Chapter 3: Culture

Test Bank

Multiple Choice

1. Which of the following is true of culture based on George Ritzer’s text?

A. Differences exist within cultures and between cultures.

B. Cultures are easy to understand because all cultures share the same symbols.

C. Culture tends to remain the same over time.

D. Culture is rarely affected by changes that are internal to the group.

Learning Objective: 3.1: Define culture.

Cognitive Domain: Comprehension

Answer Location: A Definition of Culture

Difficulty Level: Medium

2. Today, retirement has changed considerably. The baby boomer generation is large, and people live longer than the generations before them. Retirement has changed because of ______ changes to U.S. culture.

A. internal

B. external

C. absolute

D. proportional

Learning Objective: 3.1: Define culture.

Cognitive Domain: Analysis

Answer Location: A Definition of Culture

Difficulty Level: Medium

3. Freedom of expression, democracy, and the importance of family are examples of ______ in U.S. culture.

A. sanctions

B. values

C. mores

D. folkways

Learning Objective: 3.2: Identify the basic elements of culture.

Cognitive Domain: Analysis

Answer Location: Values

Difficulty Level: Medium

4. According to the chapter text, to establish democracy, certain conditions must be met. People must trust their government. They must also have access to food, safety, and which of these?

A. education

B. the media

C. technology

D. laws

Learning Objective: 3.2: Identify the basic elements of culture.

Cognitive Domain: Analysis

Answer Location: Values

Difficulty Level: Medium

5. Which of these is a formal norm?

A. a folkway

B. a law

C. a value

D. an idea

Learning Objective: 3.2: Identify the basic elements of culture.

Cognitive Domain: Comprehension

Answer Location: Norms

Difficulty Level: Easy

6. Alicia has had an excellent driving record for 3 years, so she received a 30% discount on her auto insurance. Discounts on auto insurance are examples of which of the following?

A. negative sanctions

B. positive mores

C. positive sanctions

D. external sanctions

Learning Objective: 3.2: Identify the basic elements of culture.

Cognitive Domain: Application

Answer Location: Norms

Difficulty Level: Hard

7. Joan, a college student, receives an F in her chemistry class because she performed poorly on her exams and missed class on a regular basis. Which of these is exemplified by her grade?

A. an informal sanction

B. a positive folkway

C. a law

D. a negative sanction

Learning Objective: 3.2: Identify the basic elements of culture.

Cognitive Domain: Application

Answer Location: Norms

Difficulty Level: Hard

8. Taylor uses her laptop to look at Facebook during lecture instead of paying attention to class. Which of these has she violated?

A. a folkway

B. a law

C. a taboo

D. mores

Learning Objective: 3.2: Identify the basic elements of culture.

Cognitive Domain: Application

Answer Location: Norms

Difficulty Level: Medium

9. Tommy brings a weapon on his flight to Atlanta. Which of these has he violated?

A. a sanction

B. a folkway

C. a taboo

D. a law

Learning Objective: 3.2: Identify the basic elements of culture.

Cognitive Domain: Application

Answer Location: Norms

Difficulty Level: Medium

10. Avery, a daycare provider, assaults a child at work and the child eventually dies. Which of these has she violated?

A. mores

B. a folkway

C. a positive sanction

D. a negative sanction

Learning Objective: 3.2: Identify the basic elements of culture.

Cognitive Domain: Application

Answer Location: Norms

Difficulty Level: Medium

11. What is another name for the tangible forms of culture such as its artifacts?

A. nonmaterial culture

B. symbolic culture

C. material culture

D. consumerism

Learning Objective: 3.2: Identify the basic elements of culture.

Cognitive Domain: Knowledge

Answer Location: Material Culture

Difficulty Level: Easy

12. The Shamrock and Claddagh rings are part of ______ that originated in Ireland.

A. norms

B. symbolic culture

C. material culture

D. consumerism

Learning Objective: 3.2: Identify the basic elements of culture.

Cognitive Domain: Analysis

Answer Location: Material Culture

Difficulty Level: Medium

13. What is another name to describe the overall intangible forms of culture such as its norms and values?

A. norms

B. symbolic culture

C. material culture

D. consumerism

Learning Objective: 3.2: Identify the basic elements of culture.

