Deck 1: The Sociological Imagination: An Introduction

Question 1

The author of your text states that the most age-segregated social institution in our society is a:

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

Answer 1

D

Question 2

All of the following are examples of social institutions used to prevent websites from undermining colleges' degree-conferring abilities EXCEPT:

A) copyright law.
B) police forces.
C) employers.
D) families.

Answer 2

D

Question 3

The textbook author uses dialogue from Pulp Fiction,in which the characters discuss how in Holland people put mayonnaise on their french fries,in order to:

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

Answer 3

B

Question 4

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 5

A female manager is attempting to climb her way to the top of the corporate ladder.She works as hard,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 6

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

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

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

Question 8

After doing some sociological math,the net difference between the annual earnings of the average high school versus college graduate is about ____________ per year.

A) $5,000
B) $10,000
C) $20,000
D) $50,000

Question 9

In today's society,Randall Collins might suggest that getting a "piece of paper" is more important to many than actually having the knowledge to do a job.He calls the priority placed on formal education:

A) pecuniary education.
B) credentialism.
C) normlessness.
D) xenophobia.

Question 10

Sociologists and economists have shown that the benefits of higher education include higher median incomes for college graduates.This is known as:

A) educational detournement.
B) the returns to schooling.
C) study hard or be poor.
D) get an education; get a job.

Question 11

A family,as a group of people living together and sharing individual stories,makes up a ____________ institution.

A) social
B) conflict
C) flimsy
D) monolithic

Question 12

In the book How to Observe Morals and Manners,the institution of marriage is criticized as:

A) based on an assumption of the inferiority of women.
B) based on an assumption of the inferiority of men.
C) reinforcing compulsory heterosexuality.
D) perpetuating social class stratification.

Question 13

According to Randall Collins's (1979)research,the expansion of higher education is:

A) mainly caused by the globalization of capitalism.
B) likely caused by less-prepared high school students entering college.
C) a result of credentialism and expenditures on formal education.
D) a result of increasing governmental interference in educational funding.

Question 14

Which of the following sociologists developed the theory of positivism?

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

Question 15

According to research used to question credentialism,what might it cost to buy a college diploma online?

A) $29.95
B) $99.99
C) $250.00
D) at least $1,000.00

Question 16

The "grand narrative" that constitutes a social identity:

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

Question 17

Who was the author of the first methods book in the discipline of sociology?

A) Émile Durkheim
B) Harriet Martineau
C) Jane Addams
D) Max Weber

Question 18

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 19

According to Comte,positivism arose out of a need to make ____________ sense of the social order in a time of declining religious authority.

A) scientific
B) moral
C) rational
D) economic

Question 20

Feeling discomfort about rural Chinese society,where many generations of a family sleep in the same bed,is known as:

A) xenophobia.
B) Verstehen.
C) social engineering.
D) social ecology.

Question 21

Which of the three historical epistemological stages did Comte argue would explain human society by identifying the "laws" that governed human behavior?

A) the theological stage
B) the metaphysical stage
C) the scientific stage
D) the postscientific stage

Question 22

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

A) employees.
B) proletariat.
C) subordinates.
D) slaves.

Question 23

Who criticized Marx for focusing exclusively on economics and social class as explanations for human behavior and advocated sociological analyses that allowed for multiple influences?

A) Auguste Comte
B) Harriet Martineau
C) Georg Simmel
D) Max Weber

Question 24

Who wrote The Protestant Ethic and the Spirit of Capitalism?

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

Question 25

Which of the three historical epistemological stages of human society did Comte explain was highlighted by Enlightenment thinking such as Rousseau's,Mill's,and Hobbes's beliefs in biological causes for human behavior?

A) the theological stage
B) the metaphysical stage
C) the scientific stage
D) the postscientific stage

Question 26

Which of the following founders of sociology is known,in part,for his writings providing the theoretical foundation of Communism?

