Introduction to Sociology Test Bank (Chapter 1-20)
Chapter 1
The Sociological Imagination
Multiple-Choice Questions
1. Sociology is the scientific study of
a. human activity in society.
b. mental processes.
c. people.
d. multiple personalities.
ANS: A SEC: The Sociological Imagination TYP: comprehension SOURCE: new
2. From a sociological point of view, a is the day-to-day activities from birth to
death that make up a person’s life.
a. social fact
b. sociological imagination
c. biography
d. autobiography
ANS: C SEC: The Sociological Imagination TYP: comprehension SOURCE: new; study guide
3. Emile Durkheim defined social facts as
a. census statistics.
b. having the remarkable property of existing outside the individual.
c. fundamentally psychological.
d. things we know to be true.
ANS: B SEC: The Sociological Imagination TYP: knowledge
4. Only when people do they come to know the power of social facts.
a. grow older
b. cooperate
c. comply
d. rebel against the established ways of doing things
,ANS: D SEC: The Sociological Imagination TYP: comprehension
5. Durkheim wrote that he was not forced to speak French or to use the legal currency, but
it was impossible for him to do otherwise. Durkheim was writing about
a. mechanical solidarity.
b. social relativity.
c. social facts.
d. social interaction.
ANS: C SEC: The Sociological Imagination TYP: application
6. Durkheim wrote, “Even when, in fact, I can struggle free from these rules and
successfully break them, it is never without being forced to fight against them.” This
statement is a reference to
a. mechanical solidarity.
b. social relativity.
c. social facts.
d. social interaction.
ANS: C SEC: The Sociological Imagination TYP: application
7. “Because I refuse to shave under my arms, I have to pay a price. On a personal level, this
price was my mother’s hostility. On a public level, the price is dealing with the stares of
strangers.” This statement illustrates
a. mechanical solidarity.
b. social relativity.
c. the power of social facts.
d. the idea of double consciousness.
ANS: C SEC: The Sociological Imagination TYP: application
8. A woman writes, “I can’t be anything but what my skin color tells people I am. I am
black because I look black. It does not matter that my family has a complicated
biological heritage.” She is writing about the power of
a. social facts.
b. troubles.
c. the sociological imagination.
d. rationalization.
ANS: A SEC: The Sociological Imagination TYP: application SOURCE: study guide
9. An American traveling to Ghana, Africa, on business notices that the “men, including
the men I was with, hold hands. One day one of the men I was with took my hand as we
, walked. In order not to offend him, I took his hand in mine.” The American is responding
to a(n)
a. trouble.
b. issue.
c. social fact.
d. traditional action.
ANS: C SEC: The Sociological Imagination TYP: application
10. Sociologists argue that people fall in love
a. when they experience a violent, irresistible attraction to another person.
b. only once in the course of a lifetime.
c. when certain conditions are met.
d. with people like themselves.
ANS: CSEC: The Sociological Imagination TYP: comprehension
11. In examining patterns of courtship and marriage, sociologists would emphasize which of
the following in shaping a couple’s decision to marry?
a. the personalities of the couples
b. the importance of love
c. personal preferences
d. social considerations such as age, sex, race, income, etc.
ANS: D SEC: The Sociological Imagination TYP: knowledge SOURCE: new
12. Peter L. Berger equates the sociologist with
a. a curious observer who, walking down the neighborhood streets of a large city, is
fascinated with what he or she cannot see taking place behind the building walls.
b. an Internal Revenue Service auditor.
c. a judge giving instructions to a jury.
d. a talk show host interviewing guests.
ANS: A SEC: The Sociological Imagination TYP: knowledge
13. Peter Berger argues that the logic of sociology presupposes a measure of suspicion
about the way in which human events are officially interpreted by authorities. This
suspicion speaks to , which defines the sociological consciousness.
a. solidarity
b. the debunking motif
c. rationalization
d. false consciousness
ANS: B SEC: The Sociological Imagination TYP: comprehension
, 14. “The fascination of sociology lies in the fact that its perspective makes us see in a new
light the very world in which we have lived all our lives.” This vision of sociology can be
attributed to
a. Peter Berger.
b. Emile Durkheim.
c. C. Wright Mills.
d. W.E.B. DuBois.
ANS: A SEC: The Sociological Imagination TYP: knowledge
15. The number of mobile phones per 1,000 people in the U.S. has increased steadily each
year since the introduction of the mobile phone in 1985. A sociologist studying these
rates would
a. agree that mobile phones are necessary.
b. think about the forces behind this increase in mobile phone use.
c. contemplate the individual reasons for owning a mobile phone.
d. wonder how cell phone manufacturers keep up with demand.
ANS: B SEC: The Sociological Imagination TYP: comprehension SOURCE : new; study
guide
16. Currents of opinion are broadly reflected in
a. personal biographies.
b. rates summarizing various behaviors.
c. advertisements.
d. newspaper headlines.
ANS: B SEC: The Sociological Imagination TYP: comprehension SOURCE : new; study
guide
17. Suicide rates represent one example of what Durkheim would call
a. social statics.
b. toubles.
c. social dynamics.
d. currents of opinion.
ANS: D SEC: The Sociological Imagination TYP: application SOURCE : new
18. The quality of mind that enables us to connect seemingly impersonal and remote
historical forces to the most basic incidents of an individual’s life is
a. the sociological imagination.
b. the structure of opportunities.
c. independent thinking.
d. common sense.