Cognitive Domain: Knowledge

Answer Location: Symbolic Culture and Language

Difficulty Level: Easy

14. The ideas described in your textbook are an example of which of these?

A. norms

B. symbolic culture

C. material culture

D. consumerism

Learning Objective: 3.2: Identify the basic elements of culture.

Cognitive Domain: Analysis

Answer Location: Symbolic Culture and Language

Difficulty Level: Medium

15. What is the relationship between language and culture?

A. Language is an example of material culture.

B. Language allows culture to develop.

C. Oral traditions are most effective at developing a distinct culture.

D. Language reflects general cultural viewpoints.

Learning Objective: 3.2: Identify the basic elements of culture.

Cognitive Domain: Comprehension

Answer Location: Symbolic Culture and Language

Difficulty Level: Medium

16. Corporation X says it strives to treat their employees as equals but many women have reported being sexually harassed there. Corporation X’s intent to treat employees equally exemplifies which type of culture?

A. real culture

B. ideal culture

C. meritocratic culture

D. material culture

Learning Objective: 3.3: Discuss cultural differences.

Cognitive Domain: Application

Answer Location: Ideal and Real Culture

Difficulty Level: Medium

17. Which of these concepts represents the way that people really think and behave in their daily lives?

A. ideal culture

B. real culture

C. meritocratic culture

D. material culture

Learning Objective: 3.3: Discuss cultural differences.

Cognitive Domain: Knowledge

Answer Location: Ideal and Real Culture

Difficulty Level: Easy

18. Which of these concepts represents the way that society makes us think that people believe and do in their daily lives?

A. ideal culture

B. real culture

C. meritocratic culture

D. material culture

Learning Objective: 3.3: Discuss cultural differences.

Cognitive Domain: Knowledge

Answer Location: Ideal and Real Culture

Difficulty Level: Easy

19. U.S. culture is based on a democratic government, which adheres to the belief that power is in the hands of the people. People in the United States believe in this ______ and vote because they want to exert their right to do so.

A. folkway

B. ideology

C. symbolic culture

D. contradiction

Learning Objective: 3.3: Discuss cultural differences.

Cognitive Domain: Comprehension

Answer Location: Ideology

Difficulty Level: Medium

20. The belief that working hard translates into becoming successful is called which of these?

A. real culture

B. meritocracy

C. folkway

D. material culture

Learning Objective: 3.3: Discuss cultural differences.

Cognitive Domain: Knowledge

Answer Location: Ideology

Difficulty Level: Medium

21. Which of these is true of an ideology?

A. It is a shared belief held only by powerful members of society.

B. It is always true.

C. It guides people’s actions.

D. Most societies have only one ideology.

Learning Objective: 3.3: Discuss cultural differences.

Cognitive Domain: Analysis

Answer Location: Ideology

Difficulty Level: Medium

22. Extreme mountain climbers, cab drivers, chemists, and musicians would all be considered ______ because they each share a distinct way of looking at the world.

A. countercultures

B. subcultures

C. cults

D. ideologies

Learning Objective: 3.3: Discuss cultural differences.

Cognitive Domain: Comprehension

Answer Location: Subcultures

Difficulty Level: Medium

23. Cults sometimes engage in practices in direct opposition to U.S. cultural values and norms. Therefore, cults would be considered which of these?

A. subcultures

B. reference groups

C. countercultures

D. material cultures

Learning Objective: 3.3: Discuss cultural differences.

Cognitive Domain: Comprehension

Answer Location: Countercultures

Difficulty Level: Medium

24. According to your text, computer hackers, such as those who exposed the data of 40 million Target accounts and 30 million users of Ashley Madison, are an example of which of these?

A. subcultures

B. countercultures

C. culture wars

D. ideal cultures

Learning Objective: 3.3: Discuss cultural differences.

Cognitive Domain: Analysis

Answer Location: Countercultures

Difficulty Level: Easy

25. A culture war pits which of these against each other?

A. subcultures and countercultures

B. dominant cultures and ideal cultures

C. subcultures and ideal cultures

D. dominant cultures and countercultures

Learning Objective: 3.3: Discuss cultural differences.

