Deck 21: Social Theory

Question 1

The ownership of capital is the critical dividing line between the proletariat and the bourgeoisie,according to Marx.

Answer 1

True

Question 2

Statistical data about the social conditions of life in black communities was unavailable to Du Bois in the 1890s,when he was studying the black community in Philadelphia.

Answer 2

False

Question 3

Middle-range theories,as opposed to grand social theories,apply to specific problems and have clearer and more limited goals.

Answer 3

True

Question 4

The idea of charisma rarely applies to religious figures.

Question 5

Conflict theory is supportive of all the basic tenets of structural functionalism.

Question 6

According to the neo-Marxists,Marx's two-class model of a dominant and a subordinate class fits modern capitalist societies very well.

Question 7

Rising rates of intermarriage across ethnic lines is an indication that social distance between ethnicities is eroding.

Question 8

Some social scientists argue that inequality is a natural condition of human societies.

Question 9

The Presentation of Self in Everyday Life was written by Erving Goffman.

Question 10

The foundations of modern sociology began to emerge in the middle of the twentieth century.

Question 11

Talcott Parsons worked to develop a symbolic interactionist theory of society.

Question 12

Simmel noted an important distinction in how all groups function based solely on their size.

Question 13

Conflict theory rejects the idea that society is influenced by a power elite.

Question 14

One of the critical questions that Marx examined throughout his career concerned the problem of social solidarity.

Question 15

Social theories are not used to explain universal features of all studies,but rather they apply only to a single topic,such as race or gender.

Question 16

Modern societies are characterized by organic solidarity.

Question 17

Symbolic interactionism focuses on individuals and individual action as heavily shaped by society and its constituent parts.

Question 18

According to Weber,traditional motives are guided by a belief in an ultimate value,regardless of any reward that an action might bestow.

Question 19

According to the neo-Marxists,the benefits of social insurance programs,such as pensions for the elderly,persuade the working class that socialism is not needed.

Question 20

Weber theorized that power is essentially the same thing as authority.

Question 21

When did the discipline of modern sociology emerge?

A)in the second half of the eighteenth century
B)in the first half of the nineteenth century
C)in the second half of the nineteenth century
D)in the middle of the twentieth century

Question 22

Social theories are __________ .

A)systematic ideas about societal problems with specific solutions
B)systematic ideas about the relationship between individuals and societies
C)systematic judgments about the value of individuals and societies
D)systematic rules of individual and societal behavior

Question 23

The Sociology Project focuses attention on three of Durkheim's contributions to sociology.What are they?

A)economic productivity,globalization,and social facts
B)religion as a force in modern life,social facts,and economic productivity
C)social solidarity,globalization,and social facts
D)social facts,social solidarity,and religion as a force in modern life

Question 24

In Marx's analysis of capitalism,which group owns resources?

A)the bourgeoisie
B)the Marxists
C)the proletariat
D)the serfs

Question 25

What term do later sociologists (those coming after Durkheim)use interchangeably with Durkheim's term social facts?

A)social effects
B)social forces
C)social norms
D)social parameters

Question 26

__________ are social theories very specific to a particular time and place.

A)Design-focus theories
B)Middle-range theories
C)Minimum-theme theories
D)Single-topic theories

Question 27

What effect of rapid industrialization did Durkheim seek to understand?

A)capitalism
B)globalization
C)social disorder
D)social networking

Question 28

According to Marx,what caused a new mode of production to arise?

A)intimidation
B)intergenerational mobilization
C)revolution
D)socialization

Question 29

The period during which modern sociology emerged was characterized by __________.

A)the transition from Marxism to communitarianism
B)the transition from an agricultural economy to an industrial economy
C)the transition from sovereign nation-states to democratic nation-states
D)the transition from nonreligious ideas to religiously motivated ideas

Question 30

Feminist theorists have paid special attention to the ways in which gender can be experienced differently by different women.

Question 31

According to Foucault,individuals are incapable of policing themselves.

Question 32

What three common themes do major sociological theories seek to address?

A)basis for social order,basis for social change,and basis for social chaos
B)circumstances under which societies change,individual psychology,and social transitions
C)nature of the individual,basis for social order,and circumstances under which societies change
D)nature of the individual,power,and social transitions

Question 33

With whom did Karl Marx write The Communist Manifesto?

A)W.E.B.Du Bois
B)Emile Durkheim
C)Friedrich Engels
D)Michel Foucault

Question 34

Gender is biologically,not socially,constructed.

Question 35

What is most likely to happen when we violate norms?

A)We are ignored.
B)We are pitied.
C)We are rewarded.
D)We are sanctioned.

Question 36

On what did Marx base his analysis of society?

A)its economic system
B)its legal system
C)its social system
D)its welfare system

Question 37

Beliefs and preferences are important mechanisms of social life,according to analytical sociologists.

Question 38

According to Marx,when does societal change occur?

