Foundations of Sociology
Exam Answer Key
Course Introduction
Foundations of Sociology introduces students to the basic principles, theories, and concepts that shape the study of society and human social behavior. The course explores topics such as social structure, culture, socialization, groups, institutions, inequality, and social change. Through examining theoretical frameworks and contemporary issues, students will develop critical thinking skills and gain an understanding of how social forces influence individuals and communities. The course also emphasizes the importance of sociological research methods in analyzing and interpreting social phenomena.
Recommended Textbook
Sociology 13th Edition by John J. Macionis
Available Study Resources on Quizplus
24 Chapters
2953 Verified Questions
2953 Flashcards
Source URL: https://quizplus.com/study-set/1661
Page 2
Chapter 1: The Sociological Perspective
Available Study Resources on Quizplus for this Chatper
181 Verified Questions
181 Flashcards
Source URL: https://quizplus.com/quiz/32920
Sample Questions
Q1) Which discipline defines itself as "the systematic study of human society"?
A) sociology
B) psychology
C) economics
D) history
Answer: A
Q2) Who was the U.S. sociologist who distinguished between the manifest functions and the latent functions of social patterns?
A) Robert K. Merton
B) William Graham Sumner
C) Talcott Parsons
D) C. Wright Mills
Answer: A
Q3) Sociology is defined as the systematic study of human society.
A)True
B)False
Answer: True
To view all questions and flashcards with answers, click on the resource link above.
Page 3
Chapter 2: Sociological Investigation
Available Study Resources on Quizplus for this Chatper
128 Verified Questions
128 Flashcards
Source URL: https://quizplus.com/quiz/32921
Sample Questions
Q1) One disadvantage of conducting interviews is that this research method:
A) does not permit follow-up questions.
B) does not allow subjects' answers to be detailed.
C) results in a very low response rate.
D) may easily allow the researcher to influence subjects' responses.
Answer: D
Q2) A positivist approach assumes that reality exists "out there."
A)True
B)False
Answer: True
Q3) Any time two variables are statistically related, a cause-and-effect relationship exists.
A)True
B)False
Answer: False
Q4) Reliability refers to the quality of consistency in measurement.
A)True
B)False
Answer: True
To view all questions and flashcards with answers, click on the resource link above. Page 4
Chapter 3: Culture
Available Study Resources on Quizplus for this Chatper
142 Verified Questions
142 Flashcards
Source URL: https://quizplus.com/quiz/32922
Sample Questions
Q1) George Murdock pointed to many cultural universals. Which of the following is NOT an example of a cultural universal?
A) belief in a heavenly afterlife
B) funeral rites
C) the family
D) telling jokes
Answer: A
Q2) Culture refers to values, beliefs, behavior, and material things that form a way of life.
A)True
B)False
Answer: True
Q3) Most people in the United States share the value that everyone should have not only equality of opportunity, but also equality of condition.
A)True
B)False
Answer: False
To view all questions and flashcards with answers, click on the resource link above.
Page 5
Chapter 4: Society
Available Study Resources on Quizplus for this Chatper
139 Verified Questions
139 Flashcards
Source URL: https://quizplus.com/quiz/32923
Sample Questions
Q1) It would be correct to say that Durkheim thought of society as:
A) existing only in the human mind.
B) an objective reality.
C) changing from moment to moment.
D) having no clear existence at all.
Q2) Emile Durkheim viewed society as an external, objective reality.
A)True
B)False
Q3) Marx described the widespread beliefs that supported the capitalist economic system as:
A) False consciousness.
B) class consciousness.
C) cultural awareness.
D) revolutionary politics.
Q4) Why do some analysts describe Max Weber's approach to explaining the rise of modern society as a "debate with the ghost of Karl Marx"?
Q5) Many pastoral societies are nomadic.
A)True
B)False
Q6) What did Durkheim mean by "anomie"? How does modern society cause anomie?
Page 6
To view all questions and flashcards with answers, click on the resource link above.
Chapter 5: Socialization
Available Study Resources on Quizplus for this Chatper
111 Verified Questions
111 Flashcards
Source URL: https://quizplus.com/quiz/32924
Sample Questions
Q1) The Harlow experiments to discover the effects of social isolation on rhesus monkeys showed that:
A) monkeys isolated for six months were highly fearful when returned to others of their kind.
B) isolated monkeys able to cuddle artificial mothers developed normally.
C) even several days of social isolation permanently damaged infant monkeys.
D) All of the above are correct.
Q2) What did George Herbert Mead mean by "self"? What are the steps in the development of the self?
