Deck 3: Society and Culture: Hardware and Software of Our Social World

Question 1

All of the following are characteristics of an agricultural society EXCEPT:

A) the harnessing of steam power
B) a large population compared with previous types of societies
C) the use of advanced technologies to create greater surplus
D) permanent settlements

Answer 1

A

Question 2

As a small child, Kirby was read many stories about his society emphasizing the equal treatment of all individuals, who are able to pursue their individual desires. Kirby was told about his society's ______ culture.

A) ideal
B) real
C) imaginary
D) formal

Answer 2

A

Question 3

Elisa lives in a small, seminomadic society in which she tends a garden and tends to the small children in her family. Elisa most likely lives in a(n) ______.

A) hunting-and-gathering society
B) industrial society
C) organic society
D) herding society

Answer 3

D

Question 4

While ethnocentrism can breed conflict, it can also promote all of the following EXCEPT:

A) loyalty
B) unity
C) conformity to social norms
D) cultural relativism

Question 5

Hoops is a member of a militia organization believing that individuals should be able to live without rules and regulations imposed by society. Because the militia has values and practices that go against the practices of the dominant culture, Hoops is a member of a(n) ______.

A) collective
B) aggregate
C) mainstream culture
D) counterculture

Question 6

Josh works as a computer software designer in a large society in which most individuals are highly educated or have specialized, technical skills. Josh most likely lives in a(n) ______.

A) industrial society
B) postindustrial society
C) agricultural society
D) hunting-and-gathering society

Question 7

All of the following are characteristics of an industrial society EXCEPT:

A) relying on power-driven machines for production.
B) concentration of the population in cities.
C) a large proportion of service workers in the labor force.
D) an increased standard of living for many in society.

Question 8

A cultural relativist's perspective examines cultural practices according to ______.

A) a subculture
B) a counterculture
C) the culture in which the practice occurs
D) the global culture

Question 9

As a contestant on The Amazing Race, Mary was required to eat fish eyeballs when visiting China. Although the eyeballs are a common snack, Mary, an American woman, could barely swallow the eyeballs without spitting them out and gagging. Mary is having a(n) ______ reaction to eating the Chinese snack.

A) spurious
B) ethnocidal
C) culturally relative
D) ethnocentric

Question 10

The way of life shared by a group of people is their ______.

A) process
B) structure
C) division of labor
D) culture

Question 11

The knowledge, beliefs, values, rules or laws, language, customs, symbols, and material artifacts constitute a society's ______.

A) culture
B) institutions
C) agents of socialization
D) triangulation

Question 12

A small, premodern society held together by common beliefs, values, and emotional ties is a(n) ______ society.

A) industrial
B) postindustrial
C) mechanical
D) organic

Question 13

Individuals who live together in a specific geographical area, interact with each other more than they do with outsiders, cooperate for the attainment of common goals, and share a common culture over time constitute a ______.

A) society
B) culture
C) lifestyle
D) collective

Question 14

As a small child, Kirby was read many stories about his society's emphasis on the equal treatment of all individuals and ability to pursue their individual desires. However, when Kirby was looking for a job, he noticed that individuals with higher credentials were more likely to get jobs he could do as well. Kirby encountered the ______ culture of his society in his job search.

A) postindustrial
B) nonmaterial
C) real
D) ideal

Question 15

The 10 countries with the most negative feelings toward the United States include Pakistan and Algeria. One reason for the negative feelings includes:

A) the United States is allies with their enemies.
B) the jealousy that many people feel about the American way of life.
C) the political dominance of the United States and the threat it poses to other people's way of life.
D) the governmental structure of the United States.

Question 16

A useful metaphor your text's authors use to explain society and culture is that society is the ______, and culture is the ______ of our social world.

A) structure; process
B) hardware; software
C) process; structure
D) software; hardware

Question 17

An organization that influences one small segment of an individual's life or influences an individual's life for only a short period of time is a ______.

