Deck 3: Society and Culture: Hardware and Software of Our Social World

Question 1

According to Durkheim, simple premodern societies are held together by ______. In these societies, social cohesion stems from the similarity of individuals in the group.

A) anomie
B) verstehen
C) mechanical solidarity
D) organic solidarity

Answer 1

C

Question 2

Durkheim asserted that organic solidarity refers to social cohesion based on ______.

A) tribal groupings
B) shared outlooks
C) the similarity of individuals in the group
D) division of labor

Answer 2

D

Question 3

According to Durkheim, which of the following becomes increasingly important as societies become more complex?

A) interpersonal interaction and community life
B) shared beliefs, values, and emotional ties
C) male/female distinctions and age groupings
D) meso- and macro-level institutions

Answer 3

D

Question 4

In ______ societies people rely on vegetation and animals occurring naturally in the habitat to sustain life.

A) hunter-gatherer
B) horticultural
C) agricultural
D) industrial

Question 5

In ______ societies food producing strategies are based on domestication of animals, whereas in ______ food producing strategies are based on domestication of plants.

A) horticultural; herding
B) herding; horticultural
C) agricultural; industrial
D) industrial; agricultural

Question 6

Both herding and horticultural societies differ from hunter-gatherer societies in that the members of these societies ______.

A) are nomadic
B) settle in one place
C) use plow technology
D) continuously cultivate the same land

Question 7

______ societies rely primarily on raising crops for food, but with the use of technology such as plows, irrigation systems, and fertilization.

A) Hunter-gatherer
B) Horticultural
C) Agricultural
D) Industrial

Question 8

Industrial societies rely on ______.

A) serfdom
B) raising crops for food
C) mechanized production
D) automation

Question 9

Which type of society is characterized by automated production and service jobs?

A) horticultural
B) agricultural
C) industrial
D) postindustrial

Question 10

Which of the following is a common characteristic of all cultures?

A) All cultures have a high or elite culture shared by a select few.
B) All cultures have a popular culture that is mass produced, mass consumed, and enmeshed in everyday traditions.
C) All cultures share similar beliefs, values, rules and laws, customs, and symbols.
D) All cultures evolve over time.

Question 11

______ is the tendency to view one's own group and its cultural expectations as right, proper, and superior to others.

A) Ethnocentrism
B) Cultural relativity
C) Real culture
D) Ideal culture

Question 12

______ requires setting aside cultural and personal beliefs and prejudices to understand another group or society through the eyes of its members and using its own community standards.

A) Ethnocentrism
B) Cultural relativism
C) The social construction of reality
D) The sociological imagination

Question 13

______ includes all human made objects we can see or touch-all artifacts of a group of people.

A) Material culture
B) Non-material culture
C) Real culture
D) Popular culture

Question 14

______ refers to the thoughts, language, feelings, beliefs, values, and attitudes that make up much of our culture.

A) Material culture
B) Nonmaterial culture
C) Symbolic culture
D) Ideal culture

Question 15

As a small child, Kirby heard many stories about the American Dream. He was taught that the United States is a land of opportunity in which anybody-regardless of his or her circumstances-can achieve success through hard work. Kirby was told about his society's ______ culture.

A) ideal
B) real
C) imaginary
D) formal

Question 16

______ are rules of behavior shared by members of society and rooted in the value system.

A) Values
B) Beliefs
C) Norms
D) Sanctions

Question 17

Remaining faithful to a spouse is a strong ______ in U.S. society.

A) taboo
B) folkway
C) mores
D) sanction

Question 18

Which of the following concern unthinkable or unspeakable actions in a given culture?

A) taboos
B) folkways
C) mores
D) sanctions

Question 19

A prison sentence is an example of a(n) ______.

A) informal negative sanction
B) formal negative sanction
C) informal positive sanction
D) formal positive sanction

Question 20

Smiling at someone who holds the door open for you is an example of a(n) ______.

A) informal positive sanction
B) informal negative sanction
C) formal positive sanction
D) formal negative sanction

Question 21

According to communication scholars, which of the following forms of language carries 7% of a message?

