Test Bank For Writing Today, 5th edition
Chapter 01
Chapter 01 Essay Questions
1. What is the sociological imagination? Explain the statement by C. Wright Mills
that the sociological imagination transforms personal troubles into social issues.
Correct Answer(s):
2. What is a social problem? What does it mean to say that social problems are
constructed? How does politics guide the process of constructing problems and
defining solutions?
Correct Answer(s):
3. What are sociology's three major theoretical approaches? Describe each one.
Apply each approach to a problem of your choice and show the type of insights each
approach provides.
Correct Answer(s):
4. Review the major research methods employed by sociologists in studying social
problems. Explain why a researcher would choose one method over another.
Correct Answer(s):
5. What is the political spectrum? Describe how public attitudes fall on the political
spectrum. What defines conservative, liberal, and left-radical positions? How do
social issues differ from economic issues? Finally, what types of people tend to be
on the left and right of each type of issue?
Correct Answer(s):
1
,Test Bank For Writing Today, 5th edition
Chapter 01
Chapter 01 Multiple-Choice Questions
1. Which of the following terms refers to a point of view that shows us how society
affects the experiences and choices of individuals?
a. social patterns
*b. sociological imagination
c. comparative perspective
d. social problems approach
2. We tend to assume people are responsible for their own troubles because our
way of life in the United States traditionally has emphasized __________.
a. collective goals
*b. individualism
c. tradition
d. relying on luck
3. Thinking sociologically about a problem such as unemployment, we understand
that this issue is __________.
a. the result of bad choices by individuals
b. inevitable
c. a personal problem
*d. a social issue involving the operation of society
4. A social problem is defined as a condition that __________.
a. harms everyone in a society
b. harms only the poorest people in a society
c. harms only the most powerful people in a society
*d. harms some or all members of a society and is usually
controversial
5. In 2022, a survey asked people in the United States what they considered to be
serious social problems. All but one of the following appeared on the list of serious
problems. Which one was not on the list?
a. the economy
b. immigration
c. high cost of living/inflation
*d. climate change
6. C. Wright Mills explained that by using the sociological perspective, people
transform "personal troubles" into __________.
2
,Test Bank For Writing Today, 5th edition
Chapter 01
*a. social issues
b. psychological concerns
c. economic issues
d. political concerns
7. The social-constructionist approach asserts that __________.
a. society keeps facing the same problems year after year
b. social problems are those that are the most harmful to a
population
*c. problems arise as people define conditions as undesirable and
in need of change
d. the government decides what the serious problems are
8. An example of a pattern that is very harmful to people in the United States but
not generally defined as a social problem is __________.
a. terrorism, which includes events that have resulted in
thousands of deaths
b. school shootings, which have resulted in several dozen deaths
*c. the use of automobiles, which results in some 40,000 deaths
each year
d. homicide, which involves some 14,000 deaths each year
9. Although there is less gender inequality today than there was a century ago,
people today are more likely to view gender inequality as a social problem than
people were likely to do so back then. This pattern reflects the fact that __________.
a. what we subjectively perceive always reflects what is
objectively true
b. we now expect men and women to be socially unequal
*c. we now expect men and women to be socially equal
d. people simply don't agree on what important social problems
are
10. The process of convincing the public and important public officials that a
particular issue should be defined as a social problem is a process that sociologists
call ___________.
a. subjective assessment
*b. claims making
c. objective assessment
d. factual analysis
11. Claims and counterclaims about what should and should not be defined as a
social problem is a good way of describing __________.
3
, Test Bank For Writing Today, 5th edition
Chapter 01
*a. politics
b. societal consensus
c. coalescence
d. philosophy
12. An organized effort to encourage or discourage social change is called a
__________.
*a. social movement
b. sociological theory
c. social-constructionist approach
d. subculture
13. In which stage of a social movement do the people involved come together to
share their concerns and make claims about the need for change?
a. coalescence
b. formalization
c. decline
*d. emergence
14. Because social problems result from the ways in which society operates,
__________.
a. these problems cannot ever be solved
b. people must solve their issues on their own
*c. solving widespread social problems requires change to society
itself
d. all social problems can easily be solved
15. Because many social issues are related, __________.
a. no social problem can be solved
b. every social problem can be solved
*c. solving one social problem may create a new problem
d. solving any one social problem will solve all social problems
16. A troublesome issue that directly affects most people in the United States each
year but which is not included in the public's response to naming serious social
problems is _______.
a. unemployment
b. poverty
*c. being overweight
d. road rage
4
Chapter 01
Chapter 01 Essay Questions
1. What is the sociological imagination? Explain the statement by C. Wright Mills
that the sociological imagination transforms personal troubles into social issues.
