Deck 3: Culture

Question 1

The widespread use of plastic in American culture is no accident; plastic offers consumers convenience and disposability. A researcher documenting plastic objects commonly found in American households is researching

A) folkways.
B) the development of the self.
C) material culture.
D) the Sapir-Whorf hypothesis.

Answer 1

C

Question 2

What is it called when an individual uses their group's way of doing things as the standard for judging others?

A) ethnocentrism
B) culture shock
C) cultural relativism
D) self-centeredness

Answer 2

A

Question 3

The famous anthropologist Margaret Mead said that the United States of America is the best place to raise a female child. Her assertion is an example of

A) preferring high culture to popular culture.
B) ethnocentrism.
C) cultural relativism.
D) participating in culture wars.

Answer 3

B

Question 4

What is the difference in how sociologists and anthropologists study culture?

A) Sociologists usually study a society to which they belong.
B) Anthropologists often study societies inside the United States.
C) Sociologists never "other" the group they are studying.
D) Anthropologists only study societies from the past.

Question 5

Jill is visiting her boyfriend's family in China. She points at him with her index finger during a conversation, which his family doesn't seem to like. Her boyfriend later explains that she should point with an open hand instead of using a finger. Why is this instruction needed?

A) The meaning of gestures is not universal.
B) Jill was attempting to be rude to his family.
C) Sanctions exist in China, but not in the United States where Jill is from.
D) The action of pointing does not have symbolic meaning.

Question 6

One of the functions of symbolic culture is that

A) it provides a history of physical objects.
B) it enables people to communicate.
C) it facilitates the distribution of Western products.
D) it aids the proliferation of Western media.

Question 7

Curators at museums have recently experienced problems with the preservation of plastic objects, almost all of which disintegrate over time. The Smithsonian collection contains the first-ever plastic toothbrush, which soon will be nothing more than a pile of plastic particles. This problem is leading many historians to worry that we will lose the history of our

A) symbolic culture.
B) signs and gestures.
C) linguistic relativity.
D) material culture.

Question 8

Why is the article "Body Ritual among the Nacirema" useful to sociologists?

A) It presents a striking example of an exotic culture.
B) It challenges people's inability to observe their own cultures.
C) It demonstrates proper fieldwork techniques for studying a different culture.
D) It demonstrates how different other cultures are from American culture.

Question 9

Although many people believe that expectations for personal space are inborn, members of many cultures are accustomed to noticeably less personal space than those of others. This helps demonstrate that people's expectations for personal space are

A) the direct result of hormonal differences in the limbic system.
B) usually negotiable and not all that difficult to change.
C) a part of our culture and, as such, are learned rather than inborn.
D) something that is inborn and more of an instinct than something learned.

Question 10

The definition of "culture"

A) involves reactions to the ways in which people follow or disobey norms in society.
B) is limited to rules or guidelines about what kind of behavior is acceptable and appropriate within a particular situation.
C) is the principle of evaluating another group or individual as abnormal or inferior.
D) is the entire way of life of a group of people, and it acts as a lens through which we view the world.

Question 11

________ is an example of something that would be part of an individual's or society's symbolic culture.

A) Navajo jewelry
B) Imported French wine
C) A Rembrandt painting
D) Belonging to a political party

Question 12

Examples of ________ are designer labels on purses and logos on shirts.

A) values
B) material culture
C) counterculture
D) cultural essentials

Question 13

What is it called when someone has the ability to understand another culture in terms of that culture's own norms and values without reference to any other culture's standards?

A) ethnocentrism
B) cultural relativism
C) cultural lag
D) culture shock

Question 14

________ is the sociological term for signs people make with their bodies.

A) Language
B) Gestures
C) Sanctions
D) Values

Question 15

What does the Sapir-Whorf hypothesis propose?

A) All humans share the same sense of social perception, although we have different labels for things.
B) Nonverbal communication is as powerful as language in social interaction.
C) Language can structure our perception of reality.
D) We relate to each other on a symbolic rather than a literal level.

