Deck 1: Sociology and the Real World

Question 1

In order to verify what the everyday actor might just accept or assume to be true,the social analyst must take the perspective of:

A) the social worker
B) the native
C) the stranger
D) the insider

Answer 1

C

Question 2

Which of the following statements best characterizes microsociology?

A) It is an approach that examines interactions between individuals and the ways those interactions reflect larger patterns within a society.
B) It is an approach that examines institutional interactions that occur over time.
C) It is an approach that quantifies data about social structures so that they can be analyzed statistically.
D) It is an approach that focuses exclusively on gender and power as they are enacted socially.

Answer 2

A

Question 3

Even though a small number of people have been trained academically as sociologists,we can all be described as "everyday sociologists" because:

A) sociology is a part of human nature.
B) our parents taught us to be sociologists even before they sent us to school.
C) we are all members of society and therefore we have a great deal of background knowledge about how society works.
D) sociologists are really just observers of conventional wisdom.

Answer 3

C

Question 4

Which of the following statements best describes the approach taken by macrosociologists?

A) Macrosociology concentrates on the way large social institutions are created through individual interactions.
B) Macrosociology examines large-scale social structure to see how it affects individual lives.
C) Macrosociology focuses on creating beginner's mind-in contrast to microsociology, which uses expert's mind.
D) Unlike microsociology, macrosociology focuses on creating scientific knowledge of the world, rather than practical knowledge.

Question 5

Howard Becker said that sociology can best be understood as the study of people "doing things together." This definition reminds us that:

A) neither society nor the individual exists in isolation; each is dependent on the other.
B) sociology is only interested in the way people act, not in the way they think.
C) only large-scale interactions that involve many people can be understood by sociologists.
D) individuals exist independently of society and can be understood without considering social influence.

Question 6

Sociologists observe society:

A) by studying the various parts of a society, and the ways they interact and influence each other.
B) by studying society as if it were a concrete object, in the same way a geologist studies rocks.
C) by using the preconceptions, assumptions, and beliefs that come from living in a society.
D) through the use of special scientific tools that provide unmediated access to the very heart of society.

Question 7

Researcher Pam fishman studied the conversations of heterosexual couples to determine how power is created and maintained through face-to-face interactions on an everyday basis.How would you describe her approach?

A) Macrosociological
B) Historical
C) Microsociological
D) Comparative

Question 8

Unlike sociologists,most people base their knowledge of the world on:

A) expert knowledge based on surveys and interviews.
B) scientific journals and other publications that summarize the conclusions of professional researchers.
C) conventional wisdom, background knowledge, and personal experience.
D) the opinions of their parents and other family members.

Question 9

According to C.Wright Mills,what one quality of mind do all great sociologists possess?

A) Stoicism
B) Sociological imagination
C) Biographical imagination
D) Attention to detail

Question 10

When it comes to understanding everyday life,one of the weaknesses of being an everyday actor is that you:

A) are forced to see everything from the perspective of a stranger.
B) must labor to grasp even simple, common occurrences.
C) can only see things from a historical perspective.
D) make assumptions and gloss over many things that the social analyst strives to understand systematically.

Question 11

Regardless of their various approaches to social phenomena,what are all sociologists trying to do?

A) Illuminate the connection between the individual and society
B) Explain why poverty and inequality still exist
C) Compare the present with the past
D) Understand how our society is different from other cultures and other times

Question 12

Sociologists assert that there is a close relationship between the individual and society.How does Pam fishman's research on gender and power in heterosexual couples characterize this relationship?

A) fishman's data shows how macro-level phenomena like gender and power manifest themselves in everyday interactions.
B) It doesn't-fishman's data only shows how individuals act.
C) fishman's data shows that micro-level phenomena have almost no relationship to macro-level phenomena; they seem to be largely independent of each other.
D) fishman's research shows that there is no relationship between the individual and society.

Question 13

Sociology can be approached from both a microsociological and a macrosociological perspective.Which is more useful?

