Public Policy and Social Issues
Exam Questions
Course Introduction
This course examines the processes by which public policy is formulated, implemented, and evaluated, focusing on its impact on contemporary social issues such as inequality, healthcare, education, poverty, and the environment. Students will explore the roles of governmental and non-governmental actors, analyze key policy debates, and assess the effectiveness of policy responses to pressing societal challenges. Through case studies and comparative analysis, the course fosters a deeper understanding of how social, economic, and political factors influence policy outcomes, equipping students with the analytical tools necessary to critically engage with and contribute to public policy discussions.
Recommended Textbook
Investigating Social Problems 2nd Edition by A. Javier Trevino
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Chapter 1: Sociology and Social Problems
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Q1) If our friends,family,and teachers continually tell us that we are clever,then we are likely to see ourselves as clever.This is an example of what sociological perspective?
A)structural functionalism
B)conflict theory
C)symbolic interactionism
D)feminist theory
Answer: C
Q2) A sociologist wants to study how the views that inner-city youth have of themselves and the larger social world are shaped by their experiences as they go from home to school and back.The best research method to use would be ______.
A)mixed methods
B)surveys
C)quantitative research
D)qualitative research
Answer: A
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Chapter 2: Poverty and Class Inequality
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Q1) Discuss symbolic interactionism as it pertains to poverty and inequality.What are some of the applications of symbolic interactionism to social policy? How does this relate to the policy implications of the general functional perspective?
Answer: Symbolic interactionism evolved from Mead's hypothesis that meanings of social events emerge from the interactions among individuals,who are actors rather than reactors.Individuals learn norms and traditions through the interaction process as well as beliefs and values.As such,culture and collective consciousness are learned through the interaction process.One of the most significant applications of interactionism to poverty and inequality is the culture of poverty thesis proposed by Lewis (1969).This ideology suggests that individuals are poor because not only do they lack resources but also because they hold a unique set of values that make it difficult for them to escape poverty.Also,unlike the general functional perspective,applications of symbolic interactionism to social policy include not only welfare but also programs such as SNAP and Medicaid.Among legislators there are common themes,including personal responsibility,getting something for nothing,out-of-wedlock births,and fraud when discussing public services.There is also the notion that only poor individuals who are deserving should receive assistance and that welfare can create a cycle of dependency.
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Chapter 3: Race and Ethnicity
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Q1) Discuss the myth of the model minority.What minority group does this ideology pertain to? What types of stigma,discrimination,and prejudice do they face,and how is the stress from these incidents managed?
Answer: Many individuals within the United States perceive Asian Americans as the model minority. They are admired and thought to have an abundance of educational and economic success. Many individuals within this minority group face prejudice and discrimination ranging from violent attacks to verbal threats. Many Asian Americans often feel excluded from society or targeted due to their race or ethnicity; there is no gray area. In addition, according to Chou (2008), many Asian Americans are ill-equipped to deal with the stresses that are associated with the discrimination and prejudice that comes along with being a part of the model minority. Many of the individuals tend to suppress their feelings in terms of discrimination and mistreatment. Lastly, Asian Americans are unaware that they share experiences of racial discrimination with other groups such as African Americ
Q2) Women are considered a minority group.
A)True
B)False
Answer: True
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Chapter 4: Gender
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Sample Questions
Q1) In the United States,men are typically taught to be ______,while women are taught to be ______.
A)expressive;instrumental
B)instrumental;expressive
C)feminist;functionalist
D)functionalist;feminist
Q2) Describe the structural functionalist perspective on gender and provide an example to illustrate this perspective.Then discuss one way this perspective influences or could potentially influence social policy.
Q3) In the United States,Black men with a college degree or more on average live ______ White men with the same education.
A)about the same number of years as
B)10 years less than
C)4 years less than
D)2 years more than
Q4) Discuss the queer theory as a hybrid perspective on gender.What are the three basic characteristics of the queer theory? What are some of the solutions proposed by queer theorists?
Q5) What does it mean to say that gender is socially constructed?
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Chapter 5: Sexuality
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Q1) The theoretical framework that concentrates on relationships and the meanings we attach to those relationships is ______.
