SOC 205 Classroom-based Final Exam - Winter 2006

The test consists of three sections:

1. Multiple Choice Section: Click the radio button corresponding to each correct answer. There is one correct answer per question. One point each.

2. Short Essay Section

3. Take Home Essay: Be sure to either submit your takehome essay to the instructor or the Social Science Department Office. 

There is no time limit. You may scroll up and down, answer questions in any order you wish, reconsider and change your answers, etc. 

When you are completely done with the test, click the "Submit" button at the bottom of the test.
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1. Biologically speaking, most scientists argue there are races within the human population.
 a. 29
 b. 13
 c. 5
 d. 3
 e. 1
 

2. Irish Americans, Croatian Americans, and French Canadians are examples of
 a. racial groups
 b. ethnic groups
 c. castes
 d. nativists
 

3. Omi and Winant refer to society's continuous creation and transformation of racial categories as:
 a. racial formation
 b. racial miscegenation
 c. racial bifurcation
 d. racial cloning
 e. racial deformation
 

4. Ethnic groups are rooted in a number of commonalties. Which of the following is NOT one of the bases of ethnic groups?
 a. A common language
 b. A common culture
 c. A common political ideology
 d. A common national origin
 e. A common religion
 

5. According to Eitzen and Zinn, to understand race relations in the U.S. today, you need to realize that the most important difference between majority and minority racial groups is
 a. the minority group is smaller than the majority group
 b. the minority group is subordinated by the majority group
 c. the minority group is less politically organized than the majority group
 d. the minority group is more culturally diverse than the majority group
 

6. According to the 2000 Census data handed out in class, White - Non-Hispanics constitute ------- of the U.S. population.
 a. less than 30%
 b. 30 - 39 %
 c. 40 - 49%
 d. 50 - 59%
 e. more than 60%
 

7. African Americans are approximately ------- percent of the U.S. population today.
 a. 33
 b. 27
 c. 19
 d. 12
 e. 7
 

8. The median household wealth owned by African American and Latino families in 1995 was approximately
 a. $148,000
 b. $42,000
 c. $5,000
 d. $0
 e. less than $0
 

9. True or False: Asian Americans have the highest median income of all 'racial groups' in the U.S., but also significantly higher poverty rates than Whites.
 a. True
 b. False
 

10. Eitzen and Zinn argue that Latinos (a.k.a. Hispanics)
 a. have a diverse history, and no single, coherent community today
 b. will soon become the nation's largest minority group
 c. have no history of oppression in the U.S.
 d. are primarily comprised of Cubans, Puerto Ricans, and South Americans
 e. Both A and B
 

11. When Chinese Americans began to immigrate into the United States during the 1870s and 1880s
 a. they were met with open arms, since unemployment rates were low and their labor was necessary
 b. hostility against the Chinese was so intense, that a law was passed to prohibit any further migration by Chinese to the U.S.
 c. they were forced to obtain photo identification cards
 d. they initially ran into prejudices, but when they worked their way into middle class jobs, were accepted by the dominant population
 

12. Which of the following is FALSE, regarding Native Americans?
 a. Tribes located in the U.S. were and are extremely heterogeneous
 b. They constitute approximately 1 percent of the U.S. population today.
 c. They have the lowest average life expectancies, income, employment, and education of all racial groups in the U.S.
 d. Despite continued problems, Native Americans are beginning to see progress, with the development of a small Indian middle-class, business ownership, and development of good jobs on some reservations
 e. NONE of the above, since all of the above are true.
 

13. Which of the following is FALSE regarding the 2000 census data?
 a. African Americans are the largest minority group in the U.S.
 b. Latinos will soon outnumber African Americans
 c. Asian Americans are growing at the fastest rate (percentage) of all racial groups in the U.S.
 d. The Native American population is rapidly decreasing, and may soon disappear
 

14. Biological deficiency theories of racial inequality argue that
 a. economic opportunities affect groups in different ways
 b. ethnic groups have different lifestyles that keep some groups in secondary status
 c. racial groups differ in innate intelligence
 d. many members of racial minorities have more defective genes than whites do
 

15. Biological deficiency theories of racial inequality are most commonly put forth by
 a. liberals and moderates.
 b. conservatives, reactionaries, and racists.
 c. radicals and socialists.
 d. anti-racists.
 