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

Question 27

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) Verstehen.

Question 28

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 29

American sociology in the United States began at which of the following universities?

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

Question 30

Karl Marx would argue that the types of social institutions in a society were the result of the economic makeup of that society.Max Weber,however,argued that:

A) there are no social institutions in a society.
B) there are multiple influences (e.g., religion) on how social institutions are created.
C) social institutions are not influenced by the economy but by the individuals in them.
D) the epistemological stage of that society influenced the social institutions.

Question 31

Max Weber would say we need to understand from their perspective,not from our own,why many generations of Chinese sleep together in rural China.He called this:

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

Question 32

The Division of Labor in Society was the first of many sociological contributions from:

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

Question 33

Although positivism originated with Auguste Comte,the person who is often considered to be the first practitioner of positivism is:

A) Émile Durkheim.
B) Karl Marx.
C) Georg Simmel.
D) George Herbert Mead.

Question 34

Which of the three historical epistemological stages of human society did Comte claim was characterized by the development of social physics to explain human behavior?

A) the theological stage
B) the metaphysical stage
C) the scientific stage
D) the postscientific stage

Question 35

Which of the following is the study of social meanings that emphasizes subjectivity in understanding human behavior?

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

Question 36

According to Suicide,one of the main social forces leading to suicide is a sense of normlessness that results from drastic changes in society.This normlessness was called:

A) anomie.
B) the division of labor.
C) social solidarity.
D) functionalism.

Question 37

According to the theory of social solidarity,the division of labor in a society helps to determine:

A) the sociological contribution of individuals.
B) the way urbanism affects the cohesion of individuals.
C) the way social cohesion among individuals is maintained.
D) the way social norms are created and maintained.

Question 38

Which of the following lists the individuals known as "the founding fathers of the sociological discipline"?

A) Comte, Martineau, and Marx
B) Martineau, Addams, and Weber
C) Durkheim, Marx, and Weber
D) Cooley, Park, and Mead

Question 39

Each of the following is known as one of the three epistemological stages of human society,as explained by Comte,EXCEPT:

A) the theological stage.
B) the metaphysical stage.
C) the scientific stage.
D) the postscientific stage.

Question 40

Which of the following sociologists wrote Suicide in 1897?

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

Question 41

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 42

What do symbolic interactionists study?

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

Question 43

According to your textbook's author,Chicago School researcher Louis Wirth's essay "Urbanism as a Way of Life" might be classified as which of the following today?

A) cultural sociology
B) formal sociology
C) interpretive sociology
D) historical materialism

Question 44

Which of the following modern sociological theories states that the best way to analyze society is to identify the purpose that different aspects or phenomena play in the overall structure of society?

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

Question 45

In contrast to functionalism,which modern sociological theory borrows from Marx's belief that competition,not consensus,is the essential cause of social change?

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

Question 46

"If men define situations as real,they are real in their consequences" is the theory of which of the following Chicago School theorists?

A) Robert Park
B) Charles H. Cooley
C) George H. Mead
D) W. I. Thomas

Question 47

The intended purpose of desegregation of schools in the 1950s was to make education equal for everyone.What was not intended was that many racial minority teachers and principals lost their jobs.This unintended purpose was called a(n)____________ function by functionalist theorist Talcott Parsons.

A) unintended
B) manifest
C) mistaken
D) latent

Question 48

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

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

Question 49

Two words that might describe the difference between conflict theory and functionalism are:

A) competition versus consensus.
B) microsociology versus macrosociology.
C) meaning versus understanding.
D) feminist versus Marxist.

Question 50

Chicago was a good place to study urbanism using more of a community-based approach (a.k.a.social ecology).Why?

A) The residents were closely related and could communicate with each other easily.
B) The population was experiencing rapid growth due to foreign immigration and the influx of African Americans from the rural South.
C) Industrialization was waning in Chicago during this time, causing high rates of poverty and crime.
D) The divorce rate in Chicago at the time was double that of other large cities.

