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Sociology 200 Reading Exam 2 Study Guide
Multiple Choice: Identify the choice that best completes the statement or answers the question.
1. What type of group provides most of our emotional satisfaction?
a. secondary groups
b. reference groups
c. interest groups
d. out-groups
e. primary groups
2. Which of the following is NOT true regarding the nature of bureaucracies?
a. Max Weber thought of them as an “iron cage.”
b. They are organized in a way that breaks down hierarchies of management so that all
members feel a sense of equality with one another.
c. They can be so bound up in red tape that their rules impede the purpose of the organization.
d. People who work in bureaucracies may feel alienation as a result of being treated in terms of
roles, rules, and functions rather than as individuals.
e. They have come to dominate modern social life, as predicted by Max Weber.
3. In “The Strength of Weak Ties,” what does Mark Granovetter mean when he claims that weak ties can be strong?
a. Weak ties often develop into stronger ones.
b. We rely on weak ties for much of our emotional support.
c. Weak ties almost always are long-lasting and durable.
d. Weak ties matter more to us than other ties.
e. Even weak ties can provide valuable information.
4. In 2003 the U.S. Army discovered Saddam Hussein hiding in a “spider hole” under a small building in his hometown,
Tikrit. The army had tracked him to that location not by looking for him directly, but rather by creating a large “map”
that displayed all the members of his family and tribe, showing their links to other people. Starting with just four
names, the map allowed army intelligence to zero in on a small number of people whose relationships with Hussein
made it more likely that they would know where he was. The search for Saddam Hussein demonstrated the practical
applications of:
a. out-groups.
b. in-groups.
c. groupthink.
d. group cohesion.
e. network analysis.
5. George was getting ready to do his student teaching in a school district where he hopes to be employed after
graduation. Over the weekend, some friends tagged George in several wild party pictures that they posted on the
social networking site Facebook. On Monday the principal of the school called George, saying that they would not be
able to work George into their schedule. What grounds would the principal have for making that decision?
a. There is no telling. Facebook privacy settings should have protected him.
b. The principal violated George’s First Amendment right of free association.
c. Pictures of actions such as drinking and smoking are considered “red flags” by potential
employers.
d. As long as the activities depicted in the photos were legal, the principal would have no
grounds to deny George the job. e. Potential employers can deny employment for any reason, or for no reason.
6. If some sociologists set out to measure group cohesion within a neighborhood, which statement would you least
expect to find on their survey?
a. “Overall, I find this neighborhood very attractive.”
b. “I visit with my neighbors in their homes.”
c. “If my neighbors were planning something, I would think of it as something ‘we’ were
doing rather than something ‘they’ were doing.”
d. “I feel a sense of loyalty to my neighbors.”
e. “I feel comfortable in all sorts of neighborhoods.”
7. When group members withhold their reservations and criticisms for the sake of consensus, they are engaging in:
a. group solidarity.
b. laissez-faire decision making.
c. groupthink.
d. expressive leadership.
e. group dynamics.
8. In 1978 Jim Jones, the leader of the People’s Temple, forced more than 900 of his followers to commit suicide at gun
point by drinking poisoned Flavor Aid. In the run-up to this event, Jones had strictly enforced discipline, mocking
and ridiculing anyone who expressed doubts, at times even having doubters sedated. This extreme effort to enforce
conformity is an example of:
a. the expressive self.
b. the Twenty Statements Test.
c. bureaucracy.
d. peer pressure.
e. an out-group.
