Deck 1: Sociological Odyssey: Contemporary Readings in Introductory Sociology

Question 1

Which of the following is NOT a question posed by Mills in discussing the promise of sociology?

A) What is the structure of society as a whole?
B) Where does society stand in relation to human history?
C) What varieties of men and women prevail in this society?
D) What is the existential meaning of life?

Answer 1

D

Question 2

Collins suggests that many sociologists become hooked on the discipline through

A) its relative ease compared to the natural sciences.
B) the constant micro-level minuteness of its gaze on the everyday life world.
C) being able to see sociology in the immediate world.
D) its all-encompassing explanatory power.

Answer 2

C

Question 3

Which of the following does Mills fear best represents our time?

A) indifference and uneasiness
B) hope and optimism
C) despair and pessimism
D) remorse and forgiveness

Answer 3

A

Question 4

How does sociology differ from other disciplines, such as physics, chemistry, or economics?

A) for sociology, the study of the world around us is the primary focus of attention.
B) the focus of sociology is limited by one's level of approach.
C) for sociology, there are more interesting things to study than for other disciplines.
D) sociology is no different than other disciplines.

Question 5

Why is the study of human beings difficult? What are the unique characteristics of humans that make them different to study than inanimate objects?

Question 6

An allure of sociology is that

A) it is a profession in which you can make a lot of money.
B) almost any human activity can be examined with a sociological perspective.
C) people give a lot of prestige to sociologists.
D) there is a limited amount of topics that you can study.

Question 7

Collins describes the "sociological eye" as

A) all sociologists focusing their gaze together.
B) the unique perspective that integrates psychology, economics, and history.
C) the way sociologists learn to train their eyesight through research.
D) the perspective sociologists use to analyze the world.

Question 8

Disciplines shift and cause changes in their boundaries due to

A) major advances in theory or research.
B) administrative turf wars.
C) negotiations with other disciplines.
D) nothing- academic disciplines focus on a fixed and stable subject matter

Question 9

Which of the following is a part of the sociological imagination, according to Mills?

A) looking at the instinctual behavior of ants
B) moving from a political to a psychological stance
C) the stimulus-response patterns of humans
D) none of the above

Question 10

Compare the goals and visions of sociology with other social sciences (political science, anthropology, psychology).

Question 11

Humans' self-consciousness, according to Mills, is

A) the ability to reflect on their own relationships with other humans.
B) the lack of guilt in relating to others.
C) the desire to be a friend to others.
D) the ability to understand what is happening to themselves within a biographical and historical context.

Question 12

An example of a hybrid discipline that is related to sociology is:

A) criminal justice.
B) ethnic studies.
C) gender studies.
D) all of the above

Question 13

How does sociology (and the social sciences, in general) compare to the natural sciences (i.e., chemistry, physics, and biology)? What are the distinguishing characteristics of the social sciences that differentiate them from the natural sciences? How are the social and natural sciences alike?

Question 14

According the Collins, the "sociological eye" is developed and used particularly by

A) statisticians.
B) historical comparative researchers.
C) social theorists.
D) all of the above

Question 15

In considering marriage, which is a structural issue?

A) a husband and wife arguing over the household budget
B) the rising divorce rate in a society
C) the decision to have children
D) one spouse transferring jobs to another location

Question 16

Collins describes the core of sociology as consisting of

A) a set of texts or ideas.
B) a distinctive intellectual activity.
C) an eternal essence.
D) a self-conscious community.

Question 17

Collins suggests that a creative way of regaining a refreshing sociological view on the world involves

A) making it observationally strange.
B) re-examining a common cliché.
C) critically analyzing media-hype versions of reality.
D) delving into new social worlds.

Question 18

One of the major points that Mills is making is that

A) we have to understand human action in terms of the historical context in which it takes place.
B) history has no meaning in human action.
C) human action is ahistorical; that is, it occurs in a vacuum with little impact on what preceded it.
D) sociology and history have no relation to each other.

Question 19

The sociological promise is that

A) humans will never lie.
B) humans live in a world that is highly predictable and emotionally stable.
C) humans can grasp history and biography and the relation between the two.
D) there can be no promises when it comes to human activity.

Question 20

Collins suggests that there is a sociology of everything, specifically including

A) cross-cultural inequality.
B) a boring committee meeting.
C) hip-hop subcultures.
D) drug dealing.

Question 21

Which of the following distinguishes humans from animals?

A) there is really no difference between humans and animals.
B) humans react to things in a stimulus-response mode, while animals do not.
C) humans can understand their environment and not just respond to it.
D) unlike humans, animals can interpret and respond to stimuli in a complex fashion.

Question 22

Why do social scientists seek to categorize?

