Introduction to Medical Sociology Study Guide Questions
Course Introduction
Introduction to Medical Sociology explores the complex relationships between society, health, and healthcare systems. This course examines how social factors such as class, race, gender, and cultural beliefs influence health outcomes, illness behaviors, and access to medical care. Students will analyze patterns of disease distribution across populations, investigate the roles of healthcare professionals, and evaluate how social institutions and policies shape the delivery and experience of healthcare. Through critical reflection and case studies, learners gain an understanding of the social determinants of health and the importance of sociological perspectives in addressing contemporary health issues.
Recommended Textbook
The Sociology of Health Healing and Illness 7th Edition by Gregory L. Weiss
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13 Chapters
357 Verified Questions
357 Flashcards
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Chapter 1: The Sociology of Health,Illness, and Health Care
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21 Verified Questions
21 Flashcards
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Sample Questions
Q1) Those who frame their research questions in terms of public issues,rather than personal troubles,can be said to use
A) the sociological perspective.
B) functionalist theory.
C) psychoanalysis.
D) a public health perspective.
E) radical theory.
Answer: A
Q2) 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
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3
Chapter 2: The Social Sources of Illness
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29 Flashcards
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Sample Questions
Q1) Which of the following is true?
A) Nicotine is an addictive drug.
B) Tobacco use contributes to infant mortality.
C) Living or working around tobacco smokers increases risks of mortality and morbidity.
D) all of the above
E) a and b only
Answer: D
Q2) John McKinlay would refer to advertising companies that work for tobacco producers as
A) primary producers.
B) secondary producers.
C) primary practitioners.
D) manufacturers of illness.
E) "downstream" problems.
Answer: D
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Chapter 3: The Social Distribution of Illness in the United States
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24 Verified Questions
24 Flashcards
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Sample Questions
Q1) Paying for health care for the elderly will likely become more difficult in coming years because of
A) declining rates of infant mortality.
B) social class differences between whites and African Americans.
C) the Hispanic paradox.
D) the feminization of aging.
E) internal colonization.
Answer: D
Q2) 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
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Chapter 4: Illness and Death in the 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 special health problems along the US-Mexico border in part reflect the impact of A) social drift.
B) globalization.
C) medicalization.
D) the technological imperative.
E) leprosy.
Q3) Why should war and disasters be considered public health issues?
Q4) The primary cause of low life expectancy in the less developed nations is A) dictatorship.
B) poverty.
C) religious warfare.
D) genetic defects.
E) air pollution.
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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) Most individuals assume that illness is an objective,biological category.Your textbook,on the other hand,argues that illness is a moral category and a social construction.Argue for or against this position.Be sure to address the issues likely to be raised by those holding the opposite view.
Q2) Which of the following can be important supporters of medicalization?
A) doctors
B) lay groups
C) pharmaceutical companies
D) all of the above
E) none of the above
Q3) 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.
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Page 7
Chapter 6: The Experience of Disability, Chronic Pain, and Chronic Illness
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28 Verified Questions
28 Flashcards
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Sample Questions
Q1) Which of the following statements is true?
A) Chronic pain is an illness in its own right, not just a symptom.
B) Chronically ill persons sometimes attempt in their minds to separate their selves from their bodies.
C) Chronic illness always leads to decreased self-esteem.
D) Prejudice against disabled persons has largely disappeared.
E) Discrimination against disabled persons has largely disappeared.
Q2) Someone who wins wheelchair marathons to prove he is no different from others despite his disability is A) passing.
B) engaging in deviance disavowal.
C) challenging stigma.
D) engaging in illness behavior.
E) engaging in sick role behavior.
Q3) How does the social construction of illness-both specific illnesses and illness in general-affect the lives of persons who have chronic illnesses?
Q4) In part,an individual's experience of disability and illness reflects their social identity.What do studies tell us about how women's and men's experiences of disability differ?
Page 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) 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.
Q2) Which of the following played a main role in deinstitutionalization?
A) the development of new psychoactive drugs for treating mental illness
B) public horror at the maltreatment of mentally ill persons
C) financial changes in insurance and in federal funding
D) the overcrowding of state mental hospitals
E) the feminization of aging
Q3) Critique the medical model of mental illness,using evidence from the textbook.
