Question 1

A problem that has causes and solutions which lie outside an individual and the immediate environment is called a(n) _____.

Accepted Answer

A)  personal problem 
B)  social problem 
C)  institutional problem 
D)  societal problem

Question 2

A method of research in which a sample of people are interviewed or given questionnaires in order to get data on some phenomenon is called _____.

Accepted Answer

A)  an experiment 
B)  a survey 
C)  a record study 
D)  an observational study

Question 3

The organization of data to show the number of times each item occurs in a distribution is called _____.

Accepted Answer

A)  the mean 
B)  the frequency distribution 
C)  the median 
D)  the range

Question 4

How does structural functionalism explain poverty?

Accepted Answer

A)  The upper and middle classes oppress and exploit the poor and create ideologies that blame the poor and justify their poverty. 
B)  Political, economic, and educational institutions are not functioning adequately, so that old arrangements are obsolete before new arrangements are in place. 
C)  Poverty became a social problem in the United States when people accepted that people remain poor when they define their poverty as the result of their own deficiencies. 
D)  Upper- and middle-class lawmakers regularly support corporate welfare but reject such welfare ideas for the poor as a guaranteed minimum annual income.

Question 5

The variables in an experiment that are manipulated to see how they affect changes in the other variables are called the dependent variables.

Accepted Answer

A) True 
 B)False

Question 6

A problem whose causes and solutions lie outside the individual and the immediate environment is called a(n) _____.

Accepted Answer

The answer of A problem whose causes and solutions lie...

Question 7

The arrangement of society into groups that are unequal with regard to such valued resources as wealth, power, and prestige is called _____.

Accepted Answer

A)  a stratification system 
B)  culture 
C)  society 
D)  intuition

Question 8

A sociological theory that focuses on social systems and how their interdependent parts maintain order is called _____.

Accepted Answer

The answer of A sociological theory that focuses on social...

Question 9

How does the conflict theory explain social problems generally?

Accepted Answer

A)  Problems occur when patterns of social interaction alter the social structural factors. 
B)  A situation or form of behavior becomes a problem when people define it as such. 
C)  Problems are the result of dominance over, and exploitation of, some groups by others. 
D)  Problems arise out of social disorganization, a state in which consensus about norms has broken down.

Question 10

A problem that can be explained in terms of the qualities of an individual is called a(n) _____.

Accepted Answer

A)  personal problem 
B)  social problem 
C)  institutional problem 
D)  societal problem

Question 11

A symbolic interactionist approach would stress the fact that people learn criminal behavior by communicating with, and accepting for themselves the perspective of, others who approve of such behavior.

Accepted Answer

A) True 
 B)False

Question 12

Which famous sociologist referred to personal problems as the "personal troubles of milieu"?

Accepted Answer

A)  Robert Merton 
B)  Emile Durkheim 
C)  Max Weber 
D)  C. Wright Mills

Question 13

A theory that focuses on the interaction between individuals, the individual's perception of situations, and the ways in which social life is constructed through interaction is called symbolic interactionism.

Accepted Answer

A) True 
 B)False

Question 14

The process of carefully attending to spoken or written information in order to evaluate its validity is called critical thinking.

Accepted Answer

A) True 
 B)False

Question 15

A set of ideas that explain or justify some aspect of social reality is called _____.

Accepted Answer

A)  an attitude 
B)  an ideology 
C)  a value 
D)  a role

Question 16

The idea of the globalization of the economy would be measured at what level of social life?

Accepted Answer

A)  individual level 
B)  group level 
C)  societal level 
D)  global level

Question 17

The _____ is the argument that things could not have worked out any other way than the way they did.

Accepted Answer

A)  fallacy of dramatic instance 
B)  fallacy of thinking 
C)  fallacy of retrospective determinism 
D)  fallacy of misplaced concreteness

Question 18

In the context of critical thinking, which of the following is true of the fallacy of retrospective determinism?

Accepted Answer

A)  It is the tendency to overgeneralize, to use one, two, or three cases to support an entire argument. 
B)  It asserts that what happened historically had to happen, and it had to happen just the way it did. 
C)  It is an idea, a way of thinking about a particular collectivity of people. 
D)  It attributes the cause of a particular problem to society and denies individual responsibility.

Question 19

A theory that focuses on contradictory interests, inequalities between social groups, and the resulting conflict and change is called structural functionalism.

Accepted Answer

A) True 
 B)False

Question 20

The idea of the globalization of the economy would be measured at the global level of social life.

Accepted Answer

A) True 
 B)False

Exam 1: Understanding Social Problems

A problem that has causes and solutions which lie outside an individual and the immediate environment is called a(n) _____.

A method of research in which a sample of people are interviewed or given questionnaires in order to get data on some phenomenon is called _____.

The organization of data to show the number of times each item occurs in a distribution is called _____.

How does structural functionalism explain poverty?

The variables in an experiment that are manipulated to see how they affect changes in the other variables are called the dependent variables.

A problem whose causes and solutions lie outside the individual and the immediate environment is called a(n) _____.

The arrangement of society into groups that are unequal with regard to such valued resources as wealth, power, and prestige is called _____.

A sociological theory that focuses on social systems and how their interdependent parts maintain order is called _____.

How does the conflict theory explain social problems generally?

A problem that can be explained in terms of the qualities of an individual is called a(n) _____.

A symbolic interactionist approach would stress the fact that people learn criminal behavior by communicating with, and accepting for themselves the perspective of, others who approve of such behavior.

Which famous sociologist referred to personal problems as the "personal troubles of milieu"?

A theory that focuses on the interaction between individuals, the individual's perception of situations, and the ways in which social life is constructed through interaction is called symbolic interactionism.

The process of carefully attending to spoken or written information in order to evaluate its validity is called critical thinking.

A set of ideas that explain or justify some aspect of social reality is called _____.

The idea of the globalization of the economy would be measured at what level of social life?

The _____ is the argument that things could not have worked out any other way than the way they did.

In the context of critical thinking, which of the following is true of the fallacy of retrospective determinism?

A theory that focuses on contradictory interests, inequalities between social groups, and the resulting conflict and change is called structural functionalism.

The idea of the globalization of the economy would be measured at the global level of social life.