Test Answers on Sociology review – Flashcards
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After submitting her completed research dissertation to her comittee, Becky was accused of plagiarism by the chair of the department. What did the chair believe Becky did?
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Becky copied major parts of her dissertation from someone elses work
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To be classified as a society, what are the two key qualitites a group of people must share?
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A common culture and a territory
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Which sociological perspective analyzes how social life depends on the ways we define ourselves and other?
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Symbolic interactionism
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Which sociological perspective analyzes how social life depends on the ways we define ourselves and other?
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Symbolic interactionism
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What term describes the use of sociology to solve social problems in business, the workplace, and other aspects of society?
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Applied sociology
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How did Karl Marx and Max Weber differ in their theoretical assumptions?
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Marx believed economics was the central force driving social change, and Weber claimed it was religion
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What event led to an uprooting of what had been traditional social arrangements?
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The industrial revolution
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What is a general statement about how some parts of the world fit together and how they work?
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A theory
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Which sociological perspective views society as being composed of groups that engage in fierce competition for scarce resources?
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Conflict theory
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Which theoretical perspective stresses that society is a whole unit, made up of interrelated parts that work together harmoniously?
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Functional analysis
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What term did Robert Merton use to describe human actions that hurt a system (society) that are usually unintended?
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Latent dysfunctions
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Frank is examining the broad stream of events that have occurred over the past 50 years and the specific experiences of his own life. By doing so, what sociological process has Frank undertaken?
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The sociological imagination
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Based on Emile Durkheims research on suicide, which individual would be the greatest suicide risk?
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Herbert, a single Protestant man living in the city
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Anthony is conducting experimental research on the effects of an educational therapy programand the conflict-resolution skills of inmates. He has established two groups. Group A will receive a special conflict-resolution therapy program. Group B will go about their routine without receiving the therapy or a therapy substitute. What is Group B in experimental research such as this?
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The control group
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Sociological Perspective
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Stresses the social contexts in which people live;examines how contexts influence peoples lives
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Society
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A groups of people who share a culture and a territory
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Sociology
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"The study of society"; the purpose is not only to discover social principles, but also to apply them to social reform
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Positivism
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Applying the scientific method to the social world, suggested by Auguste Comte
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Class Conflict
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The engine of human history, the idea that society is made up of two classes and that they are natural enemies (Burgeoise v. Proletariat)
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Social Integration
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The degree to which people are tied to their social group
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Replication
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Repeating a study in order to compare a new study with the original findings
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Values
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Beliefs about what is good or desirable in life and the way the world ought to be
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Latent Dysfunctions
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Usually unintended human actions that hurt a system
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Applied Sociology
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Using sociology to solve problems
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Theory
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A general statement of how some parts of the world fit together and how they work
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Micro-Level Analysis
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Examining what people do when they are in one anothers presence
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Macro-Level Analysis
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Examining large scale patterns of society
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Participant Observation
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Where the researcher participates in a research setting while observing what is happening in that setting
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Public Sociology
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Harnessing the sociological perspective for the benefit of the public, a middle ground between research and reform
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Social Location
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The corners in life that people occupy because of where they are located in a society
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Emile Durkheim
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Found the trends underlying suicide, less social integration=the higher the rate, proestant, male, and unmarried have higher rates
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Social Integration
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The degree to which people are tied to their social groups
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W.E.B. Du Bois
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African American, fought againt racisms, published a book on black white relations, founded National Association fro the Advancement of Colored People (NAACP)
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Jane Addams
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Co founded NAACP and fought for social reform
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Symbolic Interactionism
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Idea that symbols (things to which we attach meaning) are the key to understanding how we view the world and communicate with one another
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Functional Analysis / Structural Functionalism
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The society is a whole unit, made up of iterrelated parts that work together, like organs working together in a body
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Classless Society
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Concept that Karl Marx believed in would be a result of a revolution due to class conflict
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Manifest/Latent Functions
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Manifest is an action that is intended to help the system and latent is a function that unintendedly helps the system adjust
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Conflict Theory
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A conclusion by Marx that the key to human history in class conflict
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Operational Definition
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Precise ways to measure the variables
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What term do sociologists use to describe the language, beliefs, values, norms, behavior, and material objects shared by members of society that are also passed from one generation to the next?