A) The macrosociological perspective is more useful, because it explains how large-scale social institutions influence individuals.
B) The microsociological perspective is more useful, because it explains how individuals shape and create large-scale social institutions.
C) Both are useful in different ways, because any study that uses only one or the other will be unable to explain anything useful about society.
D) Both are useful in different ways, because they each provide different types of information about the same object of study.

Question 14

Sociology can be defined as the systematic and scientific study of human society and social behavior.Given this definition,which of the following levels of social structure best describes what sociologists might examine?

A) Almost any level-from interactions between two people to large-scale institutions
B) Mass culture and large institutions
C) Relations between individuals
D) Large-scale social structures that involve significant numbers of people

Question 15

What is the sociological imagination?

A) A property of society that ensures that people remain ignorant of the connections between their lives and social change
B) A particular way of understanding the criminal mind, such as that of a serial killer
C) The ability to understand the connections between biography and history, or the interplay of the self and the world
D) The sociological approach that assumes that individual decisions and interactions are independent of larger social institutions

Question 16

Why would culture shock be a useful state of mind for a sociologist?

A) It makes us unable to function even in simple, everyday ways.
B) It requires us to travel, which helps us grow as human beings.
C) Shock is always good for thinking, because it sharpens the mind.
D) It makes us realize that we lack an understanding of our surroundings, so we are truly able to perceive what is right in front of us.

Question 17

Why did C.Wright Mills think that it is important for everyone,even people who will never take a sociology class,to develop a sociological imagination?

A) It will help generate more jobs for sociologists.
B) Many people remain unaware of the intricate connections between the patterns of their own lives and the larger course of history.
C) The sociological perspective is innately understood by nearly everyone, but we rarely acknowledge it.
D) It will encourage growth in the field of microsociology.

Question 18

Macrosociology and microsociology approach the study of society from different perspectives.How does sociology,as a discipline,deal with these two very different approaches?

A) Most sociologists are macrosociologists; microsociologists are only a small minority.
B) Most sociologists think of these two perspectives as being on a continuum with each other, adopting whichever perspective seems most useful for a particular problem.
C) Although the field is fairly evenly split between these two perspectives, almost all sociologists feel strongly that their perspective is the correct one.
D) Microsociology used to dominate the field, but more recently macrosociology has become the dominant perspective.

Question 19

Researcher Christine Williams looked at patterns of occupational sex segregation,examining the ways large-scale social structures create the constraints within which individuals live their lives.Her work would be characterized as what kind of sociology?

A) Microsociology
B) Transnational sociology
C) Comparative-historical sociology
D) Macrosociology

Question 20

Taking the sociological approach to everyday life has strengths and weaknesses.One of the weaknesses of this approach is that it:

A) accepts many things as true that it cannot verify or confirm.
B) labors to grasp things that everyday actors understand implicitly.
C) is a practical approach, rather than a scientific approach.
D) requires you to act like a local even when you really feel like an outsider.

Question 21

Metaphorically,what part of sociology is a zoom lens on a camera most like?

A) Qualitative research
B) Microsociology
C) Quantitative research
D) Macrosociology

Question 22

What was probably Harriet Martineau's most important contribution to the development of sociology as a discipline?

A) Her theory of alienation
B) Her translation of the work of Auguste Comte into English
C) Her work on an early theory of symbolic interactionism
D) Her struggle for women's rights

Question 23

You are looking over the courses that are offered at your school and you see a class called "The Sociology of Media and Popular Culture." You don't think you need this course,because you listen to lots of music,watch a wide variety of television,and often go to the movies.What would a sociologist tell you?

A) You are a specialist in mass media.
B) You should try to watch media from other cultures if you really want to understand popular culture.
C) You should take classes in film studies instead.
D) You only have "reciped," or practical, knowledge.

Question 24

The reality television show Wife Swap exchanges the matriarchs from two very different families and films the result as the participants are exposed to radically different ways of life.Although the television network is simply trying to be entertaining,the show also demonstrates the sociological principle of:

A) Sociological imagination
B) Globalization
C) Quantitative methods
D) Culture shock

Question 25

Why are there disagreements among sociologists about how to define sociology?

