Sociology Final Exam Questions and Answers Graded A+

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Sociology Final Exam Questions and Answers Graded A+ Sociological imagination ✔✔C. Wright Mills- the ability to see the connection between the larger world and your personal life Conflict Pers... pective ✔✔people who employ this perspective focus on the forces in society that promote competition and change. Functionalist perspective ✔✔people who use this perspective view society as a set of interrelated parts that work together to produce a stable social system. Interactionist perspective ✔✔people who employ this perspective focus on how individuals interact with one another in society; interested in the ways in which individuals respond to one another in everyday situations. Sociology ✔✔the social science that studies human society and social behavior of groups of people, not individuals. Psychology ✔✔the social science that deals with the behavior and thinking of organisms Social Darwinism ✔✔Herbert Spencer- applied Darwin's theory of "survival of the fittest" to social change and unrest. He believed that only the fittest societies would survive over time, leading to a general upgrading of society as a whole. Functions ✔✔the consequence that an element of society produces for the maintenance of its social systems. Ideal types ✔✔a description comprised of the essential characteristics of a future of society. Social sciences ✔✔related disciplines that study various aspects of human social behavior. Emile Durkheim ✔✔Saw society as a set of independent parts that maintain the system throughout time, and viewed these independent parts in terms of their functions. Also, he wrote a book on how geographical area and events can trigger suicide. Symbolic interaction ✔✔interaction between people that takes place through the use of symbols Social Statistics ✔✔Auguste Comte- states that certain processes hold society together. Social psychology ✔✔study of how an individual's behavior and personality are affected by the social enviornment Social phenomena ✔✔study of how an individuals behavior and personality are affected by the social environment Theoretical perspective ✔✔a general set of assumptions about the nature of things Manifest functions ✔✔the intended and recognized consequence of some element of society. Sociological perspective ✔✔the viewing of the behavior of a group in a systematic way. Cultural relativism ✔✔belief that cultures should be judged by their own standards Material culture ✔✔the physical objects that people create and use Ethnocentrism ✔✔tendency to view one's own culture or group as superior to all other cultures and groups Margaret Med ✔✔conducted a now-class study of cultural variations. The purpose was to determine whether differences in basic temperament (fundamental emotional dispersion of a person) result mainly from inherited characteristics or from cultural influences. Folkways ✔✔norms that describe socially acceptable behavior but do not have great moral significance attached to them Mores ✔✔norms that have great moral significance attached to them Cultural universals ✔✔common features that are found in all human culture Theory ✔✔an explanation of the relationships among particular phenomena. Latent function ✔✔is the unintended and unrecognized consequence of an element of society Symbol ✔✔anything that represents something else and has a shared meaning attached to it. (ex. Language, gestures, images) Subcultures ✔✔a group with its own unique values, norms and behaviors that exist within a larger culture Countercultures ✔✔group that rejects the values, norms and practices of the larger society and replace them with a new set of culture patterns Society ✔✔a group of mutually interdependent people who have organized in such a way as to share a common culture and have a feeling of unity Technology ✔✔knowledge and tools people use for practical purposes Norms ✔✔shared rules or conduct that tell people how to act in specific situations Culture Pattern ✔✔culture complexes combine to form larger levels called _____. this is the combination of a number of culture complexes into an interrelated whole Culture Complex ✔✔individual culture traits combine to form _____. this is a cluster of interrelated culture traits Self-fulfillment ✔✔commitment to the full development of one's personality, talents and potential Narcissism ✔✔a personality disorder which is characterized by its extreme self-centeredness Negative Sanctions ✔✔a punishment or threat of punishment used to enforce conformity. used to discourage undesired behavior. Vested Interest ✔✔a person who is satisfied with the way things are now. they do not want change, even if the present is imperfect, because they view it as being better than an unknown future. Ideology ✔✔A system of beliefs or ideas that justifies the social, moral, religious, political, or economic interests held by a group or society. often spread through social movements. Social Control ✔✔the enforcing of norms through either internal or external means. Internalization ✔✔the process by which a norm becomes a part of the individual's personality, thus conditioning that individual to conform to society's expectations. Personality ✔✔the sum total of behaviors, attitudes, beliefs, and values that are characteristics of an individual. Personality traits ✔✔specific traits change at different rates and to different degrees. Some traits remain throughout a person's life, while other traits undergo dramatic changes. Social behavior ✔✔results from a blending of hereditary and social environmental influences Heredity ✔✔the transmission of genetic characteristics from parents to children Instinct ✔✔an unchanging, biologically inherited behavior pattern that often helps distinguish right from wrong Ivan Pavlov ✔✔Russian scientist who conducted experiments with dogs to prove that instinctual behavior could be taught Sociobiologists ✔✔people in this profession focus on the systematic study of the biological basis of all social behavior Genes ✔✔the basic building blocks of heredity Heredity ✔✔the passing of traits from parent to offspring Aptitude ✔✔a capacity to learn a particular skill or a particular body of knowledge Feral children ✔✔wild or untamed children Socialization ✔✔the adoption of the behavior patterns of the surrounding culture Tabula Raasa ✔✔John Locke- the theory that individuals are not born with built-in knowledge, and that all of their knowledge comes from experience and perception Looking Glass Self ✔✔Charles Horton-an image of yourself based on what you believe others think of you Role Taking ✔✔George Herbet Mead- assuming the viewpoint of another person and using that viewpoint to shape the self-concept