Introduction to Sociology Pre-Test Questions
Course Introduction
Introduction to Sociology offers students an exploration of the patterns and structures that shape human society. The course covers foundational concepts, such as culture, socialization, institutions, and stratification. Students will examine how individual behavior is influenced by social forces, gain insights into diversity and inequality, and analyze the changing dynamics of groups, organizations, and communities. Through theoretical frameworks and contemporary examples, the course encourages critical thinking about social issues at the local and global levels.
Recommended Textbook
Sociology 13th Edition by John J. Macionis
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Chapter 1: The Sociological Perspective
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Sample Questions
Q1) Durkheim documented that categories of people with weaker social ties have lower suicide rates.
A)True
B)False
Answer: False
Q2) In deciding what kinds of questions to ask in their research, sociologists are guided by:
A) one or more theoretical approaches.
B) their own common sense.
C) our society's traditional wisdom.
D) sheer chance.
Answer: A
Q3) The goal of the structural-functional approach is not simply to understand how society operates but to reduce social inequality.
A)True
B)False
Answer: False
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Chapter 2: Sociological Investigation
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Sample Questions
Q1) The sociologist who called on his colleagues to be "value-free" was:
A) Karl Marx.
B) Emile Durkheim.
C) Herbert Spencer.
D) Max Weber.
Answer: D
Q2) The sociologist recognizes that there are various kinds of "truth."
A)True
B)False
Answer: True
Q3) You are doing research and you never stop to think about the possible importance of gender at all. Your work could be criticized for the problem called:
A) androcentricity.
B) overgeneralization.
C) gender blindness.
D) employing double standards.
Answer: C
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Page 4
Chapter 3: Culture
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Sample Questions
Q1) Cultural lag refers to the fact that some cultural elements change more quickly than others do.
A)True
B)False
Answer: True
Q2) The United States is multicultural because:
A) everyone holds the same values and beliefs.
B) each individual holds many different and conflicting values and beliefs.
C) there are many widely shared values and beliefs.
D) in this country many different languages and ways of life can be found.
Answer: D
Q3) Which of the following statements represent an emerging value in our society?
A) "What was good enough for my parents is good enough for me."
B) "The present is better than the past."
C) "Work is important, but I want more time for leisure and personal growth."
D) "It's good to be free."
Answer: C
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Chapter 4: Society
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Sample Questions
Q1) Weber traced the origins of the capitalist economy in Europe to:
A) colonialism.
B) feudal monarchy.
C) the Protestant Reformation.
D) technological innovation.
Q2) Which of the following is True of hunting and gathering societies?
A) Population is small they are nomadic.
B) Population is large they live in villages.
C) Population is small they raise crops and animals.
D) Population is large most people are farmers.
Q3) When Weber used the concept "rationality," he had in mind:
A) a concern with what's good for the entire community.
B) a respect for tradition.
C) deliberate, matter-of-fact calculation of the most efficient way to accomplish any task.
D) limiting the extent of class conflict.
Q4) Marx thought capitalism would bring class conflict more out in the open.
A)True
B)False
Q5) What is "mechanical solidarity"? How does it differ from "organic solidarity"?
Page 6
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Chapter 5: Socialization
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Sample Questions
Q1) Applying Freud's thinking to a sociological analysis of personality development, you would conclude that:
A) human behavior is basically random.
B) humans have basic, self-centered drives that must be controlled by learning the ways of society.
C) societies encourage people to become self-centered.
D) humans can never become cultural creatures.
Q2) Why are the cases of Anna, Isabelle, and Genie important to social scientists?
Q3) When Cooley used the concept "looking-glass self," he meant to say 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.
Q4) The focus of Lawrence Kohlberg's research was:
A) cognition.
B) the importance of gender in socialization.
C) moral reasoning.
D) All of the above are correct.
Q5) What differences did Carol Gilligan find in how males and females make moral judgments?
Page 7
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Chapter 6: Social Interaction in Everyday Life
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Sample Questions
Q1) Comedians can travel all over the world, because humor "travels well."
A)True
B)False
Q2) Nonverbal communication refers to:
A) body movements, gestures, and facial expressions.
B) instant messaging and other e-communication.
C) written language.
D) beliefs assumed to be True by everyone.
Q3) Which of the following concepts defines who and what we are in relation to others?
A) role
B) status
C) role set
D) presentation of self
Q4) Based on research around the world, Paul Ekman concludes that people everywhere have how many basic emotions?
A) six
B) three
C) one
D) None of the above is correct emotions vary from culture to culture.