Question 16

How is culture transmitted and internalized?

A) We are born with these values and beliefs.
B) We learn values and beliefs slowly and incrementally.
C) It is human nature to accept one's own culture as superior.
D) Values and beliefs are only taught in school.

Question 17

Ethnocentric people tend to view other cultures as abnormal because

A) they have values and beliefs that are universally recognized.
B) they use their own culture as a standard of judgment.
C) they are practicing cultural relativism.
D) they are part of a counterculture.

Question 18

The controversy surrounding North Carolina's 2016 HB2 law is an example of which of the following concepts?

A) cultural diffusion
B) cultural leveling
C) cultural imperialism
D) culture wars

Question 19

Who studied the Hopi of the southwestern United States and concluded that language not only allows us to express our thoughts, but also shapes the way we think?

A) Horace Miner
B) Eric Schlosser
C) Edward Sapir and Benjamin Whorf
D) Bob Luitweiler and William Gibson

Question 20

An example of something that would be part of the material culture of an individual or society would be

A) weapons of war.
B) democracy as a political system.
C) belief in a supreme being.
D) preference to have health rather than wealth.

Question 21

In the movie Mean Girls, students identify each other using categories like "jocks," "cheerleaders," "skaters," and "nerds." These classifications of different groups represent what aspect of culture?

A) cultural relativism
B) subculture
C) the Sapir-Whorf hypothesis
D) cultural imperialism

Question 22

________ are informal rules and guidelines for behavior that are considered acceptable within a group.

A) Folkways
B) Mores
C) Taboos
D) Laws

Question 23

________ is taboo in American society.

A) Divorce
B) Bankruptcy
C) Drinking blood
D) Drunkenness

Question 24

Identify the means of enforcing norms that include positive and negative versions.

A) taboos
B) mores
C) sanctions
D) folkways

Question 25

Which of the following is an example of the Sapir-Whorf hypothesis?

A) An indigenous people's word for coffee is "cacha."
B) A non-English speaking group learns English as a second language at a very high rate due to the worldwide popularity of English.
C) An indigenous people have no equivalent words for planet, Earth, or world. They do not view a macro picture of multiple planets.
D) A non-English speaking group adopts particular English words, such as coffee and Earth, into their own language.

Question 26

Norms are enforced in everyday settings by

A) multiculturalism.
B) sanctions.
C) signs.
D) culture wars.

Question 27

The slogan "What happens in Vegas, stays in Vegas" is an example of what cultural concept?

A) taboo
B) moral holiday
C) mores
D) folkway

Question 28

It's all too common to see someone driving a car on a busy freeway while cursing and gesturing at another motorist whose poor driving has upset them. Cursing and gesturing are an individual's attempt at

A) negative sanctions.
B) positive sanctions.
C) multiculturalism.
D) taboos.

Question 29

A married man in the United States with several mistresses is violating a ________, but he is violating a ________ if he is married to more than one woman at the same time.

A) set of mores; law
B) law; taboo
C) norm; folkway
D) folkway; more

Question 30

Informal norms are different from formal norms, in that

A) informal norms are always followed.
B) informal norms are legislated by the government.
C) informal norms involve dress and etiquette.
D) informal norms are implied and unwritten.

Question 31

A man is listening to loud music and singing along in public. The people around him glare and frown at him in hopes that he will stop. The man ignores them, which indicates that he

A) doesn't know that some activities are taboo.
B) must be part of the dominant culture.
C) is engaged in a culture war.
D) doesn't seem to care about negative sanctions.

Question 32

The slogan "what happens in Vegas, stays in Vegas" is an example of

A) a moral escape.
B) a moral holiday.
C) mores.
D) a sanction.

Question 33

Which of the following sequences lists norms in the correct order, from the most strictly enforced to the least?

A) mores, taboos, folkways
B) folkways, taboos, mores
C) taboos, mores, folkways
D) folkways, mores, taboos

Question 34

Monetary fines, harsh words, and shaking one's fist are examples of

A) negative sanctions.
B) positive feedback.
C) cultural universals.
D) situational norms.

