Sociology 101 Chapter 1 Quiz questions

The major goal of sociology’s pioneers, including Auguste Comte and Emile Durkheim, was

A. to serve the powerful.
B. to help build an "ideal society."
C. to discover how society actually operates.
D. to prevent disruptive social change

C. to discover how society actually operates.

By stating that the sociological perspective shows us "the strange in the familiar," the text argues that sociologists

A. focus on the bizarre elements of society.
B. reject the familiar idea that people simply decide how to act in favor of the initially strange idea that society shapes our lives.
C. believe that people often behave in strange ways.
D. believe that even people who are most familiar to us have some very strange habits.

B. reject the familiar idea that people simply decide how to act in favor of the initially strange idea that society shapes our lives.

If you were trying to measure the "social class" of various people, you would have to keep in mind that

A. it is necessary to specify exactly what you are measuring.
B. you must measure "social class" in every way possible.
C. there is no way to measure "social class."
D. everyone agrees on what "social class" means.

A. it is necessary to specify exactly what you are measuring.

The pioneering sociologist who studied patterns of suicide in Europe was

A. Robert K. Merton.
B. Auguste Comte.
C. Emile Durkheim.
D. Karl Marx.

C. Emile Durkheim.

Identify the three sociologists who played a part in the development of sociology’s structural-functional approach.

A. Auguste Comte, Karl Marx, W.E.B. Du Bois
B. Auguste Comte, Herbert Spencer, Emile Durkheim
C. Herbert Spencer, Karl Marx, Auguste Comte
D. Harriet Martineau, Robert Merton, W.E.B. Du Bois

B. Auguste Comte, Herbert Spencer, Emile Durkheim

Examples of people applying their knowledge of sociology at work include people in

A. law enforcement, understanding which categories of people are at high risk of becoming victims of crime.
B. medicine, understanding patterns of health in a community.
C. business, dealing with different categories of people.
D. All of the these are correct.

D. All of the these are correct.

Comte described the earliest human societies as being at which stage of historical development?

A. theological stage
B. metaphysical stage
C. scientific stage
D. post-scientific stage

A. theological stage

Sarah is spending a summer living in another country where people have a way of life that differs from her own. A sociologist might expect that this experience would lead her to

A. end up with a greater understanding of both a new way of life and her own way of life.
B. accept what people in the United States call "common sense."
C. assume that people’s lives simply reflect the choices they make.
D. gradually understand less and less about her own way of life.

A. end up with a greater understanding of both a new way of life and her own way of life.

_____ is a way of understanding the world based on science.

A. Tradition
B. Positivism
C. Metaphysics
D. Free will

B. Positivism

Which of the following is a criticism of the structural-functional approach?

A. doesn’t focus on social stability and unity
B. not critical of inequalities based on social class, race, ethnicity, and gender
C. not concerned with society’s dysfunctions
D. doesn’t focus on the consequences of patterns for society as a whole

B. not critical of inequalities based on social class, race, ethnicity, and gender

A theory states that increasing a person’s formal higher education results in increased earnings over the individual’s lifetime. In this theory, "higher education" is the

A. independent variable.
B. dependent variable.
C. correlation.
D. effect.

A. independent variable.

E. Digby Baltzell’s study, Puritan Boston and Quaker Philadelphia, showed that a very high number of "top achievers" listed in the Dictionary of American Biography came from

A. the South.
B. Pennsylvania.
C. Massachusetts.
D. Philadelphia.

C. Massachusetts.

Read the following four statements about social patterns we find in the world as a whole. Which statement is FALSE?

A. The world is now home to 7 billion people.
B. A majority of the world’s people live in Asia.
C. People in the United States make up one-third of the global population.
D. Less than 10 percent of the world’s people have completed a college degree.

C. People in the United States make up one-third of the global population.

Which of the following statements might be made by a sociologist using the gender-conflict approach?

A. Men and women share in the joys of family life.
B. In many ways, men are in positions of power over women.
C. Gender functions in an important way to keep society operating.
D. All of these are correct.

B. In many ways, men are in positions of power over women.

Critical sociology can BEST be described as a(n) ________ approach.

A. activist
B. scientific
C. qualitative
D. value-free

A. activist

The concept "sociology" was coined in 1838 by

A. Karl Marx.
B. Herbert Spencer.
C. Adam Smith.
D. Auguste Comte.

D. Auguste Comte.

The _____ approaches are macro-level, describing societies in broad terms.

A. structural-functional and social-conflict
B. structural-functional and symbolic-interaction
C. social-conflict and symbolic-interaction
D. All of these are correct.

A. structural-functional and social-conflict

Which theoretical approach claims that it is not so much what people do that matters as much as what meaning they attach to their behavior?

A. structural-functional approach
B. social-conflict approach
C. symbolic-interaction approach
D. social-exchange approach

C. symbolic-interaction approach

A small number of people that are used to represent a much larger population is called a

A. target group.
B. sample.
C. closed-format group.
D. sampling frame.

B. sample.

Using the structural-functional approach, which of the following questions might you ask about marriage?

A. What do people think marriage means?
B. How does marriage benefit women and men in different ways?
C. What are the consequences of marriage for the operation of society?
D. How can we help people find more happiness in their marriages?

C. What are the consequences of marriage for the operation of society?

Which theoretical approach would highlight the fact that, on average, African American families have less income than white families?

A. the race-conflict approach
B. the gender-conflict approach
C. the structural-functional approach
D. the symbolic-interaction approach

A. the race-conflict approach

Which of the following BEST describes the focus of the structural-functional approach?

A. the meaning people attach to their behavior
B. patterns of social inequality
C. the consequences of social patterns for the operation of society
D. ways in which each person differs from all others

C. the consequences of social patterns for the operation of society

The "framework for building theory that sees society as an arena of inequality that generates conflict and change" is the

A. structural-functional approach.
B. social-conflict approach.
C. symbolic-interaction approach.
D. tradition-based approach.

social-conflict approach.

All of the following statements-except for one-are guidelines for ethical research endorsed by the American Sociological Association. Which one is NOT one of the ASA’s guidelines for ethical research?

A. Researchers must always perform their research several times in order to ensure its accuracy.
B. Researchers must disclose their sources of funding for the research.
C. Researchers must protect the privacy of subjects taking part in a research project.
D. Researchers must ensure the safety of subjects taking part in a research project.

A. Researchers must always perform their research several times in order to ensure its accuracy.

Sociologists cannot identify "laws of society" that allow us to precisely predict the behavior of an individual because

A. human behavior may be patterned, but it is also spontaneous.
B. sociology is still very young.
C. no sociologist ever tried to discover such laws.
D. no sociologist would wish to predict human behavior.

A. human behavior may be patterned, but it is also spontaneous.

According to Emile Durkheim, people with a higher suicide rate typically have

A. more clinical depression.
B. less money, power, and other resources.
C. lower social integration.
D. greater self-esteem.

C. lower social integration.

Racial discrimination in professional sports is evident today in

A. the positions typically played by white and black players.
B. the exclusion of African American players from professional sports.
C. the fact that most managers and team owners are African American.
D. the fact that women’s sports attract less attention than men’s sports.

A. the positions typically played by white and black players.

Looking at the United States, high suicide rates are typical of areas in which people

A. live densely packed in cities.
B. live spread apart in low-density areas.
C. have higher incomes.
D. live in a warmer climate.

B. live spread apart in low-density areas.

Which of the following is the BEST example of a latent function of going to college?

A. providing skills needed for later jobs
B. keeping young people out of the labor force, which may not have jobs for them
C. gaining the knowledge required to be an active and thoughtful citizen
D. giving young people experience living on their own

B. keeping young people out of the labor force, which may not have jobs for them

Most of today’s sociologists agree with Auguste Comte’s claim that

A. no society has reached the scientific stage of history.
B. human behavior is not patterned and orderly.
C. sociology should be based on religion
D. science has an important place in sociology.

D. science has an important place in sociology.

Thomas Hobbes’s idea that society reflects a selfish human nature illustrates the thinking common at which of Comte’s historical stages?

A. theological stage
B. metaphysical stage
C. scientific stage
D. None of these is correct.

B. metaphysical stage

Looking at the operation of U.S. schools, the social-conflict approach might lead a sociologist to conclude that

A. the function of schools is to teach needed skills.
B. the meaning of schooling varies from child to child.
C. schools have been a major path to social advancement.
D. tracking provides some students with far better schooling than others.

D. tracking provides some students with far better schooling than others.

If you have been criticized for "androcentricity" in your research, you are being criticized for

A. overgeneralizing your results.
B. ignoring gender entirely.
C. doing the research from a male perspective.
D. using double standards in your research.

