Deck 1: A Sociological Compass

Question 1

Sociological theories are elaborate, detailed descriptions of what happens in a society.

Answer 1

False

Question 2

The ability to see the connection between personal troubles and social structures (for example, personal problems and public issues related to unemployment) is known as the sociological imagination.

Answer 2

True

Question 3

The sociological imagination enables us to understand that individuals are masters of their own destinies.

Answer 3

False

Question 4

The idea that patterns of gender inequality can and should be changed for the benefit of all members of society is one of the main features of feminist theory.

Question 5

In The Protestant Ethic and the Spirit of Capitalism, Max Weber demonstrated that religious ideas could support the development of capitalism.

Question 6

What kind of conflict emerges from the stories of conquest that the author was exposed to in school and stories of the Gluskap that he also heard during childhood?

A) That progress is often costly to relationships between humans and between humans and the environment.
B) That progress is exciting and harmony between humans is less important than harmony between humans and the environment.
C) That harmony between humans is important and conquest is unimportant.
D) That benefits of conquest justify all damage it does to harmony between humans.

Question 7

International organizations, as well as patterns of worldwide travel and communication, comprise the widest-reaching level of social structure, referred to as macrostructures.

Question 8

According to the textbook, one of the main impacts of postindustrialism on social relationships has been to free people from traditional constraints.

Question 9

The stable patterns of social relations in our lives, such as the organization of work and family composition, are called global structures.

Question 10

Émile Durkheim's analysis of suicide demonstrates how the process of taking one's life through violent means is an isolated and individualistic act.

Question 11

The hometown football team has a tight-knit group of players who care about each other on and off the field. A sociologist would conclude that the team has a high degree of social solidarity.

Question 12

According to the textbook, why is mapping the social world an important activity?

A) because it allows us to find our geographical place in the new world
B) because it allows us to understand ourselves within a larger social context
C) because it allows us to forge relationships between ourselves and other people
D) because it allows us to understand how people navigated in past explorations of the world

Question 13

According to Spencer, individual struggle for survival caused societies to progress from "barbaric" to "civilized."

Question 14

Aaron and Roberta dated for several years and fell in love. Their social interaction is an example of microstructures.

Question 15

According to Gramsci, cultural hegemony benefits all members of society.

Question 16

According to functionalists, fashion performs a useful social function of making class differences obvious.

Question 17

Beginning in the 1960s, decisions about fashion trends became less democratic.

Question 18

The Postindustrial Revolution is the shift from white-collar office work to blue-collar factory work.

Question 19

The concept of class conflict is more important in Marx's than in Weber's theory.

Question 20

The study of the subjective meanings that people attach to their actions and social life is part of the functionalist theory.

Question 21

Why did Durkheim's contemporaries overlook social forces as possible causes of suicide?

A) because suicide was rare
B) because instances of suicide were concealed and their numbers were unknown
C) because there can be no social reasons for carrying out such an individual act
D) because suicide was considered an individual act of desperation, often resulting from a psychological disorder

Question 22

According to the textbook, why are suicide rates among the Innu of Labrador among the highest in the world?

A) because the Innu are a nomadic people who rely upon hunting and trapping
B) because government assistance in the forms of welfare and education was cut back
C) because most Innu youth are engaged in sniffing gasoline and abusing alcohol to get high
D) because the Innu's traditional lands, practices, norms, and values have been destroyed

Question 23

What did Durkheim's nineteenth-century study of suicide in France demonstrate?

A) that suicide was mainly carried out by desperate people
B) that suicide was influenced mainly by people's level of psychological distress
C) that suicide was related to an individual's level of integration into society
D) that suicide was caused by a high level of confusion among people who belonged to several social networks at once

Question 24

Jim believes that he should make the money and control the finances while his wife should raise the children and clean the house. By which of the following macrostructures are Jim's views most likely to be influenced?

A) globalization
B) patriarchy
C) class conflict
D) capitalist economy

Question 25

Which of the following is regarded as sociology's fourth major theoretical tradition?

