Sociology Final Exam (Exam 3)

Front 1

What explanation does functionalism have for prejudice and discrimination today?

Back 1

c.Prejudice and discrimination are established on an international level.

d.Prejudice and discrimination are more or less nonexistent because, as functionalism would predict, they are nonfunctional.

b.Prejudice and discrimination are perpetuated by economic, not racial, factors.

e.Prejudice and discrimination help to increase group cohesion.a.Prejudice and discrimination are the result of a struggle for scarce resources.

Front 2

Schooling refers to:

Back 2

c. mandatory education

a. informal education.

b. formal, institutionalized education.

d. luxury education.

Front 3

Why is it hard to recognize that the values and beliefs of one’s own culture are learned rather than innate?

Back 3

a.We are born with these values and beliefs.

b.We learn values and beliefs slowly and incrementally.

c.It is human nature to accept one’s own culture as superior.

d.Values and beliefs are only taught in school.

e.all of the above

Front 4

How is prejudice different from discrimination?

Back 4

e.Prejudice is an attitude; discrimination is an action.

d.Prejudice requires the negatively affected group to be a minority group; discrimination does not.

a.Prejudice is an action; discrimination is an attitude.

c.Prejudice only occurs within minority groups, but discrimination can happen anywhere.

b.Prejudices can only be negative; discrimination can be either negative or positive.

Front 5

The fact that so many people are asked, “What are you?” in reference to their race is evidence that:

Back 5

b.race must be established interactionally.

c.race has a biological basis.

a.race is not all that important.

d.it is usually easy to tell someone’s race just by looking at them.

d.people are generally very comfortable talking about their own race

Front 6

The parents of a deviant child often want to find some way to excuse their offspring’s behavior, and it’s common to hear them say, “He just fell in with a bad crowd.” Which symbolic interactionist theory of deviance does this explanation most closely resemble?

Back 6

a.differential association

b.labeling theory

c.self-fulfilling prophecy

d.structural strain theory e.in-group orientation

Front 7

Education is the main predictor of upward social mobility.

Back 7

True

False

Front 8

What aspects of stigma are symbolic interactionists interested in?

Back 8

a.how people manage their stigmatized identities on an everyday basis

b.how stigma is related to the animal world

c.which stigmas are fair and which are unjustly applied

d.how stigma always leads to positive life outcomes

e.all of the above

Front 9

What are the positive consequences of racial and ethnic categories?

Back 9

a.They help create hierarchy.

e.They create a large pool of people who can be forced to work in less desirable jobs.

d.They help create conditions of inequality.

b.They allow for split labor markets.

c.They create a sense of identity and lead to feelings of solidarity.

Front 10

What is the relationship between income, gender, and education?

Back 10

b. When a woman has more education than a man she can be expected to earn more than he does.

a. At every level of education the average income of men is higher than the average income of women.

c. Women with a bachelor’s degree consistently earn more than men with only a high school diploma.

d. There is no relationship between income, gender, and education.

Front 11

What do we call norm violations that are codified into law?

Back 11

b.taboos

d.mores

c.violent crimes

e.statutes

a.crimes

Front 12

Societies that encourage racial and ethnic diversity have embraced the value of:

Back 12

a.pluralism.

b.colonialism.

c.globalization.

d.racial assimilation.

e.cultural assimilation.

Front 13

Which of the following is true regarding prison as a mechanism for punishing crime?

Back 13

e.Prison is commonly used as a punishment because it is extremely cost effective.

b.Historically, only relatively humane and ethical societies have used prison as a form of punishment.

c.Even today prison is rarely used.

d.Prison was rarely used before the nineteenth century.

a.Throughout history, most societies have used prison to punish at least the most serious crimes.

Front 14

A person’s blood type is closely correlated with his race.

Back 14

True

False

Front 15

Although branding is no longer used as a form of punishment in the United States, some subcultures have adopted it as a form of body art. This demonstrates that:

Back 15

e.deviant acts of the past become mainstream acts of the future.

c.many people find punishment desirable.

a.branding must still really be a form of punishment.

d.some acts are simply inherently deviant.

b.what is considered deviant changes over time.

Front 16

If you decided that you could never get into a good school and therefore could never get a good job, you might decide to sell crack cocaine instead as a way to make a living. According to Robert Merton, what sort of deviant would you be?

