1.

According to research described in the text, what is the most important factor in determining whether and when romantic relationships end?

A)

Availability of favorable alternatives

B)

Satisfaction with the relationship

C)

Length of time in the relationship

D)

Compatibility between the partners

2.

According to the “sociological imagination,” social problems can best be solved by

A)

providing treatment for people with problems.

B)

changing the characteristics of individuals.

C)

changing social institutions and roles.

D)

using our imaginations to find new solutions.

3.

In American society, the high value placed on _________ makes it more difficult for us to see social influences on our behavior.

A)

pragmatism

B)

Puritanism

C)

individualism

D)

capitalism

4.

Mills (1959) labeled the ability to see the impact of largescale cultural and historical forces on our private lives:

A)

individualistic explanations.

B)

the sociological imagination.

C)

the historicalcultural imagination.

D)

sociological explanations.

5.

How did Durkheim study the influence of social structure on suicide?

A)

He interviewed people who had experienced suicide in their families.

B)

He surveyed people of different religious and ethnic groups about suicide.

C)

He examined personal histories of individuals who had committed suicide.

D)

He examined rates of suicide among different social groups in Europe.

6.

Because we tend to attribute people's achievements and failures to individualistic explanations, we often overlook which of the following?

A)

Broader social trends

B)

Psychological characteristics

C)

Self evaluation

D)

Our personal decisions

7.

According to Emile Durkheim, suicide:

A)

is influenced by the structure of society.

B)

is based on the genetic structure of a person.

C)

is a sign of personal character flaws.

D)

occurs randomly within and across societies.

8.

According to Durkheim, suicides that occur when people's lives are suddenly disrupted by major social events, such as wars and famine are called:

A)

altruistic.

B)

anomic.

C)

egoistic.

D)

individualistic.

9.

Sociologists, unlike other sciences such as biology and psychology, tend to study:

A)

what goes on between people or groups of people.

B)

what goes on within the individual psyche.

C)

what goes on within people or groups of people.

D)

All of the above

10.

Which of the following is an example of how individual actions are constrained by external circumstances?

A)

Marco's inability to get a date because of his shyness.

B)

Freda's success at school because of her intelligence.

C)

David's decision to abstain from eating pork for religious reasons.

D)

Elaine's inability to find a job because of her lack of motivation.

11.

A young woman who believes she is overweight begins to starve herself in the hopes of becoming more attractive. A sociologist would explain the woman's behavior in terms of:

A)

a personality defect or mental problem.

B)

her lack of will power or selfesteem.

C)

society's valuation of thinness in women.

D)

society's valuation of abnormal behavior.

12.

In 1978, most of the 900 members of the People's Temple sect committed suicide by drinking poison on their farm in Guyana.  Several members had shot a visiting congressman, and the group expected the police to close their community.  This is an example of

A)

anomic suicide.

B)

egoistic suicide.

C)

altruistic suicide.

D)

mass hysteria.

13.

What is the sociological point of Minor's article?

A)

The Nacirema were an odd and primitive people.

B)

We take aspects of our culture for granted.

C)

The Nacirema are obsessed with their physical beings.

D)

The Nacirema treat psychological problems with magic.

14.

What is so ironic about the “latipso,” their temple for the sick?

A)

It is really a temple for healthy people

B)

The medicine men ask for little compensation, but receive great amounts of money from the faithful.

C)

Children hear terrible stories about the latipso's rituals, but many still clamor to experience them.

D)

The Nacirema have incredible faith in its rituals but few leave the temple in a healthy state.

15.

Which of the following is evidence that the Nacirema people believe the human body is ugly?

A)

Bathing and excretory acts take place in public rituals

B)

From childhood, people talk about the details of the rituals that take place in the home's shrine to the human body.

C)

Bathing and excretory acts take place in the privacy of the household shrine.

D)

Healthy people regularly visit the lapisto.

16.

Which of the following would conflict with the value we place on the autonomy of the family?

A)

The state orders medical treatment for a Christian Scientist child.

B)

The state declines to remove children from an abusive home.

C)

The state places orphans with their relatives rather than in foster homes.

D)

Parents home school their kids.

17.

These are the various named positions that people can occupy in social groups.

A)

role

B)

status

C)

ascribed status

D)

achieved status

18.

This is a set of behavioral expectations associated with a particular position.

A)

role

B)

status

C)

ascribed status

D)

achieved status

19.

Examples of this are teacher, mayor, and spouse.   Male and senior citizen are not.

A)

role

B)

status

C)

ascribed status

D)

achieved status

20.

People who interact regularly and have a sense of belonging.

A)

group

B)

organization

C)

institution

D)

society

21.

Role conflict refers to conflicts:

A)

within a specific social role.

B)

between two or more social roles.

C)

between a specific social role and one's social status.

D)

all of the above

22.

Stanley Milgram, in his study of obedience to authority, found that:

A)

very few subjects were willing to obey instructions to severely shock “learners.”

B)

less than half of subjects were willing to obey instructions to severely shock “learners.”

C)

about two-thirds of subjects were willing to obey instructions to severely shock “learners.”

D)

only maladjusted subjects were willing to severely shock “learners.”

23.

What is it called when two members of a triad conspire against the third member?

A)

A coalition

B)

A dyad

C)

A cartel

D)

A secondary group

24.

Which of the following is an example of an ascribed status?

A)

being knighted

B)

Native American

C)

college graduate

D)

vegetarian

25.

Which of the following is the best example of a secondary group?

A)

the Cortez family

B)

the faculty at Garfield High

C)

a group of close friends

D)

long-term business partners