A) feminist theory
B) functionalism
C) symbolic interactionism
D) conflict theory

Question 26

Allyson is trying to make her heartbroken friend Linda feel better about her impending divorce. Allyson explains that many people get divorced, because women have more economic options today than in the past. What is Allyson using to explain Linda's situation?

A) sociological mapping
B) sociological imagination
C) structural investigation
D) global structural analysis

Question 27

Robert has just been laid off after 30 years working in the auto industry, and he knows that his layoff was due to the company moving its manufacturing plant to Cambodia. What has Robert used to understand his situation better?

A) sociological imagination
B) social forces
C) social structural analysis
D) structural transformation theory

Question 28

According to Durkheim, which type of suicide is most likely to occur in a society having vague norms or few shared norms?

A) altruistic suicide
B) anomic suicide
C) egoistic suicide
D) nomadic suicide

Question 29

According to Durkheim, what decreases the probability that a person will commit suicide when adversity strikes?

A) strong social bonds
B) more social control
C) lower societal expectations
D) greater societal diversity

Question 30

Which revolution put forth the idea that humans can intervene in and shape society?

A) Industrial Revolution
B) Scientific Revolution
C) Sociological Revolution
D) Democratic Revolution

Question 31

According to Durkheim's research, when are persons more likely to commit altruistic suicide?

A) when they are Catholics
B) when they are in the military
C) during times of sudden economic change
D) when living in a society that lacks a shared code of morality

Question 32

Which theorist developed the idea of a sociological imagination?

A) C. Wright Mills
B) Émile Durkheim
C) Karl Marx
D) Auguste Comte

Question 33

Which of the following findings is common to suicide rates in Canada today and those found by Durkheim a century ago?

A) Men are much more likely to commit suicide than women.
B) Women are much more likely to commit suicide than men.
C) Suicide among youth is so rare as to be almost non-existent.
D) Suicide among people aged 85 and over is so rare as to be almost non-existent.

Question 34

Which revolution prompted the development of sociology by causing a large number of social problems that the social and political thought of the time could neither understand nor solve?

A) Industrial Revolution
B) Scientific Revolution
C) Sociological Revolution
D) Democratic Revolution

Question 35

Which of the following terms refers to social relations that are stable and patterned?

A) sociological maps
B) social forces
C) social solidarity
D) social structures

Question 36

How do suicide rates in Canada today compare to rates observed by Durkheim in nineteenth-century France?

A) Youth suicide rates are higher in Canada today.
B) Youth suicide rates are lower in Canada today.
C) Suicide rates of women are lower in Canada today.
D) Suicide rates of men are lower in Canada today.

Question 37

Jessica wishes to live and work overseas after getting her university degree. She is trying to determine which areas of expertise are likely to be in demand in the parts of the world she is interested in. Which of the following should she study in order to get information that is likely to be useful in her planning?

A) global structures
B) macrostructures
C) mesostructures
D) microstructures

Question 38

Which of the following terms refers to the ability to make connections between one's personal troubles and the social context that they occur within?

A) global structural analysis
B) macrosocial theory
C) sociological imagination
D) sociological compass

Question 39

Which revolution put forth the idea that conclusions should be based on evidence and not on speculation?

A) Industrial Revolution
B) Scientific Revolution
C) Sociological Revolution
D) Democratic Revolution

Question 40

According to the textbook, what is the main rationale for the existence of sociology?

A) to understand the past
B) to make the past come alive
C) to create the best possible future
D) to understand the relationship between humans and nature

Question 41

"Survival of the fittest" is a concept most closely associated with which of the following theorists' work?

A) Auguste Comte
B) Herbert Spencer
C) Karl Marx
D) Max Weber

Question 42

Michelle believes that prostitution is beneficial for society because it provides people with outlets for sexual gratification that they might not have otherwise. Which of the following theories is her idea most closely aligned with?

A) symbolic interactionism
B) functionalism
C) conflict theory
D) feminism

Question 43

Which of the following theories enjoyed great popularity in North American sociology for approximately 30 years, beginning around the time of the Great Depression?

