Sociology final exam questions

Multiple Choice Identify the choice that best completes the statement or answers the question.

 1.

According to Durkheim’s research, what is the primary reason that Protestants are more likely to kill themselves than Catholics and Jews?

a.

Protestantism is premised on the collective conscience.

b.

Protestantism is premised on the individual, which creates less social integration.

c.

Protestants are the poorest of religious groups.

d.

Protestants are the most politically oppressed of religious groups.

 2.

Punishments that attempt to restore the status quo that existed prior to the offense are known as:

a.

restitutive.

c.

repressive.

b.

rehabilitative.

d.

recidivist.

 3.

If we place nature and nurture at opposite ends on a continuum, most sociologists would fall toward the nurture end of the continuum. Which statement best explains this tendency?

a.

Sociologists focus on, and as a result give primary weight to, the social environment in explaining how people think, feel, and behave.

b.

Sociologists believe humans are born as blank slates, and that the social environment trumps nature.

c.

Sociologists believe that our genetic makeup really has very little to do with who we become in life.

d.

Sociologists believe there is a complex relationship between heredity and the environment, and that we need to give equal weight to both.

 4.

A person who desires a big mansion and the perfect “American Dream” lifestyle, but sells illegal drugs to achieve this, is known by Merton as a(n):

a.

ritualist.

c.

rebel.

b.

conformist.

d.

innovator.

 5.

Which of the following would be the best example of a total institution?

a.

a Boy Scout troop

c.

a sports team

b.

a political party

d.

a convent

 6.

After mental illness became “medicalized,” what was one major change that occurred?

a.

Medication replaced counseling.

b.

Insurance companies started paying for face-to-face treatment.

c.

Therapy and medications went hand in hand.

d.

Mental illness decreased with the use of medications.

 7.

The sociological significance of roles is that they:

a.

dictate the reality of a situation.

b.

lay out what is expected of people.

c.

come with clearly defined expectations.

d.

are identical from one setting to the next.

 8.

Using Durkheim’s definitions, early feminists (in the 1950s) would say that stay-at-home mothers were more likely to commit ____________ type of suicide.

a.

fatalistic

c.

organic

b.

anomic

d.

egoistic

 9.

From Émile Durkheim’s functional perspective, deviance in a society:

a.

must be eliminated through radical social policies.

b.

is necessary for a society’s survival.

c.

doesn’t exist with enough agents of social control.

d.

is functional for the lower class but not for all parts of society.

 10.

Mills argues that there are three major institutional forces in modern American society in which the power of decision making has become centralized. Which of the following is NOT one of these forces?

a.

economic institutions

c.

political order

b.

social order

d.

military order

 11.

Charles is a 41-year-old man who recently got caught committing a crime after serving a long prison sentence. This is an example of:

a.

specific deterrence.

c.

anomie.

b.

general deterrence.

d.

recidivism.

 12.

Which of the following crimes has the most financial impact in the United States today?

a.

assault

c.

white-collar crime

b.

robbery

d.

victimless crime

 13.

Each society has a type of social stratification. How does the United States justify its type of stratification system?

a.

The class a person is in has nothing to do with ability; one is born into it.

b.

A person is in complete control over the class he or she is in. Hard work (or lack of it) determines class.

c.

One’s relatives are responsible for one’s social class.

d.

Luck determines class.

 14.

Physician prestige has been on the decline since the 1980s. Which of the following might be a reason?

a.

More people in the medical community are being allowed to prescribe.

b.

More Asians are being allowed in medical schools.

c.

Requirements for medical schools are being lowered due to affirmative action.

d.

More physicians are becoming surgeons.

 15.

Weak ties are valuable parts of a social network because:

a.

it is easier to sever them if a friendship doesn't blossom smoothly.

b.

it is easier to exert power over those to which we have such ties.

c.

they are more likely to introduce us to new information and ideas.

d.

we do not have to invest as much energy in maintaining them.

 16.

According to Annette Lareau (2003), working-class and poor parents focus on the “accomplishment of natural growth,” while middle-class parents are more likely to engage in “concerted cultivation.” In the “accomplishment of natural growth,” children experience:

a.

learning how to interact with adult authority figures, how to talk to strangers, and how to manage schedules.

b.

lots of organized activities that are established and controlled by their mothers and fathers.

c.

long stretches of leisure time, child-initiated play, and clear boundaries between the social life of children and adults.

d.

assistance, monitoring, and intervention from parents in their schoolwork (e.g., choosing classes and navigating college applications).

