Exam 1: The Sociological Perspective

According to the __________ perspective,society is the sum of the interactions of individuals and groups.

The nations of Eastern Europe and many Latin American countries are examples of __________ countries.

Many of the nations of Africa and Asia,particularly India and the People's Republic of China where people typically work the land,are examples of __________ countries.

Discuss what Emile Durkheim meant by the concepts of social facts and anomie.

Widespread unemployment and massive,nationwide consumer debt are examples of:

Robert works on the assembly line at the local automobile factory and trades his labor for wages.Robert is a __________ because he does not own the factory.

According to Karl Marx's ideas,he believed that class conflict is necessary in order to produce social change and a better society.Specifically,which of the following social forces was most important to create social change?

In France,the Enlightenment was dominated by a group of thinkers referred to collectively as the philosophes.For the most part,these men were optimistic about the future,believing that human society could be improved through:

The __________ are the tools,land,factories,and money for investment that form the economic basis of a society.

Identify Auguste Comte and Herbert Spencer,and summarize their unique contributions to early sociology.

The theory that history is a continuous clash between conflicting ideas and forces was developed by:

Sociology is defined as:

According to Robert K.Merton,__________ are intended and/or overtly recognized by the participants in a social unit.

According to the text,one reason why more people are not actively protesting our current economic plight may be their feeling of ____________-an individual's feeling of powerlessness and estrangement.

According to the __________ perspective,groups in society are engaged in a continuous power struggle for control of scarce resources.

Describe the main points of Karl Marx's theory of class conflict.

Personal troubles are solved at the individual level and within one's own immediate social settings.Which of the following would be an example of an individual solution to student credit card debt?

A political scientist interested in studying consumerism in the United States might examine how the political process-such as the efforts of lobbyists and interests groups to influence governmental policies-affects credit card interest rates and consumer spending in this country.

According to Max Weber,__________ is the process by which the modern world has come to be increasingly dominated by structures devoted to efficiency,calculability,predictability,and technological control.

Contrast Karl Marx's perspective on social change with that of Max Weber's.