Deck 16: Social Change

Question 1

What theory of collective behavior would suggest that when crowds come together a "mob mentality" takes over and rational thought disappears?

A) regressive action
B) relative deprivation theory
C) contagion theory
D) emergent norm theory

Answer 1

C

Question 2

In trying to understand the evacuation during the 1993 bombing of the World Trade Center,B. E. Aguirre,Dennis Wenger,and Gabriela Vigo argue that the more "the search for meaning in the milling process focuses upon defining the situation as serious,the quicker should be the mobilization of people and the initiation of collective behavior." What type of theory are they using to make this prediction?

A) technological determinism
B) emergent norm theory
C) contagion theory
D) cultural diffusion

Answer 2

B

Question 3

The majority of households in the United States now have personal computers.The federal government has encouraged this trend for many reasons,including increased productivity,better education,and a better-informed public.At the same time,there has been an increase in acute injuries related to computers or computer tools.This is an example of

A) the way individuals can change the world.
B) a fad or a temporary trend.
C) the unintended consequences of social change.
D) the rapid pace of change.

Answer 3

C

Question 4

Thousands of UCLA students used to gather several times a year for an "undie run" as a way of relieving stress during finals until it was canceled due to safety concerns in 2009.Of what is this an example?

A) emergent norms
B) a public goods dilemma
C) the tragedy of the commons
D) collective behavior

Question 5

The relatively short-lived enthusiasm for leg warmers during the 1980s was an example of a

A) social dilemma.
B) riot.
C) fad.
D) virtual community.

Question 6

Periods in which social change happens so rapidly that whole societies are dramatically redefined are called

A) contagion theory eras.
B) mass behavioral evolutions.
C) social revolutions.
D) the tragedy of the commons.

Question 7

What do sociologists call it when a large number of people either collectively or individually engage in similar behaviors?

A) collective behavior
B) riots
C) mass behavior
D) contagion

Question 8

You are walking across campus and see a large group of students gathered outside the student union listening to someone talk.You stop and try to listen,but you cannot get close enough.You ask another member of the crowd what is happening and you are told that someone was proselytizing and some students gathered to listen while others argued with them.What does this tell you about crowds?

A) A crowd does not have to share a geographic location.
B) People have many different motivations in any crowd.
C) Crowds are illogical.
D) People lose their individuality and become part of something like a collective mind when they join a crowd.

Question 9

Today,it is common for parents to call their children because they need help performing a simple task on a computer like ripping a CD,using email to send a song to someone,or the like.Typically,parents teach children,not the other way around.What creates situations in which parents have to turn to their children for help?

A) war
B) emergent norms
C) social dilemmas
D) social change

Question 10

"An agglomeration of men presents new characteristics very different from those of the individuals composing it.The sentiments and ideas of all the persons in the gathering take one and the same direction,and their conscious personality vanishes.A collective mind is formed,doubtless transitory,but presenting very clearly defined characteristics.The gathering has thus become what,in the absence of a better expression,I will call an organized crowd.. . .It forms a single being . . ." Which theory describes this quote?

A) public goods dilemma
B) tragedy of the commons
C) mass society theory
D) contagion theory

Question 11

During the summer of 2009,two groups in Lincoln,Nebraska,held rallies about health care,one supporting and one opposing legislation proposed to overhaul America's health-care system.At one point,the two groups went beyond holding signs and shouting slogans and tempers flared.Objects were thrown,shoving occurred,and the police had to step in to break up the

A) social movement.
B) riot.
C) rally.
D) march.

Question 12

In 2007,hip-hop group Jason Fox and the Hood Presidents uploaded a video of its song "Aunt Jackie" to YouTube.Almost instantly,people started imitating the dance moves seen in the video.Of what is this an example?

A) a public goods dilemma
B) mass behavior
C) a crowd
D) contagion theory

Question 13

Anna's father tried a low-carb diet for a while but stopped when he became aware of a new diet called "paleo." This is an example of

A) a fad.
B) fashion.
C) a social dilemma.
D) contagion theory.

Question 14

Which of the following statements about social change is true?

A) It occurs exclusively during unmistakable periods in history.
B) It happens quickly.
C) It occurs rarely.
D) It is always happening.