A) as an end in itself.
B) to solve social problems.
C) to overcome stereotypes.
D) to understand cause.

Question 23

A major problem with stereotypes is that

A) they unfairly categorize people.
B) they can be used to justify negative impressions of others.
C) they are not based on systematic and careful analysis.
D) all of the above are major problems with stereotypes.

Question 24

According to Charon, generalizing about people

A) should never be done because it is a form of stereotyping.
B) is inevitable and necessary in order to accomplish the tasks of everyday life.
C) always leads to some form of negative impression of others.
D) can never be accurate.

Question 25

When we say that generalizations in the social sciences are tentative and subject to change, we mean that

A) social scientists are never certain of their findings.
B) social scientific research is not very reliable or valid.
C) evidence in the social sciences is constantly being examined and interpreted.
D) none of the above

Question 26

Describe the relationship between history and biography.

Question 27

Compare and contrast what is meant by troubles and issues. What are the implications of these ideas for the study of human societies?

Question 28

What actions do social scientists take to assure that their generalizations are accurate? Do you believe that this is adequate?

Question 29

Charon defines categories as

A) chunks out of our environment.
B) perspectives on society.
C) slices of the social pie.
D) the way people think about others.

Question 30

Why are stereotypes dangerous in society? How can we overcome these dangers?

Question 31

Mills cites the sociological imagination as consisting of the intersection between

A) biography and history.
B) the inside and outside perspective.
C) the past and the present.
D) the macro and the micro.

Question 32

Which of the following is not a way that social science attempts to create accurate generalizations about humans?

A) social science tries hard not to be judgmental about categories of people.
B) social science follows the belief that when trained observers make generalizations they must be accurate.
C) social science rarely, if ever, asserts that a statement is absolute.
D) social science tries to rely, as much as possible, on carefully gathered evidence.

Question 33

Generalizations come from

A) the intuitive sense of the social scientist.
B) categories that social scientist invent.
C) an understanding of a specific social situation.
D) a mixture of observations and learning from others.

Question 34

How does generalizing in the social sciences differ from the stereotypes people use in everyday life?

Question 35

The purpose of social science is to

A) achieve accurate categorizations and generalizations about human beings.
B) be able to understand individualistic action.
C) relate its findings to as small a sample as possible.
D) replicate the work of the natural sciences.

Question 36

What did Mills mean when he talked about the promise of sociology?

Question 37

Which of the following statements accurately explains what a stereotype does?

A) a stereotype is judgmental.
B) a stereotype tends to be an absolute category.
C) a stereotype does not change with new evidence.
D) all of the above are accurate statements about stereotypes.

Question 38

Mills states: "The most fruitful distinction with which the sociological imagination works is between 'the personal troubles of milieu' and 'the public issues of social structure'." Explain this quote.

Question 39

According to Mills, the relationship between troubles and issues is that

A) troubles are public matters and issues are private ones.
B) men suffer from troubles and women suffer from issues.
C) troubles are private matters and issues are public ones.
D) troubles and issues are so similar that they are indistinguishable.

Question 40

The relationship between individuals and society is such that

A) individuals are formed by society.
B) individuals contribute to the shaping of society and the course of its history.
C) both of the above
D) none of the above

Question 41

Effective in the 2000 Census, the classification of data based on race and ethnicity changed the way people were categorized in which of the following ways?

A) Five categories were included for race: American Indian, Asian, Black, Pacific Islander, and White.
B) Two categories were added for data on ethnicity: Hispanic or Latino.
C) Another category was included, "some other race," for people unable to identify with any of the five categories of race that was listed.
D) All of the above.

Question 42

The school of thought called "symbolic interactionism" is often associated with which university?

A) Harvard University
B) University of California, Berkeley
C) University of Wisconsin
D) University of Chicago

Question 43

Which of the following is NOT a core idea of symbolic interactionism?

A) human beings act in terms of the meanings they assign to objects in their environment.
B) meanings imputed to an action are socially constructed.
C) all human action can be absolutely measured and controlled.
D) different groups can assign divergent meanings to the same object.

Question 44

From a symbolic interactionist perspective, alcohol Prohibition in the early part of the twentieth century involved

A) a battle over the discrepant meanings concerning alcohol.
B) the desire of one group to have their view of alcohol take precedence over other groups' definitions of alcohol.
C) the ability of a powerful group to get their interpretation of the law adopted.
D) all of the above

Question 45

One of the by-products of the slow recognition of Latinos in the census is which of the following?

A) It made it easier for people to act toward them in a discriminatory manner.
B) It made it easier to ignore this group of people as part of American society.
C) It limited group awareness and the emergence of group solidarity among Latinos.
D) All of the above.

