Chapter 3: Society and Culture: Hardware and Software of Our Social World

Test Bank

Multiple Choice

1. Individuals who live together in a specific geographical area, interact with each other more than they do with outsiders, cooperate for the attainment of common goals, and share a common culture over time constitute a ______.

a. society

b. culture

c. lifestyle

d. collective

Learning Objective: 3.1: Describe the structure (the “hardware”) of our social world.

Cognitive Domain: Knowledge

Answer Location: Society and Culture

Difficulty Level: Easy

2. The knowledge, beliefs, values, rules or laws, language, customs, symbols, and material artifacts constitute a society’s ______.

a. culture

b. institutions

c. agents of socialization

d. triangulation

Learning Objective: 3.2: Illustrate how culture affects individuals, groups, and societies.

Cognitive Domain: Knowledge

Answer Location: Society and Culture

Difficulty Level: Easy

3. A useful metaphor provided by the text to explain society and culture is that society is the ______, and culture is the ______ of our social world.

a. structure; process

b. hardware; software

c. process; structure

d. software; hardware

Learning Objective: 3.1: Describe the structure (the “hardware”) of our social world.

Cognitive Domain: Comprehension

Answer Location: Society: The Hardware

Difficulty Level: Easy

4. According to Durkheim, simple premodern societies are held together by ______. In these societies, social cohesion stems from the similarity of individuals in the group.

a. anomie

b. verstehen

c. mechanical solidarity

d. organic solidarity

Learning Objective: 3.1: Describe the structure (the “hardware”) of our social world.

Cognitive Domain: Knowledge

Answer Location: Evolution of Societies

Difficulty Level: Medium

5. Durkheim asserted that organic solidarity refers to social cohesion based on ______.

a. tribal groupings

b. shared outlooks

c. the similarity of individuals in the group

d. division of labor

Learning Objective: 3.1: Describe the structure (the “hardware”) of our social world.

Cognitive Domain: Knowledge

Answer Location: Evolution of Societies

Difficulty Level: Medium

6. According to Durkheim, which of the following becomes increasingly important as societies become more complex?

a. interpersonal interaction and community life

b. shared beliefs, values, and emotional ties

c. male/female distinctions and age groupings

d. meso- and macro-level institutions

Learning Objective: 3.1: Describe the structure (the “hardware”) of our social world.

Cognitive Domain: Comprehension

Answer Location: Evolution of Societies

Difficulty Level: Medium

7. In ______ societies people rely on vegetation and animals occurring naturally in the habitat to sustain life.

a. hunter-gatherer

b. horticultural

c. agricultural

d. industrial

Learning Objective: 3.1: Describe the structure (the “hardware”) of our social world.

Cognitive Domain: Knowledge

Answer Location: Hunter-Gatherer Societies

Difficulty Level: Easy

8. In ______ societies food producing strategies are based on domestication of animals, whereas in ______ food producing strategies are based on domestication of plants.

a. horticultural; herding

b. herding; horticultural

c. agricultural; industrial

d. industrial; agricultural

Learning Objective: 3.1: Describe the structure (the “hardware”) of our social world.

Cognitive Domain: Knowledge

Answer Location: Herding and Horticultural Societies

Difficulty Level: Easy

9. Both herding and horticultural societies differ from hunter-gatherer societies in that the members of these societies ______.

a. are nomadic

b. settle in one place

c. use plow technology

d. continuously cultivate the same land

Learning Objective: 3.1: Describe the structure (the “hardware”) of our social world.

Cognitive Domain: Comprehension

Answer Location: Herding and Horticultural Societies

Difficulty Level: Medium

10. ______ societies rely primarily on raising crops for food, but with the use of technology such as plows, irrigation systems, and fertilization.

a. Hunter-gatherer

b. Horticultural

c. Agricultural

d. Industrial

Learning Objective: 3.1: Describe the structure (the “hardware”) of our social world.

Cognitive Domain: Knowledge

Answer Location: Agricultural Societies

Difficulty Level: Easy

11. Industrial societies rely on ______.

a. serfdom

b. raising crops for food

c. mechanized production

d. automation

Learning Objective: 3.1: Describe the structure (the “hardware”) of our social world.

