First-Year Sociology Exam
Questions
Course Introduction
First-Year Sociology offers an introduction to the systematic study of society, social institutions, and human interaction. This course explores foundational concepts such as culture, socialization, stratification, social groups, and deviance, providing students with tools to analyze how societies are structured and how individuals relate to larger social forces. Through a combination of theoretical frameworks and real-world examples, students develop critical thinking skills and gain insight into the forces that shape social norms, values, and identities. The course lays the groundwork for further studies in sociology and related disciplines by encouraging students to question common assumptions and examine the social world through a scientific lens.
Recommended Textbook
New Society 7th Edition by Robert J. Brym
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Chapter 1: Introduction to Sociology
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Sample Questions
Q1) Which of the following most accurately describes the concept of latent function?
A) predictable and foreseen
B) visible only to sociologists
C) invisible and unintended
D) invisible but intentional
Answer: C
Q2) A feminist sociologist's interest in researching the sex trade may stem from thinking about female exploitation in a patriarchal society. In this case, which of the following terms reflects her motivation for choosing this topic?
A) values
B) beliefs
C) theories
D) prejudices
Answer: A
Q3) Sociologists are not interested in the connection between personal problems and the social structures in which people are embedded.
A)True
B)False
Answer: False
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Page 3
Chapter 2: Culture
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Sample Questions
Q1) Punk rockers espoused values that were antiestablishment. Punkers shunned regular employment, took drugs, and wore garish clothes. The lyrics to their songs railed against the established order. According to sociologists, what kind of group has such antisocial values?
A) a youth culture
B) a subculture
C) a counterculture
D) a protest culture
Answer: C
Q2) What do sociologists call viewing the world from the perspective of one's own culture?
A) primary process thinking
B) neo-tribalism
C) ethnocentrism
D) cultural bias
Answer: C
Q3) According to the text, rationalization and consumerism produce more freedom. A)True
B)False
Answer: False
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Chapter 3: Socialization
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Sample Questions
Q1) Five-year-old hockey players called "Tykes" skate en masse; wherever the puck goes, they go, without differentiating their respective roles. However, older hockey players in the "Little NHL," have defencemen at the blueline, and forwards forcing the play toward the goal. In what stage would sociologists classify the younger players?
A) game stage
B) play stage
C) generalized other stage
D) imitative stage
Answer: B
Q2) Explain the difference between G.H. Mead's concepts the "I" and the "me."
Answer: Mead called the subjective part of the self the "I" and the objective part of the self the "me." The "I" acts. The "me" reflects on our actions through the lens of social norms, values, and expectations.
Q3) How does the media inadvertently perpetuate stereotypes?
Answer: By displaying role models that young people imitate.
Q4) What are the four main agents of socialization?
Answer: Family, school, peers, and mass media.
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Page 5
Chapter 4: Gender and Sexuality
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Sample Questions
Q1) Summarize the construction of gender through socialization and provide personal examples, or examples from your immediate circle of family and friends.
Q2) What are sexual scripts? Using examples from your own experiences, illustrate how sexual scripts have influenced your behaviour.
Q3) Using three of the six critiques of essentialism offered in the text, explain why the majority of sociologists today find the essentialist position on sexuality and gender to be problematic.
Q4) Using the case of David Reimer, apply the sociological concepts of gender identity and gender roles. What social pressures did he or she face? Is taking estrogen simply a medical problem?
Q5) Yolanda's husband stays home and cares for the children while she goes to work every day. Her girls rarely play with dolls, like to build models, and have joined a community hockey team. These activity choices may support arguments found in what sociological school of thought?
A) essentialism
B) modernism
C) socioculturalism
D) social constructionism
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Chapter 5: Communication and Mass Media
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Sample Questions
Q1) A Japanese girl is sipping on a can of Coke and reading a US Weekly magazine. She is considering plastic surgery to change her eyes because she wants to look more like the girls in US Weekly magazine. Which of the following best characterizes this situation?
A) media conglomeration
B) corporate culturalism
C) cultural penetration
D) cultural imperialism
Q2) The link between images of violence and real-life violence remains one of simple cause and effect.
A)True
B)False
Q3) Contrast the technological and critical perspectives on mass media. Which perspective do you think is more valuable for understanding your own experiences with the media?
Q4) Newspaper circulation is declining, especially in Ontario.
