Contemporary Social Issues
Pre-Test Questions
Course Introduction
Contemporary Social Issues examines the most pressing challenges facing societies today, including topics such as inequality, globalization, immigration, environmental sustainability, human rights, and the impact of technology. The course encourages students to analyze these issues from multiple perspectives, considering historical context, social theories, and current events. Through discussion, critical thinking, and research, students develop a deeper understanding of the complex factors influencing social problems and explore potential solutions for creating positive change in a rapidly evolving world.
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SOC 4th edition by Nijole V. Benokraitis
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Chapter 1: Thinking Like a Sociologist
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Q1) Which of the following statements is true of symbolic interaction theory?
A) Society is composed of interrelated parts that work to maintain society's cohesion.
B) Society has continuous struggles about how and why groups disagree, struggle over power, and compete for scarce resources.
C) Gender inequality is the major source of inequality in society.
D) People act on the basis of the meaning they attribute to others.
E) People always separate their personal values, opinions, ideology, and beliefs from scientific research.
Answer: D
Q2) Explain the concept of dysfunctions with an example.
Answer: Dysfunctions are social patterns that have a negative impact on a group or society.When one part of society isn't working, it affects other parts by creating conflict, divisiveness, and social problems.Consider religion.In the United States, the Catholic Church's stance on issues such as not ordaining women to be priests and denouncing abortion and homosexuality has produced a rift between those who espouse the papal edicts and those who question them.In other countries, religious intolerance has led to wars and terrorist attacks.Please see the section "Contemporary Sociological Theories" for more information.
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Chapter 2: Examining Our Social World
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Sample Questions
Q1) _____ are preferred because the results can be generalized to a larger population.
A) Random sample surveys
B) Cross-sectional sample surveys
C) Non probability sample surveys
D) Specialized surveys
E) Class-specific surveys
Answer: A
Q2) Which of the following defines a population?
A) It is any well-defined group of people or things about which researchers want to know something.
B) It is a well-formed group of people who share the same ethnicity, race, and social status.
C) It is any well-defined group of people who are related to each other by a common language or religion.
D) It is a group of people who are spread across the world but would help each other in the time of crisis.
E) It is any group of things that remain unchanged for a particular time period.
Answer: A
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4
Chapter 3: Culture
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Sample Questions
Q1) Functionalism is important in showing that shared norms and values create cultural solidarity and stability.
A)True
B)False
Answer: True
Q2) Which of the following is true of nonmaterial culture?
A) It consists of the ideas that people create to interpret and understand the world.
B) It consists of the physical objects that people make, use, and share.
C) It is a system of shared symbols that enables people to communicate with one another.
D) It refers to the standards by which people define what is good or bad, moral or immoral, proper or improper, desirable or undesirable, beautiful or ugly.
E) It consists of rewards for good or appropriate behavior and/or penalties for bad or inappropriate behavior.
Answer: A
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Chapter 4: Socialization
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Q1) Elaborate on the impact of electronic media on a child's development.
Q2) A peer group consists of people who are similar in age, social status, and interests.
A)True
B)False
Q3) _____ is the process of unlearning old ways of doing things and adopting new attitudes, values, norms, and behavior.
A) Resocialization
B) Internalization
C) Incapacitation
D) Impression management
E) Anticipatory socialization
Q4) Explain the concept of reinforcement with examples.
Q5) Which of the following statements supports the argument that nature shapes behavior?
A) Human development is fairly changeable.
B) Human development is innate.
C) Human development is largely due to environment.
D) Abuse and mistreatment can blunt a child's development.
E) A pregnant mother's habits can have a lasting effect on a child's life.
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Chapter 5: Social Interaction in Everyday Life
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Sample Questions
Q1) Status sets stay the same throughout the life course.
A)True
B)False
Q2) Timothy and Kiley were asked to violate a norm by their sociology professor.They chose to go to the mall and use the up escalator to go down and the down escalator to go up.They watched the reactions of others and wrote a paper describing the experience.Which of the following methodological tools was Timothy and Kiley using?
A) Dramaturgical analysis
B) Participant observation
C) Frame analysis
D) Autoethnography
E) Ethnomethodology
Q3) What is status? Illustrate with examples.
