Foundations of Sociology Exam Questions
Course Introduction
Foundations of Sociology introduces students to the core concepts, theories, and methods used to study human society and social behavior. The course explores fundamental topics such as culture, socialization, social structure, groups, inequalities, and social change. By examining how institutions, identities, and hierarchies shape experiences, students gain insights into the ways social forces influence individual and collective actions. Through readings, discussions, and research, learners develop critical thinking skills and a deeper understanding of the complexities of contemporary social life.
Recommended Textbook
Essentials of Sociology 9th Edition by David B. Brinkerhoff
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Page 2
Chapter 1: The Study of Society
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Sample Questions
Q1) _________ are characteristics that vary across individuals or groups.
A) Variables
B) Differentials
C) Probabilities
D) Generalizations
Answer: A
Q2) Harvard graduate _________ devoted his career to collecting data about African Americans to combat racism.
A) Ralph Dahrendorf
B) Martin Luther King, Jr.
C) Emile Durkheim
D) W.E.B. DuBois
Answer: D
Q3) Sociologists who distribute clean needles to prevent HIV infection work for:
A) the government.
B) business.
C) non-profit organizations.
D) colleges and universities.
Answer: C
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Page 3
Chapter 2: Culture
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Sample Questions
Q1) Which of the following was NOT included in your text as a major factor accounting for cultural diversity?
A) isolation
B) environmental differences
C) technological differences
D) political structures
Answer: D
Q2) All of the following are positive aspects of celebrity culture EXCEPT:
A) watching talented people be rewarded can inspire you to cultivate your own talents.
B) there are many more opportunities to be famous now.
C) it gives us a common vocabulary.
D) it gives people things to discuss with each other.
Answer: B
Q3) Explain the difference between values and norms.
Answer: Values are shared ideas about desirable goals or standards.Norms are behaviors; they are shaped by values and the means for achieving goals.
Q4) What is sociobiology?
Answer: It is the study of the biological basis of all forms of human behavior.
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Chapter 3: Socialization
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Sample Questions
Q1) The text argues that schools:
A) treat all children equally regardless of social class.
B) are increasingly more able to give children individualized attention.
C) promote creativity and independent thinking.
D) prepare students for bureaucracies such as the workplace and the military.
Answer: D
Q2) Children learn how to function in society through their play.Often their play focuses on _______,people with whom they have close personal relationships.
A) role models
B) role partners
C) significant others
D) generalized others
Answer: C
Q3) How do structural functionalism and conflict theory differ in their views of socialization?
Answer: Structural functionalism views socialization as positive for everyone in society,as it promotes conformity to social norms and values.Conflict theory views socialization as beneficial for those with power in society since it promotes acceptance of the status quo,including inequality.
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Page 5
Chapter 4: Social Structure and Social Interaction
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Sample Questions
Q1) The most critical characteristic of a hunting-and-gathering society is that:
A) there is great inequality.
B) individuals are homogenous and have the same everyday experiences.
C) women's and men's roles are not distinct.
D) providing food is relatively easy.
Q2) What are the five basic social institutions?
Q3) Racial status does not correspond as directly with educational or occupational status as it once did.
A)True
B)False
Q4) Which of the following have experts concluded is the key to maintaining sobriety among Native Americans?
A) wealth
B) having lots of friends
C) a steady rewarding job to give people a reason to stay sober
D) moving off of the reservation
Q5) The institutions in a society may be analyzed separately because each functions independently of any others.
A)True
B)False
6
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Chapter 5: Groups, Networks, and Organizations
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Sample Questions
Q1) Which of the following is the best example of a secondary group?
A) your family
B) a group of three close friends who live together
C) an introductory sociology class with 300 students
D) people with red hair
Q2) What,according to scholars,might be the result of the growth in secondary groups and decline in primary groups?
Q3) Discuss Milgram's experiment and what it contributed to our understanding of conformity.How do his findings relate to events today?
Q4) According to sociologists,a strong community is characterized by:
A) an extensive infrastructure.
B) a large tax base.
C) few but strong ties between the residents.
D) dense, cross-cutting social networks.
Q5) Almost all voluntary relationships involve the expectation of exchange.
