Deck 1: Sociology and the Real World

Question 1

Pam Fishman studied conversations between heterosexual couples to determine how power is created and maintained through face-to-face interactions on an everyday basis. Given this information, how would you describe her approach?

A) macrosociological
B) historical
C) microsociological
D) comparative
E) global

Answer 1

C

Question 2

Which of the following best characterizes microsociology?

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

Answer 2

B

Question 3

Regardless of which methodology they use, what are all sociologists trying to do?

A) explain gender relations in cultural context
B) illuminate the connection between the individual and society
C) explain why poverty and inequality still exist
D) compare the present with the past
E) understand how our society is different from other cultures and other times

Answer 3

B

Question 4

Why did C. Wright Mills think it's 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) It makes sociology classes more interesting.
C) Many people remain unaware of the intricate connections between the patterns of their own lives and the larger course of history.
D) It's innately understood by nearly everyone, but rarely acknowledged.
E) It will encourage growth in the field of microsociology.

Question 5

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

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

Question 6

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 sociological approach that assumes that large-scale social institutions structure individual interactions
D) the ability to understand the connections between biography and history, or the interplay of the self and the world
E) the sociological approach that assumes that individual decisions and interactions create larger social institutions

Question 7

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

A) stoicism
B) sociological imagination
C) romanticism
D) biographical imagination
E) attention to detail

Question 8

The social sciences are all those disciplines that study:

A) the human, or social, world.
B) the natural world.
C) the physical universe.
D) digital communication.
E) the relationship of animals to places.

Question 9

Macrosociology and microsociology seem to make very different assumptions about how society works. How does sociology, as a discipline, deal with these two very different perspectives?

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

Question 10

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

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

Question 11

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 directly examines large-scale social structures in order to see how they affect individual lives.
C) Macrosociology focuses on nonnumerical data like texts, images, and recordings.
D) Macrosociology focuses on creating a "beginner's mind," in contrast to microsociology, which uses an "expert's mind."
E) Unlike microsociology, macrosociology focuses on creating scientific knowledge of the world rather than practical knowledge.

Question 12

Sociology can be defined as the systematic and scientific study of human society and social behavior. Given this definition, what level(s) of social structure listed below best describe(s) what sociologists might examine?

A) only small groups
B) almost any level-from interactions between two people to large-scale institutions
C) mass culture and large institutions
D) relations between individuals
E) large-scale social structures that involve significant numbers of people

Question 13

Sociologists observe society:

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

Question 14

Christine Williams looked at patterns of occupational sex segregation, examining the ways large-scale social structures created the constraints within which individuals lived their lives. Based on this information, her work would be characterized as what kind of sociology?

A) microsociology
B) transnational sociology
C) comparative-historical sociology
D) macrosociology
E) the sociology of popular culture

Question 15

Sociology can be approached from either a microsociological or a macrosociological perspective. Which is more useful?

A) Macrosociological-it explains how large-scale social institutions influence individuals.
B) Microsociological-it explains how individuals shape and create large-scale social institutions.
C) Macrosociological-it helps to understand how face-to-face interactions shape society.
D) 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.
E) Both are useful in different ways, because they each provide different types of information about the same object of study.

Question 16

In order to find links between the macro and the micro levels of analysis, what is a sociologist most in need of?

A) an immense amount of data
B) a sociological imagination
C) good funding
D) lots of research assistants
E) a strong understanding of human psychology

Question 17

According to Peter Berger, in Invitation to Sociology, what sort of people should NOT study sociology?

A) people with a passionate interest in the world
B) people who are daring in the pursuit of knowledge
C) people who are very curious
D) people who dislike shocking discoveries
E) people who care about the most mundane occurrences of everyday life

Question 18

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

A) expert knowledge based on surveys and interviews.
B) 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.
E) the opinions of political leaders and other influential public figures.

