Chapter 2

Question 1

niqab

Answer 1

Veil that covers a woman’s hair and face, leaving only the eyes clearly visible.

Question 2

culture

Answer 2

The values, norms, and material goods characteristic of a given group. Like the concept of society, the notion of culture is widely used in sociology and the other social sciences (particularly anthropology). Culture is one of the most distinctive properties of human social association.

Question 3

values

Answer 3

Ideas held by individuals or groups about what is desirable, proper, good, and bad. What individuals value is strongly influenced by the specific culture in which they happen to live.

Question 4

norms

Answer 4

Rules of conduct that specify appropriate behavior in a given range of social situations. A norm either prescribes a given type of behavior or forbids it. All human groups follow definite norms which are always backed by sanctions of one kind or anther–varying from informal disapproval to physical punishment.

Question 5

material goods

Answer 5

the physical objects that a society creates; these influence the ways in which people live.

Question 6

instinct

Answer 6

a fixed pattern of behavior that has genetic origins and that appears in all normal animals within a given species.

Question 7

society

Answer 7

A group of people who live in a particular territory, are subject to a common system of political authority, and are aware of having a distinct identity from other groups. Some societies, like hunting an gathering societies, are small, numbering no more than a few dozen people. Others are large, numbering millions–modern Chinese society, for instance, has a population of more than a billion people.

Question 8

sociobiology

Answer 8

an approach that attempts to explain the behavior of both animals and human beings in terms of biological principles.

Question 9

subculture

Answer 9

values and norms distance from those of the majority, held by a group within a wider society.

Question 10

assimilation

Answer 10

The acceptance of minority group by a majority population, in which the new group takes on the values and norms of teh dominant culture.

Question 11

multiculturalism

Answer 11

the viewpoint according to which ethnic groups can exist separately and share equality in economic and political life.

Question 12

ethnocentrism

Answer 12

the tendency to look at other cultures through the eyes of one’s own culture, and thereby misrepresent them.

Question 13

cultural relativism

Answer 13

the practice of judging a society by its own standards.

Question 14

cultural universals

Answer 14

values or modes of behavior shared by all human cultures.

Question 15

language

Answer 15

the primary vehicle of meaning and communication in society, language is a system of symbols that represent objects and abstract thoughts.

Question 16

marriage

Answer 16

A socially approved sexual relationship between two individuals. Marriage almost always involves tow persons of opposite sexes, but in some cultures, types of homosexual marriage are tolerated. marriage normally forms the basis of a family of procreation–that is, it is expected that the married couple will produce and bring up children. Some societies permit polygamy, in which an individual may have several spouses at the same time.

Question 17

linguistic relativity hypothesis

Answer 17

a hypothesis, based on the theories of Edward Sapir and Benjamin Lee Whorf, that perceptions are relative to language.

Question 18

signifier

Answer 18

any vehicle of meaning and communication.

Question 19

semiotics

Answer 19

a study of the ways in which linguistic and nonlinguistic phenomena can generate meaning.

Question 20

pastoral societies

Answer 20

societies whose subsistence derives from the rearing of domesticated animals.

Question 21

agrarian societies

Answer 21

societies whose means of subsistence are based on agricultural production (crop growing).

Question 22

industrialization

Answer 22

the emergence of machine production, based on the sue of inanimate power resources (such as steam or electricity).

Question 23

industrialized societies

Answer 23

highly developed nation-states in which the majority of the population work in factories or offices rather than in agriculture, and most people live in urban areas.

Question 24

nation-state

Answer 24

A particular type of state, characteristic of the modern world, in which a government has sovereign power within a defined territorial area, and the population are citizens who know themselves to be part of a single nation. Nation-states are closely associated with the rise of nationalism, although nationalist loyalties do not always conform to an emerging nation-state system, originating in Europe; in current times, they span the whole globe.

Question 25

colonialism

Answer 25

the process whereby Western nations established their rule in parts of the world away from their home territories

Question 26

developing world

Answer 26

The less-developed societies, in which industrial production is either vitally nonexistent or only developed to a limited degree. The majority of the world’s population live in less-developed countries.

Question 27

newly industrializing economies (NIEs)

Answer 27

developing countries that over the past two or three decades have begun to develop a strong industrial base, such as Singapore and Hong Kong.

Question 28

nationalism

Answer 28

a set of beliefs and symbols expressing identification with a national community.