CHAPTER 1 Sociology and The Real World
TRUE/FALSE
1. Humans are essentially social beings.
ANS: T DIF: Easy REF: Page 9 OBJ: What Is Sociology?
(II.A)
NOT: Factual
2. According to C. Wright Mills, most people think about their problems as issues of social
structure, rather than as matters of character, psychology, or chance.
ANS: F DIF: Medium REF: Page 16
OBJ: The Sociological Imagination (II.B.i) NOT: Factual
3. C. Wright Mills described a process by which biography (individual lives) and history
(larger social forces) are related. He argued that this process works in two ways:
individual lives influence society while society also influences individuals.
ANS: T DIF: Easy REF: Page 16
OBJ: The Sociological Imagination (II.B.i) NOT: Factual
4. It is the responsibility of a sociologist to question everything that the everyday person
would take for granted.
ANS: T DIF: Easy REF: Page 8 OBJ: Social Science (II.A.i)
NOT: Factual
,5. Like many foreign observers, Alexis de Tocqueville was intrigued by the American way
of life and uncritically celebrated it for the way it practiced the ideals of freedom and
democracy.
ANS: F DIF: Medium REF: Page 23
OBJ: America as a Place and an Ideal (III.B.i) NOT: Factual
6. America is so powerful that it doesn’t need the support of other nations.
ANS: F DIF: Easy REF: Page 25
OBJ: The United States in Global Perspective (III.C) NOT: Factual
7. Unlike other aspects of society, like the economy, the media have not become truly
global in nature.
ANS: F DIF: Easy REF: Page 25
OBJ: The Mass Media and Popular Culture (III.C.ii) NOT: Factual
8. Marshall McLuhan’s optimistic vision of a “global village,” where conflict would
decrease as we came to feel increasingly connected worldwide, has not been totally
realized.
ANS: T DIF: Easy REF: Page 25
OBJ: The United States in Global Perspective (III.C) NOT: Factual
9. Taking the sociological perspective means thinking sociologically about a problem.
ANS: T DIF: Easy REF: Page 16
OBJ: The Sociological Perspective (II.B) NOT: Factual
,10. We cannot necessarily see society as a whole; we have to look at its component parts.
ANS: T DIF: Easy REF: Page 7
OBJ: What Does Society Look Like? (I) NOT: Factual
11. We tend to think of ourselves as experts regarding life in our own society, but at best this
is only true on a small scale.
ANS: T DIF: Easy REF: Page 8 OBJ: Social Science (II.A.i)
NOT: Factual
12. The most widely accepted definitions of sociology as a discipline are those that are
narrow and focused.
ANS: F DIF: Easy REF: Page 10 OBJ: What Is Sociology?
(II.A)
NOT: Factual
13. Sociologists who work with qualitative data usually reduce that data to numbers, which
can be analyzed and summarized succinctly.
ANS: F DIF: Easy REF: Page 15
OBJ: Quantitative Methods (II.A.iii.a) NOT: Factual
14. Bernard McGrane explains how the “beginner’s mind,” a concept borrowed from the Zen
Buddhist tradition, is the opposite of the sociological perspective.
ANS: F DIF: Medium REF: Page 20 OBJ: Beginner’s Mind
(II.B.iii)
NOT: Factual
, 15. When the French government provides special subsidies to the French film industry to
help make sure that indigenous films can compete with Hollywood pictures, it is an
example of what Marshall McLuhan called the “global village.”
ANS: F DIF: Easy REF: Page 25
OBJ: The United States in Global Perspective (III.C) NOT: Applied
16. When Americans worry about the amount of lead in toys made in China, it is proof that
America is part of a global community.
ANS: T DIF: Easy REF: Page 25
OBJ: The United States in Global Perspective (III.C) NOT: Applied
17. When terrorist groups use the internet to recruit new members and encourage violence, it
demonstrates that Marshal McLuhan may have been too optimistic when he assumed that
mass media would bring people together.
ANS: T DIF: Easy REF: Page 25
OBJ: The United States in Global Perspective (III.C) NOT: Applied
18. One thing that can be learned from the work of the Swiss sociologist Norbert Elias is that
even the most mundane aspects of everyday life can be connected to larger social
structures.
ANS: T DIF: Medium REF: Pages 22–23
OBJ: Sociology and Everyday Life (III.A) NOT: Applied
19. When we ask psychologists to help us understand the behavior of Eric Harris and Dylan
Klebold, who murdered 13 people and injured 24 more at Columbine High School in
1999, we are using our sociological imaginations.
