Sociology of Health and Illness
Textbook Exam Questions
Course Introduction
The Sociology of Health and Illness explores the complex relationships between society, health, and disease. This course examines how social factors such as class, race, gender, environment, and culture influence the experience of health and the incidence of illness. Students will analyze the social construction of health, the role of healthcare institutions, and disparities in access to health services. Through critical engagement with key sociological theories and contemporary research, the course sheds light on how social structures, power dynamics, and policy shape both individual and collective health outcomes across diverse populations.
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
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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) Before 1900, the most common causes of death in the United States were
A)chronic diseases.
B)infectious diseases.
C)accidents and trauma.
D)infant and maternal mortality.
E)diseases of old age.
Answer: B
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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Chapter 2: The Social Sources of Modern Illness
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29 Verified Questions
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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) Which of the following would be most likely to reduce medical errors?
A)developing systems to identify ill-trained nurses
B)developing systems to identify drug-abusing doctors
C)increasing autopsy rates
D)making it easier for patients to sue incompetent doctors
E)holding more Medical Mortality Review conferences
Answer: C
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Chapter 3: The Social Distribution of Illness in the United States
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25 Flashcards
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Sample Questions
Q1) Should woman-battering be regarded by doctors as a health problem? Why or why not?
Answer: Yes, woman-battering should be regarded by doctors as a health problem. This type of abuse can have serious physical and psychological effects on the victim, including broken bones, internal injuries, depression, anxiety, and post-traumatic stress disorder. By recognizing woman-battering as a health problem, doctors can provide appropriate medical care, counseling, and support services to help victims heal and recover. Additionally, addressing woman-battering as a health issue can help raise awareness and promote prevention efforts to stop this form of violence. It is important for doctors to take a comprehensive approach to addressing woman-battering, including providing medical treatment, supporting victims, and advocating for policies and resources to prevent and respond to this type of abuse.
Q2) Compared to Anglo Americans, Native Americans are more likely to die from
A)cancer.
B)heart disease.
C)alcohol-related causes.
D)AIDS.
E)strokes.
Answer: C
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Chapter 4: Illness and Death in Less Developed Nations
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Sample Questions
Q1) Why has HIV/AIDS spread more rapidly in Africa than in the United States? Why has heterosexual transmission played a greater role in Africa?
Q2) How is infant mortality linked to women's social status? How is maternal mortality linked to women's status?
Q3) What defines whether a country is more or less developed? Why should development be conceptualized as a scale rather than a dichotomy? Give two examples to illustrate your argument.
Q4) Why should war and disasters be considered public health issues?
Q5) Imagine that WHO has asked you to consult on a public health program to address malnutrition globally. How can the concepts of global health and structural violence help you in developing your recommendations?
Q6) 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.
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Page 6
Chapter 5: The Social Meanings of Illness
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Sample Questions
Q1) Some psychiatrists believe that battered wives who do not leave their husbands suffer from an illness referred to as "masochistic abuse personality." If this idea became widely adopted by psychiatrists, what might be some of the positive and negative consequences?
Q2) 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.
Q3) Which of the following is a negative social sanction?
A)bribes
B)execution
C)illness
D)disease
E)socialization
Q4) 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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Page 7
Chapter 6: The Experience of Disability, Chronic Pain, and Chronic Illness
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28 Verified Questions
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Sample Questions
Q1) The Americans with Disabilities Act
A)applies only to civil service employment.
B)required cities to establish special schools for handicapped children.
C)uses a very broad definition of who has a disability.
D)outlaws discrimination in employment, public services, and public accommodations.
E)has made it easy for individuals who believe they have experienced discrimination to win law suits.
Q2) About what percentage of Americans has a disability?
A)1 percent
B)12 percent
C)25 percent
D)40 percent
E)65 percent
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?
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Chapter 7: The Sociology of Mental Illness
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29 Verified Questions
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Sample Questions
Q1) A sociologist who studies how being labeled as mentally ill affects individuals' views of themselves is using
A)functionalist theory.
B)role theory.
C)life events theory.
D)symbolic interactionism theory.
E)aligning theory.
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) How are residential colleges similar to and different from total institutions?
Q4) Explain the link between stress and mental illness, and then use that explanation to explain class, gender, and race differences in mental illness.
