sample test questions

These questions are similar to those found in the test bank that
accompanies this textbook.
Chapter 1 The Sociological
Perspective
Multiple-Choice Questions
1. What does the sociological perspective tell us about whom any
individual chooses to marry?
a. There is no explaining personal feelings like love.
b. Peoples actions reect human free will.
c. The operation of society guides many of our personal choices.
d. In the case of love, opposites attract.
2. Which early sociologist studied patterns of suicide?
a. Peter Berger
b. Emile Durkheim
c. Auguste Comte
d. Karl Marx
3. The personal value of studying sociology includes
a. seeing the opportunities and constraints in our lives.
b. the fact that it is good preparation for a number of jobs.
c. being more active participants in society.
d. All of the above are correct.
4. The discipline of sociology rst developed in
a. countries experiencing rapid social change.
b. countries with little social change.
c. countries with a history of warfare.
d. the worlds poorest countries.
8. Sociologys social-conict approach draws attention to
a. how structure contributes to the overall operation of society.
b. how people construct meaning through interaction.
c. patterns of social inequality.
d. the stable aspects of society.
9. Which woman, among the rst sociologists, studied
the evils of slavery and also translated the writings
of Auguste Comte?
a. Elizabeth Cady Stanton
b. Jane Addams
c. Harriet Martineau
d. Margaret Mead
10. Which of the following illustrates a micro-level focus?
a. analyzing the operation of the U.S. political system
b. studying patterns of global terrorism
c. describing class inequality in the armed forces
d. observing two new dormitory roommates getting to know one
another
ANSWERS: 1 (c); 2 (b); 3 (d); 4 (a); 5 (d); 6 (b); 7 (a); 8 (c); 9 (c); 10 (d).
Essay Questions
1. Explain why applying the sociological perspective can make us seem
less in control of our lives. In what ways does it actually give us
greater power over our lives?
2. Guided by the disciplines three major theoretical approaches, come
up with sociological questions about (a) television, (b) war, and (c)
colleges and universities.

5. Which early sociologist coined the term sociology in 1838?

a. Karl Marx
b. Herbert Spencer
c. Adam Smith Chapter 2 Sociological Investigation
d. Auguste Comte
Multiple-Choice Questions
6. Which theoretical approach is closest to that taken by early
sociologists Auguste Comte and Emile Durkheim? 1. Science is dened as
a. the symbolic-interaction approach a. a logical system that bases knowledge on direct, systematic obser-
b. the structural-functional approach vation.
c. the social-conict approach b. belief based on faith in some ultimate truth.
d. None of the above is correct. c. knowledge based on a societys traditions.
d. information that comes from recognized experts.
7. Which term refers to the recognized and intended consequences
of a social pattern? 2. Empirical evidence refers to
a. manifest functions a. quantitative rather than qualitative data.
b. latent functions b. what people consider common sense.
c. eufunctions c. information people can verify with their senses.
d. dysfunctions d. patterns found in every known society.

586
 3. When trying to measure peoples social class, you would have to
keep in mind that
a. your measurement can never be both reliable and valid.
b. there are many ways to operationalize this variable.
c. there is no way to measure social class.
d. in the United States, everyone agrees on what social class
means.
Essay Questions
1. Explain the idea that there are various types of truth. What are the
advantages and limitations of science as a way of discovering truth?
2. Compare and contrast scientic sociology, interpretive sociology, and
critical sociology. Which of these approaches best describes the work
of Durkheim, Weber, and Marx?

4. What is the term for the value that occurs most often in a series of
numbers?
a. the mode Chapter 3 Culture
b. the median
c. the mean Multiple-Choice Questions
d. All of the above are correct.
1. Of all the worlds countries, the United States is the most
5. When measuring any variable, reliability refers to a. multicultural.
a. whether you are really measuring what you want to measure. b. culturally uniform.
b. how dependable the researcher is. c. slowly changing.
c. results that everyone would agree with. d. resistant to cultural diversity.
d. whether repeating the measurement yields consistent results.
2. Ideas created by members of a society are part of
6. We can correctly say that two variables are correlated if
a. high culture.
a. change in one causes no change in the other.
b. material culture.
b. one occurs before the other.
c. norms.
c. their values vary together.
d. nonmaterial culture.
d. both measure the same thing.

7. Which of the following is not a dening trait of a cause-and-effect 3. Sociologists dene a symbol as
relationship? a. any gesture that insults others.
a. The independent variable must happen before the dependent vari- b. any element of material culture.
able. c. anything that has meaning to people who share
b. Each variable must be shown to be independent of the other. a culture.
c. The two variables must display correlation. d. any pattern that causes culture shock.
d. There must be no evidence that the correlation is spurious.
4. U.S. culture holds a strong belief in
8. Interpretive sociology is a research orientation that a. the traditions of the past.
a. focuses on action. b. individuality.
b. sees an objective reality out there. c. equality of condition for all.
c. focuses on the meanings people attach to behavior. d. All of the above are correct.
d. seeks to increase social justice.
5. Cheating on a nal examination is an example of violating
9. To study the effects on test performance of playing soft music during
campus
an exam, a researcher conducts an experiment in which one test-tak-
a. folkways.
ing class hears music and another does not. According to the chapter
b. symbols.
discussion of the experiment, the class hearing the music is called
c. mores.
a. the placebo.
d. high culture.
b. the control group.
c. the dependent variable. 6. Subculture refers to
d. the experimental group. a. a part of the population lacking culture.
10. In participant observation, the problem of breaking in to a setting b. elements of popular culture.
is often solved with the help of a c. people who embrace high culture.
a. key informant. d. cultural patterns that set apart a segment of a societys
b. research assistant. population.
c. bigger budget.
7. Which region of the United States has the largest share of people
d. All of the above are correct.
who speak a language other than English at home?
a. the Southwest
b. the Northeast
c. the Northwest
ANSWERS: 1 (a); 2 (c); 3 (b); 4 (a); 5 (d); 6 (c); 7 (b); 8 (c); 9 (d); 10 (a).
d. the South

Sample Test Questions 587

 8. Sociologists use the term cultural lag to refer to 4. Marx believed that the industrial-capitalist economic system
a. the slowing of cultural change in the United States. a. was very productive.
b. the fact that some societies change faster than others do. b. concentrated wealth in the hands of a few.
c. that fact that some elements of culture change faster c. created conflict between two great classes: capitalists and
than others. proletarians.
d. people who are less cultured than others. d. All of the above are correct.

