SCC Core Concepts 2 — Questions and Answers
Question 1: Which term describes the process by which individuals learn the norms, values, and behaviors appropriate to their society?
- Assimilation
- Socialization (Correct answer)
- Accommodation
- Acculturation
Correct answer: Socialization
Socialization is the lifelong process through which individuals learn cultural norms, values, and roles from agents such as family, schools, and media.
Question 2: A researcher studying poverty notices that low-income neighborhoods have fewer grocery stores, leading residents to eat less nutritiously. This illustrates the concept of:
- Social stratification
- Relative deprivation
- Structural constraint (Correct answer)
- Cultural lag
Correct answer: Structural constraint
Structural constraints are features of social organization that limit individual choices, here the lack of stores limits healthy food access regardless of personal preference.
Question 3: Max Weber argued that status, class, and party are three distinct but related dimensions of:
- Social mobility
- Social stratification (Correct answer)
- Social integration
- Social deviance
Correct answer: Social stratification
Weber expanded Marx's economic class concept by identifying status (prestige) and party (political power) as additional dimensions of stratification.
Question 4: When a doctor's professional role conflicts with her role as a mother during a family emergency at work, this is called:
- Role exit
- Role strain
- Role conflict (Correct answer)
- Status inconsistency
Correct answer: Role conflict
Role conflict occurs when the demands of two or more distinct roles a person holds are incompatible with each other.
Question 5: Which sociological perspective emphasizes that social institutions primarily serve to maintain stability and consensus in society?
- Conflict theory
- Symbolic interactionism
- Functionalism (Correct answer)
- Feminist theory
Correct answer: Functionalism
Functionalism, associated with Durkheim and Parsons, views society as a system of interrelated parts that work together to maintain equilibrium.
Question 6: The concept of 'looking-glass self,' developed by Charles Cooley, suggests that our self-image is formed by:
- Genetic inheritance and biological traits
- How we imagine others perceive us (Correct answer)
- Comparing ourselves to an ideal standard
- Our accumulated personal achievements
Correct answer: How we imagine others perceive us
Cooley's looking-glass self holds that we develop our sense of self by imagining how we appear to others and internalizing what we think their judgments are.
Question 7: Emile Durkheim used the term 'anomie' to describe a condition in which:
- Society enforces norms too rigidly
- Individuals feel strong group solidarity
- Social norms are weakened or absent, leaving individuals without guidance (Correct answer)
- Cultural values conflict across generations
Correct answer: Social norms are weakened or absent, leaving individuals without guidance
Anomie refers to normlessness, a breakdown in social regulation where individuals lack clear moral guidance, which Durkheim linked to higher rates of suicide.
SCC Core Concepts 2
Which term describes the process by which individuals learn the norms, values, and behaviors appropriate to their society?