Exam 1: Understanding Social Problems

A problem that has causes and solutions which lie outside an individual and the immediate environment is called a(n) _____.

A method of research in which a sample of people are interviewed or given questionnaires in order to get data on some phenomenon is called _____.

The organization of data to show the number of times each item occurs in a distribution is called _____.

How does structural functionalism explain poverty?

The variables in an experiment that are manipulated to see how they affect changes in the other variables are called the dependent variables.

A problem whose causes and solutions lie outside the individual and the immediate environment is called a(n) _____.

The arrangement of society into groups that are unequal with regard to such valued resources as wealth, power, and prestige is called _____.

A sociological theory that focuses on social systems and how their interdependent parts maintain order is called _____.

How does the conflict theory explain social problems generally?

A problem that can be explained in terms of the qualities of an individual is called a(n) _____.

A symbolic interactionist approach would stress the fact that people learn criminal behavior by communicating with, and accepting for themselves the perspective of, others who approve of such behavior.

Which famous sociologist referred to personal problems as the "personal troubles of milieu"?

A theory that focuses on the interaction between individuals, the individual's perception of situations, and the ways in which social life is constructed through interaction is called symbolic interactionism.

The process of carefully attending to spoken or written information in order to evaluate its validity is called critical thinking.

A set of ideas that explain or justify some aspect of social reality is called _____.

The idea of the globalization of the economy would be measured at what level of social life?

The _____ is the argument that things could not have worked out any other way than the way they did.

In the context of critical thinking, which of the following is true of the fallacy of retrospective determinism?

A theory that focuses on contradictory interests, inequalities between social groups, and the resulting conflict and change is called structural functionalism.

The idea of the globalization of the economy would be measured at the global level of social life.