japan and France
C: Sweden and France
D: U.S.A. and Japan
E: Sweden and Japan
E
Most people find it difficult to disobey authorities because they
A: have feelings of loyalty and solidarity with others in the organization.
B: are unaware that they are conforming.
C: seek punishment.
D: hope to be rewarded for their behavior.
E: believe whole-heartedly in the rules.
A
A(n) _____ is a rigid view of a particular group of people, without regard to individual differences.
A: role conflict
B: status cue
C: master status
D: ascribed status
E: stereotype
E
According to research conducted by Charles Derber, Americans usually try to turn conversations toward _____.
A: important topics
B: religion
C: themselves
D: others
E: politics
C
The jobs done by _____ are most likely to require emotion labor.
A: women
B: men
C: youth
D: the elderly
E: public officials
A
_____involves people obeying “feeling rules” and responding appropriately to the situations in which they find themselves.
A: Emotion work
B: Ethnomethodology
C: Cooperation
D: Emotion management
E: None of these choices
D
The line from Shakespeare’s play As You Like It: “All the world’s a stage and all the men and women merely players” illustrates which theory?
A: dramaturgical analysis
B: rational choice theory
C: symbolic interactionism
D: neofunctionalism
E: exchange theory
A
Who is most likely to provide the most useful information about employment opportunities?
A: friends
B: acquaintances
C: close family members
D: one’s boss
E: fellow workers
B
_____ are composed of one or more networks of people who identify with one another and adhere to defined norms, roles, and statuses.
A: Social categories
B: Social groups
C: Bureaucracies
D: Social networks
E: Dyads
B
Such crimes as embezzlement, false advertising, tax evasion, insider stock trading, fraud, copyright infringement, and price fixing are all examples of _____.
A: white-collar crime
B: public-order crime
C: street crime
D: state crime
E: victimless crime
A
The theory of deviance and crime that emphasizes the disparity between the value placed on success and the opportunities for achieving it is called _____.
A: motivational theory
B: constraint theory
C: strain theory
D: subcultural theory
E: techniques of neutralization
C
The creation of justifications and rationalizations, such as an appeal to higher loyalties or condemning those who pass judgment on them, enables criminals to
A: learn how to commit crimes.
B: retreat.
C: conform to broad societal norms.
D: clear their consciences and commit crimes.
E: get into graduate school.
D
Most crime is committed by
A: youth in gangs
B: men in their early 30s
C: people who haven’t reached middle age
D: pre-teens
E: former convicts
C
Statistical bias in the way that crime statistics are collected is due largely to the absence of data on white-collar crimes in the official crime indexes. This makes it appear as if
A: blacks commit a higher proportion of all crimes than they actually do.
B: whites commit a higher proportion of all crimes than they actually do.
C: blacks and whites have the same rates of crime.
D: blacks are more involved in white-collar crime than most people realize.
E: officials are overly concerned about white-collar crime.
A
Today, the United States government spends _____ times more on drug control than it did in 1980.
A: 2
B: 5
C: 10
D: 20
E: 35
D
When people are _____ they are negatively evaluated because of a marker that distinguishes them from others.
A: conforming
B: stigmatized
C: deviant
D: compliant
E: reactive
B
Which of the following is the most cost effective drug policy?
A: drug testing in schools and employment
B: stopping drugs at the border
C: arresting drug traders and users
D: drug prevention and treatment
E: controlling the drug trade abroad
D
Susan B. Anthony and Martin Luther King, Jr. were both considered deviant and criminal in their lifetimes but are not considered deviant and criminal today. This illustrates that definitions of deviance and crime
A: remain constant.
B: change over time.
C: are dependent on the issue at stake.
D: are always political.
E: only apply to minority group members.
B
How has the diagnosis of mental illness changed since the 19th century?
