SOCIOLOGY EXAM QUESTIONS AND
ANSWERS GRADED A+ 2025/2026
Sociology - ANS Systematic and scientific study of human social behavior (including its
origins, development, organization, networks, and institutions).
Sociology particularly places special emphasis on studying societies, both as individual entities
and as elements of a global perspective.
Auguste Comte - ANS 1798-1857; Father of Sociology.
Began studying as a result of the chaos following the French and Industrial Revolutions.
Most of his finding have been disregarded as they were based on personal observation rather
than objective investigation.
Scientific Method - ANS A logical, systematic approach to the solution of a problem that
entails a series of steps, including collecting data, formulating a hypothesis, testing the
hypothesis, and stating conclusions.
Positivism - ANS The application of the scientific method towards the analysis of society.
1 @COPYRIGHT 2025/2026 ALLRIGHTS RESERVED.
,The belief that knowledge should be derived from scientific observation, in this case particularly
that society can best be understood through scientific inquiry.
Sociology was first taught... - ANS University of Kansas in 1890.
University of Chicago in 1892.
Atlanta University in 1897.
First Department of Sociology founded at... - ANS McGill University in Montreal, Canada in
1922.
Harvard in 1930.
University of California at Berkeley in 1950s.
Qualitative Sociology - ANS Understands societies by immersing oneself in the group's
experiences.
Including in-depth interviews, focus groups, and/or analysis of content sources as the source of
its data.
developed by Albion Small.
Quantitative Sociology - ANS Understands societies by observing the group.
Relies on statistical analysis to understand experiences and trends.
2 @COPYRIGHT 2025/2026 ALLRIGHTS RESERVED.
,Albion Small - ANS 1854-1926
developed qualitative sociology.
Anthropology - ANS The study of individual cultures in a society, rather than the society as a
whole.
Traditionally, it focuses on "primitive" cultures and their languages, kinship patterns, and
cultural artifacts.
Political Science - ANS The study of government in societies.
Psychology - ANS The study of the mental processes that occur within an individual and how
society effects them, specifically.
Particularly brain functions, memory, dreams, learning, and perception.
Economics - ANS The study of production and distribution of a society's goods and services.
Social Work v. Sociology - ANS Social Work is an applied science, as it is designed to solve a
specific problem using knowledge gleaned from sociological study.
Society - ANS group of people with common territory, interaction, and culture.
Social Groups - ANS two or more peoplewho interact with one another.
What is necessary for a society? - ANS Territory, Interaction, Culture
3 @COPYRIGHT 2025/2026 ALLRIGHTS RESERVED.
, Territory - ANS ...does not require geographic borders, only that members of a society- as
well as nonmembers- recognize that land as belonging to that society.
Interaction - ANS Members of a society must come in contact with one another.
Geographic distance and language barriers can separate societies within a country.
Culture - ANS The shared language, values, beliefs, behavior, and material that constitute a
society's way of life.
Pluralistic Society - ANS A society which consists of several distinct cultures and groups
Assimilation - ANS The process of shedding one's original traditions in order to fit into a new
society.
Melting Pot - ANS a society consisting of peoples from different societies who blend together
into a single mass society.
Equality - ANS The idea/belief that all people are of equal worth.
Informal mechanisms such as prejudice and discrimination, work to elevate certain groups and
oppress others, thusly eliminating equality.
What are the basic characteristics of a hunter-gatherer society? - ANS Family-based and
driven,
Small and nomadic,
4 @COPYRIGHT 2025/2026 ALLRIGHTS RESERVED.
ANSWERS GRADED A+ 2025/2026
Sociology - ANS Systematic and scientific study of human social behavior (including its
origins, development, organization, networks, and institutions).
Sociology particularly places special emphasis on studying societies, both as individual entities
and as elements of a global perspective.
Auguste Comte - ANS 1798-1857; Father of Sociology.
Began studying as a result of the chaos following the French and Industrial Revolutions.
Most of his finding have been disregarded as they were based on personal observation rather
than objective investigation.
Scientific Method - ANS A logical, systematic approach to the solution of a problem that
entails a series of steps, including collecting data, formulating a hypothesis, testing the
hypothesis, and stating conclusions.
Positivism - ANS The application of the scientific method towards the analysis of society.
1 @COPYRIGHT 2025/2026 ALLRIGHTS RESERVED.
,The belief that knowledge should be derived from scientific observation, in this case particularly
that society can best be understood through scientific inquiry.
Sociology was first taught... - ANS University of Kansas in 1890.
University of Chicago in 1892.
Atlanta University in 1897.
First Department of Sociology founded at... - ANS McGill University in Montreal, Canada in
1922.
Harvard in 1930.
University of California at Berkeley in 1950s.
Qualitative Sociology - ANS Understands societies by immersing oneself in the group's
experiences.
Including in-depth interviews, focus groups, and/or analysis of content sources as the source of
its data.
developed by Albion Small.
Quantitative Sociology - ANS Understands societies by observing the group.
Relies on statistical analysis to understand experiences and trends.
2 @COPYRIGHT 2025/2026 ALLRIGHTS RESERVED.
,Albion Small - ANS 1854-1926
developed qualitative sociology.
Anthropology - ANS The study of individual cultures in a society, rather than the society as a
whole.
Traditionally, it focuses on "primitive" cultures and their languages, kinship patterns, and
cultural artifacts.
Political Science - ANS The study of government in societies.
Psychology - ANS The study of the mental processes that occur within an individual and how
society effects them, specifically.
Particularly brain functions, memory, dreams, learning, and perception.
Economics - ANS The study of production and distribution of a society's goods and services.
Social Work v. Sociology - ANS Social Work is an applied science, as it is designed to solve a
specific problem using knowledge gleaned from sociological study.
Society - ANS group of people with common territory, interaction, and culture.
Social Groups - ANS two or more peoplewho interact with one another.
What is necessary for a society? - ANS Territory, Interaction, Culture
3 @COPYRIGHT 2025/2026 ALLRIGHTS RESERVED.
, Territory - ANS ...does not require geographic borders, only that members of a society- as
well as nonmembers- recognize that land as belonging to that society.
Interaction - ANS Members of a society must come in contact with one another.
Geographic distance and language barriers can separate societies within a country.
Culture - ANS The shared language, values, beliefs, behavior, and material that constitute a
society's way of life.
Pluralistic Society - ANS A society which consists of several distinct cultures and groups
Assimilation - ANS The process of shedding one's original traditions in order to fit into a new
society.
Melting Pot - ANS a society consisting of peoples from different societies who blend together
into a single mass society.
Equality - ANS The idea/belief that all people are of equal worth.
Informal mechanisms such as prejudice and discrimination, work to elevate certain groups and
oppress others, thusly eliminating equality.
What are the basic characteristics of a hunter-gatherer society? - ANS Family-based and
driven,
Small and nomadic,
4 @COPYRIGHT 2025/2026 ALLRIGHTS RESERVED.