16. Which of the following is FALSE?
 a. Gunnar Myrdal argues that racial inequality is largely due to a vicious cycle, where inequality leads to prejudice, which leads to discrimination, which leads to continued inequality
 b. David Wellman argues that racial inequality is largely rooted in 'rational discrimination', where people discriminate because its in their interest to do so, not because they are prejudiced
 c. Adorno argues that racial prejudices are rooted in psychological tendencies including authoritarians whose roots can be traced to the class structure of capitalism
 d. Bias theories of racial inequality are most commonly argued by political conservatives
 

17. Neo-Marxist theories of racial inequality argue that racial inequality is rooted primarily in
 a. prejudice against minorities.
 b. class inequality and capitalism.
 c. national liberation struggles.
 d. internal colonialism.
 e. control over cultural resources.
 

18. Which of the following racial groups primarily experienced the 'relations of mediation' (a.k.a. 'middleman minorities') in the U.S.?
 a. African Americans
 b. Jewish Americans
 c. Latinos/Hispanic Americans
 d. Native Americans
 e. BOTH A and B
 

19. Groups that are excluded from the working class when capitalism develops, due to capitalists' lack of need of their labor or inability to turn them into workers, typically suffer from the
 a. relations of mediation
 b. relations of superexploitation
 c. relations of national liberation
 d. relations of exclusion
 e. relations of assimilation
 

20. Typically, races experiencing the ------- suffer the worst abuses (e.g. genocide and being placed on reservations).
 a. relations of mediation
 b. relations of superexploitation
 c. relations of national liberation
 d. relations of exclusion
 e. relations of assimilation
 

21. Conflict theorists would argue that racism exists because
 a. those in power benefit from racist practices
 b. racial minorities need to assimilate and until they do, racism will exist
 c. racial minorities have developed a separate value system as a mechanism to fight the majority society
 d. all of the above
 e. none of the above
 

22. Which of the following is NOT part of William J. Wilson's explanation for why Blacks living in the inner city continue to suffer from high rates of poverty?
 a. A shortage of marriageable men, due to male joblessness
 b. A poor work ethic and a decline of sexual morality
 c. Middle-class (professional) Blacks have increasingly moved to the suburbs, leaving cities depleted of its middle class
 d. Black women are disproportionately divorced and responsible for their children, due to economic conditions in the inner city
 

23. Negative attitudes toward a minority or its individual members is the definition for 
 a. assimilation
 b. prejudice
 c. discrimination
 d. racism
 

24. A bank's decision to forbid loans to areas of a town they think are bad credit risks and that happen to be disproportionately inhabited by Blacks and Latinos, is an example of
 a. individual discrimination
 b. group discrimination
 c. institutional discrimination
 d. prejudice
 

25. Institutional racism refers to overt or intentional acts of racism that harm individuals or their personal property.
 a. True
 b. False
 

26. According to Eitzen and Zinn, racial intolerance in the U.S. has recently
 a. declined, due to increased educational levels among all groups
 b. declined because unemployment has increased and people tend to coalesce during a crisis
 c. increased, particularly on college campuses
 d. remained the same, but become less violent
 

27. According to Eitzen and Zinn, the most comprehensive and accurate explanation of why men are more aggressive than women is that the difference is due to:
 a. hormonal differences, particularly in levels of testosterone
 b. the ways in which societies encourage gender specific behavior
 c. the historical tradition that men tend to be more assertive, while women have usually been more passive
 d. biological differences, as evidenced in laboratory experiments with animals
 

28. ------- is a biological term; ------- is a cultural term
 a. Gender; sex
 b. Sex; gender
 c. Masculine; feminine
 d. Chromosome; genotype
 

29. Evidence that gender differences are largely social, not biological, in origin, include all but which of the following?
 a. Gender differences vary from culture to culture
 b. Gender differences vary over time within cultures and societies
 c. Gender differences vary between and among groups of women and men, depending on class, race, ethnicity, and sexuality
 d. Gender differences vary over the course of all women's and men's lives
 e. None of the above; ALL are evidence that gender differences are largely social
 

30. Which subsistence activity has been most exclusively performed by females?
 a. Hunting
 b. Milking
 c. Fuel gathering
 d. Pottery making
 e. Preparing vegetables
 

31. The order perspective argues that women take on 'expressive' roles of providing affection and emotional support within the family, thus providing a haven in a heartless world, while men perform 'instrumental' roles outside the family and provide economic support.
 a. True
 b. False
 

32. Beliefs, values, and cultural meanings that give higher value and prestige to masculinity than to femininity, that value men over women, and that institutionalize male control of socially valued resources, is called
 a. feminism
 b. male dominance
 c. gender segregation
 d. compulsory heterosexuality
 e. gender polarity
 

33. The idea that many women's occupations need to have their wages raised so that they are paid similarly to jobs dominated by men that require equivalent skills, responsibility, and effort is known as
 a. pay equity
 b. the right to work
 c. workfare
 d. job parity
 