A)symbolic interactionism
B)conflict theory
C)structural functionalism
D)integrative theory
Q2) According to the 2012 General Social Survey,______ of U.S.adults agreed that premarital sex is wrong.
A)5.3%
B)13.9%
C)26.2%
D)43.9%
Q3) Among those who are at the highest risk for sexual violence are young women between the ages of ______.
A)13 and 34
B)14 and 41
C)12 and 30
D)13 and 45
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Chapter 6: Aging
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Q1) In Japan,about ______of the population is currently 65 or older.
A)10%
B)26%
C)40%
D)55%
Q2) ______ is the number of children under 16 and older persons 65+ for every 100 people aged 16-64.
A)Aging
B)Sex ratio
C)Life expectancy
D)Total dependency ratio
Q3) ______ is defined as the number of men per 100 women.
A)Gender dependency ratio
B)Sex ratio
C)Life expectancy
D)Fertility rate
Q4) Continuity theory builds on disengagement theory.
A)True
B)False
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Chapter 7: Education
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Q1) ______ is a system in which talent and hard work are expected to determine the allocation of individuals to positions.
A)Meritocracy
B)Plutocracy
C)Democracy
D)Aristocracy
Q2) Research suggests that there are many benefits of attending ______ schools,including greater interest in school activities,higher achievement levels,and more social equality.
A)charter
B)middle-class
C)small
D)Montessori
Q3) Discuss the general approach and assumptions a conflict theorist may take when studying the educational system.Then explain Randall Collins's theory of credentialism.How does this theory illustrate the conflict perspective?
Q4) According to Raymond Rist (1977),how do teacher expectations affect student performance? Describe an educational policy (real or imaginary)that has or could result from this research.
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Chapter 8: Media
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Q1) In the 1930s,one of the earliest social science research efforts to study the relations between media and social problems was the Payne Fund Studies.Briefly explain the purpose of the study,and how it affected media and social problems.
Q2) A culturally resonant theme ______.
A)encompasses widely held beliefs,values,and preferences that are familiar to potential audiences
B)is the result of how the media portrays social problems
C)focuses on advancing a new interpretation of an issue
D)focuses attention on important issues
Q3) Research on the media portrayal of domestic violence finds that news stories primarily focus on the victims.
A)True
B)False
Q4) Which of the following is characteristically invoked in a culturally resonant theme?
A)widely held beliefs
B)sponsors' perspectives
C)divisive rhetoric
D)claims makers' interpretations
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Chapter 9: Family
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Q1) ______ refers to the supply of potential marriageable partners.
A)Pool of eligibles
B)Marriage dearth
C)Marriage squeeze
D)Marriage gradient
Q2) The older a woman is,the less likely she is to find a potential husband.
A)True
B)False
Q3) According to the U.S.Census Bureau,what is the definition of a family?
A)a parent and at least one child
B)a group consisting of a parent-child relationship and other living relatives
C)a living arrangement in which a married couple sets up residence separate from either spouse's family
D)two or more people who are related to each other by birth,marriage,or adoption who share living quarters
Q4) The Clothesline Project was started in 1990 to bear "witness to violence against women." Briefly explain how the project operates and name its place of origin.
Q5) What is a marriage squeeze? What are four factors that contribute to a marriage squeeze?
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Chapter 10: Work and the Economy
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Q1) Which of the following was rated the most important factor contributing to job satisfaction?
A)wages,salaries,and benefits
B)job security
C)interactions with supervisors
D)respectful treatment of all employees at all levels
Q2) At the end of 2016,88.6% of men between the ages of 25 and 54 were in the labor force.
A)True
B)False
Q3) ______ means that in most states,unless there is a specific agreement or a case of discrimination involved,an employee can be summarily fired for any reason or for no reason at all.
A)The whistle blowing doctrine
B)Employment at will
C)De facto employment
D)The tenure requirement
Q4) How have union membership rates in the United States changed over the past two decades? What are three primary benefits of union membership for workers?
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Chapter 11: Crime
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Q1) How many states have adopted some form of hate crime legislation,making it a crime to victimize a person simply because of his or her identity or beliefs?