A) functionalism
B) conflict theory
C) symbolic interactionism
D) feminism

Question 44

Which theorist is responsible for calling the scientific study of society "sociology"?

A) C. Wright Mills
B) Karl Marx
C) Auguste Comte
D) Herbert Spencer

Question 45

Which theorist is historically associated with the development of functionalism?

A) Karl Marx
B) Émile Durkheim
C) Max Weber
D) Harriet Martineau

Question 46

Massimo has noticed that while universities are places where people learn specific skills that prepare them for the world of employment, they are also excellent places for meeting one's future mate. Which of the following best characterizes the "marriage market" role of the university?

A) evolutionary advantage
B) evolutionary disadvantage
C) overt function
D) latent function

Question 47

Which of the following terms refers to ideas about good and bad, and right and wrong?

A) theories
B) values
C) norms
D) scientific reasoning

Question 48

Adrian states that children who have a close bond with their parents are less likely to engage in drug use and vandalism because they feel more closely tied to mainstream norms that discourage this type of behaviour. Which of the following is Adrian engaging in?

A) research
B) theorizing
C) sociological imaginings
D) scientific investigation

Question 49

Zoë is interested in studying the ways that family socialization contributes to social harmony. Which theorist's work is most closely aligned to her interests?

A) C. Wright Mills
B) Herbert Spencer
C) Talcott Parsons
D) Max Weber

Question 50

Priya is interested in studying the ways that family socialization contributes to formation of its members' identities. Which theorist's work is most closely aligned her interests?

A) C. Wright Mills
B) George Herbert Mead
C) Talcott Parsons
D) Max Weber

Question 51

Dallin thinks that more funding should be spent on researching alternatives to fossil fuel. According to the textbook, what likely drives his opinions about what funding should be spent on?

A) personal values
B) the sociological imagination
C) microstructural analysis
D) interpersonal conflict

Question 52

Amandev has noticed that while universities are places where people learn specific skills that prepare them for the world of employment, they are also excellent places for meeting one's future mate. Which theorist's work is he using in identifying these differing functions?

A) Talcott Parsons
B) Erving Goffman
C) George Herbert Mead
D) Robert Merton

Question 53

Which of the following theories focused on the ways in which the breadwinner-homemaker family popular in the 1950s helped society run smoothly?

A) feminism
B) conflict theory
C) functionalism
D) symbolic interactionism

Question 54

Which important characteristic do the works of Marx, Durkheim, and Weber share?

A) a good theoretical explanation of postindustrial revolution
B) use of class conflict to explain historic changes
C) understanding that societies are similar to biological systems
D) suggesting ways to improve people's lives

Question 55

Which of the following theories is characterized by the study of macrostructures, shared values, and a focus on societal equilibrium?

A) functionalism
B) conflict theory
C) symbolic interactionism
D) feminism

Question 56

Jonah is researching the ways that the public education system has taken on the work of educating children that families and religious groups used to do. What theoretical tradition is he most likely following in his research?

A) feminism
B) conflict theory
C) symbolic interactionism
D) functionalism

Question 57

According to the textbook, which theory has arisen in recent decades to correct some omissions in earlier sociological theories?

A) functionalism
B) feminist theory
C) conflict theory
D) symbolic interactionism

Question 58

When there is great social upheaval, people are often attracted to theories that focus on restoring social harmony. Which of the following theories is likely to be most popular in such a situation?

A) feminism
B) conflict theory
C) functionalism
D) symbolic interactionism

Question 59

Justifying the privileges of the wealthy by saying that they are simply better people than the poor is consistent with which of the following ideas?

A) sociological imagination
B) Darwinian evolution
C) Democratic Revolution
D) social Darwinism

Question 60

Tanya is interested in the way people behave in public spaces. She spends one hour every day for a week at her office building riding the elevator, observing people's behaviour, and making notes. What type of scientific activity is Tanya engaging in?

A) speculating
B) theorizing
C) research
D) evaluating

Question 61

What is the functionalist term for the disruptive impact that social structures can sometimes have on a group of people?

