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Contemporary American Society Exam 1
Exam 1
102
Sociology
Undergraduate 2
09/21/2010

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Term
What do sociologists focus on in their explanations of human behavior?
Definition
Why people assume different roles in their lives and why people don’t always do what they’re supposed to do.
Term
Sociology
Definition
the study of human behavior in a social context
Term
Microstructures
Definition
patterns of social reactions formed during face-to-face interaction
Term
Conflict theory
Definition
focuses on inequality
Term
Symbolic Interactionism
Definition
interpersonal communication in micro-level social settings
Term
Generalizability
Definition
ability to generalize all populations and samples
Term
Participant observation
Definition
field research observing people and participating in their lives over a long period
Term
Validity
Definition
interpretations are always accurate
Term
What is an experiment and what is the problem with it?
Definition
carefully controlled artificial situations, but the problem with it is that its not an actual situation
Term
What are some research methods including existing documents and statistics?
Definition
Field research, participant observation, documents (such as diaries, newspapers, historical works) statistics (census data, police crime reports and records of key life events)
Term
What's the first step in the research cycle?
Definition
formulate a research question
Term
When conducting research on human subjects, what do sociologists need to be mindful of ?
Definition
be mindful of subjects’ rights.
Term
What's the difference between independent and dependent variables?
Definition
Independent is the cause and dependent is the effect
Term
What do we need to know about research methods and bias?
Definition
Bias is never eliminated entirely.
Term
Emile Durkheim’s study of suicide – What did it demonstrate?
Definition
Suicide and the level of social solidarity are correlated
Term
August Comte - Who is he?
Definition
coined the term sociology and wanted to study of society have a scientific foundation
Term
Karl Marx – What about his idea of class consciousness?
Definition
encouraged workers to create unions
Term
W.E.B. Du Bois – Who was he?
Definition
first African-American to get a Ph.D from Harvard
Term
Max Weber – The study of Protestantism and the development of capitalism meant...
Definition
capitalism was based on a Protestantism ethic
Term
What is culture and how does it help people?
Definition
Culture is the sum of practices, languages, symbols, beliefs and values and it helps people deal with life and adapt.
Term
Popular culture
Definition
culture consumed by all classes
Term
Symbols
Definition
represents an idea
Term
Norms
Definition
shared set of rules; what’s right and wrong
Term
Mores
Definition
a norm that is vital to life
Term
Production
Definition
using tools and techniques
Term
Sanctions
Definition
rewards and punishments to ensure conformity
Term
Ethnocentrism
Definition
to judge other cultures exclusively by the standards of ones own
Term
Rites of passage
Definition
cultural ceremonies that mark a transition from one stage in life to another
Term
Globalization
Definition
formally separate states, and cultures being tied together
Term
Postmodern
Definition
formal cultural using eclectic mixing of cultural elements
Term
Rationalization
Definition
the most efficient means to achieve goals
Term
Subculture
Definition
set of distinctive values, norms, and practices within a larger culture
Term
Material culture
Definition
something tangible
Term
Taboos
Definition
they have the most severe punishments
Term
What are the main tools of the human cultural survival kit?
Definition
production, abstraction (creating general ideas), cooperation (creating a complex social life)
Term
Do people just accept culture?
Definition
not passively
Term
Why do humans have the ability to adapt to their environment?
Definition
we can create culture
Term
In 2002, what % of the English usage accounted for all the languages used on the Internet?
Definition
36.5%
Term
The tendency to define ourselves in terms of the goods we purchase is not just a simple reflection
of personal choice. This tendency is also important why?
Definition
It ensures that the products we produce can be sold
Term
Cultural lag
Definition
tendency of symbolic culture to change more slowly than material culture
Term
What are the stages in Mead’s development of the self?
Definition
-Imitating other people,
- pretending to be people,
- taking several roles simultaneously,
- taking role of the generalized other
Term
When does socialization begin? How long does it continue?
Definition
It starts at birth and continues through the rest of life
Term
Role
Definition
behavior expected of a person occupying a particular position in society
Term
What is The unconscious – coined by Sigmund Freud - and gender bias?
Definition
part of self that suppresses memories; Sigmund Freud was male-oriented in his research.
Term
What is George Herbert Mead's research based on the Looking Glass Self?
Definition
Mead took on Charles Cooley’s idea of the self-concept coming from how people look at us (The looking glass) and developing the four stages of development.
Term
Secondary socialization
Definition
socialization occurring outside the family
Term
Self-fulfilling prophecy
Definition
when you expect something, it will happen
Term
Peer group
Definition
group of people of the same age and status. Acts as an agent of socialization
Term
Resocialization
Definition
completely changing yourself
Term
Total institutions
Definition
places where people are isolated from society
Term
initiation rite
Definition
ritual that signifies moving from one group to another
Term
What did Carol Gilligan’s research show about boys and girls?
Definition
Cultural standards were passed on to boys and girls
Term
why do poor and racial minority families reject the hidden curriculum in schools?
