Week 4 - Political Systems

1. Power that is institutionalized and exercised according to norms and statuses of organizations is the definition of

dominance.
leadership.
influence.
authority.

2. Johnny has convinced his friends that he will hurt them if they do not play the game he wants to play, and they reluctantly go along with him. This is an example of the exercise of

power.
authority.
influence.
leadership

3. Political institutions require legitimacy because

use of force or coercion eventually will be insufficient to govern a society.
power cannot be exercised without it.
their leaders like to think they are loved.
All of the above

4. Which of the following is an example of traditional authority?

Jesus Christ
The absolute monarchs of Europe (e.g. Kings and Queens)
George Bush
Bureaucrats

5. Charismatic authority finds its legitimation in people's belief that their leader

has been duly elected by the people and represents their ideas and interests.
embodies their traditions and customs and thus has a right to lead.
has a right to lead because of his or her ability to govern efficiently and rationally.
has God-given or superhuman powers to lead them in new directions.

6. Leaders who use personal charisma and political symbols to manipulate public opinion are called

demagogues.
charismatic leaders.
lobbyists.
loyal opposition.

7. The belief of a people that they have the right and duty to constitute themselves as a nation-state is called

statism
nationalism
patriotism
ethnicism

8. Which of the following is NOT one of the rights of citizenship, as defined by T.H. Marshall?

Civil rights
Political Rights
Social Rights
Economic Rights

9. Wright Mill's power-elite thesis argues that

'democratic' political institutions are not, in fact, democratic
political decisions are controlled by an elite of rich and powerful individuals at the top of the military, government, and corporate structures
efforts to overthrow the power elite would require both the working and the middle classes working together
All of the above

10. The theory that many decision makers are engaged in a process of coalition building and bargaining is known as the

power-elite model.
pluralist model.
democratic model.
participatory model.

11. Which of the following is NOT one of the 'structural prerequisites' Seymour Martin Lipset thinks must exist for democracy and the rule of law to develop?

economic development
urbanization
a power elite
literacy
a large middle-class

12. Which of the following is NOT true regarding Alexis de Tocqueville's views on democracy?

He believed the U.S. was only a pseudo-democracy, actually governed by a largely hidden elite
He was concerned that some democratic societies might see the rise of demagogues who could manipulate the masses
He believed that the large number of competing groups in the U.S. political system would prevent the rise of demagogues here
He believed that the U.S. was very democratic, with political activity in evidence nearly everywhere

13. Who argued that 'Political speech and writing are largely the defense of the indefensible'?

Max Weber
Karl Marx
George Orwell
Alexis de Tocqueville

14. A political system in which one person or group rules a whole nation or society is known as

a democracy.
an autocracy.
a socialist democracy.
a proletariat.

15. According to Janowitz's study of the military, having citizens serve in the military has

often led to the overthrow of democracies by would-be demagogues
often led to the military protecting democratic and civilian institutions, since citizens tend to be committed to democratic institutions
had no impact on the maintenance of democratic institutions
undermined military preparedness in the U.S.

16. According to Kornblum, the large economic role of the military in the U.S.

undermines the social control of the military
leads to pork barrel federal spending
leads to significant export of military weapons, thereby promoting armed conflicts elsewhere in the world
All of the above

17. Which of the following is NOT one of the socialization processes used to promote high levels of motivation and commitment among military recruits?

Suppression of previous statuses
Teaching new norms and rules
Development of solidarity among recruits
Promoting the bureaucratic spirit, where recruits are taught to follow all orders without question
Promoting a democratic spirit, so recruits will feel they have some control over their institution

18. Rule by a few people who seek to stay in office indefinitely is called a(n)

autocracy
oligarchy
personality cult
power elite

19. Which of the following is NOT part of Robert Putnam's 'bowling alone' thesis?

People are bowling less often today than they did in previous generations
People are increasingly disengaged from civic life in the U.S.
Disengagement from civic life leads to apathy and resentment of government
Disengagement from civic life is due significantly to the impact of television

Week 5 - Education

20. Which of the following was NOT true of James Comer's efforts to reform public schools in the inner city? (Comer is the educational philosopher discussed at the start of the Kornblum chapter)

He thought the main problem was that not enough was asked of students, so demands on students should be raised
He proposed that schools needed to pay more attention to child development and managing the schools better.
He tried to ally parents and schools more closely, in part to reduce the differences between the schools and the students home life.
Many students in poor neighborhoods end up labeled as 'slow learners' or behavior problems, but they really are just the victims of poverty, racism, unemployment, violence, and other social problems.

