Deck 7: Interaction, Groups, and Organizations

Question 1

A social group decides that the length of someone's big toe represents how intelligent and trustworthy that person is. Soon those with longer big toes have a higher social standing. Though the criteria may seem silly, it becomes a very real way group members are differentiated. This illustrates which sociological concept?

A) intersubjectivity
B) Thomas theorem
C) in-group
D) reference group

Answer 1

B

Question 2

Which of the following is the best example of a status set?

A) registered nurse
B) caring for one's child and earning a living
C) registered nurse in the United States
D) registered nurse, father, husband, amateur golfer

Answer 2

D

Question 3

How does an achieved status differ from an ascribed one?

A) An ascribed position is one that is obtained from one's own efforts while achieved positions are assigned to us.
B) Both are types of positions assigned to individuals at birth; the difference lies in what one does with that position.
C) An achieved position is one that is obtained from one's own efforts while ascribed positions are assigned to us.
D) Both are types of positions which an individual works toward; the difference lies in what type of position one achieves.

Answer 3

C

Question 4

According to sociologists, what are the societal consequences of stereotypes?

A) There are none; stereotypes have no real impact in the social world.
B) They teach us to appreciate diversity across groups.
C) We often negatively pre-judge people based on stereotypes.
D) They allow us to quickly identify important traits in others.

Question 5

An ascribed status is one that

A) someone tries to achieve but fails to do so.
B) a person achieves but they did not have to work hard at it.
C) someone achieves but then they decide they do not like it.
D) is assigned to a person despite their wishes or abilities.

Question 6

Which sociological perspective focuses on interpersonal interactions?

A) functionalist
B) feminist
C) conflict
D) symbolic interactionist

Question 7

What is a status category?

A) a status that individuals can hold in common
B) a status to which an individual is assigned
C) a social status that an individual achieves
D) all the social statuses that a person holds

Question 8

Symbolic interactionists would be most interested in studying which aspect of education?

A) the functions of schools within a society
B) how classmates interact with one another
C) the economic benefits to attending college
D) the history of the American educational system

Question 9

Mike's uncle is always making generalizations about certain racial/ethnic groups, describing them as being smart, good with money, lazy, unmotivated, or prone to crime. Mike knows that these assertions are unfounded but he does not know how to address his uncle. These generalizations are

A) sexism.
B) stereotypes.
C) status hierarchies.
D) social networks.

Question 10

What are stereotypes?

A) distorted and untrue generalizations about groups that overlook individual variation
B) true generalizations about a group of people based on both negative and positive attributes
C) statements regarding the negative attributes of a racial or ethnic group
D) positive generalizations of a particular group, such as a racial or ethnic group

Question 11

According to sociologists, which of the following allows people to communicate?

A) shared symbols and meanings
B) everyone learning English in school
C) flashcards
D) constant clarification

Question 12

What do sociologists call the common understanding between people that arises from shared knowledge, reality, or experience?

A) symbolic interaction
B) intersubjectivity
C) functionalism
D) culture

Question 13

What do sociologists call the collection of statuses that a person holds?

A) achieved status
B) ascribed status
C) social status
D) status set

Question 14

What do sociologists mean by "social construction"?

A) Our social world is constructed through social interaction.
B) Our world quickly changes because it is just "constructed."
C) There are no consequences to the social world.
D) The social world has naturally evolved.

Question 15

Albert is in his first year as a sociology graduate student. He wants to be a symbolic interactionist and is starting a project on soccer teams. Which of the following research questions would Albert be most likely to explore?

A) How much money can a professional soccer team bring in for its owners?
B) Why has soccer not become a more popular sport in the United States?
C) How do soccer players and coaches relate to one another during practice and matches?
D) What is the history of soccer in Europe and how did it come to the United States?

Question 16

Which of the following best describes the difference between objectivation and internationalization?

