Sociology of the Family Exam Materials
Course Introduction
Sociology of the Family examines the structures, functions, and dynamics of families in various social, cultural, and historical contexts. The course explores themes such as marriage, parenting, gender roles, household organization, and kinship patterns, analyzing how economic, political, and cultural forces shape family life. Through theoretical perspectives and empirical research, students investigate issues like changing family forms, divorce, domestic violence, work-life balance, and the influence of race, class, and sexuality on family experiences. The course encourages critical thinking about the evolving role of the family in society and its implications for individuals and communities.
Recommended Textbook
Diversity in Families 10th Edition by Maxine Baca Zinn
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14 Chapters
675 Verified Questions
675 Flashcards
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Chapter 1: Images,Ideals,and Myths
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50 Verified Questions
50 Flashcards
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Sample Questions
Q1) The basic assumptions scholars use in studying the social world is called a(n)
A) structure.
B) image.
C) myth.
D) paradigm.
Answer: D
Q2) Marcia Millman's research on family dynamics cited in the text found that A) rivalries and conflicts of interest are common in families.
B) families use money to achieve social control.
C) family relations can be more similar to business relations than different.
D) all of the above
Answer: D
Q3) The definitions of the terms "household" and "family" are nearly identical.
A)True
B)False
Answer: False
Q4) Myths are beliefs that are held uncritically and without examination.
A)True
B)False
Answer: True
Page 3
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Chapter 2: Preindustrial Families and the Emergence of a Modern Family Form
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46 Verified Questions
46 Flashcards
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Sample Questions
Q1) The most important themes to emerge from historical studies of the family are all except which of the following?
A) the diversity in family types
B) the uneven change in family patterns
C) an ever-increasing divorce rate
D) the social agency of family members
Answer: C
Q2) Nancy Cott's research on divorce in the colonial United States was important in that it
A) underscored the public-private split in social life.
B) proved that marriages were much more sound in colonial times than in the contemporary United States.
C) showed that only upper-class individuals got divorces.
D) showed that much information on values, attitudes, and practices can be found in court records.
Answer: D
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Chapter 3: The Historical Making of Family Diversity
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51 Verified Questions
51 Flashcards
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Sample Questions
Q1) Your text uses all except which of the following as a central theme in understanding the social history of American families?
A) family breakdown
B) uneven change
C) diversity
D) human agency
Answer: A
Q2) Gender relations in slave families were characterized by greater equality between women and men than was the case for White families.
A)True
B)False
Answer: True
Q3) Research on family life during the Great Depression finds that A) most family patterns remained unchanged.
B) government programs helped to increase the independence of women.
C) unemployment affected different ethnic and racial groups in the same way.
D) fewer and fewer women looked for work outside of the home.
Answer: B
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Chapter 4: Families and the New Economic Realities
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44 Verified Questions
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Sample Questions
Q1) A major source of bankruptcy is an inability to pay for catastrophic health care needs.
A)True
B)False
Q2) As a result of the Great Recession,the number of children in poverty grew by A) one million.
B) two million.
C) three million.
D) zero.
Q3) When the housing bubble burst,
A) rates of foreclosure went down.
B) housing prices went up.
C) rents went down.
D) African American and Latino homeowners were disproportionately affected.
Q4) Offshoring involves moving corporate activity to countries with A) lower wages.
B) lower taxes.
C) lower benefits.
D) all of the above
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Chapter 5: Families and Demographic Trends: the New
Immigration and the Aging of Society
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Q1) As a result of a large influx of immigrants,Whites are now a numerical minority in the state of California.
A)True
B)False
Q2) Of the following,which is true of the structure of the population of the United States?
A) It is getting younger.
B) It is getting older.
C) It is getting more male.
D) It is predominantly Asian.
Q3) Which of the following "societal earthquakes" have had a major effect on families?
A) globalization
B) the new immigration
C) the aging of society
D) all of the above
Q4) More than one-half of all children in the United States are non-White.
A)True
B)False
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Chapter 6: Class,Race,and Gender
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Sample Questions
Q1) What is the relationship between the working class and their extended families?
A) Working-class families are autonomous and do not depend on family support.
B) Working-class families depend on extended families for social support and financial assistance.
C) Black working-class families depend on extended family financial support, but White working-class families do not.
D) Working-class families are likely to share living space with extended family members and pool financial resources.
Q2) Describe two of the five social classes discussed in the text.How do connections with opportunity structures differ for families in these two classes?
Q3) Recent research suggests that poor single mothers
A) are generally unwilling to work.
B) use various survival strategies involving work, network support, and outside assistance.
C) do not usually turn to family and friends for help.
D) do not expect to be self-sufficient.
Q4) Race,class,and gender are hierarchies of stratification in U.S.society.Discuss how each of these is a system of power and subordination.
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Page 8
Chapter 7: Meshing the Worlds of Work and Family
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52 Verified Questions
52 Flashcards
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Sample Questions
Q1) In 2009,as the Great Recession worsened,unemployment A) rose sharply.
B) rose more for women than for men.
C) was lower in construction and manufacturing than most other areas.
D) all of the above
Q2) Zavella's study of Chicana cannery workers in California illustrates the relationship of women's work and family roles to A) the growth of the U.S. agricultural economy.
B) downward mobility.
C) social class and racial inequality.
D) all of the above
Q3) About 30% of corporate officers in Fortune 500 companies are women.
A)True B)False
Q4) Discuss the new demand for adolescent workers.What has caused that demand? How do adolescents use their earnings?
