Exam 13: Social Change: Collective Behaviour and Social Movements

Emergent norm theory points out that crowds are irrational.

Social movements promote universalistic goals.

What is the term used to describe the organized efforts by a substantial number of people to change or to resist change in some major aspect or aspects of society?

There has been some debate about Gardasil, a new vaccine that works by boosting the human immune system so that it effectively prevents four types of human papillomavirus (HPV). HPV is said to infect half of all sexually active women In North America between 18 and 22. One side of the debate comprises social conservative groups who suggest that the vaccine will encourage immoral behaviour in young girls. The other side of the debate emerges from social progressives who claim the benefits of the vaccine are significant to the health of all young girls and women and that there is no basis to the worry that girls will misunderstand the nature of the vaccine. According to the text, what is the term given to this kind of dispute?

People in groups generally do things that they would also engage in individually. Indicate the answer choice that best completes the statement or answers the question.

What does the crowd do to individuals, according to Le Bon's contagion theory?

How would a sociologist define a gathering of people that is relatively spontaneous, unstructured, and unconventional in nature?

Karl Marx argued that workers would eventually overthrow capitalism and socialism would replace it. What kind of movement did Marx see as inevitable?

According to the text, which of the following is a characteristic shared by both social movements and other forms of collective behaviour?

A social movement is in part defined by the type of change sought by the movement.

Unlike the organizational behaviour of McDonalds or Mothers Against Drunk Driving, which of the following does collective behaviour lack?

What theory that blames the individual actors was used to examine the lynching of African Americans by poor and working-class white people in the United States?

Urban legends are typically dispersed among people from the rural areas who know little about urban life, with low levels of education and lower socioeconomic status.

Outline four dimensions of social change. Offer examples to support your answer.

The Beatles made their first appearance on North American soil on February 7, 1964, at Kennedy Airport in New York. History has recorded images of crowds of youth, mostly teenaged girls, who gathered just to see these pop icons wherever and whenever the Beatles appeared in public. Which of the following describes this example?

A social movement is in part distinguished from other collective behaviour by the degree of radical change it proposes.

A conventional crowd is a gathering of people who have gathered in the same place at the same time because of a shared interest or objective such as those who gather to watch a parade.

According to the text, what kind of theory would best be used to analyze collective behaviour tied to the women's movement?

The 1994 riot at the Prison for Women in Kingston is an example of which of the following types of crowd behaviour?

A moral entrepreneur is someone who sees a niche market for manufacturing goods that appeal to middle-class socially conservative groups.