Delta State University
Sociology 101
Spring Semester 2004

Study Questions
Week 7

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(1) What is meant by the term culture?  What are some elements of culture?

(2)  What is the difference between material and non-material culture?

(3)  Describe the following aspects of culture:

            Symbols
            Language
            Norms
            Folkways
            Mores
            Taboos
            Sanctions
            Values
            Beliefs
            Ideology

(4)  What is the difference between formal and informal sanctions?

(5)  What are some important values in American society?

(6)  Explain how culture conditions our actions.  Provide an example from your own experiences to illustrate how this works.

(7)  What is a subculture?  What is a counterculture?  Provide examples of each.

(8)  What are social institutions?  What does it mean to say behavior has become institutionalized?

(9)  What functions do cows play in Hindu culture?  Why do Hindus prohibit killing cows, even though food is sometimes in short supply in India?  Would killing cows for food solve hunger in India?  Why or why not?

(10)  How did cultural values regarding various aspects of mate preference (e.g. chastity, physical attractiveness, financial resources, cooking and housekeeping, attraction and love) change of the twentieth century?  What do these changes tell us about American culture?