If you possess a sociological imagination and someone asks you to study unemployment rates in a city of fifty million people where fifteen million are unemployed, what would you conclude?

The reality television show Wife Swap exchanges the matriarchs from two very different families and films the result, as the participants are exposed to radically different ways of life. Although the television network is simply trying to be entertaining, which principle is being demonstrated?

Sociology can be approached from either a microsociological or a macrosociological perspective. Which is more useful?

Durkheim theorized that the rapidly changing conditions of modern life lead to anomie. What is anomie?

According to Karl Marx, how is class consciousness, or revolutionary consciousness, developed?

What does Max Weber mean when he says that modern people are trapped in an “iron cage”?

Which of the following theories views society as a whole unit, made up of interrelated parts that work together?

Stricter control of the border between the United States and Mexico was implemented to curb illegal immigration, but it also made illegal immigrants more likely to stay in the United States for longer periods of time, because frequent border crossings became both dangerous and costly. The increase in the number of illegal immigrants who stayed permanently or semi-permanently is:

Which of the following theories focuses on how our behaviors are dependent upon the ways we interpret, make sense of, and define ourselves, others, and social situations?

According to the scientific method, what are the steps in research, and in what order should they be completed?

Charles Darwin suggested that, rather than being superior to the rest of the animal kingdom, human beings are simply one part of a larger system governed by natural laws. To the extent that this radically changed how people thought about almost everything, we would call it a(n):

Which of the following is an advantage of using ethnography to study social life?

If a researcher has obtained informed consent from all his or her participants, it means that:

When survey researchers write closed-ended questions, they often use Likert scales to construct the possible answers. How do Likert scales allow respondents to answer?

When do sociologists most often use statistical tools to analyze their data?

The analysis of documents—such as medical records, photographs, diaries, letters, newspapers, and song lyrics—uses which of the following types of data?

What is the definition of “culture”?

Why do ethnocentric people tend to view other cultures as abnormal?

What do sociologists call rules and guidelines for behavior (what's acceptable and what's not acceptable) within a group?

How are informal norms enforced in everyday settings?

A cultural group that exists harmoniously within a larger, dominant culture is called a:

Sociologists use which of the following terms to describe a group whose values and norms oppose the dominant culture?

Socialization refers to the:

Which one of the following is NOT an element of Charles Cooley’s the looking-glass self?

According to George Herbert Mead, in what way is a game of football like society?

Erving Goffman theorized social life as a kind of con game in which each individual works to control the impressions others have of him/her. What did Goffman call this process?

What sorts of things do students learn from the hidden curriculum?

The term “total institution” refers to organizations that strip members of their previous identities in order to resocialize them.

What is role conflict?

A triad is more stable but less intimate than a dyad.

Strong identification with and loyalty to the in-group often results in discrimination against members of the out-group.

Emile Durkheim worried that, in an increasingly fragmented modern world, individuals would feel less and less connected to groups, which would lead to:

What is the danger of too much group cohesion?

What are leaders called whose personal style makes them more task- or goal-oriented and less concerned with people’s feelings?

In order for a behavior, trait, or belief to be considered deviant, it must: 

When a politician is caught cheating on his spouse, there are usually serious consequences, and sometimes the politician is forced to resign from his office when his constituents loudly express the unhappiness with such behavior. According to Emile Durkheim, what function does this reaction serve?

Samantha believes that our criminal law excuses big corporations for polluting the planet, manufacturing unsafe products, and manipulating prices. At the same time, she sees homeless people imprisoned for stealing food, which she believes we should all have access to regardless of wealth. Samantha has taken a __________ perspective to explain the way deviance is viewed in society. 

According to the structural strain theory of deviance as articulated by Robert Merton, what is one of the principle reasons people turn to deviant behavior in the United States?

When a parent argues that his or her child has simply fallen in with a bad crowd, what theory of deviance is he or she expressing?

How do sociologists define positive deviance?

The upper class makes up just 1 percent of the total U.S. population, but its total net worth is greater than that of __________ of the rest of the population. 

How is Max Weber’s idea of social class different from Karl Marx’s?

What does Pierre Bourdieu call the tendency of social class to be passed down from one generation to the next and consequently remain relatively stable over time?

What are the tastes, habits, and expectations called that children “inherit” (or learn) from their parents that help to achieve material success in life?

What do sociologists call awareness of our own and others’ class statuses?

Approximately what percentage of the United States population falls below the federal poverty line?

What is the principal sociological critique of the culture of poverty? 

When individuals fail to see the ways they are oppressed by the social system they live in, Karl Marx calls it

Hope is desperate for the new designer purse that she saw while window shopping at her local mall. She knew every girl in school would covet her bag and wish to be like her. When she walked in, she whipped out her credit card, and purchased the $5,000 bag. This kind of purchasing is called: