Sociology

Which of the following stages of racial-ethnic relations is best exemplified by the 2008 election of President Barack Obama?

Assimilation

The term "sociology" was coined by its founder, the nineteenth-century positivist

Auguste Comte

Which social scientist first proposed applying the scientific method to the social world, a practice known as positivism?

Auguste Comte

A sex ratio of 120 means that in a population there are

120 males for every 100 females

Approximately what percent of the people in the United States live in metropolitan areas?

85%

Which of the following best describes the relationship between q and z on the scattergram above?

A perfect negative correlation

A sociologist of religion who studies secularization is interested in which of the following?

A society that changes from closely identifying with religious values to closely identifying with nonreligious values

Which of the following would most likely be an agent of involuntary resocialization?

A total institution

Which of the following groups have the lowest intermarriage rates in the United States?

African Americans and Whites

Max Weber linked the emergence of capitalism to the

Calvinist doctrine of predestination

Some sociologists view the family as an economic unit that contributes to social injustice because it is the basis for transferring power, property, and privilege from one generation to the next. Which of the following perspectives best describes that view?

Conflict

Which of the following approaches to stratification is most likely to suggest that, as a society becomes more stratified, it prevents the talents of those at the bottom from being known or used and thus potentially fails to benefit from the contributions of all its members?

Conflict

According to sociological terminology, an analysis of the amount of violence in mass media, such as television shows, would be which of the following?

Content analysis

As a nurse, Rex works to respect and fulfill the different values, beliefs, and behaviors of his patients. Which of the following is Rex practicing?

Cultural competence

Which of the following allows human beings to adapt to diverse physical environments?

Culture

Which of the following theorists is most associated with structural-functionalism?

Émile Durkheim

Ken works on an assembly line in a paper factory in the midwestern United States. He believes that if he works hard enough, he will become very wealthy. According to Karl Marx, Ken's belief reflects which of the following?

False consciousness

All of the following are examples of voluntary associations EXCEPT the

Federal Bureau of Investigation

Nathan wants to study the behavior of city residents as they travel on the subway to work every day. What type of research would be most appropriate for Nathan's research project?

Field research

A society in which women have more wealth, privilege, and political power than men have is said to be experiencing which of the following?

Gender stratification

Which of the following concepts seeks a consensus of opinion, or group conformity, by taking a narrow view of an issue?

Groupthink

In the world's economic system, which of the following is true about the relationship between high-income countries and low-income countries?

High-income countries build manufacturing plants in low-income countries to obtain cheap labor.

Which of the following types of societies is least differentiated?

Hunting and gathering

Which of the following can properly be considered norms?

I. Laws II. Folkways III. Mores

Raw materials are processed and converted into finished goods in which sector of the economy?

Industrial

Tamara worked as a waitress for five years after high school before she went to college. After college, Tamara got a job as a sales representative for a pharmaceutical company. This best exemplifies which of the following types of mobility?

Intragenerational

Which of the following statements is most accurate regarding patriarchy?

It is a form of social organization in which males control most formal and informal power.

Which of the following is true of a dependent variable?

It is influenced by another variable.

Which of the following is true of a random sample?

It provides every member of the population with an equal chance of being selected.

Which of the following theorists argued that class conflict was inevitable in a capitalistic society and would result in revolution?

Karl Marx

Which of the following terms refers to something that has an unexpected detrimental effect on social institutions or society?

Latent dysfunction

Which theory assumes that deviance occurs among individuals who are blocked from achieving socially approved goals by legitimate means?

Merton's strain theory

Which of the following made up the largest number of immigrants to the United States in the 2000s?

Mexicans

In the United States, which family members are primarily responsible for what is known as the second shift?

Mothers Only

The early Chicago School researchers found that even though immigration changed the racial and ethnic composition of some areas of the city over time, the rates of crime in those areas remained relatively high. Which of the following interpretations of this finding is most consistent with the Chicago School's social disorganization perspective?

Neighborhood social institutions were ineffective at preventing crime.

In the United States, semiskilled positions held primarily by women, such as waitperson, cashier, and receptionist, are known as which type of occupation?

Pink-collar

Which of the following terms refers to a philosophical system under which knowledge of the world and human behavior is derived from scientific observation in search of universal laws?

Positivism

Which of the following religious organizations seeks to maintain exclusiveness, claims to represent the true faith, and is most likely to have split off from a larger religious group?

Sect

Which of the following is best described as an organized sphere of social life, or societal subsystem, designed to support important values and to meet human needs?

Social institution

Max Weber's three dimensions of social stratification are which of the following?

Status, class, power

Which of the following relies most heavily on sampling methods?

Survey research

Which of the following is NOT characteristic of the Chicago School of Sociology?

Talcott Parsons was a proponent of the school.

The concept of "glass ceiling" affecting women in the workforce is best illustrated by which of the following?

The barriers that limit career advancement for women

Which of the following distinguishes a crime from a deviant act?

The definition of the act as criminal by a political entity

Which of the following best describes what sociologists of education mean when they refer to the hidden curriculum?

The unintended consequences of schooling

Which of the following is true of social norms for the structure of marriage?

They have frequently held polygyny as the societal ideal, although this pattern was functionally available to and practiced primarily by the most wealthy and powerful.

All of the following are properties of primary groups EXCEPT

They tend to be large in number.

