Sociology Test Questions

Many clubs have "Members Only" signs to indicate that the organization does not welcome outsiders within club walls. Members of such clubs develop an awareness that they share important commonalities with other members. This awareness is called __________.

A consciousness of kind

In his study of bureaucracies, Weber relied on an abstract model that describes the recurring characteristics of some phenomenon (such as bureaucracy). This model is called a(n) __________.

Ideal type

Which of the following is an ideal characteristic of bureaucracies as identified by Weber?

Bureaucracies are impersonal in that they require everyone to follow the same rules and to be treated the same.

An organizational model characterized by a hierarchy of authority, a clear division of labor, explicit rules and procedures, and impersonality in personnel matters is called a(n) __________.

Bureaucracy

Total institutions, such as boot camps, prisons, and some mental hospitals, are examples of __________.

Coercive organizations

Which theorists maintain that in capitalistic societies, where a few people control the labor of many, the social structure reflects a system of relationships of domination among categories of people?

Conflict Theorists

Ali is pursuing a medical degree at one of the best universities in the United States. He wants to become a successful surgeon and works hard to excel at what he does. In the context of Merton's types of social adaptation, Ali most likely subscribes to __________.

Conformity

Which of the following terms is used to refer to not only prisons and jails but also to a number of programs and organizations that manage people who are either accused or convicted of crimes?

Corrections

The ideal-type characteristics of bureaucratic organizations, as specified by Max Weber, include an emphasis on

Division of labor

People engage in civil inattention in an elevator, regardless of where the elevator is located. This illustrates that meanings shared across situations serve to regulate the form and process of interaction, but not the content. Which of the following terms refers to this pattern?

Interaction Order

Freida had been planning to buy a car and found a website that sells cars at low prices. The website claimed that she would receive the car in less than a week of making the payment. She found a car that matched all her requirements and completed the payment immediately because she did not want to lose the deal. However, she did not receive the car even after weeks of completing the payment. Which of the following crimes does this scenario most likely exemplify?

Internet Crime

Which of the following theories states that deviance is a socially constructed process in which social control agencies designate certain people as deviants and they, in turn, come to accept the tag placed upon them and begin to act accordingly?

Labeling Theory

Part of the movement to humanize bureaucracy includes

Efforts to reduce the number of people in dead-end jobs

When police officers single out African Americans and Latin Americans during criminal investigations and subject them to discriminatory treatment, the police officers engage in __________.

Racial Profiling

Which of the following theories states that deviant behavior occurs when a person weighs the costs and benefits of nonconventional or criminal behavior and concludes that the benefits will outweigh the risks involved in such an action?

Rational Choice Theory

People who cannot obtain wealth may nevertheless seek to maintain the respect of others by being hard workers or honest individuals. In the context of Merton's types of social adaptation, this best exemplifies __________.

Ritualism

A person may shoplift an item of clothing from a department store and be apprehended and labeled as a "thief," subsequently accept that label, and then go on to shoplift more in the future. This future behavior is an example of __________ deviance.

Secondary

Sociologist Charles H. Cooley referred to a large, specialized group in which members engage in impersonal, goal-oriented relationships for a limited period of time as a(n) __________.

Secondary group

Amber is a first-grade teacher, a daughter, a wife, a mother, a Presbyterian, a soccer coach, and a Kansas resident. Taken together, all of these socially defined positions constitute her status __________.

Set

According to Durkheim, social solidarity in industrialized societies is sustained by __________.

Shared dependence established through division of labor

Which of the following terms refers to the process by which our perception of reality is largely shaped by the subjective meaning that we give to an experience?

Social Construction of Reality

Which of the following terms refers to a set of organized beliefs and rules that establishes how a society will attempt to meet its basic social needs?

Social Institution

The family, religion, education, the economy, the government (politics), mass media, sports, science and medicine, and the military are examples of __________.

Social Institutions

Which of the following is the sociological term for the process by which people act toward and respond to other people and is the foundation for all relationships and groups in society?

Social Interaction

Teacher, student, professional athlete, rock musician, and homeless person are socially defined positions characterized by certain expectations. These positions are examples of __________.

Statuses

The sociological term for any physical or social attribute or sign that devalues a person's social identity and disqualifies that person from full social acceptance is __________.

Stigma

Which of the following is a theory developed by sociologist Robert K. Merton that suggests that people experience tension when they are exposed to cultural goals that they are unable to obtain because they do not have access to culturally approved means of achieving those goals?

Strain Theory

Which of the following terms did German political sociologist Robert Michels use to refer to the tendency of a bureaucracy to be ruled by the few?

The iron law of oligarchy

Which of the following feminist perspectives on deviance and crime views women's deviance and crime as a rational response to the gender discrimination that women experience in families and the workplace?

The liberal feminist approach

Which of the following is a purpose of groups according to classical functionalist theorists?

To meet the instrumental and expressive needs of group