9. Which of the following is a description of ethnocentrism? 5. Marx considered which of the following to be the foundation
a. taking pride in your ethnicity of society?
b. judging another culture using the standards of your a. technology
own culture b. the economy
c. seeing another culture as better than your own c. dominant ideas
d. judging another culture by its own standards d. type of solidarity
10. Which theoretical approach focuses on the link between culture
6. Unlike Marx, Weber thought alienation was caused by
and social inequality?
a. social change that is too rapid.
a. the structural-functional approach
b. extensive social inequality.
b. the social-conict approach
c. the high level of rationality in modern society.
c. the symbolic-interaction approach
d. All of the above are correct.
d. the sociobiology approach

7. What Lenski called the industrial society and Marx called the
ANSWERS: 1 (a); 2 (d); 3 (c); 4 (b); 5 (c); 6 (d); 7 (a); 8 (c); 9 (b); 10 (b).
capitalist society, Weber called
a. the rational society.
b. the ideal society.
Essay Questions c. the traditional society.
1. In the United States, hot dogs, hamburgers, French fries, d. the technological society.
and ice cream have long been considered national favorites.
What cultural patterns help explain the love of these kinds of 8. Marxs materialist analysis contrasts with Webers
foods? a. optimistic analysis.
2. From what you have learned in this chapter, do you think that a b. idealist analysis.
global culture is emerging? Do you regard the prospect of a global c. traditional analysis.
culture as positive or negative? Why? d. technological analysis.

9. Durkheim thought of society as

a. existing only in peoples minds.
Chapter 4 Society
b. constantly changing.
c. an objective reality.
Multiple-Choice Questions d. having no clear existence at all.
1. Which of the following would Lenski highlight as a cause
of change in society? 10. Which of the following questions might Durkheim ask about
a. new religious movements the ongoing war on terror?
b. conict between workers and factory owners a. Would the war on terror unite people across the
c. the steam engine United States?
d. the extent to which people share moral values b. Which class benets most from the war on terror?
c. How does war lead to new kinds of technology?
2. Horticultural societies are those in which d. How does war increase the scope of bureaucracy?
a. people hunt animals and gather vegetation.
b. people are nomadic. ANSWERS: 1 (c); 2 (d); 3 (a); 4 (d); 5 (b); 6 (c); 7 (a); 8 (b); 9 (c); 10 (a)
c. people have learned to raise animals.
d. people use simple hand tools to raise crops.

3. Lenski claims that the development of more complex Essay Questions

technology 1. How would Marx, Weber, and Durkheim imagine U.S. society a
a. has both positive and negative effects. century from now? What kinds of questions or concerns would
b. is entirely positive. each thinker have?
c. is mostly negative. 2. Link Marx, Weber, and Durkheim to one of sociologys theoretical
d. has little or no effect on society. approaches, and explain your choices.

588 Sample Test Questions


Chapter 5 Socialization
Multiple-Choice Questions
1. Kingsley Daviss study of Anna, the girl isolated for ve years,
shows that
a. humans have all the same instincts found in other animal species.
b. without social experience, a child never develops personality.
c. personality is present in all humans at birth.
d. many human instincts disappear in the rst few years of life.
2. Most sociologists take the position that
a. humans have instincts that direct behavior.
b. biological instincts develop in humans at puberty.
c. it is human nature to nurture.
d. All of the above are correct.
3. Lawrence Kohlberg explored socialization by studying
a. cognition.
b. the importance of gender in socialization.
c. the development of biological instincts.
d. moral reasoning.
4. Carol Gilligan added to Kohlbergs ndings by showing that
a. girls and boys typically use different standards in deciding what is
right and wrong.
b. girls are more interested in right and wrong than boys are.
c. boys are more interested in right and wrong than girls are.
d. todays children are far less interested in right and wrong than
their parents are.
5. The self, said George Herbert Mead, is
a. the part of the human personality made up of self-awareness and
self-image.
b. the presence of culture within the individual.
c. basic drives that are self-centered.
d. present in infants from birth.
6. Why is the family so important to the socialization process?
a. Family members provide vital caregiving to infants and children.
b. Families give children social identity in terms of class, ethnicity,
and religion.
c. Parents behavior can greatly affect a childs self-concept.
d. All of the above are correct.
7. Social class position affects socialization: Lower-class parents tend
to stress _____, and well-to-do parents stress _____.
a. independence; protecting children
b. independence; dependence
c. obedience; creativity
d. creativity; obedience
8. In global perspective, which statement about childhood is correct?
a. In every society, the rst ten years of life are a time of play and
learning.
b. Rich societies extend childhood much longer than poor societies
do.
c. Poor societies extend childhood much longer than rich societies
do.
d. Childhood is dened by being biologically immature.
9. Modern, high-income societies typically dene people in old age as
a. the wisest of all.
b. the most up-to-date on current fashion and trends.
c. less socially important than younger adults.
d. All of the above are correct.
10. According to Erving Goffman, the purpose of a total institution is
a. to reward someone for achievement in the outside world.
b. to give a person more choices about how to live.
c. to encourage lifelong learning in a supervised context.
d. to change a persons personality or behavior.
ANSWERS: 1 (b); 2 (c); 3 (d); 4 (a); 5 (a); 6 (d); 7 (c); 8 (b); 9 (c); 10 (d).
Essay Questions
1. State the two sides of the nature-nurture debate. In what important
way are nature and nurture not opposed to each other?
2. What are common themes in the ideas of Freud, Piaget, Kohlberg,
Gilligan, Mead, and Erikson? In what ways do their theories differ?
Chapter 6 Social Interaction in
Everyday Life
Multiple-Choice Questions
1. Which term denes who and what we are in relation to others?
a. role
b. status
c. role set
d. master status
2. In U.S. society, which of the following is often a master status?
a. occupation
b. physical or mental disability
c. race or color
d. All of the above are correct.
3. Role set refers to
a. a number of roles found in any one society.
b. a number of roles attached to a single status.
c. a number of roles that are more or less the same.
d. a number of roles within any one organization.
4. Frank excels at football at his college, but he doesnt have
enough time to study as much as he wants to. This problem
is an example of
a. role set.
b. role strain.
c. role conict.
d. role exit.
5. The Thomas theorem states that
a. our statuses and roles are the keys to our personality.
b. most people rise to their level of incompetence.
c. people know the world only through their language.
d. situations dened as real are real in their consequences.
Sample Test Questions 589
 6. Which of the following is the correct meaning of presentation c. expressive leadership
of self ? d. instrumental leadership
a. efforts to create impressions in the minds of others
3. The research done by Solomon Asch, in which subjects were asked
b. acting out a master status
to pick lines of the same length, showed that
c. thinking back over the process of role exit
a. groups encourage their members to conform.
d. trying to take attention away from others
b. most people are stubborn and refuse to change
7. Paul Ekman points to what as an important clue to deception by their minds.
another person? c. groups often generate conict.
a. smiling d. group members rarely agree on everything.
b. using tact 4. What term refers to a social group that someone uses as a point
c. inconsistencies in a presentation of reference in making an evaluation or decision?
d. All of the above are correct. a. out-group
8. In terms of dramaturgical analysis, tact is understood as b. reference group
a. helping someone take on a new role. c. in-group
b. helping another person save face. d. primary group
c. making it hard for someone to perform a role. 5. A network is correctly thought of as
d. negotiating a situation to get your own way. a. the most close-knit social group.
9. In her study of human emotion, Arlie Hochschild explains that b. a category of people with something in common.
companies typically c. a social group in which most people know one another.
a. try to regulate the emotions of workers. d. a web of weak social ties.
b. want workers to be unemotional. 6. From the point of view of a nurse, a hospital is a
c. encourage people to express their true emotions. a. normative organization.
d. prot from making customers more emotional. b. coercive organization.
10. People are likely to get a joke when they c. utilitarian organization.
a. know something about more than one culture. d. All of the above are correct.
b. have a different social background than the joke teller. 7. Bureaucracy is a type of social organization characterized by
c. understand the two different realities being presented. a. specialized jobs.
d. know why someone wants to tell the joke. b. ofces arranged in a hierarchy.
c. lots of rules and regulations.
ANSWERS: 1 (b); 2 (d); 3 (b); 4 (c); 5 (d); 6 (a); 7 (c); 8 (b); 9 (a); 10 (c).
d. All of the above are correct.

