Contemporary Social Issues
Midterm Exam
Course Introduction
This course explores significant social issues facing contemporary societies, such as inequality, discrimination, globalization, migration, environmental challenges, and the impact of technology. Students will examine the origins, dynamics, and consequences of these issues using interdisciplinary approaches drawn from sociology, political science, economics, and cultural studies. By analyzing current events, media, and scholarly literature, students will develop critical thinking skills and gain an understanding of how social problems are constructed, experienced, and addressed at local, national, and global levels.
Recommended Textbook
New Society 8th Edition by Robert J. Brym
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Page 2
Chapter 1: Introducing Sociology
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Q1) Which statement best describes how people are likely to respond in the face of complex problems and social issues?
A) They wait for authorities to take action.
B) They desperately do something,anything.
C) They give up in despair and apathy.
D) They look for ways to improve their lives.
Answer: D
Q2) Cassandra is a researcher studying the everyday lives of drug addicts to better understand the meanings they attach to being socially marginalized.Which term best describes the patterns of social relations that Cassandra is examining?
A) microstructures
B) macrostructures
C) global structures
D) constant structures
Answer: A
Q3) What is the Postindustrial Revolution?
Answer: The technology-driven shift from manufacturing to service industries
Q4) List and discuss the three enemies of scientific knowledge.
Answer: Tradition,authority,and secrecy
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Chapter 2: Research Methods
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Q1) Fatima meets with an immigrant woman without legal status to discuss a potential research project.The immigrant talks about her daily life and how she works without being identified by the authorities.However,Fatima is frustrated to hear how the immigrant was able to come to this country without going through the legal procedures that Fatima's parents had to go through.According to the text,why should Fatima NOT study this immigrant?
A) The immigrant may be identified and deported.
B) Fatima lacks objectivity.
C) The immigrant may disclose information harmful to other immigrants.
D) Fatima may reveal insights into her life.
Answer: B
Q2) Erving Goffman's work on the insane asylum revealed insights about mental patients.Which method of understanding was that work based on?
A) the definition of the situation
B) taking the role of the other
C) how to proceed with the activity
D) what is defined as real is real in its consequences
Answer: A
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Chapter 3: Culture
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Q1) Adam no longer votes in federal elections,even though he used to vote all of the time.Now,he does not think his vote will make a difference because whatever party gets voted in will do whatever they want anyway.Which feature of postmodernism is Adam's attitude an example of?
A) conventional wisdom of contemporary life
B) erosion of authority
C) eclectic mixing of elements from different times and places
D) decline of consensus around core values
Answer: B
Q2) What major societal requirement does social control fulfill?
A) It ensures cultural innovation.
B) It curtails and limits freedoms of people.
C) It protects culturally defined comfort zones.
D) It ensures stable patterns of interaction.
Answer: D
Q3) When people engage in conflict,they must still cooperate and respect norms.
A)True
B)False
Answer: True
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Page 5
Chapter 4: Socialization
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Q1) At the dinner table,Leesha's mom asked her what she had learned in class that day and Leesha responded,"the Thomas theorem." When her mom asked her to explain,which statement is most likely how would Leesha respond?
A) Perceptions of reality are altered through educational experiences.
B) The outcome of a situation depends upon the individual's perception of it,and not on the situation by itself.
C) The academically rich get richer and the poor get poorer.
D) The degree of personal insecurity you display in social situations is determined what you believe other people think of you.
Q2) Which theory defines the perspectives of Charles Horton Cooley and George Herbert Mead?
A) interactionist
B) feminist
C) functionalist
D) conflict
Q3) Describe Cooley's looking-glass-self theory and provide examples from your personal experiences or those of your friends and family.Who are your mirrors,and why?
Q4) What are the four main agents of socialization?
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Page 6
Chapter 5: Gender and Sexualities
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Q1) According to the text,which of the following is characteristic of the elements surrounding rape?
A) an act perpetrated primarily by strangers
B) a quid pro quo sexual experience
C) the use of sex to establish dominance
D) an act of legal but nonconsensual sex
Q2) What is intersectionality and how does it impact the likelihood of women experiencing violence?
Q3) Laura decided not to try out for the football team because she has always understood it as a male-dominated sport.Which sociological concept is Laura adhering to?
A) compulsory gender
B) gender roles
C) sex roles
D) identity roles
Q4) According to the text,which of the following is linked to sexual scripts?