A) Society is always changing.
B) Sociologists are trained to be anti-empiricists.
C) There is actually very little disagreement among sociologists about how to define the discipline.
D) Sociology encompasses a large intellectual territory of potential subject matters.

Question 26

Together and in groups,people organize their lives and their social interactions to produce a real and meaningful world.Sociologists can study this because:

A) they are interested in all aspects of human psychology.
B) we organize our lives in patterned ways.
C) sociology understands the importance of human psychology.
D) we often assign characteristics to an entire group of people based on experience with a single member of that group.

Question 27

If you possess a sociological imagination and someone asks you to study unemployment rates in a city of fifty million people where fifteen million are unemployed,where should you start?

A) You should consider the economic and political structures of the society.
B) You should consider the work ethic of the average citizen.
C) You should worry about the intelligence level of the workers who have lost their jobs.
D) You should ask the people who are unemployed how much they want to work.

Question 28

There is a close relationship between sociology and the other social sciences.Given how much overlap there is between these fields,why does sociology still exist as a discipline?

A) All the other fields are more specialized, but sociology is a field that considers a huge intellectual territory.
B) Sociology does not use historical context.
C) Sociology departments are an academic tradition and would be difficult to disband.
D) Political science and economics departments are much more politically conservative, so sociology is needed to provide a liberal counterbalance.

Question 29

Harriet Martineau supported many ideas that were radical for her time,including:

A) the liberation of french colonies in Africa.
B) international communism and socialism.
C) labor unions and the abolition of slavery.
D) the french Revolution and the abolition of the monarchy.

Question 30

Unlike earlier religious traditions that attempted to determine the ultimate cause or source of reality,Auguste Comte developed positivism in order to:

A) explain how class conflict drove social change.
B) argue that symbolic interactions between individuals were the basis for social life.
C) justify a particular kind of social system based on hierarchy and privilege.
D) identify laws that describe the behavior of a particular reality.

Question 31

Look at the graphic representation of sociology's family tree.Given that they were both very influential in the classical stage of sociological theory,why are Karl Marx and Émile Durkheim depicted so far apart?

A) Marx's work is no longer considered very important.
B) Émile Durkheim wasn't really a sociologist; he thought of himself as more of a psychologist.
C) The theoretical schools they founded are very different.
D) Durkheim was french, whereas Marx was born in Germany.

Question 32

Many everyday cultural practices-such as greeting a friend,giving someone flowers,or using the thumbs-up sign-seem like natural ways of acting.Why does having an awareness of how these practices vary across cultures demonstrate a healthy sociological imagination?

A) It reminds us that everyday interactions are connected to larger social structures.
B) It helps us economically when we do business in different countries.
C) It lets us understand how immigrants perceive America when they move here.
D) It shows us that cultures are not as different as we sometimes think they are.

Question 33

The divorce rate has steadily increased over time,and now more than a quarter of all marriages end within the first four years.What sort of factors would C.Wright Mills suggest investigating to explain this increase?

A) Religious factors
B) Personal factors
C) Structural factors
D) Psychological factors

Question 34

What historical events convinced Auguste Comte that society needed to be guided by thinkers who understood social laws?

A) The American Civil War and the battle over slavery
B) Globalization, and the rise of international trade and commerce
C) The french Revolution and the instability that followed it
D) The age of exploration and the expansion of European powers into Africa

Question 35

Who coined the phrase "the survival of the fittest"?

A) Charles Darwin
B) Karl Marx
C) Émile Durkheim
D) Herbert Spencer

Question 36

Some sociologists use a macrosociological approach,whereas others take a microsociological approach.How does this difference affect the ultimate goal of their research?

A) Microsociologists care only about local concerns.
B) Macrosociologists are much more likely to be worried about globalization.
C) No matter what approach they take, all sociologists attempt to illuminate the connection between the individual and society.
D) Regardless of which method they use, all sociologists tend to believe that individuals are ultimately in control of their own destiny.