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Culture
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Which set of concepts best illustrates nomaterial culture?
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Beliefs, values, norms
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When sociologists use the phrase, "the culture within us," what do they mean?
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Shared and learned ways of believing and doing become taken-for-granted assumptions
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Mark is a foreign exchange student living with a Chinese family. The first night he was with them his hosts served a delicious entree of meat and vegetables. Although tasty, Mark could not identify the meat. When his host told him it was roast dog Mark became upset and decided to become a vegetarian for the course of his stay. In view of this, which sociological concept did Mark just experience?
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Culture shock
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What is the tendency to use our own groups ways of doing things as the yardstick for judging the behavior, values, and beliefs of others?
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Ethnocentrism
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How do members of a society acquire the ability to use and understand gestures?
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Most gestures are learned through interaction with others
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What term refers to how our language determines our consciousness and perceptions of objects and events?
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The Sapir-Whorf hypothesis
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What are the expectations or rules of behavior that develop out of a groups values?
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Norms
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What term describes hugs, smiles, and "high fives" that are freely given between two individuals as a sign of expressing approval for following a norm?
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Positive Sanctions
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What term describes a society which is made up of many different religions, races, and ethnic groups?
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A pluralistic society
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What is the core value that pervades U.S. life and is underscored by the American revolution?
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Freedom
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What term do sociologists use to describe the norms and values that people actually follow as opposed to those the would follow if they lives in "a perfect world"?
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Real culture
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When American servicemen occupied Japan following World War II, the Japanese watched the Americans playing baseball, appreciated the sport, and adopted it themselves. Today, baseball is one of the most popular sports in Japan. This adoption of baseball by the Japanese is an example of what?
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Cultural diffusion
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Wayne always wears a lapel pin on his suit signifying that he was the recipient of the Medal of Honor when he was in the service. Usually, only veterans recognize what the pin actually means. In view of this, which of the following terms best describes Waynes lapel pin?
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It is a symbol to which people attach meaning
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Counterculture
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A group whose values, beliefs, and related behaviors place its members in opposition to the broader culture
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Cultural Diffusion
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The spread of cultural characteristics from one group to another
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Cultural Lag
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Ogburns term for human behavior lagging behind technological innovations
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Cultural Leveling
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The process by which cultures become similar to one another especially refers to the process by which U.S. culture is being imported and diffused into other nations
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Cultural Relativism
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Not judging a culture but trying to understand it on its own terms (cultural empathy)
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Culture
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The language, beliefs, values, norms, behaviors, and even material objects that are passed from one generation to the next
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Culture Shock
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The disorientation that people experience when they come in contact with a fundamentally different culture and can no longer depend on their taken-for-granted assumptions about life
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Ethnocentrism
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The use of ones own culture as a yardstick for judging the ways of other individuals or societies, generally leading to a negative evaluation of the other societies values, norms, and behaviors
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Folkways
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Norms that are not strictly enforces
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Gestures
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The ways in which people use their bodies to communicate with one another
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Ideal Culture
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The ideal values and norms of a people; the goals held out for them
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Language
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A system of symbols that can be combines in an infinite number of ways and can represent not only objects but also abstract thought
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Material Culture
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The material objects that distinguish a group of people, such as their art, buildings, weapons, utensils, machines, hairstyles, clothing, and jewelry
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Mores
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Norms that are strictly enforce because they are thought essential to core values
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Negative Sanction
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An expression of disapproval for breaking a norm, ranging from a mild, informal reaction such a a frown to a formal reaction such as a prison sentence or an execution
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New Technology
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An emerging technology that has a significant impact on social life
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Nonmaterial Culture / Symbolic Culture
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A groups ways of thinking (and culture) and doing (it common patterns of behavior, including language and other forms of interaction)
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Norms
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The expectations, or rules of behavior, that develop to reflect and enforce values
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Pluralistic Society
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A society made up of many different groups
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Positive Sanction
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A reward or positive reaction for following norms
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Real Culture
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The norms and values that people actually follow
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Sanctions
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Expressions of approval or disapproval given to people for upholding or violating norms
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Sapir-Whorf Hypothesis
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Edward Sapirs and Benjamin Whorfs hypothesis that language creates ways of thinking and perceiving
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Subculture
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The values and related behaviors of a group that distinguish its members from the larger culture; a world withint a world
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Symbol
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Something to which people attach meanings and then use to communicate with others
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Symbolic Culture
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Another term for nonmaterial culture
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Taboo
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A norm thought essential for societys welfare, one so strong that it brings revulsion if violated
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Technology
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In its narrow sense, tools; its broader sense includes the skills or procedures necessary to make and use those tools
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Value Contradiction
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Values that contradict one another to follow the one means to come into conflict with the otehr
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Values
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The standards by which people define what is desirable or undesirable, good or bad, beautiful or ugly
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According to Charles Horton Cooley, how do we develop our self concept?
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Our self concept develops from interaction with others
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In Piagets model, in which stage do children become "young philosophers" who are capable of abstract thinking?
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The formal operational stage
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What are the stages we pass through from birth to death that include childhood, adolescence, transitional childhood, the middle years, and the older years?
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The life course
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Meagan always paints her fingernails purple and always wears a pin representing the Minnesota Vikings. What term describes what Meagans purple fingernails and pin represent?
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It is Meagans personal identity kit
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What is the process of learning new norms, values, attitudes, and behaviors called?
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Resocialization
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What term applies to the gap between childhood and adulthood that was first addressed during the Industrial Revolution?
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Adolescence
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What conclusion can be drawn from the case study of Oskar and Jack, the identical twins who were born in 1932 and raised in very different cultures?
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Ones orientation to life is largely the result of environment
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To what sociological perspective is Meads theory of human development most aligned?
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Symbolic interactionist
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Why do sociologists generally object to the Freudian view of personality?
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Sociologists reject the view that inborn or subconscious motivations are primary reasons for our behavior
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Bobs football coach is a very important influence in his life. Many of Bobs actions are attempts to win the approval of his coach. Based on Meads theory on development, which concept applies most to the relationship between Bob and his coach?
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Bobs coach is one of his significant others
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April spends more than 40hrs/week in day care because both her parents work full-time. Hope spends about 15 hrs/week in day care because her mother only works part-time. Based upon the studies, what can one expect of the relationship April will have with her mother by the time she starts school?
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April will have a weaker bond with her mother than Hope
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Fred has applied for the position of head football coach at a local middle school, a role he has not fulfilled in the past. Although the Board of Education hasnt announced its decision on who will receive the position, Fred is already developing plays, looking at methods to motivate his players, and ways to get the student body behind the team. Based on this, what condition is Fred experiences?
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Anticipatory socialization
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Which of the following would be the best example of a total institution?
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A mental hospital
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Leo, Matthews, Ryan, Liz, Isabelle, and Francis grew up together, attended the same schools, and share many of the same interests. Sociologically, which concept best describe their relationship?
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They comprise a peer group
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According to George Herbert Mead, how does a child learn to take the role of others?
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Through play and imitation
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As children, boys usually receive trucks, sporting equipment, and action toys. Girls receive dolls and gifts that are most passive. Overall, what do sociologists call this sex-based criteria for the gifts children receive?