A) subculture
B) counterculture
C) microculture
D) mesoculture

Question 18

While visiting Spain, Link was surprised to find that many of his Spanish peers left work and school in the middle of the day to take a siesta (a short rest at home). However, Link realized how important the siesta was to his Spanish peers because it gave them time to relax and be with their families, two very central values in Spanish culture. Link took a(n) ______ perspective when trying to understand siesta.

A) ethnocidal
B) culturally relative
C) nonmaterial
D) ethnocentric

Question 19

Hunter-gatherer societies:

A) are becoming rare.
B) are relatively small in number.
C) migrate in search of food.
D) all of these.

Question 20

A large, modern society with a complex division of labor is a(n) ______ society.

A) mechanical
B) horticultural
C) herding
D) organic

Question 21

According to the text, countercultures:

A) have different expectations and values when compared to mainstream society.
B) wish to violently destroy mainstream culture.
C) lack the organization of mainstream cultures.
D) are composed of distinct minority groups.

Question 22

Ideas about life, the way the society should work, and where we fit into it are called ______.

A) norms
B) beliefs
C) material culture
D) sanctions

Question 23

According to Émile Durkheim, an organic society is a modern society with a complex division of labor.

Question 24

Culture acts as the "hardware" of society while structure acts as the "software" of the society.

Question 25

Individuals often smile at another person who does something nice for them; however, this action is not an official action required by society when someone does something nice for us. Smiling is an example of a(n) ______.

A) informal positive sanction
B) informal negative sanction
C) formal positive sanction
D) formal negative sanction

Question 26

The idea that people who speak a specific language make interpretations of their reality based on their knowledge of language is ______.

A) world systems theory
B) structural-functional theory
C) globalization theory
D) linguistic relativity theory

Question 27

Most societies tend to store language in the ______ form to pass information from one generation to the next.

A) informal
B) spoken
C) nonverbal
D) written

Question 28

According to a conflict theorist's view of culture,

A) dominant groups may impose their cultural beliefs on minorities and other subcultural groups.
B) the meaning of symbols is learned through interaction with others.
C) cultural lag occurs when shifts in society occur unequally between material culture and nonmaterial culture.
D) shared norms, values, and beliefs hold a society or subculture together.

Question 29

______ are nonmaterial, shared judgments about what is desirable or undesirable, right or wrong, or good or bad in a culture.

A) Beliefs
B) Sanctions
C) Norms
D) Values

Question 30

According to the symbolic interactionist view of culture,

A) dominant groups may impose their cultural beliefs on minorities and other subcultural groups.
B) the meaning of symbols is learned through interaction with others.
C) cultural lag occurs when shifts in society occur unequally between material culture and nonmaterial culture.
D) shared norms, values, and beliefs hold a society or subculture together.

Question 31

A society's culture prescribes, to a large extent, the way people behave and think in that society.

Question 32

The !Kung of the Kalahari Desert are a typical hunter-gatherer society.

Question 33

Most non-Western societies are isolated from globalization and global impact.

Question 34

According to the structural-functionalist view of culture,

A) dominant groups may impose their cultural beliefs on minorities and other subcultural groups.
B) the meaning of symbols is learned through interaction with others.
C) cultural lag occurs when shifts in society occur unequally between material culture and nonmaterial culture.
D) shared norms, values, and beliefs hold a society or subculture together.

Question 35

The process through which the entire globe is becoming a "single sociocultural place" is known as ______.

A) global culture
B) material culture
C) globalization
D) Westernization

Question 36

Which of the following statements is false?

A) The functionalist perspective has been criticized because it fails to consider how much dysfunction a society has.
B) Functionalists assume consensus because all persons in society have learned the same cultural values, rules, and expectations.
C) Conflict theorists view culture as having a uniting effect on society.
D) Conflict theorists argue that people with power manipulate institutions such as religion and education.

Question 37

All of the following are examples of material culture EXCEPT:

A) type of money a culture uses to purchase goods.
B) weapons a culture uses to wage war.
C) buildings and dwellings in which individuals live.
D) values of a culture.

Question 38

______ theory pictures humans as consciously and deliberately creating their personal and collective histories.

A) Symbolic interaction
B) Structural-functional
C) Conflict
D) Exchange

Question 39

Because prison sentences are official punishments used to enforce laws, they serve as ______.