A) facial expression
B) intonation
C) actual words said
D) body posture

Question 22

Which of the following theories asserts that people who speak a specific language make interpretations of their reality based on the language?

A) nativistic theory
B) logical positivism
C) semantic-cognitive theory
D) linguistic relativity theory

Question 23

Which of the following groups is a subculture?

A) homeowners
B) Japanese Americans
C) divorced people
D) a college fraternity

Question 24

Lee is a member of an organization whose members believe that individuals should be able to live without rules and regulations imposed by society. This organization is a(n) example of a ______.

A) subculture
B) national culture
C) ideal culture
D) counterculture

Question 25

Most nations have a ______, which refers to common values and beliefs that tie citizens of a nation together.

A) counterculture
B) national culture
C) global culture
D) popular culture

Question 26

Which of the following is TRUE of global society and culture?

A) Global society and culture has always existed.
B) The globalization process increases diversity.
C) Western political and economic structures dominate in the development of global culture.
D) Global culture is inherently non-material.

Question 27

Stateless terrorist networks such as ISIS and al-Qaeda are examples of ______ at the global level.

A) counterculture
B) microculture
C) subculture
D) national culture

Question 28

According to symbolic interaction theory, the ______ is the process by which individuals and groups shape their reality through social interaction.

A) social construction of reality
B) social construction of norms
C) social construction of values
D) social construction of beliefs

Question 29

Which of the following theories would be useful in understanding tensions in society when local cultural values clash with national trends?

A) world systems theory
B) symbolic interaction theory
C) conflict theory
D) structural-functional theory

Question 30

The intergroup contact theory is an example of a ______ that is easier to test than the major theoretical perspectives.

A) macro-level theory
B) middle-range theory
C) classical theory
D) foundational theory

Question 31

For most of human history humans have been hunters and gatherers.

Question 32

Before the emergence of nation states, there was no macro level.

Question 33

In hunter-gatherer societies, food-producing strategies are based on the domestication of plants and animals.

Question 34

The tractor was the technological breakthrough that moved many societies from the horticultural to the agricultural stage.

Question 35

Feudalism emerged out of agricultural societies.

Question 36

Industrial societies rely primarily on automated production.

Question 37

From an economic perspective, children are considered more of a hindrance in agricultural societies than in industrial societies.

Question 38

According to Daniel Bell, the third technological revolution was the invention of the computer.

Question 39

Culture is cumulative and adaptive over time.

Question 40

Sociologists believe that the transmission of culture is the feature that most separates humans from other animals.

Question 41

Societies instill a certain degree of ethnocentrism in their members to promote loyalty and conformity.

Question 42

A textbook is an example of material culture.

Question 43

Countercultures are defined in part by their ephemeral nature; they last for a short period of time.

Question 44

According to conflict theory, countercultures can be good for society.

Question 45

More than any other theory, conflict theory stresses the active decision-making role of individuals in society.

Question 46

Structural-functional theorists highlight the way cultural groups struggle to make their own cultural ways dominant in their society.

Question 47

Compare and contrast mechanical solidarity and organic solidarity.

Question 48

Compare and contrast horticultural and agricultural societies.

Question 49

What are the common characteristics of all cultures?

Question 50

Explain how material culture drives the globalization process. Provide examples.

Question 51

Define ideal and real culture. What are two examples of discrepancies between real and ideal culture in the United States? Explain why you think these discrepancies exist.

Question 52

According to linguistic relativity theory, language affects how people conceptualize their world. Give an example of how your own language affects your thinking.

Question 53

Provide an example of a common cultural practice in the United States. How might someone from another culture respond to that practice in an ethnocentric manner? How might she or he respond in a cultural relativist manner?

Question 54

Compare and contrast subcultures and countercultures. Provide an example of each.

Question 55

Why is it important to understand global culture?

Question 56

What is the social construction of reality? Provide an illustration of this concept.

Question 57

In general, how do structural-functional theorists view cultural practices? What is a major criticism of this perspective?

Question 58

Conflict theorists argue that people with power and privilege manipulate social institutions for their own gain. Provide an example.

Question 59

How can conflict theory help us understand global dynamics?