CLEP Introductory Sociology 100% Correct!!!

achieved status - ANSWER A status that individuals secure on the basis of choice and competition. altruistic suicide - ANSWER type of suicide that occurs where ties to the group or community are considered more important than individual identity affiliation motivated - ANSWER when one's actions are geared to helping them join or connect with a particular social status agricultural societies - ANSWER Societies that cultivate large amounts of crops with the plow and other relatively advanced tools and equipment. egoistic suicide - ANSWER suicide that results from social isolation and individualism fatalistic suicide - ANSWER suicide that occurs as a result of "too much" social regulation anomic suicide - ANSWER Suicide that occurs as a result of "too little" social regulation anomie - ANSWER A social condition in which people find it difficult to guide their behavior by norms they experience as weak, unclear, or conflicting. ascribed status - ANSWER social position a person receives at birth or involuntarily later in life status - ANSWER a social position that a person holds status set - ANSWER all the statuses a person holds at a given time. Sociology - ANSWER study of the evolution, development, and functioning of human society social change - ANSWER the transformation of culture and social institutions over time social control - ANSWER a group's formal and informal means of enforcing its norms social hierarchy - ANSWER The division of society by rank or class social mobility - ANSWER a change in position within the social hierarchy social movement - ANSWER a widely shared demand for change in some aspect of the social or political order social stratification - ANSWER a system by which a society ranks categories of people in a hierarchy Socialization - ANSWER the process by which people, especially children, learn socially desirable behavior by means of verbal messages; the systematic use of rewards and punishments, and other teaching methods socialization agents - ANSWER The people, institutions, and organizations that exist to help ensure that socialization occurs. Society - ANSWER an extended social group having a distinctive cultural and economic organization egoism - ANSWER Self-ism or "I"ism views self as reality and all other individuals as essentially unreal. authoritarianism - ANSWER A political system in which the government tolerates little or no opposition to its rules but permits nongovernmental centers of influence and allows debate on issues of public policy. Barter system - ANSWER a system of exchange in which goods or services are traded directly for other goods or services without the use of money. birth rate - ANSWER the ratio of live births in an area to the population of that area Bourgeoisie - ANSWER Those individuals who control the means of production. Upper class Bureaucracy - ANSWER A social structure made up of a hierarchy of statuses and roles that is prescribed by explicit rules and procedures and based on a division of function and authority. caste system - ANSWER a social structure in which classes are determined by heredity charismatic authority - ANSWER Power that is legitimated by the extraordinary superhuman or supernatural attributes people attribute to a leader. Church - ANSWER A religious organization that considers itself uniquely legitimate and enjoys a positive relationship with the dominant society. Cognitive Development theory - ANSWER Piaget's theory that children actively construct knowledge as they manipulate and explore their world; children experiences expand as their brain develops; they move through 4 stages: sensorimotor, preoperational, concrete operational, and formal operational collective behavior - ANSWER voluntary, often spontaneous activity that is engaged in by a large number of people and typically violates dominant-group norms and values. Concrete operational stage of Cognitive development theory - ANSWER begins around age 7-11. Children begin thinking logically about concrete events, but have difficulty understanding abstract or hypothetical concepts. conflict perspective - ANSWER A sociological approach that assumes that social behavior is best understood in terms of conflict or tension between competing groups Contagion theory - ANSWER An approach to crowd behavior that emphasizes the part played in crowd settings by rapidly communicated and uncritically accepted feelings, attitudes, and actions Control Group - ANSWER The group that affords a neutral standard against which the changes in an experimental group can be measured. Convergence theory - ANSWER An approach to crowd behavior stating that a crowd consists of a highly unrepresentative body of people who assemble because they share the same predispositions. counterculture - ANSWER a subculture deliberately and consciously opposed to certain central beliefs or attitudes of the dominant culture Cult - ANSWER A religious movement that represents a new and independent religious tradition. Culture - ANSWER The social heritage of a people; those learned patterns for thinking, feeling, and acting that are transmitted from one generation to the next, including the embodiment of these patterns in material items. cultural relativism - ANSWER A value-free or neutral approach that views the behavior of a people from the perspective of their own culture. death rate - ANSWER the ratio of deaths in an area to the population of that area democratic government - ANSWER A government in which the rulers are elected by the people through fair, free, competitive, and periodic elections. Public decision making is delegated to the representatives elected by the people. Deviance - ANSWER Behavior that a considerable number of people in a society view as reprehensible and beyond the limits of tolerance. Differential Association theory - ANSWER A general theory of crime that states that deviants come to learn the motivations and the technical knowledge of criminal activity through exposure to deviants and deviant behavior. Division of labor - ANSWER Division of work into a number of separate tasks to be performed by different workers Dyad - ANSWER A two-member group. Norms - ANSWER Social rules that specify appropriate and inappropriate behavior in given situations. Values - ANSWER Broad ideas regarding what is desirable, correct, and good that most members of a society share. Emergent-norm theory - ANSWER An approach to crowd behavior stating that crowd members evolve new standards for behavior in a crowd setting and then enforce the expectations in the manner of norms. ethical problems - ANSWER Involve situations where there are conflicts between one or more values and uncertainty about the correct course of action. Ethnicity - ANSWER a shared cultural heritage Ethnocentrism - ANSWER The tendency to judge the behavior of other groups by the standards of one's own culture. Exomgamy - ANSWER The requirement that marriage occur outside a group. expressive leaders - ANSWER Leaders who achieve group harmony by making others feel good. extended family - ANSWER A family arrangement in which kin-individuals related by common ancestry-provide the core relationship; spouses are functionally marginal and peripheral. Family of Orientation - ANSWER A nuclear family that consists of