A) personableness
B) gender roles
C) physical maturation
D) political preferences
Page 7
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Chapter 6: Communication and Mass Media
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Q1) After the September 11,2001 attacks on the United States,movies made in the Western world showed a substantial rise in villains from Iraq and Afghanistan.If Salena adopted a political-economy perspective,which of the following would she argue to be a primary reason behind the increase in the number of these movie characters?
A) The circumstances altered mediated social understandings,requiring updated antagonists.
B) The movies presented stories that support the new dominant political ideology.
C) The movies educated the public about Iraq and Afghanistan.
D) The movies provided emotional violence,reducing violent tendencies in people affected by 9/11.
Q2) Randall argues that media consumers are programmed to buy,eat,dress and vote in ways that suit those who control the mass media.What school of thought has Randall adopted?
A) media determinism
B) media imperialism
C) media voluntarism
D) media constructionism
Q3) What is cultural imperialism? Explain how this relates to Canada.
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Chapter 7: Social Stratification
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Q1) The combined income of a construction labourer and his wife,a waitress,is $40,000.They have two young children.After buying food,clothes,and medicine,and paying rent,utilities,car payments,car insurance,gas,and taxes,there is little left over.They have less than 10 percent of their income remaining.According to Canada's estimated poverty line,which statement best categorizes this family?
A) Their combined family income is above average for a family of four.
B) They are living from paycheque to paycheque but above the poverty line.
C) They are classified as among the new working poor.
D) They are living below the estimated poverty line.
Q2) A very large proportion of the poor in Canada are made up of the working poor. A)True B)False
Q3) At a shirt-making factory,the cost of materials per shirt was $2.00 and the labour per shirt was $3.00.The factory sold the shirt for $12.00.What was the surplus value of each shirt?
A) $2.00
B) $3.00
C) $7.00
D) $12.00
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Page 9
Chapter 8: Gender Inequality
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Q1) In the agrarian society,men are expected to plow and plant the fields while women tend to household chores such as cooking,cleaning,and childcare.What term describes this process whereby productive tasks are separated on the basis of being male or female?
A) gender based sexism
B) gendered division of labour
C) horizontal segregation
D) occupational segregation
Q2) Gender differences in power and authority became significant when people settled in one place and men began to own and control private property.
A)True
B)False
Q3) Despite decades of effort,workplaces are still highly gender segregated and this fact contributes significantly to the wage gap between men and women.Explain how gender segregation in the workplace negatively affects the earning power of women.
Q4) What are the two areas of policy development that relate to inequality in the workplace? How are they the same?
Q5) What is the difference between horizontal segregation and vertical segregation?
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Chapter 9: Race and Ethnic Relations
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Q1) Airport security records from a large international airport were analyzed,and it was discovered that 80 per cent of the persons subjected to enhanced screening procedures and more stringent pre-boarding checks tended to be travellers who were Arab,Muslim,Black,or Hispanic.What term would be used to describe this situation?
A) terrorist targeting
B) counter-terrorist measures
C) racial profiling
D) random selection
Q2) What can we conclude about ethnic categories?
A) They are in a constant state of flux.
B) They are clearly racist designations.
C) They are defined by only outgroups.
D) They are only recent creations.
Q3) According to the text,which group of people does the internal colonial model analyze power imbalances,inequality,and exploitation?
A) Aboriginal people
B) foreign minorities
C) visible minorities
D) language minorities
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Page 11
Chapter 10: Development and Underdevelopment
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Q1) What fundamental criticism has been levied against the Human Development Index (HDI)?
A) It does not track levels of economic inequality.
B) It fails to consider the happiness of the citizens.
C) It overestimates the well-being of people living in developed countries.
D) It does not include an indicator of the health of the environment.
Q2) Milton Friedman's economic ideas greatly impacted neoliberal policies of development.
A)True
B)False
Q3) Andre passionately argues that the lack of development in the less-developed countries is not due to their deficiencies but is rather the result of historical and structural relations between countries.Which theory would Andre use to support his perspective?
A) bio-environmental theory
B) modernization theory
C) dependency theory
D) neoliberal theory
Q4) Outline the basic tenets of a neoliberal approach to development.
Q5) What is popular resistance? Will it succeed?
Page 12
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Chapter 11: Families
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Q1) For a class assignment,Joshua was required to provide a critique of the functionalist perspective of families.Which statement would NOT be one of his arguments?
A) Functionalists fail to see the connection between financial dependence and marriage dynamics.