C. doing the research from a male perspective.

Which concept is used to describe relatively stable patterns of social behavior?

A. social structure
B. eufunctions
C. social functions
D. social dysfunctions

A. social structure

The theoretical approach in sociology that assumes society is a complex system whose parts work together to promote solidarity and stability is the

A. structural-functional approach.
B. social-conflict approach.
C. symbolic-interaction approach.
D. tradition-based approach.

A. structural-functional approach.

What does the idea that the social world guides our actions and life choices just as the seasons influence activities and choice of clothing describe?

A. the basis of what philosophy calls "free will"
B. the essential wisdom of the discipline of sociology
C. the fact that people everywhere have "common sense"
D. the fact that people from countries all around the world make mostly identical choices about how to live

B. the essential wisdom of the discipline of sociology

In the process of measurement, reliability refers to

A. whether you are really measuring what you want to measure.
B. how dependable the researcher is.
C. whether or not everyone agrees with the study’s results.
D. whether repeating the measurement yields consistent results.

D. whether repeating the measurement yields consistent results.

Robert Merton explained that what is functional for one category of a society’s population

A. is always functional for everyone.
B. may be dysfunctional for another category.
C. is unlikely to change over time.
D. can never be functional in the future.

B. may be dysfunctional for another category.

The ancient Romans saw the stars as being gods. Auguste Comte would classify Roman society as which of the following stages of history?

A. scientific stage
B. metaphysical stage
C. theological stage
D. post-scientific stage

C. theological stage

Learning more sociology can help you to do all of the following EXCEPT

A. assess the truth of "common sense"
B. assess the opportunities and constraints in our lives
C. be more active participants in society
D. see how individuals guide their own lives through "free will"

D. see how individuals guide their own lives through "free will"

Lois Benjamin’s investigation of racism may be criticized because

A. her sample included as many white people as African Americans.
B. she conducted her interviews over the telephone.
C. her sample may not be representative of all African Americans.
D. people cannot respond to questions they find painful.

C. her sample may not be representative of all African Americans.

Interpretive sociology is sociology that

A. focuses on action.
B. sees an objective reality "out there."
C. focuses on the meaning people attach to behavior
D. seeks to bring about change.

C. focuses on the meaning people attach to behavior

Sociology differs from the older discipline of philosophy by focusing on

A. what the ideal society should be.
B. human nature.
C. the place of God in shaping human events.
D. how society actually operates.

D. how society actually operates.

Which of the following statements BEST illustrates the career advantage a person gains by studying sociology?

A. A researcher discovers a new and effective vaccine.
B. A person in retail sales knows how to exceed the monthly sales target.
C. A police officer understands which categories of people are at high risk of becoming crime victims.
D. A financial services worker devises a new type of hedge fund.

C. A police officer understands which categories of people are at high risk of becoming crime victims.

Which of the following is an accurate criticism of the structural-functional approach?

A. It ignores inequality that can generate tension and conflict.
B. It focuses too much on social dysfunction.
C. It focuses too much on power divisions in society.
D. It is a politically liberal view of society.

A. It ignores inequality that can generate tension and conflict.

If you read a study that draws conclusions about all of humanity based on research using only males as subjects, you would correctly point to the problem called

A. androcentricity.
B. overgeneralization.
C. gender blindness.
D. using double standards.

B. overgeneralization.

The ideal of objectivity means that a researcher must

A. not personally care about the topic being studied.
B. try to adopt a stance of personal neutrality toward the outcome of the research.
C. study issues that have no value to society as a whole.
D. carry out research that will encourage desirable social change.

B. try to adopt a stance of personal neutrality toward the outcome of the research.

Qualitative research has special appeal to investigators who favor the _________ approach.

A. structural-functional
B. symbolic-interaction
C. social-conflict
D. social-exchange

B. symbolic-interaction

W.E.B. Du Bois described African Americans as having a "double consciousness" because

A. most felt that, compared to white people, they had to be twice as careful in how they acted.
B. there is a double disadvantage in being both poor and black.
C. black people have to work twice as hard as whites to get the same reward.
D. they are American citizens who have a second identity based on skin color.

D. they are American citizens who have a second identity based on skin color.

Which research method asks subjects to respond to a series of items on a questionnaire or in an interview?

A. secondary research
B. participant observation
C. an experiment
D. a survey

D. a survey

Using the symbolic-interaction approach, sports becomes

A. a structure that contributes to the functioning of society.
B. a matter of social inequality.
C. less a system than an ongoing process.
D. just a game without any meaning.

