Deck 1: The Sociological Perspective

Question 1

The main goal of sociology is to:

A) accurately predict the future.
B) make social problems.
C) understand the forces that mold individuals and shape their behavior.
D) help government agencies to explain the events that affect us.
E) prepare the individual for becoming a member of society.

Answer 1

C

Question 2

What is the main difference between sociology and social work?

A) Sociology uses theory and social work does not.
B) Social work overlaps with psychology while sociology does not.
C) Social workers help people with problems while sociologists try to understand why problems exist.
D) There really is no difference between sociology and social work.
E) Because their research may be misused, sociologists have higher ethical standards.

Answer 2

C

Question 3

Comte, Spencer, Durkheim, Weber, and Marx all witnessed what major societal change?

A) Values related to marriage were under attack as society grew rapidly.
B) Growth in factory production made labor more democratic.
C) Better printing and communications led to the rapid spread of new ideas.
D) European royalty partnered with elected parliaments, causing more social tension.
E) Tradition was undermined by the industrial revolution, political conflict, and growth in urban society.

Answer 3

E

Question 4

Who gave sociology its name?

A) Auguste Comte
B) mile Durkheim
C) Karl Marx
D) Henri Saint-Simon
E) Herbert J. Simpson

Question 5

People who kill themselves out of a sense of duty to the group or self-sacrifice would be termed _________ suicides by Durkheim.

A) egoistic
B) altruistic
C) anomic
D) atomic

Question 6

Generalizations are valid only if they rely on evidence that can be observed directly or verified through our senses, according to:

A) psychology.
B) organic science.
C) sociological imagination.
D) empiricism.
E) ontology.

Question 7

Both sociologists and historians are interested in the past. Using a recent military war as a case for investigation, a sociologist would be most interested in:

A) particular battles and how they were won or lost.
B) individual military and political leaders and the strategies they developed.
C) whether American involvement in the war was moral or immoral.
D) the impact of the war on political attitudes and events in the United States.
E) how various smaller battles affected the outcome of the larger war.

Question 8

The main focus or unit of analysis for sociologists is:

A) groups.
B) strange people.
C) individuals.
D) unusual occurrences.
E) events which other sciences cannot explain.

Question 9

Science is to method as ________________ is to ______________.

A) economics; political process
B) sociology; creative writing
C) psychology; therapy
D) organized knowledge; process of discovery
E) history; victory

Question 10

You want to study how people in different religions interpret public funding for birth control, and compare how each group tends to support or oppose it. Which sociologist s theory would you select to help with your study?

A) Weber s theory of the relationship between beliefs and social action
B) Marx s theory of the material causes of social class
C) Addams idea of a perfect society
D) DuBois objections to racist imperialism over nonwhites
E) Merton s distinction between manifest and latent functions

Question 11

The sociological imagination asks us to:

A) broaden our perspective beyond individual experiences.
B) narrow our perspective by looking only at particular events.
C) theorize before we have evidence.
D) improve our society.
E) suspend judgment until all of the facts have been gathered.

Question 12

______ believed that by conducting an analysis of day-to-day life, customs, and lifestyles, we can propose ways to reform and improve society, especially the opportunities of women.

A) Harriet Martineau
B) Auguste Comte
C) Herbert Spencer
D) W. E. B. DuBois
E) Robert Merton

Question 13

Both sociologists and psychologists are interested in prescription drug abuse and addiction. However, in investigating abuse and addiction, a __________ would be most interested in the organization and patterns of consumption among individuals and social groups.

A) psychologist
B) sociologist
C) both of these
D) economist

Question 14

Which of the following statements is closest to a sociological approach to understanding the iPhone?

A) The design of the new iPhone attracted people.
B) We can see which groups of people are most likely to own and use an iPhone.
C) Individual choices were affected by discovering how others selected smart phones.
D) The inventor of the iPhone interface was raised by Armenian parents in California.
E) A successful technology must meet basic human needs.

Question 15

According to ___________, the task of the sociological imagination is to see the relationship between individual experiences and larger social forces.

A) Harriet Martineau
B) Karl Marx
C) C. Wright Mills
D) Emile Durkheim
E) Auguste Comte

Question 16

In using the sociological imagination to understand how someone selects a mate, we would look for:

A) social values internalized from reading religious texts.
B) individuals engaging in competition for partners.
C) the social value of universal features of attractiveness.
D) how groups defined values related to good matches.
E) an economic rational choice of balanced interests.

Question 17

From a sociological perspective, what is wrong with four blind men trying to describe an elephant, or four personal stories being used to describe society?