Question 15

Approximately 12,000 years ago,in what we now call the Middle East,people began to domesticate grain,which involved a process that slowly spread around the world over the next 6,000 to 7,000 years.In 1984,8 percent of U.S.households had a computer; by 2008,that number was estimated to be above 70 percent.How do these two things relate to social change?

A) Neither is an example of social change.
B) Both are examples of social change that occurred at different rates.
C) The change in agriculture was a social change, but not the change in computer ownership.
D) The change in computer ownership was a social change, but not the change in agriculture.

Question 16

What do large numbers of people form when they come together?

A) a crowd
B) a collective behavior group
C) a riot
D) a fad

Question 17

The transformation of culture over time is called

A) social revolution.
B) cultural evolution.
C) social iteration.
D) social change.

Question 18

Experts have posited that Syria's change from a stable to an unstable country is partially due to an extensive drought.This means that the recent social change in Syria is,in part,due to

A) a major physical event.
B) wide-scale demographic changes.
C) a new innovation or discovery.
D) war.

Question 19

What was one of the earliest theories of collective behavior?

A) contagion
B) emergent norms
C) resource mobilization
D) collective action

Question 20

In recent years,salsa has overtaken ketchup as America's most popular condiment.This is an example of

A) resource mobilization.
B) social change.
C) cultural leveling.
D) the political power of Hispanics.

Question 21

A public goods dilemma occurs when

A) individual actions that may be rational by themselves lead to a collective disaster.
B) individuals must give something to a collective resource without necessarily taking anything in return.
C) an individual tries to cheat the system by getting more than his or her fair share of the commons.
D) individuals encourage others to participate in a social movement.

Question 22

An office has a "coffee fund," an old coffee can where people can toss change any time they pour a cup of coffee.The fund can be used to buy new coffee for the office when the supply runs out.However,one individual always takes coffee and never puts any money in the fund,which makes
Him a

A) dilemma.
B) resource mobilizer.
C) free rider.
D) prisoner.

Question 23

Sometimes the motivations for large protests organized by college activists are criticized.Highly organized and attended protests in Washington,D.C.,are seen as "spring break" for activists who take part more for an escape and to belong to something than for anything else.What theory would support this critique?

A) public goods theory
B) postmodernism
C) the global village theory
D) mass society theory

Question 24

According to a study published in Conservation Letters,a research team led by biologist Brian MacKenzie ran computer models of the population dynamics of the bluefin tuna.The models suggest that even if fishing were banned immediately,the population of bluefin in the Atlantic and Mediterranean oceans will most likely collapse.This is a serious issue for sushi lovers everywhere,and some sociologists call it

A) technological diffusion.
B) ecoterrorism.
C) a tragedy of the commons.
D) a public goods dilemma.

Question 25

The Shriners are a fraternity based on the Masonic principles of brotherly love,relief,and truth.They have roughly 375,000 members and 191 temples in the United States,Canada,and Mexico.The Shriners support Shriners Hospitals for Children,a system of twenty-two hospitals dedicated to improving the lives of children by providing specialty pediatric care.What prohibits the Shriners from being a social movement?

A) It is hard to imagine membership in the Shriners transforming anyone's life.
B) They are not dedicated enough to their work.
C) They do not seek to alter the status quo.
D) They do not have an ideological commitment.

Question 26

People who take advantage of a public good without contributing to it are called

A) social dilemmas.
B) members of a virtual community.
C) free riders.
D) interest groups.

Question 27

In 1968,Garrett Hardin described the tragedy of the commons.The classic example of the commons is a pasture where any community member can graze his or her livestock.What would be the modern equivalent of the commons?

A) mass public entertainment, such as the circus and rock concerts
B) natural resources, like water, air, forests, and plants
C) the Internet
D) shopping malls and retailers

Question 28

What are you asserting if you theorize that poor people join groups dedicated to keeping toxic waste dumps out of low-income communities because they want to enjoy the same standard of living and quality of life as the rest of society?

A) structural functionalism
B) relative deprivation theory
C) mass society theory
D) resource mobilization theory

Question 29

According to Garrett Hardin,how can social dilemmas be solved?

A) with the proper application of science and technology
B) by changing the behaviors of the people involved
C) with specific technical solutions implemented by the government
D) by increasing the resources available for exploitation

Question 30

How does a fad differ from fashion?

