Social Theory Practice Exam
Course Introduction
Social Theory explores the foundational ideas and frameworks that have shaped the study of society, culture, and human interaction. The course introduces students to key theoretical approaches, including classical theories from thinkers such as Karl Marx, Max Weber, and Émile Durkheim, as well as contemporary perspectives like feminism, postmodernism, and critical race theory. Through critical readings and discussions, students learn to analyze how social structures, power relations, and cultural norms influence individual behavior and collective outcomes, gaining tools to interpret and critique the social world around them.
Recommended Textbook
Sociology Your Compass for a New World 3rd Edition by Robert J. Brym
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Page 2
Chapter 1: A Sociological Compass
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Q1) Dr.Smith studies the patterns and regularities of social life.Dr.Smith avoids physical,emotional,and psychological causes as explanations of human behavior.Instead he focuses his work on the constraints and opportunities of the organization of the social world.Dr.Smith would be called a(n):
A)historian
B)economist
C)political scientist
D)sociologist
E)journalist
Answer: D
Q2) Define sociology.
Answer: Sociology is the systematic study of human behavior in social context.
Q3) An element in a social system that could damage the system would best be termed a:
A)latent function
B)manifest function
C)incoherent function
D)dysfunction
E)latent manifest function
Answer: D
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Chapter 2: How Sociologists Do Research
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Q1) The well-known sociologist Charles Tilly has studied the patterns and organization of large-scale social movements and social change.His data has been derived from which of the following sources?
A)personal records
B)testimonials
C)existing documents and official statistics
D)all of these choices
E)none of these choices
Answer: C
Q2) If a researcher is interested in the effect of television viewing on behavior and randomly selects research subjects who are male and female to determine the consequences of television viewing,television viewing is the:
A)connected variable
B)independent variable
C)dependent variable
D)spurious association
E)control variable
Answer: B
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Chapter 3: Culture
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Q1) The process by which formerly separate economies,states,and cultures are being tied together is known as:
A)rites of passage
B)globalization
C)industrialization
D)multiculturalism
E)diversification
Answer: B
Q2) Over time,most cultures have tended to become more heterogeneous.
A)True
B)False
Answer: True
Q3) The change in how father figures are depicted on television demonstrates which characteristic of postmodernism?
A)an eclectic mixing of elements from different times and places
B)the erosion of authority
C)the decline of consensus around core values
D)increasing use of non-functional architecture
E)all of these choices
Answer: B
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Chapter 4: Socialization
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Q1) The movie Monster demonstrates that childhood socialization is above all a ____ process.
A)normal
B)social
C)powerful
D)painful
E)developmental
Q2) The individual's conscious experience of a distinct,personal identity that is separate and meaningful from all other people is called a person's:
A)socialized other
B)personality
C)identity
D)self
E)other
Q3) Compare and contrast Freud,Mead,and Piaget on the development of the self.
Q4) Explain how virtual communities influence the creation of a flexible self.
Q5) What is resocialization?
Q6) According to Freud,what is the unconscious?
Q7) What are the stages of development according to George Herbert Mead?
Q8) What is the "me" according to Mead?
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Chapter 5: Social Interaction
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Q1) What is role conflict?
Q2) What are status cues?
Q3) According to the textbook,the most fundamental sociological question that can be asked is:
A)Why do people use the same language?
B)Why do people change?
C)How do people understand each other?
D)Why do people believe in authority?
E)Why do people maintain stable patterns of interaction?
Q4) Which type of interaction can NOT be explained in terms of exchange or rational choice theory?
A)altruism
B)heroic acts
C)a conversation between individuals competing for attention
D)All of the above.
E)a and b
Q5) According to Jack Haas and William Shaffir,how do medical students engage in impression management?
Q6) What is emotional work?
Q7) Define stereotypes.
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Chapter 6: Social Collectivities: Groups to Societies
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Q1) Explain laissez-faire leadership.
