A set of two or more individuals who share a sense of common identity and belonging and who interact on a regular basis is
A. an aggregate.
B. a social group.
C. a social category.
D. a population.
ANSWER: 

People that share the same sex, race, or age are in the same
A. social cohort.
B. social group.
C. social category.
D. population.
ANSWER: 

Relationships that involve few aspects of their members' personalities are found in
A. secondary groups.
B. primary groups.
C. family groups.
D. cohesive groups.
ANSWER: 

Which of the following is NOT a characteristic of primary groups?
A. Intimacy
B. Instrumental or task orientation
C. Face-to-face interaction
D. Cooperation
E. Sympathy and mutual identification between members
ANSWER: 

Which of the following is NOT an example of a secondary group?
A. Classrooms
B. Town committees
C. Political party organizations
D. Families
E. Corporations
ANSWER: 

A reference group is a group that
A. secondary groups refer to when they wish to extend their goals.
B. employers use when checking on the qualifications of an applicant.
C. is composed of relevant others whom we admire and whose behavior we try to imitate.
D. primary groups use as models in establishing norms.
ANSWER: 

Compared with dyads, triads
A. are more stable, since adding another person tends to reduce sexual tension
B. are less stable, since it increases competition for attention
C. are smaller
D. have less conflict
ANSWER: 

Professional associations, such as the American Medical Association and the American Bar Association, are examples of
A. in-groups
B. out-groups
C. nonterritorial communities
D. territorial communities
ANSWER: 

A group used by an individual to judge themselves is called a
A. in-group
B. out-group
C. reference group
D. comparison group
ANSWER: 

After their guests left, Alice and Ted started laughing and talking about how bored they had been. They felt relief and were looking forward to changing to more comfortable clothing and relaxing. Alice's and Ted's relief at the departure of their guests is an example of
A. frontstage behavior.
B. backstage behavior.
C. instrumental leadership.
D. the rationality principle.
ANSWER: 

Which of the following best describes the significance of groups for individuals?
A. Groups are of minimal importance in the growth and development of individual personalities.
B. Groups totally determine people's desires, goals, and plans.
C. Groups are unnecessary for formulating good self-images and adequate functioning.
D. Groups shape individuals' behavior and give their lives meaning.
ANSWER: 

W. I. Thomas' argument that 'situations we define as real, are real in their consequences' is significant because it shows that
A. our understandings or definitions of what is occurring around us guide our actions
B. there is no such thing as reality
C. people usually interpret their world wrongly
D. our understandings of the world are largely objective
ANSWER: 

Goffman's technique of studying how social interaction is guided by our efforts to impress those who may be watching us is known as
A. the narcissistic approach
B. the dramaturgical approach
C. the reciprocity approach
D. structural functionalism
ANSWER: 

The study of the underlying rules of behavior that guide group interaction is known as
A. interactionism
B. the dramaturgical approach
C. ethnomethodology
D. social network analysis
ANSWER: 

When people set up a front stage and a back stage in order to control the impressions they give to others, Erving Goffman would call this
A. dramawork
B. stagework
C. impression management
D. ethnomethodology
ANSWER: 

Kitty Genovese's murder was explained by sociologists as an example of
A. dramaturgy
B. impression management
C. bystander effect
D. territorial conflict
ANSWER: 

In their study of the Nazi army, Morris Janowitz and Edward Shils discovered that the reason Nazi soldiers were so effective and committed was because
A. they were loyal to their small combat unit.
B. the Nazi army bureaucracy went out of their way to care for all its soldiers.
C. they were subjected to massive ideological manipulation, so they were dedicated to Hitler and the Nazi effort.
D. All of the above.
E. None of the above.
ANSWER: 

According to Kornblum, ideological primary groups
A. are less effective than non-ideological primary groups, because ideologies undermine the efficiency of the groups
B. are more effective than non-ideological primary groups, because sharing an ideology often leads to high levels of cohesion and devotion to group leaders and teachings
C. are no more, nor no less, effective than non-ideological primary groups, because ideology generally has little or nothing to do with primary group membership
D. None of the above, since there's no such thing as ideological primary groups; all ideological groups are secondary groups
ANSWER: 