Q5) According to your textbook,the boundaries between family and work have A) become less and less clear. B) not changed in recent decades. C) become sharper and sharper.
Page 9
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Chapter 8: The Social Construction of Intimacy
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Q1) According to the text,gender differences in love and sex are largely shaped by A) power relations in the larger society.
B) physiological differences between women and men.
C) psychological factors.
D) women's maternal instincts.
Q2) The Global Study of Sexual Attitudes and Behaviors finds that sexual satisfaction is A) lower in the United States than in most other countries.
B) higher in Asia than in the West.
C) highest in countries with more gender equality.
D) lowest in countries of the Middle East.
Q3) Cultural standards of beauty can be a factor in dating.
A)True
B)False
Q4) Discuss variation in teen childbirth rates in the United States.What social factors contribute to the high rate of teen pregnancy in the African American population?
Q5) Teen childbearing is at the highest rate ever in U.S.history.
A)True
B)False
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Chapter 9: Contemporary Marriages
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Sample Questions
Q1) According to research on sexuality in marriage,
A) high quality marriages experience no lag in frequency of sexual contact over time.
B) couples often engage in a "discourse of difference."
C) sex in marriage occurs most often after children leave the home.
D) sexual behavior among spouses is always an expression of physical desire.
Q2) Approximately ten percent of cohabiting heterosexual couples eventually marry each other.
A)True
B)False
Q3) Over the past three decades,the median age of first marriage in the United States has gone up for men,but has fallen for women.
A)True
B)False
Q4) Marriages in the White population tend to be more egalitarian in behavior than those in the African American population.
A)True
B)False
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Chapter 10: Parents and Children
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Sample Questions
Q1) Booth and Amato's research on adult children of traditional and nontraditional parents found that
A) children of traditional parents were more likely to get married and to parent.
B) children of nontraditional parents were more likely to get married and to parent.
C) there were no differences in psychological well-being between these groups of children.
D) children of traditional parents had lower educational attainment.
Q2) According to recent research,the percent of childless women
A) is correlated with the rising incidence of poverty.
B) has increased in recent years.
C) has declined in recent years.
D) depends primarily on conscious choices made before marriage.
Q3) Many of the undesirable social outcomes associated with single-parent families are related to high poverty rates among these households.
A)True
B)False
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Chapter 11: Violence in Families
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48 Verified Questions
48 Flashcards
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Sample Questions
Q1) Intimate terrorism is the use of violence and other control tactics to dominate a partner.
A)True
B)False
Q2) Studies of the U.S.population's attitudes about physical punishment within the family suggest that it is generally considered
A) illegal.
B) normal violence.
C) reprehensible.
D) a last resort.
Q3) Women are the victims of approximately what percentage of spousal homicides?
A) 30%
B) 50%
C) 80%
D) 90%
Q4) Under what types of conditions is wife-abuse most likely to occur? Discuss both contextual and personal factors.
Q5) What personal and social factors make it difficult for battered wives to leave abusive relationships?
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Chapter 12: Divorce and Remarriage
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Q1) In states where same-sex marriage is not legal,same-sex couples who decide to end their relationship
A) have the same property rights as a married couple who divorces.
B) have the same right to spousal support as a legally-divorced couple.
C) have the same child custody rights as a married couple who divorces.
D) none of the above
Q2) The divorce rate among mixed-race couples is
A) lower than the national average.
B) higher than the rate for intraracial marriages.
C) elevated when the relationship involves a White woman married to a Black man. D) approximately the same as the rate for racially homogamous marriages.
Q3) Children appear to adjust better after divorce when they live with a same-sex parent.
A)True
B)False
Q4) The 2005 divorce rate is nearly double the divorce rate of the 1860s.
A)True
B)False
Q5) How do rates and patterns of remarriage differ by gender?
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Chapter 13: Emergent Families in the Global Era
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Q1) Which of the following accurately characterizes transnational families?
A) Employment-related separations are becoming less common.
B) Labor migrants earn wages that are competitive with average U.S. earnings.
C) The family members at home bare a heavy burden of work and family responsibility.
D) The demand for female workers is declining with globalization.
Q2) Heterosexual cohabiting households increased by this percentage in the last two decades.
A) 25%
B) 50%
C) 150%
D) 200%
Q3) The wide range of contemporary domestic arrangements in the United States represents
A) the first historical movement away from the typical nuclear family form.
B) an explanation for the decline in marriage rates.
C) both choice and adaptation to change in the structure of society.
D) all of the above
Q4) What explains the rise in commuter marriages? How do wives evaluate this arrangement? How do husbands evaluate this arrangement?
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Chapter 14: Family Policy for the Twenty-First Century
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Q1) From 1970 to the present,what has been the relationship between child poverty and elder poverty?
A) Both elder poverty and child poverty have increased since 1970.
B) Both elder poverty and child poverty have decreased since 1970.
C) In 1970, the elder poverty rate was substantially higher than child poverty, but now the child poverty rate is much higher.
D) In 1970, the child poverty rate was substantially higher than elder poverty, but now the elder poverty rate is much higher.
Q2) Abstinence-only sex education
A) has received little support from the federal government.
B) seems to show little success in enabling young people to postpone sex until marriage.
C) has dramatically reduced the rate of sexually-transmitted diseases.
D) increases the likelihood that young people will use contraception.
Q3) Discuss the conservative and progressive understandings of families.How does each explain the family changes of recent decades?
Q4) Compare and contrast conservative and progressive approaches to the problems of welfare and poverty.Which policies make the most sense to you? Why?
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