A) Everyone has an equal tale to tell.
B) Individual experiences may not account for the whole elephant.
C) You need to know someone similar to yourself to collect stories.
D) Sociology is not equal to disability studies.
E) Recurring patterns may bias how much we can understand.

Question 18

Comte was inspired by which of the following?

A) discoveries in the natural sciences
B) encounters with different races during the colonial era
C) the problems of governing global urban societies
D) imbalances in health and well-being among city dwellers
E) how societies pass through stages of development over time

Question 19

When looking at different lifestyles, sociologists are interested in:

A) individual behavior and mental processes.
B) helping people solve problems.
C) the operations of government.
D) how ways of life are related to perceptions of reality.
E) developing therapies that can help people control behavior.

Question 20

Sociologists in alcohol studies would be most interested in:

A) the chemical effects of proof.
B) how distilling innovated products.
C) alcohol depicted in shock advertising.
D) the legal history of prohibition.
E) alcohol consumption related to groups.

Question 21

Members of the cult in Jonestown committed suicide by drinking Kool-Aid laced with cyanide at the request of their leader Jim Jones. This type of suicide would be characterized by Durkheim as:

A) altruistic.
B) anomic.
C) egoistic.
D) integrated.
E) unintegrated.

Question 22

Which of the following sociological perspectives views society as a system of highly interrelated structures or parts that operate together?

A) conflict
B) interactionism
C) societalism
D) functionalism
E) none of the above

Question 23

Which of the following perspectives is concerned primarily with the meaning that people place on their own and one another s behavior?

A) functionalism
B) symbolic interactionism
C) conflict theory
D) middle-range theory
E) ethnomethodology

Question 24

In recent cases in the United States, older women employed as teachers have been prosecuted for having sexual relationships with young male students under the age of consent. If we believe in Durkheim s theory, which of the following would we seek to explain this social problem?

A) how individual mental disturbances could be generalized
B) how female teachers are influenced by norms and social ties
C) how single women adapt to environmental opportunity
D) how working-class youth are exploited by better educated classes
E) how the symbolic segregation of students and teachers is a pattern

Question 25

You just learned that a person you knew in high school committed suicide. You were surprised until you later learned that the person had developed into something of a loner and had cut off ties with her church, family, and closest friends. Complicating matters, your friend had been unemployed for many months. Following Durkheim, you would be most likely to classify her suicide as:

A) altruistic.
B) fatalistic.
C) anomic.
D) egoistic.
E) particularistic.

Question 26

In Durkheim s perspective, if you saw that one religious group had higher suicide rates than another, and that single people had higher suicide rates than married people, which statement would you make?

A) Protestants have high suicide rates similar to Catholics.
B) Single people have lower suicide rates than married people.
C) People without children have equal suicide rates to people with children.
D) Suicide rates are related to how closely tied people are to one another in groups.
E) Suicide rates may be related to individual income and ascribed characteristics.

Question 27

W. E. B. DuBois believed that this group had primary responsibility for changing the place of African Americans in American society.

A) African Americans.
B) branches of government
C) the NAACP
D) the military, because they rule
E) whites, because they hold the power

Question 28

Which of the following examples is closest to how Weber understood the relationship between beliefs and action?

A) Beliefs are the opium of working people, helping them cope with work.
B) Belief in an afterlife shaped the behavior of early Protestants.
C) Beliefs are less important than class relationships that position workers.
D) Only by competing to survive can workers believe in their jobs.
E) Beliefs are private, so we should look at history to explain actions.

Question 29

Teachers Rachel, Bob, and Kendra had a meeting in which they decided to change the direction of their school math department. First, they would interact with students in small problem-solving groups. Second, they would use problems that made sense to people in their own language. What sociological perspective makes sense out of the actions of these teachers?

A) conflict perspective
B) functionalist perspective
C) interactionist perspective
D) cognitive development perspective
E) survival of the fittest

Question 30

Of the following theorists, who believed that the entire history of human societies could be seen as a history of struggles between those who own and control the means of production and those who do the work?

A) mile Durkheim
B) Karl Marx
C) Herbert Spencer
D) Max Weber
E) Harriet Martineau

Question 31

Where hillsides have been cleared to provide lumber for housing, rain often causes mud-slides. Sociologists would regard mudslides as:

A) the negative effects of global warming, which has increased rainfall nationally.
B) a cost which has to be borne by some members of society for the common good.
C) a bad method of securing lumber.
D) a major outcome of a clash of values over which policies are best for America.
E) a latent outcome of cutting trees on hillsides where rain is a possibility.

Question 32

Karl Marx equated power with:

A) elitism purchased by excessive wealth.
B) physical attractiveness and strength.
C) possession of values that are important to a group.
D) achievement of a high level of education.
E) ownership of the means of production.

Question 33

Recent social protests in the United States are being called the 99% movement. The name of the movement points to the fact that only 1% of households in the country have incomes of over a million dollars a year. This movement s claims point to long-term inequalities and disadvantages based on class in our society. Which paradigm is represented in this story?

A) conflict theory
B) ethical protest
C) survival of the fittest
D) social psychology
E) concentric zone theory

Question 34

During periods of rapid social change, the suicide rate often increases. Durkheim would term such suicides:

A) particularistic.
B) anomic.
C) egoistic.
D) altruistic.
E) fatalistic.

Question 35

Which of the following is not true about W. E. B. Du Bois?

A) Because of institutionalized racism, he was never able to obtain a college degree.
B) He advocated militant resistance to white racism.
C) He believed that doctrines and theories had a powerful effect on social conditions.
D) He felt sociological studies of African Americans would have a positive effect on white public opinion.

Question 36

Sociologically, the positive connection between hours of study and student test scores demonstrates ________________ preparing for exams.

A) a finding about test-taking ability, not
B) a random event unconnected to
C) an example of the need for intervention for students who are unengaged in
D) a latent function of
E) a manifest function of

Question 37

When someone checks his or her Facebook page, a post may be sent to let friends in different groups know what is going on. How each group experiences the post would be a subject for which perspective?

A) symbolic interaction
B) conflict theory
C) functionalism
D) differentiation of class interests
E) developmental psychology

Question 38

Why did Max Weber fear bureaucracy?

A) He thought it would discourage the growth of capitalism.
B) Bureaucracy dominated individuals with large, impersonal structures.
C) Bureaucracy increased mental health conditions among office workers.
D) Discipline and hard work meant less in a bureaucracy.

Question 39

A symbolic interactionist would be most likely to ask which of the following questions?

A) What function does the education system serve for the larger society?
B) Why is education a useful service?
C) How is the educational system used to benefit those in power?
D) What messages are communicated to students by the structure in which education takes place?
E) How does the economic system determine the welfare system?

Question 40

Marx predicted that eventually:

A) workers and owners would work things out through better labor laws.
B) workers would organize and take control of the economy.
C) owners would redistribute wealth more equitably to workers.
D) the most powerful would prevail and control everyone else.
E) owner-sponsored unions would develop and intervene on behalf of the worker.

Question 41

Education of women, rights of immigrants, and care for the poor were the focus of which organization?

A) Chicago School
B) Harvard Sociology Department
C) NAACP
D) Hull House

Question 42

What did Robert K. Merton call social processes that contribute to the on-going operation or maintenance of society ?

A) social functions
B) manifest functions
C) latent functions
D) paradigms
E) perspectives

Question 43

A 2001 study showed that more than 50% of newlyweds met their mates in the workplace. Sociologically speaking, meeting your future husband or wife at work would be considered:

A) a manifest function of workplaces.
B) a social conflict with workplace rules.
C) a latent function of workplaces.
D) a phenomenology.
E) adaptation to economics.

Question 44

Egoistic suicide comes from:

A) overinvolvement with others.
B) a general uncertainty from norm confusion.
C) overall feelings of depression resulting from economic setbacks.
D) low group solidarity and underinvolvement with others.
E) feelings of confusion due to rapid social change.

Question 45

Which sociological perspective is focused on how individuals make sense of or interpret their social world?

A) interactionist
B) conflict
C) functionalist
D) societalist
E) all of these

Question 46

Janet listened as the manager of the store offered her a wage rate of $10 dollars per hour. She accepted the job. How would a conflict theorist characterize this action?

A) By adapting to the employer s needs, Janet benefits by gaining wages.
B) Wages are symbolic of Janet s value to her employer.
C) Wages offered to Janet for her labor position her in the class structure.
D) Janet accepts that she must work her way up the ladder to achieve.
E) There are few jobs at this high wage rate, so Janet makes a rational choice.

Question 47

Which sociologist believed that social reform for the benefit of society and the rights of women should be goals of sociology?

A) Karl Marx
B) mile Durkheim
C) Harriet Martineau
D) W. E. B. DuBois
E) Herbert Spencer

Question 48

Herbert Spencer believed that society is similar to a:

A) small group.
B) primitive tribe.
C) aggregate.
D) human brain.
E) living organism.

Question 49

The intended and recognized consequences of social processes are called:

A) manifest functions.
B) latent functions.
C) distinctions.
D) dysfunctions.
E) malfunctions.

Question 50

In order to understand other people, we must stop looking at the world from a perspective based solely on our own individual experiences.

Question 51

Social Darwinism attributes one s lack of success to:

A) the inferiority of the individual.
B) barriers created by society.
C) barriers created by fear.
D) racism.
E) sexism.

Question 52

Explaining how crime rates are related to where people live will probably require which type of theory?

A) middle-range theory
B) new paradigm
C) network analysis
D) settlement approach
E) interactionist theory of society

Question 53

A good conversation can change your life. Which perspective would be interested in studying this statement?

A) functionalism
B) social Darwinism
C) symbolic interaction
D) conflict theory
E) developmental social work

Question 54

Andy thought that Kim said that she was not interested in complaining about the lack of parking for employees, but Kim thought that Andy said that they were being ignored because they were part-time workers. Kim was not sure if they were talking about the same thing, so she did not offer to help Andy write a complaint. Andy collected signatures on a letter asking for more parking. This situation is likely to attract sociologists working with which paradigm?

A) phenomenology
B) sociological imagination
C) functionalism
D) symbolic interactionism
E) social conflict

Question 55

The sociological imagination involves looking at all types of human behavior and understanding unseen connections among them.

Question 56

Which of the early sociologists won the Nobel Peace Prize?

A) W. E. B. DuBois
B) Herbert Spencer
C) Jane Addams
D) Harriet Martineau

Question 57

When the United States reported the mortgage default data, social scientists discovered that new minority homeowners were being evicted due to defaults at much higher rates than white homeowners. More high-interest mortgages were sold to working-class, first-time home buyers. The impact of the defaults on minority homeowners is:

A) a manifest effect of credit laws.
B) a latent effect of lending practices.
C) widely interpreted as part of business.
D) survival of the fittest.
E) market survival.

Question 58

Which early sociologist argued that superior race was caused by the ability to adapt to changing environments?

A) Harriet Martineau
B) Auguste Comte
C) Wright Mills
D) Herbert Spencer
E) W. E. B. DuBois

Question 59

A young sociologist decided that a new model or framework was needed to guide research and methods. The sociologist is searching for:

A) acceptance by his university peers.
B) a paradigm.
C) an established balanced consensus.
D) Darwinism.
E) statistics.

Question 60

Unintended and not readily recognized consequences of social processes are called:

A) manifest functions.
B) latent functions.
C) misfunctions.
D) dysfunctions.
E) malfunctions.

Question 61

Psychology and sociology share the common element of having the individual as the primary focus of analysis.

Question 62

The social sciences differ from the physical sciences because while social sciences can provide valuable insights, they are not able to apply the scientific method to all relationships.

Question 63

Because of their experiences with a wide variety of human behaviors, talk show hosts are generally good sociologists.

Question 64

Sociological theory gives meaning to sociological practice.

Question 65

The city of Chicago was home to the first department of sociology, the Chicago School studies, and Hull House.

Question 66

Sociology became recognized in the United States in the beginning of the twentieth century.

Question 67

Harriet Martineau s translation of Auguste Comte s Positive Philosophy introduced the field of sociology to England.

Question 68

Herbert Spencer was well-known for saying that society resembles a living organism in its structure and operation.

Question 69

Harriet Martineau argued that people cannot judge for themselves, so scientists must inform them about how ideals can be applied.

Question 70

Herbert Spencer argued that the benefit of survival of the fittest was that competition creates opportunities for women and minorities.

Question 71

It is important to engage in practice before you attempt to create a theory.

Question 72

Max Weber believed that all authority was caused by hierarchy in the social class structure.

Question 73

The Industrial Revolution had an impact on the development of sociology.

Question 74

In a study of a union contract negotiation, a sociologist could use the perspectives of Durkheim, Marx, or Weber.

Question 75

The main focus of early American sociology was urban problems.

Question 76

During the early years of sociology in the United States, most of the field s development took place at Harvard University under the direction of W. E. B. DuBois.

Question 77

Jane Addams was influenced by the settlement houses she saw in Europe.

Question 78

A paradigm is a body of systematically arranged knowledge that shows the operation of general laws.

Question 79

Class conflict refers to the tension between those who work hard and those who do not work to their fullest potential.

Question 80

Egoistic suicide is less likely among college students because of the attachments a campus provides.