A)50
B)46
C)45
D)31
Q2) ______allows a convicted individual to stay in the community under certain conditions such as supervision,counseling,maintaining a drug-free status,and a clean record.
A)Probation
B)General deterrence
C)Recidivism
D)Incapacitation
Q3) Murder,rape,and robbery would be considered ______ crimes by the FBI.
A)violent
B)property
C)regulatory
D)egregious
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Chapter 12: Drugs
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Q1) Since the onset of the AIDS epidemic,injection drug users (IDU)have accounted for about ______ of HIV infections in the United States.
A)10%
B)30%
C)50%
D)70%
Q2) Young women and young men are equally likely to report ever having used drugs.
A)True
B)False
Q3) Explain social disorganization theory and how it affects the social environment.
Q4) In the United States,women are more likely to die from binge drinking than men.
A)True
B)False
Q5) ______ states that rehabilitation is rooted in reconditioning in an environment in which abstinence is valued and encouraged by others.
A)Social disorganization theory
B)Social learning theory
C)Self-control theory
D)General strain theory
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Chapter 13: Health
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Q1) Countries with relatively minor differences between their richest and poorest are the healthiest.
A)True
B)False
Q2) Men in unskilled manual labor are ______ times more likely to die prematurely than men working in professions.
A)5
B)10
C)15
D)20
Q3) Before the passage of the Patient Protection and Affordable Care Act,______ million people in the United States did not have any form of health insurance.
A)14
B)24
C)44
D)94
Q4) Discuss the relationship between gender and diagnosis of illness.Describe three factors that help explain differences in diagnosis rates between men and women.
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Chapter 14: The Environment
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Q1) Frame analysis focuses on the meanings people give to elements in the environment.
A)True
B)False
Q2) ______ is the assumption that environmental problems have an objective,scientific grounding.
A)Cognitive dissonance
B)Realism
C)Risk aversion
D)Greenwashing
Q3) Ecological modernization is most closely associated with the ______ perspective.
A)conflict
B)structural functionalist
C)symbolic interactions
D)feminist
Q4) Overall weather trends across the globe point to ______.
A)a cooling climate
B)large ice caps
C)more snow pack
D)higher sea levels
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Chapter 15: Science and Technology
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Q1) Women are more likely to be hackers than men.
A)True
B)False
Q2) More than 75% of hacking worldwide is done by American men over the age of 30.
A)True
B)False
Q3) ______ are local varieties of seeds that have been domesticated by communities over time and have adapted to local cultural and environmental needs.
A)Landraces
B)Glocalized species
C)Superspecies
D)Naturally modified organisms
Q4) ______ multiplies the benefit for those who have resources and limits the capacity of those without.
A)Human capital
B)Cumulative advantage
C)Structural functionalism
D)Status reproduction
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Chapter 16: War and Terrorism
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Q1) ______ occurs when a government provides materiel support,weapons,and training to subnational units in another country so they can attack governments or civilians in that country.
A)State-sponsored terrorism
B)Repressive state terrorism
C)The terrorist industrial conflict
D)Routinized militarism
Q2) ______ is defined as "violence perpetrated for political reasons by subnational groups or secret state agents,often directed at noncombatant targets,and usually intended to influence an audience."
A)War
B)Militarism
C)Terrorism
D)Nationalism
Q3) About ______% of people who died in World War I were noncombatants.
A)1
B)10
C)21
D)35
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Chapter 17: Urbanization
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Q1) All of the following theories of urban development are associated with structural functionalism EXCEPT ______.
A)multiple nuclei theory
B)the sector model
C)the concentric-zone model
D)redevelopment theory
Q2) One of the major problems with the Chicago School's ethnographic and ecological studies is their lack of attention to culture as a productive force.
A)True
B)False
Q3) Discuss Ferdinand Tönnies's concepts of a gemeinschaft and gesellschaft.Define each concept and discuss how relationships are formed and social order is maintained in each type of social arrangement.
Q4) The concept of sustainability has taken a central place in most recent discussions of development,industry,and urban planning.It has its roots in a 1987 report by the United Nations World Commission on Environment and Development titled Our Common Future.Briefly explain the purpose of the document,commonly known as the Brundtland Report,and the goal of the commission.
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