B) Functionalism results in an implicit criticism of families that do not fit the ideal.
C) Functionalism indirectly promotes gender-based inequalities.
D) Functionalism promotes a historical view of families.
Q2) Quebec has the lowest rates of cohabitation in Canada,which is attributable to Catholic traditions.
A)True
B)False
Q3) According to your text,when did the divorce rate in Canada reach its highest level?
A) 1967
B) 1975
C) 1985
D) 1987
Q4) What are the two key problems with the functionalist perspective on family?
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Chapter 12: Work and Occupations
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Q1) Lawrence worked for a fisherman,heading out to sea at 5 a.m.each day.However,last week,he was sick and unable to go to work.When he was able to return to work,he found out that he had been replaced.In what sector of the economy is this job?
A) core
B) periphery
C) flexible
D) standard
Q2) Carlota,a registered nurse,has been applying for a nursing job at all the hospitals in the province.But her bank account is fast dwindling,so she accepts a position working weekends as a nurse-receptionist at a walk-in clinic while continuing her job search.Which term best identifies the kind of employment Carlota has?
A) polarized work hour schedule
B) standard work
C) involuntary part-time
D) functionally flexible
Q3) Since the 1970s,the Canadian labour force has changed dramatically.List and discuss the ways in which our present labour force is different from that of three to four decades ago.
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Page 14
Chapter 13: Education
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Q1) Kendra worked hard in high school and was accepted into her university of choice.In contrast,Zelda did not always work in high school and after graduation was not accepted into any university.Which aspect of the school selection processes would structural-functionalists say this illustrates?
A) The hardest working are rewarded.
B) Homework is beneficial.
C) University is not for everyone.
D) Your future should not be taken for granted.
Q2) John's counsellor at high school recommended that he take the lower-level math courses,reducing John's confidence in his mathematical abilities.John wanted to be an astronomer,but now feels he needs to find a new career because astronomers need strong math skills.Which educational practice does this example illustrate a drawback of?
A) streaming
B) hierarchy construction
C) mobilization
D) structuration
Q3) Explain how low-achieving students respond to their institutional environment.
Q4) Explain how school choice is growing in Canada.
Q5) Describe and explain the ideas underlying human capital theory.
Page 15
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Chapter 14: Religion
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Q1) Joseph was asked to adopt a Marxist perspective of religion and apply it to answering the question "When will societal suffering end?" Which of the following would be Joseph's answer?
A) when fewer citizens are interested in and involved with religious organizations
B) when citizens in the society stopped using religion as a crutch for their lives
C) when more citizens become church goers and live their beliefs in the community
D) when political leaders make policies based on religious beliefs
Q2) National,regional,and group contexts have no bearing on the religious commitment demonstrated by individuals.
A)True
B)False
Q3) Religious groups tend to more strongly oppose issues that deal with moral innovation.
A)True
B)False
Q4) Compare and contrast humanist perspectives and religious perspectives toward life.
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Page 16
Chapter 15: Deviance and Crime
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Q1) A researcher says that crime is a young person's game.Which of the following is he talking about?
A) thrill-seeking adolescents
B) a correlate of crime
C) professional adult criminals
D) sociobiological determinants
Q2) Which theory is the basis of Canada's "tough on crime" stance and proposed legislation?
A) rehabilitation theory
B) penology theory
C) deterrence theory
D) recidivism theory
Q3) According to Merton's strain theory,what are criminals doing when they commit crimes?
A) They are responding innovatively to societal contradictions.
B) They are exhibiting unintelligent and irrational behaviour.
C) They are showing underlying psychological pathologies.
D) They are expressing their frustrations with capitalism.
Q4) What is the "dark figure of crime" and how does it affect estimates of criminality?
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Chapter 16: Population and Urbanization
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Q1) What can be said about the fortress city phenomenon?
A) It involves the isolating of the disadvantaged,the homeless,and the poor.
B) It involves large numbers of families moving to the suburbs.
C) It is about the preservation of historical military sites within cities.
D) It is a mentality particular to rural communities.
Q2) Ferdinand Tönnies distinguished between two types of social groupings-Gemeinschaft and Gesellschaft.What is the difference between the two? Which one did you experience prior to starting your postsecondary education? Explain.
Q3) Daniella was helping her 10-year old son with his homework assignment-"create a model of your city." They started with the business centre in the middle,and then proceeded to add a light manufacturing district,heavy manufacturing district,the university campus and research complex,the shopping district and neighbourhoods around each area.According to the text,what model of urban environment did they create?
