Deck 5: Social Structure

Question 1

What two components make up social structure?

A) social hierarchy and institutional environments
B) social inequality and structuralism
C) social institutions and social arrangements
D) social trends and traditions

Answer 1

A

Question 2

Which of the following best illustrates a breakdown in social structure?

A) Wall Street after the housing market crashed
B) New Orleans after Hurricane Katrina
C) a home after a house fire
D) a parking lot after a sporting event

Answer 2

B

Question 3

What characteristic is a crucial part of what gives social structures their power?

A) their durability
B) their flexibility
C) their physicality
D) their interactivity

Answer 3

A

Question 4

The barrier against the advancement of which group is typically called a glass ceiling?

A) homosexuals
B) African Americans
C) women
D) low-income men

Question 5

What is social hierarchy?

A) the status a person acquires as a result of merit
B) social arrangements in which some groups or individuals are elevated above others
C) a system of social arrangements that make society more egalitarian
D) a group of people who control a given social institution

Question 6

Members of more powerful groups __________.

A) work harder than others
B) work less than others
C) have advantages over others
D) have no advantages over others

Question 7

When did education and learning become institutionalized?

A) when teachers began to think of themselves as professionals
B) when taboos against teaching began to disappear
C) when a curriculum was established
D) when social elites began to send their children to schools

Question 8

When are stereotypes most likely to enable discrimination?

A) when stereotypes are widely held by the dominant group and others
B) when stereotypes are based on gender rather than race
C) when stereotypes are based on fact
D) when stereotypes disproportionately affect one subordinate group

Question 9

What are institutions?

A) enduring customs and concrete organizations
B) enduring customs, such as marriage
C) concrete organizations, such as schools
D) enduring customs, concrete organizations, and members of social groups

Question 10

When ideas are passed down from one generation to another, they begin to solidify, become accepted, and then become __________.

A) obsolete
B) taboo
C) dominant
D) institutionalized

Question 11

Which of the following statements regarding social hierarchy and life chances is true?

A) Where we stand in key social hierarchies is inconsequential to life chances.
B) Where we stand in key social hierarchies has a huge bearing on life chances.
C) Where we stand in key social hierarchies as an adult, but not as a child, has a huge bearing on life chances.
D) Where we stand in key social hierarchies is generally arbitrary and has an equally arbitrary bearing on life chances.

Question 12

When groups become more equal in size, competition between them for jobs, housing, romantic partners, etc., __________.

A) stabilizes
B) decreases
C) intensifies
D) ends

Question 13

How quickly does social structure tend to change?

A) Social structure is highly volatile and changes very quickly.
B) Social structure is durable but changes moderately quickly.
C) Social structure changes over time but tends to do so very slowly.
D) Social structure is incapable of change.

Question 14

How is privilege most commonly maintained?

A) with money
B) through discrimination
C) by means of gated neighborhoods
D) through apartheid

Question 15

The "Great Migration" refers to the movement of which group of Americans?

A) Latino Americans
B) African Americans
C) senior citizens
D) migrant farmers

Question 16

Your position in key social hierarchies is likely to have the least impact on __________.

A) how well you do in school
B) whether or not you attend college
C) your eventual occupation
D) your preference for McDonald's or Wendy's hamburgers

Question 17

Dominant groups use __________ to control opportunities and reduce or eliminate challenges from subordinate groups.

A) informal means
B) legal means
C) informal and legal means
D) neither informal nor legal means

Question 18

What was the leading source of employment for immigrants and natives from the 1880s to the 1920s?

A) jobs in agriculture
B) jobs in manufacturing
C) jobs in politics
D) jobs in religious organizations

Question 19

How do populations most commonly change over time?

A) through immigration
B) through reproduction
C) through legal mandates
D) through intergenerational mobility

Question 20

How do sociologists define power?

A) the ability to influence the behavior of others
B) the financial means to acquire resources
C) membership in dominant hierarchies
D) the ability to claim rewards

Question 21

Path dependency is the process by which __________.

A) individuals distinguish between logical outcomes and illogical outcomes
B) children are socialized to their parents' behavioral expectations
C) economies decline in theoretically expected ways
D) historical legacies and past outcomes impact actors and organizations in the present

Question 22

Ben works at a local hospital. Every day he takes the elevator to his office on the tenth floor. He has noticed that once he steps into the elevator, he looks straight ahead at the elevator door and does not make verbal or eye contact with others. This behavior is an example of __________.

A) institutionalization
B) social movement
C) path dependency
D) a social norm

Question 23

Where does the process of socialization typically begin?

A) in communities
B) in families
C) in schools
D) in peer groups

Question 24

Which of the following accurately highlights the difference between norms and laws?

A) Norms are generally not written down whereas laws are written down.
B) Violations of norms have no consequences whereas violations of laws have severe consequences.
C) Norms are unambiguous whereas laws can be interpreted in a variety of ways.
D) Norms constrain personal but not social behavior, whereas laws constrain social behavior but not personal behavior.

Question 25

Which of these are the basic rules of society that help us know what is and what is not appropriate to do in any situation?

A) roles
B) laws
C) norms
D) mores

Question 26

As we are socialized into our roles, we conform to the rules and norms imposed by our social structure. Consequently, we contribute to __________.

A) reproducing the current social structure
B) the present path-dependency
C) the resocialization of ourselves
D) the rejection of our own free will

Question 27

Karen works for an Internet marketing company with annual billings of over $100 million. She was recently promoted to client services manager and began looking for a mentor. She noticed that over 90 percent of the executives at the director level or above are male and that only one woman has a seat on the firm's board. What does this scenario suggest may be at play in Karen's place of employment?

A) intergenerational social mobility
B) the glass ceiling
C) a social hierarchy
D) path dependency

Question 28

Which of the following statements about interest groups is true?