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Gender socialization
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Agents of Socialization
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People or groups that affect our self-concept, attitudes, behaviors, or other orientations toward life
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Anticipatory Socialization
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Because one anticipates a future role, one learns parts of it now
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Degradation Ceremony
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A term coined by Harold Garfinkel to describe an attempt to remake the shelf by stripping away an individuals self-identity and stamping a new identity in its place
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Feral Children
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Children raised apart from human society
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Gender
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The attitudes and behaviors that are expected of us because we are a male or a female
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Gender Role
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The behaviors and attitudes that a group considers proper for males and females; masculinity and femininity
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Gender Socialization
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The ways in which society sets children onto different courses in life because they are male or female
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Generalized Other
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The norms, values, attitudes, and expectations of people "in general"; the childs ability to take the role of the generalized other is a significant step in the development of a self
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Life Course
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The stage in our life as we go from birth to death
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Looking-Glass Self
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A term coined by Charles Horton Cooley to refer to the process by which our sense of self develops through internalizing others reactions to us
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Mass Media
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Forms of communication, such as radio, newspapers, movies, and television that are directed to mass audiences
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Peer Group
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A group of individuals of roughly the same age who are linked by common interests
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Resocialization
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The process of learning new norms, values, attitudes, and behaviors
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Self
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The uniquely human capacity of being able to see ourselves "from the outside"; the picture we gain of how others see us
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Significant Other
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An individual who significantly influences someones life
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Social Inequality
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Giving privileges and obligations to one group of people while denying them to another
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Socialization
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The process by which people learn the characteristics of their group (the knowledge, skills, attitudes, values, and actions thought appropiate for them
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Take The Role Of Other
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Putting oneself in someones shoes; understanding how someone else feels and thinks and thus anticipating how that person will act
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Total Institution
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A place in which people are cut off from the rest of society and are almost totally controlled by teh officials who run the palce
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Piaget and the Development of Reasoning
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The sensorimotor stage (birth-age 2; sucking, touching), preoperational stage (age 2-7; ability to use symbols), concrete operational stage (age 7-12; concrete reasoning abilities), formal operational stage (age 12+; capable of abstract thinking)
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Id
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Inborn drives that cause us to seek self-gratification
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Ego
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The balancing force between the id and the demands of society that suppress it
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Superego
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The conscience
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Transitional Adulthood
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A period of extended youth to the life course, also known as adultolescence
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After studying the use of personal space in several cultures, what conclusion did Edward Hall reach regarding the amount of space people prefer?
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The amount of personal space people prefer varies from one culture to another
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Which three variables does the author recognize as being especially significant in determining ones social class?
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Occupational prestige, income, and education
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Connie is an 82-year-old retired full professor taking undergraduate courses in deviance, criminology, and juvenile delinquency. Which sociological term most applies to Connie being 82 and an undergraduate student?
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Status inconsistency
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A(n) ______ designates social position while a(n) _______ designates socially expected behavior
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Status; role
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Which of the following statements summarizes the Thomas theorem?
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If people define situations as real, they are real in their consequences
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What were the basic components of the fourth social revolution?
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Information and services
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Alice if getting ready for an interview with a potential employer. She had picked out a blazer and skirt and has had her hair done at the salon. Alice is relying on her manner and her appearance to communicated to the employer that she would be an excellent employee. What term would Goffman use to describe Alices behavior?
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Impression management
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What do the concepts of judge, professor, mother, student, soldier, and mechanic haev in common?
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They are all achieved statuses
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What is the basis for referring to the society in which members are interdependent upon one another as being in a state of "organic solidarity"?
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Members of the society are like organs of the body, each performing different tasks
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What is the term used to describe a groups language, beliefs, values, behaviors, and gestures?
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Culture
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As societies become more industrialized, how do their social institutions change?
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Social institutions become the standard ways that a society meets its basic needs
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What term describes people who share a culture and territory?
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Society
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As Dr. Crabtree lectures her American Lit class just before lunch, her stomach begins to rumble at a volume that can be heard by most of the students. She ignores it and continues and her students ignore it too. This is an example of which face-saving behavior?
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Studied non observance
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What term describes a position in life that one does not choose, but is awarded at birth or is related to the life course?
