General Sociology Exam Practice Tests
Course Introduction
General Sociology offers an introduction to the scientific study of society, social institutions, and human behavior. The course explores fundamental sociological concepts such as culture, socialization, social structure, groups, and social stratification, examining how these elements shape individual and group interactions within various social contexts. Students will analyze contemporary social issues, including inequality, race and ethnicity, gender, and deviance, through the lens of major sociological theories and research methods, providing a foundation for understanding the complexities of social life and fostering critical thinking about the dynamics of modern societies.
Recommended Textbook
Essentials of Sociology 6th Edition by Richard P. Appelbaum
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16 Chapters
1118 Verified Questions
1118 Flashcards
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Chapter 1: Sociology: Theory and Method
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78 Verified Questions
78 Flashcards
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Sample Questions
Q1) Harpreet wants to research differences in attitudes toward globalization between people from the United States and people from Colombia. She is creating a survey instrument to give to people from both regions. What part of the research process is she in?
A) defining the research problem
B) reviewing the evidence
C) working out a design
D) interpreting the results
Answer: C
Q2) Max studies marriage rituals in Sweden, India, China, and South Africa to note similarities and differences in the ceremonies. His research would best be described as:
A) survey research.
B) experimental research.
C) ethnography.
D) comparative research.
Answer: D
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Chapter 2: Culture and Society
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70 Verified Questions
70 Flashcards
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Sample Questions
Q1) Pablo studies clothing choices in subcultural groups. He is investigating:
A) values.
B) norms.
C) material culture.
D) instinct.
Answer: C
Q2) Societies whose means of subsistence are based on agricultural production (crop growing) are called ________ societies.
A) pastoral
B) urban
C) agrarian
D) industrialized
Answer: C
Q3) Societies whose subsistence derives from the rearing of domesticated animals are called ________ societies.
A) agrarian
B) industrialized
C) postmodern
D) pastoral
Answer: D
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Chapter 3: Socialization, the Life Course, and Aging
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67 Verified Questions
67 Flashcards
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Sample Questions
Q1) For most individuals in modern society, ________ is/are the agent(s) of socialization that is/are most responsible for their early childhood development.
A) their preschool
B) their friends at school
C) the television
D) the family
Answer: D
Q2) What would sociologists conclude is one difficulty that arises when applying Jean Piaget's approach to the study of child development to all children across all societies and cultures?
A) In American culture, the family is far more important than any other agent of socialization.
B) Schooling is far more important than the family in the concrete operational stage.
C) Piaget underestimated the role of the ego in children.
D) The stages of cognitive development may not always follow a smooth and progressive path.
Answer: D
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Chapter 4: Social Interaction and Everyday Life in the Age of the Internet
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68 Verified Questions
68 Flashcards
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Sample Questions
Q1) What do sociologists call the social honor or prestige that society accords to a group of people?
A) status
B) agency
C) race
D) expectation
Q2) Sociologists Deirdre Boden and Harvey Molotch argue that even with the growth of electronic communication, such as text messaging and e-mail, people have a strong need to interact in each other's presence. They call this concept:
A) focused interaction.
B) compulsion of proximity.
C) impression management.
D) social status.
Q3) Social positions can be both general and specific. Which of the following is an example of a specific social position in American society?
A) race
B) doctor
C) gender
D) sexual orientation
Page 6
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Chapter 5: Groups, Networks, and Organizations
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68 Verified Questions
68 Flashcards
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Sample Questions
Q1) Juan and Sally got divorced after three years of marriage, and both moved on to establish new relationships. Their divorce demonstrates that dyads are fragile social groups because:
A) if one person leaves, the group disappears.
B) one member can hurt the other.
C) they do not require individuals to stay in the relationship.
D) the relationships are too intense.
Q2) Which of the following is a social aggregate?
A) your family
B) middle-class Asian American women
C) people waiting at Terminal C for Flight 205
D) Facebook friends
Q3) At Digi-Corp, each employee receives a manual outlining the rules about how employees and managers should work together and interact. These rules are referred to as the ________ between employee and manager.
A) formal relations
B) informal relations
C) primary groups
D) surveillance
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Page 7
Chapter 6: Conformity, Deviance, and Crime
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73 Verified Questions
73 Flashcards
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Sample Questions
Q1) According to Robert Merton, at a time when society as a whole is becoming more affluent, why do crime rates continue to rise?
A) a sense of relative deprivation among those at the bottom
B) inadequate socialization of the poor
C) the rise of deviant subcultures
D) the ability of communities to afford more police officers
Q2) The term that describes a rule of conduct that specifies appropriate behavior in a given range of situations is:
A) value.
