Test Bank For Essentials of Sociology
Chapter One The Study of Society
Chapter One The Study of Society
MULTIPLE-CHOICE QUESTIONS
1. Sociologists are most inclined to explain behavior in terms of:
a. individual personality characteristics.
b. roles and social structures.
c. the biological differences between people.
d. individual attitudes.
ANS: b REF: What is Sociology? DIF: Conceptual OBJ: 1.1
2. Sociology is defined in your text as the systematic study of:
a. mental cognition.
b. the biological difference between individuals.
c. human social interaction.
d. individual human behavior.
ANS: c REF: What is Sociology? DIF: Conceptual OBJ: 1.1
3. The ability to see the intimate realities of our own lives in the context of common social structures is
what C. Wright Mills refers to as:
a. common human drama.
b. the family.
c. the sociological imagination.
d. a social script.
ANS: c REF: What is Sociology? DIF: Factual OBJ: 1.1
4. Public issues are different from personal troubles in that issues affect a:
a. few people and require personal adjustments.
b. few people and require structural adjustments.
c. large number of people and require personal adjustments.
d. large number of people and require structural adjustments.
ANS: d REF: What is Sociology? DIF: Factual OBJ: 1.1
5. According to C. Wright Mills, the difficulties that John and Mary experience in their marriage
represent a personal trouble. The fact that 250 out of every 1000 marriages ends in divorce within the
first 4 years, however, is:
a. a public issue.
b. a sign of moral collapse.
c. a latent dysfunction of marriage.
d. meaningless.
ANS: a REF: What is Sociology? DIF: Applied OBJ: 1.1
1
,Test Bank For Essentials of Sociology
Chapter One The Study of Society
6. The sociological imagination does all of the following EXCEPT:
a. offer a new way to look at social issues.
b. offer a new way to solve social issues.
c. suggest the benefit of considering the impact of social forces as well as personal choices.
d. suggest that individuals bear no responsibility for their choices.
ANS: d REF: What is Sociology? DIF: Factual OBJ: 1.1
7. According to your text, what distinguishes social sciences from fields such as journalism, medicine, or
the law?
a. Social sciences are interested in human behavior.
b. Social sciences use a critical and systematic examination of evidence before reaching any
conclusion.
c. Social sciences try to approach each research question from a position of moral neutrality.
d. Social sciences are interested in society, not individuals.
ANS: b REF: What is Sociology? DIF: Conceptual OBJ: 1.1
8. The social sciences rely on empirical research. This means that they:
a. are very philosophical.
b. are less scientific that other fields such as journalism and medicine.
c. are based on systematic examination of evidence.
d. use research methods that are very different from those used in the sciences.
ANS: c REF: What is Sociology? DIF: Conceptual OBJ: 1.1
9. Which of the following is NOT a reason for the emergence of sociology as a field of study?
a. political changes
b. changing gender roles
c. economic change
d. intellectual upheavals
ANS: b REF: The Emergence of Sociology DIF: Factual OBJ: 1.1
10. Which of these conditions contributed to the early development of sociology?
a. a period of stability that gave people time to reflect about society
b. changes brought by the Industrial Revolution
c. the need for reconstruction in the South following the Civil War
d. social and economic prosperity in Europe and America
ANS: b REF: The Emergence of Sociology DIF: Factual OBJ: 1.1
11. The credit for founding the discipline of sociology is given to:
a. Thomas Hobbes.
b. Émile Durkheim.
c. Auguste Comte.
d. Herbert Spencer.
ANS: c REF: The Emergence of Sociology DIF: Factual OBJ: 1.2
2
,Test Bank For Essentials of Sociology
Chapter One The Study of Society
12. According to Comte, understanding society requires recognizing forces for stability and order, as well
as change. Today, sociologists refer to these using the terms:
a. social structure and social process.
b. continuity and change.
c. social conflict and social order.
d. symbolic interaction and social interaction.
ANS: a REF: The Emergence of Sociology DIF: Factual OBJ: 1.2
13. The belief that the social world can be studied with the same scientific accuracy and assurance as the
natural world is known as:
a. relativism.
b. cause and effect.
c. methodology.
d. positivism.
ANS: d REF: The Emergence of Sociology DIF: Factual OBJ: 1.2
14. Spencer believed:
a. the environment will adapt to society.
b. there is one best way to organize society.
c. society is an adaptation to its environment.
d. all parts of society work separately.
ANS: c REF: The Emergence of Sociology DIF: Factual OBJ: 1.2
15. One of Spencer’s biggest contributions to sociology was his:
a. model for understanding changing exploitative labor laws.
b. study of the unfair treatment of women.
c. caution to sociologists to put aside their biases, opinions, and wishes when conducting research.
d. development of the concept of economic determinism.