oneself and one's father, mother, and siblings Family of Procreation - ANSWER A nuclear family that consists of oneself and one's spouse and children. fertility rate - ANSWER the average number of children a woman of childbearing years would have in her lifetime, if she had children at the current rate for her country Folkways - ANSWER Norms people do not deem to be of great importance and to which they exact less stringent conformity. formal organization - ANSWER A group formed deliberately for the achievement of specific objectives functional approach - ANSWER an approach to group problem solving that assumes that to achieve a group goal, group members should perform certain communication functions. Functionalism - ANSWER a school of psychology that focused on how mental and behavioral processes function - how they enable the organism to adapt, survive, and flourish. Gemeinschaft - ANSWER a type of society in which life is intimate; a community in which everyone knows everyone else and people share a sense of togetherness general deterrence - ANSWER a crime control policy that depends on the fear of criminal penalties, convincing the potential law violator that the pains associated with crime outweighs its benefits. Gesellschaft - ANSWER a community, often urban, that is large and impersonal, with little commitment to the group or consensus on values group conformity - ANSWER the degree to which group members accept and follow group norms Conformity - ANSWER The degree to which we alter our behavior, attitudes and points of view to fit into our perceived expectation of what is appropriate. Groupthink - ANSWER the mode of thinking that occurs when the desire for harmony in a decision-making group overrides a realistic appraisal of alternatives. (Myers Psychology 8e p. 740) Hawthorne effect - ANSWER phenomenon in which participants' knowledge that they're being studied can affect their behavior horticultural societies - ANSWER Society in which people plant seeds and crops rather than merely subsist on available foods hunting societies - ANSWER Societies that use simple technology for hunting animals and gathering vegetation Identity - ANSWER one's sense of self industrial society - ANSWER A society that depends on mechanization to produce its goods and services. Informal Organzations - ANSWER Interpersonal networks and ties that arise in a formal organization but that are not defined or prescribed by it. In-group - ANSWER an exclusive circle of people with a common purpose Institution - ANSWER an organization founded and united for a specific purpose Institutionalized Racism - ANSWER Racist attitudes that are held by the vast majority of people living in a society where stereotypes and discrimination are the norm Instrumental Leaders - ANSWER leaders who achieve their group's goal by getting others to focus on task performance intergenerational mobility - ANSWER A comparison of the social status of parents and their children at some point in their respective careers. Iron Law of Oligarchy - ANSWER The principle that states that bureaucracies invariably lead to the concentration of power in the hands of a few individuals who use their offices to advance their own fortunes and self-interests. Legitimacy - ANSWER undisputed credibility Looking glass self - ANSWER an image of yourself based on what you believe others think of you master status - ANSWER A key or core status that carries primary weight in a person's interactions and relationships with others. material culture - ANSWER the concrete, tangible objects of a culture immaterial culture - ANSWER Not tangible and is abstract. For example religion, beliefs and values. megalopolis - ANSWER A strip city formed when the rural interstices between metropolitan centers fill with urban development. the law of three stages - ANSWER According to Comte, ech branch of our knowledge passes through the different theoretical conditions. Theological stage - ANSWER First stage in the development of a science where scientists look toward the supernatural realm of ideas for an explanation of what they observed. sub-stages: a) Fetishism b)Polytheism c) Monotheism Fetishism - ANSWER sub-stage of Theological stage Man accepts the existence of the spirit or soul. Does not admit priesthood Polytheism - ANSWER sub-stage of Theological stage Man begins to believe in magic and allied activities. Believes in several gods and created the class of priests to get the goodwill and the blessings of these gods. Monotheism - ANSWER sub-stage of Theological stage Man believes that there is only one central power which guides and controls all the activities of the world. The superhuman power of only one god. Metaphysical stage - ANSWER Second stage in the development of a science where scientists begin to look to the real world for an explanation of what they have observed. Positive stage - ANSWER Final stage in the development of a science where scientists search for general ideas or laws. Positivism - ANSWER the application of the scientific approach to the social world mores - ANSWER Norms to which people attach a good deal of importance and exact strict conformity nuclear family - ANSWER Family unit consisting of parents and children Overurbanization - ANSWER condition in which cities grow more rapidly than the jobs and housing they can sustain Parkinson's Law - ANSWER the observation that "work expands to fill the time available for its completion" pastoral societies - ANSWER societies whose subsistence derives from the rearing of domesticated animals. Patriarchy - ANSWER A system of social organization in which men have a disproportionate share of power. peer group - ANSWER a social group whose members have interests, social position, and age in common Peter principle - ANSWER A principle of organizational life according to which every employee within a hierarchy tends to rise to his or her level of incompetence. Pluralist Model - ANSWER analysis of politics that sees power as spread among many competing interest groups Polygamy - ANSWER the system of having more than one spouse at a time Polygyny - ANSWER The marriage of one husband and two or more wives. Polytheism - ANSWER The belief in many gods with equal or relatively similar power. population growth rate - ANSWER the increase in a country's population in a given year, expressed as a percentage of the population figure at the start of the year postindustrial society - ANSWER a society in which the economic emphasis is on providing services and information Power Elite Model - ANSWER an analysis of politics that sees power as concentrated among the rich primary group - ANSWER Two or more people who enjoy a direct, intimate, cohesive relationship with one another. Mother and child relationship secondary group - ANSWER a large and impersonal social group whose members pursue a specific goal or activity primary sector of the economy - ANSWER economic activities that generate or extract raw materials from the natural environment, Ex: mining, fishing, growing crops, drilling oil, etc. primary socialization - ANSWER The process by which children learn the cultural norms of the society into which they are born. Primary socialization occurs largely in the family. secondary socialization - ANSWER socialization outside the family after childhood