Deck 4: Society, Culture, and Cultural Change

Question 1

A group of people who come together accidentally for a brief time only is called a:

A) society.
B) crowd.
C) social institution.
D) family.

Answer 1

B

Question 2

The degree to which a culture is internally consistent and homogeneous is called:

A) cultural integration.
B) cultural alteration.
C) cultural development crisis.
D) cultural transition.

Answer 2

A

Question 3

The cultural change which made it possible to record human knowledge was the invention of:

A) the wheel.
B) the arch.
C) writing.
D) stone tools.

Answer 3

C

Question 4

Today the rate of technological change is increasing:

A) and so is the interaction among cultures.
B) but cultural interaction is decreasing.
C) but close contacts with distant lands is ending.
D) and cultural differences are greater.

Question 5

Technological development begins:

A) without human influence.
B) without reference to previous technologies.
C) exactly the same way in all societies.
D) with discovery and invention

Question 6

Oswald Spengler and Arnold Toynbee suggested a theory that civilizations pass through:

A) upward spirals of prosperity indefinitely.
B) silver, bronze, and iron ages.
C) changes which reflect inevitable progress.
D) cycles of growth, climax, and decline.

Question 7

Benjamin Lee Whorf argued that each particular language embodies and propagates:

A) a uniform system of meanings identical for all languages.
B) a system of communication lacking bias.
C) cultural artifacts.
D) a world view

Question 8

The slowness in the rate of change in one part of culture in relation to another is called:

A) cultural invention.
B) material progress.
C) cultural transformation.
D) cultural lag.

Question 9

A ____________________ is a privilege or advantage than an individual enjoys because of the status quo, which is the existing state of affairs.

A) habit
B) perk
C) hidden benefit
D) vested interest

Question 10

Conventions:

A) are exact, codified, and enforced.
B) are interesting and quaint.
C) exist only in primitive societies.
D) are the usual ways of behavior in a group.

Question 11

An organized system of ideas for remodeling society is called:

A) an inventory.
B) material invention.
C) an ideology.
D) socialization scale.

Question 12

Geography and climate are:

A) unrelated to the natural environment.
B) always stabilizing factors in social changes.
C) never important when people migrate.
D) important factors to consider in social change.

Question 13

The causes of most social problems are:

A) simple.
B) complex.
C) non-existent.
D) obvious.

Question 14

The spread of cultural traits from one social group to another is called:

A) cultural integration.
B) cultural diffusion.
C) cultural subdivision.
D) cultural fixation.

Question 15

Contemporary American culture is:

A) mostly dominated by urban black culture.
B) a traditional white, Anglo-Saxon, Protestant culture.
C) a blending of overlapping cultures representing a wide variety of people.
D) there is no American culture.

Question 16

Social changes may also be brought about by group action in a society, which is also called:

A) random action.
B) small scale revisions.
C) gradualism.
D) collective action.

Question 17

Evolution and revolution are two ways in which basic social institutions:

A) change.
B) reach perfection.
C) remain the same.
D) resist change.

Question 18

Ways of behaving that have been learned so well that they can be carried on without conscious attention are called:

A) traits.
B) innovations.
C) habits.
D) discoveries.

Question 19

Which social institution played a significant role in instigating social change during the civil rights movement?

A) the public school system
B) the economy
C) the medical community
D) the church

Question 20

Conventions are:

A) everyday customs or usual ways of behaving.
B) complex group behaviors which do not change.
C) never followed by individuals.
D) legal norms enforced by courts.

Question 21

Culture is the way of life that the people of a society follow.

Question 22

Cultural alternatives define the degree to which a culture is internally consistent and homogeneous.

Question 23

The United States does not have one single culture.

Question 24

Multiculturalism allows subgroups to revere their own history and view that history as a strong building block of the larger culture.

Question 25

Understanding other cultures requires an effort to look at them from the viewpoint of:

A) all people according to one value system.
B) the dominant world culture.
C) those people brought up in other cultures.
D) the oldest existing culture.

Question 26

Language is not important in the development and transmission of culture.

Question 27

A group of people does not necessarily constitute a society.

Question 28

Ethnocentrism is:

A) the tendency to judge other cultures by a person's own culture.
B) universally avoided.
C) forbidden everywhere.
D) always beneficial to all humans.

Question 29

All people in a culture are alike in their personalities.

Question 30

Socialization is the process that shapes the personality of individuals so they can become members of society.

Question 31

Social values are the motivating power that makes institutions function effectively.

Question 32

Laws are different from mores in that to be a law, a principle or regulation has had to be accepted by more people.

Question 33

The doctrine that all cultures are for the most part equally valid is called:

A) cultural diffusion.
B) cultural relativism.
C) centralization.
D) democratization.

Question 34

Different cultures change or evolve:

A) in the same way everywhere.
B) according to a universally similar pattern.
C) along quite different paths.
D) the same number of times every decade.

Question 35

Respect for different ways of living is the essence of:

A) forced conformity.
B) chauvinism.
C) ethnocentrism.
D) cultural relativism.

Question 36

Social institutions are usually organized around some central interest or need.

Question 37

Social institutions provide a society order, coordination, and provide for social change.

Question 38

It is possible to understand the nature of human beings independently of their social environment.

Question 39

Mores are regulations established in a community by some authority and enforced by judicial decision.

Question 40

Social values are absolute rather than relative.

Question 41

Christian churches in America have traditionally been and continue to be active in social change movements in the United States.

Question 42

Explain the doctrine of inevitable progress and the theory of social change. How do these two ideas differ?

Question 43

William Ogburn described cultural lag as a pattern of stability and cultural cohesion.

Question 44

What is the meaning of cultural relativism? How is cultural relativism related to ethnocentrism? Which view do social scientists tend to take?

Question 45

Technological changes now constitute only a minor part of social life.

Question 46

The cycle theory of social change is based on the idea that history repeats itself.

Question 47

How do social scientists define social problems? What are the reasons why some problems are called social problems? State two examples of major social problems.

Question 48

What is cultural lag theory? What are the limitations of cultural lag theory? How is cultural lag related to social problems?

Question 49

Concepts such as "liberty, equality, and fraternity" of the French Revolution changed basic social values.

Question 50

The culture of a society is permanent and able to fit all new situations without evolving.

Question 51

Diffusion of cultural traits is a one-way process.

Question 52

Changes in the material aspects of culture always precede changes in the nonmaterial aspects.

Question 53

Cultural relativism asserts that all cultures are for the most part equally valid.

Question 54

An ideology is an organized system of ideas, values, and emotions.

Question 55

What factors contribute to the stability of culture? How do these factors help to give continuity to ways of living?