Q2) An example of the usefulness of focusing on concrete social ties rather than abstract attributes comes from the study of how communicable diseases spread.
A)True
B)False
Q3) Several members of a fraternity work for the same company,live in the same city,and get together for leisure activities every weekend.Over them they create strong and meaningful social ties to one another.They remain close friends for the rest of their lives.It could be argued that this group of fraternity brothers are close to being a:
A)social category
B)status collection
C)secondary group
D)primary group
E)coterie
Q4) What are formal organizations?
Q5) What are the best ways to overcome organizational inefficiency?
Q6) What are the advantages and limitations of bureaucracies?
Q7) Define groupthink.
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Chapter 7: Deviance and Crime
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Q1) When people receive severe punishment because they broke a law they receive:
A)informal punishment
B)formal punishment
C)stigmatization
D)social sanctions
E)a slap on the wrist
Q2) About ____ people are incarcerated in state and federal prisons and local jails in the United States.
A)one million
B)two million
C)three million
D)four million
E)none of these choices
Q3) If a gang member says that a crime victim "had it coming to him," the gang member is using a (n):
A)technique of rationalization
B)subcultural adaptation
C)innovation
D)social bond
E)all of these choices
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Chapter 8: Stratification: United States and Global Perspectives
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Q1) What reasons make class analysis so important to the study of stratification and sociology?
Q2) In Weber's view,the possession of goods,opportunities for income,level of education,and degree of technical skill comprise one's:
A)ownership of the "means of production"
B)ownership of land
C)parties
D)market situation
E)status groups
Q3) The trend most responsible for the gap between the rich and poor increasing for the past fifty years is:
A)the rise in high technology jobs
B)the increase in connectivity
C)the creation of the Internet
D)the increase in middle level management jobs
E)declining inflation
Q4) Compare and contrast Marx,Weber,and Davis and Moore on how they view social stratification.
Q5) Explain the concept of socioeconomic status.
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Chapter 9: Globalization, Inequality, and Development
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Q1) What is McDonaldization?
Q2) Those who see globalization merely as homogenization also ignore the ____ of the world,the division of the world into different and often competing economic,political and cultural areas.
A)colonialization
B)modernization
C)liberalization
D)regionalization
E)peripheralization
Q3) Imperialism refers to the control of developing societies by more developed,powerful societies.
A)True
B)False
Q4) The governments of the former colonies had to borrow money in order to:
A)create education systems
B)create transportation infrastructures
C)provide safe water
D)deliver health care to their people
E)all of these choices
Q5) What are core capitalist countries?
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Chapter 10: Race and Ethnicity
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Q1) The 1965 Hart-Cellar Act removed the sharp restrictions on immigration from:
A)Asia
B)Africa
C)Latin America
D)Central America
E)all of these choices
Q2) Over time,two competing ethnic groups may establish an understanding of what they should segregate,divide,and share.In ecological theory,this stage is known as:
A)resistance
B)invasion
C)competition
D)accommodation
E)assimilation
Q3) What is assimilation?
Q4) Define hate crimes.
Q5) Most sociologists stress how social-structural conditions,rather than values,determine the economic success or failure of ethnic groups.
A)True
B)False
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Chapter 11: Sexuality and Gender
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Q1) Sociologists are less interested in the origins of homosexuality than in the way:
A)it is believed to be right
B)it is understood by the religious right
C)psychologists understand homosexuality
D)it is socially constructed
E)none of these choices
Q2) For a social constructionist,gender is "constructed" by what two features of social life?
A)social structure and culture
B)social deviance and social conformity
C)functional and dysfunction
D)sex and gender
E)conflict and cooperation
Q3) Your sex depends upon whether you born with distinct male or female genitals and a genetic program that released either male or female hormones.
A)True
B)False
Q4) What is the sociological explanation for rape? What can be done to combat rape?
Q5) What do we learn about gender socialization by analyzing Barbie dolls?
