Deck 3: Cultural Structures

Question 1

How do sociologists understand the individual?

A) Individuals are motivated entirely by free will. They determine their own fate and have the power to act however they please.
B) Individuals are the unit of sociological research.
C) Individual actions and beliefs are shaped by social and cultural parameters.
D) Individuals are programmed with certain biological pre-dispositions.
E) None of the above

Answer 1

C

Question 2

Since the year 2000, the number of Botox procedures has increased more than:

A) 50%
B) 100%
C) 200%
D) 500%

Answer 2

D

Question 3

According to Chapter 3, what is culture?

A) Culture is a particular genre of human expression-studio arts, music, and dance, for example.
B) Culture is the way of life of a particular people or group.
C) Culture is the system of meanings that individuals and groups use to evaluate and understand life.
D) Both b and c, but not a
E) None of the above

Answer 3

D

Question 4

Many women in the United States are electing to have cosmetic surgery procedures to alter their bodies. One possible explanation for this phenomenon is that the fashion industry perpetuates the illusion that we need to continuously update our appearance in order to maintain profitable sales. This is an example of:

A) An institutional explanation
B) A functional explanation
C) A cultural explanation
D) A corporate explanation
E) None of the above

Question 5

Many women in the United States are electing to have cosmetic surgery procedures to alter their body. One possible explanation for this phenomenon is that the media constantly portrays women with thin bodies, large breasts, and chiseled facial features. Women elect to have these surgeries in order to conform to the popular definition of beauty. This is an example of:

A) An institutional explanation
B) A functional explanation
C) A cultural explanation
D) A biological explanation
E) All of the above

Question 6

Which of the following are not components of culture given in Chapter 3?

A) Symbols and symbolic systems
B) Social code
C) Norms, values and attitudes
D) Subcultures
E) None of the above

Question 7

Symbols are typically divided into three categories. They are:

A) Man made, artificial, and super human
B) Sacred, profane, and mundane
C) True, false, and ambiguous
D) Both a and b, but not c
E) All of the above

Question 8

Classificatory schemes:

A) Allow individuals to make sense of unfamiliar events/objects.
B) Are learned by being a part of various social groups.
C) Are constantly changing.
D) Define what is good or bad, appropriate or inappropriate.
E) All of the above

Question 9

In the aftermath of September 11^th, what evidence was there of a strong American culture?

A) A cross was put up at the site of the destroyed World Trade Center.
B) An American flag was raised by three firefighters at the ruins of the World Trade Center.
C) Fire Fighters were celebrated as heroes and icons; fire fighter clothing and paraphernalia became the fashion rage.
D) Individuals readily and generously contributed to organizations supporting the heroes of 9/11.
E) All of the above

Question 10

According to Chapter 3, what is one difference between culture as it was understood in the 18^th and 19^th centuries and our contemporary understanding of culture?

A) Culture was often equated with civility, or civilization.
B) Culture in the 18^th and 19^th centuries was associated with the beliefs and practices of the elite, particularly regarding artistic and intellectual accomplishments.
C) There is very little difference between how culture has been and is understood.
D) Both a and b, but not c
E) None of the above

Question 11

A culture war refers to:

A) When two or more sets of cultural beliefs are at odds with one another, either inside the same society or among different societies.
B) Violent political activity that originates as a result of irreconcilable differences between two or more nations.
C) A debate between two people with opposing individual opinions and attitudes.
D) The efforts of politicians to mobilize people around irreconcilable differences.
E) All of the above

Question 12

According to Chapter 3, why is compromise so difficult to achieve on the issue of abortion?