Definition
The families are skeptical of the schools ability to help prepare students for good jobs
Term
How does the mass media help the youth?
Definition
It helps youth construct their identities
Term
What is the most important agent in primary socialization?
Definition
Family
Term
What is creating and changing problems for childhood and adolescence?
Definition
Declining adult supervision, media influence, decreased extra curricular activities, and increasing adult responsibilities
Term
What is the most important factor contribution to the flexibility of the self?
Definition
The process of globalization
Term
What is an important fact that about parent-adolescent conflict and peer groups?
Definition
Parent-adolescent conflict is often temporary and in the long run families exert
more influence on adolescents than peer groups. Moreover, peer groups typically help
members to integrate into the larger society and thus often serve as a source of social stability.
Term
Do children raised in isolation develop normally?
Definition
no
Term
Social Interaction
Definition
communicating face-to-face
Term
Impression management
Definition
When people try to control the impressions people form of them
Term
Ethnomethodology
Definition
Study of methods ordinary people use
Term
Personal space zone
Definition
degree of comfort space
Term
Stereotypes
Definition
rigid views of how various groups act
Term
Emotion management
Definition
obeying “feeling rules” and responding appropriately to situations
Term
Rational choice theory
Definition
maximized benefit; minimized cost
Term
Role Set
Definition
cluster of roles attached to a single meaning
Term
Role conflict
Definition
when two roles are held at the same time and place contradictory role demands on a person
Term
Proscriptive norms
Definition
what’s expected not to do
Term
Exchange theory
Definition
Social interaction involves trade in valued resources
Term
What performs an important part of all social interactions?
Definition
emotions
Term
What are the characteristics of Europe as late as 1600?
Definition
Life expectancy was 35 years, infants died at birth, disease, people didn’t form emotional attachments to their kids in case they died early, and people had disgusting manners
Term
What were the requirements for being a stewardess (flight attendant) until 1968
Definition
They could not be pregnant, had to be pretty, had to have a great smile, and had to be slim.
Term
What processes help maintain social interaction?
Definition
domination, competition, and cooperation
Term
what characteristics can a conversation have?
Definition
it can be a competition for attention or a social interaction
Term
Who developed dramaturgical analysis?
Definition
Erving Goffman
Term
What theory that regards people as active, creative,and self-reflective in their everyday life?
Definition
Symbolic Interaction
Term
What were manners like in the Middle ages?
Definition
People had disgusting manners like belching in front of the king , spitting in public, eating with their hands, and passing gas at the dinner table
Term
What is it about power and Weber?
Definition
Weber wrote that power is when people carry out their own will despite resistance
Term
What changed with the emotional life of workers?
Definition
Since work is now centered on production of services, workers now have to manage their emotions while making the customer happy.
Term
Bureaucracy
Definition
large organization with positions organized in a hierarchy
Term
Social category
Definition
composed of people with similar status but do not identify with each other
Term
Secondary group
Definition
large, impersonal groups with weaker emotional ties than Primary
Term
Reference groups
Definition
are the role models
Term
Dehumanization
Definition
viewing people as standard or inferior
Term
Laissez-faire
Definition
letting people do what they want
Term
Authoritarian
Definition
demands strict compliance from subordinates
Term
Groupthink
Definition
group pressure to conform despite what you think
Term
Oligarchy
Definition
Rule by the few
Term
Social groups
Definition
networks of people who identify with each other and follow norms
Term
Formal organizations
Definition
secondary groups that achieve objectives
Term
Bureaucratic inertia
Definition
bureaucracy continuing their policy even when the client’s needs change
Term
Triad
Definition
social interaction between three social units
Term
Dyad
Definition
social interaction between two social units
Term
What is Stanley Milgram's experiment?
Definition
Experiment where an actor was strapped into a chair and if they go an answer wrong, they’d be give a 15-volt shock. Experimental subjects would give the shocks and increase the voltage each time, and no matter how much the actor screamed, they still continued to shock the actor.
Term
Why didn’t more people resist the Nazis and why did ordinary German citizens support this endeavor is discussed by Brym when he talks about the Holocaust. What is he talking about?
Definition
( I’m not sure of this answer because what he’s talking about is in the previous sentence about what Brym discussed but..) He was thinking about the sociological influences on the soldiers that killed millions of people and the citizens who just stood by and watched.
Term
Who will provide the most useful information about employment opportunities?
Definition
Your acquaintances who you have weak ties with
Term
How did HIV/AIDS initially spread in Africa?
Definition
It spread from truck drivers who hired prostitutes
Term
How can bureaucracies be improved?
Definition
they can be improved by making them flatter and decentralized with more lines of communication
Term
What act(s) as boundaries separating groups?
Definition
When people compete for scare resource or need to protect their self-esteem
Term
Where was the proportion of Jews killed during WWII the highest?
Definition
In places where Nazi bureaucracy was best organized (places like Holland)
Term
When are you more likely to get an infectious disease the more social contacts you have?
Definition
The more social contacts you have the LESS likely you’ll get a disease.
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