Question 1

Recognizing the impact our individual position has on who we are and how we think and act, and taking responsibility for the impacts our actions have on others is known as

Accepted Answer

Personal sociology emphasizes the importance of recognizing how our individual positions influence our perspectives and behaviors, and it involves taking responsibility for the effects our actions have on others.

Question 2

During what era did sociologists begin to reject early crowd theory?

Accepted Answer

The rejection of early crowd theory by sociologists began during the social movements of the 1960s. This era, marked by significant civil rights, anti-war, and feminist movements, led to a reevaluation of how people behave in crowds, moving away from earlier, more simplistic views that often depicted crowd behavior as irrational.

Question 3

Scientists use technology to increase food production and to make agriculture more efficient and economical through

Accepted Answer

Genetic modification is a technology used by scientists to increase food production and make agriculture more efficient and economical by altering the DNA of crops to improve yield, disease resistance, and drought tolerance.

Question 4

Sociology teaches us that

Accepted Answer

Sociology emphasizes the role of individuals in shaping society and acknowledges that even inaction contributes to the maintenance of societal structures.

Question 5

Our socialization and the social positions we occupy are usually good predictors of the choices we make.

Accepted Answer

Socialization and the social positions we occupy significantly influence our perspectives, values, and behaviors, thereby affecting the choices we make in various aspects of life.

Question 6

Which of the following is not an example of modern society's efforts to measure success quantitatively?

Accepted Answer

The Pulitzer Prize is an award for achievements in newspaper, magazine and online journalism, literature, and musical composition, and is not based on quantitative measures but rather on qualitative judgment by a panel.

Question 7

The Marxist view of social change is appealing to some because it

Accepted Answer

The Marxist view of social change is appealing because it promotes change as a means of eliminating social inequality and permits people to seize their freedom from injustice, making both B and C correct.

Question 8

Which of the following is NOT accurate concerning Jacques Ellul's assessments of modern technological society?

Accepted Answer

Jacques Ellul was critical of the dominance of technique and the prioritization of efficiency in modern society, but he did not advocate for focusing more on measuring success in quantitative terms. On the contrary, his work often critiqued the reduction of human values to mere numbers and metrics.

Question 9

For a social movement to succeed, coordinated action is essential. For this reason, social movements often

Accepted Answer

Social movements often become bureaucratic to ensure coordinated action and effective organization, which is crucial for their success.

Question 10

_____ culture involves our physical modification of the natural environment to suit our purpose.

Accepted Answer

Material culture involves the physical objects, resources, and spaces that people use to define their culture. These include the buildings, tools, and technology that people create and use to interact with their environment and each other.

Question 11

Which of the following BEST illustrates relative deprivation?

Accepted Answer

Relative deprivation refers to the discontent people feel when they compare their positions to those in better circumstances and feel that they are worse off. Option B best illustrates this concept, as it describes middle management workers feeling discontent due to their inability to afford luxury cars like their bosses, highlighting a comparison and perceived deprivation relative to someone else's situation.

Question 12

The role of women in the family has changed dramatically in the United States during the last 50 years. Women have furthered their education and developed careers. This change in the family has necessitated adaptive changes in school systems, corporations, churches, and other facets of society to provide child care services. This situation reflects which view of social change?

Accepted Answer

The equilibrium model suggests that social systems tend to return to a state of stability after a change. As women have taken on new roles, other societal institutions have adapted to maintain balance, such as providing child care services.

Question 13

The expectation that African and Latin American countries will become more complex, as Western societies have, is consistent with

Accepted Answer

Social evolution theory suggests that societies progress through stages of complexity, similar to the development seen in Western societies. This theory aligns with the expectation that African and Latin American countries will become more complex over time.

Question 14

The ways we establish, abide by, and enforce principles of conduct comprise

Accepted Answer

Normative culture refers to the ways in which societies establish, abide by, and enforce norms or principles of conduct. This includes the creation of societal norms, laws, and moral guidelines that dictate acceptable behavior within a community.

Question 15

In what stage of Comte's Law of Three Stages does worship of concrete, active beings give way to the belief that abstract forces guide what happens in the world?

Accepted Answer

In the metaphysical stage, according to Auguste Comte's Law of Three Stages, people start to believe that abstract forces, rather than concrete, active beings (gods or spirits), are responsible for what happens in the world. This represents a shift from the theological stage, where supernatural explanations predominate, towards a more abstract and less personalized understanding of phenomena.

Question 16

What are the various elements that need to be in place if social movements are to succeed? Which of these is the most indispensable, in your view? Illustrate your answer with real world examples.

Accepted Answer

The answer of What are the various elements that need...

Question 17

Which of the following is not a concern that sociologists have about surveillance and censorship?

Accepted Answer

Sociologists are generally concerned with how surveillance and censorship can impact social dynamics, privacy, and power relations, rather than focusing on their potential to prevent terrorism.

Question 18

If the United States Congress passed strict anticigarette laws that banned their sale anywhere in the country, it would create serious problems for cigarette manufacturers, retailers, tobacco growers, tobacco farm workers, truckers, and many other employees in the cigarette industry. Each of these groups would probably oppose this legislation because they are examples of

Accepted Answer

These groups are considered vested interests because they have an established economic stake or interest in the continuation of cigarette sales, which the proposed legislation threatens.

Question 19

Which of the following is True about groups such as the Luddites?

Accepted Answer

The Luddites, historically speaking, were not opposed to technology per se but were concerned about how the rapid advancement and implementation of technology, particularly during the Industrial Revolution, could disrupt their livelihoods, societal norms, and values. Their resistance was rooted in the fear of losing their jobs to machines and the impact this would have on their communities, rather than a blanket opposition to all technology or an irrational fear of technological progress.

Question 20

Gustave Le Bon's theory of crowd psychology seemed logical, in part, because of the era in which it was proposed, during the time of

Accepted Answer

Hitler's rise to power in Germany was a time of great social and political upheaval, which made people more susceptible to the influence of crowd psychology.

Quiz 15: Social Change