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Chapter 7: Groups and Organizations
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Sample Questions
Q1) Stanley Milgram's research, in which subjects used a "shock generator," showed:
A) people become angry when others disagree with them.
B) the ability to withstand pain varies with cultural background.
C) people are surprisingly likely to follow the orders of not only real authority figures but also groups of ordinary individuals.
D) that ordinary people are surprisingly independent in their judgments.
Q2) The scientific management approach was developed by:
A) Frederick Taylor.
B) Robert Merton.
C) Robert Michels.
D) Rosabeth Moss Kanter.
Q3) Which type of leader encourages everyone in a group to have a say in what happens?
A) authoritarian leader
B) democratic leader
C) laissez-faire leader
D) expressive leader
Q4) Discuss the "McDonaldization of society" thesis. What, exactly, does this phrase mean? How might this thesis, assuming it is correct, affect your own life in college and after?
Page 9
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Chapter 8: Sexuality and Society
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Sample Questions
Q1) Assume you are investigating the consequences of the incest taboo for kinship organization in a number of societies. Which theoretical approach are you using?
A) the structural-functional approach
B) the symbolic-interaction approach
C) the social-conflict approach
D) queer theory
Q2) The more global our view of sexuality:
A) the more variety we see in the meanings people attach to sexuality.
B) the greater the evidence that biology defines sexuality.
C) the clearer we see that sexual practices are mostly the same all around the world.
D) All of the above are correct.
Q3) While the sexual revolution increased sexual activity overall, it changed behavior among men more than among women.
A)True
B)False
Q4) Distinguish between primary sex characteristics and secondary sex characteristics.
Q5) What are the traits of the campus culture of "hooking up"?
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Chapter 9: Deviance
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Sample Questions
Q1) Describe the labeling theory of deviance. What basic insight about deviance is offered by this approach? How does labeling figure into the difference between primary deviance and secondary deviance? What is the importance of stigma in labeling analysis?
Q2) In legal terms, a crime is composed of which two components?
A) the act and criminal intent
B) a criminal and a victim
C) the act and the social harm
D) the law and the violation
Q3) Read the following four statements about the social foundations of deviance. Select the one statement that is False.
A) Deviance exists only in relation to cultural norms.
B) There are many acts that are always and everywhere deviant.
C) People become deviant as others define them that way.
D) What the norms are and how people apply them involve social power.
Q4) A hate crime is defined as:
A) any crime against a person who is a minority.
B) any crime involving anger or other powerful emotion.
C) a criminal act motivated by race or other bias.
D) any violation of antidiscrimination laws.
Page 11
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Chapter 10: Social Stratification
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Sample Questions
Q1) Comparing societies in history and around the world, we see that social stratification may involve differences in:
A) what is unequal.
B) how unequal people are.
C) why people are unequal.
D) All of the above are correct.
Q2) In general, societies that have caste systems have economies that are:
A) based on hunting and gathering.
B) industrial.
C) agrarian.
D) postindustrial.
Q3) The Davis-Moore thesis states that social stratification has beneficial consequences for society.
A)True
B)False
Q4) Social stratification is a concept that refers to:
A) specialization in productive work.
B) ranking categories of people in a hierarchy.
C) the idea that some people are more talented than others.
D) All of the above are correct.
Page 12
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Chapter 11: Social Class in the United States
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Sample Questions
Q1) Being in the upper-upper class is usually the result of _____ being in the lower-upper class is more a matter of _____.
A) birth achievement
B) business success birth
C) gender birth
D) high-income low-income
Q2) In the United States, which age category has the highest poverty rate?
A) children
B) people in their twenties
C) middle-aged persons about forty years of age
D) seniors over age sixty-five
Q3) Give three examples each of blue-collar jobs and white-collar jobs.
Q4) How has the expansion of the global economy affected class structure in the United States?
Q5) Point to evidence that helps you assess whether or not the responsibility for poverty lies with the poor or with society as a whole.
Q6) About 40 percent of U.S. families have little or no wealth.
A)True
B)False
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Chapter 12: Global Stratification
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Sample Questions
Q1) According to Immanuel Wallerstein's theory of global capitalism, which nations are at the "core" of the world economy?
A) high-income nations
B) middle-income nations
C) low-income nations
D) All nations form the "core."
Q2) In an essay, describe the differences that distinguish high-income nations, middle-income nations, and low-income nations. Consider population size, land area, typical patterns of work, urban and rural residence, gender equality, and the extent of poverty.
Q3) Although poverty continues, the world has ended the practice of slavery.