A: there are many more possibly mental health diagnoses today than in the 19th century
B: today Americans are more comfortable turning their problems into medical or psychological conditions than in an earlier century
C: institutions like the family, religion, and the government are much stronger and more involved in the treatment of mental health issues than ever before
D: the higher standard of living today has reduced stress and reduced the incidence of mental health diagnoses
E: the number of formal diagnoses in the DSM has shrunk from almost 300 to just 50
B
Which of these is not consider an explanation for lower crime rates after the 1990s?
A: tougher penalties and incarceration of more criminals
B: more police were put on the streets
C: communities established their own systems of surveillance and patrol
D: the number of young men in the population declined
E: the economic expansion of the 1990s
A
Which of the following is not a factor in explaining the decline of crime in the 1990s?
A: more police were put on the streets
B: communities established their own systems of surveillance and patrol
C: the number of young men in the population declined
D: the economic expansion of the 1990s
E: decreased police surveillance results in fewer arrests on record
E
Depriving people of their freedom by putting them in prison is
A: the primary form of punishment in pre-agricultural tribal societies.
B: considered less inhumane than other forms of punishment, within industrialized societies.
C: falling out of favor and used much less often today than 50 years ago.
D: most strongly associated with agricultural society.
E: more humane than the medicalization of most forms of deviance.
B
Mild sanctions such as raising eyebrows or ostracism, are called _____.
A: informal punishment
B: formal punishment
C: stigmatization
D: social sanctions
E: informal and formal punishment
A
The sociological term for the ability to carry out one’s will against the resistance of others is _____.
A: power
B: authority
C: legitimacy
D: social control
E: crime
A
FBI crime statistics show that since 1990
A: the rates for all forms of major crime began to fall.
B: a dramatic increase in serious crime.
C: twice as many Americans have been victims of crime.
D: no change in the rates or trends of crime.
E: only the rate of victimless crime has decreased.
A
A major consequence of the War on Drugs in the U.S. since the 1980s is
A: an extreme reduction in the number of hard-core drug users in the U.S.
B: a lack of available illegal drugs in the U.S.
C: a dramatic increase in the incarceration rate for non-violent offenders
D: application of the European model of decriminalization of formerly illegal drugs
E: an end to the illegal drug trade in the U.S.
C
Which of these statements regarding race and the criminal justice system is false?
A: a disproportionate number of street crimes are committed by African Americans
B: a disproportionate number of white-collar crimes are committed by whites
C: the rate of imprisonment for young white men and young black men is equal
D: the criminal justice system tends to be more zealous in arresting and convicting African American offenders than white offenders
E: poverty is associated with higher crime rates and African Americans are disproportionately poor
C
A crimes that are generally committed on the job by people with respectability and high social status are called _____.
A: street crime
B: public-order crime
C: white-collar crime
D: victimless crime
E: state crime
C
In recent years, the American public, lawmakers, and officials in the criminal justice system have been motivated by strong fears that crime poses a grave and immediate threat to society. What is the sociological term for this condition?
A: a moral panic
B: normalcy
C: cultural lag
D: social disaster
E: value crisis
A
_____ are not just political groups but, more generally, organizations that seek to impose their will on others.
A: Social classes
B: Status groups
C: Parties
D: White-collar employees and professionals
E: Intellectual workers
C
If you are not wealthy, but do well in school and are able to obtain a very high paying job, your social position would be based on _____.
A: achievement
B: luck
C: caste
D: ascription
E: power
A
The late 19th and early 20th centuries witnessed a decline in agriculture and the rise of manufacturing, resulting in many fewer farmers and a corresponding surge in the number of factory workers. Mobility due to such changes in jobs is called _____.
A: intergenerational mobility
B: intragenerational mobility
C: structural mobility
D: organizational mobility
E: individual mobility
C
Social stratification is the term for
A: what a person owns, minus their debt.
B: the difference in earnings between workers and corporate executives.
C: the way society organizes people into layers based on their resources and status.
D: the way that the countries of the world are interconnected.
E: the ability to move between social classes.
C
