Reference no: EM131294546

Unit-1

Multiple Choice Questions (Enter your answers on the enclosed answer sheet)

1. Because there is more social isolation in rural areas of the United States than in urban areas, we would expect suicide rates to be

a. higher in urban areas.
b. higher in rural areas.
c. high in both urban and rural areas.
d. low in both urban and rural areas.

2. Sociologists use the term "social marginality" to refer to

a. people who have little understanding of sociology.
b. people who have special social skills.
c. people who are defined by others as an "outsider."
d. people who are especially sensitive about their family background.

3. If social marginality encourages sociological thinking, we would expect people in which category listed below to make the most use of the sociological perspective?

a. the wealthy
b. disabled persons or people who are a racial minority
c. politicians
d. the middle class

4. Following the thinking of C. Wright Mills, we would expect the sociological imagination to be more widespread in a population

a. during times of peace and prosperity.
b. among the very rich.
c. among very religious people.
d. during times of social crisis.

5. Wright Mills claimed that the "sociological imagination" transformed

a. common sense into laws of society.
b. people into supporters of the status quo.
c. personal problems into public issues.
d. scientific research into common sense.

6. The United States falls within which category of the world's nations?

a. low-income nations
b. middle-income nations
c. high-income nations
d. socially marginalized nations

7. Countries in which average people's income is typical for the world as a whole and in which people are as likely to live in a rural area as in an urban area are categorized as

a. low-income nations.
b. middle-income nations.
c. high-income nations.
d. socially marginalized nations.

8. The nations of Western Europe, Israel, Japan, and Australia fall into which category of countries?

a. low-income nations
b. middle-income nations
c. high-income nations
d. socially marginalized nations

9. It is difficult to establish all the cause-and-effect relationships in a social situation because

a. most patterns of behavior have a single cause.
b. most patterns of behavior are random and have no cause at all.
c. most patterns of behavior are caused by many factors.
d. sociologists are not able to reach conclusions about cause and effect.

10. The ideal of objectivity means that a researcher must

a. not personally care about the topic being studied.
b. try to adopt a stance of personal neutrality toward the outcome of the research.
c. study issues that have no value to society as a whole.
d. carry out research that will encourage desirable social change.

11. The sociologist who called on his colleagues to be "value-free" in the conduct of their research was

a. Karl Marx.
b. Emile Durkheim.
c. Herbert Spencer.
d. Max Weber.

12. Imagine that you are repeating research done by someone else in order to assess the accuracy.
You are doing which of the following?

a. replication
b. objectification
c. reliability
d. scientific control

13. Sociologists cannot precisely predict any person's behavior because

a. human behavior is highly complex and has many causes.
b. the discipline of sociology is too new.
c. there are too many competing sociological approaches.
d. sociology is not scientific.

14. Positivist sociology

a. focuses on the meaning people attach to behavior.
b. seeks to bring about desirable social change.
c. favors qualitative data.
d. favors quantitative data.

15. Interpretive sociology refers to sociology that

a. focuses on action.
b. sees an objective reality "out there."
c. focuses on the meaning people attach to their social world.
d. seeks to bring about change.

16. Which German word meaning "understanding" was used by Max Weber to describe his approach to sociological research?

a. Gemeinschaft
b. Gesellschaft
c. Verstehen
d. Verboten

17. Critical sociology

a. focuses on the meaning people attach to behavior.
b. seeks to bring about desirable social change.
c. endorses the principle of being value-free.
d. is based on Weber's principle of verstehen.

18. Critical sociology can best be described as a(n) approach.

a. activist
b. scientific
c. qualitative
d. value-free

19. The Sapir-Whorf thesis states that

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.

20. Standards by which people who share culture define what is desirable, good, and beautiful are called

a. folkways.
b. norms.
c. mores.
d. values.

21. The dominant values of U.S. culture include

a. a deep respect for the traditions of the past.
b. a belief in equality of condition for all.
c. a belief in individuality.
d. a belief in intuition over science.

