PRACTICE EXAM (MIDTERM II)

Please note that this is designed as one strategy to help you prepare for the exam. You are still responsible for the concepts (from the study guide) that are not included in this practice test. Pay attention to the format and style of the questions as well as the content.

1. A young man purchases a new suit and has his long hair cut short for a job interview at a bank. This is an example of:
a. Impression management.
b. Institutional management.
c. Role expectations.
d. Altercasting.

[answer=a]

2. A person whom you have never met and know nothing about walks into a room. You will  most likely form an immediate impression of this person based on all of the following EXCEPT:
a. Race.
b. Gender.
c. Intelligence.
d. Verbal expressions.

[answer=c]

3. A person whose body weight is greater than acceptable cultural standards will most likely be:
a. perceived as having strong will power.
b. evaluated negatively by others in terms character as well as physical appearance.
c. offered a high visibility job.
d. stared at, but receive no negative reactions.

[answer=b]

4. According to Goffman, everyday life is a series of social interactions in which people are motivated to:
a. Lie to others.
b. "Sell" an image to others.
c. Adopt or "buy" other people's identities.
d. Attempt to consistently occupy only one social identity.

[answer b]

5. "cooling out" is a technique used for:
a. calming a tense social situation.
b. changing/redefining a person's spoiled identity.
c. retreating to one's back stage.
d. regaining social approval when you've mismanaged your identity.

[answer=b]

6. If a straight-A student unexpectedly fails an exam and explains that his grandmother died the night prior to the exam, what has occurred?
a. a crossing of front and back stages
b. cooling out
c. an upheaval on the performance team
d. an aligning action

[answer = d]

7. Studies have shown that physically attractive people:
a. are assumed to have other positive characteristics
b. are assumed to have compensating negative characteristics
c. generate more hostility than unattractive people
d. spend more time managing the impression they make than other people

[answer=a]

8. Which of the following is not a stigma?
a. a scar
b. a history of drug abuse
c. a tear in the seam of your pants
d. membership in a devalued ethnic group

[answer=c]

9. Stigmatized by his trial, OJ Simpson had to search for/build a new and acceptable identity. What process is this?
a. stigma
b. dramaturgy
c. aligning actions
d. cooling out

[answer=d]

10. This refers to when a person excuses or justifies her behavior, but still acknowledges that social rules exist.
a. stigma
b. dramaturgy
c. aligning actions
d. cooling out

[answer=c]

11. In this process, people are gently persuaded to accept less desirable identities than they had originally hoped for.
a. stigma
b. dramaturgy
c. aligning actions
d. cooling out

[answer=d]

12. According to conflict theorists, stratification is ultimately based upon:
a. the unequal distribution of resources.
b. the more or less equal distribution of political and economic power.
c. serving the needs of the entire society.
d. the continual advantage held by offspring of high status people.

[answer = a]

13. Critics of the functionalist perspective on stratification would most likely agree that:
a. The functional importance of physicians is enough to warrant their high place in the stratification system.
b. The middle class manipulates the economic and political institutions in order to maintain its advantages.
c. Many people have the talent to perform important social functions and hold high positions in the stratification system, but they lack access to training.
d. Stratification serves the needs of all members of society equally.

[answer = c]

14. In industrialized societies, stratification systems tend to be based on:
a. an estate/feudal system.
b. a caste system.
c. a social class system.
d. a slavery system.

[answer=c]

15. Social class is:
a. the caste into which one is born and which determines one's lifestyle.
b. the level of prestige and honor certain groups of people possess.
c. the group of people who share a similar economic position.
d. the status one achieves throughout one's lifetime.

[answer=c]

16. Class consciousness refers to:
a. People's awareness of their true class identity.
b. An unwillingness of people to place themselves in discrete social classes.
c. People's awareness of elite values.
d. People's awareness of the means by which the powerful classes prevent protest.

[answer=a]

17. According to the informal rules of our stratification system, being kept waiting:
a. is a means by which power differences between individuals and groups are equalized.
b. is a means by which power is created and maintained between individuals and groups.
c. signifies that certain goods and services are in short supply.
d. signifies that certain goods and services are in short demand.

[answer=b]

18. Which of the following is NOT considered to be an Economic Function of poverty?
a. Poor people act as a visible reminder to the rest of society of the legitimacy of the  conventional values of hard work, thrift, and honesty.
b. Poverty creates occupations and services that either serve the poor, such as social workers and  pawnshop owners.
c. Poverty provides a ready pool of low-wage laborers who are willing to do society's dirty  work.
d. Poor people purchase goods and services that would otherwise go unused, such as secondhand  goods and day-old breads.