A)True
B)False
Q6) Explain why those who are mid-level in network centrality are the most likely to bully others.
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Chapter 6: Deviance, Crime, and Social Control
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Sample Questions
Q1) Discuss the differences in crime rates for each of the following characteristics: age,sex,race,and social class.Summarize the major reason(s)for each pattern.
Q2) Why are rates of imprisonment higher in the United States than anywhere else in the world?
Q3) Your text suggests that __________ is the probably the least effective of the ways listed to deal with crime and prison crowding.
A) developing more effective community-based corrections
B) putting more money into law enforcement
C) addressing the social problems and institutions that give rise to and encourage crime
D) building more prisons
Q4) Most sociologists agree that deviance is always dysfunctional for society.
A)True
B)False
Q5) Deviant acts that are subject to legal or civil penalties are defined as: A) eccentric.
B) crimes.
C) deviance.
D) social deviance.
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Chapter 7: Stratification
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Sample Questions
Q1) According to Karl Marx,inequality is caused by:
A) the need for competition to ensure the best candidates for any particular job.
B) the economic structuring that occurs as society moves from manufacturing to service jobs.
C) private ownership of the means of production.
D) All of these are explanations for inequality offered by Marx.
Q2) The U.S.ranks highest on the Human Development Index among industrialized countries.
A)True
B)False
Q3) "Can money buy happiness?" The evidence in your text suggests that:
A) people with more money have a higher quality of life overall.
B) people with more money have more problems.
C) money has little real impact on one's quality of life.
D) social class is not very important any more in the United States.
Q4) Sociologists find that the best explanation for persistent poverty is the different value system and lack of motivation among the poor.
A)True
B)False
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Chapter 8: Racial and Ethnic Inequality
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Sample Questions
Q1) When sociologists refer to a majority group,they are referring to the:
A) numerically largest group in a society.
B) group that is culturally, economically, and politically dominant.
C) numerically smallest group in a society.
D) group that is culturally, economically, and politically subordinate.
Q2) In the United States,definitions of race have:
A) always included "white" as a category.
B) always included Mexican American as a race.
C) changed over time.
D) included Hispanic.
Q3) As of 2010,_____ of the United States population is African American.
A) 9.5%
B) 10.1%
C) 12.6%
D) 18.2%
Q4) Which ethnic group is most likely to live in poverty?
A) Puerto Ricans
B) Cuban Americans
C) Japanese Americans
D) Anglo-Americans
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Chapter 9: Sex,Gender,and Sexuality
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Sample Questions
Q1) According to conflict theorists,a gendered division of labor was designed to:
A) strengthen the family unit.
B) increase the expertise of each sex in its own tasks.
C) prevent competition between men and women that might damage the family.
D) benefit men.
Q2) The text suggests that the factor most likely responsible for a decrease in the rate of sexual activity among teens is:
A) the prevalence of abstinence-only programs in the schools.
B) the lack of legal contraception available to teens.
C) fear of AIDS and other sexually transmitted disease.
D) All of these are factors contributing to a decline in sexual activity among teens.
Q3) Research has found that men are much more likely to have an extramarital affair than are women.
A)True
B)False
Q4) Describe the three historical waves of the women's movement,and the important issues and characteristics of each.Define different types of feminism.
Q5) What are gender roles?
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Chapter 10: Health and Health Care
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Sample Questions
Q1) The most important predictors of health,illness,and death is:
A) race and ethnicity.
B) gender.
C) age.
D) income.
Q2) Who are the manufacturers of illness?
A) the people who define what is and isn't a disease
B) groups that promote deadly behaviors and social conditions
C) hypochondriacs
D) pharmaceutical companies
Q3) African American,Hispanics,and Native Americans:
A) have reached the same average levels of health status as whites.
B) are as likely to have health insurance as Asian Americans.
C) are more likely to die at any given age than whites.
D) receive more attention from doctors because of their presumed lower social status.
Q4) Discuss at least three ways in which social statuses affect physical health.
Q5) Describe the four norms associated with the sick role and provide a critique of the model.
Q6) What is the difference between Medicare and Medicaid?
