Sociology Midterm

Question 1

Charles Wright Mills

Answer 1

Mills helped popularize the study of sociology in the US. (Divorce Rates)

Question 2

Emile Durkheim

Answer 2

Key founder of the field of sociology, which he defines as the systematic (scientific) study of social facts.

Question 3

John Darley + Bibb Latane

Answer 3

Oversaw a series of experiments to demonstrate the Bystander Effect

Question 4

Robert Cialdini

Answer 4

Developed the concept of social proof and oversaw experiments on its power.

Question 5

Solomon Asch

Answer 5

Oversaw experiments to demonstrate conformity through situational forces.

Question 6

Dan Ariely

Answer 6

Dan Ariely who contributed significantly to behavioral economics, and after getting a major burn, decided to explore why people behave unethically, even when they consider themselves to be moral individuals.

Question 7

The Sociological Imagination

Answer 7

Mills’ term for the relationship between personal experiences and broader societal systems. Developed through the interplay of structural, agential, and situational forces. Explores the dialectical relationship between people and society.

Question 8

Social Facts

Answer 8

Durkheim’s term of patterns of though/behavior/belief that characterize a society and (1) are objectively real, (2) coercively imposed on an individual by society, that make behavior predictable

Question 9

Collective Effervescence

Answer 9

Durkheim’s term to describe that which gave rise to religious worship in the elementary forms of religious life (currently, has to do with football)

Question 10

Anomie

Answer 10

Breakdown of the influence of social norms on individuals in a society

Question 11

Social Proof

Answer 11

Cialdini’s term to describe the internalization of a belief shared by the situational group. Has more impact due to (1) larger numbers, (2) novelty, and (3) affinity

Question 12

Pluralistic Ignorance

Answer 12

inhibiting influence: a majority mistakenly believe that their internal feelings differ from others, even when everyone may be feeling the same way.

Question 13

Collective Delusion

Answer 13

Objectively false beliefs that spread through a population

Question 14

Mass-Hysteria

Answer 14

People begin taking action on collective delusion.

Question 15

Mass-Sociogenic Illnesses

Answer 15

Physical effects begin to have an effect on people as a result of mass-hysteria

Question 16

Independent Variable

Answer 16

the “manipulated” variable, changed by the experimenter to examine results on the dependent variable

Question 17

Dependent Variable

Answer 17

the “resulting” variable that is being measured in an experiment.

Question 18

Operationalizing a Dependent Variable

Answer 18

quantifying a “resulting” variable through a unit of measurment.

Question 19

Ceteris Paribus

Answer 19

Latin for “all things being equal.” In valid experiments, all conditions should be controlled except for those being measured.

Question 20

Extraneous Variables

Answer 20

not controlled; yet has no impact in the relationship between the IV and DV

Question 21

Confounding Variables

Answer 21

an uncontrolled factor that affects the relationship between the IV and DV

Question 22

Structural Forces

Answer 22

Stable arrangement of systems, which characterize and give shape to society

Question 23

Angential Forces

Answer 23

free-will and the personality of individuals

Question 24

Situational Forces

Answer 24

features of one’s immediate social environment and circumstances

Question 25

Divorce rate is an example of a social fact because

Answer 25

1) a societies is a straight line
2) different societies have different lines

Question 26

Darley + Latane
Diffusion of Responsibility Experiments

Answer 26

1) A group of NYU students were sitting in respective rooms aside from each other (to simulate an apartment building), connected by microphones and headsets. Although the students being tested believed they were talking to other students, they were really just talking to recordings—one of which begins to have a seizure.
Dependent: Time
Independent: Group Size

Results: When only one other person, everyone got up before the speech was over. When it was a group of 3, 80% of people responded. When it was a group of 6, 62% of people responded.

Question 27

Darley and Latane wondered if results would be different if people could talk to each other freely…

Answer 27

2) Group of Columbia students filled out forms in rooms that filled with smoke.
Dependent: Time
Independent: Group Size

Results: 75% of solo individuals reported the smoke. Yet only 1 of 8 individuals in groups of 3 reported the smoke.

Question 28

Darley and Latane… someone falling off ladder

Answer 28

70% of lone subjects, as well as those paired with a group acted when a guy fell off a ladder, while only 40% reacted as a stranger pair, and 7% of those with passive confederates acted.

Question 29

Cialdini Towel Usage

Answer 29

Cialdini and colleagues tested the impact of different messages on hotel guests’ towel reuse. Some signs asked guests to save the environment, while others informed them that the majority of guests reused their towels.