Question 37

If you didn't know anything about Pam fishman except that she studied conversation patterns,what could you logically determine about her?

A) She is a conflict theorist.
B) She is a macrosociologist.
C) She is a structural functionalist.
D) She is a microsociologist.

Question 38

A sociology student is taking a course on the sociology of the economy.In this class,she learns that even though she always thought of her family as middle class,her parents' income actually qualifies them as upper class compared with that of the rest of the country.What just happened?

A) The student discovered the importance of microsociology.
B) The student gained a beginner's mind.
C) The student moved from being an everyday actor to being a social analyst.
D) The student spent some time "doing nothing," as Bernard McGrane suggested.

Question 39

Many Marxist sociologists assume that large-scale economic structures are the most important factors in people's lives.This assumption is an example of:

A) Microsociology
B) Macrosociology
C) Qualitative sociology
D) Conservative sociology

Question 40

Researcher Pam fishman noticed that within heterosexual couples,women are more likely than men to use questions in conversation.Why is this finding sociologically important?

A) Questions are more likely to be used by the partner with less power, so fishman's research demonstrates connections between general social structures and individual behaviors.
B) Conversational styles are inherent, so fishman's research shows a biological basis for larger social structures.
C) It demonstrates the importance of conversation in maintaining a healthy relationship.
D) It shows that individuals have no real free will or agency and are controlled by the dictates of social structure.

Question 41

According to Karl Marx,how could a belief in heaven as a reward for earthly suffering serve the interests of the ruling class?

A) By keeping the lower classes from demanding better treatment in this life
B) By distracting the lower classes with gaudy spectacles
C) By using the church as a means to extract economic resources from the poor
D) By keeping the working classes busy with religious activities so that they wouldn't have time to organize

Question 42

What was Marx criticizing when he said that religion is "the opiate of the masses"?

A) Superstition and belief in the supernatural
B) Drug use and alcoholism
C) The use of religion by the ruling class to oppress the working class
D) The way individuals use religion to support their actions

Question 43

In Émile Durkheim's study Suicide,he reported that suicide rates went up when the economy slumped but they also increased when the economy boomed.Which of Durkheim's concepts explains why both positive and negative economic conditions could increase suicide rates?

A) Alienation
B) Anomie
C) Mechanical solidarity
D) Organic solidarity

Question 44

If someone has no way to make money but to sell his own labor,then he must be a member of what social group?

A) Bureaucrats
B) The proletariat
C) The bourgeoisie
D) Capitalists

Question 45

"from each according to his ability,to each according to his needs" is a slogan that best represents the ideals of which social system?

A) Dictatorship
B) Communism
C) Capitalism
D) Totalitarianism

Question 46

According to Émile Durkheim,industrialized societies function via an organic solidarity.What is the basis for organic solidarity?

A) Religion and tradition
B) Shared experiences and similar beliefs
C) Globalization and communications technology
D) Interdependence and individual rights

Question 47

Émile Durkheim suggested that in traditional societies,people were bound together through mechanical solidarity.What was the basis of these sorts of bonds?

A) Interdependence and the division of labor
B) Shared traditions and similar experiences
C) A strong ruler who exercised absolute control over the population
D) Superstition

Question 48

According to Karl Marx,how is class consciousness,or revolutionary consciousness,developed?

A) When a vanguard party leads a violent revolution
B) Through a religious awakening
C) When industrial production is perfected so that most of the workers are unemployed
D) When the lower classes come to recognize how society works and challenge those in power

Question 49

Durkheim theorized that the rapidly changing conditions of modern life lead to anomie.What is anomie?

A) Normlessness, or a loss of connections to the social world
B) Anger and disillusionment with progress
C) The transfer of destructive urges to socially useful activities
D) A kind of social solidarity based on interdependence

Question 50

What term did Karl Marx use to describe the fact that most of the population accepts the pervading ideology,even when it fails to tell the truth about their lives?