Cognitive Domain: Knowledge

Answer Location: Industrial Societies

Difficulty Level: Easy

12. Which type of society is characterized by automated production and service jobs?

a. horticultural

b. agricultural

c. industrial

d. postindustrial

Learning Objective: 3.1: Describe the structure (the “hardware”) of our social world.

Cognitive Domain: Knowledge

Answer Location: Postindustrial or Information Societies

Difficulty Level: Easy

13. Which of the following is a common characteristic of all cultures?

a. All cultures have a high or elite culture shared by a select few.

b. All cultures have a popular culture that is mass produced, mass consumed, and enmeshed in everyday traditions.

c. All cultures share similar beliefs, values, rules and laws, customs, and symbols.

d. All cultures evolve over time.

Learning Objective: 3.2: Illustrate how culture affects individuals, groups, and societies.

Cognitive Domain: Comprehension

Answer Location: Characteristics of Culture

Difficulty Level: Medium

14.______ is the tendency to view one’s own group and its cultural expectations as right, proper, and superior to others.

a. Ethnocentrism

b. Cultural relativity

c. Real culture

d. Ideal culture

Learning Objective: 3.2: Illustrate how culture affects individuals, groups, and societies.

Cognitive Domain: Knowledge

Answer Location: Ethnocentrism and Cultural Relativity

Difficulty Level: Easy

15. ______ requires setting aside cultural and personal beliefs and prejudices to understand another group or society through the eyes of its members and using its own community standards.

a. Ethnocentrism

b. Cultural relativism

c. The social construction of reality

d. The sociological imagination

Learning Objective: 3.2: Illustrate how culture affects individuals, groups, and societies.

Cognitive Domain: Knowledge

Answer Location: Ethnocentrism and Cultural Relativity

Difficulty Level: Easy

16. While studying abroad in Spain, Link was surprised to find that many of his Spanish peers left work and school in the middle of the day to take a siesta (a short rest at home). Some of the other students from the United States scoffed at the idea, but Link realized how important the siesta was to his Spanish peers because it gave them time to relax and be with their families, two very central values in Spanish culture. Link’s perspective reflects ______.

a. globalization

b. cultural relativism

c. socialization

d. ethnocentrism

Learning Objective: 3.2: Illustrate how culture affects individuals, groups, and societies.

Cognitive Domain: Application

Answer Location: Ethnocentrism and Cultural Relativity

Difficulty Level: Medium

17. ______ includes all human made objects we can see or touch—all artifacts of a group of people.

a. Material culture

b. Non-material culture

c. Real culture

d. Popular culture

Learning Objective: 3.2: Illustrate how culture affects individuals, groups, and societies.

Cognitive Domain: Knowledge

Answer Location: Material Culture: The Artifacts of Life

Difficulty Level: Easy

18. ______ refers to the thoughts, language, feelings, beliefs, values, and attitudes that make up much of our culture.

a. Material culture

b. Nonmaterial culture

c. Symbolic culture

d. Ideal culture

Learning Objective: 3.2: Illustrate how culture affects individuals, groups, and societies.

Cognitive Domain: Knowledge

Answer Location: Nonmaterial Culture: Beliefs, Values, Rules, and Language

Difficulty Level: Easy

19. Ideas about life, the way the society should work, and where we fit into the world are referred to as ______.

a. norms

b. beliefs

c. material culture

d. sanctions

Learning Objective: 3.2: Illustrate how culture affects individuals, groups, and societies.

Cognitive Domain: Knowledge

Answer Location: Nonmaterial Culture: Beliefs, Values, Rules, and Language

Difficulty Level: Easy

20. ______ are nonmaterial, shared judgments about what is desirable or undesirable, right or wrong, or good or bad in a culture.

a. Beliefs

b. Sanctions

c. Norms

d. Values

Learning Objective: 3.2: Illustrate how culture affects individuals, groups, and societies.