TRUE/FALSE
1. Humans are essentially social beings.
ANS: T DIF: Easy REF: Page 9 OBJ: What Is Sociology?
(II.A)
NOT: Factual
2. According to C. Wright Mills, most people think about their problems as issues of social
structure, rather than as matters of character, psychology, or chance.
ANS: F DIF: Medium REF: Page 16
OBJ: The Sociological Imagination (II.B.i) NOT: Factual
3. C. Wright Mills described a process by which biography (individual lives) and history
(larger social forces) are related. He argued that this process works in two ways:
individual lives influence society while society also influences individuals.
ANS: T DIF: Easy REF: Page 16
OBJ: The Sociological Imagination (II.B.i) NOT: Factual
4. It is the responsibility of a sociologist to question everything that the everyday person
would take for granted.
ANS: T DIF: Easy REF: Page 8 OBJ: Social Science (II.A.i)
NOT: Factual
,5. Like many foreign observers, Alexis de Tocqueville was intrigued by the American way
of life and uncritically celebrated it for the way it practiced the ideals of freedom and
democracy.
ANS: F DIF: Medium REF: Page 23
OBJ: America as a Place and an Ideal (III.B.i) NOT: Factual
6. America is so powerful that it doesn’t need the support of other nations.
ANS: F DIF: Easy REF: Page 25
OBJ: The United States in Global Perspective (III.C) NOT: Factual
7. Unlike other aspects of society, like the economy, the media have not become truly
global in nature.
ANS: F DIF: Easy REF: Page 25
OBJ: The Mass Media and Popular Culture (III.C.ii) NOT: Factual
8. Marshall McLuhan’s optimistic vision of a “global village,” where conflict would
decrease as we came to feel increasingly connected worldwide, has not been totally
realized.
ANS: T DIF: Easy REF: Page 25
OBJ: The United States in Global Perspective (III.C) NOT: Factual
9. Taking the sociological perspective means thinking sociologically about a problem.
ANS: T DIF: Easy REF: Page 16
OBJ: The Sociological Perspective (II.B) NOT: Factual
,10. We cannot necessarily see society as a whole; we have to look at its component parts.
ANS: T DIF: Easy REF: Page 7
OBJ: What Does Society Look Like? (I) NOT: Factual
11. We tend to think of ourselves as experts regarding life in our own society, but at best this
is only true on a small scale.
ANS: T DIF: Easy REF: Page 8 OBJ: Social Science (II.A.i)
NOT: Factual
12. The most widely accepted definitions of sociology as a discipline are those that are
narrow and focused.
ANS: F DIF: Easy REF: Page 10 OBJ: What Is Sociology?
(II.A)
NOT: Factual
13. Sociologists who work with qualitative data usually reduce that data to numbers, which
can be analyzed and summarized succinctly.
ANS: F DIF: Easy REF: Page 15
OBJ: Quantitative Methods (II.A.iii.a) NOT: Factual
14. Bernard McGrane explains how the “beginner’s mind,” a concept borrowed from the Zen
Buddhist tradition, is the opposite of the sociological perspective.
ANS: F DIF: Medium REF: Page 20 OBJ: Beginner’s Mind
(II.B.iii)
NOT: Factual
, 15. When the French government provides special subsidies to the French film industry to
help make sure that indigenous films can compete with Hollywood pictures, it is an
example of what Marshall McLuhan called the “global village.”
ANS: F DIF: Easy REF: Page 25
OBJ: The United States in Global Perspective (III.C) NOT: Applied
16. When Americans worry about the amount of lead in toys made in China, it is proof that
America is part of a global community.
ANS: T DIF: Easy REF: Page 25
OBJ: The United States in Global Perspective (III.C) NOT: Applied
17. When terrorist groups use the internet to recruit new members and encourage violence, it
demonstrates that Marshal McLuhan may have been too optimistic when he assumed that
mass media would bring people together.
ANS: T DIF: Easy REF: Page 25
OBJ: The United States in Global Perspective (III.C) NOT: Applied
18. One thing that can be learned from the work of the Swiss sociologist Norbert Elias is that
even the most mundane aspects of everyday life can be connected to larger social
structures.
ANS: T DIF: Medium REF: Pages 22–23
OBJ: Sociology and Everyday Life (III.A) NOT: Applied
19. When we ask psychologists to help us understand the behavior of Eric Harris and Dylan
Klebold, who murdered 13 people and injured 24 more at Columbine High School in
1999, we are using our sociological imaginations.