Question 46

There are several reasons why the category of "race" is no longer considered to be identified as a meaningful force in American society because we really cannot discuss race in a "pure" sense anymore (due to the frequency of inter-relationships that have occurred). However, another reason the authors discuss for why social scientists and ordinary citizens have begun to shy away from "race" as a category to differentiate people is

A) that people are uncomfortable with this category because it over emphasizes the power of these forces in society.
B) because people have very little understanding of the difference between race, ethnicity, and nationality.
C) because even using the word race has always had political meanings and uses.
D) all of the above

Question 47

For the most part, how did Hispanics become part of the American cultural landscape?

A) They were formally enslaved and worked on plantations in the American South.
B) They were legally denied citizenship to the United States.
C) They were largely acquired through imperialism and conquest.
D) They were seen as a criminal element that had to be removed from American soil.

Question 48

According to the authors, though the U.S. Census can be considered a consistent form of data, in which of the following categories has the Census been most inconsistent?

A) age
B) gender
C) race and ethnicity
D) religion

Question 49

According to the authors, which of the following is a reason for why Hispanics have occupied a unique place in American history, as compared to other racial and ethnic groups?

A) They were not treated as a menace that needed to be removed, such as Native Americans.
B) They were not formally enslaved, such as Africans.
C) They were not declined citizenship or excluded from American society, such as the Asians.
D) All of the above.

Question 50

While most Whites accept the idea that racism is just a part of the past, empirical evidence shows that this is not true. Which of the following is cited as an example of the persistence of racism in American society?

A) the low levels of inter-racial marriages that still exist in the United States.
B) media images that continue to portray certain racial and ethnic groups as "criminal" or "welfare cheats."
C) the low levels of educational attainment, particularly for Blacks, in American society.
D) the over-representation of certain racial and ethnic groups in athletic endeavors.

Question 51

With the expansion of the definitions of Hispanic or Latino as ethnic categories in the 2000 Census, one can predict that this might have significant effects on the American political, legal, justice, economic, and social systems. How do you see the greater use of the terms Hispanic and Latino as having an effect on American society more generally? Do you see this as a positive or negative for society as a whole? What does it say about the consistency and comparability of the Census as a form of sociological data?

Question 52

According to Colomy, sociology is generally divided along ___________ and ____________ dimensions.

A) macro, micro
B) profound, intense
C) social, natural
D) quantitative, qualitative

Question 53

For functionalists, which of the following might be considered a latent function?

A) the idea that committing crimes can help define the moral boundaries of a society.
B) the idea that schools can teach students how to be productive workers.
C) the role religion plays in passing on spiritual and cultural values to its congregation.
D) the manner in which government passes and legislates laws.

Question 54

The person often associated with being the founder of functionalism is:

A) Erving Goffman.
B) Karl Marx.
C) Emile Durkheim.
D) Anthony Giddens.

Question 55

Which of the following is not a principle of functionalism?

A) society must find a way address a large number of problems that it faces.
B) societies have developed multiple answers to the needs it faces.
C) society is nothing more than the sum of its individuals, and can only be studied by looking at individuals acting in face-to-face interaction.
D) society must be looked at as the inter-relations between different parts of social systems.

Question 56

In the 1940 census, the term "Mexican" was dropped from the list of racial responses and Mexicans at that time were listed in which of the following ways?

A) White, unless they were definitely Indian or some other race other than White.
B) Hispanic, such as a member of any group that came from a Spanish-speaking country.
C) They were not considered citizens of the United States, no matter how long their ancestry could be traced back to United States soil.
D) Mexicans were simply excluded altogether from the census and were not counted at all.

Question 57

By the time of the 2000 Census, what percentage of Americans was considered to be part of the Latino population?

A) approximately 13%
B) approximately 5%
C) approximately 20%
D) approximately 25%

Question 58

For many social scientists today, race is no longer considered a biological variable. These people argue that, due to the large amount of inter-racial relationships in the United States, the concept of pure "race" is no longer relevant. However, some people argue instead that race should be considered a social construct. Define what this means and explain the significance of this idea for how categories of people are treated in American society.

Question 59

For the first six censuses in the United States, the primary categories of race were White and Black. Which of the following was not a category that showed up when the census increased the number of categories for describing people according to their race and/or ethnicity?

A) Mulatto
B) Native American
C) Hispanic
D) Asian

Question 60

According to Nobles (2000), as described in the article by Kilty and Vidal de Haymes, the census classification systems helped to create the concept of race and what it means in American society. However, Census authorities deny what Nobles is arguing and that they are not creating false definitions of race. Explain the position of the Census authorities and their defense of their racial classifications.

Question 61

According to Lovaglia, why was the Zimbardo prison experiment so influential?

