Deck 5: Culture, media, and Communication

Question 1

All people develop certain sets of assumptions about the world and their place in it.

Answer 1

True

Question 2

Every society is full of symbols.

Answer 2

True

Question 3

French sociologist Pierre Bourdieu argued that taste is fundamentally the distaste for the taste of others.

Answer 3

True

Question 4

Culture is characteristic not of groups but of individuals.

Question 5

People living alone are more likely to live in cities than in the suburban-rural fringe.

Question 6

Ethnography is a research method based on lengthy and intimate observation of a group.

Question 7

Max Weber attempted to explain the rise of capitalism as the consequence of a large-scale cultural and religious transformation.

Question 8

Internet use seems to cut people off from real friendships and connections.

Question 9

Furniture maker Ikea has diminished the cultural capital of modernist home furnishings.

Question 10

Class reproduction is the process that causes class boundaries and distinctions to be maintained over time.

Question 11

There are no cultural universals.

Question 12

Marx and Engels argued that people who have the most wealth and power in society generally also have the greatest ability to produce and distribute their ideas and culture.

Question 13

Ethnocentrism refers to a belief that all people of all races and identities are equal.

Question 14

Socioeconomic status and morality are symbolic boundaries.

Question 15

The terms cultural relativism and ethnocentrism have,essentially,the same meaning.

Question 16

"Resistance through rituals" is typical of countercultures.

Question 17

More people live alone now than at any other time in history.

Question 18

Tastes help maintain status boundaries between different groups.

Question 19

Research shows that p???eople's Twitter networks,although they could,in theory,be global,are generally national and unilingual.

Question 20

Our future choices and opinions are always guided by our past experiences.

Question 21

Sociologists of the media commonly argue that the news is slanted because of media framing.

Question 22

What is a cultural tool kit?

A)A set of research methods that ethnographers use.
B)A set of symbolic skills that we apply to practical situations.
C)A set of meanings that that we use to explain our behaviors.
D)A set of behaviors that we adopt to impress cultural elites.

Question 23

More people now live in __________ households than at any other time in history.

A)one-person
B)two-person
C)multifamily
D)two-family

Question 24

Bourdieu's concept of habitus refers to __________.

A)our socioeconomic status
B)the subculture we belong to
C)our tastes,preferences,and skills
D)how culture first developed in humans

Question 25

What is ethnography?

A)a research method based on lengthy and intimate observation of a group
B)a research method based on lengthy and intimate life histories
C)a research method based on the reconstruction and interpretation of past cultures
D)a research method based on experiential exchanges between two or more ethnicities

Question 26

Scientists in the nineteenth century tried to connect people's physical differences with their behavioral differences,arguing that __________ determined how societies were organized.

A)biology
B)history
C)language
D)wealth

Question 27

Ethnographers such as Clifford Geertz argue that __________ of context are necessary to understand the meaning behind behaviors.

A)linguistic descriptions
B)holistic descriptions
C)thick descriptions
D)inventive descriptions

Question 28

In an ideal public sphere,according to German sociologist Jurgen Habermas,citizens would set aside their own interests,as well as their wealth and status,to collectively debate and generate ideas about how to govern.

Question 29

One consequence of corporate media consolidation is that the media are less responsive to the local communities that they serve.

Question 30

Symbols communicate a(n)__________ while being distinct from the __________ itself.

A)attitude;attitude
B)belief;belief
C)emotion;emotion
D)idea;idea

Question 31

Culture jammers embrace the passive consumption of marketing messages.

Question 32

The three most widely read newspapers in the United States are the Wall Street Journal,USA Today,and the Washington Post.

Question 33

Compared with their married counterparts,single people are likely to do more of all the following EXCEPT __________.

A)hunker down at home
B)spend time with friends and neighbors
C)attend lectures
D)go to restaurants

Question 34

Research has shown that most Americans have two tools available to them in their cultural tool boxes regarding romantic love.What are they?

A)love as a choice and love as a commitment
B)love as a conversation and love as a commitment
C)love as a choice and love as a challenge
D)love as a conversation and love as a challenge

Question 35

__________ are judgments about what is intrinsically important or meaningful.

A)Attitudes
B)Ethics
C)Morals
D)Values

Question 36

Sociologists would be least likely to agree with which of the following statements about culture?

A)Culture is characteristic of groups,not individuals.
B)Culture is a way of understanding differences between groups.
C)Culture is an aspect of social life different from biology.
D)Culture is relatively constant throughout history.

Question 37

Studying symbols helps us understand things about society that are not often discussed,such as __________.

A)race,ethnicity,and gender
B)habitus and the digital divide
C)distinctions of honor,inequality,and competition
D)subcultures and countercultures

Question 38

Sociologists __________ insights from ethnographic research on one culture (e.g. ,Super Bowl fans)to interpret the symbols,behaviors,rituals,or meanings of other cultures.

