Course Introduction
General Sociology Exam Questions
General Sociology introduces students to the foundational concepts, theories, and methodologies used to analyze human society. The course explores key topics such as culture, socialization, social structure, institutions, stratification, group dynamics, and social change. Students learn to apply a sociological perspective to understand how individuals are shaped by social forces, examine the nature of social inequalities, and investigate how societal norms and values influence behavior. Through case studies, lectures, and discussions, this course emphasizes critical thinking and the application of sociological concepts to contemporary social issues.
Recommended Textbook Society The Basics 13th Edition by John J. Macionis
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16 Chapters
2430 Verified Questions
2430 Flashcards
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Page 2
Chapter 1: Sociology: Perspective, Theory, and Method
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194 Verified Questions
194 Flashcards
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Sample Questions
Q1) The sociological perspective reveals the truth of the "common sense" beliefs we tend to take for granted.
A)True
B)False
Answer: True
Q2) Making use of the sociological perspective encourages A) challenging commonly held beliefs.
B) accepting conventional wisdom.
C) the belief that society is mysterious.
D) people to be happier with their lives as they are.
Answer: A
Q3) A variable that is changed by another variable is called the "independent variable."
A)True
B)False
Answer: False
Q4) According to sociologists, human behavior reflects our personal "free will."
A)True
B)False
Answer: False
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Chapter 2: Culture
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178 Verified Questions
178 Flashcards
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Sample Questions
Q1) The dominant values of U.S.culture include
A) a deep respect for the traditions of the past.
B) a belief in equality of condition for all.
C) a belief in individuality.
D) a belief in intuition over science.
Answer: C
Q2) Gerhard Lenski used the concept "sociocultural evolution" to refer to how technological innovation changes the shape of societies.
A)True
B)False
Answer: True
Q3) People in the United States tend to view the past as being better than the present.
A)True
B)False
Answer: False
Q4) The same way of life is biologically "natural" to humans everywhere.
A)True
B)False Answer: False
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Chapter 3: Socialization
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126 Verified Questions
126 Flashcards
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Sample Questions
Q1) Family is important to the socialization process because
A) family members are often what Mead called "generalized others."
B) families pass along social identity to children in terms of class, ethnicity, and religion.
C) families begin the process of anticipatory socialization.
D) families set the stage for resocialization.
Answer: B
Q2) When Cooley used the concept of the "looking-glass self," he claimed that A) people are self-centered.
B) people see themselves as they think others see them.
C) people see things only from their own point of view.
D) our actions are a reflection of our values.
Answer: B
Q3) U.S.school children spend about as much time in front of a television as they do at school or interacting with their parents.
A)True
B)False
Answer: True
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Chapter 4: Social Interaction in Everyday Life
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129 Verified Questions
129 Flashcards
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Sample Questions
Q1) The Thomas theorem states that
A) a role is as a role does.
B) people rise to their level of incompetence.
C) situations defined as real are real in their consequences.
D) people know the world only through their language.
Q2) Smiling and making polite remarks to people we do not like is an example of A) making another feel embarrassment.
B) exercising power over another.
C) idealizing a personal performance.
D) losing face.
Q3) Explain ways in which human emotions are the same everywhere and ways in which they are different.In your essay, assess the importance of both the biological and the cultural foundations of human emotions.
Q4) Explain the basic approach called dramaturgical analysis.From this point of view, explain how we engage in the "presentation of self."
Q5) The Thomas theorem states that situations that are defined as real become real due to their consequences.
A)True
B)False
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Chapter 5: Groups and Organizations
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128 Flashcards
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Sample Questions
Q1) The leadership style that allows group members the most autonomy is "laissez-faire."
A)True
B)False
Q2) The scientific management approach was developed by
A) Frederick Taylor.
B) Robert Merton.
C) Robert Michels.
D) Rosabeth Moss Kanter.
Q3) One characteristic of secondary groups is
A) their small size.
B) weak emotional ties between members.
C) strong emotional ties between members.
D) their long-term duration.
Q4) A social group with only two members is called a
A) primary group.
B) dyad.
C) triad.
D) bond.
Q5) What are the important differences between primary and secondary groups?
