Deck 1: Understanding Society: Perspectives and Concepts in Sociology

Question 1

Judge the following statement based on the criteria below:An attempt to understand a social situation can begin to occur through a focus on the humanexperience, examining what people do and how they act. This will only be a partial understandingthough unless the context of the situation is taken into account. Knowing the circumstances in whichan event takes place makes it meaningful.

A) Excellent (the statement is correct, with a clear and correct assumption about the concepts)
B) Good (the statement is correct, but the assumption about the concepts is incorrect)
C) Mediocre (the statement is correct, and the assumptions about the concepts are irrelevant)
D) Unacceptable (the statement is incorrect and the explanation is unclear and irrelevant)

Answer 1

Excellent (the statement is correct, with a clear and correct assumption about the concepts)

Question 2

Another way to understand Mill's sociological imagination is to state that private troubles refer to the ______________ and public issues refers to the _____________.

A) context; human experience
B) historical; day-to-day
C) human experience; context
D) day-to-day; historical

Answer 2

human experience; context

Question 3

Which of the following group of terms is commonly associated with Durkheim's view of society?

A) Verstehen; materialism; bureaucracy
B) Impartiality; subjective; ideal type
C) Bureaucracy; verstehen; ideal type
D) Social fact; independent; objective causal force

Answer 3

Social fact; independent; objective causal force

Question 4

Judge the following statement based on the criteria below: According to C. Wright Mills the sociological imagination is a way for sociologists to think about their social world. He made a distinction between private troubles; our day-to-day concerns and public issues; concerns that are bigger than private troubles. The most important context of our day-to-day lives is symbolism and language which shape our experiences.

A) Excellent (the statement is correct, with a clear and correct assumption about the concept)
B) Good (the statement is correct, but the assumption about the concept is incorrect)
C) Mediocre (the statement is correct, and the assumption about the concept is irrelevant)
D) Unacceptable (the statement is incorrect and the explanation is unclear and irrelevant)

Question 5

In terms of how the individual is viewed in society, what are the similarities between sociological thinkers Harriet Martineau and Max Weber?

A) Both focus on the individual's objective understanding of the society they live in with little attention paid to individual's subjective experiences.
B)Both focus on the material factors in society and the relationship individuals have to these factors such as food, shelter and clothing.
C)Both focus on the individual's subjective experiences in society while acknowledging that it is situated in the broader social context.
D)These two thinkers do not share similarities. There is more of a similarity between Emile Durkheim and Karl Marx.

Question 6

In your sociology class you are asked to briefly describe the importance of sociological theory as proposed by the four classical thinkers. Which of the following statements is correct?

A) Although the four thinkers differ in their views somewhat, overall they share a number of similarities such as the underlying goal of achieving freedom, liberty and equality in society. As well each of them is focused on understanding the social atmosphere in order to make broad social change.
B) The four thinkers have very different ways of understanding the social world. Because society is so complex, it is necessary to have more than one way to look at the world. Having different perspectives gives us many ideas to help us exercise our sociological imagination in order to contextualize the human experience.
C) The four thinkers share some similarities in the way they understand society yet each of the views are independent of each other. It is important that each of the thinkers looks to understand a different part of society so we can then know the right way to view our society.
D) Each of the four thinkers believes that their own perspective and view of the social world is the right one. We need to have a number of ways to look at society so we can compare them and determine which is right and which is wrong.

Question 7

You are asked to identify each sociological thinker discussed in the chapter with the major concepts that relate to their particular perspective on society. Here is your statement:"Durkheim described society as both a(n) __________ and a(n) __________. Weber developed the notion of __________ and from this came the concept of __________. Marx focused on what he called __________ which is/are directly related to _________. Martineau felt very strongly about the concept of __________ and __________."Fill in the correct concepts in the order they should appear.

A) social fact; materialism; empirical observation; ideal type; economic factors; impartiality; sui generis; idealist thinking.
B) empirical observation; sui generis; materialism; impartiality; idealist thinking; ideal type; economic factors; social fact.
C) sui generis; social fact; ideal type; idealist thinking; materialism; economic factors; impartiality; empirical observation.
D) ideal type; social fact; idealist thinking; sui generis; impartiality; economic factors; empirical observation; materialism.

Question 8

In terms of how society is viewed, what are the similarities between sociological thinkers Karl Marx and Max Weber?

A) Both agreed that social reality is independent and exists outside of the individuals in the society, itis objective.
B) Both agreed that the social organization of contemporary society was based on conflict between
C) Both focused on understanding inequality and the distribution of power among members in society.
D) Both relied on empirical observations of people's levels of self-awareness in order to understand the social atmosphere.

Question 9

Which of the following historical events was instrumental in informing Karl Marx's views and perspectives of the human experience?

