Contemporary Social Issues
Exam Bank
Course Introduction
Contemporary Social Issues explores the major challenges and debates shaping societies today. The course examines topics such as inequality, poverty, discrimination, migration, environmental crises, and the impacts of globalization. Students analyze how social institutions, cultural norms, government policies, and global forces influence these issues and contribute to their complexity. Through critical discussion and examination of current events, the course encourages students to develop informed perspectives and consider possible solutions to pressing social problems in local and global contexts.
Recommended Textbook
Experience Sociology 3rd Edition by David Croteau
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17 Chapters
1701 Verified Questions
1701 Flashcards
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Chapter 1: Sociology in a Changing World
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Sample Questions
Q1) Which term do sociologists use for a collection of propositions that work to explain how social phenomena operate?
A) sociology
B) social theory
C) levels of analysis
D) structural theories
Answer: B
Q2) A society's values, knowledge, language, interactions, and material objects reflect its
A) culture.
B) structure.
C) power.
D) organization.
Answer: A
Q3) Art, gestures, and language are all components of culture.
A)True
B)False
Answer: True
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Page 3
Chapter 2: Understanding the Research Process
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Sample Questions
Q1) Critical social science believes that research must be value-free.
A)True
B)False
Answer: False
Q2) The purpose of a hypothesis is to summarize the key findings from a research study.
A)True
B)False
Answer: False
Q3) Julie works for Knowledge Works, a company that calls individuals in the United States and asks them closed-ended questions about their knowledge of different social policies. What kind of research is she conducting?
A) focus group
B) intensive interviewing
C) content analysis
D) survey
Answer: D
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Page 4
Chapter 3: Culture
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Sample Questions
Q1) Which of the following statements about language is FALSE?
A) Language is the use of symbols to communicate with others in a complex way.
B) Sharing a language means sharing a culture.
C) We can accumulate and store information through language.
D) Language allows us to forge a shared history.
Answer: B
Q2) Which of the following values would dominate in a theocratic society, ruled or controlled by religious authorities, like in Iran or Saudi Arabia?
A) tradition and conformity
B) self-direction and individualism
C) stimulation and hedonism
D) democracy and progress
Answer: A
Q3) Which of the following is true about religious fundamentalists?
A) They are found primarily in the Middle East.
B) They believe in the literal interpretation of a sacred text.
C) They embrace both secular and religious practices and beliefs.
D) They promote change in society.
Answer: B
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Page 5
Chapter 4: Social Structure
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Sample Questions
Q1) Conversation analysis examines social interaction at the macro level.
A)True
B)False
Q2) Originally, Juan went to medical school to become a surgeon. After doing rotations in various departments during his residency, Juan decided that he would rather specialize in pediatrics because he really enjoyed working with children. Which of the following is an example of ascribed status in Juan's life?
A) physician
B) male
C) surgeon
D) pediatrician
Q3) In order to survive, an institution has to serve a function that meets the needs of the broader society.
A)True
B)False
Q4) The most common way that teens today "spend time" with their friends is by talking on the phone.
A)True
B)False
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Chapter 5: Power
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Sample Questions
Q1) According to Max Weber, ________ is the process used by members of a dominant status group to maximize their advantage by excluding nonmembers from the benefits of membership.
A) social exclusion
B) social divide
C) segregation
D) social closure
Q2) Lai is a powerful and wealthy businesswoman who enjoys all the benefits of her class background. To attain her position, however, she struggled to overcome the disadvantage and discrimination of her gender in a male-dominated business environment. This scenario corresponds with which concept?
A) matrix of domination
B) social closure
C) traditional authority
D) power as knowledge
Q3) In the socialist system, the role of the government is
A) limited.
B) to promote equality.
C) to restrict freedom.
D) to discourage individual achievement.
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Chapter 6: Socialization
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Sample Questions
Q1) Which of the following can be an effect of a lack of early social stimulation?
A) decreased IQ scores
B) stunted growth
C) inability to form healthy social bonds
D) All these answers are correct.
Q2) When juries are listening to testimony and trying to decide whether or not a defendant is guilty, they are using
A) selective perspectives.
B) "mind reading."
C) intuition.
D) "mind mapping."
Q3) Which of the following best describes the impact of genes on behavior?
A) The social environment can trigger genes and associative behavior but cannot limit the impact of genes.
B) Genes represent the potential for traits but do not determine the expression of those traits.
C) Genes, in general, are more important predictors of behavior than environment.
D) None of these answers is correct.
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8
Chapter 7: Interaction, Groups, and Organizations
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Sample Questions
Q1) 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.
Q2) 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.
Q3) Scientific management is when jobs are
A) deskilled in an effort to improve workplace efficiency.
B) translated into management jobs.
C) up-skilled to keep pace with changing technology.
D) kept at the same level to ensure constant productivity.
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Page 9
Chapter 8: Deviance and Social Control
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Sample Questions
Q1) The foundation of the racial disparity in the justice system is
A) long-term economic inequality.
B) prejudice.
C) corruption in the system.
D) differential value systems.
Q2) Strain theory proposes that when ________, people resort to deviant means to accomplish socially defined goals.
A) pressured by expectations
B) conventional opportunities are blocked
C) influenced by a deviant subculture
D) opportunities arise
Q3) Some people hope that marijuana will soon be legal. They hope for the ________ of marijuana.
A) marketization
B) decriminalization
C) monetization
D) distribution
Q4) Deviance contributes to change and innovation in society.
A)True
B)False
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Chapter 9: Class and Global Inequality
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Sample Questions
Q1) The resources a person has, such as various types knowledge and skills, are called
A) cultural capital.
B) social capital.