A) Fads can mark you as belonging to a certain social group; fashion is widespread in society.
B) Fashion changes; fads are stable, if only among a small group of people.
C) Fads become very popular for short periods of time; fashions are widespread styles of behavior that may last for longer periods of time.
D) Fads and fashions are the same thing.

Question 31

What do sociologists call behaviors that are rational for any given individual but that lead to disaster for an entire group?

A) cultural leveling
B) postmodern dilemmas
C) social dilemmas
D) fads

Question 32

What do the Nineteenth Amendment to the Constitution,Nazism,birth control,and Protestantism all have in common?

A) They all began in the twentieth century.
B) They all are the products of social movements.
C) They all have had a negative effect on society.
D) They all are the products of a single charismatic leader.

Question 33

Litter may not be the most pressing problem facing our society,but many people still wish that our streets and parks had less trash strewn about.However,it is difficult to convince people to clean these public areas,which is a problem that sociologists would call

A) a public goods dilemma.
B) the tragedy of the commons.
C) resource mobilization theory.
D) community policing.

Question 34

Although it might cause a great deal of harm in the long run,individual companies have an economic interest in fossil fuels.What is it called when the pursuit of individual gain leads to loss for a larger group?

A) social change
B) a tragedy of the commons
C) a fad or fashion
D) a public goods dilemma

Question 35

What is it called when individual fishing boats harvest more fish each year in order to maximize profits while,as a result,threatening the fish population with extinction?

A) a public goods dilemma
B) the tragedy of the commons
C) relative deprivation
D) sustainable consumption

Question 36

Many people think that nuclear proliferation can be best understood as a tragedy of the commons.If someone sees nuclear proliferation this way,which of the following might he or she propose as a solution?

A) a global grassroots movement demanding that governments destroy nuclear warheads
B) a better missile defense system that could make nuclear missiles obsolete
C) a series of technical innovations that could make nuclear inspections more effective by making illegal reactors easier to detect
D) better bomb shelters and new medical techniques to treat radiation poisoning

Question 37

What were African Americans acting out of when they joined a protest movement because it was harder for them to vote than it was for white Americans?

A) contentedness
B) relative mobility
C) relative deprivation
D) deprived rationality

Question 38

According to the text,sociologists would consider someone who listens to public radio but never contributes during pledge drives as a

A) free rider.
B) parasite.
C) social tragedy.
D) community malcontent.

Question 39

A group is organizing to change cultural "codes" related to substance addiction.What would we call this group?

A) a crowd
B) a social movement
C) a riot
D) a protest

Question 40

A company that dumps toxic waste in a river to keep costs down will likely never get caught by environmental regulators.According to Garrett Harden,we can best understand the costs of this action in terms of a

A) public goods dilemma.
B) relative deprivation.
C) tragedy of the commons.
D) social dilemma.

Question 41

In the 1990s,many isolated individuals began to see the growth of federal prison populations as a problem.Later,they would form groups to protest the policies that imprisoned so many,but first they were part of

A) a fad or fashion.
B) cultural lag.
C) the incipient stage of a social movement.
D) the bureaucratized stage of a social movement.

Question 42

A major achievement of social movements geared toward increasing employment equality for minorities and women has been the widespread adoption of equal employment officers in many large organizations.When they achieved this stage,the social movements could be said to have

A) succeeded.
B) failed.
C) coalesced.
D) bureaucratized.

Question 43

On average,participants in social movements are

A) more marginal and more isolated than nonparticipants.
B) more socially engaged than nonparticipants.
C) less oriented toward conventional politics.
D) more alienated from society than nonparticipants.

Question 44

What is a social movement said to be if it works to resist some kind of social change or even to roll back elements of a change?

A) progressive
B) cosmopolitan
C) resistant
D) regressive

Question 45

What is one reason the poor might participate less in social movements compared to college students with adequate financial support?

A) Social issues do not matter to the poor.
B) The poor have a different culture leading them to value different things.
C) They care more for their children.
D) They may have to work multiple jobs, leaving little energy left for activism.

Question 46

Which historical event convinced American scholars that not all social movements can be explained in terms of the psychological needs of their members?