A) Class consciousness
B) Existentialism
C) Ethnomethodology
D) false consciousness

Question 51

In the United States today,the richest 1 percent of Americans have 40 percent of the country's wealth.Karl Marx would call this:

A) Alienation
B) Bourgeoisie
C) Social inequality
D) Organic solidarity

Question 52

On any given day,within ten minutes of waking up,you probably depend on more than 100 strangers to provide electricity,water,natural gas,weather forecasts,and other services.According to Durkheim,this interdependence gives rise to:

A) mechanical solidarity.
B) class consciousness.
C) organic solidarity.
D) pragmatism.

Question 53

What did Karl Marx think the lower classes needed to develop in order to end their oppression?

A) A critical theory of gender
B) A stronger sense of verstehen
C) Class consciousness
D) false consciousness

Question 54

According to Karl Marx,the most important factor in social life is a person's:

A) race and ethnicity.
B) religious beliefs.
C) relationship to the means of production.
D) level of education.

Question 55

In Great Britain in the eighteenth century,a series of Enclosure Acts were established by Parliament,that broke up small farms,forced many small farmers to move to large cities in search of wage labor,and increased agricultural profits for landowners.What large-scale social system was this a part of ?

A) Socialism
B) Agrarian utopianism
C) feudalism
D) Capitalism

Question 56

According to the theoretical position developed by Karl Marx,what is the engine of social change?

A) Conflict between social groups
B) Exploration beyond the boundaries of a given society
C) Development of technology
D) Shared moral values

Question 57

In The Elementary forms of Religious Life,Émile Durkheim argued that religion was a powerful source of social solidarity.Why?

A) Religion established authorities who had control over entire societies.
B) Different religions were constantly appearing and disappearing.
C) There were many arguments about which religion represented the truth.
D) Religion reinforced collective bonds and cultivated shared moral values.

Question 58

One of Karl Marx's most important achievements was developing the principle of praxis.What does this mean that he thought intellectuals should do?

A) Constantly practice and develop the craft of social analysis
B) Not just theorize about the world but change it
C) Evaluate ideas based on their usefulness in everyday life
D) Analyze and give meaning to every action

Question 59

What does Marx see as the primary tool for the oppression of the lower classes in modern society?

A) The increasing power of the police state
B) Religious authorities
C) The aristocracy
D) Industrial capitalism

Question 60

What economic system emerged during the Industrial Revolution?

A) Communism
B) Humanitarianism
C) Globalization
D) Capitalism

Question 61

Max Weber believed that modern industrialized societies were characterized by which of the following institutions?

A) Churches
B) Central governments
C) Bureaucracies
D) Prisons

Question 62

The Egg McMuffin is a vastly more efficient version of eggs Benedict.Egg McMuffins are cheaper,are ready almost instantly at drive-through windows,and can be eaten with one hand while driving.However,they do not improve on the taste or the experience of eggs Benedict.Max Weber might have described the Egg McMuffin as the ________ of breakfast.

A) Iron cage
B) Alienation
C) Manifest dysfunction
D) Rationalization

Question 63

Which social theory focuses on micro-level interactions?

A) Symbolic interactionism
B) Structural functionalism
C) Conflict theory
D) Pragmatism

Question 64

Some Marxists believe that conflict between medieval burghers and small merchants on the one hand,and the nobility on the other,led to the creation of modern capitalism,which was distinct from either of the opposing forces.What would Marx call this model of historical change?

A) A critical model
B) A dialectical model
C) A class consciousness model
D) A nihilist model

Question 65

What did Max Weber mean when he said that modern people are trapped in an "iron cage"?

A) Most aspects of life are increasingly controlled by rigid rules and rationalization.
B) More and more people live under totalitarian dictators and therefore lose their basic rights and freedoms.
C) Increasingly, modern society has more laws and it uses them to put more people in prison.
D) The conditions of modern life create a psychic prison that leaves most people discontent with civilization.

