SOCIOLOGY MIDTERM COMPREHENSIVE
EXAM QUESTIONS AND SOLUTIONS
◉ Which term refers to the level of broad social forces?
Answer: macro level
◉ Which term best describes a society when legal and/or social
power is vested in men?
Answer: patriarchal
◉ There is a small group of people in town who seem to have all the
money and make all the rules. The rules they make (especially
around employment) are intended to ensure they continue to have
all the money. Which theoretical perspective would be most effective
to analyze the activities in this town?
Answer: conflict theory
◉ Which type of society would conflict theorists find most reflective
of their arguments?
Answer: a society in which a small group of powerful people is at the
top of the social hierarchy and a large group of powerless people is
on the bottom.
,◉ Public sociology refers to the empirical research methods and
sociological theorizing conducted by formally trained researchers.
T/F
Answer: FALSE
◉ The concept of agency refers to the ability of people making their
personal choices. T/F
Answer: TRUE
◉ Seeing the strange in the familiar means recognizing how
different cultures resemble each other. T/F
Answer: FALSE
◉ To complete his undergraduate degree, Paul had taken a variety of
courses for his major and to fulfill his elective requirements. Over
the course of his university experience, he had taken courses that
facilitated the development of a valuable new practise of thinking
that required effort to develop and nurture. By what name is this
new form of thinking known?
Answer: critical thinking
◉ When the members of society share a view that something is right
or wrong, what do we say they are expressing?
Answer: their values
,◉ According to the text, which theory emphasizes explanation and
prediction, assuming that there are objective "laws" that govern the
way society works?
Answer: positivist theorizing
◉ Life chances in Canada remain relatively equal across ethnic
categories. T/F
Answer: FALSE
◉ To commit sociology is to dedicate one's professional life to the
study of society. T/F
Answer: FALSE
◉ Which statement best describes the relationship between micro
and macro?
Answer: Individual experiences which occur at the micro level are
intricately connected to broader social forces at the macro level.
◉ According to the textbook, what does critical thinking involve?
Answer: empirical research methods
◉ What is the best way to describe the work of Max Weber?
, Answer: academic
◉ According to the text, various sociological approaches are linked
to specific theoretical sociological perspectives. Some of these
theoretical perspectives are focused on the individual as the main
element of society. Which level of society is featured in this
perspective?
Answer: micro level
◉ According to C. Wright Mills, what do sociologists try to do?
Answer: They try to understand individual troubles in a broader
historical perspective
◉ Suicide rates in some Indigenous communities are among the
highest in Canada. While suicide is often characterized as an
individual's response to pain, emotional, psychological, and/or other
mental health concerns, what term might Durkheim use to describe
what appears to be a specific issue within an entire community of
people?
Answer: anomie
◉ The sociological imagination refers to how sociologists investigate
topics using scientific methods. T/F
Answer: FALSE
EXAM QUESTIONS AND SOLUTIONS
◉ Which term refers to the level of broad social forces?
Answer: macro level
◉ Which term best describes a society when legal and/or social
power is vested in men?
Answer: patriarchal
◉ There is a small group of people in town who seem to have all the
money and make all the rules. The rules they make (especially
around employment) are intended to ensure they continue to have
all the money. Which theoretical perspective would be most effective
to analyze the activities in this town?
Answer: conflict theory
◉ Which type of society would conflict theorists find most reflective
of their arguments?
Answer: a society in which a small group of powerful people is at the
top of the social hierarchy and a large group of powerless people is
on the bottom.
,◉ Public sociology refers to the empirical research methods and
sociological theorizing conducted by formally trained researchers.
T/F
Answer: FALSE
◉ The concept of agency refers to the ability of people making their
personal choices. T/F
Answer: TRUE
◉ Seeing the strange in the familiar means recognizing how
different cultures resemble each other. T/F
Answer: FALSE
◉ To complete his undergraduate degree, Paul had taken a variety of
courses for his major and to fulfill his elective requirements. Over
the course of his university experience, he had taken courses that
facilitated the development of a valuable new practise of thinking
that required effort to develop and nurture. By what name is this
new form of thinking known?
Answer: critical thinking
◉ When the members of society share a view that something is right
or wrong, what do we say they are expressing?
Answer: their values
,◉ According to the text, which theory emphasizes explanation and
prediction, assuming that there are objective "laws" that govern the
way society works?
Answer: positivist theorizing
◉ Life chances in Canada remain relatively equal across ethnic
categories. T/F
Answer: FALSE
◉ To commit sociology is to dedicate one's professional life to the
study of society. T/F
Answer: FALSE
◉ Which statement best describes the relationship between micro
and macro?
Answer: Individual experiences which occur at the micro level are
intricately connected to broader social forces at the macro level.
◉ According to the textbook, what does critical thinking involve?
Answer: empirical research methods
◉ What is the best way to describe the work of Max Weber?
, Answer: academic
◉ According to the text, various sociological approaches are linked
to specific theoretical sociological perspectives. Some of these
theoretical perspectives are focused on the individual as the main
element of society. Which level of society is featured in this
perspective?
Answer: micro level
◉ According to C. Wright Mills, what do sociologists try to do?
Answer: They try to understand individual troubles in a broader
historical perspective
◉ Suicide rates in some Indigenous communities are among the
highest in Canada. While suicide is often characterized as an
individual's response to pain, emotional, psychological, and/or other
mental health concerns, what term might Durkheim use to describe
what appears to be a specific issue within an entire community of
people?
Answer: anomie
◉ The sociological imagination refers to how sociologists investigate
topics using scientific methods. T/F
Answer: FALSE