Question 35

A ________ is a kind of norm so deeply ingrained in that the very thought of violating it evokes feelings of disgust or horror.

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

Question 36

Many people in the United States express disgust at the idea of people snacking on grasshoppers and crickets despite the fact that people do so in places such as Thailand. This suggests that, in the United States, eating insects is a

A) folkway.
B) crime.
C) taboo.
D) sanction.

Question 37

At the beginning of the twenty-first century, some people placed signs with crudely painted skeletons holding cell phones near roadways, usually facing freeway ramps. These signs indicated disapproval of using cell phones while driving, which is a practice some states have now made illegal. As a result of this social movement,

A) almost no one violates the norm of not talking on a cell phone while driving.
B) talking on a cell phone while driving is taboo.
C) there are no formal sanctions that can be used to enforce the norm of not talking on a cell phone while driving.
D) an informal norm has become a law.

Question 38

Unlike folkways, mores are closely related to

A) the core values of a group.
B) formal but not informal norms.
C) the dominant culture of a group.
D) culture wars between groups.

Question 39

In 2005, the Northwestern University women's lacrosse team won an NCAA championship and was invited to the White House to receive congratulations from the president. Controversy erupted after the team's visit when the official photograph revealed that several team members were wearing flip-flops. Despite the outcry, the athletes took the criticism in stride by talking about it on The Today Show and auctioning the offending footwear for charity. What kind of norm did the athletes break by wearing flip-flops to the White House, given the reaction and the team's response?

A) a folkway
B) a more
C) a taboo
D) a negative sanction

Question 40

Coca-Cola was first marketed in the 1860s as a patient medicine, which was designed to offer the energy boost of cocaine without the vices of alcohol. The new beverage was invigorating and popular. Today, however, cocaine is not just banned, but widely demonized. This is an example of

A) mainstream culture once approving of behaviors that are now considered deviant.
B) the tendency of the United States to become more regulatory.
C) the emergence of a counterculture.
D) conflict between the economically powerful and the rest of society.

Question 41

Clashes over values in the United States, especially as represented by liberals and conservatives in the mass media, have been termed

A) value contradictions.
B) norm violations.
C) culture wars.
D) partisan politics.

Question 42

Which of the following terms is used to describe a group with values and norms that oppose the dominant culture?

A) subculture
B) mainstream culture
C) symbolic culture
D) counterculture

Question 43

Sociologists refer to the norms and values that people aspire to as ________ culture.

A) ideal
B) dominant
C) real
D) symbolic

Question 44

When the dominant culture persuades the rest of society that its ideas are the only or best ideas without the use of force, it has achieved

A) hegemony.
B) high culture.
C) a culture war.
D) a counterculture.

Question 45

Many American colleges and universities require students to take classes on non-Western cultures. Why do these requirements exist?

A) to demonstrate the value of multiculturalism and to reduce ethnocentrism
B) to prepare students who will eventually work in other countries
C) to offer international exchange students studying in America classes they will like
D) to offer students fascinated by exotic cultures classes they will like

Question 46

Conflicts within mainstream society about which values and norms should be upheld are called

A) culture wars.
B) symbolic culture.
C) counterculture.
D) hegemony.

Question 47

Which of the following groups is MOST likely to be classified as a counterculture?

A) a militia group living in Montana
B) New York City taxi drivers
C) students who belong to a Middle Eastern Studies Club
D) members of the NAACP (National Association for the Advancement of Colored People)

Question 48

President Obama signed the Affordable Care Act (ACA) into law in 2010. Fox News and CNN presented vastly different viewpoints of the ACA, appealing to either conservative or liberal viewers, respectively. The media's handling of this law is an example of

A) mores.
B) ideal culture.
C) counterculture.
D) culture wars.

Question 49

Which of the following is a characteristic of otaku culture?