22. According to sociologist Robin Williams Jr.j one value of U.S. culture is

a. equality of condition.
b. unequal opportunity
c. material comfort.
d. belief in tradition.

23. Key values of U.S. culture

a. always fit together easily.
b. change quickly, even from year to year.
c. are shared by absolutely everyone in a society.
d. are sometimes in conflict with one another.

24. An emerging value in our society is

a. "What was good enough for my parents is good enough for me."
b. "The present is better than the past."
c. "Work is important, but I want more time for leisure and personal growth."
d. "It's good to be free."

25. Low-income countries have cultures that value

a. economic survival.
b. equal standing for women and men.
c. self-expression.
d. individualism.

Unit:2

Multiple Choice Questions (Enter your answers on the enclosed answer sheet)

1. Carol Gilligan's work on the moral develop of girls and boys showed that:

a. girls have a justice perspective and boys have a responsibility perspective.
b. girls have higher self-esteem than boys.
c. boys have higher self-esteem than girls.
d. boys have a justice perspective and girls have a responsibility perspective.

2. George Herbert Mead considered the self to be

a. the part of an individual's personality that is composed of self-awareness and self-image.
b. the presence of culture within the individual.
c. basic drives that are self-centered.
d. present in infants at the time of their birth.

3. Mead placed the origin of the self on

a. biological drives.
b. genetics.
c. social experience.
d. the functioning of the brain.

4. According to Mead, social experience involves

a. understanding the world in terms of our senses.
b. the exchange of symbols.
c. a mix of biological instinct and learning.
d. acting but not thinking.

5. By "taking the role of the other," Mead had in mind

a. imagining a situation in terms of past experience.
b. recognizing that people have different views of most situations.
c. imagining a situation from another person's point of view.
d. trading self-centeredness for a focus on helping other people.

6. When Cooley used the concept of the "looking-glass self," he claimed that

a. people are self-centered.
b. people see themselves as they think others see them.
c. people see things only from their own point of view.
d. our actions are a reflection of our values.

7. According to Mead, children learn to take the role of the other as they model themselves on important people in their lives, such as parents. Mead referred to these people as

a. role models.
b. looking-glass models.
c. significant others.
d. the generalized other.

8. In Mead's model, which sequence correctly orders stages of the developing self?

a. imitation, play, game, generalized other
b. imitation, generalized other, play, game
c. imitation, game, play, generalized other
d. imitation, generalized other, game, play

9. Mead used the concept "generalized other" to refer to

a. important individuals in the child's life.
b. a person who provides complete care for a child.
c. any "significant other."
d. widespread cultural norms and values people take as their own.

10. Mead would agree that

a. socialization ends with the development of self in childhood.
b. if you won $100 million in a lottery, your self might change.
c. people are puppets with little control over their lives.
d. human behavior reflects both nature and nurture.

11. Erik H. Erikson's view of socialization states that

a. personality develops over the entire life course.
b. personality involves tensions between the forces of biology and forces of culture.
c. we come to see ourselves as we think others see us.
d. most of our personality development takes place in childhood.

12. Critics of Erikson's theory of personality development point out that

a. not everyone confronts the stages in the exact order given by Erikson.
b. his theories are difficult to test scientifically.
c. a large percentage of people never reach the last stage of development.
d. his research suffers from a gender bias.

13. Family is important to the socialization process because

a. family members are often what Mead called "generalized others."
b. families pass along social identity to children in terms of class, ethnicity, and religion.
c. families begin the process of anticipatory socialization.
d. families set the stage for resocialization.

14. Shawna is an excellent artist, but as a mother, she feels that she cannot work and devote enough time to her family. She is experiencing

a. role conflict.
b. role strain.
c. role ambiguity.
d. role exit.