Cognitive Domain: Analysis

Answer Location: Culture Wars

Difficulty Level: Easy

26. When the U.S. legalized same-sex marriage, many people celebrated, but others opposed the law and refused to sell goods or services to same-sex couples. The struggle between these two groups is an example of which of these?

A. a counterculture crusade

B. a culture war

C. a subculture

D. an ideology

Learning Objective: 3.3: Discuss cultural differences.

Cognitive Domain: Application

Answer Location: Culture Wars

Difficulty Level: Medium

27. Which concept is associated with accepting and appreciating cultural differences?

A. amalgamation

B. segregation

C. multiculturalism

D. assimilation

Learning Objective: 3.3: Discuss cultural differences.

Cognitive Domain: Comprehension

Answer Location: Multiculturalism and Assimilation

Difficulty Level: Easy

28. Americans for the most part tolerate--and sometimes celebrate--the coexistence of different cultural groups. This reflects which of the following?

A. assimilation

B. identity politics

C. multiculturalism

D. ethnocentrism

Learning Objective: 3.3: Discuss cultural differences.

Cognitive Domain: Analysis

Answer Location: Multiculturalism and Assimilation

Difficulty Level: Medium

29. What is the term to describe the integration of a minority group into a mainstream group?

A. assimilation

B. identity politics

C. multiculturalism

D. ethnocentrism

Learning Objective: 3.3: Discuss cultural differences.

Cognitive Domain: Knowledge

Answer Location: Multiculturalism and Assimilation

Difficulty Level: Easy

30. Before the 20th century, most immigrants came to the United States from ______.

A. Asia

B. Central and South America

C. North America

D. Europe

Learning Objective: 3.3: Discuss cultural differences.

Cognitive Domain: Knowledge

Answer Location: Multiculturalism and Assimilation

Difficulty Level: Easy

31. Today, most immigrants come to the United States from ______.

A. Asia

B. Central and South America

C. North America

D. Europe

Learning Objective: 3.3: Discuss cultural differences.

Cognitive Domain: Knowledge

Answer Location: Multiculturalism and Assimilation

Difficulty Level: Easy

32. In recent years, some minority groups have become impatient with the dominant culture and have begun to assert their right not to assimilate. By using their power to strengthen the position of their cultural group, they have been participating in which of the following?

A. ideology

B. assimilation

C. multiculturalism

D. identity politics

Learning Objective: 3.3: Discuss cultural differences.

Cognitive Domain: Comprehension

Answer Location: Identity Politics

Difficulty Level: Medium

33. The National Organization for Women, the National Association for the Advancement of Colored People, and the Hispanic American Organization are groups who are working for the rights of minorities. In which of these are they engaged?

A. ethnocentrism

B. identity politics

C. counterculturalism

D. Americanization

Learning Objective: 3.4: Describe global culture, consumer culture, and cyberculture.

Cognitive Domain: Analysis

Answer Location: Identity Politics

Difficulty Level: Medium

34. Sweden has outlawed spanking, but many people in the United States believe that spanking on occasion is an acceptable form of punishment. When someone from the United States questions someone from Sweden on the country’s “weird practice,” the person from the United States would be exhibiting which of these?

A. assimilation

B. ethnocentrism

C. cultural relativism

D. multiculturalism

Learning Objective: 3.3: Discuss cultural differences.

Cognitive Domain: Application

Answer Location: Cultural Relativism and Ethnocentrism

Difficulty Level: Medium

35. Which of these refers to the practice of understanding why cultural practices take place in certain societies?

A. assimilation

B. ethnocentrism

C. cultural relativism

D. multiculturalism

Learning Objective: 3.3: Discuss cultural differences.

Cognitive Domain: Knowledge

Answer Location: Cultural Relativism and Ethnocentrism

Difficulty Level: Easy

36. Which of these refers to the belief that the norms, values, traditions, and symbols of one’s own culture are better than those of other cultures?