A)True
B)False
Q5) News is framed on the basis of three news values criteria. Describe and explain these three news values.
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Chapter 6: Social Stratification
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Sample Questions
Q1) About 10 percent of Canadians are classified as poor.
A)True
B)False
Q2) The idea of a golf and country club membership highlights Frank Parkin's theory that social institutions are organized by the privileged to uphold class differences and prevent the disadvantaged from having access to certain opportunities. Intentionally preventing someone from engaging in particular activities to uphold class differences is referred to as which of the following?
A) exclusion
B) professionalism
C) usurpation
D) credentialism
Q3) What does a low-income cutoff line (LICO) measure?
A) It is a sophisticated market basket measure of poverty.
B) It is a relative, rather than an absolute, measure of poverty.
C) It is an absolute, rather than a relative, measure of poverty.
D) It is a measure for determining if single people are poor.
Q4) What are the key criticisms of Davis and Moore's functionalist theory of stratification?
Q5) What are the key issues that are debated with the ghost of Marx?
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Chapter 7: Gender Inequality
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Sample Questions
Q1) The concentration of men in some occupations and women in others is called "occupational inequality."
A)True
B)False
Q2) Consider the gendered experience of social stratification. For example, a lower-class black woman, a member of the working poor, experiences racial taunts and harassment at work. According to sociologists, what is the term that most aptly describes her position?
A) taunts with prejudice
B) multiple discrimination
C) racial discrimination
D) matrix of domination
Q3) Systemic barriers refers to deliberate and conscious decisions to discriminate.
A)True
B)False
Q4) "Representation by women is not the same as representation for women" is a statement used when critiquing research that focused primarily on the number of women holding political office. What does this assertion mean?
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Chapter 8: Race and Ethnic Relations
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Sample Questions
Q1) While discussing their current semester's classes, Tristan asked Jill to explain what her sociology of race and ethnicity course was about. Which of the following answers would Jill give?
A) It's about how power and resources are unequally distributed among ethnic and racial groups.
B) It's about the origins, settlement, and life experiences of different ethnic/racial social groups.
C) It's about the self-concept, identity, and feelings of nationalism among different ethnic groups.
D) It's about how groups in Canadian society go about maintaining a sense of pride in their heritage.
Q2) What did John Porter conclude about "entrance status" groups in Canadian society?
A) Entrance status groups are relegated to lower occupational positions.
B) Entrance status groups are more powerful than Charter groups.
C) Entrance status groups are overrepresented in higher-paying jobs.
D) Entrance status groups are culturally inferior to the original groups.
Q3) Describe and explain the difference between civic nationalism and ethnic nationalism.
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Chapter 9: Development and Underdevelopment
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Sample Questions
Q1) Rather than pay Renato a high money wage, his employer gives Renato land to till for his own use. However, without a good wage, Renato does not have money to spend on manufactured goods, which then reduces the success of local small industry. This arrangement would encourage which of the following economic situations in Renato's homeland?
A) underdevelopment
B) development
C) capitalism
D) dependency
Q2) The government of Country X is fighting a popular rebellion against the president's oppressive policies. The United States is sending military aid to the government because of its economic interests in Country X. According to the text, how could this situation influence development in the country?
A) Military aid accelerates it because peace is needed for economic development.
B) Military aid stifles it because war takes attention away from economic development.
C) Military aid has no effect on economic development.
D) Military aid offers only marginal assistance for economic development.
Q3) Outline the basic tenets of a neoliberal approach to development.
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Chapter 10: Families
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Sample Questions
Q1) Explain how and why "intensive mothering" emerged during the era of industrialization. Does it have any relationship to the "helicopter parenting" phenomenon of our present day? Explain your answer.
Q2) Select two theoretical perspectives and compare and contrast their views of the family.
Q3) Which of the following is an example of a major criticism that was directed at "second wave" feminists studying the social structure of family forms?
A) They focused too much on the traditional nuclear family as being a universal norm.
B) They focused too much on custody rights in marriage breakdowns.
C) They ignored the experiences of women in the workforce.
D) They ignored the experiences of marginalized women.
Q4) In early hunting and gathering societies, women's economic contributions were not highly valued.
A)True
B)False
Q5) According to Talcott Parsons, what functions do the family perform?