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Chapter 12: Sociology of the Body: Disability, Aging, and Death
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Q1) When someone tells you to "start acting your age!" they are encouraging you to follow a (n):
A)age role
B)generation
C)age cohort
D)life stage
E)life course
Q2) Explain why the population of the United States is aging rapidly and discuss some of the problems resulting from this situation.
Q3) All cultures attach the same significance to life-course events.
A)True
B)False
Q4) Many members of the deaf community:
A)have a common language and culture
B)marry other deaf people
C)remain deaf even if medical treatment can cure them
D)all of these choices
E)none of these choices
Page 14
Q5) How do the Farrelly bothers make us see the normality of disability in their films?
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Chapter 13: Work and the Economy
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Q1) Which of the following is one of the main insights of economic sociology?
A)the structure of markets varies widely across different cultures
B)the structure of markets varies widely across different corporations
C)the structure of markets are based on the interests of the population
D)the structure of markets are based entirely on the decisions of economic elites
E)markets are fictions
Q2) ____ analyzes the movements of workers as they do jobs so that unnecessary or repetitive actions can be eliminated to increase efficiency.
A)deskilling
B)reskilling
C)retooling
D)scientific management
E)unscientific management
Q3) How would a sociologist address the question of whether free or regulated markets are better for society?
Q4) Define capitalism.
Q5) How would a sociologist approach the issue of the minimum wage?
Q6) What is an oligopoly?
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Chapter 14: Politics
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Q1) When extraordinary individuals challenge authority because they claim to be inspired by a God or some higher principle that transcends authority,they are claiming or establishing which type of authority?
A)individual
B)traditional
C)legal-rational
D)charismatic
E)none of these choices
Q2) Which is a social precondition for liberal democracy to be actualized in a country?
A)The enjoyment of considerable economic growth.
B)Favorable external political and military connections.
C)Support from the world centers of democracy.
D)Decrease in economic inequality and the spread of literacy.
E)All of the above.
Q3) According to Mills,members of the three elite groups in American society become a ruling class over time.
A)True
B)False
Q4) What are lobbies?
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Chapter 15: Families
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Q1) Sociological issues raised by reproductive technologies include:
A)discrimination against people who can't afford reproductive technologies
B)discrimination against people who want to use reproductive technologies but are not partners in a conventional marriage
C)vagueness in the rights and responsibilities of the various people involved in the reproductive process (sperm donors,surrogate mothers,caregivers,etc.)
D)all of these choices
E)none of these choices
Q2) In the past,marriage selection was based mainly on calculations intended to do which of the following?
A)maximize prestige
B)economic benefits
C)political advantages
D)all of these choices
E)none of these choices
Q3) The United States divorce rate reached a historic high in 1979 and has declined since then.
A)True
B)False
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Chapter 16: Religion
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Q1) Critics of Durkheim's theory of religion lodge which of the following criticisms?
A)his theory overemphasizes religion's role in maintaining social cohesion.
B)religion often incites social conflict.
C)when religion does increase social cohesion,it often reinforces social inequality.
D)all of these choices
E)none of these choices
Q2) Religious organizations such as Baptists,Methodists,Lutherans,Presbyterians,and Episcopalians are examples of ____.
A)sects
B)ecclesia
C)denominations
D)cults
E)all of these choices
Q3) Like other specialized institutions that broke off from the institution of religion,the education system is largely concerned with worldly affairs rather than spiritual matters.
A)True
B)False
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Chapter 17: Education
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Q1) According to sociologist Randall Collins,it takes more and more certificates and diplomas to qualify for a given job.He calls this:
A)educational achievement
B)mass schooling
C)educational attainment
D)professionalization
E)credential inflation
Q2) Without meaning to do so,schools encourage the development of a separate youth culture that often conflicts with parents' values.This is an example of a(n)____ of schools.
A)manifest function
B)intended consequence
C)latent function
D)professional attribute
E)none of these choices.
Q3) Discuss why you think that race has recently become an issue in college enrollment processes,but "legacy" admissions have not.