21. Which of the following is NOT true of Paul Willis' findings in his study of working-class boys in a school in England?

They believed that rather than trying to help them, their teachers were really pushing them into low-prestige futures, reproducing their parent's working class position.
Education's main purpose is to prepare most kids for an unequal future (e.g. preparing working class kids for working class jobs) and by insuring their personal underdevelopment.
Students like the 'lads' liked to make fun of high achievers as a way of resisting the social forces channeling them into working-class futures.
Despite some minor biases against students from the working-class, most schools provide a real route to social mobility for the working class.

22. Conflict theorists view education in modern societies as

complex sets of behavior patterns with structure and function.
serving to falsely legitimize and thereby maintain the unequal status quo.
sets of interactions and patterns of socialization.
functioning to pass on the knowledge and skills of one generation to the next.

23. What did James Coleman's research show about adolescents?

Adolescents' social world is increasingly intertwined with that of the adults.
Schools help create a social world for adolescents, and thus a distinct youth culture, by separating them from adults.
The Adolescent Society is very stratified and differentiated.
Interaction between older and younger adolescents has become increasingly tense and conflict-ridden.

24. Which of the following is NOT one of the various goals or expectations that people have for schools today, as summarized by Kornblum?

Preparing children for careers in a technologically advanced society.
Teaching children basic job-related skills.
Reducing the number of years children attend school, so they can get a jump start on learning more valuable job skills in the 'real world'.
Helping them maintain their cultural identities.
Increasing the level of student achievement.

25. While educational --------------- refers to the number of years of school a person has completed, educational --------------- refers to how much they actually learned.

attainment; knowledge
achievement; attainment
attainment; achievement
achievement; knowledge

26. Placing 'higher achieving' students in accelerated classes, and others in less challenging classes is called

the achievement ideology.
channeling.
mainstreaming.
tracking.

27. The practice referred to in the previous question tends to

reduce social inequalities between classes and races
increase social inequalities between classes and races
not effect social inequalities between classes and races
reduce social inequalities between classes but increase social inequalities between races

28. Research shows that the main reason that students drop out of high school is because of

marriage and pregnancy
poor academic performance
the demands of their jobs
financial cutbacks in schools

29. Jay MacLeod's study of the Hallway Hangers and the Brothers found that

economic factors aren't enough to explain success and failure in schools; culture also counts
families and other social factors play important roles in shaping children's attitudes towards schools
almost all kids growing up in poverty develop anti-school attitudes
All of the above
Both A and B

30. Studies show that inequality in higher education is primarily a matter of

unequal intelligence.
unequal efforts.
unequal ability to pay.
luck.

31. Lourdes Diaz Soto found that 'English only' instruction results in ------------ among children from homes in which Spanish is the primary language.

higher educational achievement
greater social integration
frustration and disappointment
lower educational attainment

32. Which of the following is NOT true, regarding Sandra Baum's research on education and social class?

Children from high-income families were more likely to attend college than children from low-income families
Children from low-income families with high achievement test scores were more likely to attend college than children from high-income families with low achievement test scores
Children from low-income families were more likely to attend two-year colleges
Students who attend two-year colleges first were more likely to complete a four year college than students who go directly to four-year colleges

33. The view that differences in economic payoffs (e.g. jobs) are justified or explained by differences in investment (e.g. hard work in school) is called

the American Dream
the American Myth
human capital theory
educational investment theory

34. The High/Scope study found that investing in good preschool programs

is largely a waste of money
can produce significant improvements for disadvantaged children
paid off only for middle class and wealthy children
helped slow learners but had no effect on fast learners

35. Which of the following best describes the research findings about student response to conventional classrooms in bureaucratic schools?

They develop ways, such as mentally withdrawing and interrupting, to undercut the teacher's authority.
They find alternatives to learning by doing a large quantity of reading outside the classroom.
They find ways of minimizing the irritation of classroom rigidity by involving themselves in extracurricular activities
They try to get parents to intervene on their behalf when the classes are too boring or too rigid in their structure.