A)True
B)False
Q4) Global inequality is partly a problem of technology, and it is also a political issue.
A)True
B)False
Q5) How does neocolonialism differ from colonialism?
Q6) What are the four stages of W. W. Rostow's modernization theory? Explain each stage.
Page 14
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Chapter 13: Gender Stratification
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Q1) Which type of feminism accepts the basic organization of U.S. society, but seeks to give women the same rights and opportunities as men?
A) liberal feminism
B) socialist feminism
C) radical feminism
D) All of the above are correct.
Q2) Sexual harassment is an important social issue because:
A) it actually targets men more often than women.
B) half of working women report receiving unwanted sexual attention.
C) it almost always involves blatant threats.
D) All of the above are correct.
Q3) Margaret Mead's research on gender in three societies in New Guinea illustrates that:
A) all societies define masculinity in much the same way.
B) all societies define femininity in much the same way.
C) some societies recognize gender differences some do not.
D) what is feminine to one society may be masculine to another.
Q4) Minority women are more economically disadvantaged than white women.
A)True
B)False
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Chapter 14: Race and Ethnicity
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Sample Questions
Q1) From which areas of the world are most of today's immigrants arriving? How is this different from the pattern a century ago?
Q2) Prejudice and discrimination can be either positive or negative.
A)True
B)False
Q3) Half of the states in the United States now have a "minority majority."
A)True
B)False
Q4) Scientific research shows that there are three biologically pure races.
A)True
B)False
Q5) Typically, people who live in _____ perceive fewer racial categories than people who live in _____.
A) the United States Brazil
B) Brazil the United States
C) the Northeast the Midwest
D) the West the Northeast
Q6) When did slavery begin in the United States? When was it outlawed?
Q7) What is racism? Provide examples of racism in history.
Q8) What is the "trend toward mixture" in terms of race in the United States?
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Chapter 15: Aging and the Elderly
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Q1) In general, industrialization has what effect on the social standing of the elderly relative to younger people?
A) It reduces the social standing of seniors.
B) There is little or no effect.
C) It raises the social standing of seniors.
D) It raises the social standing of older men but reduces it for women.
Q2) Disengagement theory is guided by which theoretical approach?
A) the social-conflict approach
B) the structural-functional approach
C) the symbolic-interaction approach
D) the sociobiology approach
Q3) Euthanasia refers to providing comfort and care to a person who has a terminal illness.
A)True
B)False
Q4) Age stratification is found in which of the following types of societies?
A) hunting and gathering
B) horticultural and pastoral
C) industrial
D) All of the above are correct.
Page 17
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Chapter 16: The Economy and Work
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Q1) Over the course of human history, changes in which of the following have brought the greatest changes to the economy?
A) productive technology
B) the family
C) population size
D) natural resources
Q2) Which of the following statements about the Information Revolution is NOT correct?
A) There was a shift from making tangible products to generating ideas.
B) There was a shift from mechanical skills to literacy skills.
C) There was a shift from farming to turning raw materials into products.
D) There was a shift from working in factories to working almost anywhere.
Q3) Over the course of the last century, the number of people involved in agricultural work:
A) has remained about the same.
B) has declined steadily.
C) has increased dramatically.
D) has stayed the same, although a larger share of workers are immigrants.
Q4) What is a profession? What are four characteristics of professional work?
Q5) What is the underground economy?
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Chapter 17: Politics and Government
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Q1) In a totalitarian political system, one political organization claims total control of society.
A)True
B)False
Q2) Which of the following concepts refers to a political system in which a single family rules from generation to generation?
A) democracy
B) monarchy
C) totalitarianism
D) aristocracy
Q3) Preindustrial societies, explained Max Weber, are characterized by having:
A) mostly traditional authority.
B) mostly rational-legal authority.
C) mostly charismatic authority.
D) no authority at all.
Q4) Political revolutions tend to occur when and where living standards are the lowest.
A)True
B)False
Q5) What is terrorism? What is state terrorism?
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Chapter 18: Families
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Q1) Bilateral descent is found in societies that have a relatively high level of gender equality.
A)True
B)False
Q2) Typically, high-income societies make use of which of the following systems to trace ancestry?
A) bilateral descent
B) matrilineal descent
C) patrilineal descent
D) None of the above is correct.
Q3) To which region of the world would you travel if you wanted to visit many countries where the law permits polygamy?
A) both Africa and Asia
B) North America
C) South America
D) Scandinavia
Q4) Provide a distinctive trait or pattern about each of the following: American Indian families, Latino families, African American families, and Asian American families.