19. Which of the following is characteristic of formal organizations?
A. They have explicit sets of norms, statuses, and roles for each member
B. They are usually democratic, and run by elected figures
C. They usually develop out of informal organizations
D. Membership is such organizations is rarely voluntary; people are either drafted into it, or otherwise required to participate
ANSWER: 

Which of the following is NOT an example of a formal organization?
A. A group of friends at work who meet every Friday to discuss how their week went
B. A New England town meeting
C. Lane Community College
D. The Boy Scouts
ANSWER: 

According to Morris Janowirtz, participation in voluntary organizations
A. has declined slightly in recent years
B. has nearly disappeared in recent years
C. has increased during the past few decades
D. is more common among people living on the semirural fringe of society
ANSWER: 

Which of the following is NOT a characteristic of bureaucracy, according to Max Weber's analysis?
A. Positions are ordered in a hierarchy
B. Personnel are usually hired and promoted by management based on who they know and prefer (Weber called this the "it's not what you know, it's who you know" system)
C. A career ladder exists
D. A system of rules and precedents exists
E. The norm of efficiency dominates
ANSWER: 

Weber argued that bureaucracy has become more common because it makes social life more
A. secular.
B. rational and efficient.
C. personal and meaningful.
D. enchanted.
ANSWER: 

Which of the following is FALSE regarding membership in small groups?
A. People in large cities tend to join small groups more often than people in small towns.
B. Women tend to join small groups more often than men
C. People over age 50 tend to join small groups more often than younger people
D. People with a college education tend to join small groups more often than people with only a high school education
ANSWER: 

According to Wuthnow, people join small groups because
A. they tend to benefit economically from such membership.
B. they need to be part of face-to-face groups in which they attain a sense of community with others.
C. they are pressured into doing so by their families or other significant others.
D. they are an excellent source for finding friends and mates.
ANSWER: 



26. Deviance is defined as
A. behavior that harms others, physically or emotionally
B. behavior that violates the norms of a particular society
C. behavior that violates the laws of a particular society
D. behavior that violates the norms or laws of all societies
ANSWER: 

Which of the following persons is most likely to be classified as deviant?
A. A child whose stealing becomes noticed by school authorities
B. A student who is cheating regularly but never gets caught
C. A child who gets in fights but whose parent is president of the school board
D. A person involved in influence peddling in the state legislature
ANSWER: 

According to Kai Erikson's functionalist analysis, the Salem witch hunt occurred because
A. of the increasingly common practice of engaging in witchcraft rituals by young women in Salem
B. of the weakening of Puritan society, and the need to reaffirm their community values by declaring some people were witches
C. local religious leaders used it as a way to steal the land and wealth of the people they killed.
D. British authorities used it as a way to stem the American Revolution
ANSWER: 

The capacity of a social group, including a whole society, to regulate itself is known as social
A. regulation.
B. equilibrium.
C. control.
D. boundary maintenance.
ANSWER: 

Power is
A. negatively associated with who defines what is considered deviant: the less power people have, the more they control what is defined as deviant
B. positively associated with who defines what is considered deviant: the more power people have, the more they control what is defined as deviant
C. unrelated to who defines what is considered deviant, since deviance is defined objectively
D. related to who defines what is considered deviant, but not to who is punished for deviant behavior
ANSWER: 

When someone is considered deviant because of their race, physical appearance, or other characteristic over which they have no control, sociologists would say s/he has
A. an ascribed deviant status
B. an achieved deviant status
C. a prejudicial deviant status
D. a corporeal deviant status
ANSWER: 

Which of the following is NOT one of the FBI's Index Crimes?
A. Murder
B. Forcible Rape
C. Robbery
D. Espionage
E. Aggravated Assault
ANSWER: 

