What is Sociology Answers

1.1 What Is Sociology? 1. Which of the following best describes sociology as a subject? 1. The study of individual behavior 2. The study of cultures 3. The study of society and social interaction 4. The study of economics 2. C. Wright Mills once said that sociologists need to develop a sociological __________ to study how society affects individuals. 1. culture 2. imagination 3. method 4. tool 3. A sociologist defines society as a group of people who reside in a defined area, share a culture, and who: 1. interact 2. work in the same industry 3. speak different languages 4. practice a recognized religion 4. Seeing patterns means that a sociologist needs to be able to: 1. compare the behavior of individuals from different societies 2. compare one society to another 3. identify similarities in how social groups respond to social pressure 4. compare individuals to groups 1.2 The History of Sociology 5. Which of the following was a topic of study in early sociology? 1. Astrology 2. Economics 3. Physics 4. History 6. Which founder of sociology believed societies changed due to class struggle? 1. Emile Comte 2. Karl Marx 3. Plato 4. Herbert Spencer 7. The difference between positivism and antipositivism relates to: 1. whether individuals like or dislike their society 2. whether research methods use statistical data or person-to-person research 3. whether sociological studies can predict or improve society 4. all of the above 8. Which would a quantitative sociologists use to gather data? 1. A large survey 2. A literature search 3. An in-depth interview 4. A review of television programs 9. Weber believed humans could not be studied purely objectively because they were influenced by: 1. drugs 2. their culture 3. their genetic makeup 4. the researcher 1.3 Theoretical Perspectives 10. Which of these theories is most likely to look at the social world on a micro level? 1. Structural functionalism 2. Conflict theory 3. Positivism 4. Symbolic interactionism 11. Who believed that the history of society was one of class struggle? 1. Emile Durkheim 2. Karl Marx 3. Erving Goffmann 4. George Herbert Mead 12. Who coined the phrase symbolic interactionism? 1. Herbert Blumer 2. Max Weber 3. Lester F. Ward 4. W.I. Thomas 13. A symbolic interactionist may compare social interactions to: 1. behaviors 2. conflicts 3. human organs 4. theatrical roles 14. Which research technique would most likely be used by a symbolic interactionist? 1. Surveys 2. Participant observation 3. Quantitative data analysis 4. None of the above 1.4 Why Study Sociology? 15. Kenneth and Mamie Clark used sociological research to show that segregation was: 1. beneficial 2. harmful 3. illegal 4. of no importance 16. Studying Sociology helps people analyze data because they learn: 1. interview techniques 2. to apply statistics 3. to generate theories 4. all of the above 17. Berger describes sociologists as concerned with: 1. monumental moments in people’s lives 2. common everyday life events 3. both a and b 4. none of the above 1.1 What Is Sociology? 1. What do you think C. Wright Mills meant when he said that to be a sociologist, one had to develop a sociological imagination? 2. Describe a situation in which a choice you made was influenced by societal pressures. 1.2 The History of Sociology 3. What do you make of Karl Marx’s contributions to sociology? What perceptions of Marx have you been exposed to in your society, and how do those perceptions influence your views? 4. Do you tend to place more value on qualitative or quantitative research? Why? Does it matter what topic is being studied? 1.3 Theoretical Perspectives 5. Which theory do you think better explains how societies operate—structural functionalism or conflict theory? Why? 6. Do you think the way people behave in social interactions is more like the behavior of animals or more like actors playing a role in a theatrical production? Why? 1.4 Why Study Sociology? 7. How do you think taking a sociology course might affect your social interactions? 8. What sort of career are you interested in? How could studying sociology help you in this career?