A)use
B)are unlikely to use
C)have tried unsatisfactorily to use
D)would never use

Question 39

What was the subject of Clifford Geertz's ethnographic study in Bali?

A)military parades
B)cockfights
C)public restrooms
D)restaurant kitchens

Question 40

Anthropologists Clifford Geertz thought of culture as a __________.

A)system of collective meaning
B)collection of material objects
C)series of mysterious rituals
D)series of coded messages
(REMEMBME

Question 41

__________ legitimizes and empowers a society's elites.

A)Group style
B)Habitus
C)Hegemony
D)Monarchy

Question 42

Which of the following statements about subcultures is false?

A)Subcultures stand in opposition to mainstream culture.
B)Subcultures have sets of practices or beliefs that distinguish them from mainstream cultures.
C)Subcultures have either clearly articulated or loosely articulated senses of purpose.
D)Subcultures are more likely to emerge in cities than in less populous regions.

Question 43

In terms of how it influences our thinking,what does ethnocentrism lead to?

A)to the evaluation of cultural meanings and practices in their own social contexts
B)to thick descriptions of other cultures based on real understanding
C)to incorrect assumptions about other cultures on the basis of our own experience
D)to correct assumptions about other cultures on the basis of interpretations of shared meanings

Question 44

What effect has the Internet had on how people consume media?

A)Media have become less accessible.
B)Media have become more participatory.
C)Media have become less accurate.
D)Media have become less interpersonal.

Question 45

Most linguists and cultural sociologists believe that language __________ culture.

A)influences
B)determines
C)is not closely related to
D)needs to be spoken to have an influence on

Question 46

What is mainstream culture?

A)the ties or connections between people,groups,and organizations
B)the most widely shared systems of meaning and cultural tool kits in a society
C)an organized association of people in a society that gives meaning to their lives
D)a group whose ideas,attitudes,and behaviors are in direct conflict with the dominant cultural practices of the societies of which they are a part

Question 47

The highest percentage of Americans who do not speak English at home lives in which state?

A)California
B)Florida
C)New York
D)Texas

Question 48

What is the difference between a counterculture and a subculture?

A)Subcultures tend to exist in harmony with the mainstream,whereas countercultures are in direct conflict with the mainstream.
B)A subculture's beliefs stand in opposition to the mainstream,whereas a counterculture's beliefs exist in harmony with the mainstream.
C)A subculture is made up of deviants,whereas a counterculture is not.
D)A subculture pushes for social change,whereas a counterculture does not.

Question 49

What is a cultural universal?

A)a cultural trait common to all members of a given society
B)a cultural trait common to all cultures in a given region
C)a cultural trait common to mainstream cultures but not to subcultures
D)a cultural trait common to all humans

Question 50

Which of the following groups is NOT an example of a counterculture?

A)Occupy Wall Street
B)the Tea Party
C)hippies
D)the U.S.army

Question 51

It has been suggested that,in the United States,the main battle lines in electoral politics began shifting from __________ to __________ in the 1990s.

A)economic questions;social questions
B)economic questions;moral questions
C)national questions;local questions
D)social questions;economic questions

Question 52

What do sociologists find problematic with the traditional concept of America as a melting pot?

A)At any given period in American history,the immigrant population has never been greater than 10 percent.
B)It privileges what it means to be an American to the white,English-speaking middle or upper classes
C)It discourages immigrants from learning English.
D)It underestimates people's desires to assimilate.

Question 53

The smallest percentage of Americans who do not speak English at home lives in which state?

A)Delaware
B)Maine
C)Ohio
D)West Virginia

Question 54

Which of the following groups is NOT a subculture?

A)hippies
B)rock climbers
C)children
D)hunters

Question 55

To whom does the digital divide refer?

A)to adherents of radical social movements that rely on Internet technologies to mobilize
B)to government-appointed monitors of Internet traffic flowing in and out of the country
C)to a new division of haves and have-nots based on access to Internet and communication technologies
D)to the generation of children born into the Internet age

Question 56

What principal purpose does group style serve?

A)It establishes acceptable forms of dress for group members.
B)It distinguishes a group from other groups through a set of norms and practices.
C)It is a measure of the formality of a group,whether high or low.
D)It allows groups to screen outsiders from group activities.

Question 57

What proportion of Americans is nonwhite?

A)35 percent
B)40 percent
C)45 percent
D)50 percent

Question 58

How do sociologists view the traditional concept of America as a melting pot?

A)as the standard metaphor used to describe multiculturalism
B)as an example of cultural relativism
C)as an example of ethnocentrism
D)as a reflection of the realities of the immigrant experience

Question 59

What proportion of Americans does not speak English at home?

A)25 percent
B)30 percent
C)35 percent
D)40 percent

Question 60

The defection of white working-class voters from the Democratic Party has been attributed to an increasing turn away from __________ to __________.