34. ------- policies are designed to bring the pay levels of women into closer alignment with those of men.
 a. Hiring quota
 b. Feminist
 c. Comparable worth
 d. Hiring preference
 

35. The system of sexuality that imposes negative sanctions on those who are homosexual or bisexual is called
 a. homophobia
 b. sexual harassment
 c. compulsory heterosexuality
 d. heterodoxy
 

36. Thanks to the women's movement, most occupations now have a relatively balanced distribution of men and women.
 a. True
 b. False
 

37. On average, women in the U.S. today (1998) make ------ percent of the wages of men.
 a. 32
 b. 42
 c. 59
 d. 76
 e. 92
 

38. Patterns whereby women and men are situated in different jobs throughout the labor force is called
 a. patriarchy
 b. male dominance
 c. gender segregation
 d. gender inequality
 

39. Which of the following is true of compulsory heterosexuality?
 a. In defining masculinity as the negation of homosexuality, compulsory heterosexuality is an important component of the gender system.
 b. Compulsory heterosexuality shapes the gender order by discouraging attachments with members of the same sex.
 c. Compulsory heterosexuality enforces the dichotomy of 'opposite sexes'.
 d. All of the above
 

40. The glass-ceiling refers to
 a. the fact that women are raised to focus on their appearance
 b. patterns of gender discrimination, where women are told that they have equal opportunities for job promotions as men, but in reality significant limitations exist
 c. the unhindered ability of women today to advance to the highest levels of their professions
 d. favorable promotion of men in women's professions
 

41. If you raised your children to blend both masculine and feminine characteristics and roles, you would be raising them to be
 a. gendered
 b. degendered
 c. androgynous
 d. transgendered
 e. transsexual
 

42. Which of the following is a 'gendered institution'?
 a. The family
 b. The workplace
 c. The U.S. Congress
 d. Schools
 e. All of the above. All institutions and organizations are 'gendered'
 

43. According to the research cited in your text, which of the following is most guilty of encouraging different behaviors for girls and boys?
 a. mothers
 b. peer groups
 c. fathers
 d. teachers
 e. ministers
 

44. Acccording to Eitzen and Zinn, the most significant result of Title IX of the Educational Amendments Act is that
 a. the ratio number of girls participating in high school sports increased from 1 in 27 to 1 in 3.
 b. the number of men in high school sports has declined to under 1.5 million, due to cuts in men's sports teams.
 c. while the number of women in college sports has increased, the budget for women's sports has not.
 d. school administrators, athletic directors and school boards were vindicated for their long time support of women in sports.
 

45. How are language differences between men and women manifested?
 a. Men are more patient when talking with women, than they are when talking with other men
 b. Women talk more than men and interrupt other people more often
 c. Women, more than men, are commonly referred to in terms that have sexual connotations
 d. Men end a conversation with a question in order to get you to agree with them; women speak in declarative sentences
 

46. While large numbers of men believe that gender inequality benefits them, in truth sexism is harmful to everyone. Men, for example are commonly inhibited from displaying emotions, thus limiting their ability to communicate fully.
 a. True
 b. False
 

47. ------- believe that 'women should have political, economic, and social rights equal to men'
 a. Functionalists
 b. Assimilation theorists
 c. Feminists
 d. All of the above
 

48. According to functionalism, the division of labor based on gender has survived because
 a. men and women have differential access to the resources needed to succeed outside the home
 b. it provides benefits for society
 c. gender roles are necessary for human survival
 d. women are naturally well-suited for subordinate, nurturing roles
 

49. Suppose you contend, as a feminist, that one should work within existing social structures to create legal and social change for women, and encourage women to work their way into previously male worlds. Your position would be most consistent with the ideas of
 a. socialist feminism
 b. liberal feminism
 c. radical feminism
 d. Marxist feminism
 e. All of the above
 

50. Which of the following is most likely to argue that gender inequality is rooted in patriarchy, and that we need to create new, even separate, social institutions for women to address the problem of gender inequality?
 a. socialist feminism
 b. liberal feminism
 c. radical feminism
 d. Marxist feminism
 

51. Which of the following is most likely to argue that gender inequality is rooted in class inequalities and capitalism?
 a. socialist feminism
 b. liberal feminism
 c. radical feminism
 d. Marxist feminism
 

52. Which of the following is NOT one of liberal feminists' proposed solutions to gender inequality and sexism?
 a. Creating separate institutions for women (e.g. communes, women's health clinics, women-only bookstores)
 b. Education
 c. Anti-discrimination legislation
 d. Affirmative Action
 