[answer=a]

19. A middle-aged man regularly sleeps in the doorways of large downtown buildings. When  possible, he eats scraps of food that are thrown away in trash cans and dumpsters around the city. He does not have a job. This man's every day life is an example of:
a. Relative poverty.
b. Near poverty.
c. Absolute poverty.
d. Common poverty.

[answer=c]

20. Which of the following is an institutional explanation for the problem of homelessness?
a. people have become increasingly callous towards the misfortune of others.
b. changes in the economy have eliminated many well-paying, low-skilled jobs.
c. the homeless people are unwilling to work to change their circumstances.
d. seeing homeless people serves the function of reminding the rest of society to work hard.

[answer=b]

21. The American Dream is based on the premise that anyone can rise above terrible conditions  to achieve success if they work hard and follow the rules of society. Which cultural belief does the American Dream support?
a. the belief in family values.
b. the belief that "workfare" should replace "welfare."
c. ideology of competitive individualism.
d. the culture of poverty.

[answer=c]

22. Division of labor means that:
a. dissent is sown among the working classes.
b. work is distributed such that one task can be done by a large number of organizational participants.
c. job descriptions carefully lay out the responsibilities of each employee.
d. people have too many tasks to do to become proficient at any of them.

[answer = c]

23. The U.S. government's estimates of the poverty line are based on:
a. whether a person has someplace to live.
b. whether a person eats three solid meals a day.
c. a family's yearly income.
d. a family's ability to pay for food and shelter.

[answer = c]

24. When taking the bus, Bill intentionally avoids sitting next to someone who is of a different color. His action reflects which kind of racism?
a. personal
b. out-group
c. cultural
d. institutional

[answer = a]

25. The phenomenon of "symbolic racism" complicates the usual form of personal racism for all of the following reasons EXCEPT:
a. Symbolic racism is not expressed directly.
b. Symbolic racism is often expressed by people who consider themselves non-prejudiced.
c. Symbolic racism motivates avoidance of minority groups.
d. Symbolic racism is expressed by people’s support for concrete programs to help improve the status of minorities.

[answer = d]

26. What is the impetus for Affirmative Action programs?
a. to establish hiring quotas
b. to fight institutional racism
c. to justify the system of "American Apartheid"
d. to uphold the policy of cultural assimilation

[answer = b]

27. The North School District spends an average of $12,000 per student. On the other side of town, the South School District spends less than $4,000 per student. Such numbers are a function of the property values of the school districts. Furthermore, racial and ethnic minorities are concentrated in the South School District. The difference between the two districts is an example of:
a. how high rates of segregation benefit the educational system.
b. b. how common practices within the educational system increase the likelihood of minority students completing high school.
c. how financial pressures on all school districts affect the quality of education.
d. how institutional racism is perpetuated in the educational system.

[answer = d]

28.               refers to different groups in society maintainig their distinctive cultures while also co-existing peacefully with the dominant group
a. cultural amalgamation
b. cultural pluralism
c. cultural accomodation
d. cultural co-optation

[answer = b]

29. The process by which a minority become socially, economicaly, and culturally absorbed within the dominant society is called:
a. cultural relativism
b. assimilation
c. amalgamation
d. cultural affilliation

[answer = b]

30. Which of the following is NOT an example of sexism?
a. a husband refusing to do housework because he feels it is inappropriate for his gender.
b. a male owner of a company who does not hire women because he does not like having them around the office.
c. a female store clerk refusing to assist customers because she is suspicious of them.
d. a female business executive verbally harassing her male office assistant because he is the only male employee in the office.

[answer = c]

31. Which of the following statements is true about sex and gender?
a. sex refers to biological identity, male or female
b. gender refers to the socially learned expectations and behaviors associated with members of each sex
c. gender is a more important concept to sociologsts than sex
d. all of the above

[answer = d]

32. There can be substantial differences in the construction of gender:
a. across social classes
b. among subcultures within a single society
c. among different racial and ethnic groups
d. all of the above

[answer = d]

33. The hierechical distribution of social and economic resources according to gender is called:
a. the inevitability of patriarchy
b. adhoracy
c. gender stratification
d. gender assignation

[answer = c]

34. research testing the validity of the human capital theory indicates that:
a. there is mounting evidence in support of the human capital explanation for the difference in men's and women's earnings
b.  when we compare men and women at the same level of education, prior experience, and number of hours worked per week, women still earn less than men.
c. intermittent employment is more significant in explaining wage differences than human capital theory
d. when it comes to women, education, age, and experience have little influence on women's earnings

[answer = b]

35. An example of primary labor market job would be:
a. seasonal work
b. retail sales
c. working for a major corporation in a management position
d. all of the above

[answer = c]

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