Chapter 1
The Sociological Imagination
Multiple-Choice Questions
1. Sociology is the scientific study of
a. human activity in society.
b. mental processes.
c. people.
d. multiple personalities.
ANS: A SEC: The Sociological Imagination TYP: comprehension SOURCE: new
2. From a sociological point of view, a is the day-to-day activities from birth to
death that make up a person’s life.
a. social fact
b. sociological imagination
c. biography
d. autobiography
ANS: C SEC: The Sociological Imagination TYP: comprehension SOURCE: new; study guide
3. Emile Durkheim defined social facts as
a. census statistics.
b. having the remarkable property of existing outside the individual.
c. fundamentally psychological.
d. things we know to be true.
ANS: B SEC: The Sociological Imagination TYP: knowledge
4. Only when people do they come to know the power of social facts.
a. grow older
b. cooperate
c. comply
d. rebel against the established ways of doing things
,ANS: D SEC: The Sociological Imagination TYP: comprehension
5. Durkheim wrote that he was not forced to speak French or to use the legal currency, but
it was impossible for him to do otherwise. Durkheim was writing about
a. mechanical solidarity.
b. social relativity.
c. social facts.
d. social interaction.
ANS: C SEC: The Sociological Imagination TYP: application
6. Durkheim wrote, “Even when, in fact, I can struggle free from these rules and
successfully break them, it is never without being forced to fight against them.” This
statement is a reference to
a. mechanical solidarity.
b. social relativity.
c. social facts.
d. social interaction.
ANS: C SEC: The Sociological Imagination TYP: application
7. “Because I refuse to shave under my arms, I have to pay a price. On a personal level, this
price was my mother’s hostility. On a public level, the price is dealing with the stares of
strangers.” This statement illustrates
a. mechanical solidarity.
b. social relativity.
c. the power of social facts.
d. the idea of double consciousness.
ANS: C SEC: The Sociological Imagination TYP: application
8. A woman writes, “I can’t be anything but what my skin color tells people I am. I am
black because I look black. It does not matter that my family has a complicated
biological heritage.” She is writing about the power of
a. social facts.
b. troubles.
c. the sociological imagination.
d. rationalization.
ANS: A SEC: The Sociological Imagination TYP: application SOURCE: study guide
9. An American traveling to Ghana, Africa, on business notices that the “men, including
the men I was with, hold hands. One day one of the men I was with took my hand as we
, walked. In order not to offend him, I took his hand in mine.” The American is responding
to a(n)
a. trouble.
b. issue.
c. social fact.
d. traditional action.
ANS: C SEC: The Sociological Imagination TYP: application
10. Sociologists argue that people fall in love
a. when they experience a violent, irresistible attraction to another person.
b. only once in the course of a lifetime.
c. when certain conditions are met.
d. with people like themselves.
ANS: CSEC: The Sociological Imagination TYP: comprehension
11. In examining patterns of courtship and marriage, sociologists would emphasize which of
the following in shaping a couple’s decision to marry?
a. the personalities of the couples
b. the importance of love
c. personal preferences
d. social considerations such as age, sex, race, income, etc.
ANS: D SEC: The Sociological Imagination TYP: knowledge SOURCE: new
12. Peter L. Berger equates the sociologist with
a. a curious observer who, walking down the neighborhood streets of a large city, is
fascinated with what he or she cannot see taking place behind the building walls.
b. an Internal Revenue Service auditor.
c. a judge giving instructions to a jury.
d. a talk show host interviewing guests.
ANS: A SEC: The Sociological Imagination TYP: knowledge
13. Peter Berger argues that the logic of sociology presupposes a measure of suspicion
about the way in which human events are officially interpreted by authorities. This
suspicion speaks to , which defines the sociological consciousness.
a. solidarity
b. the debunking motif
c. rationalization
d. false consciousness
ANS: B SEC: The Sociological Imagination TYP: comprehension
, 14. “The fascination of sociology lies in the fact that its perspective makes us see in a new
light the very world in which we have lived all our lives.” This vision of sociology can be
attributed to
a. Peter Berger.
b. Emile Durkheim.
c. C. Wright Mills.
d. W.E.B. DuBois.
ANS: A SEC: The Sociological Imagination TYP: knowledge
15. The number of mobile phones per 1,000 people in the U.S. has increased steadily each
year since the introduction of the mobile phone in 1985. A sociologist studying these
rates would
a. agree that mobile phones are necessary.
b. think about the forces behind this increase in mobile phone use.
c. contemplate the individual reasons for owning a mobile phone.
d. wonder how cell phone manufacturers keep up with demand.
ANS: B SEC: The Sociological Imagination TYP: comprehension SOURCE : new; study
guide
16. Currents of opinion are broadly reflected in
a. personal biographies.
b. rates summarizing various behaviors.
c. advertisements.
d. newspaper headlines.
ANS: B SEC: The Sociological Imagination TYP: comprehension SOURCE : new; study
guide
17. Suicide rates represent one example of what Durkheim would call
a. social statics.
b. toubles.
c. social dynamics.
d. currents of opinion.
ANS: D SEC: The Sociological Imagination TYP: application SOURCE : new
18. The quality of mind that enables us to connect seemingly impersonal and remote
historical forces to the most basic incidents of an individual’s life is
a. the sociological imagination.
b. the structure of opportunities.
c. independent thinking.
d. common sense.