A) Otaku culture is an example of the East influencing the West.
B) Otaku culture is limited to Asian countries.
C) Otaku culture is limited to a very specific subset of people.
D) Otaku culture has been around for a long time in secret.

Question 50

What do sociologists call the norms and values that people actually follow as opposed to the norms and values that people believe should be followed?

A) ideal culture
B) subculture
C) symbolic culture
D) real culture

Question 51

The values, norms, and practices of the most powerful group within a society are called

A) cultural leveling.
B) symbolic culture.
C) dominant culture.
D) minority culture.

Question 52

A cultural group that exists harmoniously within a larger, dominant culture is called a

A) counterculture.
B) cultural spin-off.
C) subdominant culture.
D) subculture.

Question 53

How is a counterculture different from a subculture?

A) Members of a counterculture drop out of society, whereas members of a subculture actively protest and fight to change society.
B) Both are distinct from mainstream culture, but only members of a subculture actively oppose important aspects of mainstream culture.
C) Both are distinct from mainstream culture, but a counterculture actively opposes important aspects of the mainstream.
D) Subcultures are not culturally distinct from the mainstream; they just occupy a particular geographic area.

Question 54

Oftentimes, a larger number of people claim that they voted in their recent local elections than the number that actually did vote. This is perhaps because more people believed that they should have voted. This belief is an example of

A) ideal culture.
B) folkways.
C) popular culture.
D) cultural diffusion.

Question 55

Students for a Democratic Society (SDS) was an activist organization in the 1960s that protested the Vietnam War, racial injustice, and economic exploitation. The organization largely favored direct action and protest, most of which opposed traditional organizing and politics. What could you say that members of SDS were part of based on this information?

A) a counterculture
B) a subculture
C) ideal culture
D) a movement for cultural diffusion

Question 56

Which of the following is an example of a culture war?

A) one Democrat and two Republicans serving together as county commissioners
B) anti-abortion advocates demonstrating in front of a family planning clinic
C) Christians celebrating Easter, Jews celebrating Passover, and Muslims celebrating Ramadan
D) the existence of both a football team and a debate team in many high schools

Question 57

Countercultural groups such as the hippies of the 1960s

A) actually had a lifestyle that was similar to that of the mainstream culture.
B) were considered members of the popular culture.
C) rejected the norms of the dominant culture.
D) are now seen as members of a subculture.

Question 58

________ occurs when the dominant culture succeeds in imposing its values and ideas on all of society.

A) Hegemony
B) Cultural diffusion
C) Cultural relativism
D) Cultural leveling

Question 59

Which of the following is a subculture?

A) terrorists
B) bodybuilders
C) hacktivists
D) street gangs

Question 60

Which term describes a policy of honoring diverse racial, ethnic, national, and linguistic backgrounds?

A) cultural imperialism
B) high culture
C) multiculturalism
D) cultural relativism

Question 61

It is now possible to travel all over the world, especially if you visit major metropolitan areas, without ever having to eat anything but McDonald's food. This is an example of

A) dominant culture.
B) cultural diffusion.
C) cultural leveling.
D) counterculture.

Question 62

The increased use of Facebook, Twitter, and other social media by terrorist organizations in other countries to recruit new members is an example of cultural diffusion for which reason?

A) Twitter and Facebook were originally products of the Western world that have been adopted by people in other countries.
B) Terrorist organizations are having a more difficult time spreading their message.
C) White nationalist groups are most adept at using these technologies.
D) Since the movements are online, they are easy to trace and stop.

Question 63

Obinze thinks that religion is used by powerful people and institutions to control the public. What perspective best describes Obinze's views?

A) structural functionalism
B) conflict theory
C) symbolic interactionism
D) radicalization

Question 64

When cultures that were once distinct become increasingly similar, they are experiencing the phenomenon of

A) cultural imperialism.
B) social control.
C) cultural diffusion.
D) cultural leveling.

Question 65

Sociologists claim that culture is the lens through which we perceive and evaluate what is going on in the world around us.