A) Objectivation is when something is true, and internationalization is when something is false.
B) Objectivation is when a part of our social world appears natural, and internationalization is when we become influenced by our social world.
C) Both refer to how sociologists make sense of our social world; and neither process impacts individuals in their daily lives.
D) Internationalization is when a part of our social world appears natural, and objectivation is when we become influenced by our social world.

Question 17

Two strangers meet on a train. Despite speaking the same language, they are never able to reach a common understanding about their experiences, nor do they have a common set of knowledge, with neither being able to take the perspective of the other. What is NEVER achieved in this interaction?

A) stereotypes
B) interaction
C) groupthink
D) intersubjectivity

Question 18

What is the three-step process that Peter Berger and Thomas Luckmann believe individuals go through as they construct reality?

A) externalization, objectivation, internalization
B) embodiment, objecting, internalizing
C) internalization, externalization, objectivation
D) defining, believing, constructing

Question 19

What sociological concept is the idea that if someone defines a situation as real it is real in its consequences?

A) structure
B) the Thomas theorem
C) symbolic interaction
D) functionalism

Question 20

With which of the following statements would Peter Berger and Thomas Luckmann most likely disagree?

A) Men are a social product.
B) Society is an objective reality.
C) Society has organically evolved.
D) Society is a human product.

Question 21

Which of the following would be an example of a back-stage performance?

A) a flight attendant smiling when a passenger is being rude
B) a teacher acting enthusiastic about his lesson even though he finds the topic boring
C) a politician smiling warmly during a campaign stop even though he is tired
D) a salesman telling his friend about the horrible way customers treated him that day

Question 22

When the responsibilities or expectations of a single status compete with one another, which of the following occurs?

A) role conflict
B) achieved social status
C) role play
D) role strain

Question 23

A server at a restaurant accidentally took the incorrect dish to a customer. The customer loudly berated the server over the mistake. The server apologized profusely, forced a smile, and quickly corrected the order. After her shift, the server complained to a coworker about how rude the customer had been and how angry she had been as a result. What represents the worker's front-stage performance?

A) the server smiling and apologizing
B) the server complaining to the coworker
C) the server serving the wrong dish
D) the server correcting the order

Question 24

What is a social network?

A) collections of social ties that connect people together
B) a new kind of Facebook
C) the hierarchy of social statuses
D) collections of social ties that prevent people from communicating

Question 25

A president of a company holds more power and has greater access to resources than a mailroom employee. This illustrates which concept?

A) ascribed social status
B) achieved social status
C) social status
D) status hierarchy

Question 26

Martin has many social statuses, including being a parent, a son, a husband, and a carpenter. When he was younger, he committed a crime and served some time in prison. Despite all of the things he has accomplished since then, most people still react to Martin primarily as an ex-con. What type of status does being an ex-con represent in Martin's life?

A) social status
B) status set
C) master status
D) social role

Question 27

How is status hierarchy linked to social inequality?

A) Statuses in a hierarchy have unequal access to resources based on the prestige of their position.
B) A social hierarchy is a way to battle social inequality because all positions are equal.
C) A social hierarchy is the equitable distribution of resources across those in the hierarchy.
D) As our society has become more unequal, social hierarchies have diminished.

Question 28

Darren has three children. To Darren, being a good dad is being a good provider, and he spends many overtime hours earning extra money. But when he works overtime, he feels he isn't spending enough time with his children. Darren is experiencing

A) role conflict.
B) role overload.
C) role strain.
D) role competition.

Question 29

What is a social role?

A) a part that an actor plays, such as Hamlet
B) the social expectations that go along with a social status
C) when children play "pretend" and take on various personas
D) the social positions that one holds in a social system

Question 30

What type of social contact occurs between people who are similar in terms of gender, age, race/ethnicity, and so forth?

A) heterophily
B) social network
C) social interaction
D) homophily

Question 31

What perspective does a sociologist take when he or she studies social interaction using the metaphor of theater?

