Health Inequalities
Midterm Exam
Course Introduction
This course explores the patterns, causes, and consequences of health inequalities within and between populations. Students will examine how social, economic, environmental, and political factors contribute to disparities in health outcomes across different groups, including those defined by race, ethnicity, gender, socioeconomic status, and geography. Through analysis of theoretical frameworks and empirical evidence, the course addresses the mechanisms by which health inequalities are produced and maintained, and evaluates strategies for reducing these disparities through policy, intervention, and community engagement.
Recommended Textbook
The Sociology of Health Illness and Health Care A Critical Approach 7th Edition by Rose Weitz
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13 Chapters
358 Verified Questions
358 Flashcards
Source URL: https://quizplus.com/study-set/2102
Page 2
Chapter 1: The Sociology of Health, Illness, and Health Care
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21 Verified Questions
21 Flashcards
Source URL: https://quizplus.com/quiz/41865
Sample Questions
Q1) The rate of tuberculosis increased dramatically during the 1980s. As a result, tuberculosis during those years should be referred to as
A)an endemic illness.
B)an epidemic.
C)an acute illness.
D)a pandemic.
E)a prevalent illness.
Answer: B
Q2) According to most scholars, life expectancy in the United States increased dramatically after 1900 because of
A)the introduction of smallpox inoculation.
B)the development of new medical treatments.
C)changes in nutrition and living conditions.
D)the natural evolution of epidemics.
E)the natural evolution of microorganisms into less dangerous forms.
Answer: C
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Chapter 2: The Social Sources of Modern Illness
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29 Verified Questions
29 Flashcards
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Sample Questions
Q1) The term illness is used to refer to
A)the social experience of living with a disease.
B)the biological consequences of disease.
C)an objective measure of biological changes.
D)sociologists' ideas regarding epidemiology.
E)mental problems.
Answer: A
Q2) According to McGinnis and Foege, the most common cause of premature deaths is A)illegal drugs.
B)diet and exercise.
C)AIDS.
D)tobacco.
E)microbial agents.
Answer: D
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Chapter 3: The Social Distribution of Illness in the United States
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25 Verified Questions
25 Flashcards
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Sample Questions
Q1) Corporate decisions to locate polluting industries in minority neighborhoods are referred to as
A)environmental justice.
B)environmental racism.
C)internal socialization.
D)mainstreaming.
E)downsizing.
Answer: B
Q2) High rates of postneonatal infant mortality generally reflect A)poverty, malnutrition, and poor living conditions.
B)birth defects.
C)high rates of teenage pregnancy.
D)genetic defects.
E)biological differences between races.
Answer: A
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Page 5
Chapter 4: Illness and Death in Less Developed Nations
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29 Verified Questions
29 Flashcards
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Sample Questions
Q1) In the least developed nations, average life expectancy
A)is about 25 years.
B)can be lower than 60 years.
C)is between 60 and 70 years.
D)cannot be measured.
E)is much higher among women than among men.
Q2) The idea of global health
A)suggests that health and illness can cross borders.
B)suggests that both international corporations and migrant workers can affect health.
C)fits well with a critical sociological perspective.
D)all of the above
E)none of the above
Q3) The impact of HIV/AIDS is magnified by the fact that the disease typically A)hits at midlife.
B)results in water pollution.
C)increases air pollution.
D)kills many street cleaners.
E)leads to overpopulation.
Q4) Why should war and disasters be considered public health issues?
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Chapter 5: The Social Meanings of Illness
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27 Verified Questions
27 Flashcards
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Sample Questions
Q1) We can tell that a condition is deviant by seeing if those who exhibit the condition
A)are punished.
B)receive token gifts.
C)are police officers.
D)have broken universal moral laws.
E)engage in social control.
Q2) In the nineteenth century, medical textbooks generally described masturbation as a sign of illness. Modern textbooks, however, do not. This is an example of A)medicalization.
B)demedicalization.
C)depoliticization.
D)medical collaboration.
E)reductionistic treatment.
Q3) What contribution does Parsons' concept of a sick role make to our understanding of sickness in society? What are the weaknesses of that concept?
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7
Chapter 6: The Experience of Disability, Chronic Pain, and Chronic Illness
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28 Verified Questions
28 Flashcards
Source URL: https://quizplus.com/quiz/41870
Sample Questions
Q1) US physicians:
A)are well-trained in pain management.
B)are especially likely to undertreat chronic pain among minorities.
C)are especially likely to prescribe pain medication to women.
D)do not allow drug trafficking laws to influence how they treat chronic pain.
E)are typically unconcerned about the risk of addiction when treating chronic pain.
Q2) Chronic pain is more common among which of the following?
A)men
B)women
C)middle-class persons
D)suburbanites
E)white Americans
Q3) Whether an individual will seek diagnosis once symptoms appear depends on
A)the presence of alternative explanations for the symptoms.
B)the frequency of the symptoms.
C)the visibility of the symptoms.
D)all of the above
E)a and b only
Q4) Should people with disabilities be considered a minority group? Why or why not?
8
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Chapter 7: The Sociology of Mental Illness
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29 Verified Questions
29 Flashcards
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Sample Questions
Q1) Approximately what percent of U.S. adults experience a diagnosable mental illness in a typical year?
A)5 percent
B)10 percent
C)30 percent
D)50 percent
E)70 percent
Q2) The history of the Diagnostic and Statistical Manual (DSM) suggests that
A)those working in mental health generally agree on the causes of mental illness.
B)our system of psychiatric diagnoses has resulted in part from a series of political fights.
C)those working in the mental health field generally agree on how to treat the different mental illnesses.
D)psychiatrists generally agree on how to treat homosexuality.
E)the DSM is now highly valid.