C. less a system than an ongoing process.

Which of the following statements is based on a symbolic-interaction analysis of sports?

A. Each player understands the game a little differently.
B. Some categories of people benefit more from sports than others.
C. Sports help develop important cultural values.
D. Stacking" is a type of racial inequality in sports.

A. Each player understands the game a little differently.

If we state that children raised in single-parent families are at high risk of being single parents themselves, we have constructed a(n)_____ of family life.

A. approach
B. precept
C. concept
D. theory

D. theory

Sociologists use the term "empirical evidence" to refer to

A. information that is based on a society’s traditions.
B. information that squares with common sense.
C. information we can verify with our senses.
D. information that most people agree is true.

C. information we can verify with our senses.

If marginality encourages sociological thinking, we would expect people in which category listed below to make the most use of the sociological perspective?

A. the wealthy
B. disabled persons or people who are a racial minority
C. politicians
D. the middle class

B. disabled persons or people who are a racial minority

What is the term for the value that occurs most often in a series of numbers?

A. the mean
B. the mode
C. the median
D. the standard deviation

B. the mode

E. Digby Baltzell’s historical study, Puritan Boston and Quaker Philadelphia, illustrates which research method?

A. the experiment
B. the survey
C. participant observation
D. existing sources

D. existing sources

A researcher doing participant observation may often "break in" to a setting more easily with the help of a

A. key informant.
B. research assistant.
C. bigger budget.
D. longer questionnaire.

A. key informant.

To evaluate a theory using evidence, sociologists

A. gather data or facts.
B. accept the conventional wisdom of their society.
C. are guided by their personal feelings about the issue.
D. look to the past for guidance.

A. gather data or facts.

Who was the U.S. sociologist who distinguished between the manifest functions and the latent functions of social patterns?

A. Robert K. Merton
B. William Graham Sumner
C. Talcott Parsons
D. Wright Mills

A. Robert K. Merton

Which of the following is true about cause-and-effect relationships in the social world?

A. Most patterns of behavior have a single cause.
B. Most patterns of behavior are random and have no cause at all.
C. Most patterns of behavior are caused by many factors.
D. Sociologists are not able to reach conclusions about cause and effect.

C. Most patterns of behavior are caused by many factors.

The recognized and intended consequences of a social pattern are referred to as

A. latent functions.
B. manifest functions.
C. eufunctions.
D. dysfunctions.

B. manifest functions.

What term refers to the arithmetic average of a series of numbers?

A. the mean
B. the mode
C. the median
D. the correlation

A. the mean

Making use of the sociological perspective encourages

A. challenging commonly held beliefs.
B. accepting commonly-held wisdom.
C. the belief that society is mysterious.
D. people to be happy with their lives as they are.

A. challenging commonly held beliefs.

Which sociological research method is likely to be the MOST difficult to replicate (repeat)?

A. the experiment
B. the survey
C. participant observation
D. secondary analysis

C. participant observation

Three campus roommates are talking about why they are in college. A sociological view of going to college highlights the effect of

A. only age, because college students tend to be young.
B. only class, because college students tend to come from families with above-average incomes.
C. only our place in history, because a century ago going to college was not an option for most people.
D. age, class, and our place in history, because these are all ways in which society guides college attendance.

D. age, class, and our place in history, because these are all ways in which society guides college attendance.

The main characteristic of the _____ approach is its view of society as being orderly and stable.

A. structural-functional
B. social-conflict
C. social-interaction
D. tradition-based

A. structural-functional

Which of the following founding sociologists urged sociologists to understand a social setting from the point of view of the people in it?

A. Karl Marx
B. Emile Durkheim
C. Auguste Comte
D. Max Weber

D. Max Weber

Which of the following examples illustrates a micro-level focus?

A. the operation of the U.S. economy
B. patterns of global terrorism
C. two people on an airplane getting to know one another
D. class inequality in the armed forces

C. two people on an airplane getting to know one another

Imagine that you were going to measure the age of a number of respondents taking part in a survey. As you record the data, you are using the concept "age" as

A. a theory.
B. a hypothesis.
C. a variable.
D. an axiom.

C. a variable.

Peter Berger describes using the sociological perspective as seeing the ______ in the _______.

A. good; worst tragedies
B. new; old
C. specific; general
D. general; particular

D. general; particular

In the United States today, the suicide rate is highest for which of the following?