A) Industrialization
B) Feudalism
C) Urbanization
D) Secularization

Question 10

In tracing how societies evolved historically and the changes this made to the human experience we see that __________ and __________ clearly led to the rise in __________.

A) feudalism; secularization; urbanization;
B) urbanization; secularization; industrialization
C) urbanization; feudalism; secularization
D) industrialization; urbanization; secularization

Question 11

Which of the following statements best outlines the interrelationship between the perspectives of Martineau, Durkheim and Marx?

A) Both Martineau and Durkheim generalize about everyday forms of social interaction in order to explain society as a whole while Marx considers how the status quo is established and maintained and who benefits and who suffers from the existing system.
B) Martineau shares Marx's attention to inequality, going beyond its focus on social class to address the role of gender in creating and sustaining inequality. In this regard Martineau has little in common with Durkheim who shares Marx's focus on analyzing large-scale, society-wide patterns of social behaviour.
C) Durkheim and Marx both focus on maintaining stability in society and consensus among members of the society while Martineau emphasizes the distribution of power and the allocation of resources among the members of a society.
D) Marx focuses on an analysis of social order, Durkheim focuses on an analysis of social inequality, and Martineau incorporates each of these themes into her perspective with an extended focus addressing the role of gender inequality.

Question 12

Judge the following statement based on the criteria listed below: In applying the sociological imagination to the issue of unemployment, it can be stated that a country's unemployment rate is a public issue while an individual who loses her job is experiencing private trouble. Thus we can assume that the relationship between the society and an individual is a reciprocal one.

A) Excellent (the statement is correct, with a clear and correct assumption about the concept)
B) Good (the statement is correct, but the assumption about the concept is incorrect)
C) Mediocre (the statement is correct, and the assumption about the concept is irrelevant)
D) Unacceptable (the statement is incorrect and the explanation is unclear and irrelevant)

Question 13

Based on Durkheim's view of society, his research on suicide can be summed up by which of the following statements?

A) Suicide is a solitary, personal act, unrelated to social facts
B) A person's decision to commit suicide is related to social factors
C) Suicide is the result of a problem in one's biological make-up
D) People's desire to kill themselves is due to neurological problems

Question 14

Which sociological thinker was interested in how society's institutions may help to maintain the privileges of some groups and keep others in a subordinate position?

A) Weber
B) Durkheim
C) Martineau
D) Marx

Question 15

Abbreviations in the text-messaging world such as lol, brb and g2g are examples of which of the following?

A) language
B) context
C) symbols
D) human experience

Question 16

The experience of Genie in your textbook best illustrates which aspect of the social context?

A) The impact of social isolation
B) The effect of private troubles
C) The importance of social atmosphere
D) The result of poor parenting

Question 17

You have been asked to paraphrase what you have learned about Max Weber's concept of verstehen in order to inform other first year sociology students about this concept. The following is your answer: Sociologist Max Weber argued that if we want to truly understand why individuals behave as they do we must ask them individually in order to learn what they believe about their own social world. Weber believes that people's meanings or the way they view and understand the world is directly related to their objective meanings of their world. How would you judge this answer?

A) Excellent (the statement is correct, with a clear and correct assumption about the concept)
B) Good (the statement is correct, but the assumption about the concept is incorrect)
C) Mediocre (the statement is correct, and the assumption about the concept is irrelevant)
D) Unacceptable (the statement is incorrect and the explanation is unclear and irrelevant)

Question 18

A common goal among all four sociological thinkers is the idea that:

A) Each of the thinkers has fundamentally different and incompatible ways of understanding the world. Each believes their understanding and analysis of society to be the "right" one.
B) Each thinker has many perspectives on how society is organized and operates, each having his/her own emphasis and theoretical foundations.
C) These thinkers although having very different views of how society is organized, all contribute ways of understanding the sociological imagination.
D) Each thinker focuses on asking practical questions about how society is organized, and links these questions to an understanding of the experiences of individuals in that society.

Question 19

Which of the following statements is correct?

A) Human experience is to private troubles as social context is to public issues
B) Human experience is to social context as symbols are to the sociological imagination
C) Human experience is to public issues as social context is to private troubles
D) Human experience is to the sociological imagination as social context is to symbols

Question 20

You have been asked to explain the concept of the sociological imagination. The following is your answer: "Mills defines the sociological imagination as a way for people to understand not only their society but also their own lives. Our day-to-day concerns, events and experiences he called private troubles and a society's social and historical conditions he called public issues. In order to fully understand society and our place in it we must look to make a connection between the two. He believed that social and historical conditions are often the cause of day-to-day concerns, events and experiences."

A) The word "understand" should be replaced with "contextualize"
B) The phrases "private troubles" and "public issues" should be switched
C) "social and historical conditions" and "day-to-day concerns, events and experiences" should be switched
D) This answer is correct as it is