8. According to Robert Michels, bureaucracy always means

Essay Questions a. inefciency.
1. Explain Erving Goffmans idea that we engage in a presentation of b. oligarchy.
self. What are the elements of this presentation? Apply this approach c. alienation.
to an analysis of a professor teaching a class. d. specialization.
2. In what ways are human emotions rooted in biology? In what ways
are emotions guided by culture? 9. Rosabeth Moss Kanter claims that large business organizations
a. need to open up opportunity to encourage workers
to perform well.
b. must have clear and stable rules to survive in a changing
Chapter 7 Groups and Organizations world.
c. do well or badly depending on how talented the leader is.
Multiple-Choice Questions d. suffer if they do not adopt the latest technology.

1. What term did Charles Cooley give to a small social group whose 10. The McDonaldization of society implies that
members share personal and lasting relationships? a. organizations can provide food for people more efciently than
a. expressive group families can.
b. in-group b. impersonal organizations concerned with efciency, uniformity,
c. primary group and control are becoming more and more common.
d. secondary group c. it is possible for organizations to both do their job and meet
human needs.
2. Which type of group leadership is concerned with getting the job d. society today is one vast social network.
done?
a. laissez-faire leadership
ANSWERS: 1 (c); 2 (d); 3 (a); 4 (b); 5 (d); 6 (c); 7 (d); 8 (b); 9 (a); 10 (b).
b. secondary group leadership

590 Sample Test Questions

Essay Questions c. bisexuality
1. How do primary groups differ from secondary groups? Give exam- d. asexuality
ples of each in your own life. 8. Compared to 1950, the U.S. rate of teenage pregnancy today is
2. According to Max Weber, what are the six traits that dene bureau- a. higher.
cracy? What is the advantage of this organizational form? What are b. the same, but more teens become pregnant by choice.
several problems that often go along with it? c. the same, but more pregnant teens are married.
d. lower.

9. By what point in their lives do most young people in the United

Chapter 8 Sexuality and Society States today become sexually active?
a. when they marry
Multiple-Choice Questions b. by the middle of college
c. by the end of high school
1. What is the term for humans who have some combination
d. by age thirteen
of female and male genitalia?
a. asexual people 10. If we look back in history, we see that once a society develops birth
b. bisexual people control technology,
c. transsexual people a. social control of sexuality becomes more strict.
d. intersexual people b. the birth rate actually goes up.
c. attitudes about sexuality become more permissive.
2. A global perspective on human sexuality shows us that
d. people no longer care about incest.
a. although sex involves our biology, it is also a cultural trait that
varies from place to place.
b. people everywhere in the world have the same sexual ANSWERS: 1 (d); 2 (a); 3 (d); 4 (c); 5 (a); 6 (b); 7 (c); 8 (d); 9 (c); 10 (c).
practices.
c. people in all societies are uncomfortable talking about sex.
d. All of the above are correct. Essay Questions
1. What was the sexual revolution? What changed? Can you point to
3. Why is the incest taboo found in every society?
reasons for the change?
a. It limits sexual competition between members
of families. 2. Of the issues discussed in this chapter (prostitution, teen pregnancy,
b. It helps define peoples rights and obligations toward one pornography, sexual violence, and abortion), which do you think is
another. the most important for U.S. society today? Why?
c. It integrates members of a family within the larger society.
d. All of the above are correct.
4. The sexual revolution reached its peak during the Chapter 9 Deviance
a. 1890s.
b. 1920s.
c. 1960s.
Multiple-Choice Questions
d. 1980s. 1. Crime is a special type of deviance that
a. refers to violations of law.
5. Survey data show that the largest share of U.S. adults reject which of
b. involves punishment.
the following?
c. refers to any violation of a societys norms.
a. extramarital sex
d. always involves a particular person as the offender.
b. homosexuality
c. premarital sex
d. sex simply for pleasure 2. Emile Durkheim explains that deviance is
a. dened by the rich and used against the poor.
6. According to the Laumann study of sexuality in the United States, b. harmful not just to victims but to society as a whole.
a. only one-third of the adult population is sexually active. c. often at odds with public morality.
b. there is great diversity in levels of sexual activity, so no one stereo- d. found in every society.
type is correct.
c. single people have more sex than married people. 3. Applying Robert Mertons strain theory, a person selling illegal
d. most married men admit to cheating on their wives at some point drugs for a living would be an example of which of the following
in their marriage.
categories?
7. What is the term meaning sexual attraction to people a. conformist
of both sexes? b. innovator
a. heterosexuality c. retreatist
b. homosexuality d. ritualist