15. Which concept refers to the tension among roles connected to a single status?

a. role conflict
b. role strain
c. role ambiguity
d. role exit

16. Which concept is involved when a surgeon chooses not to operate on her own son because the personal involvement of motherhood could impair her professional objectivity as a physician?

a. role conflict
b. role strain
c. role ambiguity
d. role exit

17. Which concept is involved when a plant supervisor wants to be a good friend and confidant to the workers, but must remain distant in order to rate the workers' performances?

a. role conflict
b. role strain
c. role ambiguity
d. role exit

18. What is the term for the process by which people disengage from important social roles?

a. role rejection
b. role reversal
c. role loss
d. role exit

19. Rebuilding relationships with people who knew you in an earlier period of life is a common experience for those who are undergoing

a. role conflict.
b. role strain.
c. role ambiguity.
d. role exit.

20. Which concept is used to designate the process by which people creatively shape reality as they interact?

a. status interaction
b. social construction of reality
c. interactive reality
d. role reality

21. Flirting is a playful way of seeing if someone is interested in you without risking outright rejection. From this point of view, flirting illustrates

a. the Thomas theorem.
b. the process of role exit.
c. the social construction of reality.
d. street smarts.

22. The Thomas theorem states that

a. a role is as a role does.
b. people rise to their level of incompetence.
c. situations defined as real are real in their consequences.
d. people know the world only through their language.

23. Garfinkel's research, an approach called ethnomethodology, involves

a. studying the way people make sense of their everyday surroundings.
b. tracking people's roles over the life course.
c. the study of interaction in terms of theatrical performance.
d. studying unfamiliar cultural systems.

24. An example of a secondary group is

a. a fraternity chapter meeting on campus.
b. a Microsoft Corporation awards banquet.
c. parents meeting with their daughter and her coach.
d. girl scouts at a cookout.

25. In general, we see a(n) as a means to an end; we see a(n) as an end in itself.

a. expressive group; instrumental group
b. crowd; category
c. secondary group; primary group
d. primary group; secondary group

Unit:3

Multiple Choice Questions (Enter your answers on the enclosed answer sheet)

1. Edwin Lemert described "primary deviance" as

a. the most serious episodes of deviance.
b. actions that parents define as deviant.
c. a passing episode of deviance that has little effect on the person's self-concept.
d. the experience of deviance early in life.

2. His friends begin to criticize Marco as a "juice-head," pushing him out of their social circle. Marco begins to drink even more, becomes bitter, and joins a new group of friends who also are heavy drinkers. According to Lemert, Marco's situation illustrates

a. the onset of primary deviance.
b. the onset of secondary deviance.
c. the formation of a deviant subculture.
d. the onset of retreatism.

3. What concept did Erving Goffman use to refer to a powerful and negative label that greatly changes a person's self-concept and social identity?

a. a deviant ritual
b. a degradation ceremony
c. a secondary identity
d. stigma

4. The concept "retrospective labeling" refers to the process of

a. interpreting someone's past consistent with present deviance.
b. defining someone as deviant for things done long before.
c. criminal adults encouraging their children to become deviant.
d. predicting someone's future based on past deviant acts.

5. Thomas Szasz made the controversial assertion that

a. deviance is only what people label as deviant.
b. most people in the United States will become insane for some period during their lives.
c. mental illness is a myth so that "insanity" is only "differences" that bother other people.
d. our society does not do nearly enough to treat the mentally ill.

6. An example of the "medicalization of deviance" is

a. theft being redefined as a "compulsive stealing."
b. drinking too much being redefined as a personal failing.
c. promiscuity being redefined as a moral failing.
d. when people steal drugs to self-medicate.

7. Whether people respond to deviance as a moral issue or a medical matter affects

a. whether a person is labeled retrospectively or projectively.
b. whether the person is subject to punishment or treatment.
c. whether the person's deviance is labeled as primary or secondary.
d. whether or not the person gets the appropriate care.

8. Edwin Sutherland's differential association theory links deviance to

a. how labeling someone as deviant can increase the deviant behavior.
b. the amount of contact a person has with others who encourage or discourage conventional behavior.
c. how well a person can contain deviant impulses.
d. how others respond to the race, ethnicity, gender, and class of the individual.