A) it tested a condition that showed that a coercive setting can bring forth brutal behavior.
B) it proved that Hitler was not really to blame for the Holocaust.
C) it showed that when people are in prison they are likely to act in more conforming ways.
D) it proved that prisons are not conducive places for rehabilitation.

Question 62

What is the difference between micro and macro perspectives in sociology? Using specific theories, show how they are either macro or micro in their approach. Be sure to illustrate the differences between macro and micro sociology.

Question 63

According to Lovaglia, why are experiments such useful tools in social scientific research? Do you think this method is an effective one for learning about human behavior? Why or why not? What are its strengths and limitations?

Question 64

According to the conflict perspective, social change occurs

A) very slowly and unpredictably.
B) as a result of groups trying to advance their own selfish collective interests.
C) when there is full cooperation between groups in the society.
D) only when war or natural disaster are present.

Question 65

Which of the following was not a research finding inspired by experimental design, as illustrated in this chapter?

A) a theory that could help reduce the racial gap in academic success
B) a theory that could help remove the glass ceiling for women in business
C) a theory that increases cooperation between groups
D) all of the above are research findings mentioned in this article

Question 66

What is the name of the researcher who conducted research to test Status Characteristic Theory?

A) Karen Cook
B) Sigmund Freud
C) Claude Steele
D) Cecilia Ridgeway

Question 67

One of the chief advantages of experimental research is that it

A) allows for extraneous variables to affect the experimental and control group.
B) can be an effective tool for testing general theories.
C) permits researchers to study large aggregates of people in a relatively short time.
D) allows subjects free reign to behave in any way that they deem appropriate.

Question 68

Philip Zimbardo, a psychologist, is famous for re-creating which of the following in his laboratory at Stanford?

A) a hospital
B) a high school
C) a fraternity
D) a prison

Question 69

Status Characteristic Theory contends that

A) men are smarter than women in science and math.
B) men and women are regarded equally in terms of decision-making abilities.
C) people expect men to contribute more to group success than women.
D) none of the above

Question 70

In general, experiments can best be described as a method whereby

A) a sample of the population are polled to determine their opinions and attitudes.
B) researchers believe in looking for emerging concepts after the experiment is begun.
C) researchers test for evidence of a social process by comparing a small group of people who are chosen to be as similar as possible.
D) randomization and replication are not considered important.

Question 71

Briefly differentiate between symbolic interactionism, functionalism, and conflict theory.

Question 72

Which is not a principle that guides the conflict perspective?

A) groups with antagonistic interests in society struggle against one another.
B) conflicts between groups provide the motivation for transforming institutions in society.
C) conflicts between groups will inevitably lead to cooperation between those groups.
D) conflicts usually occur between relatively powerful groups that try to subvert relatively powerless groups.

Question 73

Describe the Robbers Cave experiment. What was the significance of the findings of this experiment for a better understanding of how people relate to each other in groups?

Question 74

In the Robbers Cave experiment, which of the following was used by the experimenters to reduce conflict in the group?

A) both groups watched the reality TV show, "Survivor," to see how other groups handle conflict.
B) both groups worked together to find water on a hot summer day.
C) both groups played tug-of-war and then when neither team won, they all became friends.
D) both groups worked together to help another needy group.

Question 75

In the Robbers Cave experiment conducted by Sherif, the researchers began the experiment thinking that:

A) groups become more cohesive when faced with competition from another group.
B) groups that are in conflict with one another eventually settle their differences.
C) groups that vie for power with each other will always come out with a winner and loser.
D) groups are more likely to cooperate when there is money involved.

Question 76

Sherman and Berk devised an experiment that tested how arrests were made in cases of domestic violence. Explain how this experiment was conducted. What are the implications for changing social policy, according to the findings of this experiment?

Question 77

In an experiment designed to learn more about why some people perform so poorly on standardized tests, the researcher, Claude Steele, hypothesized that:

A) IQ scores are directly linked to racial categories, no matter what other variables are present.
B) IQ scores are linked to what students perceive to be the consequences of their getting a low score.
C) IQ scores are positively correlated with higher socio-economic groups.
D) IQ scores are not a fair measurement of intelligence.

Question 78

Cohesion in society is created by

A) shared ceremonies and rituals that remind people that they belong to a group.
B) an agreement on core values and principles that practically all people know.
C) teaching young children the expectations and norms of the society.
D) all of the above

Question 79

What is the goal of theory in sociology? How do the three sociological perspectives differ in trying to attain this goal? How are they similar in their desires?

Question 80

The conflict perspective is most often associated with the writings of

A) Karl Marx.
B) George Herbert Mead.
C) Robert Merton.
D) Paul Colomy.