36. Which of the following is NOT part of so-called 'school choice?'

Magnet schools
Allowing parents to choose what grade their children should be placed in
Charter schools
Giving parents vouchers so they can send their children to private schools rather than public schools

37. Coleman's study of efforts to desegregate public schools found that

most schools have been desegregated, and programs such as busing can now be eliminated in most places
desegregation efforts are slowly leading to desegregated schools
efforts to desegregate schools are resulting in increased segregation between black central cities and white suburbs
De facto segregation is nearly eliminated, but de jure segregation continues

Week 6 - Health and Medicine

38. Kornblum defines science as

knowledge obtained through the scientific method
knowledge obtained through technology
knowledge obtained from non-religious (i.e., 'secular') sources
knowledge obtained from 'pure science'

39. According to Kornblum

science has been around for thousands of years, but technology is a relatively recent development
technology has been around for thousands of years, but science is a relatively recent development
science and technology have both been around for thousands of years
science and technology are both relatively recent developments

40. Thomas Kuhn argued that sciences are rooted in broad

technologies
paradigms
cultures
methodologies

41. Scientific investigation that is devoted exclusively to the pursuit of knowledge for its own sake is known as

applied science.
technology.
knowledge.
pure science.

42. The use of known scientific principles to solve a practical problem is called

pure science.
analytical science.
applied science.
rational science.

43. Which of the following is NOT true of technology?

It is pure science.
It is older than science.
It is an aspect of culture.
It is involved with the use of tools.

44. Workers' resistance to the introduction of new technologies because of a fear of the loss of their jobs became known as

alienation
class struggle
hypertrophy
Luddism

45. The function of institutions of science is to

create technology.
benefit humans by efficiently solving life's problems.
create jobs for scientists and, ultimately, for all society.
extend knowledge by means of a specific set of procedures.

46. Which of the following best explains the norm of universalism?

Scientific research should be useful to people all over the world, regardless of their ability to pay for its benefits.
Scientific knowledge is true throughout the universe because it has been accumulated on the basis of reason.
Truth of scientific knowledge must be determined by the impersonal criteria of the scientific method, not characteristics of the scientist.
Since scientists throughout the world use the same methods, their findings are nearly always compatible.

47. That a scientist does not allow the desire for personal gain to influence the reporting and evaluation of results is known as

disinterestedness.
objectivity.
subjectivity.
universalism.

48. Which of the following is an example of a violation of the norm of disinterestedness?

'Cold fusion' research
Galileo's research
Charles Darwin's research
Jonas Salk's experiments

49. The fact that technological changes often have both positive and negative effects is called technological

ambiguity.
dualism.
dysfunctionalism.
dialecticalism.

50. Although various birth control techniques have been universally available in the United States for more than twenty years, many people still maintain the idea that premarital sexual intercourse is acceptable for young men but not for young women. Such a belief is an example of

technological assessment.
cultural lag.
structural disequilibrium.
cultural assimilation.

51. Studies show that -------------- tend to bear the heaviest burden of pollution.

scientists
the poor, minorities, and workers in industrial regions
plant managers and supervisors
the wealthiest classes in the wealthiest societies

52. If you combined a serious commitment to efficient energy use with the rapid development of renewable energy sources you would have to rely on

direct energy paths.
indirect energy paths.
soft energy paths.
hard energy paths.

53. Development that does not damage the environment or create new environmental burdens is known as

sustainable development
maintainable development
balanced development
resource development

54. The development of increasingly sophisticated and costly medical technologies has led to a crisis in American medical care due to the fact that many Americans cannot afford to pay for good health care. This situation has led to a condition that some critics refer to as

technology assessment.
discovery attainment.
hypertrophy.
hypotechnicalism.

55. N. D. Konfratieff argued that technological innovation follows a -------------------- pattern

unilinear
multilinear
curvelinear
cyclical

56. Knauss and Lynn's research on doctor's behavior with patients who have signed living wills found that ---------------- is the primary reason that patients' wishes and instructions are sometimes disregarded.

the religious views of doctors
poor communication
pressure by hospital administrations to maximize billable treatment
hero self-worship of doctors

57. --------- is the study of how diseases originate and spread in human populations and how societies can develp better public health systems to attach the causes of illness.

Medical sociology
Epidemiology
Forensic sociology
Health sociology

58. ---------- are technologies that require larger numbers of people.

Capital-intensive technologies
Labor-intensive technologies
Hard energy paths
None of the above

Week 7 - Communications Media and Technology

59. According to the video lesson, before television, radio, or motion pictures, most of our perceptions about war were influenced by

newspapers and word of mouth
front line soldiers
military personnel
preachers

60. According to the video lesson, in the -------------, most of the images and news about the war were managed through generals and the secretary of defense.

Vietnam conflict
Korean war
World War II
Gulf War

61. According to the video lesson, which of the following is a result of large conglomerates controlling the communications media?

We see a mainstream of dominant beliefs and values
There is a devaluing of a diversity of opinions
There is a lessening of presenting other perspectives and opinions
All of the above