Q6) How do many sociologists define "families"? Why is the societal definition of family important?
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Chapter 11: Work and Occupations
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Sample Questions
Q1) Which of the following represents a criticism of job satisfaction measures?
A) They are used inappropriately as measures of alienation.
B) They are used by management to weed out potential troublemakers.
C) Most workers don't want to admit that they don't like their jobs.
D) Management uses them to handle employee frustration.
Q2) Although the commonsense understanding is that we all have an equal chance to acquire a good job, the reality is that we do not. According to the research on job ghettos, who is likely to be trapped in poor jobs and why?
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.
Q4) Self-employment is categorized as a nonstandard job.
A)True
B)False
Q5) Which of the following was a basic principle of Taylorism?
A) Encourage the deconstruction of work.
B) Respect the craftsperson.
C) Allow workers to exercise judgment.
D) Break complex jobs into their least complex components.
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Chapter 12: Education
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Sample Questions
Q1) Which of the following more closely approximates a total institution?
A) boarding school
B) university
C) public school
D) online education
Q2) Olivia was analyzing 50 years of data that addressed levels of educational attainment as related to social class backgrounds. According to the text, which of the following would be her finding?
A) Educational attainment has increased for all social classes over the past half century.
B) Educational attainment had increased for youth from lower-class backgrounds, but levels remained the same for middle- and upper-class individuals.
C) Educational attainment has increased over the past half century, but predominantly in the higher income levels.
D) Educational attainments levels have declined in every social class category
Q3) According to Powell, Farrar, and Cohen (1985) schools have become like shopping malls. Explain what this means, incorporating examples from your experience in the education system.
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Chapter 13: Religion
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Q1) According to the text, which of the following is an area of religious experience that sociologists can address?
A) measuring the observable activities of the religious
B) deciding which religions are true and which are false
C) assessing how many prayers are heard
D) determining whether or not there is a supreme being
Q2) Which sociologist wrote The Protestant Ethic and the Spirit of Capitalism?
A) Karl Marx
B) Max Weber
C) Talcott Parsons
D) Émile Durkheim
Q3) David works Monday to Friday as a lawyer. On weekends he attends his temple and volunteers with its youth counselling program. Which of the following effects do his weekend activities most likely have on his life?
A) a high level of happiness from participation
B) increased stress from increased time commitments
C) decreased compassion
D) no clear effect
Q4) How does "deprivation" account for religiosity?
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Chapter 14: Deviance and Crime
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Sample Questions
Q1) Control theory has a solid reputation for predicting deviant behaviour in serious criminal and political activities.
A)True
B)False
Q2) The "tough on crime" approach is premised on deterrence theory.
A)True
B)False
Q3) Jacob's gang wanted him to help rob a jewellery store. However, Jacob refused and left the gang because he could not disappoint his parents. They had worked hard all their lives to give him opportunities for his future and if he got caught, he would never be able to face them. According to the text, what is the basis of this deterrence to crime?
A) control theory
B) activity theory
C) differential association theory
D) face-to-face theory
Q4) What is the focus of the labelling perspective? How is it different from other critical perspectives on deviance? What are some examples of what the text calls "the reactors"?
Q5) List the basic principles of routine activities theory.
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Chapter 15: Population and Urbanization
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Sample Questions
Q1) Why is Don Mills important in the study of suburbs?
Q2) What are the components of the postmodern city?
A) emergence of edge, multiethnic, and dual cities
B) a mixture of Gemeinschaft and Gesellschaft
C) urbanism and postindustrial economy
D) suburbia, urban core, business district
Q3) Mike had to relocate for work. He could have bought a house in the city, but he loves to sail, so he bought a house on a lake where he could moor his boat. As a result, Mike lengthened his commute to work by 30 minutes. Which theory can be used to explain his relocation choice?
A) water quotient theory
B) antiurbanization theory
C) environmental-opportunity theory
D) recreational living theory
Q4) Toronto, Vancouver, and Calgary all have rapidly growing populations, and all for the same reasons.
A)True
B)False
Q5) Identify and describe the two types of ethnic communities indicated by Logan, Alba, and Zhang.
Page 17
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Chapter 16: Sociology and the Environment
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Sample Questions
Q1) Alberta collects more revenue from oil than it does from the province's taxpayers, despite the fact that it has one of the lowest royalty rates for oil extraction in the world.
