Culture (Sociology) Questions and Answers

CULTURE MULTIPLE-CHOICE QUESTIONS 1. Personal disorientation when experiencing an unfamiliar way of life is called: a. nonmaterial culture b. culture shock c. cultural surprise d. freaking out answer: b 2. As part of human culture, the Canadian constitution is an example of: a. material culture b. subculture c. culture shock d. nonmaterial culture answer: d 3. As a part of human culture, religion is an example of: a. material culture. b. nonmaterial culture. c. culture shock. d. human nature. answer: b 4. What is the term for the beliefs, values, behavior, and material objects that together make up a people’s way of life? a. social structure b. social system c. culture d. society answer: c 5. The intangible world of ideas created by members of a society is referred to as: a. high culture. b. material culture. c. norms. nonmaterial culture. d. answer: d 6. Cars, computers, and iPhones are all examples of which of the following? a. high culture. b. material culture. c. norms. d. nonmaterial culture. answer: b 7. Looking all around the world, what we find everywhere is: a. the same ideas about what is right. b. that people enjoy the same sports. c. people create cultural systems. d. the same standards that define what is beautiful and ugly. answer: c 8. Among all forms of life, humans stand out as the only species that: a. relies on culture to ensure survival. b. has patterned ways of living. c. has biological instincts. d. makes use of tools. answer: a 9. The term Homo sapiens, the name of our species, comes from Latin meaning: a. “person of culture.” b. “thinking person.” “one who walks upright.” c. d. “person who evolves.” answer: b 10. According to scientists, homo sapiens first appeared on Earth about how long ago? a. 2,500 years b. 25,000 years c. 250,000 years d. 250 million years answer: c 11. The term _____ refers to a shared way of life, and the term ____ refers to a political entity. a. culture; society b. country; nation c. nation; culture d. culture; nation answer: d 12. ______________ refers to organized interaction of people within a nation, state, or other boundary who share a culture. a. social structure b. popular culture c. society d. real culture answer: c 13. Sociologists define a symbol as: a. anything that carries meaning to people who share a culture. b. any material cultural trait. c. any gesture that conveys insult to others. d. social patterns that cause culture shock. answer: a 14. The fact that instant messaging is based on a new set of symbols shows us that: a. today's young people are creating new symbols. b. there are many ways to use symbols to communicate. c. culture changes over time. d. All of the above are correct. answer: d 15. Cultural transmission refers to the process of: a. cultural patterns moving from one society to another. b. using the oral tradition. c. passing cultural patterns from one generation to another. d. using writing to enshrine cultural patterns. answer: c 16. The language widely spoken by people in more nations of the world than any other is: a. Spanish. b. Chinese. English. c. d. Hindi. answer: c 17. Which of the following most closely conveys the point of the Sapir-Whorf thesis? a. Language involves attaching labels to the real world. b. People see the world through the cultural lens of their language. c. Most words have the same meaning if spoken in different languages. d. Every word exists in all known languages. answer: b 18. Standards by which people who share culture define what is desirable, good, and beautiful are called: a. folkways. b. norms. c. mores. d. values. answer: d 19. Values are broad principles that support ____________. a. beliers b. norms c. folkways d. language answer: a 20. One tradition that is central to the Canadian winter and the elusive Canadian identity is: a. skating b. tobogganing c. skiing d. hockey answer: c 21. According to Seymour Martin Lipset, the traditional differences between Canadian and American values are: a. rooted in the past b. insignificant c. rooted in religion d. based on the languages spoken in each country answer: a 22. Low-income countries have cultures that value which of the following? a. economic survival b. equal standing for women and men c. self-expression d. All of the above are correct. answer: a 23. __________ are rules about everyday, casual living; __________ are rules with great moral significance. a. Mores; folkways Folkways; mores b. c. Proscriptive norms; prescriptive norms d. Prescriptive norms; proscriptive norms answer: b 24. Wrong-doing, such as an adult forcing a child to engage in sexual activity, is an example of violating cultural: a. mores. symbols. b. c. folkways. d. control. answer: a 25. The early U.S. sociologist who described the difference between folkways and mores was: a. Emile Durkheim. b. William Graham Sumner. c. Harriett Martineau. d. George Herbert Mead. answer: b 26. _____ distinguish between right and wrong; _____ distinguish between right and rude. a. Mores; folkways Taboos; mores b. Folkways; mores c. d. Prescriptive norms; proscriptive norms answer: a 27. An act of kindness, such as opening the door for an elderly man, illustrates conforming to: a. mores. taboos. b. c. folkways. d. proscriptive norms. answer: c 28. Elements of social control in everyday life include: a. shame. b. guilt. c. sanctions, including the response of