A) ethnomethodology
B) dramaturgy
C) symbolic interaction
D) functionalism

Question 32

Maggie has many social statuses, including mother, wife, daughter, high school principal, and softball player. She often feels she cannot meet all of the responsibilities in her life. For example, last week she had to miss a softball game because she needed to work late and also missed her son's school play. Maggie is experiencing which of the following?

A) role conflict
B) role strain
C) intersubjectivity
D) homophily

Question 33

How does a master status differ from other social statuses?

A) A master status is the status with the least social significance.
B) Master statuses are social statuses that men hold within a society.
C) A master status is the status with the most social significance.
D) Master status is the social status that an individual feels is the least consequential.

Question 34

In a status hierarchy,

A) all statuses have the same social prestige.
B) some statuses have more social prestige than others.
C) some statuses do not have roles associated with them.
D) all statuses are of low social prestige.

Question 35

A sociologist is studying how police officers perform their roles, specifically examining how officers perform their roles and present themselves to the public. What approach is the sociologist using to study the officers?

A) scientific management
B) reference groups
C) acting
D) dramaturgy

Question 36

In one community, doctors and teachers are considered to have the most honored jobs, then business managers, and then those who work in politics. The more honored the job, the more income and influence the person holding the position has. This job ranking represents a

A) social network.
B) in-group.
C) social circuit.
D) status hierarchy.

Question 37

With which of the following statements would a sociologist DISAGREE regarding the importance of social roles in our society?

A) Social roles guide behaviors because they are the expectations that go along with the various social positions individuals hold.
B) Roles connect us to other individuals within a society because many of the expectations of a social status regard how to interact with others in keeping with their social statuses.
C) Social roles are made up expectations by society regarding what individuals are supposed to do within a given social status, and since they are made up they are not consequential.
D) Social roles are a vital part of social stability because society needs people knowing how to fulfill their roles in order for society to function smoothly.

Question 38

What is the goal of impression management?

A) for an individual to achieve a higher social status than he or she currently holds
B) for a sociologist to understand how people interact with one another
C) for an individual to be open and honest with others regarding who he/she is
D) for an individual to control the image that others have of him or her

Question 39

When the roles of the various social statuses an individual occupies clash with one another, which of the following occurs?

A) role strain
B) role play
C) role conflict
D) role change

Question 40

Role distance is the idea that people

A) embrace their social role.
B) distance themselves from a role as they carry it out.
C) decide not to carry out a social role.
D) challenge a social role.

Question 41

Which type of social grouping is made up of people who have regular contact, significant emotional attachment to one another, and enduring relationships?

A) tertiary
B) primary
C) secondary
D) None of these answers is correct.

Question 42

What distinguishes a social group from a crowd?

A) Both are basically the same thing-people coming together for a particular long-term purpose.
B) Social groups share a sense of being a collective entity, whereas a crowd is people who are at the same place at the same time.
C) A crowd often shares common norms, values, and interests, whereas a social group does not share any sense of being part of a collective entity.
D) A crowd happens outside, whereas a social group is a group that occurs indoors.

Question 43

Erik spent the afternoon with his close, longtime friends and they played video games together. Later in the day, he went to a video game store and bought a video game from the salesman and then left the store. What type of relationship does Erik have with the video game salesman?

A) primary
B) secondary
C) social network
D) in-group

Question 44

Which type of social network provides emotional and other assistance to cope with stress and troubles?

A) haven
B) bandage
C) safety net
D) social capital

Question 45

Which of the following would be a secondary relationship?

A) a family going on vacation
B) store clerks helping a customer choose a smart phone
C) a friend helping another friend move
D) a group of college friends having dinner

Question 46

What is the best way to describe the organization of contemporary society?