A. assimilation

B. ethnocentrism

C. cultural relativism

D. multiculturalism

Learning Objective: 3.3: Discuss cultural differences.

Cognitive Domain: Knowledge

Answer Location: Cultural Relativism and Ethnocentrism

Difficulty Level: Easy

37. Which of these components of culture is widely accepted globally?

A. values

B. norms

C. symbolic culture

D. elements of material culture

Learning Objective: 3.4: Describe global culture, consumer culture, and cyberculture.

Cognitive Domain: Comprehension

Answer Location: Global Culture

Difficulty Level: Medium

38. Which of these does your text cite as the most persuasive argument for shared global values?

A. the reality of biological structures that produce universal tendencies

B. the universal need for democracy

C. the fact that values have an underlying structure that is universally shared

D. global flows of information, ideas, products, and people due to the process of globalization

Learning Objective: 3.4: Describe global culture, consumer culture, and cyberculture.

Cognitive Domain: Analysis

Answer Location: The Globalization of Values

Difficulty Level: Medium

39. Many school children in China have images of Mickey Mouse either on their backpacks or on their lunchboxes. Which process does this exemplify?

A. bureaucratization

B. Americanization

C. rationalization

D. counterculturalism

Learning Objective: 3.4: Describe global culture, consumer culture, and cyberculture.

Cognitive Domain: Application

Answer Location: Cultural Imperialism

Difficulty Level: Medium

40. Some Iraqis have been resistant to a democratic government, seeing it as imposed on them by the United States. In other words, they see the United States as which of these?

A. a creator of culture wars

B. a cultural imperialist

C. a cultural relativist

D. a global culture

Learning Objective: 3.4: Describe global culture, consumer culture, and cyberculture.

Cognitive Domain: Comprehension

Answer Location: Cultural Imperialism

Difficulty Level: Medium

41. Every year, people in the United States spend billions on Christmas presents at stores found in every state. This exemplifies that the country is which of these?

A. globalized

B. a consumer culture

C. an ideal culture

D. a cultural imperialist

Learning Objective: 3.4: Describe global culture, consumer culture, and cyberculture.

Cognitive Domain: Analysis

Answer Location: Consumer Culture

Difficulty Level: Medium

42. Which of these is the most controversial aspect of consumer culture?

A. the escalation of culture wars

B. the expansion of multiculturalism

C. the increase in Americanization

D. the direct marketing of consumer items to children

Learning Objective: 3.4: Describe global culture, consumer culture, and cyberculture.

Cognitive Domain: Analysis

Answer Location: Children in a Consumer Culture

Difficulty Level: Medium

43. Which of these signals we are entering a postconsumer culture?

A. Fewer reality television shows focused on consumption.

B. People have increased the amount of money they are spending.

C. The housing market has rebounded to stronger than it was before the recession.

D. People are participating more in the “sharing economy.”

Learning Objective: 3.4: Describe global culture, consumer culture, and cyberculture.

Cognitive Domain: Analysis

Answer Location: A Postconsumer Culture?

Difficulty Level: Medium

44. Amy wants to raise awareness of the way that advertising makes harmful dieting products look sexy and fun. She plans an anti-marketing campaign to spoof several prominent advertisements and it is picked up by the magazine Adbusters. Which of these activities has Amy engaged in?

A. identity politics

B. material culture

C. culture jamming

D. culture wars

Learning Objective: 3.4: Describe global culture, consumer culture, and cyberculture.

Cognitive Domain: Application

Answer Location: Culture Jamming

Difficulty Level: Medium

45. Today, millions of people have joined Internet sites such as Facebook. These sites have norms, and specific rules are enforced. Sites such as Facebook are examples of which of these?

A. consumer culture

B. cyberculture

C. cultural imperialism

D. postconsumer culture

Learning Objective: 3.4: Describe global culture, consumer culture, and cyberculture.

Cognitive Domain: Comprehension

Answer Location: Cyberculture

Difficulty Level: Easy

True/False

1. People in the United States are still working out the cultural rules for cell phone use.

Learning Objective: 3.1: Define culture.