 17.

Sociologists view socialization as a lifelong process that begins:

a.

when a child can distinguish the I from me.

b.

when a child is born.

c.

when a child is still in the womb.

d.

when a child internalizes the norms and values of society.

 18.

A friendship group isn’t an example of a formal organization because:

a.

they don’t tend to engage in collective activities.

b.

they comprise strong ties, not weak ties.

c.

they typically don’t have formal rules and governing structures.

d.

even if one person leaves the group, they will still go on.

 19.

Crime and deviance:

a.

are two entirely different concepts.

b.

can be the same or entirely different phenomena.

c.

are interchangeable; what is deviance is always a crime.

d.

tend to be one and the same; if something is a crime, it is always deviant.

 20.

The examination of how race and ethnicity affect income is really an examination of:

a.

stratification.

c.

levels of wealth.

b.

segregation.

d.

elitism.

 21.

A sociological explanation for the rise in autism diagnoses in recent years is that:

a.

increasing social inequality increases autism rates by denying a larger percentage of children the resources necessary for development.

b.

more women are working outside of the home and are spending less time with their children.

c.

the pharmaceutical industry is pushing these diagnoses to sell profitable drug treatments.

d.

autism has become socially “contagious,” as more people become familiar with the symptoms and are more likely to see them in their children.

 22.

Which theory suggests that “crime results from a rational calculation of the costs and benefits of criminal activity”?

a.

broken windows theory

c.

labeling theory

b.

differential opportunity theory

d.

deterrence theory

 23.

What is one of the main reasons cited for rising income and wealth inequality in the United States?

a.

political control

c.

globalization

b.

bureaucracy

d.

upper-class investments

 24.

Janet has a paper due in her English class, a test in her psychology class, and field notes due in her anthropology class this week. On top of it all, she needs to meet with her advisor to plan out classes for next semester. Janet is experiencing:

a.

role conflict.

c.

role strain.

b.

status incongruity.

d.

status pressure.

 25.

Most sociologists (and biologists) argue that race is a human invention, or is socially constructed. Which of the following statements does NOT highlight how race is socially constructed?

a.

Racial categories on census forms have continued to change over time.

b.

Irish and Jews, who were both regarded as “blacks” by some people 100 years ago, are now considered “white.”

c.

Because of cross-cultural differences in how race is defined, it is likely that you would be considered a different race in another country.

d.

Racial boundaries provide an obvious and natural means of dividing the world.

 26.

If a label is said to be “sticky” when referring to deviance, it means:

a.

the criminal justice system must get involved.

b.

the Mafia is behind the deviance.

c.

that it is hard to lose that label.

d.

that only one person at a time can be labeled.

 27.

Which of the following statements is true regarding the current U.S. incarceration rate?

a.

It has remained relatively stable for the past 20 years.

b.

It has decreased in the past 20 years.

c.

It has been slowly decreasing, but only in the past five years.

d.

It is the highest in American history.

 28.

In about the 1990s, physicians’ authority began to decline for several reasons, one of which was that more physicians were associated with HMOs. This meant that physicians:

a.

were becoming “workers” rather than heads (“owners”) of medical practices.

b.

were paid per treatment rather than per patient.

c.

were allowed to work only four days per week.

d.

were not allowed to make more than the owner of the HMO.

 29.

In recent years, both the African American and Latino middle class have expanded because of:

a.

increased access to education and middle-class occupations for people of color.

b.

increased intermarriage rates with White Anglos.

c.

legislation that has brought an end to de facto discrimination.

d.

a significant upturn in the U.S. economy during the past decade.

 30.

Hypertension is directly related to stress, which can be attributed to being poor. However, poor African Americans in the United States have rates of hypertension that are similar to middle- and upper-class African Americans. How would the “tokenism theory” explain this?

a.

African Americans make bad lifestyle choices, regardless of their socioeconomic status.

b.

All African Americans lack adequate health care when they are young.

c.

African Americans have a genetic predisposition for hypertension.

d.

All African Americans may still experience discrimination.