A) clan groups
B) networked individualism
C) bureaucratic collectivism
D) triad membership

Question 47

Maria just entered high school. She hopes one day to join the volleyball team and looks to the young women on the team as role models. She dresses like them, follows the same fitness routines, and reads the same volleyball magazines. To Maria, the volleyball team is a

A) secondary group.
B) out-group.
C) reference group.
D) master status.

Question 48

How does social support relate to the concept of social networks?

A) Social support tends to come from our social networks.
B) Social support tends to come from those outside our social networks.
C) Social support and social networks are not related to one another.
D) When our social networks break down, we search for social support.

Question 49

Sociologists refer to a collection of people who interact with one another regularly and who are aware of their status as a

A) social network.
B) social status.
C) social group.
D) social hierarchy.

Question 50

According to sociologists, which of the following would be a social group?

A) a crowd at a ballgame
B) men who are balding
C) a volleyball team
D) all college freshman in the United States

Question 51

Which of the following is FALSE regarding "weak" social ties, according to sociologists?

A) Weak ties link us to a larger pool of contacts and social support.
B) Weak ties can be strong in the sense that they help us connect to more resources.
C) Weak ties are less intimate social networks, such as with coworkers and casual acquaintances.
D) Weak ties are always so tenuous that they really never add to our lives in a meaningful way.

Question 52

Liza only hangs out with other people just like her in terms of her ethnicity, age, education, religion and so forth. What is a consequence of Liza spending most of her time in such groups?

A) She cannot understand others because they are so similar to her.
B) Her worldview is constantly being challenged.
C) She can never reach intersubjectivity with others in her group.
D) Her worldview is constantly being reaffirmed.

Question 53

What changes when a dyad relationship become a triad?

A) The number of possible interactions increases.
B) The relationship immediately dissolves.
C) The relationship becomes more intense emotionally.
D) The relationship becomes less interesting because more people are involved.

Question 54

Which of the following is characteristic of networks?

A) local ties
B) social control over the individual
C) contact between individuals
D) tight boundaries

Question 55

How do we relate to a reference group?

A) It is a group we know little about.
B) It is a group we ask to write us references for a job.
C) It is the group we choose to judge ourselves against.
D) It is the group we used to be a member of.

Question 56

Which type of social grouping is made up of people who come together to accomplish a specific task and interact with one another in a relatively impersonal way?

A) tertiary
B) primary
C) secondary
D) None of these answers is correct.

Question 57

A sociologist is mapping out who knows each other in her sociology class. Jill knows Paul and Mike. Mike knows Isaiah, who knows Catherine and Juan. Juan knows Paul as well. The sociologist is looking at the ________ present in her classroom.

A) out-groups
B) in-groups
C) social networks
D) social circuits

Question 58

How does a reference group influence us?

A) It doesn't; it is just a group of people we know.
B) We behave in ways in keeping with how we think reference group members will think of us.
C) We do the exact opposite of what a reference group member would do.
D) We join the group and try to influence them to act like us.

Question 59

What distinguishes a primary group from a secondary group?

A) the size of the group
B) which group you knew first
C) the level of emotional attachment
D) the gender of the group members

Question 60

Which of the following does NOT illustrate homophily?

A) A young man's best friend is the same gender and age.
B) A neighborhood consists of married couples all with similar educational backgrounds.
C) Everyone at a community center is of the same religious background.
D) People of all different classes and ethnicities are interacting at a block party.

Question 61

Which of the following would be part of an organizational environment?

A) the gender of the organization's president
B) the traditions and history of the organization
C) the sales figures for the organization's last quarter
D) the state of the economy and political arena

Question 62

Secondary groups that have a more formal structure and are formed to accomplish a specific task (like a business) are known as

A) social networks.
B) organizations.
C) categories.
D) societies.

Question 63

Uncritical thinking of social groups where consensus is reinforced rather than critical discussion is referred to as

A) in-group.
B) out-group.
C) role conflict.
D) groupthink.

Question 64

What does impersonality mean in terms of a bureaucracy?