B) belief.
C) sanction.
D) norm.
Q3) How is it possible that a person can be both a conformist and a deviant? Please explain your answer in two to three sentences.
Q4) Compare and contrast differential association theory with control theory. Which theory do you think better explains crime? Please explain your answers in three to five sentences.
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Chapter 7: Stratification, Class, and Inequality
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66 Verified Questions
66 Flashcards
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Sample Questions
Q1) Those who believe that the culture of poverty theory explains why most people are in poverty would most likely favor which of the following antipoverty programs?
A) subsidized housing
B) universal health care
C) welfare-to-work programs
D) food stamps
Q2) The money a person gets from a wage, salary, or investments is ________; the assets an individual owns are ________.
A) wealth; property
B) income; wealth
C) wealth; income
D) income; inherited
Q3) Dr. Ramirez is a sociology professor, and while he makes much less money than doctors and lawyers, he is viewed as having relatively high prestige because of:
A) his professional clothing.
B) his work hours.
C) his education.
D) his publications.
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Chapter 8: Global Inequality
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68 Verified Questions
68 Flashcards
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Sample Questions
Q1) Sonyuchka studies countries that are located primarily in east and southeast Asia, the oil-rich countries of the Middle East and north Africa, the Americas (Mexico, Central America, Cuba, and other countries in the Caribbean and South America), and the once-communist republics that formerly made up the Soviet Union and its eastern European allies. She is likely studying ________ countries.
A) high-income
B) middle-income
C) low-income
D) Asian
Q2) Mary studies countries that were among the first to industrialize. It is likely that she is studying ________ countries.
A) high-income
B) middle-income
C) low-income
D) socialist
Q3) Famine and hunger are caused by both natural and social forces. In a short paragraph, explain some of the social forces that cause hunger, malnutrition, and starvation.
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Chapter 9: Gender Inequality
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68 Verified Questions
68 Flashcards
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Sample Questions
Q1) Which strategy would liberal feminists encourage?
A) the abolition of marriage
B) a revolution against capitalist economies
C) abolish affirmative action policies
D) institute family-friendly policies in the workplace
Q2) How does patriarchy, or male dominance in society, take shape across the world?
A) Men are favored in most societies, but the degree of patriarchy varies.
B) Men are favored in most societies, and patriarchy is strong throughout.
C) Men are not favored in most societies, but the degree of patriarchy varies.
D) Men are not favored in most societies, and patriarchy is weak in most countries.
Q3) Joe hangs out with men who discuss women as if they were sexual objects. This makes him insensitive to the difference between consensual and nonconsensual sex. Which concept best explains this situation?
A) rape culture
B) rape awareness
C) gender inequality
D) sex segregation
Q4) In two to four sentences, explain what criticisms black feminists make about the feminist movement.
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Chapter 10: Ethnicity and Race
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64 Verified Questions
64 Flashcards
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Sample Questions
Q1) People who, because of their distinct physical or cultural characteristics, find themselves in situations of inequality within a society are known as:
A) an ethnic group.
B) a racial group.
C) a minority group.
D) scapegoats.
Q2) Jody is a white woman who has Irish ancestry on her father's side and enjoys celebrating St. Patrick's Day in her hometown of Boston. In most aspects of Jody's life, however, being Irish American has no meaningful impact on her day-to-day life. This example illustrates that:
A) ethnicity has become less important in the United States.
B) tension between racial and ethnic groups has declined over time.
C) whites in the United States have a choice of whether or not to be ethnic.
D) pluralism is growing in the United States.
Q3) Which group was forcibly removed to relocation centers in World War II?
A) German Americans
B) Americans
C) Japanese Americans
D) Mexican Americans
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Page 12
Chapter 11: Families and Intimate Relationships
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66 Verified Questions
66 Flashcards
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Sample Questions
Q1) A 1985 study by Richard Gelles and Murray Straus found that ________ percent of married people reported at least one incident of intimate partner violence at some point in their marriage.
A) 5
B) 28
C) 56
D) 81
Q2) Nellie was worried about her mother living on her own after she divorced Nellie's father. How might Eric Klinenberg's research help assuage Nellie's fears?
A) He found that people living alone actually have more, rather than less, social interaction than their married counterparts.
B) Klinenberg's respondents reported higher-than-average IQs, possibly because people who live alone spend more time reading.
C) People who live alone reported experiencing moderate anxiety, but that feeling dissipated within one year.