Back 16

c.an innovator

b.a ritualist

d.a rebel

a.a conformist e.an extremist

Front 17

Because laws represent the interests of those in power, crimes committed by the upper classes are typically treated more leniently than crimes committed by the lower classes. This argument is consistent with:

Back 17

b.conflict theory.

c.principled deviance.

e.functionalist theory.

d.lack of deterrence.

a.differential association theory.

Front 18

From the perspective of symbolic interactionism, the expectations that teachers have for students and the way they interact is an important determinant of educational outcomes.

Back 18

True

False

Front 19

What has modern science determined about racial categories?

Back 19

a.There is greater diversity between racial populations than within them.

b.Biologically there is no such thing as a pure race.

c.Some racial groups are genetically predisposed to be more intelligent than others.

d.Some racial groups are genetically predisposed to be more athletically inclined than others.

Front 20

Research on tracking has found all of the following, except:

Back 20

a. students in the lower tracks learn less because they are taught less.

b. even students with the same test scores are put into different tracks according to their race and social class.

c. less is expected of lower track students and so their academic performance is lower.

d. detracking penalizes high achieving students.

Front 21

When Marshall McLuhan said that “the medium is the message,” what did he mean?

Back 21

a.Changes in technology allow us to deliver a much wider variety of cultural content than ever before.

b.The medium through which we deliver our cultural content has the greatest power to change our cultural framework.

c.Television allows for a much more nuanced message to be delivered.

d.The Internet allows individuals to contact others much more easily than they could in the past.

Front 22

What do sociologists claim is the most significant component of culture?

Back 22

a.history

c.language

e.technology

b.logos

d.multiculturalism

Front 23

Which perspective focuses on the process of how expectations are created as students and teachers interact?

Back 23

a. functionalist

b. conflict

c. symbolic interactionist

d. postmodern

Front 24

How do sociologists define race?

Back 24

a.an inherited set of predispositions

b.a group with a shared cultural heritage c.the same way they define ethnicity

d.the difference between Mongoloid, Negroid, and Caucasoid people

e.a social category based on real or perceived biological differences

Front 25

What do sociologists call the norms and values people actually follow?

Back 25

b.applied culture

a.ideal culture

d.real culture

c.material culture

Front 26

Which of the following describes how deviance can be explained from the functionalist perspective?

Back 26

e.Functionalist theory has no explanation for deviance because it has no societal function.

b.Deviance makes it easier for the upper class to control the poor.

d.Deviance clarifies moral boundaries and affirms norms.

c.Deviance helps the upper class maintain its power and influence in society.

a.Deviance breaks down social cohesion and leads to revolution.

Front 27

How do sociologists define ethnicity?

Back 27

a.people who share a common physical characteristic

c.a group with a shared ancestry or shared cultural heritage

d.the same way they define race

b.people with the same skin color

e.a genetic predisposition toward certain behaviors, attitudes, or beliefs

Front 28

Separating students according to some measure of cognitive ability (ability grouping) is most commonly called _________.

Back 28

c. classroom stratification

a. cognitive differentiation

d. student leveling

b. tracking

Front 29

The “Jim Crow” laws in the American South, which mandated separate facilities for whites and blacks, were an example of:

Back 29

b.assimilation.

e.institutional discrimination.

a.population transfer.

d.individual discrimination.

c.conflict theory.

Front 30

When expectations are converted into reality or actual performance, this is called:

Back 30

d. predicted expectations

a. reality tracking

c. a self-fulfilling prophecy

b. performance prophecy

Front 31

Sociologists refer to the norms and values people aspire to as:

Back 31

d.symbolic culture.

c.normative culture.

b.applied culture.

a.ideal culture.

Front 32

A latent function of education in the U.S. is that it supervises young people and keeps them from getting into trouble.

Back 32

True

False

Front 33

In the United States, what do legislatures, police, courts, and prisons make up?

Back 33

a.the full state system

b.deviance system

c.positive deviance

d.judgment system

e.criminal justice system

Front 34

Sociologists can say that deviance is relative because whether a behavior is considered deviant depends upon the historical, cultural, and/or situational context in which it occurs.

Back 34

True

False

Front 35

In the United States, which of the following groups would have the most freedom in choosing to display or not display their race or ethnicity?

Back 35

c.African American

d.Irish

e.Native American

a.Asian

b.Hispanic

Front 36

According to the structural strain theory of deviance as articulated by Robert Merton, what is one of the principal reasons people turn to deviant behavior in the United States?