A)only when the belief system of that society is radically altered
B)only when the economic system of that society is radically altered
C)only when the kinship system of that society is radically altered
D)only when the reward system of that society is radically altered

Question 39

Durkheim would be likely to agree that social facts are analogous to which of the following concepts?

A)codes of ethics
B)laws of motion
C)personal preferences
D)religious beliefs

Question 40

According to Foucault,the primary characteristic of power is that it operates exclusively in the open.

Question 41

Who was the first social theorist to attempt to develop a functionalist theory of society?

A)Ralf Dahrendorf
B)Emile Durkheim
C)c.Wright Mills
D)Talcott Parsons

Question 42

Durkheim's definition of religion centers on a contrast between __________.

A)behaviors and beliefs
B)a place and an object
C)the sacred and the profane
D)supernatural deities and the divine

Question 43

__________in American society was Du Bois's overriding concern.

A)Gender inequality
B)Racial inequality
C)Poverty
D)Ethnic differences

Question 44

What phrase did Du Bois use to describe the impact of racism and social structure on individual African Americans?

A)double blindness
B)double consciousness
C)triple construct
D)triple parity

Question 45

In his influential study of suicide,what did Durkheim find?

A)that more suicides occur among Catholics than among Protestants
B)that more suicides occur among the wealthy than among the poor
C)that more suicides occur among the less educated than among the more educated
D)that more suicides occur among men than among women

Question 46

Durkheim made a distinction between two types of social solidarity.What are they?

A)intrinsic and extrinsic solidarity
B)mechanical and organic solidarity
C)mechanical and molecular solidarity
D)organic and transitional solidarity

Question 47

Where is a very extensive division of labor and mutual dependence among people likely to be found?

A)in modern societies characterized by mechanical solidarity
B)in modern societies characterized by organic solidarity
C)in tribal societies characterized by extrinsic solidarity
D)in tribal societies characterized by transitional solidarity

Question 48

What type of social solidarity is dominant in "primitive" societies,according to Durkheim?

A)intrinsic solidarity
B)mechanical solidarity
C)organic solidarity
D)transitional solidarity

Question 49

Who coined the term collective consciousness?

A)W.E.B.Du Bois
B)Emile Durkheim
C)Michel Foucault
D)Karl Marx

Question 50

According to Durkheim,social forces __________ individual behavior.

A)influence
B)do not influence
C)determine
D)do not determine

Question 51

Weber is credited with introducing which new dimension to the work of sociologists?

A)the biological basis of thought
B)the material condition of existence
C)the morality of agents and actors
D)the motive behind individual action

Question 52

Weber theorized that social action is guided by four types of motivations,or rationales.What are they?

A)absolute rationality,affirmative rationality,agency motives,and agenda setting
B)affectual motives,instrumental rationality,traditional motives,and value rationality
C)instructive rationality,interdisciplinary motives,operational rationality,and proportional motives
D)socialization motives,tribal rationality,value motives,and welfare rationality

Question 53

Which type of analysis would be more helpful than the others in understanding how a video goes viral on the Internet?

A)meta-analysis
B)network analysis
C)theoretical analysis
D)value analysis

Question 54

In what year did W.E.B.Du Bois publish The Souls of Black Folks?

A)1903
B)1913
C)1923
D)1933

Question 55

With which religious faith did Weber associate the early adoption of capitalism?

A)Catholicism
B)Jainism
C)Judaism
D)Protestantism

Question 56

According to Weber,members of status groups share a common identity that arises__________ .

A)from the economic system
B)from many different sources
C)from race and ethnicity
D)from religion

Question 57

Who viewed inequality as a natural outcome of the rise of modern society?

A)W.E.B.Du Bois
B)Emile Durkheim
C)Michel Foucault
D)Karl Marx

Question 58

__________ is an example of social closure formalized into law.

A)Apartheid in South Africa
B)The Equal Rights Amendment
C)The First Amendment
D)The glass ceiling

Question 59

Which classical social theorist is closely associated with interpretive sociology?

A)Emile Durkheim
B)Karl Marx
C)Georg Simmel
D)Max Weber

Question 60

With which of the following statements about Facebook would Simmel have likely agreed?

A)Facebook has limited the possible number of social interactions that a person can have in real life.
B)Facebook has expanded the possible number of social interactions that a person can have in real life.
C)Facebook has limited the possible social circles to which a person can claim membership.
D)Facebook has expanded the possible social circles to which a person can claim membership.

Question 61

Who,according to Mead,provides us with our sense of self?

A)the generalized other and symbolic others
B)the internal other and external others
C)significant others and the generalized other
D)symbolic others and the significant other

Question 62

According to structural functionalism,why do a society's norms,values,and institutions arise and persist?