A) the civil rights movement
B) Protestantism
C) McCarthyism
D) the rise of Nazi Germany

Question 47

For many years there have been efforts to organize teaching assistants on college campuses and form a union.Often,these efforts fail because of practical reasons such as there being limited volunteers,leaders graduate and leave,and the organizers have limited money for supplies.What theory would be interested in these reasons?

A) resource mobilization
B) relative deprivation
C) mass society
D) technological diffusion

Question 48

When did African Americans gain the legal right to exercise their right to vote?

A) with the passage of the 1965 Voting Rights Act
B) shortly after the Civil War
C) with the passage of the Nineteenth Amendment in 1919
D) with the passage of the Fifteenth Amendment in 1870

Question 49

Why is the "decline" phase of social movements interesting?

A) After a movement declines, it always perishes.
B) After a movement declines, it is possible that the movement changes and continues.
C) The coalescence phase comes right afterward.
D) Social movements always decline quickly after they begin.

Question 50

People who believe that the government is not doing enough about climate change have gotten fed up and are starting to organize,which means they are starting to

A) achieve their goals.
B) become part of the mainstream.
C) take notice of a situation, but refuse to define it as a problem.
D) coalesce.

Question 51

The "bureaucratization" stage of a social movement

A) always happens at the beginning.
B) has not yet happened for the gay rights movement.
C) happened when American colonists transitioned from being revolutionaries to the official government leaders.
D) happened for the environmental rights movement with the release of the film An Inconvenient Truth.

Question 52

Sociologists who focus on how practical constraints and opportunities can help or hinder a social movement are using

A) relative deprivation theory.
B) resource mobilization theory.
C) technological determinism.
D) activist politics.

Question 53

When activists begin to amass the things they need to sustain their movement-including volunteers,money,and office space-they are engaging in

A) resource mobilization.
B) bureaucratization.
C) individual behavior.
D) coalescence.

Question 54

According to Armand Mauss,what happens in the "incipient" stage of a social movement?

A) The social movement begins to fade away.
B) The very bureaucracies and institutions that it initially challenged absorb the movement.
C) The public just begins to take notice of an issue and define it as a problem.
D) Members of the social movement begin to organize and select leaders.

Question 55

Why do people join social movements according to relative deprivation theory?

A) They are filling a psychological need to belong to something.
B) Social movements are a necessary part of a system of social stratification.
C) Joining a social movement is a rational response to inequality or oppression.
D) Social movements are good places to meet people and network.

Question 56

Which of the following people would be MOST likely to join a social movement?

A) a young woman who attends college and is involved in campus government and volunteers for local and state political campaigns
B) a disaffected loner taking lots of math classes but without a real social life or a good outlet for making friends or forming romantic relationships
C) a young man from the lower class who gets a job in a campus cafeteria and notices how well off the students he serves are
D) a single mother who works nights as a stocker at a grocery store and has relatives both in the Deep South and on the West Coast

Question 57

According to Armand Mauss,what happens in the second stage of a social movement's development?

A) The social movement becomes incorporated into institutions.
B) The social movement turns into a bureaucracy.
C) The social movement declines and disappears from view.
D) Like-minded individuals organize.

Question 58

MoveOn.org was one of the first groups to successfully organize a large number of people around issues like partisan bickering and the power of corporate lobbies in Washington.This was,in large part,because it used innovative technology to locate,recruit,and organize supporters.This is exactly what ________ theory would predict.

A) mass society
B) relative deprivation
C) emergent social movement
D) resource mobilization

Question 59

A social movement's long-term development often looks a lot like

A) revolution.
B) failure.
C) social transformation.
D) reform.

Question 60

To what extent do the poorest members of American society participate in social movements?

A) more than any other class
B) in about equal numbers as other class groups
C) more than members of the upper class, but less than members of the middle class
D) less than any other class

Question 61

The decline of traditional communities,the increase in individual autonomy,and a strong belief in the power of science and technology to improve the world are typical of

A) the less-developed world.
B) modernity.
C) postmodernity.
D) traditional societies.

Question 62

What is the uneven distribution of technology called between different parts of a society or of the world?

A) the digital divide
B) technological determinism
C) postmodern technology
D) technological qualification

Question 63

What theoretical perspective argues that technology plays a defining role in shaping society?