Page 12
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Chapter 11: Family
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Sample Questions
Q1) More than half of all U.S.couples cohabitate before marriage.
A)True
B)False
Q2) Which is true of the divorce rate in the U.S.?
A) The divorce rate is higher today than 100 years ago.
B) The current divorce rate is about 10% of new marriages.
C) The U.S. divorce rate has been dropping steadily since 1960.
D) The rate of divorce in the U.S. is lower than for most industrialized countries.
Q3) Describe the contemporary transition to adulthood.How has this transition changed in the last generation?
Q4) According to research,what is the impact of having children on marriage?
A) Having children increases one's satisfaction with marriage.
B) Having children decreases one's satisfaction with marriage.
C) Having children has no impact on one's satisfaction with marriage.
D) None of the above; there is no research done on children and marriage satisfaction.
Q5) What are three factors that have been identified as especially important predictors of marital failure within the first 5 years of marriage?
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Page 13
Chapter 12: Education and Religion
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Sample Questions
Q1) _______ refers to an individual's level of commitment to religious beliefs and to acting on those beliefs.
A) Televangism
B) Religiosity
C) Fundamentalism
D) Cultural capital
Q2) Your text suggests that students who are "held back" in school due to poor grades on standardized tests:
A) are disproportionately from disadvantaged backgrounds.
B) often experience an increase in their overall their long-term academic performance.
C) typically experience an increase in their chances of completing high school.
D) benefit in the long run from being able to repeat a grade.
Q3) Which of the following is NOT true of people who are more religious?
A) They tend to be more satisfied with their lives.
B) They tend to be happier.
C) They tend to be more supportive of corporal punishment.
D) They tend to be more accepting of difference, including gays and lesbians.
Q4) What are the three elements that Durkheim claimed all religions share?
Q5) What are New Religious Movements?
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Chapter 13: Politics and the Economy
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Sample Questions
Q1) Explain the various reasons that have been suggested for why so many people in the U.S.do not vote.
Q2) The work of smiling,appearing happy,or in other ways suggesting that one enjoys providing a service is called:
A) segmented labor.
B) informal labor market.
C) worker satisfaction.
D) emotional labor.
Q3) U.S.surveys consistently find that most workers are satisfied with their job.
A)True
B)False
Q4) According to Mills,the power elite are those who:
A) own the means of production.
B) have prestige and honor.
C) occupy the top positions in the military, industry, and the executive branch of government.
D) have great traditional authority.
Q5) The Arab Spring started as a unified movement supported by the U.S.government.
A)True
B)False
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Chapter 14: Population and Urbanization
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Sample Questions
Q1) What is the impact of immigrants on wages in the US?
Q2) In the last 15 years,increases in life expectancy in the U.S.have been attributed largely to:
A) conquering infectious disease.
B) better diagnosis and treatment of degenerative diseases.
C) prevention of infant mortality and premature births.
D) reducing the gap between men and women.
Q3) The demographic transition:
A) is the process of moving from the traditional balance of high birth and death rates to a new balance of low birth and death rates.
B) is the process of migrating to a society with higher mortality and fertility from a society with lower mortality and fertility.
C) refers to the situation of a consistently high fertility rate.
D) refers to a population experiencing negative population growth.
Q4) What is meant by demographic transition? In what ways did the demographic transition of western industrialized countries differ from that of developing nations?
Q5) Explain the growth of the suburbs and the problems that have grown along with them.
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Page 16
Chapter 15: Social Change
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Sample Questions
Q1) The text uses the examples of reproductive technologies and information technology to make the point that:
A) technological changes are rapidly occurring and will continue to occur.
B) new technologies have costs for society in addition to their benefits.
C) with proper education it is possible to avoid the problems created by cultural lag.
D) people place too much emphasis on the negatives and not enough on the positive aspects of technology.
Q2) What is frame alignment?
Q3) Even structural-functionalists admit that social change does not always occur smoothly.
A)True
B)False
Q4) Relative-deprivation theory is a form of:
A) conflict theory.
B) symbolic interactionism.
C) structural-functionalist theory.
D) micro-level theory.
Q5) What is the difference between indigenous and professional SMOs?
Q6) What three conditions encourage the development of a countermovement?
Page 17
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