Question 19

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 show how macro-level phenomena like gender and power manifest themselves in everyday interactions.
B) It doesn't-Fishman's data only show how individuals act.
C) It doesn't-this research only shows macro-level phenomena.
D) Fishman's data show that micro-level phenomena have almost no relationship to macro-level phenomena, and seem to be largely independent.
E) Fishman's research shows that there is no relationship between the individual and society.

Question 20

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) people must have some knowledge of each other before they can really do anything together.
E) individuals exist independently of society and can be understood without considering social influence.

Question 21

Bernard McGrane suggests that we should practice using a beginner's mind, the opposite of an expert's mind. Usually it's good to be an expert. Why should we try to think like beginners instead?

A) An expert's mind is so full of facts and assumptions that it has difficulty learning anything new.
B) To better understand the world, we need to defamiliarize ourselves with it.
C) We need to unlearn what we already know in order to become better sociologists.
D) A beginner's mind allows us to approach the world without knowing in advance what we will find.
E) The approach of a beginner's mind is more readily accepted by whoever is being studied.

Question 22

If we cannot see the whole of society, what can we see?

A) people interacting
B) different cultures
C) racial groups
D) the economy
E) socioeconomic classes

Question 23

In Sidewalk, the sociologist Mitch Duneier spent a great deal of time interviewing and hanging out with street vendors in New York City. He was especially interested in how power associated with race and class was produced and reproduced in this setting. What sort of sociology was Duneier doing?

A) quantitative sociology
B) cyber sociology
C) mass sociology
D) microsociology
E) macrosociology

Question 24

Sociology allows you to see the world in a new light. Does this mean you have to reevaluate old opinions?

A) no
B) only on certain subjects
C) sometimes, but only if you got most of your information from mass media
D) only those opinions about your place in the world, but not about other people
E) yes

Question 25

What does Bernard McGrane, the "Zen sociologist" who recommends the beginner's mind as a way to develop a sociological perspective, say about discovery?

A) Discovery finds some new fact no one has ever known before.
B) Discovery is limited to finding places where no one has ever gone.
C) Discovery is a new way of seeing things.
D) Discovery is no longer possible; all we can do is contrast different things and ideas that other people have discovered.
E) Discovery is not a part of the sociological agenda.

Question 26

Pam Fishman noticed that, within couples, women are more likely than men to use questions in conversation. Why is this 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 trends and individual behaviors.
B) Conversational styles are inherent, so Fishman's research shows a biological basis for larger social structures.
C) It proves that there really are gender differences, something many people don't believe.
D) It demonstrates the importance of conversation to maintain a healthy relationship.
E) It shows that individuals have no real free will or agency and are controlled by the dictates of social structure.

Question 27

The everyday actor approaches the social world with "reciped"-or practical-knowledge, which allows him to do everyday things. What are the limitations of this sort of practical knowledge?

A) It overemphasizes technical and scientific knowledge that may be interesting but isn't particularly practical.
B) It leaves us unable to carry out simple everyday activities because they require us to know more about technology.
C) It can't help in the workplace or in other situations where there are a number of everyday actors.
D) It is easily confused with other perspectives and so is as difficult to explain as it is to apply.
E) It is not necessarily as clear, coherent, or consistent as it could be.

Question 28

Some sociologists use a macrosociological approach, while others take a micro approach. How does this 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 is taken, all sociologists attempt to illuminate the connection between the individual and society.
D) Regardless of their method, all sociologists tend to believe that individuals are ultimately in control of their own destiny.
E) Most sociologists do not actually have clear goals.

Question 29

Anthropologists often develop culture shock when visiting a new culture that is very different from what they are used to. They temporarily find themselves unable to understand their surroundings, and everything seems strange. Sociologists attempt to create this same feeling, but with one key difference. What is it?