A) Interest groups would rather tear down parts of the social structure than reform it.
B) Interest groups will fight to protect and extend existing social arrangements when they are viewed as beneficial to their members.
C) Interest groups are completely averse to the status quo.
D) Interest groups have no relationship to paths of dependence.

Question 29

Your sociological research is examining the relationship between how governmental policies reinforce economic inequality. You are likely investigating __________ as your main research interest.

A) social structure
B) socioeconomic statuses
C) agency and path dependence
D) structuralism and cognition

Question 30

As a young boy in the 1970s, Robert remembered that there was a push for public schools to teach children the metric system. The movement to adopt metric measurement was eventually abandoned in the United States. How did Robert explain this outcome?

A) path dependency
B) resocialization
C) discrimination
D) institutionalization

Question 31

In sociological terms, what is a role?

A) a team member's position within an institution or organization
B) a position within an institution or organization that comes with specific expectations for what to do and how to behave
C) a position within an institution or organization that comes with a specific title
D) a high-status position within an institution or organization

Question 32

Social movements allow for the process of __________.

A) social change
B) eliminating our legal foundation
C) causing social inequality
D) reinforcing stereotypes

Question 33

What is the process through which people learn to behave in society or in particular social settings?

A) memorization
B) experimentation
C) localization
D) socialization

Question 34

You are the CEO of a powerful agriculture company that specializes in hybrid corn production. There is currently a proposed law in the state legislature that will require farmers to cull their yields by 20 percent so that they can grow soybeans. As a member of an interest group that would very much like to maintain the status quo, which of the following actions are you likely to take?

A) You hire a well-respected lobbying firm to convince members of the legislature to reject the proposed soybean bill.
B) You call leaders of an opposition social movement and consider compromising your interests on this issue.
C) You do nothing and decide to ride out the vote.
D) You consider the arguments made by the other side and change your mind.

Question 35

Of the following behaviors, which is least likely to be considered a norm violation?

A) talking too loud in a movie theater
B) physically assaulting a police officer
C) leaving a public restroom without washing your hands
D) standing too close to strangers at the bus stop

Question 36

In the debate between the power of social structure and free will, you fall on the side of free will. Which of the following statements are you most likely to believe?

A) Individuals have little control over the worlds they inhabit.
B) Individuals have a great deal of control when it comes to their day-to-day actions.
C) Agency is an illusion but so is social structure.
D) Agency is key to social power.

Question 37

Which of the following statements about socialization is true? People who are socialized to the same norms __________.

A) make the same moral judgments
B) have the same tastes
C) respond to identical incentives in predictable ways
D) behave in different and occasionally unpredictable ways

Question 38

Sociologists understand our life course to be a trajectory of ordered ___________ throughout our lives.

A) roles
B) hierarchies
C) social inequalities
D) population toast

Question 39

You are the coach of a little league baseball team. You decide that it would be a good idea to teach the players about social roles. Which of the following examples is the clearest example of a role?

A) The team that hits more baseballs tends to win.
B) The job of the catcher is to catch the ball and throw it back to the pitcher.
C) Players who hit more home runs are usually liked better by their teammates.
D) Some kids prefer to play with grass in the outfield rather than pay attention to game play.

Question 40

__________ are formal groups of people acting together in pursuit of a common goal.

A) Institutions
B) Organizations
C) Families
D) Regimes

Question 41

How and why do interest groups tend to work to maintain social structure?

Question 42

Why are the institutions of the government critically important to the overall social structure?

Question 43

Why are social hierarchies important to any society's social structure?

Question 44

How does socialization instill roles and norms in the individual?

Question 45

Which of the following is an example of how social structure determines one's life opportunities?

A) Poor people know that the world is stacked against them.
B) Rich people think that poor people don't work hard.
C) Some religions teach that women should be subordinate to men.
D) Having educated parents means you'll be less likely to do well in school.

Question 46

Which of the following statements best explains how institutions of government impact social structure?

A) Government is the ultimate expression of the power of institutions.
B) Governments have very little sway over the social structure.
C) Small, informal organizations have enormous power over government institutions.
D) Governments experience regular deinstitutionalization through social protest.

Question 47

Institutionalization is best understood as when __________.

A) norms become part of the formal structures of society
B) a business becomes a Fortune 400 company
C) an organization resists social protest
D) the establishment of new social roles

Question 48

Which of the following is an accurate example of norms?

A) Walking on the right side of a hallway full of people.
B) Getting a ticket for running a red light.
C) Planting a garden in the backyard.
D) Protesting a school board decision.

Question 49

Which of the following is an example of how population changes impact life chances?

A) The types of jobs and employment available to individuals can be determined by population size.
B) Population changes have very little impact on life chances.
C) People's IQs can be determined by whether a population has changed recently.
D) When people move into a new area, they immediately develop new social structures.

Question 50

Subordinate groups may challenge contemporary institutionalization practices because ___________.

A) they want to gain access to more power
B) they want to resist contemporary norms
C) they have rejected the economic structure
D) their religious conviction is no longer critically important

Question 51

How can path dependency impact the development of society?

A) It is far easier to use preexisting social structures than to develop new ones.
B) The paved means of production enhance opportunities for social change.
C) Path dependency helps societies resist institutionalization.
D) Governments cannot adequately respond to path dependency among the population.

Question 52

Which of the following is an example of individual free will being used against social structures?

A) civil rights activism
B) stopping at a stop sign
C) marrying someone for love
D) voting for a mayoral candidate

Question 53

Which of the following best explains how social hierarchies arise?

A) They arise when one group is able to use their possession of an asset to claim advantage over others.
B) They are predetermined by the caste one is born into.
C) They are determined by our religious ideology.
D) They are based on our skills and abilities.