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Chapter 6: Sexuality and Society
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117 Verified Questions
117 Flashcards
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Sample Questions
Q1) The campus culture of "hooking up" involves sexual relationships between partners who
A) know little about each other.
B) are dating.
C) desire long-term relationships with each other. D) are both content with these encounters.
Q2) Sociologists point out that human sexual behavior is very similar across all cultures. A)True B)False
Q3) Pornography is a moral issue for some people and a power issue for others.
A)True
B)False
Q4) The symbolic-interaction approach highlights the various meanings people attach to sexuality.
A)True B)False
Q5) Homophobia refers to a fear of sexuality. A)True B)False
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Chapter 7: Deviance
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Sample Questions
Q1) A judge sentences a young man who has committed several crimes to counseling and places him in a supportive foster home.These efforts to prevent further wrongdoing are called
A) retribution.
B) deterrence.
C) social protection.
D) rehabilitation.
Q2) An example of the "medicalization of deviance" is
A) theft being redefined as a "compulsive stealing."
B) drinking too much being redefined as a personal failing.
C) promiscuity being redefined as a moral failing.
D) when people steal drugs to self-medicate.
Q3) "Crimes against the person" includes all but A) murder.
B) aggravated assault.
C) burglary.
D) forcible rape.
Q4) Identify four justifications for punishment.Do you think punishment accomplishes each of these goals? Why or why not?
Q5) Define due process, plea bargaining, and community-based corrections.
Page 9
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Chapter 8: Social Stratification
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Sample Questions
Q1) A category of people defined as "untouchable" because they perform work that is viewed as "unclean" has been part of social stratification in
A) India.
B) Canada.
C) Sweden.
D) the former Soviet Union.
Q2) What is the premise of the Kuznet curve? What claims about worldwide social inequality does it make? What are several criticisms of the curve?
(EVALUT
Q3) Max Weber claimed that agrarian societies give special importance to which dimension of social inequality?
A) economic class
B) social prestige or honor
C) power
D) control of information
Q4) According to Karl Marx, what are the two major classes in industrial-capitalist societies? How did Marx describe the relationship between the two classes?
Q5) Who are the working poor?
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Chapter 9: Global Stratification
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115 Verified Questions
115 Flashcards
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Sample Questions
Q1) A social theorist who contributed to the development of dependency theory by tracing the growth of the capitalist world economy is
A) Max Weber.
B) Emile Durkheim.
C) Walt Rostow.
D) Immanuel Wallerstein.
Q2) What are the four stages of Walt Rostow's modernization theory? What is "modernization?" Explain each stage and how it brings a society closer to the goal of modernization.
Q3) If you were applying modernization theory to the problem of global poverty, you might expect rich nations to aid the economic development of poor nations by
A) promoting population growth.
B) limiting food production.
C) increasing industrial production.
D) denying foreign aid.
Q4) Describe the problem of slavery in the world.What is the extent of the problem? What different kinds of slavery are there? What part does poverty play in causing and perpetuating slavery?
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11
Chapter 10: Gender Stratification
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121 Flashcards
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Sample Questions
Q1) The factor which accounts for the greatest share of the difference in the earnings of working women and men in the United States is
A) differences in education.
B) differences in family responsibilities.
C) gender discrimination in the workplace.
D) the type of work men and women do.
Q2) _______ refers to social organization in which males dominate females.
A) patriarchy
B) matriarchy
C) monarchy
D) oligarchy
Q3) The concept of "comparable worth" means that
A) women should hold political offices in proportion to their numbers in the population.
B) people should be paid according to the level of skill and responsibility involved in the work.
C) the market system should determine the pay for any job.
D) all jobs should be rewarded equally.
Q4) What criticisms of pornography are made in the text?
Q5) What does Naomi Wolf mean by the term "beauty myth"?
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Chapter 11: Race and Ethnicity
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123 Flashcards
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Sample Questions
Q1) Sociologists define the concept of "race" as
A) people who fall into any minority category.
B) a person's skin color.
C) a cultural heritage shared by a category of people.
D) a socially constructed category composed of people who share biologically transmitted traits that members of a society consider important.
Q2) For Chinese immigrants, one result of living in Chinatowns was _____.