Cognitive Domain: Knowledge

Answer Location: Nonmaterial Culture: Beliefs, Values, Rules, and Language

Difficulty Level: Easy

21. As a small child, Kirby heard many stories about the American Dream. He was taught that the United States is a land of opportunity in which anybody—regardless of his or her circumstances—can achieve success through hard work. Kirby was told about his society’s ______ culture.

a. ideal

b. real

c. imaginary

d. formal

Learning Objective: 3.2: Illustrate how culture affects individuals, groups, and societies.

Cognitive Domain: Application

Answer Location: Nonmaterial Culture: Beliefs, Values, Rules, and Language

Difficulty Level: Medium

22. As a small child, Kirby heard many stories about his society’s emphasis on the equal treatment of all individuals and ability to pursue their individual desires. However, when Kirby was looking for a job, he noticed that individuals with higher credentials were more likely to get jobs he could do as well. Kirby encountered the ______ culture of his society in his job search.

a. postindustrial

b. nonmaterial

c. real

d. ideal

Learning Objective: 3.2: Illustrate how culture affects individuals, groups, and societies.

Cognitive Domain: Comprehension

Answer Location: Nonmaterial Culture: Beliefs, Values, Rules, and Language

Difficulty Level: Medium

23. ______ are rules of behavior shared by members of society and rooted in the value system.

a. Values

b. Beliefs

c. Norms

d. Sanctions

Learning Objective: 3.2: Illustrate how culture affects individuals, groups, and societies.

Cognitive Domain: Knowledge

Answer Location: Nonmaterial Culture: Beliefs, Values, Rules, and Language

Difficulty Level: Easy

24. Kimberly went to the doctor’s office and sat directly beside the only other person in the waiting area, even though there were multiple empty seats in the office. In doing so, Kimberly violated a ______.

a. folkway

b. mores

c. law

d. taboo

Learning Objective: 3.2: Illustrate how culture affects individuals, groups, and societies.

Cognitive Domain: Application

Answer Location: Nonmaterial Culture: Beliefs, Values, Rules, and Language

Difficulty Level: Medium

25. Remaining faithful to a spouse is a strong ______ in U.S. society.

a. taboo

b. folkway

c. mores

d. sanction

Learning Objective: 3.2: Illustrate how culture affects individuals, groups, and societies.

Cognitive Domain: Comprehension

Answer Location: Nonmaterial Culture: Beliefs, Values, Rules, and Language

Difficulty Level: Medium

26. Which of the following concern unthinkable or unspeakable actions in a given culture?

a. taboos

b. folkways

c. mores

d. sanctions

Learning Objective: 3.2: Illustrate how culture affects individuals, groups, and societies.

Cognitive Domain: Knowledge

Answer Location: Nonmaterial Culture: Beliefs, Values, Rules, and Language

Difficulty Level: Easy

27. A prison sentence is an example of a(n) ______.

a. informal negative sanction

b. formal negative sanction

c. informal positive sanction

d. formal positive sanction

Learning Objective: 3.2: Illustrate how culture affects individuals, groups, and societies.

Cognitive Domain: Application

Answer Location: Nonmaterial Culture: Beliefs, Values, Rules, and Language

Difficulty Level: Medium

28. Smiling at someone who holds the door open for you is an example of a(n) ______.

a. informal positive sanction

b. informal negative sanction

c. formal positive sanction

d. formal negative sanction

Learning Objective: 3.2: Illustrate how culture affects individuals, groups, and societies.

Cognitive Domain: Comprehension

Answer Location: Nonmaterial Culture: Beliefs, Values, Rules, and Language

Difficulty Level: Medium

29. According to communication scholars, which of the following forms of language carries 7% of a message?

a. facial expression

b. intonation

c. actual words said

d. body posture

Learning Objective: 3.2: Illustrate how culture affects individuals, groups, and societies.

Cognitive Domain: Knowledge

Answer Location: Nonmaterial Culture: Beliefs, Values, Rules, and Language

Difficulty Level: Hard

30. Which of the following theories asserts that people who speak a specific language make interpretations of their reality based on the language?

a. nativistic theory

b. logical positivism

c. semantic-cognitive theory

d. linguistic relativity theory

Learning Objective: 3.2: Illustrate how culture affects individuals, groups, and societies.

