Introduction to Sociology Test #1 Study Guide – Flashcards
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What does the idea that the social world guides our actions and life choices just as the seasons influence activities and choice of clothing describe?
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The essential wisdom and discipline of sociology
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Which discipline define itself as "the systematic study of human society"
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Sociology
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Peter Berger describes using the sociological perspective as seeing the _____ in the ______
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General; particular
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The chapter's sociological analysis of childbearing around the world suggests that the number of children born to a woman reflects ________
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Whether she lives in a poor or rich country
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According to Emile Durkheim, categories of people with a higher suicide rate typically have ________
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less social ties
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The pioneering sociologist who studied patterns of suicide in Europe was _______
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Emile Durkheim
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C. Wright Mills claimed that the "sociological imagination" transformed ________
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Personal problems into public issues
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Making use of the sociological perspective encourages _______________
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Challenging commonly held beliefs
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Among the historical changes that stimulated the development of sociology as a discipline was ________
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the rise of the industrial economy and growth of cities
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Sociology differs from the older discipline of philosophy by focusing on ________
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the nature of society
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Comte described the earliest human societies as being at which stage of historical development?
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theological stage
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According to Auguste Comte, people living in Europe during the Middle Ages thought of society as ________
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an expression of God's will
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According to Auguste Comte, people begin to try to understand how social life operates as their society enters which stage of development?
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Scientific Stage
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Sociologists cannot identify "laws of society" that allow us to precisely predict the behavior of an individual because ________
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Human behavior may be patterned, but it is also spontaneous
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The theoretical approach in sociology that assumes society is a complex system whose parts work together to promote solidarity and stability is the ________
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Structural functional approach
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Which concept is used to describe relatively stable patterns of social behavior?
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social structure
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The "framework for building theory that sees society as an arena of inequality that generates conflict and change" is the ________
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social conflict approach
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As a part of human culture, religion is an example of ________
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nonmaterial culture
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The term Homo sapiens, the name of our species, comes from Latin meaning ________
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intelligent person
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The concept of _____ refers to a shared way of life, and the term ____ refers to a political entity.
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culture; nation
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The Sapir-Whorf thesis states that ________
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people see the world through the cultural lens of that language
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Standards by which people who share culture define what is desirable, good, and beautiful are called ________
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values
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__________ are rules about everyday, casual living; __________ are rules with great moral significance.
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folkways; mores
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The tragic case of Anna, the isolated girl who was studied by Kingsley Davis, shows that _______
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without social experience a child is incapable of thought or meaningful action
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What concept refers to the lifelong social experience by which human beings develop their potential and learn culture?
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socialization
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Which theory, developed by the psychologist John B. Watson, claims that human behavior is not instinctive but learned within a social environment?
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behaviourism
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In the nature versus nurture debate, sociologists claim that _______
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nurture is more important than nature
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The Harlow experiments to discover the effects of social isolation on rhesus monkeys showed that _______
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monkeys isolated for six months were more fearful when returned to others of their kind
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In Freud's model of personality, which element of the personality represents a person's efforts to balance the demands of society and innate pleasure-seeking drives?
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Ego
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Jean Piaget's focus was on _______
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cognition/how people think and understand
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George Herbert Mead considered the self to be _______
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the part of an individuals personality are composed of self awareness and self-image
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The process by which people act and react in relation to others is called ________
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social interaction
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Which of the following concepts defines a social position that a person holds?
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status
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Which concept is involved when a plant supervisor wants to be a good friend and confidant to the workers, but must remain distant in order to rate the workers' performances?
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role conflict
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Which concept is used to designate the process by which people creatively shape reality as they interact?
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social conflict of reality
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The Thomas theorem states that ________
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situations defined as real are real in their consequences
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Garfinkel's research, an approach called ethnomethodology, involves ________
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studying the way people make sense of their everyday surroundings
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The study of social interaction in terms of theatrical performance is referred to as ________
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dramaturgical analysis
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Research on gender and personal performances suggests that ________
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women "read" men better than men "read" women
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Arlie Hochschild explains that companies typically ________
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try to regulate the emotion of workers