Agents of socialization ✔✔the social institutions, including families and schools, that help shape individuals' basic political beliefs and values Anticipatory socialization ✔✔involves learning the rights, obligations, and expectations of a role to prepare for assuming that role in the future. Adolescence ✔✔can be defined as the period between the normal onset of puberty and the beginning of adulthood Dating ✔✔the meeting of people as a romantic engagement Courtship ✔✔differs from dating in that its ultimate purpose was marriage. Casual dating ✔✔Willard Waller- studied the dating habits of students at Pennsylvania state university. concluded that ____ had little to do with mate selection and was used for the sole reason of entertainment. Teenage suicide factors ✔✔Alcohol or drug use, triggering events, age, gender, population density, family relations and cluster effect. Traditional dating patterns ✔✔responsibility for arranging a date fell to the man. rules of conduct while on a date were well define and upheld by both parties, and pressure to conform to these behaviors was strong. Functions of dating ✔✔dating is a form of entertainment. dating allows young people to get together simply to have fun, also dating is a mechanism for socialization. It helps the individuals to learn appropriate role behaviors. Lastly, dating fulfills certain pyschological needs such as conversation, companionship, and understanding. Social inequality ✔✔the unequal sharing of scarce resources and social rewards. Open society ✔✔A society in which social mobility is possible for everyone. Closed society ✔✔A society in which social mobility does not exist. Exogamy ✔✔marriage outside ones own social category Class system ✔✔the distribution of scarce resources and rewards is determined on the basis of achieved status. Race ✔✔a category of people who share inherited physical characteristics and whom others see as being a distinct group. Ethnicity ✔✔the set of cultural characteristics that distinguishes one group from another group Social stratification ✔✔the division of society into categories, ranks, or classes Life chances ✔✔the likelihood that individuals have in sharing in the opportunities and benefits of society. Upward mobility ✔✔the movement between social classes or strata. moving upward in a social class. Upper class ✔✔makes up just 1% of the population, but controls a sizable proportion of the country's wealth. often looked at and divided into two groups - old money, and new money. Upper Middle Class ✔✔made up primarily of high-income business people. most have a college education and even advanced degrees (masters, PhD ect.) class membership is based off income rather than assets. Lower Middle class ✔✔Most have jobs that do not include manual labor, but provide a lower income than other "white-collar" jobs. people in this class most often have a lower degree of education, most but not all having gone to college Working class ✔✔most people in this class hold jobs that require manual labor. most often they did not go to college, only receiving a high school education. Pre-industrial society ✔✔Type of society in which food production is carried out through the use of human and animal labor Industrial society ✔✔a society that depends on mechanization to produce its goods and services Post-industrial society ✔✔economically dependent upon the production and distribution of services, information, and knowledge. Bourgeoisie ✔✔the owners of the means of production in a capitalist society Corporations ✔✔a business organization that is owned by stockholders and is treated by law as if it were an individual person. Internet ✔✔a computer network consisting of a worldwide network of computer; often used as a form of communication and trade. What is sociology and what does it mean to have a sociological imagination? ✔✔Sociology is the social science that studies human society and social behavior of groups. If someone has a sociological imagination, then they have the ability to see the connection between the larger world and their personal life. What is the meaning of culture and how to material and non-material culture differ? ✔✔Culture is shared products of a human group. Material culture consists of things that humans create and use- such as cars- whereas non-material culture consists of non-tangible things like language and religious beliefs. What are the four main factors that affect the development of personality? ✔✔Behaviors, beliefs, values and attitudes. How do the major theories of social stratification differ? ✔✔Sociologists who follow the functionalist theory view social stratification as a necessary feature of social structure. They assume that certain roles in society must be performed for the society to be maintained, and rewards ensure the fulfillment of these certain roles. The more important a role is, the higher the reward, and without this role system, society would not run smoothly. Conflict theorists see competition over scarce resources as a source of social inequality. They believe various groups within society compete with one another for the scarce resources, and once a group gains power, it is able to share public policy and opinion to its advantage to maintain position of power. What are the characteristics of the capitalist and socialist economic systems? ✔✔Capitalists economical systems occur when the factors of production are owned by individuals rather than the government. Socialism is when the factors of production are owned by the government. What are the basic values for the foundation of North American culture? ✔✔Americans value personal achievement, which is most evident in the area of employment where achievement is measured in terms of power and wealth. Americans value individualism which emphasizes that success comes through hard work and initiative. Americans value work in general because it shows discipline and dedication. Morality and humanitariansim are values that influence Americans to view the world in terms of right and wrong and to help other less fortunate. Efficiency and practicality describe the desire Americans have to discover the most efficient technique for dealing with a situation and to determine the most practical response. Progress and material comfort are values that describe American's belief in the ability of science and technology to make the world better and more comfortable. Value of equality emphasizes Americans' belief in equal oppurtunities and a chance to succeed. Americans value democracy which ensures the right to express opinions and have a say in the government. Americans value freedom, such as freedom of speech, religion and press. [Show More]

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