Q3) In Freud's model of personality, which element of the personality represents a person's efforts to balance the demands of society and innate pleasure-seeking drives?
A) id
B) ego
C) superego
D) generalized other
Q4) George Herbert Mead used the concept "the looking-glass self" to refer to significant people in our lives.
A)True
B)False
To view all questions and flashcards with answers, click on the resource link above. Page 7
Chapter 6: Social Interaction in Everyday Life
Available Study Resources on Quizplus for this Chatper
123 Verified Questions
123 Flashcards
Source URL: https://quizplus.com/quiz/32925
Sample Questions
Q1) Which of the following is involved when a surgeon chooses not to operate on her own son because the personal involvement of motherhood could impair her professional objectivity as a physician?
A) role conflict
B) role strain
C) role ambiguity
D) role exit
Q2) People around the world create the same realities in their everyday interaction.
A)True
B)False
Q3) Which of the following might be part of the classroom performance of a professor?
A) books and notes
B) lectern or desk
C) acting in charge of the situation
D) All of the above are correct.
Q4) The process by which people disengage from important social roles is termed "role exit."
A)True
B)False
To view all questions and flashcards with answers, click on the resource link above. Page 8
Chapter 7: Groups and Organizations
Available Study Resources on Quizplus for this Chatper
124 Verified Questions
124 Flashcards
Source URL: https://quizplus.com/quiz/32926
Sample
Questions
Q1) Max Weber argued that formal organizations were efficient, but he cautioned that they can have harmful effects on people. What is the danger?
A) organizations create social inequality
B) organizations create conflict among workers
C) organizations create alienation
D) organizations create conformity
Q2) Typically, the people with the largest social networks are young, well educated, and live in big cities.
A)True
B)False
Q3) Expressive leadership emphasizes the completion of tasks.
A)True
B)False
Q4) In general, we see the _______ as a means to an end we see the _____ as an end in itself.
A) expressive group instrumental group
B) crowd category
C) secondary group primary group
D) primary group secondary group
To view all questions and flashcards with answers, click on the resource link above. Page 9
Chapter 8: Sexuality and Society
Available Study Resources on Quizplus for this Chatper
111 Verified Questions
111 Flashcards
Source URL: https://quizplus.com/quiz/32927
Sample Questions
Q1) Which of the following categories of teenagers would you correctly place at highest probability of pregnancy?
A) teenage women with low incomes and weak families
B) teenage women with high incomes
C) teenage women with little sexual experience
D) All of the above are correct.
Q2) One norm found everywhere is the incest taboo, which refers to:
A) norms forbidding young children from engaging in sex.
B) norms forbidding sexual relations or marriage between certain relatives.
C) norms forbidding women from becoming sexually active before marriage.
D) norms forbidding sex except for the purpose of having children.
Q3) Sociologists point out that human sexual behavior is very similar across all cultures.
A)True
B)False
Q4) Little or no sexual attraction to people of either sex is called:
A) heterosexuality.
B) bisexuality.
C) homosexuality.
D) asexuality.
To view all questions and flashcards with answers, click on the resource link above. Page 10
Chapter 9: Deviance
Available Study Resources on Quizplus for this Chatper
114 Verified Questions
114 Flashcards
Source URL: https://quizplus.com/quiz/32928
Sample Questions
Q1) Mike reports the theft of his dirt bike from the front yard of his house. The police would record this as which of the following types of crime?
A) burglary
B) larceny-theft
C) robbery
D) auto-theft
Q2) Victimization surveys show that the actual amount of crime in the United States is about _____ what official reports indicate.
A) half as great as
B) the same as
C) three times greater than
D) ten times greater than
Q3) Read the following four statements about the social foundations of deviance. Select the one statement that is False.
A) Deviance exists only in relation to cultural norms.
B) There are many acts that are always and everywhere deviant.
C) People become deviant as others define them that way.
D) What the norms are and how people apply them involve social power.
Q4) Explain the difference between primary and secondary deviance.
To view all questions and flashcards with answers, click on the resource link above. Page 11
Chapter 10: Social Stratification
Available Study Resources on Quizplus for this Chatper
119 Verified Questions
119 Flashcards
Source URL: https://quizplus.com/quiz/32929
Sample Questions
Q1) Compared with people in United States, people in Great Britain are more likely to experience social mobility.
A)True
B)False
Q2) Why do societies with class systems keep some elements of caste (such as the inheritance of wealth) rather than becoming complete meritocracies?