Q4) What is the purpose of professionalization?
Q5) What is credential inflation?
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Chapter 18: The Mass Media
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Q1) Watergate stands as a powerful example of how mainstream news sources and outlets always act like the "lap dogs" of the powerful because of media conglomeration.
A)True
B)False
Q2) By exposing deviants and showcasing the police and model citizens,the mass media reinforce ideas about what kind of people deserve punishment and what kind of people deserve rewards.In this way the mass media:
A)generate conflict
B)stimulate violence
C)reproduce the moral order
D)entertain people
E)coordinate behavior
Q3) Explain the interpretive approach to studying the media.
Q4) When did the AOL-Time Warner merger take place?
A)in 2003
B)in 2000.
C)in 1998.
D)in 1992.
E)in 1986.
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Chapter 19: Health and Medicine
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Q1) The only people to have much luck in avoiding the Black Plague in Europe were:
A)Pope Clemens VI who sat between two fires to breathe pure air
B)the well to do who could afford to flee the cities for the country
C)the Jews
D)all of these choices
E)none of these choices
Q2) According to many scholars,the plague still ranks as the most devastating catastrophe in human history.
A)True
B)False
Q3) Which country had the greatest health expenditure per capita from 1999-2002?
A)United States
B)Japan
C)Canada
D)Mexico
E)Zambia
Q4) What is infant mortality?
Q5) A Chinese farmer first brought the SARS virus to Hong Kong.
A)True
B)False
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Chapter 20: Population and Urbanization
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Q1) Some scholars have suggested diverting scarce resources from education,health,and industrialization into various forms of birth control,including,if necessary forced sterilization.These observers regard the presumed alternativespoverty,famine,war,ethnic violence,and the growth of huge filthy cities - as too horrible to contemplate.However,these observers fail to see:
A)how measures that lower social inequality helps to control overpopulation
B)how measures that raise social inequality are tied to limited economic development
C)how natural disasters lead to overpopulation and its consequences
D)the relevance of the theories of Malthus to the present
E)the irrelevance of demographic transition theory to the current population crisis
Q2) Which of the following are criticisms of Malthus's predictions?
A)technological advances have allowed rapid growth in food production
B)the upper limit of population growth is unclear
C)population growth does not always produce misery
D)assistance to the poor does not always result in the poor having more children
E)all of these choices
Q3) What is gentrification?
Q4) Compare and contrast Malthus and Marx on the problem of overpopulation.
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Page 22
Chapter 21: Collective Action and Social Movements
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Q1) A fourth stage in the history of social movements,universal citizenship,involves the promotion of the extension of citizenship rights to all adult members of society and to society as a whole.
A)True
B)False
Q2) What accounts for the comparatively low level of unionization in American?
Q3) The integration of a peasant uprising with the World Wide Web,by the people of Chiapas,Mexico,may be considered:
A)the first postmodern revolution.
B)an example of new social movements.
C)an example of the globalization potential.
D)All of the above.
E)None of the above.
Q4) Resource mobilization theory suggests that labor unrest in 1934 was associated with:
A)the growing supervision of the working class
B)rapid growth of the industrial working-class
C)the decline of the agrarian class
D)the decline of the urban industrial working-class
E)the rise of white-collar workers
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Chapter 22: Technology and the Global Environment
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Q1) A form of precipitation whose acidity eats away at,and may eventually destroy,forests and the ecosystems of lakes is known as:
A)genetic pollution
B)industrial waste
C)the decline of biodiversity
D)acid rain
E)ozone destruction
Q2) Because of the need to bioengineer and use biotechnology to make good food for everyone,large multinational companies share their patents and information.
A)True
B)False
Q3) As in the case of an early computer called "ORDVAC," developed at the University of Illinois,technology typically advances when there is:
A)an urgent social need.
B)economic crisis.
C)economic and political prosperity.
D)All of the above.
E)None of the above.
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