Q5) What does social-exchange analysis have to say about the process of courtship?
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Chapter 19: Religion
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Q1) Ritual refers to activity in which the sacred is embodied into ceremonial behavior.
A)True
B)False
Q2) Confucianism is closely linked to the culture of the Middle East.
A)True
B)False
Q3) Ritual is a matter of:
A) formal, ceremonial behavior.
B) who people socialize with.
C) beliefs about truth.
D) All of the above are correct.
Q4) The concept "karma" refers to:
A) the Christian belief in salvation.
B) the Hindu belief in the progress of the human soul.
C) the Muslim desire to do God's will.
D) the first five books of the Jewish Bible.
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 20: Education
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Sample Questions
Q1) Schooling in the United States has always favored theoretical learning over practical learning.
A)True
B)False
Q2) About half of U.S. adults are now college graduates.
A)True
B)False
Q3) Historically, the poorest people in every society have been the most likely to go to school, so that they could learn what they needed to know to earn a living.
A)True
B)False
Q4) In the world as a whole, about what share of children reach the secondary grades in school?
A) almost all
B) two-thirds
C) half
D) one-fourth
Q5) What is the "savage inequality" in U.S. schools Jonathan Kozol speaks of?
Q6) What percentage of U.S. adults are high school graduates? College graduates?
Page 22
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Chapter 21: Health and Medicine
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Sample Questions
Q1) After the Industrial Revolution, there was an increase in the share of deaths caused by which of the following types of diseases?
A) infectious diseases such as influenza and pneumonia
B) chronic diseases such as heart disease and cancer
C) Both (a) and (b) are correct.
D) Neither (a) nor (b) is correct.
Q2) In the United States, the infant mortality rate among low-income children is about the same as the rate for the children of the wealthy.
A)True
B)False
Q3) From a sociological point of view, health may be a matter of having the same diseases as one's neighbors.
A)True
B)False
Q4) What is socialized medicine? How does it differ from a direct-fee medical care system?
Q5) How does holistic medicine differ from scientific medicine?
Q6) Why do many people consider cigarette smoking a major health problem in the United States?
Page 23
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Chapter 22: Population, Urbanization, and Environment
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Q1) The Industrial Revolution influenced urbanization in many ways, including where cities were sited. If you were to look back in history, you would find that almost every U.S. city was founded:
A) in the West.
B) on an island.
C) on a waterway.
D) in a valley.
Q2) What three urban revolutions have reshaped human societies?
Q3) In 2007, the world is home to about how many people?
A) 6.7 billion
B) 3.6 billion
C) 1.6 billion
D) 160 million
Q4) Thomas Robert Malthus expected population to increase according to an arithmetic progression.
A)True
B)False
Q5) State the basic idea of the "limits to growth" thesis.
Q6) How do population patterns differ in the Northern and Southern Hemispheres?
Q7) Examine the two age-sex pyramids on
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Chapter 23: Collective Behavior and Social Movements
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Q1) A collectivity involves a large number of people:
A) with minimal interaction and few well-defined norms.
B) who know each other well.
C) who interact in a formal setting such as a college classroom.
D) who are members of a well-defined social group.
Q2) Genocide-the systematic killing of many people-is an example of an "intentional disaster."
A)True
B)False
Q3) Which of the following is a good example of a crowd?
A) many people walking on a city street who stop to observe an auto accident
B) many people who are graduates of the same college
C) a few people who gather at a city park every Saturday to play tennis
D) a few people who live in the same college dorm
Q4) Provide a one-sentence statement of the emergent-norm theory of crowd behavior.
Q5) Unlike a mob action, a riot usually has a clear goal.
A)True
B)False
Q6) What are three reasons that collective behavior is difficult to study?
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Q7) Provide a one-sentence statement of the contagion theory of crowd behavior.
Chapter 24: Social Change: Traditional, Modern, and
Postmodern Societies
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Q1) Social change is almost always:
A) controversial.
B) planned.
C) good for everyone in a society.
D) All of the above are correct.
Q2) People in the United States are inclined to speak of social change as "progress." In this essay, critically assess that contention. As evidence, consider some of the changes mentioned in the box on
Q3) The theory of postmodernity claims that, in important respects, modernity has failed to live up to its promise.
A)True
B)False
Q4) If you were following the class-society approach, which factor would you focus on as shaping modern society the most?
A) rationality
B) interdependency
C) capitalism
D) anomie
Q5) What are Peter Berger's four major characteristics of modernization?
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