Sociology Exam Prep 4-10

Question 1

The case of a young girl named Genie is the most carefully documented instance of a child who does not experience adequate contact with other people during infancy and childhood. Genie was locked in a room alone for nearly 13 years and never developed language skills the way most children do. Obviously, this is a story in part of severe parental neglect, but it also provides insight into whether such abilities as language are innate. Fundamentally, this case about a feral child is about whether
Select one:
a.biology or socialization shapes human behavior.
b.parents or peer groups influence children’s behavior.
c.physical or cognitive traits influence socialization.
d.the physical or the spiritual environment has a larger impact on culture

Answer 1

a.
biology or socialization shapes human behavior.

Question 2

Which scenario involves the use of peer pressure?
Select one:
a.Two friends encourage a third friend to follow her dream of becoming an actor by trying out for the school play, even though none of them are involved in theater.
b.A college sophomore is afraid to report a sexual assault because she believes her sorority sisters will ostracize her.
c.Two children steal another child’s basketball because he won’t share it.
d.A teacher and a guidance counselor stage an intervention with a student who they think has a drug problem.

Answer 2

b.A college sophomore is afraid to report a sexual assault because she believes her sorority sisters will ostracize her.

Question 3

Often where you grow up shapes your identity and how others treated you. For example, I am a “Montanan” because I grew up in Montana. This is an example of
Select one:
a.a role.
b.an ascribed status.
c.a status set.
d.an achieved status.

Answer 3

b.
an ascribed status.

Question 4

A classmate has talked about trying out for the dance team for weeks. The day after the tryouts, you ask her how it went. She answers that she couldn’t tryout because she was sick. (In reality, however, she did try out but wasn’t selected.) Your classmates response is an example of what?
Select one:
a.the process of social construction
b.role strain
c.saving face
d.a breach of common roles

Answer 4

c.
saving face

Question 5

Through network analysis a hidden rule was discovered that governs romantic relationships among teenagers. It prohibits dating the ex of your ex’s current boyfriend or girlfriend. This rule is known as “______.”
Select one:
a.tertius gaudens
b.no cycles of four
c.let sleeping dogs lie
d.divide et impera

Answer 5

b.no cycles of four

Question 6

You and a date are at a cocktail party. As you pluck a drink off a tray, you turn and almost run into actor Idris Elba of Luther fame. You discover after a short chat that he knows your date. You remark that it sure is a small world and that maybe that six degrees thing is true. In his interview with Dalton Conley, Duncan Watts confirms the work of Stanley Milgram, but also notes that the “six degrees” idea can apply to
Select one:
a.disjointed populations.
b.small groups.
c.nuclear families.
d.nonhuman networks.

Answer 6

a.
disjointed populations.

Question 7

Jasmine has begun attending a large weekly support group for atheists raised in religious families. She hasn’t felt very close to her family since she came out as an atheist, but when she is at these meetings she feels like for the first time in her life she is accepted and valued for who she really is. Her support group would be considered
Select one:
a.an informal bureaucracy.
b.a primary group.
c.a formal organization.
d.a secondary group.

Answer 7

b.
a primary group

Question 8

The Asch test provides insight into what concept?
Select one:
a.divide et impera
b.network analysis
c.embeddedness
d.group conformity

Answer 8

d.
group conformity

Question 9

Suppose you attend a dinner party, to which you were invited by a close friend who is trying to help you land a job in human resources. Your friend was unable to attend, and you knew nobody at the dinner, even though the dozen guests were all employed in human resource departments in the area. During the dinner, you were quiet and reserved, just listening to conversations around you. Afterward, you worry you missed the chance to gain new
Select one:
a.organizational culture.
b.embeddedness.
c.social capital.
d.triads.

Answer 9

c.
social capital.

Question 10

What is an example of informal deviance?
Select one:
a.driving while under the influence of marijuana
b.vandalizing a sculpture in a public park
c.cutting in line at the cafeteria
d.cheating on a sociology exam in college

Answer 10

c.cutting in line at the cafeteria

Question 11

Joey grew up in an impoverished rural community in the Appalachian Mountains with high unemployment. He learned early on that to be successful meant becoming wealthy, but without any hope of landing a lucrative career in his hometown, he turned to selling stolen opioid painkillers and became relatively successful. According to Merton’s strain theory, Joey is a(n)
Select one:
a.white-collar criminal.
b.rebel.
c.anomic.
d.innovator.