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Page 9
Chapter 8: Health Care in the United States
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Sample Questions
Q1) Any system that controls costs through closely monitoring the decisions of health care providers is known as
A)institutional isomorphism.
B)a preferred provider organization.
C)a point of service system.
D)managed care.
E)accounting residuals.
Q2) President Clinton's proposed 1993 Health Care Security Act
A)would have established a single-payer system.
B)aimed to reduce the complexity of the health care system.
C)would have made the same health care options available to everyone.
D)would have broadened access to care while retaining the entrepreneurial features of the health care system.
E)a and b only
Q3) Which of the following countries spends the most per capita on health care?
A)Canada
B)United Kingdom
C)Mexico
D)United States
E)Japan
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Chapter 9: Health Care Around the Globe
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Sample Questions
Q1) Infant mortality and life expectancy in China are now
A)on a par with those of other developing countries.
B)only slightly below those of the industrialized nations.
C)a major cause of economic losses.
D)rising at the same rate.
E)rising steadily but slowly.
Q2) Health care in Mexico is provided through
A)a three-tiered system.
B)National Health Insurance.
C)managed care organizations.
D)the Ministry of Defense.
E)political parties.
Q3) To control health care costs, the British health care system has encouraged
A)the privatization of health care.
B)the use of acupuncture.
C)specialized medical education.
D)the building of new hospitals on a regular basis.
E)all of the above
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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Sample Questions
Q1) Which of the following statements is true?
A)The majority of hospice patients have AIDS.
B)On average, those who use hospices report less satisfaction than those who use conventional care-providers.
C)Hospice care shifts costs to families and away from hospitals.
D)Hospices work primarily with those who have heart disease.
E)Hospices primarily serve lower class non-whites.
Q2) The cost of hospice care is
A)less expensive than hospital or nursing home care.
B)more expensive than nursing home care.
C)more expensive than hospital care.
D)about the same as hospital or nursing home care.
E)dropping due to the feminization of aging.
Q3) To assist families in caregiving, some wealthy nations provide
A)long-term paid leaves.
B)free or inexpensive assistance with domestic chores.
C)more assistance than the United States.
D)all of the above
E)none of the above
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Page 12
Chapter 11: The Profession of Medicine
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Sample Questions
Q1) Until recently, doctors overwhelmingly were white, male, and middle- or upper-class. How has this affected medical dominance over other occupations? How has it affected the treatment of patients who are not white, male, or affluent? How might this be changing?
Q2) The professional dominance of doctors has declined in part because of A)the growth of paraprofessionals.
B)changes in public attitudes.
C)doctor's skyrocketing salaries.
D)the decline of corporate medicine.
E)decreases in government regulation.
Q3) What is cultural health capital? Which populations are least likely to have cultural health capital? How does low cultural health capital affect doctor-patient relationships?
Q4) The profession of medicine includes an ideology that dictates doctors' values, attitudes, and behaviors towards patients, colleagues, and other health care workers. Learning the role of medicine involves learning this ideology as well as learning specific technical knowledge. What does this ideology consist of, and how do doctors learn it?
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Page 13
Chapter 12: Other Mainstream and Alternative Health Care
Providers
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Sample Questions
Q1) Which of the following is true?
A)Lay midwives typically work at local clinics.
B)With low-risk populations, home birth conducted by experienced lay midwives is as safe as doctor-attended hospital births.
C)Babies delivered by lay midwives are significantly more likely to die than babies delivered by obstetricians.
D)Lay midwifery is illegal in all 50 states.
E)Lay midwifery is legal in all 50 states.
Q2) 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?
Q3) Parents' decisions against vaccinating their children
A)have led to outbreaks of measles in the United States.
B)reflect solid scientific evidence regarding the dangers of vaccination.
C)are illegal across the United States.
D)are often supported by acupuncturists.
E)none of the above
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Page 14
Chapter 13: Issues in Bioethics
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Sample Questions
Q1) Which of the following statements is true?
A)The AMA first adopted a code of ethics in 1970.
B)The public responded with horror to news of Dr. Sims' experiments on slave women.
C)The Nazi philosophy was grounded in part in eugenics.
D)The eugenics movement never gained a foothold in the United States.
E)From the start, most German doctors opposed the Nazis.
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) 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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