9. When someone joins the Green Party and then starts recycling old plastic bags because she believes it can help save
the environment, this is an example of what type of conformity?
a. social networks
b. internalization
c. compliance
d. social atomism
e. individuation
10. Which of the following might help solve, or at least alleviate, the problem of social loafing?
a. assigning more group members to a project
b. giving names to teams and T-shirts to their members
c. randomly assigning members to teams
d. making sure dissent is never welcome and tolerated
e. giving teams different assignments and goals
11. Which of the following is NOT true of the qualities of charismatic leaders?
a. They rule through formal authority.
b. They inspire awe and reverence.
c. They embody core values and beliefs.
d. They always work toward ethical goals.
e. They possess strength of conviction. 12. In the United States today, many people are bothered by “double dipping,” or dipping food you have already taken a
bite of into a sauce others are using. Mythbusters examined double dipping and found that the risk of sharing germs is
negligible. Is double dipping still deviant?
a. Now that the myth has been debunked, double dipping is no longer deviant.
b. Double dipping is still deviant whenever it receives a negative reaction.
c. Double dipping is always, under all circumstances, a deviant act.
d. Double dipping is still a deviant act, as it’s considered rude even if no one cares about it or
reacts to it.
e. Even though many people still get angry about double dipping, it was never really deviant
because it’s harmless.
13. Imagine that a powerful and influential person decided to heavily tattoo her own face with symbols and images that
told parts of her life story. Would she be treated as a deviant?
a. No, powerful people are often allowed to do things others find strange.
b. Yes, any culture would consider that to be a deviant act.
c. Yes, but there would be no negative reaction for fear of causing offense.
d. No, there are several cultures where this sort of behavior is very common.
e. Yes, it would be in the United States, though there are other cultures that would consider it
normal or desirable.
14. Which kinds of departures from the norm wouldn’t necessarily have a stigmatizing effect on an individual’s identity?
a. physical disability
b. alcohol addiction
c. mental illness
d. having served time in jail
e. wearing shoes that don’t match
15. Although gays and lesbians in the United States have always been stigmatized, there are several different ways in
which individuals have chosen to manage that stigma. When gay rights activists chant the slogan, “we’re here, we’re
queer, get used to it,” what strategy are they using?
a. passing
b. assimilation
c. bureaucratic mediation
d. in-group orientation
e. deviance avowal
16. According to Erving Goffman, stigmatized individuals who don’t believe that they should have to change or conceal
their identities to make “normal” people more comfortable have:
a. deviance plus.
b. in-group orientation.
c. self-esteem.
d. desistance.
e. out-group orientation.
17. According to Jack Katz in Seductions of Crime, why might teenagers shoplift?
a. They feel strain between their means and the goals society tells them are desirable.
b. They want the thrill of getting away with breaking the rules.
c. Society tells them they should achieve material success, but they don’t have the means to
achieve this goal in conventional ways.
d. They come from a low socioeconomic class. e. Young people are inherently predisposed to crime.
18. Which of the following is NOT considered a violent crime by the Uniform Crime Report?
a. burglary
b. rape
c. aggravated assault
d. robbery
e. murder
19. What system of stratification is commonly used in capitalist societies?
a. gender
b. social class
c. social caste
d. slavery
e. wage slavery
20. According to Karl Marx, what social relations matter most in a capitalist system?
a. family and kin
b. community bonds
c. economic relations
d. nationalistic bonds
e. racial and ethnic loyalties
21. Many sociologists in the 1960s noticed that economic obstacles alone were not sufficient to explain disparities in the
educational attainment of children from different social classes. Which concept was designed to explain these
disparities?
a. the American Dream
b. cultural capital
c. status inconsistency
d. problematic categories
e. class consciousness
22. How do observers determine someone’s socioeconomic status when meeting them for the first time?
a. their speech and gestures
b. their race
c. their gender
d. their parents’ occupations
e. their grooming habits
23. What do sociologists call awareness of our own and others’ class statuses?
a. class consciousness
b. ideology
c. false consciousness
d. cultural capital
e. social structure
24. Poverty can be defined in either relative or absolute terms. How does relative deprivation measure poverty?
a. by comparing the standard of living among the poor to the basic necessities of life
b. by comparing the poor to people with low socioeconomic status in other countries c. by determining if the poor have minimal food and shelter
d. by comparing the poor to more affluent members of society
e. by comparing the poor to the poor of other historical periods
25. Which of the following is a form of stratification in which all positions are awarded on the basis of merit?
a. democracy
b. meritocracy
c. capitalism
d. oligarchy
e. technocracy
26. What is the principal sociological critique of the culture of poverty?
a. The poor often move into the middle class.
b. The values and norms of many Americans in all class groups include attitudes of resignation
and fatalism.
c. Contrary to assumptions about the culture of poverty, members of the lower class often save
and take actions that might lead them to improve their situations.
d. It tends to blame the victims of poverty for their own misfortunes, while ignoring the
structural causes of inequality.
e. Some people simply have a predisposition to making poor choices regarding finances.