A) People who work at bureaucracies are mean.
B) Bureaucracies rely greatly on robots and technology.
C) People move in out of positions, but the structure remains.
D) When a position is vacated it takes a long time to be filled.

Question 65

Groupthink is when

A) individuals reinforce the consensus of a group without being critical.
B) individuals collectively and critically come up with a plan.
C) a group has a measured debate about the best course of action.
D) individuals battle back against the prevailing group conclusion.

Question 66

How are Stanley Milgram's and Solomon Asch's experiments similar in their findings?

A) They both found that people do not like conforming to others.
B) They both found that people are prone to conforming behavior.
C) The both found that people are prone to activism.
D) They both found that people are susceptible to family influences.

Question 67

The factors that exist outside an organization that affect an organization's functioning constitute

A) an organizational culture.
B) society.
C) social structure.
D) an organizational environment.

Question 68

What was Solomon Asch trying to uncover in his experiments?

A) where racist stereotypes come from
B) how people fight the urge to be obedient
C) how organizations develop structures
D) how groups promote conformity

Question 69

Which of the following is NOT characteristic of a bureaucratic organization?

A) The division of labor becomes so complex it is inefficient.
B) Written rules do not always cover new situations efficiently.
C) Impersonality can make it seem like no one is responsible.
D) It tends to be so informal that there are no written procedures.

Question 70

Which of the following is NOT characteristic of a bureaucracy, according to Max Weber?

A) written rules and records
B) reliance on technology
C) impersonality
D) hierarchical structure

Question 71

Solomon Asch's experiments concluded that

A) people will always stand up for what is right.
B) people are hard to influence in terms of their behavior.
C) the actions of others within a group promote conformist behavior.
D) group-mindset leads to violent and activist behavior.

Question 72

A group that a person has negative feelings toward and considers its members to be below him or her is what type of group?

A) out-group
B) in-group
C) social group
D) a dyad

Question 73

Which of the following accurately describes culture and organizations?

A) Organizations have unique cultures that influence how their members operate.
B) Culture exists only outside of an organization, not within it.
C) Organizations always rely on cues from pop culture in creating an environment.
D) Organizational culture really only shows itself at social events like company picnics.

Question 74

Which of the following illustrates the dynamics of an out-group?

A) An individual does not feel a connection to the out-group and tries to distance him/herself from its members.
B) An individual feels a strong connection to the out-group and sees them as role models.
C) An individual is part of an out-group but he/she really wants to be part of the in-group.
D) An individual is not part of the out-group but sees its members in a positive light.

Question 75

What is an oligarchy?

A) government rule where all citizens share power
B) government controlled by a powerful few
C) government controlled by a royal family
D) government controlled by a large congress

Question 76

What is a bureaucracy?

A) a secondary group of people interested in business
B) a highly diffuse and informal organization
C) a hierarchical administrative system with formal rules and procedures
D) a governmental agency with many responsibilities

Question 77

Why do organizations, as they grow larger, tend to become more formalized?

A) Since organizations are so impersonal they have to become more formalized.
B) The person in power wants a greater degree of formality.
C) By law, as it grows larger, an organization has to have more formal rules and policies.
D) Organizations become more complex and former informal structures become inadequate.

Question 78

Stanley Milgram found in his experiment that people

A) shy away from conflict in most social situations.
B) will stand up to authority figures when they are wrong.
C) are socialized into obeying authority figures.
D) stand up when they know something is unjust.

Question 79

How are in-groups and out-groups different?

A) Individuals feel they are members of out-groups, but not in-groups.
B) Individuals feel a connection to an in-group, but see out-groups as inferior.
C) Individuals believe that an out-group is superior and an in-group is inferior to them.
D) Individuals shy away from out-groups because they are more outgoing than in-groups.

Question 80

What type of group does a person identify with and have positive feelings toward?

A) out-group
B) in-group
C) social group
D) a dyad