Cognitive Domain: Knowledge

Answer Location: Nonmaterial Culture: Beliefs, Values, Rules, and Language

Difficulty Level: Medium

31. An organization that influences one small segment of an individual’s life or influences an individual’s life for only a short period of time is a ______.

a. subculture

b. counterculture

c. microculture

d. mesoculture

Learning Objective: 3.4: Provide examples of microcultures, subcultures, countercultures, and global cultures.

Cognitive Domain: Knowledge

Answer Location: Microcultures: Micro-Level Analysis

Difficulty Level: Easy

32. Which of the following groups is a subculture?

a. homeowners

b. Japanese Americans

c. divorced people

d. a college fraternity

Learning Objective: 3.4: Provide examples of microcultures, subcultures, countercultures, and global cultures.

Cognitive Domain: Application

Answer Location: Subcultures and Countercultures: Meso-Level Analysis

Difficulty Level: Medium

33. Lee is a member of an organization whose members believe that individuals should be able to live without rules and regulations imposed by society. This organization is a(n) example of a ______.

a. subculture

b. national culture

c. ideal culture

d. counterculture

Learning Objective: 3.4: Provide examples of microcultures, subcultures, countercultures, and global cultures.

Cognitive Domain: Application

Answer Location: Subcultures and Countercultures: Meso-Level Analysis

Difficulty Level: Medium

34. Most nations have a ______, which refers to common values and beliefs that tie citizens of a nation together.

a. counterculture

b. national culture

c. global culture

d. popular culture

Learning Objective: 3.4: Provide examples of microcultures, subcultures, countercultures, and global cultures.

Cognitive Domain: Knowledge

Answer Location: National Society and Culture

Difficulty Level: Easy

35. Which of the following is TRUE of global society and culture?

a. Global society and culture has always existed.

b. The globalization process increases diversity.

c. Western political and economic structures dominate in the development of global culture.

d. Global culture is inherently non-material.

Learning Objective: 3.4: Provide examples of microcultures, subcultures, countercultures, and global cultures.

Cognitive Domain: Comprehension

Answer Location: National Society and Culture

Difficulty Level: Medium

36. Stateless terrorist networks such as ISIS and al-Qaeda are examples of ______ at the global level.

a. counterculture

b. microculture

c. subculture

d. national culture

Learning Objective: 3.4: Provide examples of microcultures, subcultures, countercultures, and global cultures.

Cognitive Domain: Comprehension

Answer Location: National Society and Culture

Difficulty Level: Hard

37. According to symbolic interaction theory, the ______ is the process by which individuals and groups shape their reality through social interaction.

a. social construction of reality

b. social construction of norms

c. social construction of values

d. social construction of beliefs

Learning Objective: 3.5: Compare key ideas in the symbolic interactionist, functionalist, and conflict perspectives on culture.

Cognitive Domain: Knowledge

Answer Location: Symbolic Interaction Theory

Difficulty Level: Easy

38. According to the structural-functionalist view of culture, ______.

a. society is made of meso-level groups vying for power.

b. the meaning of symbols is learned through interaction with others

c. cultural lag occurs when shifts in society occur unequally between material culture and nonmaterial culture

d. shared norms, values, and beliefs hold a society or subculture together

Learning Objective: 3.5: Compare key ideas in the symbolic interactionist, functionalist, and conflict perspectives on culture.

Cognitive Domain: Comprehension

Answer Location: Structural-Functional Theory

Difficulty Level: Medium

39. Which of the following theories would be useful in understanding tensions in society when local cultural values clash with national trends?

a. world systems theory

b. symbolic interaction theory

c. conflict theory

d. structural-functional theory

Learning Objective: 3.5: Compare key ideas in the symbolic interactionist, functionalist, and conflict perspectives on culture.