Q3) Explain the link between stress and mental illness, and then use that explanation to explain class, gender, and race differences in mental illness.
Q4) How are residential colleges similar to and different from total institutions?
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9
Chapter 8: Health Care in the United States
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30 Verified Questions
30 Flashcards
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Sample Questions
Q1) Under community rating,
A)individual premiums are based on estimates of that individual's chances of becoming ill.
B)individual premiums are based on the average risk level of the community as a whole.
C)doctors receive higher average incomes.
D)nurses receive higher average incomes.
E)Blue Shield is a better economic investment than Blue Cross.
Q2) Commercial insurers were able to offer lower premiums to individuals than did Blue Cross or Blue Shield because the commercial insurers
A)avoided government regulation.
B)used actuarial rather than community risk rating.
C)did not cover cancer and other deadly illnesses.
D)used managed care.
E)used salaried doctors.
Q3) Why have health care costs risen in the United States?
Q4) What kinds of health care reforms do you think are necessary? What stakeholders would be likely to oppose those reforms?
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10
Chapter 9: Health Care Around the Globe
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29 Verified Questions
29 Flashcards
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Sample Questions
Q1) How is health care rationed in Canada and Great Britain? Are these systems of rationing better, worse, or no different from how we ration care in the United States?
Q2) Which of the following has been used to control costs in one or more health care systems described in this textbook?
A)relying only on the government (rather than private insurers) to cover individuals' health care costs
B)establishing government control over hospital budgets
C)restricting doctors to salaried practices
D)all of the above
E)none of the above
Q3) The term "physician extenders" refers to A)doctors' office assistants.
B)health care workers who sometimes can substitute for doctors.
C)insurance companies owned by doctors.
D)technological equipment used by doctors.
E)video equipment that allows doctors to treat patients long-distance.
Q4) Which nation's health care system would you prefer? Why?
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Chapter 10: Health Care Settings and Technologies
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30 Verified Questions
30 Flashcards
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Sample Questions
Q1) Which of the following is true?
A)The majority of nursing homes are run on a for-profit basis.
B)Men are more likely than women to eventually need nursing home care.
C)Nursing homes now treat a healthier mix of patient than they did 20 years ago.
D)Since the passage of Medicare, the number of nursing homes has declined.
E)Nursing homes are staffed primarily by doctors.
Q2) Which of the following is true?
A)Few 90-year-old American men have prostate cancer.
B)Prostate cancer kills most who develop it.
C)Treatment for prostate cancer causes few significant side-effects.
D)A nationwide prostate cancer detection and treatment program would reduce the national costs for the disease.
E)A nationwide detection and treatment program would increase the national costs of dealing with prostate cancer.
Q3) Timothy Diamond uses the phrase "commodification" to refer to the process of
A)thinking of nursing home residents and workers in economic terms.
B)purchasing goods for nursing homes.
C)thinking of nursing home residents and workers in medical terms.
D)hiring doctors for nursing homes.
E)investing nursing home funds in the commodities market.
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Chapter 11: The Profession of Medicine
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28 Verified Questions
28 Flashcards
Source URL: https://quizplus.com/quiz/41875
Sample Questions
Q1) The process through which medical students learn the skills, knowledge, and values of medicine as an occupation is referred to as
A)normative errors.
B)medical norms.
C)medical dominance.
D)professional dominance.
E)professional socialization.
Q2) Doctors' power over their patients increases when
A)patients are physically unable to communicate.
B)doctors work in solo practice.
C)doctors and patients share the same culture.
D)doctors and patients share the same language.
E)doctors belong to the AMA.
Q3) To become a profession, an occupation must
A)set its own education and licensing standards.
B)eliminate all competitors.
C)prove its scientific grounding.
D)have all members take courses in ethics.
E)earn over $60,000 per person.
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Page 13
Chapter 12: Other Mainstream and Alternative Health Care
Providers
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26 Verified Questions
26 Flashcards
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Sample Questions
Q1) Sociologists consider nurses semi-professionals, rather than professionals, because A)nurses have considerable autonomy, status, and training, but remain subordinate to doctors.
B)most nurses have not attended college.
C)the ethic of caring has kept nurses from pushing for professional status.
D)women with high social status no longer typically enter nursing.
E)nursing lacks a code of ethics.
Q2) In the early twentieth century,
A)nursing schools regarded student nurses as a cheap source of labor.
B)student nurses spent long hours in classroom study.
C)trained nurses found it easy to obtain paid employment.
D)most nurses were black women.
E)most nurses were immigrants.
Q3) Compared to modern direct-entry midwives, physicians more often
A)use unnecessary and potentially dangerous drugs and surgeries
B)restrain from using drugs in the delivery process.
C)support the demedicalization of birth.
D)offer home birth services.
E)earn modest incomes.
Page 14
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Chapter 13: Issues in Bioethics
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27 Verified Questions
27 Flashcards
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Sample Questions
Q1) During the 1960s, hospital selection committees
A)typically decided who would receive kidney dialysis based solely on medical criteria.
B)typically decided who would receive kidney dialysis based in part on social criteria.
C)typically decided who would receive kidney dialysis based solely on age.
D)were abolished by most hospitals.
E)were declared legal, but nonetheless fell into disuse.
Q2) "Cosmetic psychopharmacology" refers to
A)the use of drugs to give individuals advantages over others.
B)the continued use of drugs that have been proven ineffective.
C)the use of non-prescription drugs by patients.
D)the use of drugs by individuals disfigured by burns.
E)the use of drugs by the "genetic underclass."
Q3) Is "cosmetic pharmacology" ethical? Does the fact that it is only available to some individuals make it any more or less ethical? Could cosmetic pharmacology eventually increase social inequality?
Q4) Why should sociologists concern themselves with bioethical issues? Why should bioethicists study sociology?
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