other people. d. All of the above are correct. answer: d 29. The fact that some married men and married women are sexually unfaithful to their spouses is an example of _____ culture, while the fact that most adults say they support the idea of sexual fidelity is an example of _____ culture. a. high; low b. low; high c. ideal; real d. real; ideal answer: d 30. Sociologists refer to tangible or physical human creations as: a. nonmaterial culture. artifacts. b. c. technology. d. values. answer: b 31. What is the term for the application of cultural knowledge to the task of living in an environment? a. real culture ideal culture b. c. cultural transmission d. technology answer: d 32. Which of the following statements about technology is true? Nations with more advanced technology are always superior to nations with less a. advanced technology. b. Advanced technology improves life in some ways but also threatens it in other ways. c. Access to technology is evenly distributed across any society’s population. d. All of the above are correct. answer: b 33. As our society has entered a postindustrial, computer-based phase, which of the following have become more important? a. gaining symbolic skills, including speaking, writing and computing b. gaining mechanical skills using industrial machinery c. knowing more about the past d. All of the above are correct. answer: a 34. Canada is very culturally diverse, compared to ______ whose historic isolation made it the most monocultural of industrial nations. a. England b. The United States c. Japan d. Iraq answer: c 35. The distinction between high culture and popular culture is based mostly on: a. how advanced the cultural pattern is. b. how long the cultural pattern has existed. c. the social standing of the people who display the cultural pattern. d. All of the above are correct. answer: c; 36. Cultural patterns that are widespread among a society's population are referred to as: a. high culture. popular culture. b. elite culture. c. d. established culture. answer: b 37. If you were to attend the opera, you would be experiencing: a. high culture. popular culture. b. c. cultural transmission. d. virtual culture. answer: a 38. Between 1991 and 2001, more than half of immigrants to Canada came from: a. Europe b. The United States c. Asia and the Middle East d. Africa answer: c 39. Subculture refers to: a. a part of the population lacking culture. b. people who embrace popular culture. c. cultural patterns that set apart some segment of a society’s population. d. people who embrace high culture. answer: c 40. Hockey fans, homeless people, computer nerds, and jazz musicians all display _____ patterns. a. high cultural b. popular cultural c. virtual cultural d. subcultural answer: d 41. Multiculturalism is defined as: a. efforts to encourage immigration to Canada. b. efforts to establish English as the only official language of Canada. c. social policy designed to encourage ethnic or cultural heterogeneity d. the idea that Canada should have a single one dominant culture. answer: c; 42. The claim that Canadian culture is dominated by European and especially English ways of life states that our culture is: a. ethnocentric. b. Afrocentric. c. Eurocentric. d. culturally relative. answer: 43. Counterculture refers to: a. people who differ in some small way. b. popular culture. c. high culture. d. cultural patterns that oppose those that are widely held. answer: d 44. Cultural integration refers to the fact that: a. Canadian society contains many cultural patterns. b. European cultural patterns dominate Canadian society. c. change in one cultural pattern is usually linked to changes in others d. everyone in Canada shares most cultural values. answer: c 45. The term “cultural lag” refers to the fact that: a. the rate of cultural change has been slowing. b. some societies advance faster than others do. c. some people are more cultured than others. d. some cultural elements change more quickly than others. answer: d 46. Which of the following statements is a good example of cultural lag? a. gaining the ability to modify genetic patterns before understanding the possible social consequences of this kind of work a slowing in the rate of invention in the computer industry b. c. older people trying to make younger people respect tradition d. virtual culture replacing traditional culture answer: a 47. Cultural change is set in motion in three general ways. What are they? a. invention, discovery, and diffusion b. invasion, invention, and experiment c. immigration, imagination, and innovation d. adaptation, integration, and immigration answer: a 48. The spread of cultural traits from one society to another is called: a. immigration. b. cultural transmission. c. popular culture. d. diffusion. answer: d 49. Ethnocentrism refers to: a. people taking pride in their ethnicity. b. claiming that another culture is better than your own. c. judging another culture using the standards of your own culture. d. understanding another culture using its own standards and values. answer: c 50. A person who criticizes the Amish farmer as "backward" for tilling his fields with horses and a plow instead of using a tractor is displaying: a. ethnocentrism. cultural relativism. b. c. cultural diffusion. d. cultural integration. answer: a 51. The practice of understanding another culture on its own terms and using its own