D) People who live alone tend to be more financially stable than those who live with someone else.
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13
Chapter 12: Education and Religion
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76 Verified Questions
76 Flashcards
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Sample Questions
Q1) Why are sociologists so concerned with the social organization of religion?
A) Religion is the primary source of the development of the economy, which sociologists consider the most important building block of any society.
B) Religion is among the most important institutions in society and is a primary source of the deepest-seated norms and values.
C) Sociologists view religion as a repressive force, and sociologists value open societies.
D) Religion is the institution that determines our basic understandings of ourselves, such as gender, race, nationality, and other markers of identity.
Q2) According to the textbook, what are some of the reasons Americans are so religiously affiliated? Please explain your answer in a short paragraph.
Q3) According to the textbook, ________ are the most loosely knit and transient of all religious organizations.
A) churches
B) sects
C) denominations
D) cults
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14
Chapter 13: Politics and Economic Life
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68 Verified Questions
68 Flashcards
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Sample Questions
Q1) What did the Supreme Court rule in Roe v. Wade?
A) that women had a legal right to abortion
B) that federal money could not be used to subsidize facilities that carried out abortions
C) that states could restrict abortions as they saw fit
D) that women who could not afford an abortion had the right to receive subsidies
Q2) Sofia is a sociologist who sees capitalism as developing through three distinct phases. In what chronological order would she probably put these three phases of capitalism?
A) managerial capitalism, family capitalism, and institutional capitalism
B) institutional capitalism, managerial capitalism, and family capitalism
C) family capitalism, institutional capitalism, and managerial capitalism
D) family capitalism, managerial capitalism, and institutional capitalism
Q3) When was the welfare state firmly established in most Western societies?
A) in the seventeenth century
B) in the eighteenth century
C) in the nineteenth century
D) in the twentieth century
Q4) What are the main features of capitalism? Answer in two to four sentences.
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Page 15
Chapter 14: The Sociology of the Body: Health, Illness, and Sexuality
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73 Verified Questions
73 Flashcards
Source URL: https://quizplus.com/quiz/4497
Sample Questions
Q1) According to the textbook, which of the following terms is incorrectly used, is misleading, and should be avoided?
A) sexual desire
B) sexual orientation
C) sexual preference
D) sexual partner
Q2) Bernard is studying an indigenous society where large body sizes are considered a sign of good health and lean bodies are considered a sign of weakness and poor health. Bernard is focusing his research on the way members of this society define health rather than focusing on a standardized medical measurement of health. Which sociological perspective is Bernard using?
A) the functionalist perspective.
B) the conflict perspective.
C) complementary and alternative medicine (CAM).
D) the symbolic interactionist perspective.
Q3) What are some of the important contributions of Alfred Kinsey's research on sexuality? Please explain your answer in a short paragraph.
Q4) How do social class and race affect health? Please explain your answer in a short paragraph.
Page 16
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Chapter 15: Urbanization, Population, and the Environment
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64 Verified Questions
64 Flashcards
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Sample Questions
Q1) Natasha's organization helps companies design projects that will generate profit but also have minimal impact on the environment. Their focus is on recycling physical resources and keeping pollution to a minimum. Her company focuses on:
A) communization.
B) sustainable development.
C) modernization.
D) postmodernization.
Q2) The Chicago School focused on cities as ________; however, most contemporary theory and research in urban sociology focus on cities as ________.
A) natural formations; created environments
B) places of conflict; places of cooperation
C) social constructions; created environments
D) dangerous; safe
Q3) Urban growth in less-developed countries is high because of higher birth rates as well as:
A) high crime in rural areas.
B) high rates of internal migration.
C) high rates of migration from other countries.
D) idealization of American life.
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Page 17
Chapter 16: Globalization in a Changing World
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81 Verified Questions
81 Flashcards
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Sample Questions
Q1) American society has a strong set of noneconomic institutions, and most people socialize and interact in spaces that are structured by family, community associations, and schools. Therefore, according to sociologists, American society has a strong:
A) antimarket belief system.
B) civil society.
C) institutional control structure.
D) protest culture.
Q2) Which of the following is/are included in the cultural factors that might influence social change?
A) government
B) communication systems
C) health
D) corporations
Q3) According to Ulrich Beck, globalization brings about a "risk society." Explain a "risk society" and the kinds of risks that are being "manufactured." What specific risks are you most concerned about? Why?
Q4) According to postmodernists, there is "no such thing as history." What do they mean by this statement? Do you agree or disagree with their view of globalization?
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