Sample Test Questions 591

 4. Labeling theory states that deviance
a. is a normal part of social life. Chapter 10 Social Stratication
b. always changes peoples social identity.
c. arises not from what people do as much as how others respond. Multiple-Choice Questions
d. All of the above are correct.
1. Social stratication refers to
5. When Jakes friends began calling him a dope-head, he left the a. job specialization.
group and spent more time smoking marijuana. He also began b. ranking categories of people in a hierarchy.
hanging out with others who used drugs, and by the end of the term, c. the fact that some people work harder than others.
he had dropped out of college. Edwin Lemert would call this situation d. inequality of personal talent and individual effort.
an example of
a. primary deviance. 2. Looking back in history and around the world today, we see that
b. the development of secondary deviance. social stratication may involve differences in
c. the formation of a deviant subculture. a. how unequal people are.
d. the beginning of retreatism. b. what resources are unequally distributed.
c. why a society claims people should be unequal.
6. A social-conict approach claims that who a society calls deviant d. All of the above are correct.
depends on
a. who has and does not have power. 3. A caste system is social stratication
b. a societys moral values. a. based on individual achievement.
c. how often the behavior occurs. b. based on meritocracy.
d. how harmful the behavior is. c. based on birth.
d. in which a persons social position is likely to change over time.
7. Stealing a laptop computer from the study lounge in a college dorm
is an example of which criminal offense? 4. Sally has two advanced degrees, earns an average salary, and
a. burglary is working at a low-prestige job. Which concept best describes
b. motor vehicle theft her situation?
c. robbery a. low status consistency
d. larceny-theft b. horizontal social mobility
c. upward social mobility
8. The FBIs criminal statistics used in this chapter to create a prole d. high status consistency
of the street criminal reect
a. all crimes that occur. 5. According to the Davis-Moore thesis,
b. offenses known to the police. a. equality is functional for society.
c. offenses that involve violence. b. the more inequality a society has, the more productive it is.
d. offenses resulting in a criminal conviction. c. more important jobs must offer enough rewards to draw talent
from less important work.
9. Most people arrested for a violent crime in the United States are d. societies with more meritocracy are less productive than those
a. white. with caste systems.
b. African American.
c. Hispanic. 6. Karl Marx claimed that society reproduces the class structure.
d. Asian. By this, he meant that
a. society benets from inequality.
10. Which of the following is the oldest justication for punishing b. class differences are passed on from one generation
an offender? to the next.
a. deterrence c. class differences are the same everywhere.
b. retribution d. a society without classes is impossible.
c. societal protection
d. rehabilitation 7. Max Weber claimed that social stratication is based on
a. economic class.
b. social status or prestige.
ANSWERS: 1 (a); 2 (d); 3 (b); 4 (c); 5 (b); 6 (a); 7 (d); 8 (b); 9 (a); 10 (b).
c. power.
d. All of the above are correct.

Essay Questions 8. A society with which type of productive technology has the least
1. How does a sociological view of deviance differ from the common- amount of social stratication?
sense idea that bad people do bad things? a. hunting and gathering
2. Research (Mauer, 1999) shows that one in three black men between b. horticultural/pastoral
the ages of twenty and twenty-nine is in jail, on probation, or on c. industrial
parole. What factors, noted in this chapter, help explain this pattern? d. postindustrial

592 Sample Test Questions

 9. Keeping the Kuznets curve in mind, which type of society has the c. 67 percent
most social stratication? d. 57 percent
a. hunting and gathering
b. horticultural/pastoral 5. Which of the following is another term for the working class?
c. agrarian a. upper-middle class
d. industrial b. average-middle class
c. lower-middle class
10. The bell curve thesis suggests that which of the following d. lower class
is more important than ever to social position in the
United States? 6. In terms of health, people living in high-income families
a. family background a. live in safer and less stressful environments.
b. intelligence b. are more likely to describe their own health as
c. hard work excellent.
d. whom you know c. live longer lives.
d. All of the above are correct.
ANSWERS: 1 (b); 2 (d); 3 (c); 4 (a); 5 (c); 6 (b); 7 (d); 8 (a); 9 (c); 10 (b).
7. Which quintile (20 percent) of the U.S. population has seen the
greatest change in income over the last generation?
Essay Questions a. the top quintile
1. Explain why social stratication is a creation of society, not just a b. the middle quintile
reection of individual differences. c. the lowest quintile
2. How do caste and class systems differ? How are they the same? Why d. All quintiles have seen the same change.
does industrialization introduce a measure of meritocracy into social
stratication? 8. Change in social position during a persons own lifetime
is called
a. intergenerational social mobility.
b. intragenerational social mobility.
Chapter 11 Social Class in the c. structural social mobility.
United States d. horizontal social mobility.

Multiple-Choice Questions 9. What share of the U.S. population is ofcially counted as poor?
a. 44.3 percent
1. Which of the following terms refers to earnings from work
b. 24.3 percent
or investments?
c. 14.3 percent
a. income
d. 4.3 percent
b. assets
c. wealth
10. Which age category of the U.S. population has the highest percentage
d. power
of people in poverty?
2. The wealthiest 20 percent of people in the United States own about a. seniors over age sixty-ve
how much of the countrys privately owned wealth? b. middle-aged people
a. 35 percent c. young people aged eighteen to twenty-four
b. 55 percent d. people in their thirties
c. 85 percent
d. 95 percent

3. About what share of U.S. adults over the age of twenty-ve are college ANSWERS: 1 (a); 2 (c); 3 (b); 4 (d); 5 (c); 6 (d); 7 (a); 8 (b); 9 (c); 10 (c).
graduates?
a. 10 percent
b. 29 percent
c. 40 percent
d. 68 percent Essay Questions
1. We often hear people say that the United States is a middle-class
4. In the United States, average income for African American society. Where does this idea come from? Based on what you
families is what share of average income for non-Hispanic white have read in this chapter, how true do you think this claim is?
families? Why?
a. 87 percent 2. What is the extent of poverty in the United States? Who are the poor
b. 77 percent in terms of age, race and ethnicity, and gender?

Sample Test Questions 593

 c. The main cause of poverty in the world is the operation of
Chapter 12 Global Stratication multinational corporations.
d. Most poor nations were richer in the past than they
Multiple-Choice Questions are today.

1. In global perspective, the richest 20 percent of all people earn about 9. According to Walt Rostow, which is the nal stage of economic
what share of the entire worlds income? development?
a. 20 percent a. drive to technological maturity
b. 40 percent b. traditional
c. 60 percent c. high mass consumption
d. 80 percent d. take-off

2. The United States, Canada, and Japan are all 10. Dependency theory differs from modernization theory by saying
a. high-income countries. that
b. middle-income countries. a. poor nations are responsible for their own poverty.
c. low-income countries. b. capitalism is the best way to produce economic development.
d. in different income categories. c. economic development is not a good idea for poor countries.
d. global stratication results from the exploitation of poor countries
3. Low-income nations by rich countries.
a. are evenly spread in all world regions.
b. are found mostly in Africa and Asia.
c. are all in Latin America. ANSWERS: 1 (d); 2 (a); 3 (b); 4 (c); 5 (c); 6 (d); 7 (b); 8 (a); 9 (c); 10 (d).
d. contain a majority of the worlds people.

4. China and India are now Essay Questions

a. the worlds poorest countries.
1. What are the differences between relative poverty and absolute
b. counted among the worlds low-income nations. poverty? Describe global social stratification using both
c. counted among the worlds middle-income nations. concepts.
d. counted among the worlds high-income nations.
2. Why do many analysts believe that economic development in
low-income countries depends on raising the social standing
5. Which of the following is the range of annual personal income for
of women?
people living in middle-income nations?
a. $250 to $1,000
b. $1,000 to $2,500
c. $2,500 to $10,000
d. $10,000 to $25,000 Chapter 13 Gender Stratication

6. How does poverty in poor nations compare to poverty in the Multiple-Choice Questions
United States?
1. Gender is not just a matter of difference but also a matter of
a. In poor nations, poverty is more likely to involve men.
a. power.
b. In most poor nations, the problem of poverty has been all but
solved. b. wealth.
c. In poor nations, most people do not consider poverty a problem. c. prestige.
d. In poor nations, there is far more absolute poverty. d. All of the above are correct.