A) Sociologists never let everything seem strange, only the things they want to study.
B) Sociologists never attempt to create this feeling; it's useless in their research.
C) Sociologists try to create this effect without necessarily moving to a new place or geographic location.
D) Sociologists can profit from this feeling much more than anthropologists.
E) Sociologists do this all the time without even thinking about it.

Question 30

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) doing sociology is a radical undertaking.
C) such organization is done in patterned ways.
D) sociology understands the importance of human psychology.
E) we often assign characteristics to an entire group of people based on experience with a single member of that group.

Question 31

It is expected that you will forget many or even most of the facts you learn in an introductory sociology class. What is the most important element of the course to not forget?

A) a new way of looking at and thinking about the social world
B) those facts that apply to you personally
C) all the facts and figures that are truly shocking
D) information about race and class
E) those things that really interest you

Question 32

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

A) the social worker
B) the native
C) the stranger
D) the fly on the wall
E) the insider

Question 33

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, which principle is being demonstrated?

A) the sociological imagination
B) globalization
C) macrosociology
D) quantitative methods
E) culture shock

Question 34

Which of the following is NOT a feature of scientific knowledge?

A) It is completely coherent.
B) It is excruciatingly clear.
C) It is consistent.
D) It is complete.
E) It is nontechnical and recipe-like.

Question 35

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

A) It ensures that we don't accidentally make a faux pas.
B) It reminds us that everyday interactions are connected to larger social structures.
C) It helps us economically when we do business in different countries.
D) It lets us understand how immigrants perceive America when they move here.
E) all of the above

Question 36

Most of the time people use psychological rather than sociological arguments to explain why the world is the way it is and why things happen to us. Why?

A) We don't have enough information or data for complete sociological explanations.
B) We can benefit materially from a psychological approach.
C) We have insufficiently developed our sociological imagination.
D) We only ever examine problems from a macro perspective.
E) We don't use enough quantitative research in sociology.

Question 37

Which of the following is a weakness of the sociological approach to everyday life?

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

Question 38

What are the weaknesses of the everyday actor when it comes to everyday life?

A) The everyday actor is forced to see everything from the perspective of a stranger.
B) The everyday actor must labor to grasp even simple, common occurrences.
C) The everyday actor is forced to learn how things work in a technical or scientific way.
D) The everyday actor can only see things from a historical perspective.
E) The everyday actor makes assumptions and glosses over many things the social analyst strives to understand systematically.

Question 39

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

A) qualitative research
B) microsociology
C) quantitative research
D) macrosociology
E) globalization

Question 40

Why are there disagreements within sociology about how to define the discipline?

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

Question 41

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

A) Charles Darwin
B) Karl Marx
C) Emile Durkheim
D) Harriet Martineau
E) Herbert Spencer

Question 42

One of the key challenges sociologists face is studying something they are intimately familiar with. Like fish in water, sociologists often find it hard to see what is right in front of their faces. To overcome this, what might you try?

A) moving to another country
B) asking people from other societies to help you
C) studying an unfamiliar religion
D) doing nothing
E) using quantitative methods

Question 43

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

A) Marx's work is no longer considered very important.
B) Durkheim was greatly influenced by Marx, but not vice versa.
C) Emile Durkheim wasn't really a sociologist; he thought of himself more as a psychologist.
D) The theoretical schools they founded are very different.
E) Durkheim was French, while Marx was born in Germany.

Question 44

Galileo was responsible for one of the most extreme paradigm shifts in history, when his empirical observations of the sky led him to conclude that the earth revolved around the sun, rather than vice versa. Galileo did not simply use a new technology, the telescope, to see new things; he saw them differently from anyone else. Which concept describes this process of "seeing differently"?

A) quantification
B) beginner's mind
C) popular culture
D) global perspective
E) the sociological imagination

Question 45

C. Wright Mills argued that not only do "people often feel that their private lives are a series of traps," but also that "they are often quite correct" in this feeling. However, he does not feel that we are ultimately helpless. Why not?

