Deck 3: Hermeneutics and Phenomenology

Question 1

Early on, sociology employed ___________ methodologies

A) Positivist
B) Ethnomethodological
C) Interactive
D) Phenomenological

Answer 1

A

Question 2

Early American sociologists, in reaction to positivist and "value free" methodologies, developed

A) Postmodernism
B) Linguistics
C) Interactionism
D) Network theory

Answer 2

C

Question 3

The pragmatists who influenced symbolic interactionism include:

A) August Comte and John Dewey
B) Emile Durkheim and William James
C) Emile Durkheim and August Comte
D) John Dewey and William James

Answer 3

D

Question 4

The interpretation of texts is dealt with by

A) Pragmatism
B) Hermeneutics
C) Positivism
D) Structuralism

Question 5

Wilhelm Dilthey and Max Weber shared the idea that the goal of human sciences, including sociology, should be:

A) Understanding
B) Explanation
C) Social improvement
D) None of the above

Question 6

Central to George Herbert Mead's theories was the idea that

A) Structures and functions in society are tied together
B) A true understanding of texts could only be achieved if the context in which they were written was taken into account
C) Social reality was constructed by people interacting with one another
D) None of the above

Question 7

A major center for interpretive sociology in the early 20^th Century was

A) Harvard University
B) Columbia University
C) University of Chicago
D) University of Michigan

Question 8

Phenomenology is:

A) The study of large scale phenomenon
B) The study of the impact of important historical events on the development of society
C) The study of the impediments to social change
D) The study of everyday experience

Question 9

One of the major goals of phenomenology is to

A) Provide a dominant explanation for the functioning of society
B) Question the assumptions of positivist social science
C) Describe the nature of social institutions
D) None of the above

Question 10

The "life-world" is

A) A place where objective thought and doubt are suspended
B) The sum total of a person's experiences throughout life
C) The structures that shape one's opportunities
D) The interactions one has with others

Question 11

Typifications are:

A) Stereotypes, or ways of judging people
B) Categories and other means through which ordinary people organize their world of things and ideas
C) Social norms, or the rules that we conform to
D) None of the above

Question 12

Alfred Schutz described three basic ways in which intersubjective awareness of social reality is achieved by actors. These are:

A) I, Me, and Self
B) Us, Them, and Ourselves
C) We, Thou, and They
D) We, You, and Them

Question 13

Ethnomethodology is an attempt to understand unremarkable human interactions and to show how they ______ and ______ the social order

A) Disrupt, enable
B) Constitute, explain
C) Rank, enable
D) Disrupt, explain

Question 14

Ethnomethodology challenges meaning in everyday interactions because

A) Meanings are contested in interactions
B) Passive aggressive people often don't say what they mean
C) Communication breakdowns threaten social solidarity
D) Many things are left unsaid in people's statements that are intended

Question 15

For Maurice Marleau-Ponty, what is the basis of a person's contact with the world?

A) The body
B) The mind
C) Consciousness
D) Interactions

Question 16

The idea that perception is only confirmed by others and cannot be confirmed subjectively is called:

A) Subjectivity
B) Objectivity
C) Intersubjectivity
D) None of the above

Question 17

The hermeneutic circle is

A) Awareness that moves from naïve understanding to a deeper comprehension in which the interpreter understands the relationship of the parts of a text to the whole.
B) The relationship between structure and agency
C) Awareness that comes from repeated interactions, though which an individual can see him or herself as others do
D) The social and technological networks that tie individuals together across the globe.

Question 18

Which social theorist attempted to challenge the ethically neutral tradition of ontology?

A) Harold Garfunkel
B) George Herbert Mead
C) Erving Goffman
D) Emmanuel Levinas

Question 19

A major criticism of phenomenology is that ignores

A) Agency
B) Consciousness and cognition
C) Structural constraints that shape action and outcomes
D) Meaning making processes in social live

Question 20

Wilhelm Dilthy had a profound influence on the development of phenomenology

Question 21

Verstehen is a sociological theory of social structures

Question 22

Currently, social and cultural forms of phenomenology look very similar to philosophical forms

Question 23

Alfred Schutz focused on the world of the mind

Question 24

Ethnomethodology is the study of ethnic group rituals

Question 25

What are the main tenets of phenomenology?

Question 26

Explain the methodological approach of ethnomethodology.

Question 27

What does it mean to say that phenomenology is part of the "subjective turn" in sociology?

Question 28

Describe and explain three ways in which interpretive sociology differs from the structural theories that came before it.

Question 29

In what ways are everyday experiences important to the phenomenological approach?

Question 30

How does phenomenology differ from positivist approaches to social life?