7. Neocolonialism refers to the process by which 2. The anthropologist Margaret Mead studied gender in three societies
a. rich countries gain new colonies to replace older ones. in New Guinea and found that
b. multinational corporations dominate the economy of a poor a. all societies dene femininity in much the same way.
country. b. all societies dene masculinity in much the same way.
c. rich countries grant independence to their former colonies. c. what is feminine in one society may be masculine in
d. more and more large corporations do business in many countries another.
at once. d. the meaning of gender is changing everywhere toward greater
equality.
8. Which of the following statements is the basis of modernization
theory? 3. For all of us raised in U.S. society, gender shapes our
a. The main cause of poverty in the world is low productivity due to a. feelings.
simple technology and traditional culture. b. thoughts.
b. Poor nations can never become rich if they remain part of the c. actions.
global capitalist economy. d. All of the above are correct.

594 Sample Test Questions

 4. There is a beauty myth in U.S. society that encourages
a. women to believe that their personal importance depends Chapter 14 Race and Ethnicity
on their looks.
b. beautiful women to think that they do not need men. Multiple-Choice Questions
c. men to improve their physical appearance to get the attention
of women. 1. Race refers to _______ considered important by a society, and
d. women to think they are as physically attractive as todays ethnicity refers to _______.
men are. a. biological traits; cultural traits
b. cultural traits; biological traits
5 In the United States, what share of women work for income? c. differences; what we have in common
a. 80 percent d. what we have in common; differences
b. 60 percent
c. 50 percent 2. What share of the U.S. population consists of people
d. 30 percent of Hispanic ancestry?
a. 45.8 percent
6. In the U.S. labor force, b. 35.8 percent
a. men and women have the same types of jobs. c. 25.8 percent
b. men and women have the same pay. d. 15.8 percent
c. women are still concentrated in several types of jobs.
d. almost all working women hold pink-collar jobs. 3. A minority is dened as a category of people who
a. have physical traits that make them different.
7. For which of the following categories of people in the b. are less than half the societys population.
United States is it true that women do more housework c. are dened as both different and disadvantaged.
than men? d. are below average in terms of income.
a. people who work for income
4. In this country, four states now have a minority majority. Which
b. people who are married
of the following is not one of them?
c. people who have children
a. California
d. All of the above are correct.
b. Florida
8. In the United States, women in the labor force working full time c. Hawaii
earn how much for every dollar earned by men working full time? d. New Mexico
a. 77 cents
5. Research using the Bogardus social distance scale shows that U.S.
b. 86 cents
college students
c. 90 cents
a. are less prejudiced than students fty years ago.
d. 98 cents
b. believe that Arabs and Muslims should be kept out
9. After the 2010 elections, women held about what percentage of seats of the country.
in Congress? c. have the strongest prejudice against African
a. 7 percent Americans.
b. 17 percent d. All of the above are correct.
c. 37 percent 6. Prejudice is a matter of _______, and discrimination is a matter
d. 57 percent of _______.
10. Which type of feminism accepts U.S. society as it is but wants to give a. biology; culture
women the same rights and opportunities as men? b. attitudes; behavior
a. socialist feminism c. choice; social structure
b. liberal feminism d. what rich people think; what rich people do
c. radical feminism 7. The United States is not truly pluralistic because
d. All of the above are correct. a. part of our population lives in ethnic enclaves.
b. this country has a history of slavery.
ANSWERS: 1 (d); 2 (c); 3 (d); 4 (a); 5 (b); 6 (c); 7 (d); 8 (a); 9 (b); 10 (b). c. different racial and ethnic categories are unequal
in social standing.
d. All of the above are correct.
Essay Questions 8. Which term is illustrated by immigrants from Ecuador learning
1. How do the concepts sex and gender differ? In what ways are they to speak the English language?
related? a. genocide
2. Why is gender considered a dimension of social stratication? How b. segregation
does gender intersect with other dimensions of inequality such as c. assimilation
class, race, and ethnicity? d. pluralism

Sample Test Questions 595

 9. During the late 1400s, the rst Europeans came to the Americas; c. religious leaders are in charge.
Native Americans d. the oldest people have the most wealth, power, and prestige.
a. followed shortly thereafter.
b. had just migrated from Asia. 6. The idea of retirement rst appears in which type of society?
c. came with them from Europe. a. hunting and gathering
d. had inhabited this land for 30,000 years. b. pastoral
c. industrial
10. Which of the following is the largest category of Asian Americans d. postindustrial
in the United States?
a. Chinese Americans 7. In the United States, the poverty rate for people over the age
b. Japanese Americans of sixty-ve is
c. Korean Americans a. higher than the national average.
d. Vietnamese Americans b. the same as the national average.
c. lower than the national average.
ANSWERS: 1 (a); 2 (d); 3 (c); 4 (b); 5 (a); 6 (b); 7 (c); 8 (c); 9 (d); 10 (a). d. higher than among any other age category.

8. Which category of people in the United States provides most

Essay Questions of the caregiving to elderly people?
1. What is the difference between race and ethnicity? What does it mean a. professionals working in the home
to say that race and ethnicity are socially constructed? b. nurses
2. What is a minority? Support the claim that African Americans and c. other elderly people
Arab Americans are both minorities in the United States, using specic d. women
facts from the chapter.
9. The structural-functional approach to aging involves
a. disengagement theory.
b. activity theory.
Chapter 15 Aging and the Elderly c. social inequality.
d. All of the above are correct.
Multiple-Choice Questions 10. A document in which a person states which medical procedures
1. Where in the world is the share of the elderly population increasing he or she wishes to be used or avoided under specic conditions
most quickly? is known as a
a. low-income nations a. death wish.
b. all the worlds nations b. living will.
c. high-income nations c. legal trust.
d. the United States d. power of attorney.

2. What is the average (median) age of the U.S. population? ANSWERS: 1 (c); 2 (d); 3 (b); 4 (a); 5 (d); 6 (c); 7 (c); 8 (d); 9 (a); 10 (b).
a. sixty-seven years
b. fty-seven years
c. forty-seven years Essay Questions
d. thirty-seven years
1. What is the graying of the United States? What two factors are
3. As we look at older people in the United States, we nd a larger causing this trend? What are some of the likely consequences of this
share of trend for our way of life?
a. men. 2. How is ageism like sexism and racism? How is it different? If older
b. women. people are disadvantaged, should they be considered a minority? Why
c. well-off people. or why not?
d. married people.