Back 36

c.Deviant behavior is glamorized in the media and therefore becomes increasingly attractive to young people.

d.Deviant behavior has become so widespread that many people think of it as normal.

e.The goal of success is shared by a majority of people, but not everyone has equal means for achieving that goal.

a.There are a lot of people with inborn antisocial tendencies.

b.American society is very lax in enforcing laws.

Front 37

According to _____________, education supports the needs of a capitalist economy.

Back 37

a. functionalists

d. feminists

c. symbolic interactionists

b. conflict theorists

Front 38

Educators are in agreement that there is one fundamental type of intelligence that may be measured using standardized testing instrument

Back 38

True

False

Front 39

According to conflict theory, what is the real source of racism?

Back 39

e.the ways people use cost-benefit analysis to decide if they want to display their ethnicity

d.the desire for assimilation

a.the need for social equality for capitalism to function

b.the people who attempt to live as if they were members of a different racial group

c.the struggle for power and control

Front 40

According to sociologists, most people have never engaged in any acts of deviance.

Back 40

True

False

Front 41

How is a subculture different from a counterculture?

Back 41

a.Members of a subculture actively protest and fight to change society, while members of a counterculture drop out of society.

d.Both are distinct from mainstream culture, but a counterculture actively opposes important aspects of the mainstream.

b.Both are distinct from mainstream culture, but only members of a subculture actively oppose important aspects of mainstream culture.

c.Subcultures are always smaller than countercultures.

Front 42

Which theory emphasizes that education unifies and stabilizes society?

Back 42

d. Feminist theory

a. Functionalist theory

c. Symbolic interactionism

b. Conflict theory

Front 43

Although many people feel that expectations for personal space (usually about 18 inches for Americans) are innate, members of many cultures are used to noticeably less personal space than we are, which helps to demonstrate that our expectations for personal space are:

Back 43

c.a part of our culture and as such are learned rather than innate.

b.usually negotiable and not all that hard to change.

e.something that is innate, more an instinct than something learned.

a.the direct result of hormonal differences in the limbic system.

d.impossible to measure accurately.

Front 44

In many cultures the “squat toilet,” where one squats rather than sits, is still the most common type of bathroom facility. Americans are often shocked when they encounter these toilets, seeing them as hopelessly disgusting. This attitude is an example of

Back 44

a. ethnocentrism d. multiculturalism

c. economism

b. social control

e. dominant culture

Front 45

According to conflict theory, why are vagrancy laws passed?

Back 45

a.to improve public health by preventing the spread of disease

b.to prevent the sort of crime that is often associated with vagrant populations

c.to ensure that someone is paying attention to the homeless so they receive help and assistance from the government

d.because the working poor demand them, as their communities are the most likely to have vagrant populations

e.as a way of targeting groups who threaten society’s elites

Front 46

Many Americans are outraged by the number of illegal immigrants who enter the country every year, despite the fact that some studies show that such immigrants are, on the whole, economically beneficial. What function would this anger serve in our society?

Back 46

a.It completely prevents illegal immigration.

b.It helps to punish people who violate immigration laws, as widespread anger makes it easier to pass harsh immigration laws.

c.It ensures that most business owners will never employ illegal immigrants.

d.It helps to teach the illegal immigrants a lesson, rehabilitating them so they can return to their own countries as productive citizens.

e.It helps to promote social cohesion, as our society can come together in shared anger at a relatively small group of outsiders.

Front 47

What is it called when a minority group is absorbed into the dominant group

Back 47

d.internal colonialism.

e.pluralism.

c.assimilation.

a.segregation.

b.population transfer.

Front 48

Which of the following is an example of a prejudice?

Back 48

b.giving African Americans higher mortgage interest rates

e.making fun of classmates for looking different

d.believing that Asians are better at math

c.only searching people of certain ethnicities at the airport

a.not hiring someone because of their ethnicity

Front 49

Which of the following would sociologists consider the best definition of deviance?

Back 49

e.illegal activities

d.immoral or unethical behaviors

b.violations of social norms

c.criminal activities

a.actions that are harmful to society

Front 50

Today, using the wrong fork to eat a salad at a dinner party would not usually qualify as deviance. Why not?

Back 50

c. Most dinners are eaten with friends, who don’t apply sanctions for deviant behavior.

e. It is not a serious enough norm violation to provoke sanctions.

a. American society no longer has rules and etiquette governing which utensil to use for salads.

d. There aren’t norms governing food and eating.

b. That sort of norm violation is seen as an intentional rebellion against convention