A)national questions;local questions
B)economic questions;social questions
C)economic questions;moral questions
D)social questions;economic questions

Question 61

Of the following,which would NOT be considered a reflection of a person's taste?

A)the music they like
B)the sports they play
C)the things they like to do
D)the balance they keep in their bank accounts

Question 62

The concept of national cultures assumes that __________.

A)global culture is nonexistent
B)nationalism is a substitute for regionalism
C)shared cultural practices and beliefs exist within nation-states
D)diplomatic relations between nations,in their natural state,are strained

Question 63

What term did sociologist Max Weber use to describe the belief that thrift and hard work are signs of God's eternal salvation?

A)proletarian ethic
B)Protestant ethic
C)predestination
D)predeterminism

Question 64

How old is the concept of a global culture?

A)Global culture is as old as civilization itself.
B)Global culture began to develop during the Age of Discovery,around the mid-fifteenth century.
C)Global culture began to arise,in the late nineteenth century,along with the social sciences.
D)Global culture is a new phenomenon;its development is ongoing.

Question 65

What do sociologists call the distinctions that people make between themselves and others on the basis of taste,socioeconomic status,and morality?

A)symbolic boundaries
B)social contexts
C)class borders
D)scarcity

Question 66

As a basis for signaling distinction,high-status cultural capital requires __________.

A)secrecy
B)social context
C)class reproduction
D)scarcity

Question 67

Which of the following distinctions is NOT an example of a moral symbolic boundary?

A)the distinction between economic capital and social capital
B)the distinction between public servants and crass politicians
C)the distinction between business leaders with integrity and corporate fat cats
D)the distinction between the deserving poor and the undeserving poor

Question 68

German sociologist Jurgen Habermas's ideal of the public sphere is a vision of the __________.

A)equal participation of all private citizens
B)balanced participation of corporate and public interests
C)balanced participation of conservative and liberal media
D)equal participation of private citizens,corporations,and the media

Question 69

Among the following,which is the least likely contributor to making global culture plausible?

A)globalization
B)homogenous products
C)common technological vocabulary
D)revival of indigenous languages

Question 70

What is cultural relativism?

A)The idea that cultural meanings and practices must be evaluated in their own social contexts.
B)The idea that cultural meanings and practices must be evaluated in relation to other cultures.
C)The idea that cultural meanings and practices are fundamental,inherited,innate,and fixed across cultures.
D)The idea that cultural meanings and practices must be evaluated in relation to a control group.

Question 71

Which of the following statements is more likely than the others to be deemed ethnocentric?

A)Taxes in this country are too high.
B)Using chopsticks to eat food is strange.
C)Teachers should be fired if their students do not pass grade-level examinations.
D)Rice is an important food staple in some parts of the world.

Question 72

Sociologist Pierre Bourdieu thought about the kinds of resources that have a bearing on people's lives in terms of __________.

A)cultural capital,economic capital,and class capital
B)economic capital,political capital,and social capital
C)economic capital,social capital,and cultural capital
D)economic capital,political capital,and cultural capital

Question 73

Sociologists could plausibly interpret all of the following as evidence of an emerging global culture EXCEPT __________.

A)McDonald's
B)Microsoft Windows
C)human rights
D)Calvinism

Question 74

Which of the following phenomenon do sociologists suggest is a contributing factor to people's sense of national identity?

A)the ability to watch foreign films in any country of the world
B)mass production and consumption of print media written in local languages
C)the decline of indigenous languages
D)rising rates of urbanization

Question 75

Through what process are class boundaries and distinctions maintained over time?

A)class reproduction
B)class warfare
C)class consciousness
D)class conditioning

Question 76

Which of the following factors is NOT a likely influence on whether people want to and are able to live alone?

A)mass urbanization
B)the rising status of women
C)the revolution in communications technologies
D)print capitalism

Question 77

Sociologists think of the United States as __________.

A)the least class-bound high-income nation in the world
B)less class-bound than most high-income European nations
C)an intensely class-bound society
D)an intensely classless society

Question 78

Your __________ consists of your education,attitudes,and preference (or tastes).

A)economic capital
B)social capital
C)cultural capital
D)class capital

Question 79

How do working-class childrearing methods differ from those of the middle class?

A)There are no significant differences between middle-class and working-class childrearing practices.
B)Middle-class parents embrace the concerted cultivation approach to childrearing;working-class parents embrace the accomplishment of natural growth approach.
C)Middle-class parents instill their children with a sense of their talents;working-class parents instill their children with a sense of entitlement.
D)Middle-class parents rely on discipline-based systems of learning;working-class parents rely on rewards-based systems of learning.

Question 80

What did sociologist Max Weber attempt to explain?

A)the rise of Protestantism
B)the rise of capitalism
C)the decline of Western values
D)the rise of democracy