SOC 185 EXAM NEWEST ACTUAL EXAM QUESTIONS AND
CORRECT DETAILED ANSWERS WITH RATIONALES
(VERIFIED ANSWERS) |ALREADY GRADED A+
1. Sociology: systematic and scientific study of human society, social structure/in-
stitutions/interactions
>social structure and change = social processes and interactions
>building blocks = interactions and behaviors of individuals
2. Sociological Problems: 1. social order
2. social change
3. indviduals and society
3. Self-Fulfilling Prophecy: the phenomenon whereby a person's or a group's
expectation for the behavior of another person or group serves actually to bring about
the prophesied or expected behavior
>prediction that comes true at least in part as a result of a person's belief or
expectation that said prediction would come true
4. Face-Saving Behavior: Erving Goffman's term for the strategies we use to rescue
our performance when we experience a potential or actual loss of face
5. Social Imagination: C. Wright Mills: ability to see one's society in the context of history
and culture/understand their roles in shaping the individuals
>one cannot separate history from culture or society
6. Social Imagination: Peter Berger: 1. view the general in the particular; discov- ering
each new layer changes perception of the whole
2. view the strange in the familiar; detach self from the "familiar" interpretation of human
behavior and accept "strange" notions that behavior is a production of social forces
7. Social Imagination: Overall: individuals bear responsibility of their own behavior, but it
can impact families to political structures
8. Social Imagination: Helps: avoid applying simple answers to complex issues;
encourage critical thinking to see broader picture
9. Theory: a set of logically interrelated statements that attempts to describe, ex- plain,
and (occasionally) predict social events.
>provides a framework in which observations may be logically ordered (= overall
perspective)
10. Sociology as Social Science: > observer and observed
>unique perspective/insight
>world = laboratory
>studies = matter of interference as humans as the actors (can infer causality, but
event needs to occur)
>ensures maximum objectivity/consistency in researching problems
,11. Sociology as Social Science: Method: 1. problem (stated to be researched)
2. background (review relevant-previous research to see what has been said)
3. testable hypothesis (unverified relationship among variables)
4. research design (methodology; collection/analyzation of data)
5. data collection (laying out data)
6. conclusion (report findings and offer suggestions for additional search)
12. Method: Additional Terms: > empirical data = information verified through
senses and subject to observation, measurement, and replication
>variables = conditions are subject to change in response to other variables
(independent vs dependent)
13. General Designs: > surveys (questioners based on a scale or range)
>existing sources (secondary analysis)
>participant observation (ethnography or field search)
14. Limited Experimental Design: variables too unpredictable since society/cul- ture is
not fixed
15. Sociological Theories: maintain research focus and develop analytical frame- work
needed in order to draw conclusions from data
16. Sociological Theories: Structural Functional Theory: view society as system of
interrelated parts to maintain system as a whole (must contribute as a whole
or won't move on); emphasize moving through states of equilibrium (focus on widespread
consensus/stability)
>social solidarity/stability = variables that bind societies together
17. Manifest vs Latent Functions: Robert K. Merton: intended and/or overtly
recognized by the participants in a social unit
vs
unintended functions that are hidden and remain unacknowledged by participants
18. Sociological Theories: Social Conflict Theory: [macro] agree with system of
interrelated parts (structural functional theory), but argue we can understand so- cial
relationships through problems and tension; variables of competition/inequality
shape/maintain society
> view society as dynamic process generating social change = competition/inequal- ity
,19. Sociological Theories: Symbolic Interaction Theory: [micro] generalize in- teractions
as humans live in a world of meaningful objects (actions, relationships, symbols); examine
member's ways of developing and sharing meaning of symbols
20. Study of Suicide: Emile Durkheim: "The bond attaching [people] to life slack- ens
because the bond which attaches [them] to society is itself slack." = societal strains
>intensified job anxiety, higher expectations, and more pressure for individual
achievement
>Social bonds have been weakened or dissolved as people move away from their families
and their community
>newer technologies = contributed to the breakdown of traditional family units as
communication has become more impersonal and fragmented.
21. Anomie: a condition in which social control becomes ineffective as a result of the loss
of shared values and purpose in society
>Durkheim = most likely to occur during a period of rapid social change
22. Industrialization vs Urbanization: process by which societies go from depend- ing on
agriculture/handmade products to manufacturing and related industries (In- dustrial
Revolution in Britain between 1760 and 1850 and soon throughout Western Europe)
vs
process by which an increasing proportion of a population lives in cities rather than in rural
areas; influenced from development factories/factory systems (more producers than
consumers)
23. Karl Marx: German economist and philosopher who believed that society should not
just be studied but should also be changed (status quo = the oppression of the population by
a small group of wealthy people)
24. Class Conflict: struggle between the capitalist class and the working class; capitalist
class controls and exploits the masses of struggling workers by paying less than the value
of their labor
>bourgeoisie = those who own and control the means of production
>proletariat = working class; those who must sell their labor to earn a livelihood
>exploration results in = alienation = feeling
powerlessness from other people and themselves
25. Max Weber: German social scientist who believed economic systems were heavily
influenced by other factors in a society
>cannot reach complete value free = need more verstehen (German for "under-
standing" or "insight") = gain the ability to see the world as others see it
>rational bureaucracy, rather than class struggle = most significant factor in deter- mining
the social relations between people in industrial societies
, 26. Georg Simmel: focusing on how society is a web of patterned interactions among
people; interaction patterns differ between a dyad (a social group with two members) and
a triad (a group with three members) because the presence of an additional person often
changes the dynamics of communication and the overall interaction process
>formal sociology = focuses attention on the universal social forms that underlie social
interaction ("geometry of social life")
27. W. E. B. DuBois: the first sociologist to articulate the agency of the oppressed and
established truth as a standard, elevating sociology to an "emancipatory social science"
28. Feminist Approach: based on a belief in the equality of women and men and the idea
that all people should be equally valued and have equal right due to living in a patriarchy (a
system in which men dominate women and in which things that are considered to be
"male" or "masculine")
29. Postmodern Perspectives: the sociological approach that attempts to explain social
life in contemporary societies that are characterized by postindustrialization, consumerism,
and global communication
> characterized by postindus-trialization, consumerism, and global communications
30. Validity vs Reliability: is the extent to which a study or research instrument
accurately measures what it is supposed to measure
vs
the extent to which a study or research instrument yields consistent results when applied to
different individuals at one time or to the same individuals over time
31. : CHPT 2, 3, 4
32. Culture: knowledge, language, values, beliefs/customs, material objects, and
technology created and passed down from generations
>can be material and non-material
33. Culture: Dominant Culture: set of beliefs/ideology and practices to maintain control
over wealth/poverty
>produces beliefs about cultural reality while maintaining interests
>values affect behavior/judgements
34. Ideal vs Real Culture: refers to the values, norms, and behaviors that a certain society
claims and aspires to have
vs
refers to the values, norms, and behaviors that the society has in reality
35. Cultural Variation: support the dynamic entities constantly going through
change in culture
36. Cultural Variation: Subcultures: share unique way of life while participating in
dominant culture
37. Subculture: Cultural Appropriation: death or evolution of an aspect(s) of a culture;
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