Q4) Roles are always flexible.
A)True
B)False
Q5) Discuss ethnomethodology.
Q6) Discuss social interaction and its critical components.
Q7) Discuss social media and its components.
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Chapter 6: Social Groups, Organizations, and Social Institutions
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Sample Questions
Q1) _____ focus on interpersonal relationships rather than examining groups and organizations on a macro level.
A) Rational choice theorists
B) Symbolic interactionists
C) Functionalists
D) Conflict theorists
E) Exchange theorists
Q2) Functionalists believe that:
A) organizations perform best when employees follow a strict regime.
B) organizations are governed by a small, elite group of individuals.
C) groups and organizations are made up of interrelated and mutually dependent parts.
D) groups and organizations are most effective when leaders hold more power than workers.
E) organizations are most effective when wages are based on piecework.
Q3) List the common characteristics of formal organizations.
Q4) What are the five major social institutions?
Q5) Explain the impact of a primary group on an individual's life.
Q6) List any four shortcomings of bureaucracies.
Q7) What is a utilitarian organization?
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Chapter 7: Deviance, Crime, and Social Control
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Q1) Primary deviance is the initial act of breaking a rule.
A)True
B)False
Q2) According to _____, deviance is socially constructed because it is in the eye of the beholder.
A) functionalists
B) conflict theorists
C) feminist theorists
D) symbolic interactionists
E) rational choice theorists
Q3) _____ causes inequality and such inequality diminishes women's control over their lives and increases their invisibility as victims.
A) Feminism
B) Patriarchy
C) Matriarchy
D) Egalitarianism
E) Jurisprudence
Q4) A reason for female victimization is the effect of culture on gender roles.
A)True
B)False
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Chapter 8: Social Stratification: United States and Global
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Q1) In which of the following stratification systems are people bought and sold as commodities?
A) Open stratification system
B) Patriarchal system
C) Slavery system
D) Caste system
E) Class system
Q2) In a closed stratification system, movement from one social position to another is limited by ascribed statuses.
A)True
B)False
Q3) Which of the following is true of people who experience status consistency?
A) They have severe restrictions in choice of occupation.
B) Their social mobility is influenced by inheritance.
C) Their positions are ascribed at birth.
D) They are equal in terms of wealth, prestige, and power.
E) Their positions are based on both birth and achievement.
Q4) List two characteristics of prestigious occupations.Support your answer with examples.
Q5) Describe the structural factors that affect social mobility.
Page 10
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Chapter 9: Gender and Sexuality
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Q1) _____ refers to the biological characteristics with which we are born-chromosomes, anatomy, hormones, and other physical and physiological attributes.
A) Gender
B) Sex
C) Intellect
D) Physique
E) Figure
Q2) Describe the difference in sexuality as people age.
Q3) _____ is a fear and hatred of lesbians and gays.
A) Androphobia
B) Xenophobia
C) Homophobia
D) Algophobia
E) Pedophobia
Q4) The United States ranks 20th on the Global Gender Gap Index (GGGI) score.
A)True
B)False
Q5) More Americans describe themselves as "pro-choice" than "pro-life."
A)True
B)False
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Chapter 10: Race and Ethnicity
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Q1) Describe institutional discrimination.
Q2) In the dominant-minority group relations continuum, which of the following is the highest on both tolerance and equality?
A) Genocide
B) Acculturation
C) Segregation
D) Assimilation
E) Pluralism
Q3) _____ is an attitude that involves forming an opinion about people beforehand, usually in a negative way.
A) Prejudice
B) Apartheid
C) Genocide
D) Pluralism
E) Ethnocentrism
Q4) Explain a racial-ethnic group.
Q5) A characteristic of dominant groups is that they are always the largest in number.
A)True
B)False
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Chapter 11: The Economy and Politics
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Q1) Which of the following statements best describes the perspective of conflict theorists on work and the economy?
A) Gender roles structure women's and men's work experiences differently and inequitably.
B) Capitalism enables the rich to exploit other groups; most jobs are low-paying, monotonous, and alienating; productivity isn't always rewarded.
C) Capitalism benefits society; work provides an income, structures people's lives, and gives them a sense of accomplishment.