A) because too many people would be poor if society were based only on merit
B) because some caste elements increase productivity
C) because a pure meritocracy would eliminate families and other social loyalties that tie a society together
D) because some caste elements increase social mobility
Q3) Caste systems encourage romantic love and personal choice as the basis of marriage.
A)True
B)False
Q4) China stands out as a country without any social classes.
A)True
B)False
Q5) Read the "Seeing Sociology in the News" article on
To view all questions and flashcards with answers, click on the resource link above. Page 12
Chapter 11: Social Class in the United States
Available Study Resources on Quizplus for this Chatper
118 Verified Questions
118 Flashcards
Source URL: https://quizplus.com/quiz/32930
Sample Questions
Q1) Sociologist William Julius Wilson suggests the cause of poverty lies in:
A) a lower-class culture of poverty.
B) lack of government action.
C) too few available jobs.
D) bad public schools.
Q2) Which area of the United States has the highest rate of poverty?
A) rural areas
B) central cities
C) suburbs
D) All of the above have the same poverty rate.
Q3) In 2009, how many people were counted by the U.S. government as having income below the official poverty line?
A) 370,000
B) 3 million
C) 44 million
D) 370 million
Q4) As surprising as it may seem, in the United States, poor people typically have better health than rich people.
A)True
B)False
Page 13
To view all questions and flashcards with answers, click on the resource link above.
Chapter 12: Global Stratification
Available Study Resources on Quizplus for this Chatper
110 Verified Questions
110 Flashcards
Source URL: https://quizplus.com/quiz/32931
Sample Questions
Q1) What are the four stages of W. W. Rostow's modernization theory? Explain each stage.
Q2) During the twentieth century, the standard of living in high-income countries, where the Industrial Revolution took place, increased dramatically.
A)True
B)False
Q3) Describe the distribution of income for the world as a whole.
Q4) Over the course of the last century, the extent of global economic inequality has: A) decreased sharply.
B) stayed about the same.
C) increased.
D) become smaller, but not by much.
Q5) Some critics claim that modernization theory:
A) ignores how rich nations prevent the economic development of poor nations. B) amounts to an attack on capitalism.
C) treats rich and poor societies as linked.
D) All of the above are correct.
Q6) What is the difference between relative poverty and absolute poverty?
Q7) What are four types of slavery found in today's world? Describe each type.
Page 14
To view all questions and flashcards with answers, click on the resource link above.
Chapter 13: Gender Stratification
Available Study Resources on Quizplus for this Chatper
115 Verified Questions
115 Flashcards
Source URL: https://quizplus.com/quiz/32932
Sample Questions
Q1) Talcott Parsons explained that males tend toward _____ behavior, while females are more _____.
A) instrumental expressive
B) expressive instrumental
C) egalitarian hierarchical
D) rational emotional
Q2) In the United States today, women working for income is the rule rather than the exception.
A)True
B)False
Q3) In the United States today, two-thirds of physicians are women.
A)True
B)False
Q4) The concept of "comparable worth" leads to the claim that:
A) women should hold political offices in proportion to their numbers in the population.
B) much of women's work is worth more pay than it receives.
C) the market system should determine the pay for any job.
D) all jobs should be rewarded equally.
Q5) Why is "earning an income" no longer a man's role in the United States?
To view all questions and flashcards with answers, click on the resource link above. Page 15
Chapter 14: Race and Ethnicity
Available Study Resources on Quizplus for this Chatper
129 Verified Questions
129 Flashcards
Source URL: https://quizplus.com/quiz/32933
Sample Questions
Q1) Why is it correct to say that Arab Americans are a diverse category of our population?
Q2) Arab Americans are a U.S. minority that:
A) is increasing in population size.
B) has ancestors from many different nations.
C) has Islam as the dominant religion.
D) All of the above are correct.
Q3) The United States is not truly pluralistic because:
A) some people live in "ethnic enclaves."
B) many people value ethnic diversity.
C) racial and ethnic categories do not have roughly equal social standing.
D) All of the above are correct.
Q4) Racial segregation has existed, but it has never been legal in the United States. A)True
B)False
Q5) Arab Americans come from more than twenty different nations in Northern Africa and the Middle East.
A)True
B)False
To view all questions and flashcards with answers, click on the resource link above. Page 16
Chapter 15: Aging and the Elderly
Available Study Resources on Quizplus for this Chatper
123 Verified Questions
123 Flashcards
Source URL: https://quizplus.com/quiz/32934
Sample Questions
Q1) Modern, high-income societies tend to separate death from living.
A)True
B)False
Q2) In the United States, most elderly men, but not most elderly women, live alone.