ANS: c REF: The Emergence of Sociology DIF: Factual OBJ: 1.2
16. According to Marx, the most basic element of any human society is:
a. the family.
b. religion.
c. laws.
d. the economic system.
ANS: d REF: The Emergence of Sociology DIF: Factual OBJ: 1.2
17. According to Marx, what was necessary for social change?
a. conflict between groups with opposing economic interests
b. working with politicians
c. change within the family
d. through working with the leadership of the church
3
, Test Bank For Essentials of Sociology
Chapter One The Study of Society
ANS: a REF: The Emergence of Sociology DIF: Factual OBJ: 1.2
18. In what way were Marx and Durkheim similar?
a. Both worked as professors in elite universities.
b. Both lived in exile for a time.
c. They both rejected the society of their time.
d. They lived and worked at the same time.
ANS: d REF: The Emergence of Sociology DIF: Factual OBJ: 1.2
19. Much of Durkheim’s scholarly work was devoted to understanding:
a. social conflict.
b. the stability of society.
c. personal troubles of individuals.
d. the economic causes of behavior.
ANS: b REF: The Emergence of Sociology DIF: Factual OBJ: 1.2
20. Which theorist was among the first to stress the use of statistics?
a. Comte
b. Marx
c. Durkheim
d. Weber
ANS: c REF: The Emergence of Sociology DIF: Factual OBJ: 1.2
21. According to Durkheim, _________ suicide occurs when the institutions of society provide too much
regulation and allow too little individual freedom.
a. fatalistic
b. anomic
c. egoistic
d. altruistic
ANS: a REF: The Emergence of Sociology DIF: Factual OBJ: 1.2
22. A teenager’s parents divorce and as a result, neither parent has as much time to spend with her. She
has the freedom to do whatever she wants whenever she wants, with little regulation. Unable to cope
with the many changes, she takes her own life. This is _________ suicide.
a. fatalistic
b. anomic
c. egoistic
d. altruistic
ANS: b REF: The Emergence of Sociology DIF: Applied OBJ: 1.2
23. Based upon Durkheim’s early research on suicide, one can expect that suicides may increase when
society allows:
a. too little or too much freedom.
b. too little freedom only.
4
Chapter One The Study of Society
Chapter One The Study of Society
MULTIPLE-CHOICE QUESTIONS
1. Sociologists are most inclined to explain behavior in terms of:
a. individual personality characteristics.
b. roles and social structures.
c. the biological differences between people.
d. individual attitudes.
ANS: b REF: What is Sociology? DIF: Conceptual OBJ: 1.1
2. Sociology is defined in your text as the systematic study of:
a. mental cognition.
b. the biological difference between individuals.
c. human social interaction.
d. individual human behavior.
ANS: c REF: What is Sociology? DIF: Conceptual OBJ: 1.1
3. The ability to see the intimate realities of our own lives in the context of common social structures is
what C. Wright Mills refers to as:
a. common human drama.
b. the family.
c. the sociological imagination.
d. a social script.
ANS: c REF: What is Sociology? DIF: Factual OBJ: 1.1
4. Public issues are different from personal troubles in that issues affect a:
a. few people and require personal adjustments.
b. few people and require structural adjustments.
c. large number of people and require personal adjustments.
d. large number of people and require structural adjustments.
ANS: d REF: What is Sociology? DIF: Factual OBJ: 1.1
5. According to C. Wright Mills, the difficulties that John and Mary experience in their marriage
represent a personal trouble. The fact that 250 out of every 1000 marriages ends in divorce within the
first 4 years, however, is:
a. a public issue.
b. a sign of moral collapse.
c. a latent dysfunction of marriage.
d. meaningless.
ANS: a REF: What is Sociology? DIF: Applied OBJ: 1.1
1
,Test Bank For Essentials of Sociology
Chapter One The Study of Society
6. The sociological imagination does all of the following EXCEPT:
a. offer a new way to look at social issues.
b. offer a new way to solve social issues.
c. suggest the benefit of considering the impact of social forces as well as personal choices.
d. suggest that individuals bear no responsibility for their choices.
ANS: d REF: What is Sociology? DIF: Factual OBJ: 1.1
7. According to your text, what distinguishes social sciences from fields such as journalism, medicine, or
the law?
a. Social sciences are interested in human behavior.
b. Social sciences use a critical and systematic examination of evidence before reaching any
conclusion.
c. Social sciences try to approach each research question from a position of moral neutrality.
d. Social sciences are interested in society, not individuals.
