Exam 2: Examining the Social World: How Do We Know

Sociology has its modern roots in the ideas of 13th-century social, political, and religious philosophers.

Henri Saint-Simon officially coined the term "sociology" in 1838.

A latent function of college is:

Describe and define what sociologists mean by operationalizing variables. Provide an example.

George Herbert Mead is prominently identified with the symbolic interaction perspective.

Which of the following theories can be used with all three levels of analysis?

One critique that structural functionalism and conflict theory share is that they:

According to the text, conflict theory is a macro-level theory.

You have been asked to conduct a study titled "The Effect of Watching Television on the Grades of First-Year College Students." What theoretical perspective will you use to guide your study and why? Explain at least two hypotheses you have about the effect of TV on grades. Describe the method you will use to conduct your study and explain why that method is most appropriate.

While Weber focused on economic conditions, Marx argued that politics, economics, and religion help explain the social world.

According to Max Weber, what is verstehen?

The discrimination and oppression that people face because of their race, class, and gender is referred to as:

According to conflict theorists, symbolic communication helps people construct a meaningful world.

Educated guesses based on theories but not yet scientifically tested are known as:

Auguste Comte and Karl Marx are prominently identified with structural-functional theory.

In the late 1960s, Laud Humphries conducted a study called "The Tearoom Trade." Humphries posed as a "watch queen" (a man who guards the doors of restrooms in public parks so that men can have sex with other men inside). Humphries wrote down the license plate numbers of the men who had sex with other men, then looked up their addresses, disguised his appearance, and went to their homes to interview them a year later. Humphries discovered that, contrary to popular opinion, many of the men were actually married to women and living otherwise quiet, middle-class lives. Today, this study is considered unethical. In light of what you learned about research ethics in Chapter 2 of the text, what ethical principles does this study violate? Do you personally feel the benefits of the study (it destroyed many stereotypes) outweighed the risks?

Explain how a theory differs from a hypothesis and discuss how the two are related. Provide an example.

Pam wants to study the impact of war on soldiers. She plans to observe therapy groups for soldiers who have posttraumatic stress disorder and to take a representative survey of returning soldiers. Pam's proposed research method can best be described as:

Critical sociology was the focus of Émile Durkheim's work.

The primary difference between Karl Marx and W.E.B. Du Bois is that: