What separates a discovery from an invention?
AThe thing is put together
BThe thing is sold widely
CThe thing is copied later
DThe thing already existed
Answer & Solution
Correct answer: D. The thing already existed
1. Both are ways an innovation first appears in a society.
2. A discovery makes known something that was already there but unknown.
3. An invention results when something new is formed out of existing objects or concepts.
4. Cars, radios and vacuum cleaners were put together from parts, so they are inventions.
_Source: OpenStax Introduction to Sociology 2e (CC BY 4.0), Ch 3 "Culture", Ch 4 "Society and Social Interaction" and Ch 5 "Socialization", section 3.3 Pop Culture, Subculture, and Cultural Change_
Keep practising Culture
Browse all Culture questions for CLEP, or explore more Social Science topics.
Related questions
Spot the one that does not fitKnock out the false norm claimsDrop each item into its cultureWhich perspective treats culture as created and remade in face-to-face interaction?How would a conflict theorist read a society's cultural norms?The Sapir-Whorf hypothesis makes which claim about language?An aid agency brings its own farming methods into a region and overlooks local varieties bA student hands in an essay copied from a website and is expelled for it. Which kind of no