C) cultural resources.
D) social resources.
Q2) Alex believes that people who are poor are lazy and do not want to work. He argues that anyone can be rich if they simply work hard enough. What concept reflects the argument he is making?
A) singularity
B) equal opportunity
C) individualism
D) meritocracy
Q3) Someone who lacks resources so severely that their life is threatened is living in ________ poverty.
A) total
B) desperate
C) relative
D) absolute
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11
Chapter 10: Race and Ethnicity
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Sample Questions
Q1) Wendy has light skin and therefore her hair must be light colored and straight.
A)True
B)False
Q2) How did the North American Free Trade Agreement increase immigration from Mexico to the United States?
A) by normalizing the movement of laborers over the border
B) by economically undermining small-scale Mexican farms
C) by establishing the bracero temporary worker program
D) by codifying recruitment rules for American employers
Q3) Which of the following is NOT a response of minority groups to majority-group domination?
A) passing
B) withdrawal
C) resistance
D) baiting
Q4) Belief that all Asian American students are smart is a
A) prejudice.
B) stereotype.
C) discriminatory act.
D) belief system.
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Chapter 11: Gender and Sexuality
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Sample Questions
Q1) Which term refers to the cultural norm that assumes that everyone is heterosexual?
A) homosexism
B) heterophobia
C) homophobia
D) heterosexism
Q2) Before gender convergence, girls who had premarital sex were often seen as "bad girls."
A)True
B)False
Q3) Individuals who have a gender identity that does NOT match their biological sex are called
A) transsexual people.
B) transgender people.
C) intersexed people.
D) bisexual people.
Q4) In the United States, men report that they want to balance paid and family work with their partners.
A)True
B)False
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Chapter 12: Family and Religion
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Sample Questions
Q1) On which solution do U.S. policymakers typically focus when trying to address the challenges faced by single parents?
A) universal health care
B) school-based social programs
C) affordable housing
D) promoting marriage
Q2) During which decade did the fertility rate in the United States hit its lowest point?
A) 1950s
B) 1960s
C) 1970s
D) 1980s
Q3) Approximately what percent of marriages in the United States are interracial or interethnic?
A) 4 percent
B) 8 percent
C) 11 percent
D) 17 percent
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Chapter 13: Education and Work
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Sample Questions
Q1) ________ education is when students receive instruction in both their native language and a second language.
A) Moral
B) Hidden
C) Bilingual
D) Cultural
Q2) There is little difference across workplace cultures in the United States.
A)True
B)False
Q3) How does middle-class students' cultural capital benefit them in school?
A) They are able to ace all of their music appreciation and other arts-related classes.
B) Their cultural capital aligns with that of the school.
C) They are able to afford tutors and computers.
D) They have better social connections with teachers.
Q4) What does the hidden curriculum do?
A) It teaches students the central values and beliefs of society.
B) It teaches students basic subjects like math and reading.
C) It teaches students to be engaged in activism.
D) It teaches students to "think outside the box."
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Chapter 14: Media and Consumption
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Sample Questions
Q1) A media company acquires a film production company, a film editing firm, and a film distribution firm. By owning different stages of movie making, the company is ________ integrated.
A) vertically
B) upwardly
C) horizontally
D) diagonally
Q2) Sociologists are concerned that people spend too much time with media learning about tragic events (like war and famine) instead of using media as a form of entertainment.
A)True
B)False
Q3) User-generated media never reach a broad audience.
A)True
B)False
Q4) As compared to European countries, in the United States there is
A) much more government regulation of the media.
B) much less government regulation of the media.
C) more much government control of children's programming.
D) about the same level of regulation over mass media.
Page 16
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Chapter 15: Communities, the Environment, and Health
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Sample Questions
Q1) Long commutes typical of the American suburbs have contributed to which phenomenon?
A) increase in automobile accidents
B) road fatigue
C) low civic engagement
D) demand for fuel-efficient vehicles
Q2) The capitalist economic system is predicated on a continually increased consumption of resources to produce growth. As such, the very principle of a capitalist economy is
A) irrational.
B) unsustainable.
C) inventive.
D) constructive.
Q3) The pattern of health and disease among the population is not equal, and it is not random. Patterns of health distribution are related to
A) religious affiliation.
B) class and income level.
C) political affiliation.
D) ethnicity.
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Page 17
Chapter 16: Politics and the Economy
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Sample Questions
Q1) The New Deal policies introduced in 1933 were an effort to
A) stabilize and revive the system of capitalism.
B) socialize major industries and banks.
C) realize a government takeover of the financial sector.
D) implement socialism.
Q2) Which type of voting system is used to elect members to the U.S. House and Senate?
A) plurality voting
B) direct voting
C) proportional representation
D) two-party
Q3) In which type of political system do citizens elect delegates who carry out the policymaking processes of government?
A) direct democracy
B) proportional system
C) representative democracy
D) delegate system
Q4) Government policies disproportionately favor the interests of the well-off.
A)True
B)False
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Chapter 17: Social Change: Globalization, Population, and Social Movements
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Sample Questions
Q1) The globalization of culture is a somewhat unilateral process; not all parties enjoy the same cultural influence.
A)True
B)False
Q2) Social movements would NOT be interested in pursuing which effort?
A) changing institutional structure
B) supporting charitable organizations
C) promoting the support for war
D) educating about the importance of recycling
Q3) Collective, organized efforts at bringing about or opposing change, typically led by people who have no institutional power, is a definition of
A) interest groups.
B) lobbying.
C) social movements.
D) support groups.
Q4) Censorship and manipulation of Internet content is one way that governments that oppose democracy fight against pro-democracy movements.
A)True
B)False
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