53. ------- feminists believe that significant forms of gender inequality began after societies were capable of producing a surplus, leading men to want to know who their offspring were in order to ensure that when they died they could leave their wealth to their children.
 a. Liberal
 b. Marxist
 c. Radical
 d. Socialist
 

54. Marxist feminists would argue that the growing number of women working in paid labor
 a. represents the end of patriarchy
 b. is a product of capitalists using women as a reserve army of labor to lower wage costs
 c. proves that capitalism is NOT the root of gender inequality
 d. has led to higher men's wages, by allowing them to demand higher pay for doing more demanding 'men's work'
 

55. ------- feminists believe that gender inequality is the root of all other forms of social inequality, and has existed throughout most or all of human history.
 a. Liberal
 b. Marxist
 c. Radical
 d. Socialist
 



56. In-class Essay Question 1: Answer ONE of the following questions. 5 points. Be sure identify which question you answer with it's corresponding letter (e.g. "C").

A. Summarize and discuss the debate over how many "races" there are. Summarize and discuss the argument that the term race should be entirely discarded, and replaced by the term "ethnic group." 
B. Explain the argument that "races" are socially, not biologically, formed. What are some of the ways that races are being either created or transformed today? What do Omi and Winant mean by "racial formation?" What recent developments have changed how races are "formed?"
C. Summarize William J. Wilson's explanation of the concentrated poverty of Blacks in the inner-city. Critically assess his theory. Explain in your own words how Wilson's explanation is structural, not cultural. 
D. How do Omi and Winant mean by racial formation? What factors contribute to how races are formed and reformed? What examples of racial formation can you identify? 
E. Why have some white ethnics sought to retain their ethnic identity? Explain why white ethnics, especially those from the working class, might have a particular antagonism for the more recent immigrants who aren't white, despite the fact that most came from immigrant families themselves not long ago.
F. Summarize the racial hierarchies and race relations LeDuff found in his study of the Smithfield Packing Company. How does LeDuff explain these patterns and the animosities between the races in the plant? 
  

57. In-class Essay Question 2: Answer ONE of the following questions. 5 points. Be sure identify which question you answer with it's corresponding letter (e.g. "C").

A. Explain gender stratification from both the order and conflict perspectives. What are the implications of each approach? Which approach do you find more insightful? Why? Support your position as well as possible.
B. What are the limitations, according to E&Z, of the theories of gender that focus on socialization? How can the socialization perspective end up "blaming the victim"? Discuss their argument, using your own experiences and observations of gender and related issues.
C. Briefly compare and contrast order theory, liberal feminist theory, radical feminist theory, Marxist feminist theory, and socialist feminist theory on gender inequality. Be sure to explain how each explains the origins of gender inequality, and what, if anything, they believe is the solution to gender inequality. Which view do you find most insightful in explaining gender inequality? Why? 
D. Summarize Williams main argument regarding the "glass escalator." How is this different from the glass ceiling? How are men in female-dominated professions tracked? Why? 
E. Summarize the Sadkers findings regarding the role that schools play in reproducing gender inequality. How are boys and girls treated differently by teachers? What affects does sexism in schools have on female students? Assess their argument. Is this consistent with your experiences and observations or not? 
  


Self Evaluation of Class Participation

58. Optional: Comments on your participation (especially important if you talked little or none in class): 
  

59. Approximately what percent of class sessions did you attend?
 100%
 90% to 99%
 80% to 89%
 70% to 79%
 60% to 69%
 less than 60%
 

60. Which of the following best describes your frequency of participation?
 Very high level of participation
 High level of participation
 Frequent participation
 Occasional participation
 Rare or only when called on
 Never
 

61. Which of the following best describes the quality of your participation?
 Engaged discussions with your head and soul; added significant insights to class; asked important questions; engaged materials, professor, and students seriously; offered explanations of readings, issues, and concepts; answered questions from the professor; bestowed humor and wit on the class.
 Serious engagement, commented, asked questions, offered explanations of readings, responded to other students points, answered questions from the professor.
 Fair engagement, answered some questions, responded to other's points.
 Superficial engagement, talked some, but largely on easy questions and issues.
 Spoke only when called on, did know the answers.
 Spoke only when called on, didn't know the answers.
 Ran three pens dry doodling, didn't snore when you slept.
 
 
 
    
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Prepared by: jts
After clicking the "Submit" button, you will receive a score based on the number of correct answers, but please be aware that the results may be adjusted (upwards), after the instructor reviews the results of the test. Final grades will be posted on the instructor's webpage, after all tests have been graded. 

Take-home Essay Reminder: Be sure to hand in your completed take-home essay to the instructor as instructed in class. 20 points.

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