A) People are stubborn and selfish, and therefore unwilling to compromise.
B) The abortion debate is not a matter of different opinions, but fundamentally different understandings of culture, symbols and moral code.
C) Each side is ambiguous on what the ideal situation ought to be, therefore it is difficult to create a solution.
D) Abortion is an important political issue that politicians will always continue to revive in the interest of galvanizing their base of support.
E) All of the above

Question 13

A subculture that is isolated from outside contact and influence is often called a:

A) Deviant counter-culture
B) Psychopathic organization
C) Cult
D) Sociopsychotropic institution
E) None of the above

Question 14

Attitudes refer to…

A) Statements people make about their values and beliefs
B) Hearable and recordable accounts, but not actions
C) Necessarily reflected in an individual's actions and behaviors
D) Both a and b, but not c
E) All of the above

Question 15

Social Class…

A) One of the most common classifications in society
B) Typically divided on the basis of socioeconomic difference linked to one's income and occupation.
C) A relevant way of understanding different ways of life, social codes, and classificatory schemes.
D) A hierarchical system in which members of different classes are perceived as occupying different positions in society.
E) All of the above

Question 16

Which of the following statements would Pierre Bourdieu be likely to agree with?

A) Higher and lower class individuals respond to similar characteristics in art, regardless of their different social positions.
B) Higher class individuals appreciate art that is artistic and abstract, whereas lower class individuals prefer art that is realistic and representational.
C) There ought to be more opportunities for lower class individuals to experience and produce art.
D) Only elites are truly capable of understanding and appreciating art.
E) None of the above

Question 17

According to Chapter 3, Highbrow and lowbrow are distinctions that refer to:

A) Differing standards of beauty in cultures around the world as evidenced by an individual's eyebrow shape.
B) The contemporary belief that intelligence and moral character are dependent upon an individual's skull structure.
C) An outdated understanding of culture, derived from beliefs in phrenology, that limited appreciation and production of culture to elites.
D) An effort to market artistic and cultural products specific to all races and classes of individuals.
E) None of the above

Question 18

A form of cultural expression, such as commercial art, jazz, or musical theater, refers to different:

A) Subcultures
B) Genres
C) Attitudes
D) Cults
E) None of the above

Question 19

Idioculture is:

A) A term employed by Gary Alan Fine to describe behaviors and communications that have distinctive symbols and significance for a specific group.
B) A term employed by Pierre Bourdieu to describe the culture and values of lower class individuals.
C) A term employed by Karl Marx to describe the alienation and blindness of the proletariat to the elite's cultural and material domination.
D) A term employed by Michel Foucault to describe the superiority of elite culture in contrast to every other culture.
E) None of the above

Question 20

Which of the following is an example of the limitation to classical and modern sociology's understanding of culture?

A) Their understanding of culture was too intertwined with institutional, organizational, and psychological factors.
B) Culture was often ignored or considered unimportant in comparison to institutions in sociological analysis.
C) Culture was viewed as merely a reflection of other social factors and conditions.
D) Culture was often narrowly equated with civilization, and limited to upper class elites.
E) All of the above

Question 21

The "cultural turn" refers to:

A) The increased attention of sociologists to the plurality of cultures around the world.
B) The increased attention of sociologists to changes in art and beauty standards within the last fifty years.
C) The increased attention of sociologists to culture as an all-pervasive systems of symbols, values, attitudes, and behaviors that influence and guide all human activity and social life.
D) The increased attention of sociologists to American exceptionalism in postmodern society.
E) None of the above

Question 22

The meaning of symbols is absolute and embodied in the symbol itself.

Question 23

Social codes are the hidden scripts for every social activity.

Question 24

If a norm is not codified by law, there are no sanctions imposed for individuals who disobey the norm.

Question 25

Among other things, Robin Williams's research on core American values in the 1950s is evidence that there is no such thing as a permanent or natural culture for a nation or group.

Question 26

The difference between a subculture and a counterculture is that subcultures are deviant and must remain hidden, whereas countercultures openly defy mainstream culture.

Question 27

The number of women who have cosmetic surgery is slightly higher than the number of men.

Question 28

. According to Chapter 3, culture is all pervasive in society. Every individual's and group's behaviors are filtered through symbols, and influenced by norms and values.

Question 29

One of the consequences of the intense mediation of postmodern society is that fact and fiction are not readily separated, often leading to inaccurate generalizations and misconceptions.

Question 30

Culture, by definition, is integrated and non-hierarchical.

Question 31

Only exotic and deviant individuals participate in subcultures.

Question 32

Attitudes are not always reflected in an individual's behaviors. This inconsistency might be explained by latent symbolic schemes or by cultural plurality.