Answer 11

d.innovator.

Question 12

A sociologist studying the meaning of bicycle theft finds that the young men in her neighborhood who steal bicycles do so as a way of proving that they are more clever than the owners of expensive bicycles, since they can get away with rifling through unlocked or poorly secured garages, porches, and basements unnoticed. In a way, stealing these pieces of sports equipment is a sport in itself for the thieves. This researcher’s focus on how those who steal bicycles think of their actions is an example of
Select one:
a.means-ends theory of deviance.
b.functionalist theory.
c.social control.
d.symbolic interactionism.

Answer 12

d.
symbolic interactionism

Question 13

Suppose a teenage girl caught smoking marijuana in her car in the high-school parking lot is suspended. As a result, she gains a reputation around school as a “druggie.” After that, she begins using cocaine and eventually tries heroin. The girl’s actions following the initial suspension are an example of
Select one:
a.secondary deviance.
b.public indecency.
c.primary deviance.
d.lewd and lascivious behavior.

Answer 13

a.
secondary deviance.

Question 14

Devah Pager’s research on how criminal records affect hiring illustrates the consequences of
Select one:
a.anomie.
b.stigma.
c.strain.
d.secondary deviance.

Answer 14

b.stigma.

Question 15

Tina believes that inequality is necessary to keep the world population in check. Her view is most consistent with the views of which theorist?
Select one:
a.John Millar
b.Georg Wilhelm Friedrich Hegel
c.Adam Ferguson
d.Thomas Malthus

Answer 15

d.
Thomas Malthus

Question 16

What standard of equality was key to the arguments of civil rights leaders in the 1960s?
Select one:
a.equality of outcome
b.equality of condition
c.ontological equality
d.equality of opportunity

Answer 16

d.
equality of opportunity

Question 17

Which scenario is an example of the free-rider problem?
Select one:
a.Except for elite runners, people gain access to the New York Marathon through a lottery system. Everyone has the same chance of being picked, except that if you apply three years in a row and do not get in, you are automatically admitted the following year.
b.A group of six teenagers is trying to get 100 signatures for a petition. Two of the teens have 25 each. But the others have only collected 25 between the four of them, so the group is 25 signatures short. The two teens who collected the most are irritated.
c.Four campers go to gather wood for their respective families. Though they agreed to gather equal amounts of wood, one person hurts her ankle and is not able to gather as much wood. Nevertheless, before returning to their families, the four people divide the wood up evenly between them.
d.Four friends wait in line overnight to get the best seats to see a popular band. As they are finally entering the arena, another friend of theirs strolls into the VIP section. They later learn that he was able to secure a VIP pass through his family’s connections.

Answer 17

b.
A group of six teenagers is trying to get 100 signatures for a petition. Two of the teens have 25 each. But the others have only collected 25 between the four of them, so the group is 25 signatures short. The two teens who collected the most are irritated.

Question 18

Suppose a good friend landed a telecommunications job with a six-figure salary. He lives in a tiny apartment in the suburbs, lives off a credit card, and still has $50,000 in college loans. Your friend is in the category of people considered to have high
Select one:
a.net worth.
b.income.
c.investment income.
d.wealth.

Answer 18

b.
income.

Question 19

What is discussed in this chapter as the gateway to becoming middle class?
Select one:
a.a college education
b.marriage
c.a blue-collar job
d.a manual occupation

Answer 19

a.
a college education

Question 20

Sociologists are skeptical of ____ arguments that explain social phenomena in terms of natural ones and often rely on biological determinism.
Select one:
a.feminist
b.cisgender
c.essentialist
d.intersectional

Answer 20

c.
essentialist

Question 21

Which statement offers an essentialist explanation for gender differences?
Select one:
a.Women find themselves in lower-paying jobs with fewer opportunities for advancement because these jobs make it easier for them to balance work and family.
b.There are far fewer women professors in the hard sciences because women are encouraged to study the humanities and social sciences.
c.Women take on more responsibility for domestic tasks because men still think of these tasks as women’s work.
d.Women are overrepresented in professions such as nursing, teaching, and social work because they are inherently more nurturing and caring than men.

Answer 21

d.
Women are overrepresented in professions such as nursing, teaching, and social work because they are inherently more nurturing and caring than men.

