EXAM PREPARATION

EXAM I

do you know these?
there are some additions and corrections. They are in a different color for you to easily identify the changes. Good luck (and don't forget to bring pencil and eraser with you)...

Example Questions

Multiple Choice:
1. How do we, as non sociologists, generally tend to explain our behaviors and problems?
a. with individualistic explanations.
b. with religious references.
c. with structural explanations.
d. with anecdotal information.

2. The sociological imagination encourages us to view divorce as:
a. the result of historical trends in the family, law, and culture.
b. the result of an individual's devaluation of the family.
c. a private problem or tragedy.
d. the result of forces which are unique to the family, and thus cannot explain suicide or other social problems.

3. A comparison of sociology and psychology reveals that:
a. psychologists are interested in individuals- sociologists are not
b. the unit of analysis for psychology is the individual and groups while for sociologists it is society (the whole configuration of group life)
c. from the sociological point of view, psychological explanations are not only incomplete- they are flat out wrong.
d. all of the above statements are true.

4. "Thinking sociologically" requires:
a. developing a "natural attitude" and adhering closely to it.
b. looking exclusively at one's own culture or society, not those different from one's own.
c. disembarking from one's "natural" way of thinking and recognizing the social forces shaping everyday situations.
d. engaging comfortably in a social situation which makes the social forces governing a situation become visible to you.

5. The classical sociologist who coined the term sociology and first elaborated the positivist basis of sociology was:
a. Auguste Comte
b. Alexis de Tocqueville
c. Harriet Martineau
d. Emile Durkheim

6. A young woman who believes she is overweight begins to starve herself in the hopes of becoming more attractive. A sociologist would explain the woman's behavior in terms of:
a. a personality defect or mental problem.
b. her lack of will power or self-esteem.
c. society's valuation of thinness in women.
d. society's valuation of abnormal behavior.

7. The sociological imagination helps us understand that an American Olympic athlete's suicide may not have happened:
a. if she or he had more friends.
b. if she or he did not have so many emotional problems.
c. in a society that did not place as much value on individual achievement.
d. in a society that did not place as much value on respecting authority.
the answer listed before was wrong, check out the correct answer below.

8. These are expectations for how a person in a role will behave
a.   norms
b.   material culture
c.   values
d.   culture

9. In American culture, individualism and achievement are examples of this.
a.   norms
b.   material culture
c.   values
d.   culture

10. This perspective argues that society is a system whose parts work together to keep society running smoothly.
a.   structural functionalist
b.   social order
c.   conflict
d.   symbolic interactionist

11.  This perspective focuses on interaction that takes place via symbolic communication (e.g., language, gesture, posture and the like).
a.   structural functionalist
b.   social order
c.   conflict
d.   symbolic interactionist

12.  This perspective observes that some groups benefit more from existing social arrangements than others.
a.   structural functionalist
b.   social order
c.   conflict
d.   symbolic interactionist

13. Marx's work was devoted to explaining:
a. the social basis of human behavior
b. the social laws that governed human behavior
c. how capitalism shaped society
d. the effect of interplay between economic, political and cultural institutions

14. Sociologists who study how we know what is real and what is not believe that reality:
a. is a mystical concept.
b. is not influenced by economics or politics.
c. is defined by "experts."
d. is influenced by culture and social institutions.

15. ________ theorists view the construction of reality as the product of imbalances in social power.
a. Conflict
b. Symbolic interactionism
c. Social psychology
d. Structural functionalist

16. If a particular society has over 50 words that are associated with "violence," what can we assume about this culture?
a. Violence in different forms is a visible aspect of life in this society.
b. Children are likely to be socialized into pursuing violent lifestyles.
c. Violence is probably not important to members of this society except in terms of semantics.
d. This society makes little or no distinction between any types of violence.

17. "If men define situations as real, they are real in their consequences" is a diction associated with sociologist:
a. Robert Park
b. W. I. Thomas
c. Charles Cooley
d. George H Mead

18. Theoretical frameworks that center on face-to-face social interaction are categorized as:
a. macrosociology
b. microsociology
c. theories of middle range
d. universalistic sociology

19. Functionalism emphasizes:
a. the consensus and order that exists in society
b. focusing on social stability
c. shared public values
d. all of the above

20. Conflict theory is derived from the work of:
a. Emile Durkheim
b. Karl Marx
c. Herbert Spencer
d. Max Weber

21. The complex system of meaning and behavior that defines the way of life for a given group or society is called a
a. counterculture
b. culture
c. social structure
d. culture complex

22. The meaning of symbols is:
a. dependent on the culture in which they appear
b. separate and apart from the emotional attachments that guide human behavior
c. inherent in themselves
d. the same, regardless of the context in which they exist

23. The specific cultural expectations for how to behave in a given situation are referred to as:
a. cultural norms
b. value constructs
c. belief based actualizations
d. culture constructs

24. Which of the following is an example of a more?
a. American men wearing pants and not skirts
b. shaking someone's hand when you meet them
c. decorating one's home for the holidays
d. legal and religious sanctions against stealing

25. The habit of seeing things only from the point of view of one's own group is called:
a. ethnocentrism
b. xenocentrism
c. cultural relativism
d. multiculturalism

26. The most popular form of mass culture is:
a. books and magazines
b. popular music and films
c. radio and television
d. large circulation of newspapers

27. The process through which people learn the expectations of society is referred to by sociologists as:
a. social imprinting
b. social enabling
c. role acquisition
d. socialization

28. Kenneth Clark and Mamie P. Clark's study of children's preferences for Black and White dolls was an attempt to illustrate:
a. the negative self images that Black children acquire growing up in a racially segregated society
b. children's awareness of racially distinctive traits
c. to measure the degree of prejudice that exists in children
d. all of the above

29. Symbolic interaction theory suggests that children learn:
a. as the unconscious mind shapes their behavior
b. through taking the role of significant others
c. only when they identify with the same sex parents
d. all of the above

30. Mead compared the lessons of the game stage to a:
a. marathon
b. swimming
c. school orientation
d. baseball game

31. Which of the following statements is/are true about socialization?
a. socialization begins the moment a person is born
b. adolescence has always been viewed as a separate phase in the life cycle
c. socialization ends when one becomes an adult
d. one of the easiest transitions that we experience as adults is the passage to old age

32. Resocialization is a process that:
a. takes place over the course of a lifetime, involving continuity with the former self as it undergoes gradual redefinition
b. radically alters or replaces existing social roles
c. generaly occurs in an informal setting, not an institutional setting
d. often occurs when people enter organizational settings that require them to respond to authority out of individual loyalty
the answer listed before was wrong. See the correct answer below.

ANSWERS:
 
1. a 7. c 13. c 19. d 25. a 31. a
2. a 8. a 14. d 20. b 26. c 32. b
3. b 9. c 15. a 21. b 27.d
4. c 10. a 16. a 22. a 28. a
5. a 11. d 17. b 23. a 29. b
6. c 12. c 18. b 24. d 30. d

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