A) technological determinism
B) symbolic interactionism
C) structural functionalism
D) idealism

Question 64

The English Premier League broadcasts its games to hundreds of millions of households in more than 200 countries and is reportedly watched by more than a billion people each week.This is what Marshall McLuhan would call

A) a social movement.
B) a global village.
C) television.
D) faith in technology.

Question 65

Increasingly,over the second half of the twentieth century,people in every nation came to watch more of the same movies.What would your textbook call this phenomenon?

A) a fad
B) an incipient social movement
C) primitivism
D) cultural leveling

Question 66

Hero of Alexander,a mathematician who lived in Rome,invented a steam engine in the first century CE.What does this say about William Ogburn's theory of technological determinism?

A) It strongly supports the theory.
B) It suggests that ancient Rome was less advanced than was previously suspected.
C) It demonstrates the ways in which technology always changes society.
D) It suggests that technological determinism cannot always explain social change.

Question 67

Today,many young people face an unprecedented problem: what to do when their parents try to friend them on Facebook or another social networking site.Technology has given us unprecedented ways to document our lives online,but some are not quite sure how to share this documentation with older generations.What is this problem called?

A) technological determinism
B) cultural imperialism
C) regressive social change
D) cultural lag

Question 68

The use of in vitro fertilization solved a specific problem,but it seems to have created a wide range of ethical dilemmas and problems that were unanticipated when it was first invented.This is an instance of

A) cultural leveling.
B) cultural imperialism.
C) dystopia.
D) cultural lag.

Question 69

How did Marshall McLuhan believe that the world would turn into a "global village"?

A) Television and other media technology would link people all over the world.
B) Cultural imperialism would lead to greater homogenization.
C) Improvements in transportation technology would make tourism cheaper.
D) Mass production would ensure that people all over the world were using the same products.

Question 70

How is it possible for you go to Indonesia on vacation and have a conversation with your cab driver about your favorite television program?

A) cultural diffusion
B) technological determinism
C) cultural lag
D) contagion theory

Question 71

The process by which social structures and institutions become global rather than national is called

A) globalization.
B) homogenization.
C) cultural diffusion.
D) postmodernism.

Question 72

The World Church of the Creator,founded by Matt Hale,wants to stop both religious and racial integration of America.This makes his movement a

A) tragedy of the commons.
B) postmodern movement.
C) voluntary simplicity movement.
D) regressive social movement.

Question 73

The spread of beliefs and practices from one cultural group to another is called

A) cultural diffusion.
B) cultural leveling.
C) cultural lag.
D) culture shock.

Question 74

"Buy Nothing Day" might best be described as a ________ social movement.

A) regressive
B) progressive
C) conservative
D) radical

Question 75

Bhutan's attempt to achieve Gross National Happiness,rather than a higher gross national product,reflects its attempt to

A) adopt what it believes the "West" does correctly while rejecting consumerism.
B) provide more material goods for all of its citizens.
C) increase foreign investment.
D) lure more tourists to the scenic mountain nation.

Question 76

Regressive or reactionary social movements are always

A) the most common type of social movement.
B) motivated by prejudice or hate.
C) working to make sure things stay the same or even to turn them back to an earlier point in history.
D) motivated by a desire to protect the environment.

Question 77

In what way has Bhutan resisted the forces of globalization?
A) Shopping is only allowed between 9:00

A)m. and 5:00 p.m.
B) The country has no electricity.
C) Internet merchants are banned.
D) There are no chain stores in the capital city.

Question 78

What is the process called by which societies lose their uniqueness and begin to resemble one another?

A) cultural lag
B) research mobilization
C) cultural leveling
D) cultural imperialism

Question 79

In what sense is it now possible for a country to be "occupied" by an invisible invader that arrives through airwaves and wireless networks?

A) Spy satellites and other communications technology are increasingly advanced.
B) The U.S. government can eavesdrop on almost any form of modern communication.
C) Global positioning systems have allowed detailed mapping of previously inaccessible places.
D) It is almost impossible to block foreign countries' satellite broadcasts and Internet transmissions.

Question 80

The Promise Keepers are a Christian men's organization that seeks to train men to be better fathers and husbands.They also work to preserve what they call "traditional" family values,in which the man is the head of the household and makes decisions for his wife and family.In this way,the Promise Keepers are

A) secular.
B) regressive.
C) bureaucratic.
D) coalescing.