Deck 1: The Sociological Imagination: An Introduction

Question 1

Karl Marx argued that social institutions in a society were the result of the economic makeup of that society.Max Weber argued that:

A) there are no social institutions in a society.
B) ideas influence society,not just economics.
C) Marx was correct.
D) the epistemological stage of that society influenced the social institutions.

Answer 1

B

Question 2

Which founder of sociology is known,in part,for providing the theoretical foundation of Communism?

A) Auguste Comte
B) Émile Durkheim
C) Karl Marx
D) Max Weber

Answer 2

C

Question 3

In Pulp Fiction,two characters discuss how in Holland people put mayonnaise on their french fries instead of ketchup,which the author uses to illustrate the concept of:

A) the sociology of film.
B) the sociological imagination.
C) social institutions.
D) formal sociology.

Answer 3

B

Question 4

The most age-segregated social institution in our society is a:

A) hospital.
B) mental institution.
C) prison.
D) four-year college.

Question 5

The "grand narrative" that constitutes a social identity:

A) is nothing more than the sum of individual stories.
B) remains the same throughout time.
C) can be defined only by the individual him- or herself.
D) is displayed online on Instagram and Facebook.

Question 6

"Social physics" or "positivism" is best defined as the:

A) idea that we can scientifically and logically study social institutions and the individuals within them.
B) effect of religion on social institutions and the individuals within them.
C) study of the symbolic interactions between social institutions and the individuals within them.
D) relationship between scientific and religious social institutions.

Question 7

As defined by C.Wright Mills,which of the following "enables us to grasp history and biography and the relations between the two within society"?

A) formal sociology
B) sociological imagination
C) microsociology
D) macrosociology

Question 8

According to Auguste Comte,what were the three epistemological stages of human society?

A) the theological stage,the scientific stage,and the postscientific stage
B) the theological stage,the metaphysical stage,and the secular stage
C) the theological stage,the scientific stage,and the positivist stage
D) the theological stage,the metaphysical stage,and the scientific stage

Question 9

According to social theorist Randall Collins,getting a "piece of paper" is more important to many than actually having the knowledge to do a job.He calls the undue priority placed on formal education:

A) microsociology.
B) credentialism.
C) normlessness.
D) xenophobia.

Question 10

Which of the following is defined as a complex group of interdependent positions that together perform a social role and reproduce themselves over time?

A) a social identity
B) a social institution
C) a theory
D) anomie

Question 11

In government,many social actors such as senators,legislative aides,and voters work together as a complex group of interdependent parts to influence society.Seen in this light,government is a:

A) sociological role.
B) figment of the sociological imagination.
C) society.
D) social institution.

Question 12

Which of the following sociologists invented the theory of positivism?

A) Auguste Comte
B) Émile Durkheim
C) Karl Marx
D) Max Weber

Question 13

The Philip Morris Company changed its name to Altria in an attempt to create a new:

A) brand of cigarettes.
B) defense against lawsuits.
C) social identity.
D) multinational company.

Question 14

Asha Rangappa,dean of admissions at Yale Law School,explained that most students who apply to Yale Law School have already benefited from opportunities that make them appear to be stronger candidates than those from less advantaged backgrounds.In the sociological perspective,this implies that:

A) as a social institution,education tends to reinforce existing inequalities.
B) education is the best opportunity for reducing inequality.
C) America's universities are not social institutions.
D) Yale Law School is an exceptional case of inequality.

Question 15

To Karl Marx,conflict between a small number of capitalists and a large number of workers would divide society.He referred to these workers as:

A) employees.
B) the proletariat.
C) subordinates.
D) the working poor.

Question 16

Who wrote The Protestant Ethic and the Spirit of Capitalism?

A) Karl Marx
B) Georg Simmel
C) Harriet Martineau
D) Max Weber

Question 17

In How to Observe Morals and Manners,Harriet Martineau critiqued the institution of marriage as:

A) based on an assumption that women are inferior.
B) based on an assumption that men are inferior.
C) reinforcing heterosexuality.
D) perpetuating social class stratification.

Question 18

Social institutions often appear monolithic and unchanging.The sociological perspective sees that:

A) social institutions are socially constructed and changeable.
B) modern social institutions are socially constructed,but premodern institutions were unchanging.
C) family is relatively monolithic,whereas government and education are changeable.
D) each institution must be understood on its own terms; no generalizations regarding social construction are possible.

Question 19

A female manager is attempting to climb her way to the top of the corporate ladder.She works as hard as,if not harder than,her male colleagues,but nothing she does seems to help her advance.She begins to notice a pattern: Men are often promoted,but women are often overlooked for advancement.The realization that many women in her circumstance are experiencing the same discrimination is an example of:

A) anomie.
B) Verstehen.
C) sociological imagination.
D) social cohesion.

Question 20

To truly understand why people act the way they do,we must understand the meanings they attach to their behaviors.Max Weber called this:

A) functionalism.
B) historical materialism.
C) xenophobia.
D) Verstehen.

Question 21

The basic premise of the Chicago School was that human behaviors and personalities are shaped by social and physical environments.This is known as:

A) formal sociology.
B) interpretive sociology.
C) social ecology.
D) quantitative sociology.

Question 22

George H.Mead described how the self internalizes the views of society as a whole,transcending the individual and particular situations.He called this:

A) the significant other.
B) the generalized other.
C) the looking glass self.
D) the social self.

Question 23

Who was the first African American to receive a PhD from Harvard University?

A) W.E.B.Du Bois
B) Jane Addams
C) C.Wright Mills
D) William Julius Wilson

Question 24

Which modern sociological theory states that the best way to analyze society is to identify the purpose that different aspects or phenomena serve in society?

A) postmodernism
B) feminism
C) conflict theory
D) functionalism

Question 25

A white woman goes into an upscale shop to look at clothes.She is excited to see that there is a sale and gathers a huge pile of clothes to take into the dressing room.An African American woman goes into the store and is also excited about the sale but hesitates to take too many clothes into the dressing room because she is afraid the staff will accuse her of shoplifting.W.E.B.Du Bois would say that the African American woman has:

A) racial bias.
B) double injustice.
C) a double consciousness.
D) experienced a division of labor.

Question 26

Functionalism argues that ________ is the main cause of social change; conflict theory argues that ________ is the main cause of social change.

A) consensus; competition
B) politics; religion
C) people; society
D) education; economics

Question 27

Which sociologist applied Durkheim's theory of anomie to explain crime rates among African Americans after the abolition of slavery in the United States?

A) W.E.B.Du Bois
B) Jane Addams
C) Robert Park
D) Charles H.Cooley

Question 28

According to Durkheim's Suicide,rapid social change causes people to experience normlessness,an uncomfortable state that sometimes leads to suicide.This state of normlessness is called:

A) anomie.
B) loneliness.
C) suicidiality.
D) Verstehen.

Question 29

Erving Goffman used the language of theater to describe how people present themselves in everyday social life.This is known as:

A) sui generis.
B) dramaturgical theory.
C) functionalism.
D) stage theory.

Question 30

The most important reason that the Chicago School's main laboratory for sociological research was the city of Chicago itself was that:

A) travel at that time was expensive,so fieldwork in Chicago was convenient.
B) it was an American city,and trends in America were very similar to global trends.
C) Chicago is in the American Midwest,and the center of the country was seen as a composite of all American cities.
D) industrialism,immigration,and increasing ethnic diversity in Chicago were all interesting trends for sociologists to study.

Question 31

At what university did American sociology in the United States emerge?

A) American University
B) University of Chicago
C) New York University (NYU)
D) Columbia University

Question 32

According to Émile Durkheim,the division of labor in a society helps to determine:

A) the sociological contribution of individuals.
B) the timing of the revolt of the proletariat.
C) the way social cohesion among individuals is maintained.
D) linguistic patterns.

Question 33

Which feminist sociologist wrote Sex,Gender,and Society (1972),which argued that much of what we attribute to biological sex differences can actually be traced to learned behaviors and socialization?

A) Jane Addams
B) Harriet Martineau
C) Ann Oakley
D) Margaret Mead

Question 34

Which sociologist wrote Suicide in 1897?

A) Auguste Comte
B) Émile Durkheim
C) Karl Marx
D) Max Weber

Question 35

The Division of Labor in Society was the first of many intellectual contributions to sociology from:

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

Question 36

What do symbolic interactionists study?

A) midrange theory
B) postmodernism
C) functionalism
D) shared meaning

Question 37

Charles H.Cooley argued that the self emerges from how an individual interacts with others and then interprets those interactions.He called this:

A) the looking glass self.
B) the social self.
C) the generalized other.
D) the significant other.

Question 38

Which of the following is the study of social meanings,emphasizing subjectivity in understanding human behavior?

A) interpretive sociology
B) formal sociology
C) social ecology
D) positivism

Question 39

What was Jane Addams best known for?

A) being the only female member of the Chicago School
B) founding the field of American sociology
C) founding the first American settlement house to help the poor
D) studying diverse communities in Chicago

Question 40

A sociologist is initially shocked by the practice of child marriage in Kenya.Instead of viewing the participants as objects to be examined,the sociologist tries to imagine himself in the position of the people being studied and tries to see child marriage from their perspective.Seeking to understand the insider's perspective is what Max Weber called:

A) anomie.
B) functionalism.
C) Verstehen.
D) positivism.

Question 41

Economists generally see humans as ________,but sociologists tend to include ________.

A) irrational actors; deceit
B) rational actors; irrational motivations
C) irrational actors; rationality
D) emotional actors; emotionlessness

Question 42

Which of the following focuses its analyses on face-to-face encounters and interactions?

A) microsociology
B) macrosociology
C) social ecology
D) cultural sociology

Question 43

One of Weber's most important contributions to sociology was the concept of Verstehen,or "understanding" in German.First,describe what Weber meant by this concept.Then,describe how a sociologist might go about gaining this understanding.

Question 44

Native Americans may see the history of the United States differently from white Americans.Which theory would argue that there is not a unifying "grand narrative" of history because history itself is not objective,but rather socially constructed?

A) midrange theory
B) postmodernism
C) symbolic interactionism
D) functionalism

Question 45

The examination of human behavior within a rational actor model is the focus of which of the following "cousins" of sociology?

A) anthropology
B) economics
C) psychology
D) the biological sciences

Question 46

In the discipline of history,focusing on historical figures such as Adolf Hitler is known as:

A) "great man" research.
B) popular history.
C) historiography.
D) historical materialism.

Question 47

Robert Merton's modern sociological theory focused on predicting how certain social institutions function.This subject matter lies between microsociology and macrosociology.This is known as:

A) midrange theory.
B) middling sociology.
C) applied theory.
D) postmodernism.

Question 48

Which of the following focuses its analyses on larger social dynamics at the societal and structural levels?

A) microsociology
B) macrosociology
C) social ecology
D) social psychology

Question 49

The most significant division within the discipline of sociology exists between:

A) interpretive and positivist sociology.
B) qualitative and quantitative sociology.
C) functionalist and feminist sociology.
D) conflict and symbolic interactionist sociology.

Question 50

Though both may study the past,historians more often focus on ________ cases while sociologists more often focus on ________ cases.

A) multiple; single
B) military; social
C) unique; comparative
D) qualitative; quantitative

Question 51

While historians are more likely to focus on unique cases,sociologists are more likely to focus on:

A) competition.
B) the experiences of soldiers.
C) commonalities across cases.
D) small-scale interactions.

Question 52

________ sociology makes a prediction about homelessness rates.________ sociology seeks to understand the experience of homelessness.

A) Positivist; Interpretive
B) Qualitative; Quantitative
C) Classical; Contemporary
D) Theoretical; Empirical

Question 53

Postmodern sociologists argue that all so-called objective phenomena are open to debate because all meaning is subjective.Thus,to postmodernists,all "facts" are really:

A) social constructions.
B) myths.
C) lies.
D) propaganda.

Question 54

Sociology is the study of:

A) how urges,drives,and the mind account for human behavior.
B) group-level dynamics and social structures.
C) causal mechanisms within the biological nature of individuals.
D) humans as rational utility maximizers.

Question 55

Which area within the discipline of anthropology is most similar to sociology?

A) physical anthropology
B) cultural anthropology
C) linguistic anthropology
D) biological anthropology

Question 56

Explain how a successful sociologist makes the familiar strange.Assess the value of a sociological perspective on ONE of the following topics: family or college.Describe what the sociological perspective might shed light on when it comes to these two topics.

Question 57

Some postmodern sociologists work to show us how all "facts" are created arbitrarily by people with varying degrees of power.This is known as:

A) positivism.
B) anomie.
C) qualitative research.
D) deconstructing social phenomena.

Question 58

Which of the following argues that the organizing narratives of history are over and that progress has led to a condition where there are no shared,objective meanings?

A) feminism
B) conflict theory
C) postmodernism
D) functionalism

Question 59

In psychology,the focus is on the individual.In sociology,the focus is on group-level dynamics and social structures above and beyond the individual.Sociology's focus is:

A) intra-individual.
B) interindividual.
C) supra-individual.
D) superindividual.

Question 60

Quantitative sociologists view data as numbers.Qualitative sociologists view data as:

A) human beings.
B) feelings.
C) qualities.
D) words.

Question 61

Choose one of the following American social theorists: Park,Wirth,Cooley,Mead,Du Bois,or Addams.Describe the main idea of their theory,including relevant details,and describe their lasting contribution to sociology.

Question 62

How would a conflict theorist look at the educational system in the United States? How would a functionalist look at the educational system? What is one commonality between these two perspectives? What is one important difference?

Question 63

List two or three examples of a topic that midrange theory would address.Describe the value of midrange theory to contemporary sociology.

Question 64

List and discuss three contributions that Émile Durkheim made to sociology.

Question 65

Choose one "cousin" of sociology: history,anthropology,psychology,economics,or political science.List and describe two similarities between sociology and the cousin you chose.List and describe two differences.

Question 66

Define the Chicago School's concept of social ecology.State a research question you could pose to better understand a particular phenomenon from a social ecology perspective.Explain how your question fits with social ecology.