A. white males
B. African American males
C. white females
D. African American females

A. white males

"A statement of a possible relationship between two or more variables" is the definition of which concept?

A. theory
B. correlation
C. spurious correlation
D. hypothesis

D. hypothesis

Unlike simple stereotypes, sociological generalizations

A. are not applied to all individuals in a category.
B. are based on all available facts.
C. are offered fair-mindedly with an interest in the truth.
D. All of these are correct.

D. All of these are correct.

Which of the following statements reflects a social-exchange analysis?

A. People typically seek mates who offer as much as they do.
B. Class differences are reflected in favored sports.
C. People build reality as they introduce themselves.
D. People who do more important work usually earn more pay.

A. People typically seek mates who offer as much as they do.

Unrecognized and unintended consequences of a social pattern are called

A. latent functions.
B. manifest functions
C. eufunctions.
D. dysfunctions.

A. latent functions.

Which of the following is a manifest function of sports?

A. providing recreation and physical conditioning
B. fostering social relationships
C. generating jobs
D. teaching a society’s way of life

A. providing recreation and physical conditioning

Which theoretical approach would highlight the fact that, on average, African American families have less income than white families?

A. the race-conflict approach
B. the gender-conflict approach
C. the structural-functional approach
D. the symbolic-interaction approach

A. the race-conflict approach

We would expect the sociological perspective to be MOST likely to develop in a place that was

A. very traditional.
B. experiencing many social changes.
C. very poor.
D. small and socially isolated

B. experiencing many social changes.

Which of the following categories contains countries in which average income is typical for the world as a whole and in which people are as likely to live in a rural area as in an urban area?

A. low-income nations
B. middle-income nations
C. high-income nations
D. None of these is correct.

B. middle-income nations

Which discipline defines itself as "the systematic study of human society"?

A. sociology
B. psychology
C. economics
D. history

A. sociology

Herbert Spencer described human society as a complex system having much in common with

A. animal societies.
B. planets and stars.
C. the human brain.
D. the human body.

D. the human body.

Which of the concepts listed below refers to measuring exactly what you intend to measure?

A. congruence
B. validity
C. repeatability
D. reliability

B. validity

Which of the following would be the focus of a social-conflict analysis of sports?

A. the way in which sports help encourage competition
B. the importance of physical ability in success
C. how sports reflect social inequality
D. the different meanings people attach to games

C. how sports reflect social inequality

Sociologist Lenore Weitzman carried out research showing that women who divorce

A. typically remarry within one year.
B. claim they are happier than before
C. suffer a significant loss of income.
D. have a happier sex life.

C. suffer a significant loss of income.

Building social relationships and creating jobs are two of the ____ of sports.

A. manifest functions
B. latent functions
C. dysfunctional aspects
D. nonfunctional aspects

B. latent functions

William Foote Whyte’s study of Cornerville (Street Corner Society) used which sociological research method?

A. experiment
B. survey
C. participant observation
D. secondary analysis

C. participant observation

About 1.4 million immigrants enter the United States each year and many (including Arnold Schwarzenegger and Gloria Estefan) have become well known. These facts support the conclusion that

A. the world’s nations are increasingly interconnected.
B. other nations have little effects on life in rich countries such as the United States.
C. people around the world share little in terms of their ways of life.
D. sociology does not have to pay attention to nations other than the United States.

A. the world’s nations are increasingly interconnected.

Which German word meaning "understanding" was used by Max Weber to describe his approach to sociological research?

A. <i>Gemeinschaft</i>
B. <i>Gesellschaft</i>
C. <i>Verstehen</i>
D. <i>Verboten</i>

C. <i>Verstehen</i>

Which of the following historical changes is among the factors that stimulated the development of sociology as a discipline?

A. the founding of the Roman Catholic Church
B. the rise of the industrial economy and growth of cities
C. the power of tradition
D. a belief that our future is defined by "fate"

B. the rise of the industrial economy and growth of cities

The chapter’s sociological analysis of childbearing around the world suggests that the number of children born to a woman reflects

A. only her preference for family size.
B. how many children she can afford.
C. whether she lives in a poor or a rich society.
D. simply the desires of her husband.

C. whether she lives in a poor or a rich society.

A statement that explains how and why specific facts are related is called a(n)

A. approach.
B. precept.
C. concept.
D. theory.

D. theory.