Chp 1 Practice Q's

Question 1

Which term refers to the field of study that helps students move beyond their personal biography to see the world in a broader context made up of more than physical, emotional, or psychological causes?

a) symbolic interactionism
b) social science
c) sociology
d) economics

Answer 1

c) sociology

Question 2

What powerfully influences an individual’s tastes, behaviours, aspirations, and future?

a) biology
b) personal preferences
c) patterns of social relations
d) paid work

Answer 2

c) patterns of social relations

Question 3

Which term is used by sociologists to denote stable patterns of social relations?

a) social organization
b) social solidarity
c) social structures
d) sociological mapping

Answer 3

c) social structures

Question 4

What type of social structure does the social class system in Canada exemplify?

a) mesostructure
b) global structure
c) macrostructure
d) microstructure

Answer 4

c) macrostructure

Question 5

After 25 years of employment for the Acme Auto Company, Andrew has been told that he and all his co-workers will be out of a job in one week’s time. He appreciates that the closing of the plant is not due to a lack of employee productivity but rather that the company moving its manufacturing division to Cambodia. What is Andrew using to fully understand the situation?

a) sociological imagination
b) social structural analysis
c) power relations reasoning
d) microstructure interpretation

Answer 5

a) sociological imagination

Question 6

Corey can’t get a job, even though he has a strong resumé. He is unemployed because of the recession and not because he is lazy or unskilled. According to C. Wright Mills, what quality of mind would a person have if they supported this explanation?

a) sociological functionality
b) sociological imagination
c) interdisciplinary discernment
d) humanist perspective

Answer 6

b) sociological imagination

Question 7

What do sociologists learn from examining historical social transformations in a society, such as the Industrial Revolution?
a) how to understand factual trends
b) how to design better social policies
c) how to use historical information
d) how to deal with and overcome social problems

Answer 7

d) how to deal with and overcome social problems

Question 8

Which social movement embodied the idea of understanding society on the basis of evidence rather than speculation?

a) Industrial Revolution
b) Scientific Revolution
c) Sociological Revolution
d) Democratic Revolution

Answer 8

b) Scientific Revolution

Question 9

The sociological imagination started before C. Wright Mills even coined the term. Which of the following influenced the development of the sociological imagination?

a) social solidarity, social interaction, and society
b) the Civil War, World War I, and World War II
c) microstructures, macrostructures, and global structures
d) the Scientific Revolution, the Democratic Revolution, and the Industrial Revolution

Answer 9

d) the Scientific Revolution, the Democratic Revolution, and the Industrial Revolution

Question 10

Taylor thinks that more funding should be provided to researchers who are searching for alternatives to fossil fuels. According to the text, what likely drives Taylor’s opinions about where research monies should be directed?

a) the sociological imagination
b) microstructural speculation
c) cost-benefit analysis
d) personal values

Answer 10

d) personal values

Question 11

What are the three building blocks of all of the natural and social sciences?

a) field observations, questionnaires, and interviews
b) casual hunches, mathematical formulae, observable facts c) abstract experience, concrete experience, inductive reasoning
d) values, theories, and research

Answer 11

d) values, theories, and research

Question 12

Who originated conflict theory?

a) John Porter
b) Erving Goffman
c) Émile Durkheim
d) Karl Marx

Answer 12

d) Karl Marx

Question 13

Automobiles provide transportation and independence, but they are also responsible for a great deal of air pollution and contribute to global warming. Which term would Robert Merton use to categorize these negative impacts?

a) dysfunctions
b) latent functions
c) manifest functions
d) detrimental functions

Answer 13

a) dysfunctions

Question 14

What would have been an activity carried out by Harriet Martineau, the first female sociologist?

a) writing about fashion and social trends
b) reinforcing men’s household leadership role
c) promotion of the importance of motherhood
d) advocating for higher education for women

Answer 14

d) advocating for higher education for women

Question 15

Evelyn is an 83-year-old woman whose husband passed away last year. She spends most of her days alone because many of her friends are either ill or dead, and her three children are living and working in Europe. Evelyn has decided to commit suicide because she cannot stand being lonely anymore. According to Durkheim, what kind of suicide is Evelyn committing?

a) altruistic suicide
b) egoistic suicide
c) anomic suicide
d) fatalistic suicide

Answer 15

b) egoistic suicide

Question 16

Which insight is Robert Merton noted for contributing?

a) Lessening privilege will lower societal conflicts and increase human welfare.
b) Social structures have both manifest and latent functions in society.
c) Favourable economic circumstances alone did not cause early capitalist development.
d) Male domination and female subordination are determined by structures of social power and social convention

Answer 16

b) Social structures have both manifest and latent functions in society.

