Sociology Trivia Questions for College Students — page 4

When sociologists study the structure of layers in society and people's movement between them, they call this:

• Asocial solidarity
• Bsocial control
• Csocial conflict
• Dsocial stratification

Marx said that the development of the labour movement through factory-based production would turn the working class into:

• Aa ruling class
• Ba class by itself
• Ca class for itself
• Da class in itself

A sociologist is conducting research on institutional power relations at a local hospital. The sociologist is on staff at the hospital for several weeks, recording data as field notes. This method of research is called

• Asurvey administration
• Bexperimentation
• Cparticipant observation
• Dsecondary data analysis

Charles Cooley's theory of the looking-glass self emphasizes

• Athe difficulty one experiences in seeing oneself as others do
• Bhow one's self-concept is based on one's perception of how others see one
• Chow one's self-concept is heavily influenced by one's physical appearance
• Dthe manner in which young children come to a realization that they have a separate identity

In the traditional hierarchy of status and precedence, which of these members of the upper class are in the right order (from highest to lowest status)?

• AMarquesses of England, Earls of Great Britain, King's Brothers
• BKing's Grandsons, Lord High Treasurer, Companions of the Bath
• CEsquires, Serjeants of Law, Dukes' Eldest Sons
• DPrime Minister, Archbishop of York, Viscounts of England

Weber (1919) said that the state's monopoly of the use of force was legitimated by:

• Acharismatic authority
• Bvalue-rational authority
• Ctraditional authority
• Drational-legal authority

According to Hakim (1995, 1996), the majority of part-time work is done by women because:

• Atheir choices are constrained by structural factors, such as being unable to afford childcare
• Bpart-time jobs pay relatively high wages and so are financially beneficial
• Cthey make a rational choice to combine employment with their 'home-centred' lives
• Dfull time work is not available in the kinds of occupations that they want to enter

Chodorow (1978) argued that gender socialization occurred through:

• Agirls being attached to their mothers but then breaking away
• Bboth boys and girls being closely attached to their fathers, but girls breaking away
• Cboys being attached to their fathers and girls to their mothers
• Dboth boys and girls being closely attached to their mothers, but then boys breaking away

In the debate about the 'managerial revolution', John Scott (1997) argued that:

• Aowners still exercised control through groups of shareholders and interlocking directorships
• Bmanagers were becoming dissatisfied with their working conditions and planned to overthrow the owners of businesses
• Cownership and management were becoming increasingly separate functions
• Dthe techniques of scientific management were overly bureaucratic and inefficient

The Macpherson Report highlighted the increasing problem of:

• Ahate crimes: violence against ethnic minorities simply because of their race
• Bovert racism in the police force that must be tackled by institutional reforms
• Cgrowing numbers of asylum seekers in need of long term accommodation
• Dinstitutional racism: systematic forms of disadvantage built into the routines and practices of social institutions

The four ideal types of social action that Weber identified were as follows: instrumentally-rational, value-rational, traditional, and...

• Aeffective
• Binfected
• Caffective
• Daffectual

Scott (1991) introduced the term 'power elite' to describe:

• Aa capitalist class dependent on property ownership and advantaged life chances
• Ba state elite whose members are drawn overwhelmingly from a power bloc
• Can alignment of classes with shared interests but no state power
• Dthe ruling class, or bourgeoisie, who exploit the proletariat

The capitalist world economy is what Wallerstein (1974) would call a 'world system'. This term refers to:

• Aan awareness of risks and dangers that affect the environment as a whole
• Ba means of transporting money between different areas of a country
• Can empire with a bureaucratic administration but no political centre
• Da unit with a division of labour that extends across ethnic and cultural groups

The market model of state welfare is based on the principle of:

• Aindividuals buying welfare privately, with some means-tested benefits
• Bdecommodifying social welfare through state provision
• Ca universalist system of welfare for all, regardless of income
• Dregular benefit payments to men as earners of the 'family wage'

Smith & Tomlinson argued that:

• Aschool character far outweighed ethnic background in determining educational success
• Bdifferences in ethnic background were more significant than class or gender in predicting educational achievement
• Cracism in schools undermined the move towards equality of opportunity for children from ethnic minorites
• Dgender differences in educational achievement could be attributed to inequalities of class