A)True
B)False
Q3) Social isolation is most commonly a problem for:
A) elderly men.
B) elderly women. children.
C) elderly men and women living with their
D) elderly men and women living with spouses.
Q4) How does Japan differ from the United States in its cultural attitude toward old people?
Q5) Industrialization leads more elderly people to move out of the labor force, giving rise to what we call "retirement."
A)True
B)False
Q6) In the United States, males typically outlive females.
A)True
B)False
Page 17
To view all questions and flashcards with answers, click on the resource link above.
Chapter 16: The Economy and Work
Available Study Resources on Quizplus for this Chatper
116 Verified Questions
116 Flashcards
Source URL: https://quizplus.com/quiz/32935
Sample Questions
Q1) Which of the following DO NOT describe the operation of a socialist economy?
A) collective orientation
B) government control of production
C) laissez-faire economy
D) command economy
Q2) In the United States about what share of the population aged sixteen and older is in the paid labor force?
A) one-fifth
B) one-third
C) two-thirds
D) nine-tenths
Q3) A corporation is an organization with a legal existence apart from that of its members.
A)True
B)False
Q4) The global economy pays little regard to national borders.
A)True
B)False
Q5) What is a profession? What are four characteristics of professional work?
Q6) What are the three defining traits of socialism?
Page 18
To view all questions and flashcards with answers, click on the resource link above.
Chapter 17: Politics and Government
Available Study Resources on Quizplus for this Chatper
111 Verified Questions
111 Flashcards
Source URL: https://quizplus.com/quiz/32936
Sample Questions
Q1) Socialist societies base their claim to democracy on:
A) people having personal liberty.
B) meeting the basic needs of all.
C) maintaining public order.
D) their high living standards.
Q2) Terrorism refers to:
A) the use of military force by a nation state.
B) the use or threat of violence as a political strategy by an individual or group.
C) organized, armed conflict between groups.
D) unorganized, violent conflict between any two parties.
Q3) What is the military-industrial complex?
Q4) A totalitarian political system:
A) mixes politics with religion.
B) is completely democratic.
C) is government without any bureaucracy.
D) concentrates power and closely regulates people's lives.
Q5) In the United States, what categories of people are most and least likely to vote?
Q6) What is the difference between power and authority?
To view all questions and flashcards with answers, click on the resource link above. Page 19
Chapter 18: Families
Available Study Resources on Quizplus for this Chatper
115 Verified Questions
115 Flashcards
Source URL: https://quizplus.com/quiz/32937
Sample Questions
Q1) Matrilineal descent is typically found in which type of societies?
A) hunting and gathering, where women gather vegetation
B) horticultural, where women are the main food producers
C) industrial, where women enter the workplace
D) All of the above are correct.
Q2) People in the United States today are more accepting of divorce than they were a century ago.
A)True
B)False
Q3) Jessie Bernard claimed that marriage:
A) benefits women more than men.
B) benefits both women and men equally.
C) benefits men more than women.
D) is harmful to both women and men.
Q4) Why do some analysts (especially those guided by the structural-functional approach) describe the family as "the backbone of society"? That is, what important things do families do for society? To what degree could other social institutions (including government) perform these tasks in place of the family?
Q5) What does social-exchange analysis have to say about the process of courtship?
To view all questions and flashcards with answers, click on the resource link above. Page 20
Chapter 19: Religion
Available Study Resources on Quizplus for this Chatper
117 Verified Questions
117 Flashcards
Source URL: https://quizplus.com/quiz/32938
Sample Questions
Q1) Faith refers to what we know to be True based on what our five senses tell us.
A)True
B)False
Q2) In one sentence, what was Karl Marx's concern about the effects of religion on society?
Q3) A totem is any object defined by members of a society as profane.
A)True
B)False
Q4) Faith is a way of knowing based on:
A) scientific research.
B) human senses.
C) cultural common sense.
D) conviction or belief in things unseen.
Q5) "Seekers" who pursue "New Age" spirituality believe that everything and everyone is connected by a divine force or plan.
A)True
B)False
Q6) The United States is a less religious society than, say, Japan or Sweden.
A)True
B)False
Page 21
To view all questions and flashcards with answers, click on the resource link above.
Chapter 20: Education
Available Study Resources on Quizplus for this Chatper
112 Verified Questions
112 Flashcards
Source URL: https://quizplus.com/quiz/32939
Sample Questions
Q1) Schooling in the United States has always favored theoretical learning over practical learning.
