Ch 2: Practice Problems

Question 1

Durkheim concluded that _____ is a social phenomenon.

a. suicide
b. military service
c. capitalism
d. economics

Answer 1

suicide

Question 2

Which sociologist believed that the organization of society is determined by its economic organization?

a. Mead
b. Weber
c. Marx
d. Durkheim

Answer 2

Marx

Question 3

Exchange theorists would be interested in which of the following questions?

a. What specific behaviors can indicate prejudice against a member of a racial minority?
b. How large a favor does it take to require reciprocation among contemporary American teens?
c. In what ways are women an oppressed minority?
d. Which symbols are used in the Roman Catholic religion?

Answer 3

How large a favor does it take to require reciprocation among contemporary American teens?

Question 4

(T/F) The first social scientist to receive a Nobel Prize was Robert Merton.

Answer 4

False

Question 5

What does social statics mean?

a. Statistical analysis
b. Social structure
c. Dramatic behavior
d. Social change

Answer 5

Social Structure

Question 6

_____ suggests that societies are like biological organisms.

a. Symbolic interactionism
b. Structural functionalism
c. Exchange theory
d. Evolutionary theory

Answer 6

Evolutionary theory

Question 7

(T/F) For Durkheim, social phenomena are social facts that have no social characteristics and determinants.

Answer 7

True

Question 8

Comte promoted using empiricism, the use of _____ to discover the basic laws of society.

a. value-free science
b. observation and experiments
c. cultural relativism
d. mean, median, and mode

Answer 8

observation and experiments

Question 9

(T/F) Durkheim concluded that suicide is a social phenomenon.

Answer 9

True

Question 10

Sets of interrelated statements or propositions used to explain social phenomena are called _____.

a. functional alternatives
b. theories
c. social facts
d. variables

Answer 10

theories

Question 11

Which of the following would be of interest to symbolic interactionists?

a. Individuals seeking health care
b. Individuals participating in the educational system
c. Individuals working to solve societal dysfunctions
d. Individuals stopping at stop signs and obeying other traffic symbols

Answer 11

Individuals stopping at stop signs and obeying other traffic symbols

Question 12

_____ argued that determining social class was a subjective process involving how we perceive power, wealth, and prestige.

a. Durkheim
b. Marx
c. Weber
d. Mead

Answer 12

Weber

Question 13

(T/F) Using spoken and written language demonstrates the human ability to use symbols.

Answer 13

True

Question 14

(T/F) Feminist sociologists believe that gender is basic only to the concepts of socialization and the economy.

Answer 14

False

Question 15

_____ created a settlement house called Hull House.

a. Harriet Martineau
b. Jane Addams
c. Bell Hooks
d. Patricia Hill Collins

Answer 15

Jane Addams

Question 16

_____ believed that social conflict was at the core of every society.

a. Simmel
b. Marx
c. Durkheim
d. Spencer

Answer 16

Marx

Question 17

(T/F) Conflict theorists regard society as being in a constant state of competition and change, while structural functional theorists regard society as potentially being in a state of equilibrium.

Answer 17

True

Question 18

(T/F) Comte’s social statics focused on the organism’s structure, and his social dynamics focused on processes and forms of change.

Answer 18

true

Question 19

(T/F) Spencer, the “father of sociology,” first called the discipline social physics.

Answer 19

False
Rationale: Comte, the “father of sociology,” first called the discipline social physics.

Question 20

(T/F) Spencer theorized that if societies could NOT adapt, they would die out, and individuals who could not fit in also did NOT deserve to survive and flourish.

Answer 20

True

Question 21

(T/F) Together, Herbert Spencer and Charles Darwin coined the term “survival of the fittest.”

Answer 21

False
Rationale: Herbert Spencer coined the term “survival of the fittest.”

Question 22

(T/F) Spencer viewed society as progressing through an orderly evolution, and he thought that planned social change would help this progress.

Answer 22

False
Rationale: Spencer argued that planned change would disrupt the orderly evolution of society.

Question 23

(T/F) Marx and Engels felt that the misery of the lower classes was created by their willingness to make poor life choices.

Answer 23

False
Rationale: A common theme in the writings of Marx and Engels was a profound sense of outrage at the misery produced in the lower classes by the industrial order.

Question 24

(T/F) Marx believed that both the proletariat and the bourgeoisie needed to develop class consciousness.

Answer 24

False
Rationale: Marx believed that the proletariat were oppressed and needed to develop class consciousness.

Question 25

(T/F) According to Marx, the workers were the proletariat, and the bourgeoisie were the owners and rulers of society.

Answer 25

True

Question 26

(T/F) One of Marx’s key concepts was economic determinism, the idea that society is based on economic factors.

Answer 26

true

Question 27

(T/F) Durkheim concluded that suicide is a religious phenomenon.

Answer 27

False
Rationale: Durkheim concluded that suicide is a social phenomenon.

Question 28

(T/F) For Durkheim, social phenomena are social facts that have distinctive social statics and social dynamics.

Answer 28

True
Rationale: For Durkheim, social phenomena are social facts that have distinctive social characteristics and determinants.

Question 29

(T/F) Verstehen is one form of anomic suicide.

Answer 29

False
Rationale: In Weber’s work, the concept of verstehen, meaning understanding human action by examining the subjective meaning that people attach to their own behavior and the behavior of others, was very important.

Question 30

(T/F) Weber argued that determining social class was both an objective process and a subjective process, involving how we perceive power, wealth, and prestige.

Answer 30

False
Rationale: Weber argued that determining social class was a subjective process, involving how we perceive power, wealth, and prestige.

Question 31

(T/F) Sociologists from the Chicago School explained human behavior in terms of religious doctrine.

Answer 31

False
Rationale: Sociologists from the Chicago School explained human behavior in terms of science.

Question 32

(T/F) The first social scientist to receive a Nobel Prize was Jane Addams.

Answer 32

True

Question 33

(T/F) According to Merton, manifest functions are not intended, but they are recognized.

Answer 33

False
Rationale: According to Merton, manifest functions are both intended and recognized.

Question 34

(T/F) Latent functions are the consequences of a social system, leading to the breakdown of the system.

Answer 34

False
Rationale: Dysfunctions are the consequences of a social system, leading to the breakdown of the system.

Question 35

(T/F) Contemporary conflict theorists believe that conflicts involve a wide range of groups or interests, such as different age groups, genders, racial and ethnic groups, and religious groups.

Answer 35

True

Question 36

(T/F) Conflict theorists regard society as being in a state of equilibrium, while structural functional theorists regard society as being in a constant state of competition and change.

Answer 36

False
Rationale: Conflict theorists regard society as being in a constant state of competition and change, while structural functional theorists regard society as potentially being in a state of equilibrium.

Question 37

(T/F) Following traffic signs demonstrates the human ability to use symbols.

Answer 37

True

Question 38

(T/F) Mead determined that it is the use of symbols that sets humans apart from animals.

Answer 38

True

Question 39

(T/F) Symbolic interactionism has a microsociological orientation.

Answer 39

True

Question 40

(T/F) In exchange theory, power is the basis of social relationships.

Answer 40

False
Rationale: In exchange theory, expectations of reciprocation is the basis of social relationships.

Question 41

(T/F) Evolutionary theory suggests that societies are like factories.

Answer 41

False
Rationale: Evolutionary theory suggests that societies are like biological organisms.

Question 42

(T/F) Feminist sociologists believe that gender is basic only to the five major institutions of society.

Answer 42

False
Rationale: Feminist sociologists believe that gender is basic to all social structure and organization.