27. The sociologist Susan Mayer, in What Money Can’t Buy, studied poverty and welfare and concluded that raising
parental income had little effect on the future life chances of children born in poverty. Instead, she concluded that
character traits in parents like “diligence, honesty, good health, and reliability” lead to increased achievement in
children. Which theory do her conclusions support?
a. conflict theory
b. structural functionalism
c. feminist theory
d. Paul Fussell’s living room scale
e. the culture of poverty
28. Who acted kindly toward John Coleman when he went undercover as a homeless person and lived on the street for
ten days?
a. his co-workers
b. other homeless men
c. a police officer
d. pedestrians who gave him food
e. social workers looking for people sleeping on the street
29. Sociologically, what is the best way for scientists to approach the nature vs. nurture debate?
a. by looking at the interaction between nature and nurture
b. by emphasizing the social nature of gender
c. by looking more closely at the biological origins of gender
d. by assuming that nature only matters for children’s gender socialization
e. by looking for evidence that nature influences grooming and body modification
30. At what age do babies become aware of their own gender?
a. at birth
b. by the age of two
c. when they begin attending school d. by six weeks after birth
e. when they start walking
31. Why don’t girls, who tend to get better grades than boys, translate their advantage into material success after
graduation?
a. They tend to flaunt authority.
b. They are typically credited for hard work rather than intellectual ability.
c. They are more likely to misbehave.
d. They are poorly socialized.
e. They don’t work as hard as males.
32. Why do men usually make more money than women?
a. Men are naturally predisposed to competition.
b. Men tend to have higher levels of testosterone, which gives them an edge in the business
world.
c. Employers understand that men are usually their families’ breadwinners.
d. Men are more likely than women to spend their family’s money.
e. The values and norms of contemporary society encourage men to make more money.
33. Which of the following disorders occurs more often in women than in men?
a. heart disease
b. cancer
c. spinal meningitis
d. type 1 diabetes
e. depression
34. What issue is first-wave feminism most strongly associated with?
a. sexual harassment
b. women’s suffrage
c. education and equality in the classroom
d. equal opportunity in the workplace
e. reproductive rights
35. Why might gay and lesbian groups be predisposed to believe that homosexuality has a genetic origin?
a. They believe that sexuality is fluid and changes over the course of a person’s lifetime.
b. They want to emphasize the importance of difference.
c. They believe that a person’s sexuality is closely related to his relationship with his mother.
d. If sexual orientation is something one is born with, then discrimination is much less
acceptable.
e. Gays and lesbians are predisposed to believe in science.
36. Nineteenth-century explorers and missionaries described Native Americans who were neither male nor female, but
somehow both. What did they call them?
a. transsexuals
b. berdaches
c. transvestites
d. queers
e. homosexuals 37. In the 1970s, after the publication of Iron John, many middle-aged men went on male-bonding retreats, learned to
cry, shared their feelings, and learned to be different kinds of men, which demonstrates that:
a. masculinity is more or less frozen and unchanging.
b. gender socialization is a lifelong process.
c. families are the most important element of socialization.
d. boys are more likely to get in trouble by misbehaving and therefore have distanced
themselves from emotional responses.
e. gender is still largely based on hormones and neurotransmitters.