4. What effect does industrialization have on the social standing of the

oldest members of a society? Chapter 16 The Economy and Work
a. Social standing goes down.
b. There is little or no effect. Multiple-Choice Questions
c. Social standing goes up.
1. The economy is the social institution that guides
d. Social standing goes up for men and down for women.
a. the production of goods and services.
5. The term gerontocracy refers to a society where b. the distribution of goods and services.
a. there is a lot of social inequality. c. the consumption of goods and services.
b. men dominate women. d. All of the above are correct.

596 Sample Test Questions

2. The early textile factories in New England, which marked 10. The largest 2,848 corporations, each with assets exceeding
the start of the Industrial Revolution in the United States, $2.5 billion, represent about what share of all corporate assets
employed in the United States?
a. mostly women who were paid half the wages earned a. 10 percent
by men. b. 25 percent
b. mostly immigrants who had just arrived from Asia c. 50 percent
and Latin America. d. 80 percent
c. people who had been in the United States the longest.
d. All of the above are correct. ANSWERS: 1 (d); 2 (a); 3 (b); 4 (c); 5 (a); 6 (d); 7 (b); 8 (c); 9 (a); 10 (d).

3. Building houses and making cars are examples of production

in which economic sector?
a. the primary sector Essay Questions
b. the secondary sector 1. In what specic ways did the Industrial Revolution change the U.S.
c. the tertiary sector economy? How is the Information Revolution changing the economy
d. the service sector once again?
2. What key characteristics distinguish capitalism from socialism? Com-
4. Which of the following marks the rise of a postindustrial pare these two systems in terms of productivity, economic inequality,
economy? and extent of personal freedoms.
a. the spread of factories
b. declining rates of consumption
c. the development of computer technology
d. larger machinery Chapter 17 Politics and Government
5. Today, about what share of the U.S. labor force has industrial
(secondary-sector) jobs? Multiple-Choice Questions
a. about 13 percent 1. According to Max Weber, power is dened as
b. about 50 percent a. the shadow of wealth.
c. about 73 percent b. the ability to achieve desired ends despite resistance from others.
d. about 90 percent c. a societys form of government.
d. the creation of bureaucracy.
6. What is a result of the globalization of the economy?
a. Certain areas of the world are specializing in one sector 2. Max Weber claimed that the main difference between power and
of economic activity. authority is that
b. Industrial jobs in the United States are being lost. a. power is a better way to hold a society together.
c. More and more products pass through several nations b. authority is based on brute force.
on their way to consumers. c. power involves a special claim to justice.
d. All of the above are correct. d. people typically view authority as legitimate rather than coercive.
7. A capitalist societys approach to economic justice 3. Modern societies, including the United States, rely mostly
amounts to on which type of authority?
a. doing what is best for societys poorest members. a. charismatic authority
b. freedom of the marketplace. b. traditional authority
c. making everyone more or less socially equal. c. rational-legal authority
d. All of the above are correct. d. no authority
8. Socialist economies differ from capitalist economies 4. In which type of political system does power reside in the hands
in that they of the people as a whole?
a. are more productive. a. democracy
b. create less economic equality. b. aristocracy
c. create more economic equality. c. totalitarianism
d. make greater use of commercial advertising. d. monarchy

9. In the United States, what percentage of nonfarm workers 5. When sociologists use the term political economy, they
are members of a labor union? are referring to
a. 12 percent a. the fact that people vote with their pocketbook.
b. 32 percent b. the fact that the political and economic systems are linked.
c. 52 percent c. any democratic political system.
d. 72 percent d. the most efcient form of government.

Sample Test Questions 597

 6. The claim that socialist societies are democratic is typically based 2. What is the term sociologists use for a family containing parents,
on the fact that children, and other kin?
a. their members have considerable personal liberty. a. a nuclear family
b. these societies have no elite. b. an extended family
c. these societies meet the basic economic needs of everyone. c. a family of afnity
d. these societies have a high standard of living. d. a conjugal family

7. Which type of government concentrates all power in one place 3. A system of marriage that unites one woman with two
and rigidly regulates peoples lives? or more men is called
a. an aristocratic government a. polygamy.
b. a democratic government b. polygyny.
c. an authoritarian government c. polyandry.
d. a totalitarian government d. bilateral marriage.

8. In the 2008 U.S. presidential election, about what share of registered 4. Sociologists claim that marriage in the United States
voters actually cast a vote? follows the principle of homogamy, which means
a. close to 100 percent that partners are
b. about 81 percent a. people of the same sex.
c. about 63 percent b. people who are socially alike in terms of class, age,
d. about 27 percent and race.
c. people who marry due to social pressure.
9. The Marxist political-economy model suggests that
d. selected based on love rather than by parents.
a. power is concentrated in the hands of a small power elite.
b. an antidemocratic bias is built into the capitalist system. 5. Which of the following are included among the functions
c. power is spread widely throughout society. of the family?
d. many people do not vote because they are basically satised with a. socialization of children
their lives.
b. regulation of sexual activity
c. social placement of children
10. Which war resulted in the greatest loss of American lives?
d. All of the above are correct.
a. the Civil War
b. World War II
6. Which theoretical approach states that people select partners who
c. the Korean War
have about the same to offer as they do?
d. the Vietnam War
a. the structural-functional approach
b. the social-exchange approach
ANSWERS: 1 (b); 2 (d); 3 (c); 4 (a); 5 (b); 6 (c); 7 (d); 8 (c); 9 (b); 10 (a). c. the social-conict approach
d. the feminist approach

Essay Questions 7. Which of the following transitions in married life is usually

1. What is the difference between authority and power? How do the hardest for people?
preindustrial and industrial societies create authority in different a. birth of the second child
ways? b. last child leaving home
2. Compare and contrast the pluralist, power-elite, and Marxist c. death of a spouse
political-economy models of political power. Which of these models d. retiring from the labor force
do you think makes the most sense? Why?
8. In the United States, many Latino families are characterized by
a. strong extended kinship.
b. parents exerting a great deal of control over their childrens
courtship.
Chapter 18 Families c. traditional gender roles.
d. All of the above are correct.
Multiple-Choice Questions
9. For which category of the U.S. population is the highest proportion
1. The family is a social institution that is found in of children born to single women?
a. most but not all societies. a. African Americans
b. low-income nations but typically not in high-income nations. b. Asian Americans
c. high-income nations but typically not in low-income nations. c. Hispanic Americans
d. every society. d. non-Hispanic white Americans

598 Sample Test Questions

10. Which category of people in the United States is at the highest risk 6. Which sociologist explained how religion helps support social
of divorce? inequality?
a. gay and lesbian couples a. Emile Durkheim
b. young people who marry after a short courtship b. Karl Marx
c. a couple whose parents never experienced divorce c. Max Weber
d. a couple facing a wanted and expected pregnancy d. Ernst Troeltsch

7. Which type of religious organization is most integrated into

ANSWERS: 1 (d); 2 (b); 3 (c); 4 (b); 5 (d); 6 (b); 7 (c); 8 (d); 9 (a); 10 (b).
the larger society?
a. cult
b. church
Essay Questions c. sect
1. Sociologists point to ways in which family life reects not just d. New Age spirituality
individual choices but the structure of society as well. Provide three
examples of how society shapes family life. 8. A sect is a type of religious organization that
a. has formally trained leaders.
2. Overall, do you think families in the United States are becoming
b. is well integrated into the larger society.
weaker or simply more diverse? Support your position.
c. rejects the importance of charisma.
d. stands apart from the larger society.