Question 17

Alvin Schmidt believes in the necessity of hard work and living modestly as a component of his personal salvation and assuredness of a place in heaven when he dies. Which term best identifies Alvin’s beliefs?

a) Protestant ethic
b) Calvinist ethic
c) good works ethic
d) salvation ethic

Answer 17

a) Protestant ethic

Question 18

Which beliefs provides the basis for Marx’s theory of society?

a) the belief that people are products of their social environments
b) the belief that conflict between different economic classes is necessary to produce social change
c) the belief that the evolution of society is based on the concept of the “survival of the fittest”
d) the belief that society is comprised of the dual processes of social statics and social dynamics

Answer 18

b) the belief that conflict between different economic classes is necessary to produce social change

Question 19

Which theoretical perspective would place an emphasis on studying patriarchy in a society?

a) feminist theory
b) functionalism
c) symbolic interactionism
d) conflict theory

Answer 19

a) feminist theory

Question 20

Which of the following is NOT one of the three core ideas of symbolic interactionist theory?

a) meaning
b) interpersonal communication
c) values
d) human agency

Answer 20

c) values

Question 21

What is it called when participants are allowed to judge their degree of personal risk and decide whether they want to be studied or not?

a) informed consent
b) open-ended questioning
c) confidentiality
d) reactivity

Answer 21

a) informed consent

Question 22

Which term best describes a relationship between two variables if the value of one variable changes with the value of another?

a) generalizability
b) reliability
c) association
d) correspondence

Answer 22

c) association

Question 23

What is the one big disadvantage of using existing documents and official statistics in research projects?

a) The documents and statistics will reflect the biases of the individuals and organizations that created them.
b) They are very expensive and difficult to obtain.
c) Although they have high generalizability, existing documents and official statistics have low reliability.
d) They have a very high reactivity factor.

Answer 23

a) The documents and statistics will reflect the biases of the individuals and organizations that created them.

Question 24

According to the text, what is the most widely used sociological research method?

a) experiment
b) participant observation
c) analysis of official statistics
d) surveys

Answer 24

d) surveys

Question 25

In sociology experiments, how are members of the experimental and control groups selected?

a) by using sampling frames
b) by using probability quotas
c) by using randomization techniques
d) by using representative samples

Answer 25

c) by using randomization techniques

Question 26

Naghmeh is interested in exploring student attitudes regarding the use of multiple-choice tests as an assessment measure in university courses. Which method would be best suited for her research?

a) field research
b) survey
c) participant observation
d) experiment

Answer 26

b) survey

Question 27

What is the process by which formerly separate economies, states, and cultures are becoming tied together and people are becoming increasingly aware of their growing interdependence?

a) globalization
b) consumerism
c) postindustrial revolution
d) postindustrial societies

Answer 27

a) globalization

Question 28

According to sociologists, what are globalization and postindustrialism likely to produce in the future?

a) freedom and constraint
b) equality and economic freedom
c) opportunity for all
d) a changed political system

Answer 28

a) freedom and constraint

Question 29

Which trend is a leading cause of postindustrialism?

a) a return to traditional forms of work and the rejection of technology
b) dysfunctional changes in the family caused by two working parents
c) the growing inequality between the poor and the wealthy
d) a shift from manufacturing to service industries

Answer 29

d) a shift from manufacturing to service industries

Question 30

Today, in many parts of the world, we have greater acceptance of sexual diversity and a variety of family forms. Our cities are diverse, communication is international and instantaneous, and people are migrating around the planet on a scale never achieved before. According to sociologists, what is this freedom a result of?

a) globalization
b) industrial revolution
c) technology
d) evolutionary progress

Answer 30

a) globalization