Correct Answer(s):
2. What is a social problem? What does it mean to say that social problems are
constructed? How does politics guide the process of constructing problems and
defining solutions?
Correct Answer(s):
3. What are sociology's three major theoretical approaches? Describe each one.
Apply each approach to a problem of your choice and show the type of insights each
approach provides.
Correct Answer(s):
4. Review the major research methods employed by sociologists in studying social
problems. Explain why a researcher would choose one method over another.
Correct Answer(s):
5. What is the political spectrum? Describe how public attitudes fall on the political
spectrum. What defines conservative, liberal, and left-radical positions? How do
social issues differ from economic issues? Finally, what types of people tend to be
on the left and right of each type of issue?
Correct Answer(s):
1
,Test Bank For Writing Today, 5th edition
Chapter 01
Chapter 01 Multiple-Choice Questions
1. Which of the following terms refers to a point of view that shows us how society
affects the experiences and choices of individuals?
a. social patterns
*b. sociological imagination
c. comparative perspective
d. social problems approach
2. We tend to assume people are responsible for their own troubles because our
way of life in the United States traditionally has emphasized __________.
a. collective goals
*b. individualism
c. tradition
d. relying on luck
3. Thinking sociologically about a problem such as unemployment, we understand
that this issue is __________.
a. the result of bad choices by individuals
b. inevitable
c. a personal problem
*d. a social issue involving the operation of society
4. A social problem is defined as a condition that __________.
a. harms everyone in a society
b. harms only the poorest people in a society
c. harms only the most powerful people in a society
*d. harms some or all members of a society and is usually
controversial
5. In 2022, a survey asked people in the United States what they considered to be
serious social problems. All but one of the following appeared on the list of serious
problems. Which one was not on the list?
a. the economy
b. immigration
c. high cost of living/inflation
*d. climate change
6. C. Wright Mills explained that by using the sociological perspective, people
transform "personal troubles" into __________.
2
,Test Bank For Writing Today, 5th edition
Chapter 01
*a. social issues
b. psychological concerns
c. economic issues
d. political concerns
7. The social-constructionist approach asserts that __________.
a. society keeps facing the same problems year after year
b. social problems are those that are the most harmful to a
population
*c. problems arise as people define conditions as undesirable and
in need of change
d. the government decides what the serious problems are
8. An example of a pattern that is very harmful to people in the United States but
not generally defined as a social problem is __________.
a. terrorism, which includes events that have resulted in
thousands of deaths
b. school shootings, which have resulted in several dozen deaths
*c. the use of automobiles, which results in some 40,000 deaths
each year
d. homicide, which involves some 14,000 deaths each year
9. Although there is less gender inequality today than there was a century ago,
people today are more likely to view gender inequality as a social problem than
people were likely to do so back then. This pattern reflects the fact that __________.
a. what we subjectively perceive always reflects what is
objectively true
b. we now expect men and women to be socially unequal
*c. we now expect men and women to be socially equal
d. people simply don't agree on what important social problems
are
10. The process of convincing the public and important public officials that a
particular issue should be defined as a social problem is a process that sociologists
call ___________.
a. subjective assessment
*b. claims making
c. objective assessment
d. factual analysis
11. Claims and counterclaims about what should and should not be defined as a
social problem is a good way of describing __________.
3
, Test Bank For Writing Today, 5th edition
Chapter 01
*a. politics
b. societal consensus
c. coalescence
d. philosophy
12. An organized effort to encourage or discourage social change is called a
__________.
*a. social movement
b. sociological theory
c. social-constructionist approach
d. subculture
13. In which stage of a social movement do the people involved come together to
share their concerns and make claims about the need for change?
a. coalescence
b. formalization
c. decline
*d. emergence
14. Because social problems result from the ways in which society operates,
__________.
a. these problems cannot ever be solved
b. people must solve their issues on their own
*c. solving widespread social problems requires change to society
itself
d. all social problems can easily be solved
15. Because many social issues are related, __________.
a. no social problem can be solved
b. every social problem can be solved
*c. solving one social problem may create a new problem
d. solving any one social problem will solve all social problems
16. A troublesome issue that directly affects most people in the United States each
year but which is not included in the public's response to naming serious social
problems is _______.
a. unemployment
b. poverty
*c. being overweight
d. road rage
4