The concept of political culture refers to the

• Aideological biases of the mass media
• Bpolitical beliefs and attitudes shared by people in public offices
• Cbasic beliefs and orientation toward politics that are shared widely by the members of a culture
• Dway that cultural products, such as novels or paintings, reflect the political ideologies of their creators

Ethnic identity refers to:

• Athe objective categories of ethnicity used in the census
• Bthe fragmented and pluralistic nature of ethnicity
• Ca felt sense of group membership on the basis of religion, language, or history
• Dthe imposition of a racial label on a minority by a powerful majority

Ethnographic research produces qualitative data because:

• Ait compares findings from a number of different cases
• Bthe findings are amenable to statistical analysis
• Cit uncovers rich, detailed accounts from an insider's perspective
• Dit is conducted over a period of several years

Howard's idea of the garden city consisted of:

• Atower blocks to displace the population vertically and leave most of the land available as green open spaces
• Bsix small towns surrounded by green belts and linked to a larger central city
• Ceach privately owned house to have its own front and back garden
• Dplanning cities to have plenty of trees, flowers and public gardens

Durkheim defined social facts as:

• Aways of acting, thinking, and feeling that are collective and social in origin
• Bthe way scientists construct knowledge in a social context
• Cdata collected about social phenomena that are proven to be correct
• Dideas and theories that have no basis in the external, physical world

The shift from custodial to joint parenthood after divorce means that:

• Afathers are more likely to be absent from their children's lives
• Bparents must provide for all of their children in equal measure
• Cone parent has total responsibility for the child's welfare and socialization
• Dboth parents are expected to co-operate in the continued care of their children

In stage 3 of the 'health transition', the main causes of illness and death are:

• Arespiratory diseases such as pneumonia and asthma
• Bchronic, degenerative diseases, such as cancer, heart disease, and strokes
• Cacute, infectious diseases such as typhus, measles and cholera
• Dtoo diverse to put into one category

The embourgeoisement thesis suggests that:

• Athe class structure has fragmented and there are no longer any distinct social classes
• Bcapitalists are being replaced by salaried managers with bureaucratic authority
• Cwhite collar occupations are being 'deskilled' by the introduction of new technologies into the workplace
• Dthe affluent working class is adopting middle class values and ways of life

Booth's (1901) study revealed that the percentage of people in London who were living in poverty was:

• A33.20%
• B18.60%
• C30.70%
• D27.50%

Which of these was not one of Townsend's (1979) indicators of relative deprivation?

• Aliving in housing with serious structural defects
• Bgoing without a week's holiday in the previous year
• Clacking exclusive use of a bath or shower
• Dbuying fewer than twenty DVDs in the previous year

Which of the following is not a regular national survey carried out by the British government?

• AFashion Sensibility Survey
• BGeneral Household Survey
• CFamily Expenditure Survey
• DLabour Force Survey

A major car accident occurs. One man stops his car and starts helping people. After seeing him stop, others also stop and start helping. Which of the following theories best explains the scenario?

• AConvergence
• BEmergent-norm
• CValue-added
• DContagion

The 'third age' of the life course is said to involve:

• Aillness, isolation and increasing dependence on others
• Bactive non-work and independence after retirement
• Cfull time employment, family-building and adult responsibility
• Dthe transition from education to work, and distinctive youth cultures

The term 'culture industry', used by members of the Frankfurt School, referred to:

• Athe way in which cultural products were bought and sold for profit
• Bthe globalization of culture through new technologies
• Cthe development of subcultures and counter-cultures in society
• Dthe way in which industrialization had created new means of communication

Children who are still sucking their thumbs when they enter kindergarten are often subject to teasing and ridicule for this behavior. What type of social sanction is applied in this instance?

• AInformal negative sanction
• BInformal positive sanction
• CFormal negative sanction
• DFormal positive sanction

According to Foucault, carceral organizations:

• Aincreased the amount of power held by managers
• Bemphasised human relations and employee satisfaction
• Cisolated people and put them under surveillance
• Dstripped inmates of their previous identities

The population pyramid of a population that has had a slightly larger birth rate than death rate for several generations will most likely have which of the following shapes?