How would Robert Merton describe the intended beneficial consequences of Franklin D. Roosevelt s New Deal program that raised the standard of living for millions of Americans in the 1930s?

They would be classified as manifest functions.

Marguerite recently moved to the United States from Spain for better economic opportunity. Her move is an example of which of the following processes?

Voluntary migration

Which of the following is an example of an informal positive sanction?

Danisha receives a new car from her parents when she scores 2300 on the SAT®.

Which statement about political participation in the United States is true?

Voter turnout in the United States is lower than in most European nations.

Which of the following sociologists asserted that race is the most serious problem in the United States?

W. E. B. Du Bois

With which of the following statements would a sociologist adhering to the disengagement theory most likely disagree?

When workers retire, it means a loss of experienced labor for businesses.

"This may sound really strange, but . . ." The statement above is an example of

a disclaimer

Compared to the United States population in general, Asian Americans haveact law?

a higher level of formal educational achievement

Maria woke up with a fever. She called in sick to work, took medicine, and spent the rest of the day in bed. Maria's actions are most representative of

a sick role

What is a general statement about how some parts of the world fit together and how they work?

a theory

A school system that teaches children of different ethnic groups in the children's own language and about their own particular ethnic heritage illustrates a policy of

accommodation

All of the following characteristics are commonly attributed to postmodern culture EXCEPT

adherence to traditional gender roles

A collection of people who happen to be walking down the street at the same time but who have nothing else in common is known as

an aggregate

According to Émile Durkheim, a society that lacks clear-cut norms to govern aspirations and moral conduct is characterized by

anomie

Sandra is female, she is African American, and she is sixteen years of age. These three characteristics are examples of Sandra's

ascribed statuses

The process by which an immigrant or an ethnic minority is absorbed socially into a receiving society is called

assimilation

Impression management is exhibited by a college student who

cleans the dorm room in preparation for Parent's Weekend

In the past 30 years, the infant mortality rate in the United States has

declined among both African American people and Caucasian people, while remaining twice as high among African American people

The philosopher Thomas Hobbes believed that social order developed out of the

desire to escape a state of continuous social conflict

An example of a folkway in American society is

eating a sandwich for lunch

According to world-systems theory, the global system is primarily

economic

The practice of judging another culture by the standards of one's own culture is called

ethnocentrism

Laura is conducting an experiment to determine the effect of caffeine on wakefulness. She gives half of her subjects a caffeinated beverage to drink. These subjects are the

experimental group

Max Weber's principle of verstehen was meant to

explain the subjective beliefs that motivate people to act

Which theoretical perspective stresses that society is a whole unit, made up of interrelated parts that work together harmoniously?

functional analysis

Sociological studies of gender socialization show that

girls are less likely than boys to receive attention from teachers

Two basic premises that underlie capitalism are that

goods are produced for profit, and the free market determines what is produced and at what price

In the United States, economic growth between 1985 and 2005 resulted in

growth in the gap between the rich and poor

Joe is on trial for selling drugs. He looks very different from when he was arrested. He has washed, cut, and combed his hair, and is wearing a clean, conservative suit and tie at the trial. Joe is engaged in

impression management

The economy of the postindustrial United States is characterized by all of the following EXCEPT

increased job security due to globalization

In order for an occupation to be considered a profession by a sociologist, it must be an occupation that

is based on abstract knowledge and a body of specialized information

A characteristic of a triad is that it

is prone to coalition formation

The increase in prejudice that sometimes resulted from court-ordered desegregation in public schools is a

latent dysfunction of desegregation

Demographic transition theory explains population changes by

linking population changes to technological development

Most of the funding for public schools in the United States comes from

local property taxes

According to Émile Durkheim, the more homogeneous a group the greater its

mechanical solidarity

In the study of social class, a sociologist would be LEAST likely to focus one's position?

motivation

An advertisement for men's cologne depicts a woman as a pair of legs. This is an example of

objectification

The practice in which a woman is married to two or more men at the same time is known as

polyandry

According to Max Weber, authority derived from the understanding that individuals have clearly defined rights and duties to uphold and that they implement rules and procedures impersonally is

rational-legal authority

Mrs. Jones has a parent-teacher meeting scheduled at the school where she teaches. The meeting is scheduled at the same time as her daughter's piano recital. Mrs. Jones will have to decide how to juggle the contradictory expectations of teacher and parent. This situation is referred to as

role conflict

In Gesellschaft, people are more likely than in Gemeinschaft to

see others as a means of advancing their own individual goals

The process by which an individual learns how to live in his or her social surroundings is known as

socialization

The term "SMSA" used in the United States census refers to a

standard metropolitan statistical area

The claim that the division of labor based on gender has survived because it is beneficial and efficient for human living is an example of

structural functionalist

Communities that form adjacent to central cities are called

suburbs

Cooley called a person's self-conception based on the responses of others

the looking-glass self

Societies that are postindustrial are distinguished from industrial ones by

the predominance of knowledge-based service industries

Socialization takes place

throughout the life cycle

In general, females perform better than males do on tests of

verbal ability

Demographic patterns have clearly demonstrated that more males than females are born in

virtually every known human society

Industrialization is most likely to reduce the importance of which of the following functions of the family?

Economic production

Within the scientific perspective, which of the following are the most important sources of knowledge?

Empiricism and reason