A) informal negative sanctions
B) formal negative sanctions
C) informal positive sanctions
D) formal positive sanctions

Question 40

Zuzu went to the doctor's office and sat directly beside the only other person in the office, even though there were multiple empty seats in the office. Zuzu violated a ______.

A) folkway
B) more
C) law
D) taboo

Question 41

The main difference between a horticultural society and an agricultural society is the technology the society uses to raise crops.

Question 42

The weapons a society uses to wage war are an example of nonmaterial culture.

Question 43

It is illegal for first cousins to marry in all states of the United States.

Question 44

Globalization is a process, not a product or object.

Question 45

Beliefs, values, norms, and languages are all types of nonmaterial culture.

Question 46

Countercultures are bad for society.

Question 47

A college sorority is considered a microculture.

Question 48

Sociologists believe that having a shared culture is what separates humans from other animals.

Question 49

After World War II, the transition from industrial to postindustrial society began in Asian and South American countries.

Question 50

It is necessary for societies to instill a degree of ethnocentrism in their members to create social cohesion.

Question 51

A subculture is a group with expectations and values that contrast sharply with the dominant values of a particular society.

Question 52

Subcultures are suitable for meso-level analysis.

Question 53

Ethnocentrism is a Western phenomenon not found in other parts of the world.

Question 54

A terrorist organization, like al Qaeda, is a counterculture by American standards.

Question 55

Ethnocentric behavior is hostile and racist.

Question 56

Extramarital sex is an example of ideal culture in American society.

Question 57

While studying in Hawaii, Josh learned that Hawaiian royalty would intermarry to keep a "pure bloodline." Although Josh does not agree with this practice, he practiced cultural relativism by not sharing his personal feelings with his host family.

Question 58

Culture is adaptive.

Question 59

Antigovernment "patriot" groups would be categorized as subcultures.

Question 60

Cultural relativism requires that social scientists agree with all of the beliefs and behaviors of the societies or groups they study.

Question 61

The material and nonmaterial cultures in a society tend to change at the same rate.

Question 62

Describe an example in which an attempt to transport U.S. style "software" (culture) to another country was not successful. Explain why this may have failed.

Question 63

Name a common cultural practice in the United States. How might someone from another culture respond to that practice in a culturally relative manner? How might she or he respond in an ethnocentric manner?

Question 64

Compare and contrast horticultural and agricultural societies. Provide an example of each.

Question 65

Folkways are norms that most members observe because these norms have great moral significance in a society.

Question 66

Structural-functional theorists believe that cultural groups struggle to make their own cultural ways dominant in their society.

Question 67

Symbolic interactionists stress the importance of symbols in how we define situations and how we determine how to act.

Question 68

Homes are one example of material culture. Provide one more example. Explain how your example affects your daily behavior.

Question 69

Compare and contrast national and global culture. Provide examples.

Question 70

Compare and contrast subcultures and countercultures. Provide an example of each.

Question 71

What are two examples of discrepancies between real and ideal culture in American culture (either values or behaviors)? Write a one-sentence explanation for why you personally feel each exists.

Question 72

Rules about which family members or individuals in a society can or cannot have sexual relationships vary across cultures.

Question 73

Conflict theorists argue that people with power in a society manipulate institutions to ensure that all members of society learn the values, beliefs, and norms of the privileged group.

Question 74

List and discuss the three primary forms of language presented in the text.

Question 75

The text details how societies transform and highlights the five types of societies that have existed during human existence. Describe each of these five societies in detail, paying specific attention to the primary characteristics of each type of society. In your essay, also highlight the cultural changes that occur to move societies from one type to the next.

Question 76

Beliefs are ideas we hold about life, about the way society works, and about where we fit into the world.

Question 77

Using proper table manners and speaking quietly in a library are examples of mores.

Question 78

The dean's list is a formal positive sanction used in many colleges and universities.

Question 79

Compare and contrast mechanical and organic solidarity.

Question 80

According to the text, nonverbal language may carry as much as 90% of the meaning of a message.