• ABulging in the middle
• BWider at the bottom than at the top
• CHaving parallel sides
• DWider at the top than in the middle

Sutherland's study of the 'professional thief' suggested that:

• Athe most dangerous criminals on the street were those who were highly skilled thieves
• Bthose who were arrested and charged with theft did not define themselves as thieves
• Cpeople are socialized into a life of crime by associating with others who define it in positive terms
• Dthe majority of crime is committed by middle class people in professional occupations

Walt Disney, Sony and Time Warner are examples of:

• Aownership concentrated within one medium
• Bmulti-media empires
• Cgovernment-owned companies
• Dtransnational corporations

Post-Fordist forms of media production and consumption involve:

• Atelevision based on producer-broadcaster rather than publisher-broadcaster models
• Bincreasing numbers of advertisements for motoring and car-related products
• Cthe mass production of standardized products for passive audiences
• Da diverse range of products aimed at niche markets

Which of these trends did the New Right not suggest as evidence of declining family values?

• Athe absence of fathers in many households
• Bthe rising divorce rate
• Cthe increasing number of single parent families
• Dthe tendency for cohabitation before marriage

The trend of decarceration involves:

• Acommunity alternatives to imprisonment and institutional care
• Bthe increased use of imprisonment as the main form of punishment
• Cdecentralized organization due to the mobility of capital
• Dtransferring the management of prisons to private companies

Which of the following is not a 'research purpose'?

• Aexplanation
• Bdescription
• Cexploration
• Dtriangulation

The term inter-generational mobility refers to:

• Amovement into an occupation that generates a lower income
• Bmovement into a different occupational category over a person's lifetime
• Cmovement into different occupational categories between generations
• Dmovement into a higher occupational category

Socialization is:

• Athe historical process by which societies change from traditional to modern
• Ba tendency of social theorists to explain everything in terms of social causes
• Cthe formation of an attachment bond between an infant and its carer
• Dthe process of becoming part of a society by learning its norms and values

The human relations approach emphasized the importance of:

• Ascrutinizing employees as they interacted with customers
• Bteamwork, communication and employee satisfaction
• Cproviding therapy and counselling in the workplace
• Dstrict control and discipline to ensure high productivity

Butler & Stokes (1969) suggested that working class support for the Labour Party arose from:

• Afalse consciousness and the acceptance of hegemonic values
• Bsocialization into working class families and communities
• Crational calculation of self-interest
• Dissue-based concerns about culture and lifestyle

'Scientific' theories in the nineteenth century tried to explain race in naturalistic terms. Which of the following ideas was not considered?

• Agenetics
• Bbrain size
• Cheight
• Devolution

Mass-society theory suggests that:

• Athe content of the media is determined by market forces
• Baudiences make selective interpretations of media messages
• Cthe media manipulate 'the masses' as vulnerable, passive consumers
• Dthe subordinate classes are dominated by the ideology of the ruling class

The 'demographic transition' is a social trend that involves:

• Aincreased birth and death rates, resulting in a relatively young population
• Ba decline in the birth rate, greater life expectancy, and an ageing population
• Ca reduction in population size, caused by a higher rate of emigration than immigration
• Da change in the principal causes of death and disease since industrialization

Urbanization occurred in the nineteenth century because:

• Atransport systems were not provided, so it was easier to live in the city
• Bcommuters started moving out of villages and into cities
• Ctowns and cities were becoming increasingly planned and managed
• Dindustrial capitalism led to a shift of population from rural to urban areas

The general fertility rate fell between 1964 and 2000 because of:

• Athere being fewer women of childbearing age than there were in the first half of the century
• Berrors in the measurement of birth rates and production of statistics
• Cincreases in the age of marriage and the age at which childbearing begins
• Dthe risk of diseases caused by poverty, poor housing and bad sanitation

'Snowballing' is an example of:

• Ausing the Christmas vacation constructively
• Bnon-probability sampling
• Cprobability sampling
• Dcluster sampling

Pluralist theories suggest that:

• Athe ruling elite is composed of people from various class backgrounds
• Bthere is a close alignment between class background and party preference
• Cpolitical parties must compete for the votes of 'consumers' in the electorate
• Dthe state's power can be exercised through several different administrative structures

The term 'collective consumption' (Castells 1977) refers to:

• Athe privatization of public services by the Conservative government
• Bthe form of tuberculosis suffered by those who collect stamps
• Cthe provision of health, housing, and education services by the state
• Dthe lifestyle practice of shopping in peer groups