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Ascribed status
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In a horticultural society some members engage in art, metal working, carpentry, and occupations other than those related to food production. What term describes this specialization fo work?
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Division of labor
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Of the following, which status least qualifies as a master status?
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Licensed driver
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Achieved Statuses
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Positions that are earned or accomplished, or that involve at least some effort or activity on the individuals part
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Ascribed Statuses
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Positions an individual either inherits at birth or receives involuntarily later in life
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Body Language
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The ways people use their bodies to give messages to others
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Division of Labor
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The splitting of a groups or a societys tasks into specialties
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Ethnomethodology
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The study of how people use background assumptions to make sense of life
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Face-Saving Behavior
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Techniques people use to salvage a performance that is going sour
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Gemeinschaft
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A type of society in which life is intimate; a community in which everyone knows everyone else and people share a sense of togetherness
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Gesellschaft
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A type of society that is dominated by impersonal relationships, individual accomplishments, and self-interest
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Group
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People who have something in common and who believe that what they have in common is important; alsoc called a social group
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Impression Management
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Peoples efforts to control the impressions that others receive of them
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Industrial Revolution
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The third social revolution occurring when machines powered by fuels replaced most animal and human power
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Industrial society
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An efficient society with greater surplus and inequality
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Macrosociology
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Analysis of social life that focuses on broad features of social structure, such as social class an the relationships of groups to one another; an approach usually used by functionalists and conflict theorists
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Master Status
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A status that cuts across the other statuses that an individual occupies
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Mechanical Solidarity
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Durkheims term for the unity (a shared consciousness) that people feel as a result of performing the same or similar tasks
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Microsociology
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Analysis of social life that focuses on social interaction; an approach usually used by symbolic interactionists
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Organic Solidarity
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Solidarity based on the interdependence that results from the division of labor; people needing others to fulfill their jobs
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Postindustrial (or information) Society
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A new type of society based on information, services, and the latest technology rather than on raw material and manufacturing
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Role
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The behaviors, obligations, and privileges attached to a status
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Role Conflict
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Conflicts that someone feels between roles because the expectation attached to one role are incompatible with the expectations of another role
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Role Performance
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The particular emphasis or interpretation that we give to a role
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Role Strain
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Conflicts that someone feels within a role
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Social Class
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According to Weber, a large number of people who rank close to one another in wealth, power, and prestige; according to Marx, one of two groups: capitalists who own the means of production or workers who sell their labor
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Social Construction of Reality
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The use of background assumptions and life experiences to define what is real
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Social Institution
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The organized, usual, or standard ways by which society meets its basic needs
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Social Integration
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The degree to which members of a society are united by shared values and other social bonds
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Social Interaction
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What people do when they are in one anothers presence
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Social Structure
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The framework that surrounds us, consisting of the relationship of people and groups to one another, which give direction to and set limits on behavior
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Socialization
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The process by which people learn the characteristics of their group, the knowledge, skills, attitudes, values, and actions thought appropriate for them
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Society
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People who share a culture and a territory
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Status
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Social ranking; the position that someone occupies in society or a social group
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Status Inconsistency
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A contradiction or mismatch between statuses; a condition in which a person ranks high on some dimensions of social class and loow on others
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Status Set
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All the statuses or positions that an individual occupies
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Status Symbol
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Items used to identify a status
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Teamwork
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The collaboration of two or more people to manage impressions jointly
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Thomas Theorem
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William I. and Doroty S. Thomas classic formulation of the definition of the situation: "If people define situations as real, they are real in their consequences"
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Horticultural Societies
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Based on the cultivation of plants by the use of hand tools
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Agricultural Societies
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Allowed people to engage in more than farming, such as philosophy art, etc.
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During the Cuban Missile Crisis, Attorney General Robert F. Kennedy gathered opinions on how to address the problem from selected national leaders. After this group reached a consensus, the President made the final decision for a Naval quarantine of Cuba. This scenario is an example of which type of leadership
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Democratic
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Which best describes "the iron law of oligarchy?"