Question 22

In 2014, the top 10 models in the fashion industry all had earnings well over $1 million, with a few - Kate Moss and Heidi Klum - earning over $10 million. In her interview with Dalton Conley, Ashley Mears points out that top male fashion models quickly hit a limit as to how far they can go in modeling work, whereas a small number of women can continue on to be top, obviously well-paid, models. According to Mears, this particular career is an example of what in reverse?
Select one:
a.equal pay for equal work
b.the glass escalator
c.the glass ceiling
d.discrimination against working mothers

Answer 22

b.
the glass escalator

Question 23

The Nazi regime’s belief that it had to protect a superior race from contamination by inferior races stemmed in part from
Select one:
a.
the notion of social Darwinism.
b.
the concept of racialization.
c.
the science of phrenology.
d.
concerns about racial passing.

Answer 23

a.
the notion of social Darwinism.

Question 24

Tyrone is frustrated by having submitted dozens of resumes to tech companies around the Pacific Northwest, resulting in zero job interviews. He decides to try submitting three resumes as “Tyler,” and receives two calls from prospective employers. What is this an example of?
Select one:
a.
acceptance
b.
assimilation
c.
withdrawal
d.
passing

Answer 24

d.
passing

Question 25

Native Americans have been the target of racial and ethnic abuses since Europeans arrived. In Indian Bureau boarding schools and schools provided on reservations, English was mandatory and children were severely punished if they spoke or wrote their native language, resulting in the gradual erosion of culture. This policy was an attempt at
Select one:
a.
ethnic cleansing.
b.
linguistic purity.
c.
educational parity.
d.
forced assimilation.

Answer 25

d.
forced assimilation

Question 26

Following the attack on Pearl Harbor in 1941, the US government decreed that all people of Japanese descent living in the United States, whether or not they were citizens, were subject to internment in concentration camps. At the time, enclaves of Japanese Americans thrived in several American cities. The fear and rejection of anyone with Japanese ancestry following the attacks reflected a decline in
Select one:
a.
pluralism.
b.
segregation.
c.
racism.
d.
ethnocentrism.

Answer 26

a.
pluralism

Question 27

Charles believes that racial equality has already been achieved and therefore there is no need for programs like affirmative action. He argues that the best way to improve the conditions of poor African Americans is to encourage them to change their values regarding work, marriage, and family. Charles’s beliefs are an example of
Select one:
a.
symbolic ethnicity.
b.
color-blind racism.
c.
discrimination.
d.
racialization.

Answer 27

b.
color-blind racism

Question 28

Why did the negative income tax experiment lead to more women leaving their marriages?
Select one:
a.The guaranteed payment that people received through the program meant that many women were no longer financially dependent on a man.
b.Two single people received a larger amount than a married couple, so the financial incentive motivated couples to split up to earn more money.
c.A larger percentage of men than women took their guaranteed payment and essentially “blew through it” quickly, so to have more control over their money, some women found it better to leave their husbands.
d.People could make earnings from a low-wage job stretch further because they paid less income tax, making some women feel financially independent enough to leave their husbands.

Answer 28

a.The guaranteed payment that people received through the program meant that many women were no longer financially dependent on a man.

Question 29

Family wealth means debt subtracted from salable assets. Given the prevalence of debt for those in poverty, what are the possible implications for inheritance for the children of impoverished parents?
Select one:
a.All assets owned by the deceased are used to pay off the debt, making the inheritance to the children of poor people low or nonexistent.
b.The courts may excuse inheritors (the children) from any financial obligations incurred by the parents, meaning that poverty is not inevitably heritable.
c.The debt is passed to the children, making debt heritable.
d.Since people living in poverty rarely have salable assets such as a house, there is usually nothing to pass on to their children.

Answer 29

d.Since people living in poverty rarely have salable assets such as a house, there is usually nothing to pass on to their children.

Question 30

What is a major critique of how the poverty line is calculated in the United States?
Select one:
a.The formula only accounts for male earnings and not female earnings for a household.
b.The formula takes regional considerations into account, which creates inconsistencies.
c.The formula includes income and assets, though it should only include income.
d.The formula does not reflect the fact that housing now takes up a much larger portion of family budgets.

Answer 30

d.The formula does not reflect the fact that housing now takes up a much larger portion of family budgets.