Sociology Exam 1 Ch. 1-2

Which sociological perspectives are best to use in developing an accurate understanding of society?

When sociologists' group people into categories based on their age, gender, educational level, job, and income, they are trying to determine ________.

Despite her acclaimed research on social life, until recently Harriet Martineau was best known for translating Comte's works on sociology into English.

What is the use of objective and systematic observation to test theories, one that is often employed by sociologists?

Mark views society as a system of interrelated parts, while John views society as composed of groups competing for scarce resources. Mark would be considered a(n) ________ and John would be seen as a(n) ________.

Emile Durkheim identified the degree of social integration as the primary variable to explain different rates of suicide within different European nations.

The sociologist responsible for suggesting the connection between history and biography to explain the sociological imagination was ________.

Karl Marx believed that ________ was the central force for social change, while Max Weber believed that ________ was the force most responsible for social change

According to Robert Merton, ________ are the intended beneficial consequences of people's actions.

The first African American to earn a doctorate from Harvard University, who spent his lifetime studying race relations in America and was one of the founders of the NAACP, was ________.

The first person to propose that the scientific method could be applied to the study of social life was ________.

Sociologists who analyze how social life depends on the ways that people define themselves and others are most likely ________.

Max Weber referred to the self-denying approach to life characterized by people living frugal lives and saving their money as the ________.

The sociological perspective emphasizes how the social context influences people's lives, particularly how people are influenced by ________.

Herbert Spencer believed the most capable and intelligent members of a society would survive while the weak and "less fit" would die, thus improving society, in a master plan that he called "survival of the fittest."

Commonsense ideas are the best topics to choose for sociological research, because they represent "what everyone knows."

People from all walks of life, races, religions, and ethnic groups participate in the U.S. legislative process. In view of this, which term best describes American society?

The two anthropologists who studied the Hopi Indians and concluded that language has embedded within it ways of looking at the world were ________.

According to the Sapir-Whorf hypothesis, language is nothing more than common sense expressed in words and gestures.

Ethnocentrism is purely a negative trait with no redeeming qualities.

Culture becomes the lens through which we perceive and evaluate what is going on around us.

Americans usually recognize hard work, education, and efficiency as desired qualities. Where one of these qualities is found, the other two also apply. This is an example of ________.

All of the following statements are accurate regarding language, EXCEPT for which one?

Sociologists use the concept of "norms" to describe ________

Americans glorify academic progress and material success. However, most students do not graduate with honors and most citizens are not wealthy. This condition characterizes the difference between ________ and ________.

Within a few blocks in midtown Manhattan, you can purchase a bagel with cream cheese, a hot dog, a steak, a polish sausage, or a pizza, as well as chow mein, lamb curry, sushi, lasagna, falafels, chicken couscous, enchiladas, and a host of ethnic specialties. This range of culinary possibilities illustrates the process of ________.

social darwinism, believed no one should intervene in the evolution of society, societies evolve from lower to higher forms, coined phrase "survival of the fittest", fittest members will produce advanced society

class conflict is engine of human history, strong conflict between bourgeoisie and proletariat, struggle between classes would only end when proletariat revolted, result would be classless society, NOT communism

recognize sociology as an academic discipline, wanted practical research, study to solve not just to know, studied suicide rates and discovered social factors that contribute to suicide, key fact in suicide is social integration

Protestant ethic, religion was key force of social change, Protestant beliefs led to growth of capitalism, emphasized value of free research without labels

had to hide early research for fear that she would be seen as masculine, best known for her translations of Comte's texts even though she was a published sociologist long before the others were even born

cofounded Hull House in Chicago, applied sociology to social reform, denied access to university, only sociologist to win Nobel Peace Prize, cofounded NAACP

Analyze society and publish results vs. using sociology to solve problems

General statement about how some parts of the world fit together and how they works

Three main sociological theories

Studies how people use symbols to establish meaning, develop views of the world, and communicate

Society is a whole unit, made up of interrelated parts that work together, when all parts fulfill their functions society is in a "normal" state

States society is composed of groups engaged in fierce competition for scarce resources, focused on fairness and equality, people in positions of authority try to enforce conformity and create resentment and resistance

Language, beliefs, values, norms, behaviors, and material objects that are passed from one generation to the next

Material objects that distinguish a group of people

Group's way of thinking and doing (symbolic culture)

Disorientation that people experience when they come into contact with a different culture

Tendency to use one's own culture as a yardstick for judging the ways of other societies, can create in-group loyalties or lead to harmful discrimination

Difference between sociology and psychology

Understanding cultures on their own terms

Nonmaterial culture whose central components are symbols

Language has embedded within it ways of looking at the world

Norms that are not strictly enforced, i.e. burping at dinner table

Norms that are considered essential to our core values, i.e. laws

Norms so strongly ingrained that even the thought of violation is greeted with revulsion

Positive or negative reactions to the ways in which people follow norms

Opens window to unfamiliar worlds and offers fresh look at familiar worlds, enables on to gain new vision of social life, examines how group membership influences behavior

Values that contradict one another

Values, norms, and goals that a group considers ideal, worth aspiring to, i.e. equality

The norms and values that people actually follow, i.e. women still making seven cents to a man's one dollar

Not all parts of a culture change at the same pace

The spread of cultural characteristics from one group to another

Process in which cultures become similar to one another