A) Religion offers solace and comfort even when we feel trapped.
B) He wrote this during the Great Depression, and since then the fundamental nature of our society has changed.
C) While larger social forces influence individual lives, there are many ways in which we can affect society as well.
D) If you have enough money, you can buy your way out of the traps Mills describes.
E) Since Mills wrote that, credit cards have become more widely available, giving people options in an emergency.

Question 46

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) social Darwinism.
D) labor unions and the abolition of slavery.
E) the French Revolution and the abolition of the monarchy.

Question 47

In Distinction: A Social Critique of the Judgment of Taste, Pierre Bourdieu explored the ways in which individual tastes or aesthetic preferences are determined by class status. Given this fact alone, in which step of the macro-micro continuum would you put Bourdieu?

A) socialization
B) social institutions
C) self
D) groups
E) roles

Question 48

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
E) the struggle for women's rights

Question 49

According to Chapter 1, 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
E) her distinction between manifest and latent functions

Question 50

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

A) All the other departments specialize in something, but sociology is a general field, bringing together the theories and findings from those other disciplines to produce a broad synthesis.
B) Only sociology worries about what will happen in the future.
C) Despite significant overlap, there is still a good deal of unique territory that only sociologists study.
D) Sociology departments exist as an academic tradition and would be difficult to disband.
E) Political science and economics departments are much more politically conservative, so sociology remains to provide a liberal counterbalance.

Question 51

You are looking over the courses being 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 knowledge.
E) You are correct that you don't need to take the course.

Question 52

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 issues
B) C. Wright Mills wouldn't be concerned with marriage because he's a sociologist.
C) personal issues
D) structural issues
E) psychological issues

Question 53

If you didn't know anything about Pam Fishman but 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 very interested in inequality.
E) She is a microsociologist.

Question 54

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, what would you conclude?

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

Question 55

A graduate student in a sociology department 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 compared to that of the rest of the country actually qualifies them as upper class. 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 became a professional sociologist.
E) The student spent some time "doing nothing," as Bernard McGrane suggested.

Question 56

Unlike earlier religious traditions, which 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) develop verstehen, or understanding, of individual behavior.
E) identify laws that describe the behavior of a particular reality.

Question 57

What economic system emerged during the Industrial Revolution?

A) socialism
B) communism
C) humanitarianism
D) globalization
E) capitalism

Question 58

Many Marxist sociologists assume that large-scale economic structures are the most important factors in people's lives. Given this, what sort of sociology would these sociologists tend to prefer?

A) sociology of gender
B) microsociology
C) macrosociology
D) qualitative sociology
E) conservative sociology

Question 59

If a sociologist wanted to study the social meaning of pizza, he would be hampered by a lifetime of preconceptions and assumptions about pizza. It would be hard for him to think about it objectively because it is so familiar. Which concept describes a process that might help?

A) quantitative methods
B) popular culture
C) culture shock
D) qualitative methods
E) microsociology

Question 60

Which of the following could NOT be used as a synonym for the term "theory"?

A) school of thought
B) paradigm
C) perspective
D) method
E) approach

Question 61

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

A) normlessness, or a loss of social connections
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
E) a failure of the oppressed to recognize the source of their oppression

Question 62

Which social theorist is associated with communism?

A) Emile Durkheim
B) Max Weber
C) Auguste Comte
D) Karl Marx
E) Talcott Parsons

Question 63

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 more. According to Durkheim, this interdependence gives rise to:

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

Question 64

How does Karl Marx differentiate between members of the proletariat and the bourgeoisie?

A) Members of the proletariat own the means of production, while the bourgeoisie possess only their own labor.
B) Members of the proletariat benefit directly from their own labor, while the bourgeoisie do not.
C) Members of the proletariat have a greater sense of solidarity than do those of the bourgeoisie.
D) Members of the proletariat have vast amounts of investment wealth.
E) Members of the bourgeoisie own the means of production, while the proletariat possess only their own labor.