9. Travis Hirschi's control theory suggests that the category of people most likely to engage in deviance is

a. students enrolled in college.
b. teenagers on sports teams with after-school jobs.
c. youngsters who "hang out" waiting for something to happen.
d. young people with respect for their parents.

10. According to the social-conflict approach, what a society labels as deviant is based primarily on

a. how often the act occurs.
b. the moral foundation of the culture.
c. how harmful the act is to the public as a whole.
d. differences in power between various categories of people.

11. Alexander Liazos speaks for the social-conflict approach when he states that

a. powerless people are at the highest risk of being defined as deviant.
b. deviance has both functions and dysfunctions.
c. deviance exists only in the eye of the beholder.
d. society should ignore victimless crime.

12. Using a Marxist approach, Steven Spitzer claims that prime targets for deviant labeling include

a. people who try to take the property of others.
b. people who work hard but are poor.
c. perpetrators of white-collar crime.
d. people who have social power.

13. Crime committed by persons of high social position during the course of their occupations is called

a. victimless crime.
b. white-collar crime.
c. organized crime.
d. street crime.

14. Edwin Sutherland stated that white-collar crime

a. almost always leads to a criminal conviction.
b. provokes a strong response from the community.
c. is usually resolved in a civil rather than a criminal court.
d. rarely involves serious harm to the public as a whole.

15. refers to the illegal actions of a corporation or people acting on its behalf.

a. Corporate crime
b. Organized crime
c. Victimless crime
d. Secondary deviance

16. Organized crime refers to

a. illegal actions by people with white-collar jobs.
b. illegal actions on the part of a corporation or large business.
c. crime involving the cooperation of two or more businesses.
d. any business that supplies illegal goods or services.

17. A hate crime is defined as

a. any crime against a person who is a minority.
b. any crime involving anger or other powerful emotion.
c. a criminal act motivated by race or other bias.
d. any violation of antidiscrimination laws.

18. Feminist theory states that gender figures into the study of deviance because

a. women account for most of the arrests for serious crimes in the United States.
b. every society in the world applies stronger normative controls to females than to males.
c. most researchers in this area are women.
d. women are more likely than men to commit a serious crime.

19. Women commit

a. far more crimes than men.
b. far fewer crimes than men.
c. the same number of crimes as men.
d. more property crimes than men, but men commit more violent crimes.

20. In legal terms, a crime is composed of which two components?

a. the act and criminal intent
b. a criminal and a victim
c. the act and the social harm
d. the law and the violation

21. "Crimes against the person" includes all but

a. murder.
b. aggravated assault.
c. burglary.
d. forcible rape.

22. Mike reports the theft of his dirt bike from the front yard of his house. The police would record this as which type of crime?

a. burglary
b. larceny-theft
c. robbery
d. auto-theft

23. Prostitution is widely regarded as a

a. crime against the person.
b. crime against property.
c. victimless crime.
d. corporate crime.

24. Criminal statistics gathered by the Federal Bureau of Investigation reflect

a. all crimes that take place.
b. offenses cleared by arrest.
c. offenses resulting in a criminal conviction.
d. offenses known to the police.

25. Victimization surveys show that the actual amount of crime in the United States is about what official reports indicate.

a. half as great as
b. the same as
c. more than twice as high as
d. ten times greater than

Unit:4

Multiple Choice Questions (Enter your answers on the enclosed answer sheet)

1. Which of the following concepts refers to a political system in which power resides in the hands of the people as a whole?

a. democracy
b. monarchy
c. totalitarianism
d. aristocracy

2. Which nations in the world today claim to be democratic?

a. all low-income nations
b. no nations
c. most high-income nations
d. all nations

3. For which of the following reasons might you argue that the United States is not truly democratic?

a. There is a lot of economic inequality.
b. Millions of bureaucratic officials are not elected.
c. Rich people have much more influence on our way of life than poor people.
d. All of these are correct.