Cognitive Domain: Comprehension

Answer Location: A Definition of Culture

Difficulty Level: Medium

2. People generally accept the components of culture, but sometimes we simply refuse to follow them.

Learning Objective: 3.1: Define culture.

Cognitive Domain: Comprehension

Answer Location: A Definition of Culture

Difficulty Level: Medium

3. Technological innovation is an example of an internal change to culture.

Learning Objective: 3.1: Define culture.

Cognitive Domain: Comprehension

Answer Location: A Definition of Culture

Difficulty Level: Medium

4. Every society has a culture.

Learning Objective: 3.1: Define culture.

Cognitive Domain: Comprehension

Answer Location: A Definition of Culture

Difficulty Level: Easy

5. The U.S. value of democracy has been accepted worldwide.

Learning Objective: 3.2: Identify the basic elements of culture.

Cognitive Domain: Comprehension

Answer Location: Values

Difficulty Level: Easy

6. Laws are norms that have been codified.

Learning Objective: 3.2: Identify the basic elements of culture.

Cognitive Domain: Knowledge

Answer Location: Norms

Difficulty Level: Easy

7. Stealing violates a folkway.

Learning Objective: 3.2: Identify the basic elements of culture.

Cognitive Domain: Analysis

Answer Location: Norms

Difficulty Level: Medium

8. Driving 70 mph in a 50-mph zone is a mores violation.

Learning Objective: 3.2: Identify the basic elements of culture.

Cognitive Domain: Analysis

Answer Location: Norms

Difficulty Level: Medium

9. Texting in class violates a law.

Learning Objective: 3.2: Identify the basic elements of culture.

Cognitive Domain: Analysis

Answer Location: Norms

Difficulty Level: Easy

10. Norms are reinforced through mores.

Learning Objective: 3.2: Identify the basic elements of culture.

Cognitive Domain: Comprehension

Answer Location: Norms

Difficulty Level: Medium

11. Sanctions can take the form of punishments or rewards.

Learning Objective: 3.2: Identify the basic elements of culture.

Cognitive Domain: Comprehension

Answer Location: Norms

Difficulty Level: Medium

12. Material culture includes all the tangible “stuff” of culture.

Learning Objective: 3.2: Identify the basic elements of culture.

Cognitive Domain: Knowledge

Answer Location: Material Culture

Difficulty Level: Easy

13. Material culture and symbolic culture are distinctly separate phenomenon.

Learning Objective: 3.2: Identify the basic elements of culture.

Cognitive Domain: Comprehension

Answer Location: Symbolic Culture and Language

Difficulty Level: Medium

14. Language is an important aspect of symbolic culture.

Learning Objective: 3.2: Identify the basic elements of culture.

Cognitive Domain: Comprehension

Answer Location: Symbolic Culture and Language

Difficulty Level: Medium

15. An example of U.S. ideal culture is the belief that mothers should be completely devoted to their children.

Learning Objective: 3.3: Discuss cultural differences.

Cognitive Domain: Comprehension

Answer Location: Ideal and Real Culture

Difficulty Level: Medium

16. The name for what we think people do and value is real culture.

Learning Objective: 3.3: Discuss cultural differences.

Cognitive Domain: Knowledge

Answer Location: Ideal and Real Culture

Difficulty Level: Easy

17. Meritocracy is an example of an ideology in the United States.

Learning Objective: 3.3: Discuss cultural differences.

Cognitive Domain: Comprehension

Answer Location: Ideology

Difficulty Level: Easy

18. Subcultures are groups of people who accept much of the dominant culture but are set apart from it by one or more culturally significant characteristics.

Learning Objective: 3.3: Discuss cultural differences.

Cognitive Domain: Knowledge

Answer Location: Subcultures

Difficulty Level: Medium

19. Harley Davidson motorcycle riders are an example of the term counterculture.

Learning Objective: 3.3: Discuss cultural differences.

Cognitive Domain: Comprehension

Answer Location: Subcultures

Difficulty Level: Medium

20. Countercultural movements exist in the realm of consumption.

Learning Objective: 3.3: Discuss cultural differences.

Cognitive Domain: Comprehension

Answer Location: Countercultures

Difficulty Level: Medium

21. A culture war is defined as a conflict between two countercultures.

Learning Objective: 3.3: Discuss cultural differences.