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The domination of organizations by a small, self-perpetuating elite
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What was the conclusion reached by Stanley Milgram in his "teacher-learner" experiment?
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Some people will inflict pain on others if ordered to do so by a person in a position of authority
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What term refers to the social ties that link people together?
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Social network
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In bureaucracies, what term refers to illogical rules and procedures?
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Red tape
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What occurs when members of a larger group believe that giving help is no more their responsibility than anyone elses?
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Diffusion of responsibility
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What term describes people who share similar characteristics but little else, such as all women attending college, all left-handed people, or all men over seven feet tall?
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A category
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According to Rosabeth Moss Kanter, what is an aspect of "hidden" corporate culture?
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Self-fulfilling stereotypes lead managers to promote workers who are like themselves
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When Judith Kleinfeld replicated Milgrams experiment on small world phenomenon, what did she conclude?
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People who dont know one another are dramatically separated by social barriers
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What is the largest and most complex type of group?
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Society
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Which set of characteristics is most applicable to secondary groups?
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Formal, intimate, face-to-face interaction
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What is the "rationalization of society"?
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The process of bureaucracies dominating social life
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Of the following characteristics, which one least applies to bureaucracies?
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Personal attention and individualism
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Cody is a member of the L.A. Crips. The other gangs in his territory are the Bloods and Satans Slaves. Cody feels very antagonistic towards the Bloods and the Slaves. For Cody, what type of group do these two rival gangs represent?
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Out-Groups
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What conclusion can be drawn from Solomon Aschs experiment on group conformity?
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Group pressure will cause most people to say things they dont believe
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What classification best describes groups that organize on the basis of some mutual interest, such as the Girl Scouts, Knights of Columbus, and labor unions?
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Voluntary Associations
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What term describes people who share the same physical space but do not see themselves as belonging together?
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Aggregate
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What conclusion did Georg Simmel reach with respect to the size of a group?
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As groups grow smaller, they become less stable
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What does "the McDonaldization" of society refer to?
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The predictability and standardization of everyday life
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Groups
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People who think of themselves as belonging together and who interact with one another
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Aggregate
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People who temporarily share the same physical space but who do not see themselves as belonging ogether
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Category
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A statistic (women that have long hair etc)
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Primary Groups
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The family, which gives basic orientations to life
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Secondary Groups
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Larger,more anonymous, more formal, and more impersonal
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Voluntary Associations
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A group made up of volunteers who organize on the basis of some mutual interest
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The Iron Law of Oligarchy
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Refers to how organizations come to be dominated by a small, self-perpetuating elite
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In-Groups
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Groups towards which we feel loyalty
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Out-Groups
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Groups towards which we feel antagonism
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Reference Groups
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The groups we refer to when we evaluate ourselves
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Social Networks
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Refers to people who are linked to one another
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Clique
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Clusters within a group
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Electronic Community
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People who meet online and discuss/coexist on there
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The Rationalization of Society
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That bureaucracies with their rules and emphasis on results, would increasingly dominate our lives
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Goal Displacement
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Even after and organization achieves its goal and no longer has a reason to continues, it still continues
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Alienation
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Making workers feel more like objects for the function rather than individual people
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Peter Principles
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Each employee of a bureaucracy is promoted to his or her level of incompetence
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Corporate Culture
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When bosses promote based on selff0fulfillin stereotypes
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Group Dynamics
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How groups influence us and how we affect groups
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Small Group
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Few enough members that each one can interact directly with all the other members
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Dyad
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Consists of two people, very unstable
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Triad
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Three people, unstable, two can form a stronger bond and third feels left out
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Coalitions
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When group members align themselves against others
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Leaders
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People who influence the behaviors, opinions, or attitudes of others
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Instrumental Leader
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Task oriented leader, tries to keep group moving towards a goal
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Expressive Leader
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not recognized as leader but is, controls by handling emotional situations
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Groupthink
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The collective tunnel vision that group members sometimes develop