Section Quiz

Which of the following best describes sociology as a subject?

1. The study of individual behavior
2. The study of cultures
3. The study of society and social interaction
4. The study of economics

C. Wright Mills once said that sociologists need to develop a sociological __________ to study how society affects individuals.

1. culture
2. imagination
3. method
4. tool

A sociologist defines society as a group of people who reside in a defined area, share a culture, and who:

1. interact
2. work in the same industry
3. speak different languages
4. practice a recognized religion

Seeing patterns means that a sociologist needs to be able to:

1. compare the behavior of individuals from different societies
2. compare one society to another
3. identify similarities in how social groups respond to social pressure
4. compare individuals to groups

Which of the following was a topic of study in early sociology?

1. Astrology
2. Economics
3. Physics
4. History

Which founder of sociology believed societies changed due to class struggle?

1. Émile Comte
2. Karl Marx
3. Plato
4. Herbert Spencer

The difference between positivism and antipositivism relates to:

1. whether individuals like or dislike their society
2. whether research methods use statistical data or person-to-person research
3. whether sociological studies can predict or improve society
4. all of the above

Which would a quantitative sociologists use to gather data?

1. A large survey
2. A literature search
3. An in-depth interview
4. A review of television programs

Weber believed humans could not be studied purely objectively because they were influenced by:

1. drugs
2. their culture
3. their genetic makeup
4. the researcher

Which of these theories is most likely to look at the social world on a micro level?

1. Structural functionalism
2. Conflict theory
3. Positivism
4. Symbolic interactionism

Who believed that the history of society was one of class struggle?

1. Émile Durkheim
2. Karl Marx
3. Erving Goffmann
4. George Herbert Mead

Who coined the phrase symbolic interactionism?

1. Herbert Blumer
2. Max Weber
3. Lester F. Ward
4. W. I. Thomas

A symbolic interactionist may compare social interactions to:

1. behaviors
2. conflicts
3. human organs
4. theatrical roles

Which research technique would most likely be used by a symbolic interactionist?

1. Surveys
2. Participant observation
3. Quantitative data analysis
4. None of the above

Kenneth and Mamie Clark used sociological research to show that segregation was:

1. beneficial
2. harmful
3. illegal
4. of no importance

Studying sociology helps people analyze data because they learn:

1. interview techniques
2. to apply statistics
3. to generate theories
4. all of the above

Berger describes sociologists as concerned with:

1. monumental moments in people’s lives
2. common everyday life events
3. both a and b
4. none of the above