Test Bank for Sociology, Ninth Canadian Edition by Macionis and Gerber

Chapter 1: The Sociological Perspective

Multiple Choice Questions

1) What might a sociologist say about people's selection of marriage partners?

a. People marry because they fall in love.

b. When it comes to romance, it’s all a matter of personal taste.

c. Typically, a person marries someone of similar social position.

d. When it comes to love, opposites attract.

Answer: c

Page Reference: 5

Skill: Applied

2) The idea that the social world guides our actions and life choices just as the seasons influence

activities and choice of clothing describes

a. the basis of what philosophy calls “free will.”

b. the essential wisdom of the discipline of sociology.

c. the fact that people everywhere have “common sense.”

d. the fact that people from countries all around the world make mostly identical choices about how to live.

Answer: b

Page Reference: 3

Skill: Conceptual

3) Which discipline defines itself as “the systematic study of human society”?

a. sociology

b. psychology

c. economics

d. history

Answer: a

Page Reference: 3

Skill: Factual

4) Peter Berger described using the sociological perspective as seeing the ______ in the _______.

a. good; worst tragedies

b. new; old

c. specific; general

d. general; particular

Answer: d

Page Reference: 3

Skill: Conceptual

5) By stating that the sociological perspective shows us “the strange in the familiar,” the text argues that

sociologists

a. focus on the bizarre elements of society.

b. reject the familiar idea that people simply decide how to act in favour of the initially strange idea that

society shapes our lives.

c. believe that people often behave in strange ways.

d. believe that even people who are most familiar to us have some very strange habits.

Answer: b

Page Reference: 4–5

Skill: Conceptual

6) Three campus roommates are talking about why they are in college. A sociological view of going to

college highlights the effect of

a. nationality, because most countries outside of the West don’t have colleges.

b. gender, because women don’t generally attend college.

c. our place in history, because a century ago going to college was not an option for most people.

d. intelligence, because it’s smarter to go to college than trade school.

Answer: c

Page Reference: 5

Skill: Applied

7) A sociological analysis of childbearing around the world suggests that the number of children born to a

woman reflects

a. her preference for family size.

b. how many children she can afford.

c. whether she herself was born into a poor or rich society.

d. the desires of her husband.

Answer: c

Page Reference: 5

Skill: Applied

8) According to Emile Durkheim, a category of people with a higher suicide rate typically has

a. more clinical depression.

b. less money, power, and other resources.

c. lower social integration.

d. greater self-esteem.

Answer: c

Page Reference: 5–6

Skill: Factual

9) The pioneering sociologist who studied patterns of suicide in Europe was

a. Robert K. Merton.

b. Auguste Comte.

c. Emile Durkheim.

d. Karl Marx.

Answer: c

Page Reference: 5

Skill: Factual

10) In Canada today, the suicide rate is highest for which category of people listed below?

a. White males

b. Black males

c. White females

d. Black females

Answer: a

Page Reference: 6

Skill: Factual

11) Because there is more social isolation in rural areas of Canada than in urban areas, we would expect

suicide rates to be

a. higher in urban areas.

b. higher in rural areas.

c. high in both urban and rural areas.

d. low in both urban and rural areas.

Answer: b

Page Reference: 6–7

Skill: Applied

12) Sociologists use the term “social marginality” to refer to

a. people who have little understanding of sociology.

b. having special social skills.

c. being defined by others as an “outsider.”

d. people who are especially sensitive about their family background.

Answer: c

Page Reference: 7

Skill: Conceptual

13) If marginality encourages sociological thinking, we would expect people in which category listed below

to make the most use of the sociological perspective?

a. the wealthy

b. disabled persons or people who are a racial minority

c. politicians

d. the middle class

Answer: b

Page Reference: 7–8

Skill: Applied

14) Following the thinking of C. Wright Mills, we would have expected the sociological imagination to be

more widespread

a. during times of peace and prosperity.

b. among the very rich.

c. among very religious people.

d. during times of social crisis.

Answer: d

Page Reference: 7–8

Skill: Applied

15) C. Wright Mills claimed that the “sociological imagination” transformed

a. common sense into laws of society.

b. people into supporters of the status quo.

c. personal problems into public issues.

d. scientific research into common sense.

Answer: c

Page Reference: 8

Skill: Conceptual

16) Canada falls within which category of the world’s nations?

a. low-income nations

b. middle-income nations

c. high-income nations

d. variable-income nations

Answer: c

Page Reference: 9

Skill: Factual

17) Which of the following categories contains countries in which average income is typical for the world

as a whole and in which people are as likely to live in a rural area as in an urban area?

a. low-income nations

b. middle-income nations

c. high-income nations

d. variable-income nations

Answer: b

Page Reference: 9–11

Skill: Conceptual

18) The nations of Europe, Israel, Japan, and Australia fall into which of the following categories of

countries?

a. low-income nations

b. middle-income nations

c. high-income nations

d. each belongs to a different category

Answer: c

Page Reference: 9

Skill: Conceptual

19) Almost all of Latin America and Asia falls within which of the following categories?

a. low-income nations

b. middle-income nations

c. high-income nations

d. very rich nations

Answer: b

Page Reference: 9

Skill: Factual

20) Which of the following is a reason that it is important to understand the world beyond our own

borders?

a. Nations of the world are increasingly interconnected.

b. So we can see how much better our country is than other countries.

c. Because of an international agreement mandated by the United Nations.

d. It isn’t important.

Answer: a

Page Reference: 9

Skill: Factual

21) Sarah is spending a summer living in another country where people have a way of life that differs from

her own. A sociologist might expect that this experience would lead her to

a. end up with a greater understanding of both a new way of life and her own way of life.

b. accept what people in Canada call “common sense.”

c. assume that people’s lives reflect the choices they make.

d. want to move to that other country, because their way of life is clearly superior.

Answer: a

Page Reference: 12

Skill: Applied

22) Making use of the sociological perspective encourages

a. challenging commonly held beliefs.

b. accepting conventional wisdom.

c. the belief that society is mysterious.

d. people to be happier with their lives as they are.

Answer: a

Page Reference: 12

Skill: Factual

23) Learning more sociology helps us to

a. realize that common sense is universal.

b. assess the opportunities and constraints in our lives.

c. understand why it’s better to live in high-income countries than low-income countries.

d. conform to social expectations and fit in better.

Answer: b

Page Reference: 12

Skill: Factual

24) Sociology provides an advantage to students preparing for later careers by preparing them for work

a. only as teaching sociologists.

b. only in criminal justice or social work.

c. only as clinical sociologists.

d. in all of the above careers and many others, including business, education, law enforcement, and

social work.

Answer: d

Page Reference: 12

Skill: Factual