Part 1:
1. Race involves certain considered important by a society, and ethnicity refers to certain
a) Biological traits; cultural traits
b. Cultural traits; biological traits
c. Differences in social standing; beliefs and attitudes
d. Lifestyles; religions
2. Which of the following categories represents the largest share of the U.S. population?
a. Arab-Americans
b) Hispanic-Americans
c. Asian- Americans
d. African-Americans
3. A minority is defined as a category of people who
a. Have physical traits that make them different from other people.
b. Are less than half of any society's population.
c. Are defined as being different and subject to disadvantages.
d. Are below average in terms of income.
4. Sociologists claim that race is
a. Just a matter of skin color.
b. The same as ethnicity.
c. A misleading concept that does not fit reality very well.
d. Not related to social stratification.
5. The United States is not truly pluralistic because
a. Most of our population lives in ethnic enclaves.
b) Different racial and ethnic categories are unequal in social standing.
c. This Country has a history of slavery.
d. All of the above are correct.
6. Which of the following terms correctly describes immigrants from Guatemala coming to the United States and learning to speak the English language?
a. Assimilation
b. Segregation
c. Genocide
d. Pluralism
7. Most but not all Arab Americans have cultural ties to which regions of the world?
a. South and Central America
b. Southern Africa
c. Asia
d. The Middle East
8. Which of the following is an example of institutional discrimination?
a. A student does not wish to have a roommate of a certain ethnic background.
b. Police are more likely to stop motorists of a particular race.
c. A manager refuses to promote a worker because of her race.
d. All of the above are correct.
9. Both Marx's class theory and multicultural theory are examples of which theoretical approach?
a. Structural-functional approach
b. Symbolic-interaction approach
c. Social- conflict approach
d. None of the above is correct
10. In general, people in which category would show the strongest support for the policy of affirmative action?
a. People in all political categories
b. RadVals
c. Conservatj2les
d. Liberals
Part 2:
1. Crime is defined as :
a. Violations of laws enacted by federal, state, or local governments.
b. Any rule breaking that involves punishment.
c. Offences that involve violence or the threat of violence.
d. Norms formally created through a society's political system.
2. Which of the following serious crimes is most common?
a. Robbery
b. Forcible rape
c. Larceny-theft
d. Motor vehicle theft
3. The FBI collects crime data that are based on:
a. Offences resulting in a criminal conviction.
b. Offences that the police clear by making an arrest.
c. Offences th /police find out about.
d. All crimes thatoccur.
4. Dr. C. Henry Kempe is important in the history of family violence because he was responsible for defining which of the following as a social problem?
a. Violence against women.
b. Child abuse.
c. Elder abuse.
d. Parental neglect.
5. A majority of people arrested for a violent crime in the United States are of which racial category?
a. Asian
b. African-American
c. White
d. Hispanic
6. Which of the following is an example of a victimless crime?
a. Murder
b. Suicide
c. Stealing a bicycle
d. Gambling
7. Which of the following is the oldest justification for societies' punishing an offender?
a. Retribution
b. Societal protection
c. Deterrence
d. Rehabilitation
8. Emile Durkheim explained that crime is:
a. Defined by the rich and likely to result in arrest for the poor.
b. Harmful not just to victims but to a society as a whole.
c. Likely to cause a breakdown in public morality.
d. Found in every society.
9. When Sasha's friends began calling her a "klepto", she left the group and found new friends who liked to go shoplifting. Before long, Sasha had become very good at stealing and was making most of her living this way. Edwin Lemert would say Sasha's transformation is an example of:
a. Primary deviance.
b. Developing secondary deviance.
c. The formation of a deviant subculture. /
d. The beginninfrof retreatism.
10. A conservative analysis of the crime problem is likely to point to which of the following?
a. Who does and does not have money or power
b. How strong the economy is
c. Families not parenting their children eno gh
d. The operation of the capitalist economy
Part 3:
1. Which institution guides a society's decisions about how to live?
a. The family
b. The economy
c. Politics
d. Government
2. According to Adam Smith, a capitalist economic system operates based on
a. Self interest
b. Tradition
c. The collective well being of society
d. Government
3. Typically, the economic system that creates the least amount of economic inequality is
a. Capitallri
b. Socialism
c. A mixed economy
d. None of the above is correct
4. Which term refers to a market dominated by a few companies?
a. Interlocking directorate
b. Monopoly
c. Conglomerate
d. Oligopoly
5. About what share of U.S. voters turned out to cast a ballot in the 2008 presidential election?
a. 13 percent
b. 43 percent
c. 63 percent
d. 93 percent
6. Which of the following categories of people in the United States is least likely to vote?
a. Seniors
b. Middle-income people
c. College age people
d. White people
7. Which model claims that power is widely dispersed throughout the U.S. population?
a. The pluralist model
b. The power elite model
c. The Marxist political economy model
d. The military industrial complex
8. Which model claims that solving the political and economic problems of our society requires not reform but fundamental change?