A) multiple nuclei
B) sector
C) concentric zone
D) urban sprawl
Q4) What five major elements comprise the corporate city?
Q5) Why is Don Mills important in the study of suburbs?
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Chapter 17: Sociology and the Environment
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Q1) One leading proponent of ecological balance for human survival maintains that increasing economic growth cannot be maintained,and that downsizing all human activity is necessary in order to let other species survive.Which concept is this perspective in contrast to?
A) economic contingency logic
B) risk society thesis
C) sustainable development
D) renewable resources approach
Q2) What attribute of the dominant class explains why disadvantaged people are the primary victims of pollution?
A) People with power live closer to the cleaner sources of pollution.
B) Poor people choose to live in polluted,urban working-class neighbourhoods.
C) Dominant-class members can afford home-based pollution control devices.
D) Wealthy people have the political clout to keep polluters away from their homes.
Q3) How does the way we treat the environment affect various groups in society,especially those who are not privileged or powerful? Explain fully with examples.
Q4) Over the last few decades,organic food has become more popular.Why?
Q5) What is the polluter pays principle?
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Chapter 18: Health and Aging
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Q1) Every Sunday,Ruth sorts her pills: one for her heart,one for arthritis,one for diabetes,one for high blood pressure,several to counteract the side effects of the prescribed medicines,and vitamins to prevent other health issues.Which phenomenon associated with old age is related to taking all these pills?
A) reduced independence
B) incapacitation
C) drug dependency
D) medicalization
Q2) In terms of immigration and health,which of the following is a policy of the Canadian government?
A) Potential immigrants must meet a minimum standard of health before they will be admitted.
B) Immigrants who are ill will be admitted only if they can pay for their own treatment upon arrival in Canada.
C) Immigrants must have a family medical history of no health issues.
D) Only immigrants who have health problems that cannot be treated in their home country will be admitted.
Q3) Discuss the assertion that "old age has been 'medicalized'."
Q4) Explain the multiple jeopardy hypothesis and utilize examples.
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Chapter 19: Politics and Social Movements
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Q1) Official voter turnout for the May 2011 federal election was 61.1 percent,which is comparable to turnout seen in other elections since 2000.For voters aged 18-24 the turnout was 38.8 percent.Why do younger people tend not to participate in the electoral process? If you were hired by Elections Canada to address this situation,what ideas would you propose? Explain how they would increase voter turnout for the 18-24 age category.
Q2) During a protest about the treatment of animals,Kamila was tasered and taken into custody.What kind of power is reflected in this incident?
A) authority
B) coercive
C) political
D) executive
Q3) Which theory would support the thesis that people are most likely to rebel when rising expectations are met by an abrupt decline in social rewards?
A) anarchist
B) relative solidarity
C) relative deprivation
D) strain
Q4) What is the difference between power and authority?
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Chapter 20: Globalization
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Questions
Q1) Top-down globalization describes the actions of groups that criticize the injustices that result from globalization processes.
A)True
B)False
Q2) How have corporations responded to anti-corporate criticism?
Q3) What is the largest film production industry in the world?
A) Nigeria's Nollywood
B) America's Hollywood
C) Britain's BBC
D) India's Bollywood
Q4) According to the text,what has happened to manufacturing jobs in North America since the 1980s?
A) They have steadily increased.
B) They have remained stable.
C) They have been replaced.
D) They have steadily declined.
Q5) What are the ecological consequences of consumerism? What do you foresee happening as more and more countries adopt a North American way of life? Would it be fair to deny that opportunity to other global citizens? Explain your position.
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Chapter 21: Networks, Groups, and Bureaucracies
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Q1) Raymond asked Nicole to explain the concept of groupthink to him.What might Nicole say?
A) It's a meeting where everyone shares their ideas.
B) It is social pressure put on individuals to think in a particular way.
C) It is negotiating a solution when you're a part of a group.
D) It's a way of compromising in order to fit into the group.
Q2) What does the text call a group composed of people whom an individual uses in order to evaluate his or her situation or conduct?
A) primary group
B) work group
C) formal organization
D) reference group
Q3) Which of the following is NOT a leadership style?
A) laissez-faire
B) behavioural
C) democratic
D) authoritarian
Q4) Outline a comprehensive strategy for getting a job.Use insights gained from the text.
Q5) What is groupthink? Give an example.
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