Deck 3: Building Reality: the Social Construction of Knowledge

Question 1

Human beings make sense of situations and events by applying:

A)absolute knowledge.
B)scientific facts.
C)culturally shared definitions and interpretations.
D)the demographic equity model.

Answer 1

C

Question 2

Empirical science has conclusions that:

A)correspond to what we can observe.
B)are factual.
C)are often prejudicial.
D)contain random data.

Answer 2

A

Question 3

Which of the following statements is true?

A)In In the 2000 Census,same-sex couples who self-identified as married-who checked the box for "husband" or "wife"-were automatically reassigned to the category for unmarried partners.
B)In the 2000 Census,same-sex couples who self-identified as married-who checked the box for "husband" or "wife"-had their survey forms eliminated from the pool of data because they were deemed "invalid."
C)In the 2000 Census,same-sex couples who self-identified as married-who checked the box for "husband" or "wife"-were automatically reassigned to the category "other unspecified."
D)In the 2000 Census,same-sex couples who self-identified as married-who checked the box for "husband" or "wife"-were automatically reassigned to the category for "roommates,non-family."

Answer 3

A

Question 4

The acronym DOMA stands for:

A)Defense of Marriage Act
B)Denial of Marriage Act
C)Don't ask,don't tell
D)None of the above

Question 5

According to Babbie,which of the following characteristics would not be considered a concept?

A)Love
B)Creativity
C)Hair color
D)Open-mindedness

Question 6

Bates and DeMaio note that there are obstacles to constructing a single Census form that would recognize same-sex unions.Which of the following do they find especially problematic?

A)Many workers who administer the Census have moral objections to identifying same-sex couples as being legally married.
B)Reformatting the survey to include additional response choices is too expensive.
C)The legal status of same-sex unions varies by state.
D)The majority of same-sex couples find the institution of marriage too restrictive and so refuse to refer to themselves as "married" even when they are in a committed relationship.

Question 7

The answer to the puzzle,"When a tree falls in the forest,does it make a sound if no one is there to hear it?" is contingent upon the:

A)size of the tree.
B)definition of sound.
C)age of the tree.
D)amount of damage to the forest.

Question 8

DOMA defines marriage as:

A)a legal union between two consenting adults that must be recognized by all states
B)a legal union between one man and one woman
C)a legal contract that must be recognized at both the state and federal levels
D)a legally binding "third" category on the U.S.Census

Question 9

What is a composite measure of a variable?

A)A measure that has a range of possible responses.
B)A measure that has a yes or no answer.
C)A measure that uses a combination of indicators.
D)A measurement of the number of composites.

Question 10

In 1990 "unmarried partner" was added to the U.S.Census as a response option.

Question 11

Which of the following do sociologists use to gather information about the social world?

A)surveys
B)field research
C)unobtrusive observation
D)all of the above

Question 12

Terms such as poverty and happiness cannot be measured.

Question 13

Variables that measure concepts are beyond empirical measurement are a _____ statement because_____.

A)false; social scientists can make any measure they want.
B)true; no empirical measurement will encompass all indicators of the concept.
C)true and false; concepts are not real.
D)neither true nor false; empirical measurement is a myth perpetuated by liberal university professors.

Question 14

Which statement most accurately reflects Babbie's philosophy of concepts?

A)They are not real because they only exist in our minds
B)They are the only things that are real because reality is subjective
C)They are the products of a demented mind
D)They are only useful to social scientists

Question 15

Earl Babbie's book To Comfort and to Challenge,co-written with Glock and Ringer,examined race and social class in America.

Question 16

The authors observed that same-sex couples reported altering the language they used to introduce their significant others to fit the circumstances.

Question 17

When scientific conclusions make sense and correspond to what we can observe,they are:

A)logical
B)hypothetical
C)argumentative
D)equivocal

Question 18

The response choices for "marital status" on the U.S.Census have not changed since 1980.