Indicate whether the statement is true or false.
1. In his book Suicide, sociologist Emile Durkheim documented that a high suicide rate was
symptomatic of large‑scale social problems.
a. True
b. False
ANSWER: True
2. Sociologists are exclusively focused on unusual or extreme human behavior in society.
a. True
b. False
ANSWER: False
3. Sociologist Emile Durkheim stressed that people are the product of their social environment.
He observed that rapid social change and a more specialized division of labor produce strains
in society, which lead to a breakdown in traditional organization, values, and authority.
a. True
b. False
ANSWER: True
4. Conflict theorists see the function of inequality as motivating members of society to be more productive.
a. True
b. False
ANSWER: False
5. For functionalist sociologists, society is made up of independent parts.
a. True
b. False
ANSWER: False
6. Unlike Herbert Spencer, Auguste Comte supported the idea of the "survival of the fittest," or
the view of society known as social Darwinism.
a. True
b. False
ANSWER: False
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7. Durkheim observed that anomie is caused primarily by an absence of social change and a lack of specialized
division of labor in society.
a. True
b. False
ANSWER: False
8. According to Émile Durkheim, troubles are the result of personal shortcomings.
a. True
b. False
ANSWER: False
Conflict Theory
9. Conflict theorists have been criticized for overemphasizing the drive for order and stability at the expense
of competition and coercion.
a. True
b. False
ANSWER: False
10. According to Durkheim, social facts can only be explained by other social facts.
a. True
b. False
ANSWER: True
11. Sociologist Emile Durkheim emphasized that individual acts of suicide provide better
explanations of suicide than do suicide rates.
a. True
b. False
ANSWER: False
12. In regard to negative consequences of industrial society, sociologist Max Weber was more concerned
about the impact of rational bureaucracy than of class struggle.
a. True
b. False
ANSWER: True
13. From Durkheim’s perspective, society comprises unrelated, independent parts that contribute
to a stable social order.
a. True
b. False
ANSWER: False
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Chap 01 11e Essentials - Andersen
14. The sociological perspective is the ability to see societal patterns that influence individual and group life.
a. True
b. False
ANSWER: True
15. According to Durkheim, the economic organization of society is the most important influence
on what humans think and how they behave.
a. True
b. False
ANSWER: False
16. Sociology emerged as a response to significant social and political changes in the eighteenth and nineteenth
centuries.
a. True
b. False
ANSWER: True
17. The sociological imagination helps an individual place personal troubles, such as losing his or
her job or feeling like committing suicide, into a larger social context, where the individual can
distinguish whether and how personal troubles may be related to public issues.
a. True
b. False
ANSWER: True
18. According to functionalists, deviance can lead to social change and thus be positive for society.
a. True
b. False
ANSWER: True
19. The Chicago School is characterized by thinkers who are mainly interested in macrosociology.
a. True
b. False
ANSWER: False
20. All the major theoretical perspectives in sociology focus on macrolevel analysis, examining
whole societies, large‑scale social structures, and social systems.
a. True
b. False
ANSWER: False
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Chap 01 11e Essentials - Andersen
21. Weber believed that people’s behavior could only be understood from the objective position
of the outside observer.
a. True
b. False
ANSWER: False
22. According to Weber, sociological research should be used to promote political beliefs.
a. True
b. False
ANSWER: False
23. The sociological imagination refers to the ability to view personal problems independently of
the social settings in which the problems occur.
a. True
b. False
ANSWER: False
24. Symbolic interactionists are solely focused on group interactions within society.
a. True
b. False
ANSWER: False
25. Sociologists focus on social change and ignore social stability.
a. True
b. False
ANSWER: False
Indicate the answer choice that best completes the statement or answers the question.
26. Marx is to _____ as Martineau is to _____.
a. social facts; sui generis
b. class analysis; participant observation
c. racism; sexism
d. ideas-applied research; theory building
ANSWER: b
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