Cognitive Domain: Knowledge

Answer Location: Culture Wars

Difficulty Level: Medium

22. Multiculturalism is a long-standing practice in European societies.

Learning Objective: 3.3: Discuss cultural differences.

Cognitive Domain: Comprehension

Answer Location: Multiculturalism and Assimilation

Difficulty Level: Medium

23. Black Power is an example of identity politics.

Learning Objective: 3.3: Discuss cultural differences.

Cognitive Domain: Analysis

Answer Location: Identity Politics

Difficulty Level: Easy

24. Cultural relativism refers to the spreading of cultural characteristics from one culture to another.

Learning Objective: 3.3: Discuss cultural differences.

Cognitive Domain: Knowledge

Answer Location: Cultural Relativism and Ethnocentrism

Difficulty Level: Easy

25. Ethnocentrism refers to understanding a culture from the eyes of the people who live in that culture.

Learning Objective: 3.3: Discuss cultural differences.

Cognitive Domain: Knowledge

Answer Location: Cultural Relativism and Ethnocentrism

Difficulty Level: Easy

26. Cultural imperialism tends to destroy local culture.

Learning Objective: 3.4: Describe global culture, consumer culture, and cyberculture.

Cognitive Domain: Comprehension

Answer Location: Cultural Imperialism

Difficulty Level: Medium

27. Americanization is a type of cultural imperialism.

Learning Objective: 3.4: Describe global culture, consumer culture, and cyberculture.

Cognitive Domain: Analysis

Answer Location: Cultural Imperialism

Difficulty Level: Medium

28. Consumer culture is declining in the United States.

Learning Objective: 3.4: Describe global culture, consumer culture, and cyberculture.

Cognitive Domain: Comprehension

Answer Location: Consumer Culture

Difficulty Level: Easy

29. The most controversial aspect of U.S. consumer culture is marketing to minority groups.

Learning Objective: 3.4: Describe global culture, consumer culture, and cyberculture.

Cognitive Domain: Analysis

Answer Location: Children in a Consumer Culture

Difficulty Level: Easy

30. Replacing Joe Camel with “Joe Chemo” to criticize smoking is an example of cultural imperialism.

Learning Objective: 3.4: Describe global culture, consumer culture, and cyberculture.

Cognitive Domain: Analysis

Answer Location: Culture Jamming

Difficulty Level: Easy

Essay

1. Identify and define three types of norms and give an example of each.

Learning Objective: 3.2: Identify the basic elements of culture.

Cognitive Domain: Knowledge

Answer Location: Norms

Difficulty Level: Easy

2. Material culture has symbolic aspects and symbolic culture manifests in material objects. Briefly explain what is included in material culture and what is included in symbolic culture. Then provide one example of a cultural object and explain this object in terms of both material and symbolic culture.

Learning Objective: 3.2: Identify the basic elements of culture.

Cognitive Domain: Comprehension

Answer Location: Material Culture

Difficulty Level: Medium

3. What is the main difference between subcultures and countercultures? Give one example of a subculture and one example of a counterculture to illustrate this difference.

Learning Objective: 3.3: Discuss cultural differences.

Cognitive Domain: Analysis

Answer Location: Subcultures

Difficulty Level: Medium

4. Multiculturalism has received attention in recent years. Discuss cultural diversity and assimilation in the United States and Europe. Why do some people say that multiculturalism is failing? How is Americanization different than multiculturalism?

Learning Objective: 3.3: Discuss cultural differences.

Cognitive Domain: Analysis

Answer Location: Multiculturalism and Assimilation

Difficulty Level: Hard

5. Select a brand that has spread globally, such as Starbucks, Coca-Cola, McDonalds, or another similar company. Define cultural imperialism and Americanization and use your chosen brand to discuss these processes. What are some ways that local cultures push back against the globalization of U.S. brands?

Learning Objective: 3.4: Describe global culture, consumer culture, and cyberculture.

Cognitive Domain: Analysis | Application

Answer Location: Global Culture

Difficulty Level: Medium