Question 51

The Chicago School's main laboratory for sociological research was the city of Chicago itself,because:

A) it was convenient and allowed them the perfect setting for developing sweeping laws about human behavior.
B) they were interested in how the social and physical environment shapes the individual.
C) they believed the people in Chicago to be uniquely affected by broad social forces.
D) the citizens of Chicago remained predominantly white throughout the existence of the Chicago School, which led to greater social cohesion.

Question 52

Which modern sociological theory examines how power relationships are defined,shaped,and reproduced on the basis of gender differences?

A) feminism
B) functionalism
C) human sexuality
D) midrange theory

Question 53

Which of the following sociologists 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 54

The Chicago School's Jane Addams founded the first American settlement house,an institution to help the poor by offering aid,educational services,and more.This house was known as the:

A) Chicago School.
B) Addams House.
C) Hull House.
D) University of Chicago.

Question 55

Which of the following was the first African American to receive a PhD from Harvard University?

A) W. E. B. Du Bois
B) Jane Addams
C) Frederick Douglass
D) Booker T. Washington

Question 56

Which early U.S.sociologist told other sociologists in the Chicago School to "go out and get the seats of [their] pants dirty in real research"?

A) Charles H. Cooley
B) George H. Mead
C) Robert Park
D) Louis Wirth

Question 57

The functionalist paradigm went largely unchallenged in the United States until about the 1950s.C.Wright Mills criticized Talcott Parsons for:

A) spending too much time on the negative aspects of society.
B) supporting the dominant class structure and the inequalities associated with it.
C) addressing only the inequalities of classes.
D) focusing on small-scale personal interactions and not the "whole picture."

Question 58

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

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

Question 59

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 think she might shoplift.
W)E.B.Du Bois would say that the African American woman has:

A) a racist agenda.
B) low self-esteem.
C) a double consciousness.
D) a negative self-image.

Question 60

Which modern sociological theory attempts to understand social behavior by examining the ways people interpret and give meaning to social signals and signs?

A) libertarian municipalism
B) functionalism
C) symbolic interactionism
D) scientism

Question 61

Robert Merton's modern sociological theory focused on attempting to predict how certain social institutions function between microsociology and macrosociology.This is known as:

A) midrange theory.
B) a compromise.
C) applied theory.
D) postmodernism.

Question 62

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) attacking the fallacy.
B) anomie.
C) accepting the sui generis.
D) deconstructing social phenomena.

Question 63

While historians are more likely to focus on the unique case,sociologists would more likely focus on:

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

Question 64

Economists tend to see humans as ____________,but sociologists would tend to include ____________.

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

Question 65

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

A) "great man" theories.
B) people's histories.
C) historiography.
D) historical materialism.

Question 66

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 67

Explain what it means to "think like a sociologist" and "make the familiar strange," and use at least one example to make your point.

Question 68

In sociology's "cousin," psychology,the focus is on the individual.In sociology,the focus is above and beyond the individual,on group-level dynamics and social structures.This is known as:

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

Question 69

Native Americans may see the history of the United States differently than white Europeans.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 70

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 71

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

A) physical anthropology
B) cultural anthropology
C) genetic anthropology
D) forensic anthropology

Question 72

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 73

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 74

Define the concepts of social institution and social identity,and give an example of each.

Question 75

Explaining unique cases is the focus of most historians,whereas the comparative method is the staple of the sociologist.This comparative method is also known as:

A) people's histories.
B) the nomothetic approach.
C) counterfactual.
D) historiography.

Question 76

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 77

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 constructs.
B) myths.
C) lies.
D) propaganda.

Question 78

Perhaps the largest 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 79

Sociology is the study of:

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

Question 80

Define what Karl Marx meant by historical materialism and discuss one way it could be applied in today's world (e.g.,within our technology-driven system).