38. Whenever a math teacher writes story problems, any character with an occupation listed is male, like Bob the janitor
or James the lawyer, but when women are used, they have no occupation. What is this an example of?
a. the way schools socialize children into gender roles
b. the way men are associated with blue collar work
c. the role peers play in our gender socialization
d. the way boys are given credit for intellectual ability, while girls are given credit for hard
work
e. the fact that more women than men are now graduating from college
39. In 1848 Elizabeth Cady Stanton and Lucretia Mott convened the Seneca Falls Conference to address women’s
liberation. The Declaration of Sentiments they issued began, “When, in the course of human events, it becomes
necessary for one portion of the family of man to assume among the people of the earth a position different from that
which they have hitherto occupied.” Today, no feminist would use the word “man” like this, so how can we still call
Stanton and Mott feminists?
a. Feminist concepts and goals are not static, but they are always focused on bringing about
greater gender equality in a particular time and place.
b. First-wave feminists were still very patriarchal and refused to say anything that would stir
up controversy.
c. Stanton and Mott felt that the women’s movement had lost its momentum after the vote was
won and that other issues needed to be addressed.
d. Stanton and Mott were afraid they would lose their place in the home if they attacked
something as fundamental as language.
e. There were many men attached to the feminist movement, and their control kept early
feminists like Mott and Stanton from achieving much.
40. Given the history of the family, what sort of changes do you think would be most likely to make the extended family
more relevant again?
a. changes in America’s travel and transportation services
b. changes in the economy that make people less likely to move away from their hometowns to
get a job
c. changes in divorce laws that make it harder for couples to separate
d. changes in American culture that lead us to spend less time at bars
e. changes in religion that cause adults to reevaluate how they relate to their parents
41. What sort of laws prohibited the mixing of racial groups through marriage, cohabitation, or sexual contact?
a. reconstruction laws
b. racial purity laws c. the Napoleonic code
d. miscegenation laws
e. Jim Crow laws
42. According to one analysis of white supremacist chat rooms on the Internet, what did the research subjects (those
engaging in online chats) find most threatening?
a. interracial marriage
b. residential desegregation
c. competition for jobs from racial and ethnic minorities
d. gang violence
e. African American and Hispanic politicians
43. Propinquity refers to:
a. a fixed set of beliefs.
b. the tendency to seek people with similar backgrounds.
c. the desire for the exotic and the foreign.
d. the appeal of the family.
e. geographic proximity.
44. What kind of task is calling a family member to wish him a happy birthday?
a. a family task
b. an expressive task
c. an operative task
d. an instrumental task
e. a maternal task
45. Arlie Hochschild’s study of two-income families found that women were much more likely than men to do the
majority of the unpaid labor inside the home even after a full day’s work outside the home. What term is used by
sociologists to describe this extra labor?
a. women’s work
b. the female burden
c. the double standard
d. the second shift
e. instrumental tasks
46. As an agent of socialization, who does the family influence?
a. only children
b. everyone
c. women
d. the elderly
e. uncles
47. An individual is most likely to be murdered by:
a. a family member.
b. a law enforcement officer.
c. a stranger.
d. a drug dealer or a drug user.
e. someone seeking to rob him. 48. A woman in North Carolina was found guilty of “lewd and lascivious association” because she lived with her
boyfriend. Her behavior is also known as:
a. cohabitation.
b. divorce.
c. noncustodial parenting.
d. symbolic interactionism.
e. intentional communities.
49. In “Single Fathers Rearing Children,” Geoffrey Greif points out that “more fathers are rearing children alone
following separation and divorce than ever before.” However, what important disclaimer do you think Greif made?
a. Single fathers are still only about 15 percent of all single parents.
b. Many states have laws against giving sole custody to fathers following a divorce.
c. Most of these fathers move back in with their parents so that their children live with
grandparents.
d. Soon there will be more single fathers than single mothers.
e. Single fathers have been shown to be much worse parents than single mothers.
50. Groups that form communal living arrangements like communes, monasteries, ashrams, and housing cooperatives
are called:
a. extended families.
b. polyandry.
c. endogamy.
d. intentional communities.
e. postmodern families.
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