A)True
B)False
Q2) Jonathan Kozol characterizes the differences in funding between rich and poor communities as the "savage inequality" of U.S. education.
A)True
B)False
Q3) As income goes up among U.S. families, we find that:
A) there is no difference in the share of children who attend college.
B) the share of children going to college goes down.
C) the share of children going to college goes up.
D) more women, but fewer men, go to college.
Q4) Community colleges are an important part of higher education in the United States because they:
A) enroll almost 40 percent of college students.
B) greatly expand the opportunity to attend college.
C) enroll half of African American and Hispanic undergraduates.
D) All of the above are correct.
To view all questions and flashcards with answers, click on the resource link above. Page 22
Chapter 21: Health and Medicine
Available Study Resources on Quizplus for this Chatper
122 Verified Questions
122 Flashcards
Source URL: https://quizplus.com/quiz/32940
Sample Questions
Q1) In the United States, people with higher incomes have a more positive assessment of their personal health than people with low incomes.
A)True
B)False
Q2) Genital herpes is a curable sexually transmitted disease.
A)True
B)False
Q3) In his structural-functional analysis, Talcott Parsons claimed that society responds to illness by:
A) punishing ill people.
B) withholding treatment to those who need it most.
C) using the "sick role" to relieve ill people of many daily responsibilities.
D) forcing people, sick or not, to perform important work.
Q4) Talcott Parsons described the physician-patient relationship as which of the following?
A) permanent
B) egalitarian
C) unpleasant
D) hierarchical
To view all questions and flashcards with answers, click on the resource link above. Page 23
Chapter 22: Population, Urbanization, and Environment
Available Study Resources on Quizplus for this Chatper
127 Verified Questions
127 Flashcards
Source URL: https://quizplus.com/quiz/32941
Sample Questions
Q1) The forced transport of 10 million slaves from Africa to the Americas is an example of involuntary migration.
A)True
B)False
Q2) Read this chapter's Sociology in the News article on
Q3) As societies gain technological power, more population, and affluence they have a greater and greater effect on the natural environment.
A)True
B)False
Q4) The limits to growth thesis states that humans can expect to solve whatever environmental problems come along.
A)True
B)False
Q5) A third urban revolution is now taking place in:
A) the United States.
B) high-income nations.
C) middle-income nations.
D) low-income nations.
Q6) State the basic idea of the "limits to growth" thesis.
Page 24
To view all questions and flashcards with answers, click on the resource link above.
Chapter 23: Collective Behavior and Social Movements
Available Study Resources on Quizplus for this Chatper
131 Verified Questions
131 Flashcards
Source URL: https://quizplus.com/quiz/32942
Sample Questions
Q1) Alcoholics Anonymous, an organization that seeks to help alcoholics achieve a sober life, is one example of which type of social movement?
A) alterative social movements
B) redemptive social movements
C) reformative social movements
D) revolutionary social movements
Q2) Which theoretical approach states that social movements depend on rallying around symbols?
A) mass-society theory
B) deprivation theory
C) resource-mobilization theory
D) culture theory
Q3) What is a "disaster"? What are three types of disasters? Give an example of each.
Q4) Some social movements continue, even after they achieve their original goal.
A)True
B)False
Q5) What are three key differences between "collectivities" and "social groups?"
Q6) What are three reasons that collective behavior is difficult to study?
Q7) What are the four stages in the life course of a social movement?
Page 25
To view all questions and flashcards with answers, click on the resource link above.
Chapter 24: Social Change: Traditional, Modern, and
Postmodern Societies
Available Study Resources on Quizplus for this Chatper
115 Verified Questions
115 Flashcards
Source URL: https://quizplus.com/quiz/32943
Sample Questions
Q1) Max Weber's thesis on the Protestant ethic and the spirit of capitalism highlighted the importance of which of the following in the process of social change?
A) invention
B) ideas
C) social conflict
D) cultural diffusion
Q2) What did Max Weber say was the defining trait of modern society?
Q3) What are Peter Berger's four major characteristics of modernization?
Q4) What is modernity? How are modern societies different from traditional societies? Discuss the defining traits of modernity according to Tönnies, Durkheim, Weber, and Marx.
Q5) Modernization typically reduces the range of personal choice about how to live. A)True
B)False
Q6) According to mass-society theory, what problems do modern individuals face? What does class-society theory have to say about the personal problems of modern people?
Q8) In a sentence or two, what is the basic idea behind class-society theory? Page 26
Q7) In a sentence or two, what is the basic idea behind mass-society theory?
To view all questions and flashcards with answers, click on the resource link above. Page 27