9. Which of the following religions is found in the United States?

a. Islam
Chapter 19 Religion b. Judaism
c. Christianity
Multiple-Choice Questions d. All of the above are correct.

1. What term did Emile Durkheim use to refer to the everyday 10. The term secularization refers to which of the following?
elements of our lives? a. religion becoming more important in peoples lives
a. religion b. increasing popularity of fundamentalism
b. profane c. the decline in the importance of religion and the sacred
c. sacred d. churches resisting social change
d. ritual
ANSWERS: 1 (b); 2 (d); 3 (c); 4 (a); 5 (d); 6 (b); 7 (b); 8 (d); 9 (d); 10 (c).
2. Faith, or belief in religious matters, is best described as
a. what we learn from science.
b. what our senses tell us.
Essay Questions
c. our cultural traditions. 1. What is the basic distinction between the sacred and the profane that
d. conviction in things unseen. underlies all religious belief?
2. In what ways do churches, sects, and cults differ?
3. The reason sociologists study religion is to learn
a. the meaning of life.
b. whether a particular religion is true or not.
c. how patterns of religious activity affect society.
Chapter 20 Education
d. which religious organization they wish to join.
Multiple-Choice Questions
4. Which of the following is not one of the important functions 1. In the United States and other countries, laws requiring all children
of religion, according to Durkheim? to attend school were enacted following
a. generating social conict a. national independence.
b. generating social cohesion b. the Industrial Revolution.
c. providing social control c. World War II.
d. providing meaning and purpose d. the computer age.

5. Peter Berger claims that we are most likely to turn to religion when 2. Japan differs from the United States in that getting into college
we experience depends more on
a. social conict. a. athletic ability.
b. the best of times. b. race and ethnicity.
c. familiar, everyday routines. c. family money.
d. important events that are out of our control. d. scores on achievement tests.

Sample Test Questions 599

 3. What share of the U.S. adult population has completed Essay Questions
high school? 1. Why does industrialization lead societies to expand their systems of
a. 45.3 percent schooling? In what ways has schooling in the United States been
b. 65.5 percent shaped by our economic, political, and cultural systems?
c. 86.7 percent 2. From a structural-functional perspective, why is schooling important
d. 99.9 percent to the operation of society? From a social-conict point of view, how
does schooling reproduce social inequality in each generation?
4. Using a structural-functional approach, schooling carries out
the task of
a. tying together a diverse population.
b. creating new culture. Chapter 21 Health and Medicine
c. socializing young people.
d. All of the above are correct.
Multiple-Choice Questions
5. A social-conict approach highlights how education
1. Health is a social issue because
a. reects and reinforces social inequality.
a. cultural patterns dene what people view as healthy.
b. helps prepare students for their future careers.
b. social inequality affects peoples health.
c. has both latent and manifest functions.
c. a societys technology affects peoples health.
d. All of the above are correct.
d. All of the above are correct.
6. The importance of community colleges to U.S. higher education
2. In the very poorest nations of the world today, a majority of people
is reected in the fact that they
die before reaching
a. greatly expand the opportunity to attend college.
a. their teens.
b. enroll more than 40% of all U.S. college students.
b. the age of fty.
c. enroll half of all Hispanic college students.
c. the age of sixty-ve.
d. All of the above are correct.
d. the age of seventy-ve.
7. What share of people in the United States between the ages of sixteen
and twenty-four drop out before completing high school? 3. The Industrial Revolution reduced deaths caused by _____, which
a. 1.3 percent increased the share of deaths caused by _____.
b. 8.1 percent a. disease; war
c. 29.3 percent b. starvation; accidents
d. 39.3 percent c. infectious diseases such as inuenza; chronic conditions such as
heart disease
8. Support for the school choice movement is based on the claim that d. chronic conditions such as heart disease; infectious diseases
U.S. public schools perform poorly because such as inuenza
a. they have no competition.
b. many schools lack enough funding. 4. Social epidemiology is the study of
c. the national poverty rate is high. a. which bacteria cause a specic disease.
d. too many parents are not involved in the schools. b. the distribution of health and illness in a population.
c. what categories of people become doctors.
9. This chapter provides lots of evidence to support the d. the distribution of doctors around the world.
claim that
a. U.S. schools are better than those in other high-income 5. What is the largest cause of death among young people
nations. in the United States?
b. most public schools perform well and most private schools a. cancer c. inuenza
do not. b. accidents d. AIDS
c. without involving the entire society, schools cannot improve
the quality of education. 6. In the United States, which category of people has the highest life
d. All of the above are correct. expectancy?
a. African American men
10. About what share of all U.S. college students today are men?
b. white men
a. 63 percent
c. African American women
b. 53 percent
d. white women
c. 43 percent
d. 33 percent 7. In the United States, the greatest preventable cause of death is
a. sexually transmitted diseases.
b. automobile accidents.
c. cigarette smoking.
ANSWERS: 1 (b); 2 (d); 3 (c); 4 (d); 5 (a); 6 (d); 7 (b); 8 (a); 9 (c); 10 (c).
d. AIDS.