ANS: b REF: What is Sociology? DIF: Conceptual OBJ: 1.1
8. The social sciences rely on empirical research. This means that they:
a. are very philosophical.
b. are less scientific that other fields such as journalism and medicine.
c. are based on systematic examination of evidence.
d. use research methods that are very different from those used in the sciences.
ANS: c REF: What is Sociology? DIF: Conceptual OBJ: 1.1
9. Which of the following is NOT a reason for the emergence of sociology as a field of study?
a. political changes
b. changing gender roles
c. economic change
d. intellectual upheavals
ANS: b REF: The Emergence of Sociology DIF: Factual OBJ: 1.1
10. Which of these conditions contributed to the early development of sociology?
a. a period of stability that gave people time to reflect about society
b. changes brought by the Industrial Revolution
c. the need for reconstruction in the South following the Civil War
d. social and economic prosperity in Europe and America
ANS: b REF: The Emergence of Sociology DIF: Factual OBJ: 1.1
11. The credit for founding the discipline of sociology is given to:
a. Thomas Hobbes.
b. Émile Durkheim.
c. Auguste Comte.
d. Herbert Spencer.
ANS: c REF: The Emergence of Sociology DIF: Factual OBJ: 1.2
2
,Test Bank For Essentials of Sociology
Chapter One The Study of Society
12. According to Comte, understanding society requires recognizing forces for stability and order, as well
as change. Today, sociologists refer to these using the terms:
a. social structure and social process.
b. continuity and change.
c. social conflict and social order.
d. symbolic interaction and social interaction.
ANS: a REF: The Emergence of Sociology DIF: Factual OBJ: 1.2
13. The belief that the social world can be studied with the same scientific accuracy and assurance as the
natural world is known as:
a. relativism.
b. cause and effect.
c. methodology.
d. positivism.
ANS: d REF: The Emergence of Sociology DIF: Factual OBJ: 1.2
14. Spencer believed:
a. the environment will adapt to society.
b. there is one best way to organize society.
c. society is an adaptation to its environment.
d. all parts of society work separately.
ANS: c REF: The Emergence of Sociology DIF: Factual OBJ: 1.2
15. One of Spencer’s biggest contributions to sociology was his:
a. model for understanding changing exploitative labor laws.
b. study of the unfair treatment of women.
c. caution to sociologists to put aside their biases, opinions, and wishes when conducting research.
d. development of the concept of economic determinism.
ANS: c REF: The Emergence of Sociology DIF: Factual OBJ: 1.2
16. According to Marx, the most basic element of any human society is:
a. the family.
b. religion.
c. laws.
d. the economic system.
ANS: d REF: The Emergence of Sociology DIF: Factual OBJ: 1.2
17. According to Marx, what was necessary for social change?
a. conflict between groups with opposing economic interests
b. working with politicians
c. change within the family
d. through working with the leadership of the church
3
, Test Bank For Essentials of Sociology
Chapter One The Study of Society
ANS: a REF: The Emergence of Sociology DIF: Factual OBJ: 1.2
18. In what way were Marx and Durkheim similar?
a. Both worked as professors in elite universities.
b. Both lived in exile for a time.
c. They both rejected the society of their time.
d. They lived and worked at the same time.
ANS: d REF: The Emergence of Sociology DIF: Factual OBJ: 1.2
19. Much of Durkheim’s scholarly work was devoted to understanding:
a. social conflict.
b. the stability of society.
c. personal troubles of individuals.
d. the economic causes of behavior.
ANS: b REF: The Emergence of Sociology DIF: Factual OBJ: 1.2
20. Which theorist was among the first to stress the use of statistics?
a. Comte
b. Marx
c. Durkheim
d. Weber
ANS: c REF: The Emergence of Sociology DIF: Factual OBJ: 1.2
21. According to Durkheim, _________ suicide occurs when the institutions of society provide too much
regulation and allow too little individual freedom.
a. fatalistic
b. anomic
c. egoistic
d. altruistic
ANS: a REF: The Emergence of Sociology DIF: Factual OBJ: 1.2
22. A teenager’s parents divorce and as a result, neither parent has as much time to spend with her. She
has the freedom to do whatever she wants whenever she wants, with little regulation. Unable to cope
with the many changes, she takes her own life. This is _________ suicide.
a. fatalistic
b. anomic
c. egoistic
d. altruistic
ANS: b REF: The Emergence of Sociology DIF: Applied OBJ: 1.2
23. Based upon Durkheim’s early research on suicide, one can expect that suicides may increase when
society allows:
a. too little or too much freedom.
b. too little freedom only.
4