D) How people define and experience work in their everyday lives affects their workplace behavior and relationships with coworkers and employers.
E) Capitalism brings prosperity to society as a whole; work is necessary for a society's survival and defining its members' roles.
Q2) For functionalists, low wages alienate employees rather than motivate them to work harder.
A)True
B)False
Q3) Discuss the factors that have contributed to the surge in women's employment.
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Chapter 12: Families and Aging
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Q1) Give a brief definition of family.
Q2) According to a study by Wang and Parker in the year 2014, which of the following is true of marriages?
A) U.S marriage rates have increased since 1990.
B) By the age of 20, 95 percent of Americans have been married at least once.
C) On an average, first marriages in U.S last about 2 years.
D) By the age of 50, only five percent of U.S.adults are still married.
E) By 2012, 20 percent of U.S adults aged 25 and older had never been married.
Q3) According to exchange theory, people seek through their social interactions to minimize their rewards and maximize their costs.
A)True
B)False
Q4) In Western societies, the typical family form is the _____, composed of married parents and their biological or adopted children.
A) nuclear family
B) foster family
C) extended family
D) patriarchal family
E) matriarchal family
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Chapter 13: Education and Religion
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Q1) As education increases, the importance of religion also increases.
A)True
B)False
Q2) According to functionalists, which of the following is a manifest function of education?
A) Education is good for business.
B) Schools provide childcare for two-income families.
C) Education decreases job competition.
D) Education promotes cultural innovation.
E) High schools are matchmaking institutions.
Q3) A criticism of the symbolic interactionists is that they:
A) view religion as an opiate to people.
B) attach too much credence to Marx's concept of false consciousness.
C) ignore the positive effect of religion on physical and emotional health.
D) overlook the ways that religion promotes social inequality at the macro level.
E) believe that religion is indispensable to leading a good life.
Q4) How do religion, religiosity, and spirituality differ from each other?
Q5) Describe two manifest functions and two latent functions of education.
Q6) Discuss the characteristics of a church.
Page 15
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Chapter 14: Health and Medicine
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Q1) Explain drug-pricing in the United States.
Q2) _____ is a process that defines a condition or behavior as an illness, disorder, or disease that requires professional treatment.
A) Medicalization
B) Normalization
C) De-regularization
D) Denaturation
E) Naturalization
Q3) Which of the following was previously considered a mental illness and was dropped later from APA's roster?
A) Schizophrenia
B) Delusional disorder
C) Anorexia nervosa
D) Bulimia nervosa
E) Homosexuality
Q4) Disability rates are higher for women than men.
A)True
B)False
Q5) Explain how the advent of medical technology has increased health care costs.
Page 16
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Chapter 15: Population, Urbanization, and the Environment
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Q1) Describe the first stage of demographic transition theory.
Q2) Which of the following is true of the availability and consumption of water?
A) Only one percent of the earth's fresh water is available for around seven billion people.
B) The world's demand for water has decreased by 20 percent over the last half century.
C) By 2030, total global water supply will meet about 90 percent of the demand.
D) By 2050, about five percent of the population is projected to be living in areas with severe water shortages.
E) The developing world has more access to fresh water than industrialized nations.
Q3) _____ are most interested in the impact of urban life on city residents and state that city residents differ in their types of lifestyles and perceptions of urban life.
A) Conflict theorists
B) Symbolic interactionists
C) Functionalists
D) Feminists
E) Socialists
Q4) Describe the multiple nuclei theory of city growth and change.
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Chapter 16: Social Change: Collective Behavior, Social Movements,
and Technology
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Q1) Explain the stages of a social movement.
Q2) The _____ proposes that crowds consist of like-minded people who deliberately assemble in a place to pursue a common goal.
A) contagion theory
B) convergence theory
C) emergent norm theory
D) structural strain theory
E) value-added theory
Q3) Analyze some of the ethical issues of technology.Illustrate your answer with examples.
Q4) A _____ is a large and organized group of people who want to promote or resist a particular social change.
A) mob
B) riot
C) social movement
D) social institution
E) crowd
Q5) Discuss the institutionalization stage of a social movement.
Q6) Discuss the benefits of technology in health and medicine.
Q7) Critically evaluate the convergence theory of collective behavior. Page 18
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