Question 30

Cialdini Rocks Experiment

Answer 30

In a U.S. national park, signs were posted to discourage visitors from stealing petrified wood. One sign warned against theft, stating that many people had been stealing wood (implying it was common), while another sign simply asked visitors not to steal.

Question 31

Solomon Asch Line Conformity Experiment

Answer 31

Participants were shown two lines: one standard line and three comparison lines. They had to choose which comparison line matched the standard. When actors in the group (who were in on the experiment) deliberately chose the wrong line, many real participants also conformed, choosing the wrong line despite knowing the correct answer.
Demonstrates situational forces.

Question 32

Solomon Asch Diagnosis Bias

Answer 32

Half were told the lecturer was “warm,” and the other half were told he was “cold.” After the lecture, participants rated the lecturer. Those who were told he was “warm” gave more favorable ratings, describing him as friendly and approachable, while those told he was “cold” rated him less favorably.

Question 33

Culture

Answer 33

the learned patterns of perception, judgement, and behavior which are shared by a group and differentiate this group from other collectives

Question 34

Socialization

Answer 34

the process through which culture is taught/learned. (enculturation)

Question 35

Material Culture

Answer 35

The physical objects that are made/used by a cultural group

Question 36

Non-Material Culture

Answer 36

The symbols, values, norms, rituals and other non-physical aspects of a culture.

Question 37

Values

Answer 37

That which a culture socializes its members to regard as important, virtuous, and beautiful. (cultural preferences)

Question 38

Ideal Values

Answer 38

The values that are publicly proclaimed by a cultural group.

Question 39

Real Values

Answer 39

The cultural values which actually shape the social facts of the group.

Question 40

Cultural Lag (Ogburnian Lag)

Answer 40

William Ogburn’s term for the phenomenon in which a technological or social change generates a period of anomie in a society. Ogburn notes that this lag is inevitable as norms take time to develop.

Question 41

The Protestant (Work) Ethic

Answer 41

A cultural value, first described by Max Weber, which views “hard-work” as inherently good and an end in itself, as opposed to a means of achieving other goals. This value also entails one viewing their job as a “calling.”

Question 42

The Spirit of Capitalism

Answer 42

A cultural value, first noted by Max Weber, which views the making of money as an inherent good and an end in itself, as opposed to a means of acquiring goods and services. Weber notes that these values are irrational and unnatural, but have proven highly impactful.

Question 43

Emic Perspective

Answer 43

The “insider’s” view of a culture and cultural group.

Question 44

Etic Perspective

Answer 44

The “outsider’s” point of view on a culture or cultural group.

Question 45

Honne

Answer 45

Japanese term used to describe one’s actual thoughts/feelings

Question 46

Tatemae

Answer 46

Japanese term describing the views/opinions that one expresses in public settings to avoid disharmony

Question 47

Uso mo Hoben

Answer 47

Japanese proverb/idiom that means, “lying is a useful means to an end”

Question 48

Judge Ooka (Ooka Tadasuke)

Answer 48

Japenese folk-hero who (in folk-tales) resolves conflicts in ways that embody Japanese values and cultural norms

Question 49

“The nail that sticks up gets hammered down”
(deru Kngi wa utarern)

Answer 49

Japanese idiom/proverb related to the importance of conformity (collectivism)

Question 50

Honorifics

Answer 50

(sama/san/sensei)
Terms that are added to the end of the name of a conversation partner to show proper respect to one’s senior (higher in hierarchy)

Question 51

Senpai and Kohai

Answer 51

Terms related to senior-junior relationships and related to age-hierarchies in Japan

Question 52

On and Oiri

Answer 52

Terms related to Japan’s system of social debt

Question 53

Status

Answer 53

An established position/identity (niche/title) within a social group. All people hold/occupy multiple statuses

Question 54

Ascribed Status

Answer 54

A social status that one holds, but did not agentially choose.

Question 55

Achieved Status

Answer 55

A social status that an individual acquires through their agency. An achieved status can/will be “lost” if the role of that status is not (well) played.

Question 56

Status Symbol

Answer 56

A piece of material culture that signals (indicates) possession of a status.

Question 57

Role (Role Set)

Answer 57

The patterns of action (behavior) that are expected or required of the holder of a social status.

Question 58

Master Status

Answer 58

A social status that overshadows other statuses and proves most impactful for an individual