A) maintaining traditional culture.
B) forming kinship networks, or clans.
C) reducing their chance to learn English, which limited job opportunities.
D) All of these responses are correct.
Q3) Which of the following concepts refers to a category of people, distinguished by physical or cultural traits, who are socially disadvantaged?
A) minority
B) ethnic category
C) racial category
D) out-group
Q4) What is a stereotype? How can applying the sociological perspective help to assess the validity of any stereotype?
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Chapter 12: Economics and Politics
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201 Verified Questions
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Sample Questions
Q1) The concept "state capitalism" refers all productive enterprises in a country being owned by the government.
A)True
B)False
Q2) What are the three defining traits of capitalism?
Q3) Terrorism has been called a new kind of warfare because A) it is less violent.
B) it is "symmetrical," involving two opponents of roughly equal power. C) it lacks clearly stated objectives and is not about controlling territory.
D) All of these responses are correct.
Q4) What arguments are made in favor of a free-market economy? What are the arguments made by those who favor a large regulatory role for government? Consider issues such as economic productivity, economic inequality, and the extent of corporate welfare.Also, how do the recent corporate scandals, beginning with the collapse of the Enron energy trading company, play in to this debate?
Q5) Agricultural production is part of the primary sector of the economy.
A)True
B)False
Q6) What is the military-industrial complex?
Page 14
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Chapter 13: Family and Religion
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190 Flashcards
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Sample Questions
Q1) Animism is closely associated with which of the following societies?
A) industrial
B) European
C) Native American
D) agrarian
Q2) Provide a distinctive trait or pattern about each of the following: American Indian families, Latino families, African American families, and Asian American families.
Q3) Typically, industrial societies make use of which of the following systems to trace ancestry?
A) bilateral descent
B) matrilineal descent
C) patrilineal descent
D) neolocality
Q4) Karl Marx investigated the positive functions of religion for social life.
A)True
B)False
Q5) What factors lead some analysts to characterize the United States as a "post-denominational" society? How do "seekers" pursue spirituality without being connected to traditional religious organizations?
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Chapter 14: Education, Health, and Medicine
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212 Verified Questions
212 Flashcards
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Sample Questions
Q1) In which of the following nations is almost all medical care under the control of government?
A) China
B) Great Britain
C) Japan
D) the United States
Q2) What is "functional illiteracy"? How extensive is this problem in the United States?
Q3) Why does the home environment have more effect on academic performance than the school environment?
Q4) Which of the following is the MOST common way that people in the United States pay for medical care?
A) private insurance programs
B) the government's universal health care program
C) HMOs
D) Medicare and Medicaid
Q5) The concept "functionally illiteracy" refers to people who leave school before graduating.
A)True
B)False
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Chapter 15: Population, Urbanization, and Environment
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Sample Questions
Q1) An annual growth rate of about 2 percent will cause a society's population to double in about thirty-five years.
A)True
B)False
Q2) As a rich nation that values consumption and convenience, the U.S.can be described as
A) a "Malthusian society."
B) a "recycling society."
C) a "disposable society."
D) All of these responses are correct.
Q3) Examine the two age-sex pyramids on
Q4) The University of Chicago's sociology department had an early focus on cities and urban life.
A)True
B)False
Q5) Georg Simmel claimed that urbanites are so interested in each other's lives that there is little privacy in cities.
A)True
B)False
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Chapter 16: Social Change: Modern and Postmodern
Societies
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168 Verified Questions
168 Flashcards
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Sample Questions
Q1) Genocide-the systematic killing of many people-is an example of an "intentional disaster."
A)True
B)False
Q2) In what way do "new social movements" differ from those in the past?
A) They are more likely to be international.
B) They are likely to focus on social rather than economic issues.
C) They are likely to attract support from middle- and upper-middle-class people.
D) All of these responses are correct.
Q3) A major oil spill from a ship would be an example of a "natural disaster."
A)True
B)False
Q4) What are the four stages in the life course of a social movement?
Q5) Which of the following are common causes of social change?
A) discovery of existing things
B) diffusion from one cultural system to another
C) invention of new ideas and things
D) All of these responses are correct.
Q6) What are the three important causes of cultural change?
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