A)True
B)False
Q2) Sue was researching the phenomenon known as the resource curse for a class assignment. Which of the following would Sue NOT be including in her presentation?
A) a discussion of corruption in the higher echelons of government
B) a news report of decreasing democratic governmental policies
C) a documentary of the increasing poverty in the resource-rich country
D) a news article reporting increasing diversification of industry in the resource-rich country
Q3) Define sustainable development and explain its significance.
Q4) Explain the resource curse and the negative outcomes that might be experienced by a country rich in natural resources.
Q5) What is the polluter pays principle?
Q6) Disadvantaged people are the primary victims of pollution.
A)True
B)False
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Chapter 17: Health and Aging
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Q1) Some sociologists are employed by Statistics Canada, where they examine Canadian trends in our aging population. What term is used to identify the specific focus of their expertise?
A) statistics
B) numerology
C) sociology
D) demography
Q2) As a person ages, he or she may develop a problem such as tinnitus, a constant ringing or buzzing in the ear related to hearing loss or ear damage. Which of the following terms best describes this situation?
A) persistent symptoms
B) a medical condition
C) hearing loss
D) a chronic condition
Q3) Utilizing information and knowledge that you have gathered as a result of reading this chapter, what could you foresee happening if Canada decided to make its universal health-care system a for-profit health-care system?
Q4) "How we view the causes of health problems influences how we deal with them." Explain what this means.
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Chapter 18: Politics and Social Movements
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Sample Questions
Q1) Which type of theorist would contend that democracy is guaranteed when no sole/single group of people is able to control politics?
A) nihilist
B) elitist
C) anarchist
D) pluralist
Q2) Anneliese worked hard to protest the plans for a new shopping mall about to be built on parkland. She convinced a thousand people to demonstrate against the proposal and ultimately the mall was built in another location, not on parkland. What had Anneliese successfully created?
A) anarchy
B) authority
C) a social movement
D) a popular protest
Q3) Give a brief summary of author Robert Brym's personal experience with attempting to make social change in 1968, and how the situation has changed today.
Q4) Discuss and give examples of the globalization of social movements. How do globalized social movements differ from movements at earlier periods in history?
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Chapter 19: Globalization
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Sample Questions
Q1) Which 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
Q2) What is the purpose of the World Trade Organization (WTO)? According to the text, what do critics say about it?
Q3) The biggest U.S. export category consists of mass-produced products of popular culture.
A)True
B)False
Q4) Although controversial, where are genetically engineered crops most likely to be grown?
A) Canada and the United States
B) Italy and France
C) South Africa and Ethiopia
D) India and Pakistan
Q5) What is the difference between top-down and bottom-up globalization?
Q6) What is the basis of neoliberal economic policies?
Q7) How does globalization affect the production and consumption of food?
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Chapter 20: Research Methods
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Q1) Explain why and how social scientists use official statistics.
Q2) In Canada, the long-form census is mandatory.
A)True
B)False
Q3) A sociologist who owns a Harley-Davidson bike starts hanging out with a biker gang. In addition to the hanging out, he informally conducts interviews with the members, and supplements his research with official statistics and police reports. Then he publishes a book on his work that gives an in-depth insider's look at the structure and process of gang life, contrasted with the official information. His work both confirms some aspects of official data, and explodes some myths about biker gangs. What kind of research is this?
A) an experimental research project
B) a survey research project
C) an ethnographic research project
D) an academic writing project
Q4) A middle-aged female who was being surveyed in a shopping mall gave her age as 38, when it was actually 46. This is an example of the problem of social desirability in surveys.
A)True
B)False
Page 22
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Chapter 21: Networks, Groups, Bureaucracies, and Societies
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Sample Questions
Q1) According to research, which of the following leadership styles is LEAST effective?
A) laissez-faire
B) democratic
C) authoritarian
D) transactional
Q2) Sandra needs help getting a job. According to Mark Granovetter, who of the following is most likely to be able to offer assistance?
A) Sandra's brother
B) Sandra's mother
C) Sandra's best friend
D) a friend of Sandra's best friend
Q3) If you live on a farm just outside a nearby town and you are about to harness an ox to a plow, what kind of society do you live in?
A) preindustrial
B) agricultural
C) horticultural
D) pastoral
Q4) Explain the notion of six degrees of separation.
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