a. The pluralist model
b. The power elite model
c. The Marxist political economy model
d. The military industrial complex
9. Support for the welfare state as a way to deal with economic problems such as poverty comes mostly from
a. Conservatives
b. Liberals
c. Radical left
d. None of the above is correct
10. If you can claim that a market system does a good job of providing for the greatest number of people, you are speaking from which political perspective?
a. Conservative
b. Liberal
c. Radical left
d. None of the above is correct
Part 4:
1. The sociological imagination helps us to see that social problems
a. Result from the fact that some people make poor decisions.
b. Result from the operations of society.
c. Are conditions that harm only a small number of people.
d. Are the same issues today as they were several generations ago.
2. The social-constructionist approach states that
a. What people define as problems are always, objectively speaking, very harmful to everyone.
b. People suffer from problems of their own making.
c. Social problems arise as people define conditions as undesirable and in need of change.
d. What most people see as serious problems actually harm very few people.
3. The process of trying to convince the public to define some condition as a social problem is called
a. Claims making.
b. Propaganda.
c. Emergence.
d. Coalescence.
4. The reason to take a global perspective on social problems is that
a. Many problems threaten the entire planet.
b. Many problems are more serious in other countries than they are in the United States.
c. Many problems are global in scope, involving many nations.
d. All of the above are correct.
5. Marxist theory of capitalism is an example of which theoretical approach?
a. The structural-functional approach.
b. The social-conflict approach.
c. The symbolic-interaction approach.
d. All of the above are correct.
6. The method of sociological research that is most likely to reveal cause and effect is
a. A survey.
b. Secondary analysis.
c. An experiment.
d. Field research.
7. If you were trying to evaluate a crime control policy, which of the following questions would you likely ask?
a. How do we define success?
b. What are the costs of this program?
c. Which program should this program target?
d. All of the above are correct.
8. Referring to the political spectrum, where does the largest share of U.S. adults place themselves?
a. In the middle
b. To the left of center
c. To the right of center
d. At one extreme or the other
9. Which of the following is true of people who are social conservatives?
a. They support high taxes.
b. They support feminism.
c. They are "pro-life" in the abortion controversy.
d. They support a higher minimum wage.
10. In general, which of the following categories of people would be most likely to include economic liberals?
a. High income people
b. Low income people
c. People with professional degrees, such as doctors and lawyers
d. All of the above are correct.
Part 5:
1. The richest 20 percent of U.S. families earn about what share of all income?
a. 15 percent
b. 20 percent
c. Almost 50 percent
d. More than 85 percent
2. Progressive taxation is a policy that means
a. Low-income people pay a larger share of their income in taxes than high-income people.
b. Low-income people pay no taxes.
c. Everyone pays taxes at the same rate.
d. The higher the income, the larger share of income paid in taxes.
3. In 2007, the government defined what share of the U.S. population as poor?
a. 12.5 percent
b. 22.5 percent
c. 32.5 percent
d. 42.5 percent
4. Of the following age categories, which has the highest rate of poverty?
a. Elderly people
b. Children
c. Middle -aged people
d. People in their twenties
5. Being poor in the United States means you are likely to experience which of the following?
a. Poor health
b. Inadequate housing
c. Limited schooling
d. M All of the above are correct
6. The 1996 welfare reforms
a. Just about ended poverty in the United States.
b. Made the poverty level go up.
c. Reduced the number of people on welfare but did little to reduce poverty.
d. Created a pattern of welfare dependency.
7. Feminist theory focuses on which of the following issues?
a. How people define the poor
b. The fact that U.S. society gives men more power over women
c. The fact that poverty involves cultural capital as well as money
d. The fact that racial and ethnic minorities are at a high risk of poverty
8. The argument that individuals should have most of the responsibility for their social position is typically made by
a. Conservatives.
b. Liberals.
c. Radicals.
d. All of the above are correct.
9. Support for government assistance programs that form a "social safety net" is typically given by
a. Conservatives.
b. Liberals.
c. Radicals.
d. All of the above are correct.
10 Which of the following would be a radical-left solution to the problem of poverty?
a. Replace the capitalist economic system
b. Provide a "social safety net" to help needy people
c. Encourage people to take responsibility for their own well-being
d. Raise the minimum wage