4. In 2013, about what percentage of the world's people lived in countries that can be considered politically "free"?

a. 3 percent
b. 23 percent
c. 43 percent
d. 63 percent

5. The concept "political economy" refers to

a. any system in which people are unequal.
b. the interplay of politics and economics.
c. democratic political systems.
d. the most efficient form of government.

6. Capitalist societies base their claim to democracy on

a. people having personal liberty.
b. meeting the basic needs of all.
c. maintaining public order.
d. their high living standards.

7. Socialist societies base their claim to democracy on

a. people having personal liberty.
b. meeting the basic needs of all.
c. maintaining public order.
d. their high living standards.

8. The concept "authoritarian" refers to a political system that

a. is well legitimated.
b. relies on more than one kind of authority.
c. denies most people participation in government.
d. has free elections.

9. A totalitarian political system

a. mixes politics with religion.
b. is completely democratic.
c. is government without any bureaucracy.
d. concentrates power and closely regulates people's lives.

10. Which of the following nations comes closest to having a political system that is "totalitarian"?

a. Mexico
b. France
c. North Korea
d. Japan

11. Which of the following statements correctly describes how the U.S. population falls on the political spectrum?

a. About 36 percent of people are moderates who fall near the political center.
b. About 16 percent fall on the political left.
c. About 46 percent fall on the political right.
d. About 26 percent claim to have no political opinions at all.

12. Which from the following list would be described as an economic issue?

a. the abortion controversy
b. poverty
c. gay rights
d. the family values debate

13. Typically, industrial societies make use of which of the following systems to trace ancestry?

a. bilateral descent
b. matrilineal descent
c. patrilineal descent
d. neolocality

14. Matrilineal descent is typically found in which type of societies?

a. hunting and gathering, where women gather vegetation
b. horticultural, where women are the main food producers
c. industrial, where women enter the workplace
d. All of these responses are correct.

15. To which region of the world would you travel if you wanted to visit many countries where the law permits polygamy?

a. Africa
b. North America
c. South America
d. Scandinavia

16. According to the structural-functional approach, which of the following is counted among the tasks of the family?

a. socialization of the young
b. regulation of sexual activity
c. social placement
d. All of these responses are correct.

17. The incest taboo

a. exists only in industrial societies.
b. is found in all societies.
c. is found among all living species.
d. is defined the same way in all societies.

18. Following structural-functional theory, the family

a. operates to perpetuate social inequality.
b. is important enough to be called the backbone of society.
c. encourages patriarchy.
d. All of these responses are correct.

19. A social-exchange analysis of family life is likely to consider

a. how families keep society as a whole operating.
b. how families perpetuate social inequality.
c. how individuals select partners who offer about as much as they do to the relationship.
d. how families regulate sexual activity.

20. Social conflict and feminist theories explain that families perpetuate social inequality in U.S. society through

a. inheritance of private property.
b. encouraging patriarchy.
c. passing on racial and ethnic inequality.
d. All of these responses are correct.

21. In traditional regions of many lower-income countries, such as Sri Lanka, marriage

a. has little to do with romantic love.
b. is unknown.
c. is delayed until the people reach their thirties.
d. almost always ends in divorce.

22. The concept "homogamy" means that

a. people marry because they benefit from being married.
b. women usually marry older men.
c. people marry others who are socially like themselves.
d. most marriages are based on romantic love.

23. In the United States, romantic love

a. is the reason most people expect to marry.
b. is not a very stable foundation for marriage.
c. may contribute to a high divorce rate.
d. All of these responses are correct.

24. Supporters of liberation theology hope that this social movement will achieve which of the following goals?

a. keeping politics out of the church
b. helping people endure their suffering
c. encouraging personal growth
d. reducing social inequality and, especially, poverty

25. A religious organization that is well integrated into the larger society is called a

a. church.
b. sect.
c. cult.
d. denomination.