Question 66

Which of the following provides an arena for playing out culture wars?

A) schools
B) media
C) workplace
D) family

Question 67

The controversy surrounding Colin Kaepernick's choice to kneel during the National Anthem in protest of racial oppression and inequality is an example of which of the following concepts?

A) cultural diffusion
B) cultural leveling
C) cultural imperialism
D) culture wars

Question 68

When Patti Sue took a world tour, she had lunch at McDonald's in Tokyo, ate dinner at the Hard Rock Cafe in Hong Kong, purchased clothes at Macy's in London, and was entertained at a Disney show in Paris. This homogenization of cultures around the world is called

A) multiculturalism.
B) cultural leveling.
C) social control.
D) folkways.

Question 69

In the article "Jihad vs. McWorld," Benjamin R. Barber points out that "in November of 1991 Switzerland's once insular culture boasted best-seller lists featuring Terminator 2 as the #1 movie, Scarlett as the #1 book, and Prince's Diamonds and Pearls as the #1 album." Many people worry that the prominence of American culture goes beyond the media and represents the wholesale imposition of American values on other cultures, which is a process called

A) culture war.
B) ideal culture.
C) cultural imperialism.
D) counterculture.

Question 70

There are many sushi restaurants in the United States and many McDonald's-style fast-food restaurants in Japan. These are examples of

A) the Sapir-Whorf hypothesis.
B) cultural diffusion.
C) counterculture.
D) a culture war.

Question 71

The Japanese observed soldiers playing baseball during the American occupation of Japan after World War II and later adopted it as one of their pastimes. This is an example of

A) material culture.
B) cultural diffusion.
C) counterculture.
D) culture war.

Question 72

A space shuttle, graffiti, a new coding language, and a new instrument are all examples of

A) sanctions.
B) technology.
C) counterculture.
D) cultural imperialism.

Question 73

The French social theorist Jean-François Lyotard described contemporary culture in this way: "One listens to reggae, watches a Western, eats McDonald's food for lunch and local cuisine for dinner, wears Paris perfume in Tokyo and 'retro' clothes in Hong Kong." He was writing about postmodernism, but what concept can help explain this mixture of activities?

A) values
B) hegemony
C) counterculture
D) cultural diffusion

Question 74

We occasionally see stories in the media about a high-profile individual, such as a religious or political leader who gets caught doing something the society views as wrong despite the individual often being seen as a moral leader. These are examples of a disconnect between which two cultural concepts?

A) dominant culture and subculture
B) ideal and real culture
C) multiculturalism and hegemony
D) values and norms

Question 75

An employee who has a special relationship with his boss is promoted instead of a more deserving co-worker. This is an example of the

A) way culture wars begin.
B) role of subculture in determining status and rank.
C) ideal way to conduct business.
D) distinction between ideal culture and real culture.

Question 76

Most large retailers such as Target, H&M, and Old Navy carry similar clothing styles, and thus there is not extreme variation in what most Americans wear. Which sociological concept best explains this phenomenon?

A) multiculturalism
B) ideal culture
C) hegemony
D) real culture

Question 77

Western companies are powerful enough to impose their products on markets worldwide because of their economic strength. This phenomenon is known as

A) material culture.
B) cultural relativism.
C) cultural diffusion.
D) cultural imperialism.

Question 78

One aspect of a society's material culture that is the catalyst for cultural change is referred to as

A) technology.
B) cultural diffusion.
C) cultural leveling.
D) cultural imperialism.

Question 79

Himani thinks that religion consists of meaningful displays of values and norms that are created, maintained, and changed through social interaction. What perspective best describes Himani's views?

A) structural functionalism
B) conflict theory
C) symbolic interactionism
D) radicalization

Question 80

Yoko believes that religion is the basis for moral ethics and that promoting religion in society promotes social order. What perspective best describes Yoko's views?

A) structural functionalism
B) conflict theory
C) symbolic interactionism
D) promote a fashion brand