Cognitive Domain: Comprehension

Answer Location: Conflict Theory

Difficulty Level: Medium

40. The intergroup contact theory is an example of a ______ that is easier to test than the major theoretical perspectives.

a. macro-level theory

b. middle-range theory

c. classical theory

d. foundational theory

Learning Objective: 3.5: Compare key ideas in the symbolic interactionist, functionalist, and conflict perspectives on culture.

Cognitive Domain: Comprehension

Answer Location: Middle-Range Theories

Difficulty Level: Hard

True/False

1. For most of human history humans have been hunters and gatherers.

Learning Objective: 3.1: Describe the structure (“the hardware”) of our social world.

Cognitive Domain: Knowledge

Answer Location: Society: The Hardware

Difficulty Level: Medium

2. Before the emergence of nation states, there was no macro level.

Learning Objective: 3.1: Describe the structure (“the hardware”) of our social world.

Cognitive Domain: Comprehension

Answer Location: Evolution of Societies

Difficulty Level: Easy

3. In hunter-gatherer societies, food-producing strategies are based on the domestication of plants and animals.

Learning Objective: 3.1: Describe the structure (“the hardware”) of our social world.

Cognitive Domain: Comprehension

Answer Location: Hunter-Gatherer Societies

Difficulty Level: Medium

4. The tractor was the technological breakthrough that moved many societies from the horticultural to the agricultural stage.

Learning Objective: 3.1: Describe the structure (“the hardware”) of our social world.

Cognitive Domain: Knowledge

Answer Location: Herding and Horticultural Societies

Difficulty Level: Easy

5. Feudalism emerged out of agricultural societies.

Learning Objective: 3.1: Describe the structure (the “hardware”) of our social world.

Cognitive Domain: Comprehension

Answer Location: Agricultural Societies

Difficulty Level: Easy

6. Industrial societies rely primarily on automated production.

Learning Objective: 3.1: Describe the structure (the “hardware”) of our social world.

Cognitive Domain: Knowledge

Answer Location: Industrial Societies

Difficulty Level: Medium

7. From an economic perspective, children are considered more of a hindrance in agricultural societies than in industrial societies.

Learning Objective: 3.1: Describe the structure (the “hardware”) of our social world.

Cognitive Domain: Comprehension

Answer Location: Industrial Societies

Difficulty Level: Medium

8. According to Daniel Bell, the third technological revolution was the invention of the computer.

Learning Objective: 3.1: Describe the structure (the “hardware”) of our social world.

Cognitive Domain: Knowledge

Answer Location: Postindustrial or Information Societies

Difficulty Level: Medium

9. Culture is cumulative and adaptive over time.

Learning Objective: 3.2: Illustrate how culture affects individuals, groups, and societies.

Cognitive Domain: Comprehension

Answer Location: Characteristics of Culture

Difficulty Level: Easy

10. Sociologists believe that the transmission of culture is the feature that most separates humans from other animals.

Learning Objective: 3.2: Illustrate how culture affects individuals, groups, and societies.

Cognitive Domain: Knowledge

Answer Location: Characteristics of Culture

Difficulty Level: Easy

11. Societies instill a certain degree of ethnocentrism in their members to promote loyalty and conformity.

Learning Objective: 3.2: Illustrate how culture affects individuals, groups, and societies.

Cognitive Domain: Comprehension

Answer Location: Ethnocentrism and Cultural Relativity

Difficulty Level: Easy

12. Cultural relativism requires that social scientists agree with all of the beliefs and behaviors of the societies or groups they study.

Learning Objective: 3.2: Illustrate how culture affects individuals, groups, and societies.

Cognitive Domain: Comprehension

Answer Location: Ethnocentrism and Cultural Relativity

Difficulty Level: Easy

13. A textbook is an example of material culture.

Learning Objective: 3.2: Illustrate how culture affects individuals, groups, and societies.

Cognitive Domain: Application

Answer Location: Material Culture: The Artifacts of Life

Difficulty Level: Medium

14. Beliefs are ideas we hold about life, about the way society works, and about where we fit into the world.

Learning Objective: 3.2: Illustrate how culture affects individuals, groups, and societies.

