Chapter 4: Society & Social Interaction

Question 1

society

Answer 1

refers to a group of people who live in a definable community and share the same culture.

Question 2

Hunter-gatherer societies

Answer 2

these groups were based around kinship or tribes. Hunter-gatherers relied on their surroundings for survival

Question 3

Pastoral societies

Answer 3

such as the Maasai villagers, rely on the domestication of animals as a resource for survival.

Question 4

Horticultural societies

Answer 4

in areas where rainfall and other conditions allowed them to grow stable crops.

Question 5

agricultural societies

Answer 5

relied on permanent tools for survival, farming

Question 6

feudal societies

Answer 6

hierarchical system of power based around land ownership and protection.

Question 7

industrial society

Answer 7

rise in technological inventions, labor became faster, rooted in production of material goods

Question 8

Information societies

Answer 8

digital, age

Question 9

Émile Durkheim

Answer 9

perspective on society stressed the necessary interconnectivity of all of its elements; sum greater than the parts

Question 10

collective conscience

Answer 10

the communal beliefs, morals, and attitudes of a society

Question 11

social integration

Answer 11

the strength of ties that people have to their social groups,

Question 12

mechanical solidarity

Answer 12

a type of social order maintained by the collective conscience of a culture. (things are done mostly because they have always been done that way.)

Question 13

organic solidarity

Answer 13

social order based around an acceptance of economic and social differences.

Question 14

anomie

Answer 14

“without law”—is a situation in which society no longer has the support of a firm collective consciousness.

Question 15

Karl Marx

Answer 15

idea of “base and superstructure.” This term refers to the idea that a society’s economic character forms its base, upon which rests the culture and social institutions, the superstructure (remember the triangle)

Question 16

the bourgeoisie

Answer 16

the owners of the means of production

Question 17

proletariat

Answer 17

the laborers

Question 18

capitalism

Answer 18

is a way of organizing an economy so that the things that are used to make and transport products (such as land, oil, factories, ships, etc.) are owned by individual people and companies rather than by the government,

Question 19

Alienation

Answer 19

refers to the condition in which the individual is isolated and divorced from his or her society, work, or the sense of self.

Question 20

false consciousness

Answer 20

Marx’s idea of a condition in which the beliefs, ideals, or ideology of a person are not in the person’s own best interest.

Question 21

class consciousness

Answer 21

the awareness of one’s rank in society.

Question 22

rationalization

Answer 22

logic and efficiency rather than morality or tradition.

Question 23

iron cage

Answer 23

the individual is trapped by institutions and bureaucracy.

Question 24

habitualization

Answer 24

the act of implanting a convention or norm into society.

Question 25

Thomas theorem

Answer 25

W.I. Thomas: “If men define situations as real, they are real in their consequences”

Question 26

self-fulfilling prophecy

Answer 26

Robert K Merton: even a false idea can become true if it is acted upon.

Question 27

roles

Answer 27

patterns of behavior that we recognize in each other that are representative of a person’s social status. Currently, while reading this text, you are playing the role of a student.

Question 28

status

Answer 28

the responsibilities and benefits that a person experiences according to their rank and role in society.

Question 29

ascribed

Answer 29

Some statuses are ascribed—those you do not select, such as son, elderly person, or female.

Question 30

achieved status

Answer 30

are obtained by choice, such as a high school dropout, self-made millionaire, or nurse.

Question 31

role-set

Answer 31

array of roles, attached to it

Question 32

role strain

Answer 32

If too much is required of a single role,

Question 33

role conflict

Answer 33

when one or more roles are contradictory.

(deadline at work, but sick child at home)

Question 34

Role performance

Answer 34

how a person expresses his or her role.

Question 35

looking-glass self

Answer 35

Charles Cooley: we base our image on what we think other people see