Question 65

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

A) develop a critical theory of gender
B) stop being disenchanted
C) develop a stronger sense of verstehen
D) develop class consciousness
E) develop false consciousness

Question 66

Emile Durkheim argued that even an action as seemingly individual as suicide has important social components. What social factors did he examine?

A) geography and travel
B) genetics
C) religious affiliation and marital status
D) war and international conflict
E) race and ethnicity

Question 67

Emile 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
E) fear of the unknown

Question 68

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) pragmatism
D) ethnomethodology
E) false consciousness

Question 69

In 2008 Polish filmmaker Andrzej Wadja released his film Katyn, about the massacre of twenty thousand Polish officers by the Soviet Union during World War II. When asked why he had made this movie, Wadja said that he wanted to make a film for "those moviegoers for whom it matters that we are a society and not just an accidental crowd." Wadja believed that it was still possible for people to be bound together on the basis of shared traditions and experiences. In his statement, Wadja was expressing a hope that Poland could still be united by:

A) organic solidarity.
B) conflict.
C) manifest functions.
D) mechanical solidarity.
E) positivism.

Question 70

In The Elementary Forms of Religious Life, Emile Durkheim argues that, in the past, 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 over which religion represented the truth.
D) Religion fostered interdependence and individual rights.
E) Religion reinforced collective bonds and cultivated shared moral values.

Question 71

In Emile Durkheim's work Suicide, he reported that suicide rates went up when the economy slumped but also spiked when the economy boomed. Which of Durkheim's concepts from Chapter 1 explain why both positive and negative economic conditions could increase suicide rates?

A) alienation
B) anomie
C) mechanical solidarity
D) organic solidarity
E) empiricism

Question 72

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

A) race and ethnicity
B) religious beliefs
C) relationship to the means of production
D) strength of social bonds
E) level of education

Question 73

According to Emile Durkheim, industrialized societies display organic solidarity. What is the basis for organic solidarity?

A) religion and tradition
B) shared experiences and similar beliefs
C) bureaucracy and strong central government
D) globalization and communications technology
E) interdependence and individual rights

Question 74

Karl Marx believed that the economy was closely related to other social processes, including politics, values, beliefs, and norms. As a result, what did he also believe?

A) The lower classes have infinite opportunities for financial investment.
B) The lower classes almost always understand the sources of their oppression.
C) The ruling ideas are the ideas of the ruling class.
D) The ruling class has relatively little control over popular culture.
E) The ruling ideas are meant to support the lower classes.

Question 75

Which of the following people sounds like he or she is experiencing anomie?

A) A recently retired senior citizen is planning to travel across the country in a Winnebago to visit relatives but is worried about crime in some of the places she wants to visit.
B) A freshman in college, away from home for the first time, can't decide what to do about his girlfriend from high school, who is attending a different college.
C) A married mother of two works long hours at the office and still seems to do the majority of the housework.
D) A teenager in a gothic phase is dressed all in black, reads poems about death and suicide, and feels as though life is meaningless.
E) A young woman expecting her first baby is worried about postpartum depression and is trying to get her husband more involved in planning for the baby.

Question 76

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 class 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 lower classes busy with religious activities so that they wouldn't have time to organize
E) by making people meek

Question 77

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

A) when a vanguard party leads a violent revolution
B) through the further development of false consciousness
C) through a religious awakening
D) when industrial production is perfected, so that most of the workers are unemployed
E) when the lower classes come to recognize how society works and challenge those in power

Question 78

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) aristocracy
D) environmental destruction
E) industrial capitalism

Question 79

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

A) conflict between social groups
B) cooperation between social groups
C) exploration beyond the boundaries of a given society
D) development of technology
E) shared moral values

Question 80

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

A) the lower classes
B) superstition and any belief in the supernatural
C) drug use and alcoholism
D) the use of religion by the ruling class
E) the way religion blinds people in solidarity