According to Kornblum, the FBI crime statistics
A. are the most reliable statistics on crime
B. are limited by differences in the effectiveness of crime-reporting agencies
C. are of limited value, since the data covers only reported crimes, not the crime rates for the total population
D. overestimate the amount of real crime, as shown by victimization surveys
E. e. BOTH b and c
ANSWER: 

Which of the following is NOT an example of a deviant subculture?
A. Biker gangs
B. Skinheads
C. Fraternities
D. Anarchists
ANSWER: 

According to Denno's research, an important biological source of social deviance is
A. the throwback to primitive human beings
B. lower innate intelligence
C. childhood hyperactivity
D. mesomorphic body types
ANSWER: 

Which of the following is NOT true, regarding early sociological theories of social deviance that attributed such deviance to 'social pathology'?
A. They argued that deviance was bred in slums and tended to infect innocent slum residents, just as diseases are passed from one person to another
B. These theories led to the building of many juvenile training schools in rural areas to isolate youth from the corrupting influence of cities
C. These theories led to the creation of weekend furlough policies for prisoners, based on the argument that if the population had a small amount of contact with deviants, they would develop an immunity to them
D. These theories are criticized today for relying on subjective definitions of deviance and engaging in circular reasoning, offering little insight into the actual causes of deviance
ANSWER: 

The young man told the social worker that he had tried to be successful in school, but the material was just too hard for him. Therefore, he had resorted to theft to get the stereo he had wanted for so long. This young man's theft falls under which of Robert K. Merton's categories in his functionalist theory of deviance and crime?
A. Innovation
B. Ritualism
C. Retreatism
D. Rebellion
E. Conformity
ANSWER: 

Merton would say a hobo or tramp who chose to ride the rails rather than work a steady job is an example of
A. innovation
B. ritualism
C. retreatism
D. rebellion
E. conformity
ANSWER: 

If a sociologist argued that 'when robber barons used illegal means to acquire great wealth they simply illustrated the logic of capitalism', her argument would most reflect which of the following theories?
A. conflict
B. labeling
C. differential association
D. cultural transmission
ANSWER: 

According to Edwin Sutherland's differential association theory of crime, teenagers in certain neighborhoods became delinquent because they
A. interacted in groups whose culture legitimized crime.
B. inherited genes that gave them a predisposition to become delinquent.
C. were from families that didn't give them enough love and attention.
D. were labeled as delinquent by school and other authorities at a very early age.
ANSWER: 

The 'lumpenproletariat' is Marx's term for
A. the 'robber baron' class, who make great fortunes by swindling and creating monopolies that exploit consumers
B. the middle class bureaucrats and small businessmen that rip off both the government and their customers
C. the poorest strata in society, who are unable to find regular employment and therefore turn to street crimes such as thieving, prostitution, and pickpocketing to make a living
D. the vanguard of the working class revolution, who are labeled deviants by capitalists threatened by their political rebellion
ANSWER: 

Once we are labeled as deviant, we tend to commit additional deviant acts in order to fulfill the negative definitions that society has attached to us. This statement represents which of the following?
A. Independent deviance
B. Additive deviance
C. Primary deviance
D. Secondary deviance
ANSWER: 

In William J. Chambliss' study, he discovered that whether delinquent boys became labeled as delinquent was based largely on the
A. social position of their parents.
B. seriousness of the offense involved.
C. degree of commitment of the delinquent to law-abiding individuals.
D. intelligence and wit of the individuals involved.
ANSWER: 

In the fourth grade Marcia was caught stealing a pencil from a classmate's notebook. The school authorities made note of this incident on Marcia's record, and other teachers in the school called her a little thief. This reputation followed her through high school. The description of Marcia best represents which theory of deviance?
A. Anomie
B. Labeling
C. Differential association
D. Conflict
ANSWER: 

Just as during Prohibition when many people condoned drinking alcohol, many people today condone smoking marijuana. Both are evidence of
A. immorality
B. hypocrisy
C. cultural conflict over definitions of deviancy
D. high cultural deviance
E. elite deviance
ANSWER: 