A) social disequilibrium
B) manifest function
C) latent function
D) dysfunction

Question 62

Gramsci wrote that in pre-industrial societies the powerful controlled populations mostly by force. According to Gramsci, what mechanism of control has largely replaced force after the Industrial Revolution?

A) economic domination
B) cultural hegemony
C) class consciousness
D) imperialism

Question 63

The belief that hard work, thrift, and humility would result in "grace" in God's kingdom is central to which of the following concepts?

A) the sociological imagination
B) patriarchy
C) the Protestant ethic
D) Verstehen

Question 64

Which theorist is responsible for the development of conflict theory?

A) Karl Marx
B) Émile Durkheim
C) Herbert Spencer
D) Max Weber

Question 65

In her research study, Tabitha is trying to understand the meanings her interviewees place on various types of new cell phone applications by putting herself in their situations and using the same applications. What would Weber call the research methodology Tabitha is employing?

A) Verstehen
B) structural analysis
C) functionalism
D) class consciousness

Question 66

The fact that many people meet their future mate in university would be seen by functionalists as an example of which of the following?

A) a primary function
B) a manifest function
C) a latent function
D) a dysfunction

Question 67

Which theory focuses on inequalities between social classes, struggles for power, and the resulting social change?

A) functionalism
B) symbolic interactionism
C) conflict theory
D) feminism

Question 68

Phoenix believes that class conflict is not the only force that drives social change, but that religion and politics also create change. Whose theoretical works is Phoenix most closely aligned with?

A) Karl Marx
B) Talcott Parsons
C) Max Weber
D) Émile Durkheim

Question 69

What was the main research finding of the book The Power Elite?

A) Power is spread evenly between various classes in American society.
B) Power is highly concentrated in American society.
C) American military elite has a decisive influence over its economy.
D) American business elite has a decisive influence over its military decisions.

Question 70

Which theorist made important contributions to both conflict theory and symbolic interactionism?

A) C. Wright Mills
B) Robert Merton
C) Max Weber
D) George Herbert Mead

Question 71

What did Max Weber believe fuelled capitalism?

A) technological development
B) the Protestant ethic
C) the power elite
D) class consciousness

Question 72

According to the textbook, which of the following theorists has been one of the most prominent supporters of conflict theory in North America?

A) Erving Goffman
B) Talcott Parsons
C) Robert Merton
D) C. Wright Mills

Question 73

Which theorist found flaws in the argument that capitalism would inevitably collapse?

A) Karl Marx
B) Émile Durkheim
C) Herbert Spencer
D) Max Weber

Question 74

The fact that people obtain an education leading to future employment by obtaining a degree at a university can be seen as an example of which of the following?

A) a dysfunctional function
B) a manifest function
C) a latent function
D) a contributing function

Question 75

Functionalism was criticized for exaggerating the degree of consensus that people in a society share. Which theorist then proposed that social structures may have different impacts on different groups of people?

A) Robert Merton
B) Erving Goffman
C) Talcott Parsons
D) George Herbert Mead

Question 76

The International Labour Organization lobbies, sponsors research, and conducts negotiations with employers in order to improve workers' life conditions. Which of the following terms best characterizes the ILO's work?

A) Protestant ethic
B) class consciousness
C) false consciousness
D) Verstehen

Question 77

Workers today are able to access employment insurance benefits, and they enjoy higher wages and less oppressive working conditions than workers in earlier centuries. What has resulted from this situation?

A) a critique of the inevitability of a worker revolution
B) a critique of the inevitability of a capitalist society
C) a critique of communism
D) a critique of capitalism

Question 78

According to the textbook, many contemporary leading sociologists attended graduate school in the 1960s and 1970s. Considering this fact, which theoretical perspective are they most likely to subscribe to?

A) functionalism
B) conflict theory
C) symbolic interactionism
D) queer theory

Question 79

Which theorist is best known in North America for identifying how various societal institutions work together to create a smoothly running society?

A) Robert Merton
B) Erving Goffman
C) Talcott Parsons
D) George Herbert Mead

Question 80

Which of the following is a central concept of conflict theory?

A) ethnic conflict
B) gender conflict
C) cultural conflict
D) class conflict