Sociology Exam 1

Studying other societies is a good way to learn about our own way of life

Both Karl Marx and W.E.B. Du Bois carried out their work following the structural-functional approach.

The focus of the symbolic-interaction approach is how society is divided by class, race, and gender.

Societies around the world are more interconnected than ever before.

Gender blindness is the problem of failing to consider the importance of gender in sociological research.

Validity refers to actually measuring what you want to measure.

Sociologists focus only on unusual patterns of behavior.

Sociology is useful training for any job that involves working with people.

In the United States, men have a higher suicide rate than women.

The English philosopher Thomas Hobbes believed that society reflected the basic goodness of human nature.

Market research is probably one of the most common uses of sociological research methods for nonacademic purposes.

A university decides to conduct a survey to learn if students like the lasagna and garlic bread in the cafeteria. It distributes questionnaires in three English classes and two sociology classes. This will produce a simple random sample of the student body.

Even if you pick your method carefully, you will still have to sacrifice some types of information in order to acquire others.

Marxists are among the strongest supporters of value-free sociology.

Ethnographic research projects can be designed to completely exclude outside interference.

Survey data is often less valid than that produced by other methods because respondents are not always honest when answering questionnaires.

The order in which a questionnaire asks about different issues cannot affect the way people

Some "facts" sociologists once believed to be unambiguously true are now treated as opinions, biases, or speculation.

Thomas Kuhn, a philosopher of science, argues that truth is relative, in that it is dependent on the paradigm through which one understands the world.

Polls and surveys do not just reflect popular opinion; they can also be used to shape and change attitudes and beliefs.

"Culture wars" is a term used to refer to the extreme clashes in values that occur when there are efforts to change core values in society.

Mainstream values can change, or fall out of favor.

Negative sanctions can only be imposed by an authoritative body or formal institution.

Gestures, language, values, norms, sanctions, folkways, and mores are all examples of symbolic culture.

Conflict about the values and norms of a society always comes from the margins of society.

Although languages differ considerably from one culture to another, the meanings of gestures are commonly understood in the same way by people throughout the world.

Cultural relativism and ethnocentrism are interchangeable terms for the same concept.

Values and norms are symbolic culture in action.

Sociologists claim that culture is the lens through which we perceive and evaluate what is going on around us.

Culture is the total way of life of a group of people.

According to the symbolic interactionist George Herbert Mead, a distinct sense of self is developed in play through a process of "role-taking," where young children learn the guidelines and expectations associated with a variety of roles.

Television is both a powerful and a covert agent of socialization.

Unlike expressions given, expressions given off cannot be manipulated.

Colleges are examples of total institutions.

Agents of socialization are mutually exclusive and do not overlap.

In the nature vs. nurture debate, both sides are partially right.

The individual's sense of self is largely created through social processes.

Most of the time, individuals can count on those around them to support the version of the self that they project.

Sociology has developed a single comprehensive theory about how the self develops.

Socialization generally ends by the beginning of adulthood.

Secondary groups cannot be geographically dispersed.

Sociologists have shown that even the likelihood that an individual will commit rape can be related to social influence.

Researchers who have replicated Solomon Asch's experiment in recent years have found almost exactly the same results.

A triad is more stable than a dyad.

Strong identification with and loyalty to the in-group often results in discrimination against members of the out-group.

According to Emile Durkheim, all of the social groups to which an individual is connected impose norms, which place limits on the individual's actions.

Our social networks consist of just our closest friends and family. Correct!

The statement "I am stardust, I am golden, I am billion-year-old carbon" would be an A-mode response on the Twenty Statements Test, in that the statement describes a person's physical appearance.

Proscriptions are norms about what we are supposed to do, whereas prescriptions are norms about what we are not supposed to do.

There are many members of social groups who are not influenced by peer pressure.

Throughout history, prison has been the most common means of punishment for criminals and deviants.

Deviance is always defined in the same way, regardless of the historical, cultural, or situational context in which it occurs.

According to labeling theory, deviance is defined as an act or attribute that is inherently wrong, bad, or abnormal.

As societies change and different groups gain access to power, the definitions of crime and deviance will remain the same.

Sociologists can say that deviance is relative because whether a behavior is considered deviant depends upon the historical, cultural, and/or situational context in which it occurs.

Men and women are about equally likely to commit crimes.

Sociologists argue that no behavior, not even one designed to kill a great number of people, is inherently deviant.

According to structural functionalist theory, some functions of deviance help clarify moral boundaries and affirm social norms

According to the sociologist Howard Becker, there are no inherently deviant acts, only societal reactions to acts that make them deviant.

According to sociologists, most people have never engaged in any acts of deviance.