Cognitive Domain: Knowledge

Answer Location: Nonmaterial Culture: Beliefs, Values, Rules, and Language

Difficulty Level: Easy

15. Folkways are norms that most members observe because these norms have great moral significance in a society.

Learning Objective: 3.2: Illustrate how culture affects individuals, groups, and societies.

Cognitive Domain: Knowledge

Answer Location: Nonmaterial Culture: Beliefs, Values, Rules, and Language

Difficulty Level: Medium

16. Using proper table manners and speaking quietly in a library are examples of mores.

Learning Objective: 3.2: Illustrate how culture affects individuals, groups, and societies.

Cognitive Domain: Application

Answer Location: Nonmaterial Culture: Beliefs, Values, Rules, and Language

Difficulty Level: Medium

17. The dean’s list is a formal positive sanction used in many colleges and universities.

Learning Objective: 3.2: Illustrate how culture affects individuals, groups, and societies.

Cognitive Domain: Application

Answer Location: Nonmaterial Culture: Beliefs, Values, Rules, and Language

Difficulty Level: Medium

18. A college sorority is considered a microculture.

Learning Objective: 3.4: Provide examples of microcultures, subcultures, countercultures, and global cultures.

Cognitive Domain: Application

Answer Location: Microcultures: Micro-Level Analysis

Difficulty Level: Medium

19. A subculture is a group with expectations and values that contrast sharply with the dominant values of a particular society.

Learning Objective: 3.4: Provide examples of microcultures, subcultures, countercultures, and global cultures.

Cognitive Domain: Knowledge

Answer Location: Subcultures and Countercultures: Meso-Level Analysis

Difficulty Level: Easy

20. Countercultures are defined in part by their ephemeral nature; they last for a short period of time.

Learning Objective: 3.4: Provide examples of microcultures, subcultures, countercultures, and global cultures.

Cognitive Domain: Comprehension

Answer Location: Subcultures and Countercultures: Meso-Level Analysis

Difficulty Level: Medium

21. According to conflict theory, countercultures can be good for society.

Learning Objective: 3.4: Provide examples of microcultures, subcultures, countercultures, and global cultures.

Cognitive Domain: Comprehension

Answer Location: Subcultures and Countercultures: Meso-Level Analysis

Difficulty Level: Easy

22. Globalization is a process, not a product or object.

Learning Objective: 3.4: Provide examples of microcultures, subcultures, countercultures, and global cultures.

Cognitive Domain: Comprehension

Answer Location: Global Society and Culture

Difficulty Level: Easy

23. More than any other theory, conflict theory stresses the active decision-making role of individuals in society.

Learning Objective: 3.5: Compare key ideas in the symbolic interactionist, functionalist, and conflict perspectives on culture.

Cognitive Domain: Comprehension

Answer Location: Symbolic Interaction Theory

Difficulty Level: Medium

24. Structural-functional theorists highlight the way cultural groups struggle to make their own cultural ways dominant in their society.

Learning Objective: 3.5: Compare key ideas in the symbolic interactionist, functionalist, and conflict perspectives on culture.

Cognitive Domain: Comprehension

Answer Location: Structural-Functional Theory

Difficulty Level: Medium

25. Conflict theorists argue that people with power in a society manipulate institutions to ensure that all members of society learn the values, beliefs, and norms of the privileged group.

Learning Objective: 3.5: Compare key ideas in the symbolic interactionist, functionalist, and conflict perspectives on culture.

Cognitive Domain: Comprehension

Answer Location: Conflict Theory

Difficulty Level: Easy

Essay

1. Compare and contrast mechanical solidarity and organic solidarity.

Learning Objective: 3.1: Describe the structure (the “hardware”) of our social world.

Cognitive Domain: Comprehension

Answer Location: Evolution of Society

Difficulty Level: Medium

2. Compare and contrast horticultural and agricultural societies.

Learning Objective: 3.1: Describe the structure (the “hardware”) of our social world.

Cognitive Domain: Comprehension

Answer Location: Agricultural Societies

Difficulty Level: Medium

3. What are the common characteristics of all cultures?

Learning Objective: 3.2: Illustrate how culture affects individuals, groups, and societies.