Question 66

Jane Addams was an early advocate of applied sociology.This means that she did not just do research,but that she also:

A) reported illegal activities to the proper authorities.
B) examined the historical origins of the phenomena she researched.
C) tried to address social problems through hands-on activity in the communities she researched.
D) compared the communities she studied to communities from other cultures.

Question 67

Although she made contributions to sociology,Jane Addams is perhaps best remembered for her embrace of praxis,meaning that she:

A) was a pragmatist.
B) acted on her intellectual convictions in practical ways.
C) applied dialectics to her understanding of history.
D) embraced conflict theory.

Question 68

Max Weber believed that as the Industrial Revolution progressed,society became increasingly rationalized.How did he define rationalization?

A) An increasing number of rules that limit personal freedom
B) An increasing emphasis on verstehen, or the attempt to understand others' experiences
C) The application of psychology to the economy in order to understand how to increase productivity
D) The application of economic logic to all aspects of social life

Question 69

According to Robert Merton,which of these statements about manifest functions is true?

A) Manifest functions usually have something to do with social conflict and change.
B) Manifest functions are intended and obvious.
C) Manifest functions are designed to alleviate inequality.
D) Manifest functions are designed to critique the social system that produced them.

Question 70

Which of the following is the most serious critique of structural functionalism?

A) It tends to argue that intellectuals should act on what they believe.
B) It overemphasizes the importance of the economy.
C) It fails to provide a universal social theory.
D) It tends to argue that any social feature that exists must serve a function.

Question 71

What school of social theory believes that society is a stable system of structures,each of which contributes to the equilibrium of the whole?

A) Symbolic interactionism
B) Dramaturgy
C) Structural functionalism
D) Conflict theory

Question 72

Max Weber helped lay the groundwork for sociologists who would develop symbolic interactionism as a theory,because he believed that a social scientist should approach the study of human action:

A) through a theoretical lens that emphasizes disenchantment and bureaucracy.
B) from a value-free point of view.
C) with verstehen (understanding), which emphasizes the need for empathy with individuals' experiences.
D) through psychoanalysis and the work of Sigmund freud.

Question 73

In his Theses on feuerbach,Karl Marx argued that "the philosophers have only interpreted the world,the point is to change it." What Marxist principle is defined by this quote?

A) Dialectics
B) Dysfunctions
C) Praxis
D) Conflict

Question 74

Which of the following theories focuses on how our behaviors are dependent on the ways we interpret,make sense of,and define ourselves,others,and social situations?

A) Conflict theory
B) Symbolic interactionism
C) Psychoanalysis
D) Structural functionalism

Question 75

According to symbolic interactionism,what is the relationship between the self and society?

A) The development of a sense of self is guided by society.
B) The self is shaped by society, but society is also shaped by the self.
C) Both the self and society are created by the course of history.
D) Both the self and society are shaped by larger external forces.

Question 76

What did W.E.B.DuBois have in common with Harriet Martineau?

A) Both made careers of studying race and racism.
B) Both were from the American South.
C) Both saw symbolic interactionism as the most promising element of social theory.
D) Both were intrigued by America's democratic promise but disappointed in its hypocritical injustices.

Question 77

Which of the following theories views society as a whole unit,made up of interrelated parts that work together?

A) Structural functionalism
B) Conflict theory
C) Symbolic interactionism
D) Postmodernism

Question 78

What is the term used to describe sociological research that is intended to solve social problems,such as the research done by Jane Addams?

A) Practical sociology
B) Postmodern sociology
C) Moral sociology
D) Applied sociology

Question 79

Structural functionalist theory is very concerned with the ways in which structures contribute to the stability of society.What is a structure?

A) A social institution that is stable over time and helps meet the needs of society
B) Any aspect of society that generates conflict or change
C) A class hierarchy
D) An informal agreement between people over a wide geographical area

Question 80

Which of the following is a latent function of the educational system in the United States?

A) Teaching reading and writing
B) Keeping children out of trouble while parents are at work
C) Preparing a modern workforce to use technology
D) Teaching new immigrants about American values and history