A)because they prove to be good ways of assigning individuals to appropriate social roles
B)because they prove to be good ways of explaining why inequalities exist
C)because they prove to be good ways of keeping evolutionary change at bay
D)because they prove to be good ways of maintaining social order

Question 63

The Sociology Project discusses three new directions in sociological thought that developed in the mid-twentieth century,in the period from 1937 to 1965.What were they?

A)structural functionalism,conflict theory,and symbolic interaction
B)conflict theory,social distance theory,and symbolic interaction
C)constructivism,pluralism,and social theory
D)pluralism,social theory,and symbolic interaction

Question 64

How does Mead divide identities into two parts?

A)into the actor and the audience
B)into the I and the Me
C)into the subject and the object
D)into the symbolic and the representational

Question 65

What term did Goffman use to describe how we organize our behavior to communicate certain ideas about who we are?

A)dramaturgical management
B)impression management
C)nonverbal management
D)symbolic management

Question 66

What did Marx and Engels fail to anticipate about social classes,which neo-Marxists have since attempted to address?

A)They failed to anticipate the declining ownership of assets among the proletariat in in the twentieth century.
B)They failed to anticipate the growing size of a middle class in the twentieth century.
C)They failed to anticipate the shrinking size of the bourgeoisie in the twentieth century.
D)They failed to anticipate the shrinking disparity in wealth between the bourgeoisie and the middle class in the twentieth century.

Question 67

Name a contribution of neo-Marxists to classical Marxist theory.

A)that banking crises,such as the banking crisis in America in the 1930s,would open the door to socialist revolution
B)that business assets,such as inventories,can be used to generate greater economic rewards
C)that credentials,such as medical licenses,can be used to generate greater economic rewards
D)that the two-class model of capitalist society would open the door to socialist revolution

Question 68

Which social theorist is credited with introducing the term capitalist state to refer to the governing institutions of a capitalist society?

A)Simone de Beauvoir
B)Karl Marx
C)Immanuel Wallerstein
D)Erik Olin Wright

Question 69

What criticism helped to dislodge structural functionalism from its dominant position as a social theory in the 1960s?

A)It was criticized as a theory that demanded,but never achieved,social change.
B)It was criticized as a theory that justified the inequalities of the existing social order.
C)It was criticized as a theory that incorporated older,but not newer,theoretical traditions.
D)It was criticized as a theory that too directly shaped people's expectations about their sense of self.

Question 70

What metaphor did Parsons use to explain how societies change over time?

A)big bang theory
B)theory of evolution
C)network theory
D)theory of revolution

Question 71

Which midcentury theoretical tradition (or traditions)came under attack in the 1960s?

A)feminist theory
B)conflict theory and structural functionalism
C)structural functionalism and symbolic interactionism
D)symbolic interactionism

Question 72

Which two scholars are responsible for developing the theory of symbolic interactionism?

A)Herbert Blumer and C.Wright Mills
B)George Herbert Mead and Herbert Blumer
C)c.Wright Mills and Talcott Parsons
D)Talcott Parsons and Anita Stimson

Question 73

With which of the following statements about globalization would a neo-Marxist agree?

A)Capitalism is an economic system that exists only within countries.
B)In the capitalist world system,rich countries are able to exploit poor countries.
C)Globalization helps save capitalism from its own worst tendencies.
D)Marxist models of globalization do not fit modern capitalism very well.

Question 74

Why did a new generation of social theories emerge in the 1960s and early 1970s?

A)in response to new data collection methods developed at the time
B)in response to a resurgence of Marxist scholarship at the time
C)in response to the social movements of the time
D)in response to the threat of communist infiltration at the time

Question 75

According to the neo-Marxists,which of the following actions,if undertaken by the U.S.government,would be more likely than the others to convince members of the working class that socialism is not needed?

A)new legislation to authorize prayer in the public schools
B)new legislation to extend unemployment compensation
C)new legislation to impose stricter immigration controls
D)new legislation to strengthen voting rights

Question 76

According to the neo-Marxists,concessions by capitalist states to improve the lives of ordinary people could ultimately open the door to a new kind of socialist revolution if what happens?

A)if the costs of such concessions become too great
B)if pensions for the elderly are privatized
C)if the poverty rate decreases
D)if trends toward globalization are reversed

Question 77

Who,among the following,would be more likely to place social and economic inequalities under the microscope and note that inequalities of wealth and power are not natural outcomes but rather persist because privileged individuals and groups go to great lengths to protect them?

A)a conflict theorist
B)a network analyst
C)a structural functionalist
D)a symbolic interactionist

Question 78

The focus of neo-Marxism on class relations and class power tends to __________ other types of inequalities in a society.

A)downplay
B)enable
C)exaggerate
D)justify

Question 79

Which of the following social theories places more emphasis than the others on everyday human behavior?

A)conflict theory
B)neo-Marxism
C)structural functionalism
D)symbolic interactionism

Question 80

Who famously compared social life to theater?

A)Erving Goffman
B)George Herbert Mead
C)c.Wright Mills
D)Talcott Parsons