600 Sample Test Questions

 8. About what share of U.S. adults are overweight? 5. In the United States, urban decentralization has caused
a. two-thirds c. one-third a. the expansion of suburbs.
b. half d. one-fth b. the development of vast urban regions.
c. the growth of edge cities.
9. Which sexually transmitted disease is most common among d. All of the above are correct.
U.S. adults?
a. AIDS c. gonorrhea 6. Which term was used by Ferdinand Tnnies to refer to a type
b. genital herpes d. syphilis of social organization in which people come together on the basis
10. A social-conict analysis claims that capitalism harms human of individual self-interest?
health because a. mechanical solidarity
a. it does not encourage people to take control of their own health. b. organic solidarity
b. it gives physicians little nancial incentive to work. c. Gesellschaft
c. it reduces average living standards. d. Gemeinschaft
d. it makes quality of care dependent on income.
7. The worlds third urban revolution is now taking place in
a. the United States.
ANSWERS: 1 (d); 2 (a); 3 (c); 4 (b); 5 (c); 6 (d); 7 (c); 8 (a); 9 (b); 10 (d).
b. Europe and Japan.
c. middle-income nations.
d. low-income nations.
Essay Questions
1. Why is health as much a social as a biological issue? How does a 8. The environmental decit refers to
social-conict analysis of health and medicine point to the need to a. long-term harm to the environment caused by a shortsighted
dene health as a social issue? focus on material afuence.
2. Describe Talcott Parsonss structural-functional analysis of health and b. the publics lack of interest in the natural environment.
illness. What is the sick role? When and how is it used? c. the fact that natural scientists ignore the social dimensions
of environmental problems.
d. the lack of funding for important environmental
programs.
Chapter 22 Population, Urbanization,
and Environment 9. Which of the following statements reflects the limits
to growth thesis?
a. People are rapidly consuming Earths nite resources.
Multiple-Choice Questions
b. Whatever problems technology creates, technology
1. Demography is dened as the study of can solve.
a. democratic political systems. c. The quality of life on Earth is getting better.
b. human culture. d. Higher living standards today will benet future
c. human population. generations.
d. the natural environment.
10. Environmental racism is the idea that
2. Which region of the world has both the lowest birth rate a. few minorities are found within the environmental
and the lowest infant mortality rate? movement.
a. Latin America b. prejudice is the major cause of pollution and other
b. Africa environmental problems.
c. Europe c. environmental dangers are greatest for the poor
d. Asia and minorities.
d. All of the above are correct.
3. Typically, high-income nations grow mostly from _____, and
low-income nations grow from _____.
a. immigration; natural increase ANSWERS: 1 (c); 2 (b); 3 (a); 4 (b); 5 (d); 6 (c); 7 (d); 8 (a); 9 (a); 10 (c).
b. emigration; natural increase
c. natural increase; immigration
d. internal migration; natural increase
Essay Questions
4. In general, the higher the average income of a country, 1. According to demographic transition theory, how does economic
a. the faster the population increases. development affect population patterns?
b. the slower the population increases. 2. According to Ferdinand Tnnies, Emile Durkheim, Georg Simmel,
c. the lower the level of immigration. and Louis Wirth, what characterizes urbanism as a way of life? Note
d. the lower the level of urbanization. several differences in the ideas of these thinkers.

Sample Test Questions 601


Chapter 23 Collective Behavior and
Social Movements
Multiple-Choice Questions
1. Which of the following is true about collective behavior?
a. It usually involves a large number of people.
b. It is often spontaneous.
c. It is often controversial.
d. All of the above are correct.
2. Which of the following is a good example of a collectivity?
a. students quietly working out in the college weight room
b. excited soccer fans throwing bottles as they leave a stadium
c. students in line in the cafeteria waiting to be served
d. All of the above are correct.
3. A mob differs from a riot in that the mob
a. typically has a clear objective.
b. is not violent.
c. does not involve people with intense emotion.
d. lasts a long time.
4. Which theory says that crowds can make people go crazy?
a. emergent-norm theory
b. convergence theory
c. contagion theory
d. subcultural theory
5. When sociologists speak of mass behavior, they have in mind
a. people taking part in a riot or mob.
b. many people spread over a large area thinking or acting in a
particular way.
c. irrational behavior on the part of people in a crowd.
d. people imitating what they see others do.
6. Which of the following is an example of a technological disaster?
a. the collapse of the World Trade Center towers on September 11, 2001
b. the deaths of millions of civilians during World War II
c. Hurricane Katrina slamming into the Gulf Coast
d. the radiation leak from the Chernobyl nuclear power plant
7. Hula hoops, streaking, and collecting Pokmon cards are all
examples of
a. style. c. fashion.
b. fads. d. popular social movements.
8. Deprivation theory explains that social movements arise among
people who
a. feel adrift in society.
b. are poor and feel they have little more to lose.
c. believe that they lack rights, income, or something else that they
think they should have.
d. are moved to action by particular cultural symbols.
10. The effect of gender on the operation of social movements in the
United States is demonstrated by the fact that
a. few women are interested in most public issues.
b. men have usually taken leadership roles.
c. men tend to avoid participation in social movements.
d. women typically have taken leadership roles.
ANSWERS: 1 (d); 2 (b); 3 (a); 4 (c); 5 (b); 6 (d); 7 (c); 8 (c); 9 (a); 10 (b).
Essay Questions
1. The concept of collective behavior encompasses a broad range of
social patterns. List some of these patterns. What traits do they have
in common? How do they differ?
2. In what respects do some recent social movements (the environment,
animal rights, and gun control) differ from older crusades (the right
of workers to form unions or the right of women to vote)?
Chapter 24 Social Change: Traditional,
Modern, and Postmodern
Societies
Multiple-Choice Questions
1. Sociologists use the term modernity to refer to social patterns that
emerged
a. with the rst human civilizations.
b. after the fall of Rome.
c. after the Industrial Revolution.
d. along with the Information Revolution.
2. Which of the following are common causes of social change?
a. invention of new ideas and things
b. diffusion from one cultural system to another
c. discovery of existing things
d. All of the above are correct.
3. Karl Marx highlighted the importance of which of the following in
the process of social change?
a. immigration and demographic factors
b. ideas
c. social conict
d. cultural diffusion
4. Max Webers analysis of how Calvinism helped create the spirit of
capitalism highlighted the importance of which of the following in
the process of social change?
a. invention c. ideas
b. social conict d. cultural diffusion

9. The claim that social movements cannot arise without factors such as 5. Which term was used by Ferdinand Tnnies to describe a traditional
effort, money, and leadership is made by which theory? society?
a. resource-mobilization theory a. Gemeinschaft
b. deprivation theory b. Gesellschaft
c. mass-society theory c. mechanical solidarity
d. political-economy theory d. organic solidarity

602 Sample Test Questions

6. According to Emile Durkheim, modern societies have 10. David Riesman described the other-directed social character typical
a. respect for established tradition. of modern people as
b. widespread alienation. a. rigid conformity to tradition.
c. common values and beliefs. b. eagerness to follow the latest fashions and fads.
d. an increasing division of labor. c. strong individualism.
d. All of the above are correct.
7. For Max Weber, modernity meant the rise of _____; for Karl Marx,
modernity meant _____.
a. capitalism, anomie ANSWERS: 1 (c); 2 (d); 3 (c); 4 (b); 5 (a); 6 (d); 7 (b); 8 (a); 9 (c); 10 (b).

b. rationality, capitalism
c. tradition, self-interest
d. specialization, Gesellschaft Essay Questions
1. Discuss how Tnnies, Durkheim, Weber, and Marx described mod-
8. Which of the following statements about modernity as a mass ern society. What are the similarities and differences in their under-
society is not correct? standings of modernity?
a. There is more poverty today than in past centuries.
2. What traits lead some analysts to call the United States a mass society?
b. Kinship ties have become weaker. Why do other analysts describe the United States as a class society?
c. Bureaucracy, including government, has increased in size.
d. People experience moral uncertainty about how to live.

9. Sociologists who describe modernity in terms of class society focus

on which of the following?
a. rationality as a way of thinking about the world
b. mutual dependency
c. the rise of capitalism
d. the high risk of anomie

Sample Test Questions 603