standards is called: a. ethnocentrism. cultural relativism. b. c. cultural diffusion. d. cultural integration. answer: b 52. About what percentage of people in Canada were born elsewhere? a. 18 b. 39 c. 51 d. 80 answer: a; 53. Which of the following adds to the creation of a global culture? a. the flow of goods from country to country b. the flow of information around the world c. the flow of people from country to country d. All of the above are correct. answer: d 54. Which theoretical approach states that the stability of Canadian society rests on core values shared by most people? a. the structural-functional approach b. the social-conflict approach c. the symbolic-interaction approach d. the sociobiology approach answer: a 55. Cultural universals are elements of culture that: a. have always been part of Canadian culture. b. have diffused from the United States to other countries. c. have come to Canada from elsewhere. d. are part of every known culture. answer: d 56. George Murdock pointed to many cultural universals. Which of the following is NOT an example of a cultural universal? a. belief in a heavenly afterlife funeral rites b. c. the family d. telling jokes answer: a 57. Which theoretical approach is linked to the philosophical doctrine of materialism? a. the structural-functional approach b. the social-conflict approach c. the symbolic-interaction approach d. the sociobiology approach answer: b 58. A Marxist analysis of Canadian culture suggests that our competitive and individualistic values reflect: a. the values of the "founding fathers." trends in Western European history. b. c. this nation’s capitalist economy. d. this nation’s family system. answer: c 59. The theoretical approach that highlights the link between culture and social inequality is the: a. structural-functional approach. b. social-conflict approach. c. symbolic-interaction approach. d. sociobiology approach. answer: b 60. Which theoretical approach explains why the sexual “double standard” is found around the world? a. the structural-functional approach b. the social-conflict approach c. the symbolic-interaction approach d. the sociobiology approach answer: d 61. Culture acts as a constraint, limiting human freedom because: a. much culture is habit, which people repeat again and again. b. humans cannot create new culture for themselves. culture always discourages change. c. d. All of the above are correct. answer: a 62. Culture is a source of human freedom because: a. culture does not guide behavior. b. all culture changes very quickly. c. as cultural creatures, humans make and remake the world for themselves. d. All of the above are correct. answer: 63. Who, of the following, would be most likely to say that “cultural patterns are rooted in a society’s system of economic production”? a. a structural functionalist b. a conflict theorist c. a sociobiologist d. a symbolic interactionist answer: b 64. Who, of the following, would be most likely to say that “cultural patterns are rooted in a society’s core values and beliefs”? a. a structural functionalist b. a conflict theorist c. a sociobiologist d. a symbolic interactionist answer: a 65. Who, of the following, would be most likely to say that “culture is a system of behaviour that is partly shaped by human biology”? a. a structural functionalist b. a conflict theorist c. a sociobiologist d. a symbolic interactionist answer: c TRUE/FALSE QUESTIONS 66. People around the world have much the same outward appearance, wearing the same clothing and bodily decoration. answer: 67. Culture refers to values, beliefs, behavior, and material things that form a way of answer: T; 68. An example of nonmaterial culture would be the types of vehicles people use to get around. answer: F 69. Experiencing an unfamiliar culture can generate culture shock. answer: T 70. Certain ways of life are biologically “natural” to humans everywhere. answer: F; 71. For at least 12,000 years, humans have used culture as a strategy for survival. answer: T 72. Symbols refer to anything that carries meaning recognized by people who share ; answer: T 73. All cultures have some common elements. answer: T 74. Only 4 Aboriginal languages spoken in Canada are not on the brink of extinction. answer: T 75. The emergence of computer-based instant messaging shows how new symbols are being created all the time. answer: T 76. Symbols allow people to make sense of their surroundings. answer: T; 77. Gestures such as "thumbs up" are used in most societies of the world to signify that something is very good. answer: F 78. Cultural transmission cannot take place unless people have a written language. answer: F 79. English is the first language of about 10 percent of humanity, and it has become the preferred second language in most of the world. answer: T; 80. The Sapir-Whorf thesis states that the language we use shapes the reality we perceive. answer: T 81. Values are standards that serve as broad guidelines for living. answer: T 82. Cultural values in Canada always go together—they are all consistent with one another. answer: F; 83. Cultural values in high-income nations tend to be secular-rational, giving greater importance to personal self- expression.answer: T 84. In general, low-income nations have cultures that value individualism and personal selfexpression. answer: F 85. Mores are norms that have great moral significance. answer: T