Kornbloom discussed the weaknesses of theories of deviance. Which of the following is FALSE?
A. Social pathology theory offers no real theory of why deviance and crime occur.
B. Functionalist theory doesn't explain why some people drift into deviant subcultures.
C. Biological theories ignore evidence that crime is a product of socialization.
D. Marxist theories exaggerate the crimes by the poor.
ANSWER: 

Which region of the U.S. has the highest crime rate?
A. Northeast
B. Midwest
C. South
D. West
ANSWER: 

The probability that a person who has served a jail term will commit additional crimes and be jailed again is called
A. revolving crime
B. recidivism
C. rehabilitation
D. the ecology of crime
E. deterrence
ANSWER: 

The probability in the U.S. that a person who has served a jail term will commit additional crimes and be jailed again is approximately what percent?
A. 10%
B. 25%
C. 50%
D. 75%
E. 100%
ANSWER: 

Kornblum suggests that crime rates have significantly declined in the U.S. in recent years because of
A. the reemergence of traditional values (also referred to as the 'decline of anomie')
B. the changing age composition of the U.S. population, especially the movement of the baby-boom generation out of the young adult years, when people are more likely to commit crimes
C. strict gun control laws today
D. the end of the Cold War
ANSWER: 

Which of the following is NOT one of the factors Kornblum uses to explain high rates of interpersonal violence in the U.S.?
A. An inability of Americans to get along with each other, due in part to its multiethnic origins
B. A frontier stage of rapid social change, resulting in traditions of vigilantism and possession of personal weapons
C. Large scale drug epidemics
D. Norms encouraging possession of personal weapons
ANSWER: 

Which of the following statements regarding the rates of homicide is true?
A. The U.S. has one of the lowest rates of homicide in developed nations.
B. The U.S. has among the highest rates of homicide in the world.
C. The homicide rate in the U.S. is significantly higher than other industrially developed countries, but significantly lower than most less developed countries (also known as third world countries)
D. Little can be said about homicide rates in the U.S. because homicide is so inaccurately measured
ANSWER: 

Compared with 1980, the number of people imprisoned in the U.S.
A. has been cut in half, and is among the lowest in the world
B. has remained about the same
C. has doubled
D. has more than tripled
ANSWER: 

In 2000, approximately people __________ were imprisoned in the U.S.
A. 200,000
B. 500,000
C. 1,000,000
D. 2,000,000
E. 4,500,000
ANSWER: 

Functionalists believe prisons serve many important functions. Which of the following is NOT one these functions?
A. restitution
B. deterrence
C. rehabilitation
D. retribution
ANSWER: 

By far the least successful aspect of prison life is
A. restitution
B. deterrence
C. rehabilitation
D. retribution
ANSWER: 

What do most sociologists say about the success of prison systems in the United States?
A. Prisons are a dismal failure.
B. Prisons deter crime.
C. Prisons are appropriate for second offenders, but not for first offenders.
D. Prisons successfully rehabilitate and resocialize most criminals.
ANSWER: 

According to Kornblum, researchers critical of the prison system argue all BUT which of the following?
A. Too many people are being imprisoned and otherwise overseen by the criminal justice system
B. Far from rehabilitating inmates, prisons function more as schools for crime
C. Punishment for drug use and sales is extremely unequally distributed, with young Black men more likely to go to prison today than to go to college
D. Prisons are unable to achieve their goals of promoting deterrence because they are too attractive
ANSWER: 

Studies show that the most effective rehabilitation programs in prisons involve
A. getting prisoners to confess and take responsibility for their crimes
B. making prisons so oppressive that prisoners never want to be sent back again
C. job training and education
D. using chain gangs and military style boot camps
ANSWER: 

Studying the differences between corporate crimes and those committed by people without great wealth and political power would most likely be done by a sociologist using which of the following sociological perspectives?
A. conflict
B. functionalist
C. interactionist
D. None of the above
ANSWER: 