Q4) Explain the link between stress and mental illness,and then use that explanation to explain class,gender,and race differences in mental illness.
Q5) How are residential colleges similar to and different from total institutions?
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Chapter 8: Health Care in the United States
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30 Verified Questions
30 Flashcards
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Sample Questions
Q1) Prices for prescription drugs have soared because of A) increased use of direct to consumer marketing.
B) increased marketing of "me too" drugs.
C) changes in US patent laws.
D) all of the above
E) a and b only
Q2) What factors account for the rise of managed care? What are the potential pitfalls and benefits of managed care?
Q3) Blue Cross and Blue Shield were founded to protect the financial security of A) hospitals.
B) doctors.
C) American citizens.
D) a and b only
E) all of the above
Q4) Because of the success of commercial insurers,non-profit insurers have A) been forced out of business in many markets.
B) begun to shift to actuarial risk rating.
C) reemphasized their commitment to service.
D) reemphasized their not-for-profit standing.
E) sought out high-risk clients who are willing to pay high premiums.
Page 10
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Chapter 9: Health Care Around the Globe
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Sample Questions
Q1) The health care system in Canada can best be described as A) an entrepreneurial system.
B) a National Health System.
C) National Health Insurance.
D) social insurance.
E) communistic.
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) Compared to US citizens,Canadians have
A) a lower average rate of doctor visits per year.
B) a higher rate of infant mortality.
C) higher out-of-pocket costs for health care.
D) longer waiting times in life-threatening emergencies.
E) none of the above
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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 a result of commodification?
A) keeping nursing home residents strapped to chairs during the day
B) purchasing gourmet foods for nursing home residents
C) requiring nursing home residents to shower daily
D) increased drug use among nursing home staff
E) increased drug use among nursing home administrators
Q2) Paid home health services are
A) most often used by poor persons.
B) generally provided by new doctors.
C) often provided by home health aides.
D) less common than in the past.
E) readily available at low cost.
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.
Q4) Give an example of how medical technology shapes society,and of how society shapes medical technology.
Page 12
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Chapter 11: The Profession of Medicine
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28 Verified Questions
28 Flashcards
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Sample Questions
Q1) A doctor who strongly believes in the core medical values described in your textbook would be most likely to
A) work with Medicare patients.
B) become a primary care doctor.
C) practice in a rural area.
D) become a surgeon.
E) become a dermatologist.
Q2) Graduating medical students
A) can expect a 40-hour work week as residents.
B) can expect an average debt greater than $150,000.
C) must take a course in cultural competency.
D) come primarily from the working class.
E) can expect an average debt of about $25,000.
Q3) During most of the nineteenth century,allopathic doctors typically
A) were highly respected by the general public.
B) based their treatment on scientific data.
C) were far better trained than their competitors.
D) received their education in Europe.
E) received less than one year of training.
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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) Men who enter nursing
A) typically are held back by discrimination.
B) cluster in less prestigious specialties.
C) are overrepresented in emergency room work and underrepresented in pediatrics.
D) tend to have had childhood problems with sexual identity.
E) tend to have problems working under women.
Q2) 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.
Q3) How have attitudes toward women and femininity affected the social position of nursing as an occupation,historically and currently? How do those attitudes shape the experiences of male and female nurses today?
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14
Chapter 13: Issues in Bioethics
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27 Verified Questions
27 Flashcards
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Sample Questions
Q1) Hospital ethics committees
A) now exist at about 10 percent of US hospitals.
B) offered legal protection to doctors who performed abortions before it was legalized.
C) now focus primarily on the ethics of medical research.
D) have essentially replaced the use of individual ethics consultants.
E) now focus primarily on abortion decisions.
Q2) Which of the following statements about stem cell research is true?
A) Supporters argue that it will stem the rise in new cases of cancer.
B) It has increasingly shifted into universities and away from the for-profit sector.
C) Opponents equate harvesting stem cells to killing humans.
D) It has already produced effective treatments for several diseases.
E) none of the above
Q3) The Nuremberg Code
A) is a set of principles adopted by Nazi doctors.
B) is a set of principles regarding the ethics of human experimentation.
C) was used by the Nazis to hide news of their actions from other Germans.
D) was the first effort to break the DNA code.
E) was developed during the 1920s.
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