Cognitive Domain: Comprehension

Answer Location: Characteristics of Cultures

Difficulty Level: Medium

4. Explain how material culture drives the globalization process. Provide examples.

Learning Objective: 3.2: Illustrate how culture affects individuals, groups, and societies.

Cognitive Domain: Application

Answer Location: Material Culture: The Artifacts of Life

Difficulty Level: Medium

5. Define ideal and real culture. What are two examples of discrepancies between real and ideal culture in the United States? Explain why you think these discrepancies exist.

Learning Objective: 3.2: Illustrate how culture affects individuals, groups, and societies.

Cognitive Domain: Application

Answer Location: Nonmaterial Culture: Beliefs, Values, Rules, and Language

Difficulty Level: Hard

6. According to linguistic relativity theory, language affects how people conceptualize their world. Give an example of how your own language affects your thinking.

Learning Objective: 3.2: Illustrate how culture affects individuals, groups, and societies.

Cognitive Domain: Application

Answer Location: Nonmaterial Culture: Beliefs, Values, Rules, and Language

Difficulty Level: Medium

7. Provide an example of a common cultural practice in the United States. How might someone from another culture respond to that practice in an ethnocentric manner? How might she or he respond in a cultural relativist manner?

Learning Objective: 3.2: Illustrate how culture affects individuals, groups, and societies.

Cognitive Domain: Application

Answer Location: Ethnocentrism and Cultural Relativity

Difficulty Level: Medium

8. Compare and contrast subcultures and countercultures. Provide an example of each.

Learning Objective: 3.4: Provide examples of microcultures, subcultures, countercultures, and global cultures.

Cognitive Domain: Application

Answer Location: Subcultures and Countercultures: Meso-Level Analysis

Difficulty Level: Medium

9. Globalization is a widespread cultural phenomenon. Describe globalization, paying specific attention to how it emerged. Also, illustrate how globalization contributes to the creation of a global culture. Finally, offer one argument in favor of globalization and one argument against globalization that relates specifically to how globalization affects national cultures.

Learning Objective: 3.2: Illustrate how culture affects individuals, groups, and societies.

Cognitive Domain: Application

Answer Location: Global Society and Culture

Difficulty Level: Hard

10. Why is it important to understand global culture?

Learning Objective: 3.4: Provide examples of microcultures, subcultures, countercultures, and global cultures.

Cognitive Domain: Comprehension

Answer Location: National and Global Culture: Macro-Level Analysis

Difficulty Level: Medium

11. What is the social construction of reality? Provide an illustration of this concept.

Learning Objective: 3.5: Compare key ideas in the symbolic interactionist, functionalist, and conflict perspectives on culture.

Cognitive Domain: Application

Answer Location: Symbolic Interaction Theory

Difficulty Level: Hard

12. In general, how do structural-functional theorists view cultural practices? What is a major criticism of this perspective?

Learning Objective: 3.5: Compare key ideas in the symbolic interactionist, functionalist, and conflict perspectives on culture.

Cognitive Domain: Comprehension

Answer Location: Symbolic Interaction Theory

Difficulty Level: Medium

13. Conflict theorists argue that people with power and privilege manipulate social institutions for their own gain. Provide an example.

Learning Objective: 3.5: Compare key ideas in the symbolic interactionist, functionalist, and conflict perspectives on culture.

Cognitive Domain: Application

Answer Location: Conflict Theory

Difficulty Level: Medium

14. How can conflict theory help us understand global dynamics?

Learning Objective: 3.5: Compare key ideas in the symbolic interactionist, functionalist, and conflict perspectives on culture.

Cognitive Domain: Comprehension

Answer Location: Conflict Theory

Difficulty Level: Medium

15. Describe an example in which an attempt to transport U.S. style “software” (culture) to another country was not successful. Explain why this may have failed.

Learning Objective: 3.6: Explain why culture (the “software”) from one society does not always “fit” with the structure (“hardware”) of another society.

Cognitive Domain: Application

Answer Location: Fit Between Hardware and Software

Difficulty Level: Hard