Course: Introduction to Sociology

Date: October 3, 2023

Practice Paper

Instruction: Circle the correct response in each question.

1. Comte’s early contribution to sociology stressed the following:

a) sociology should focus on the individual as the main unit of study.

b) sociology should be rooted in natural enquiry, that is, the application of the interpretive
methods of observation in social life.
c) sociology should be a scientific discipline unlike the natural science.
d)sociology should be rooted in positivism, that is, the application of the systematic methods of
observation to social life.
2.Auguste Comte was a:
a)structural functionalist
b)conflict theorist.
c)rationalist.
d)symbolic interactionist.
3.Social groups refer to:
a) tow or more persons who share the same space.
b)persons who share the same characteristics.
c)two or more persons who identify and interact with each other.
d) two or more persons who identify, but do not interact with each other.
4.Two features of secondary groups are:
a)goal orientation and large size.
b)goal orientation and personal relation.
c)large size and personal orientation.
d) long term duration and large size.
5. In-groups and out-groups frequently display what characteristics towards each other:
a) conflict between each other.
b)partnership between each other.
c)conflict and partnership between each other.
d) strong emotional bonds with each other.
6. A society is a:
a) category.
b) crowd.
c) social group.
d) total institution.
7.The Looking-Glass Self theory is associated with:
a) Talcott Parsons.
b)George Herbert Mead.
c) Sigmund Freud.
d)Charles Cooley.
8.Culture is:
a) a shared way of life of a people in a set geographic region.
b) only the values, language and norms of society.
c) the way we dress, the music we listen to and how we speak.
d)how we learn to behave in society.
9.Culture can be both:
a)coherent and incoherent.
b)Tangible and intangible.
c)inter-personal and intrapersonal.
d)non-material and immaterial.
10.The standard people have about what is right and what is wrong which varies with
culture are called:
a) beliefs.
b) values.
c) norms.
d) specifics.
11.The prohibition of incest is an example of:
a) values.
b) taboo.
c) mores.
d) folkways.
12.Norms are enforced by:
a) proscriptive and prescriptive norms.
b) formal and material sanctions.
c) laws and punishment.
d) formal and informal sanctions.
13.High culture is shared by:
a)only the elites in society.
b) the elites and the masses.
c) only the masses in a society.
d) the bourgeoisie and the proletariat.
14.Cultural change mainly occurs in the following ways:
a)innovation, migration, and infusion.
b) induction, discovery and diffusion.
c) innovation, diffusion and discovery.
d)invention, diffusion and discovery.
15.Cultural relativism is defined as:
a) judging another culture.
b) judging another culture by its own standards.
c) not judging another a culture.
d) judging a culture by the standards of your culture.
16.Sub-culture reject:
a) all aspects of the dominant culture.
b) most aspects of a dominant culture.
c) some aspects of a dominant culture.
d) none of the above.
17.Cultural change is:
a) inevitable.
b) communicable.
c) short-term.
d) to be resisted.
18.Cultural lag is defined as:
a) when one’s culture fall behind others.
b) when one’s culture is not the dominant culture in the global village.
c) when different parts of a cultural system change at different rates.
d) when all parts of a cultural system change at the same rate.
19. Which of the following is an example of cultural universals?
a) clothing
b) funeral rites
c) cinemas
d) all of the above
20.Socialization is the same as:
a) enculturation.
b) sub-culturation.
c) acculturation.
d) none of the above
21. The main components of culture are:
a) language, symbols, values and beliefs and material objects.
b) symbols, values and beliefs, norms and material objects.
c) norms, mores, folkways, values and beliefs and material objects.
d) language, values and beliefs, symbols, norms and material objects.
22.Parsons stated that the engine of human history or change is characterized by:
a) consensus.
b) class conflict.
c) pattern variables.
d) all of the above
23.The concept of total institution is an aspect of :
a) anticipatory socialization.
b) resocialization.
c) reverse socialization.
d) institutional socialization.
24.The concept total institution was coined by:
a) Charles Cooley.
b) Emile Durkheim.
c) Herbert Spencer.
d) Erving Goffman.
25.Feral children are:
a) isolated from human beings.
b) children raised in the wild.
c) children raised in foster care.
d) children who are not well behaved.
26. The terms “I” and “Me” and the “Generalized Other” were coined by:
a) Emile Durkheim.
b) Karl Marx.
c) Erving Goffman.
d)George Herbert Mead.
27.Resocialzation can occur:
a) when a person moves to a new country.
b) when a person undertakes a new task.
c) when a person changes his or her behaviour before taking on a new task.
d) all of the above.
28.Reverse socialization occurs:
a) only in total institutions.
b) not in total institutions.
c) in everyday activities
d) when adults learn from children.
29.This early theorist’s study of the social phenomenon of suicide correlated high suicide
rates with weak social ties and social networks:
a) Charles Wright Mills.
b) Karl Marx.
c) Emile Durkheim.
d) Herbert Spencer.
30.The focus of the functionalist perspective is:
a) conflict is the starting point for their analysis of society.
b) the economy forms the base of society.
c) the superstructure is formed by the infrastructure.
d) none of the above.
31.Mechanical solidarity is represented by:
a) transitional societies.
b) mechanical societies
c) pre-industrial societies
d) modern societies.
32.The tangible things created by members of a society are called:
a) material culture.
b) non-material culture.
c) material culture.
d) mass culture.
33.Who coined the term sociological Imagination?
a) Auguste Comte
b) Emile Durkheim
c) Karl Marx
d) C. Wright Mills.
34. The idea that society is a system of interrelated parts that is relatively stable based on
widespread consensus as to what is morally desired, refers to which theoretical paradigm?
a) Conflict
b) Functionalist
c) Interactionist
d) Feminist
35.Durkeheim’s designation of social bonds based on specialization that unite members of
industrial societies is termed:
a) organic solidarity.
b) social solidarity.
c) class for itself.
d) socialism.
Answer TRUE OR FALSE
1. Sociology can be classified as a science as it is empirical, cumulative and objective.
2. In sociology when we refer to the social institutions we include the family, religion and
education.
3. Organic solidarity is associated with primitive society.
4. Pattern variable A can be seen in traditional types of societies.
5.Achievement is an example of pattern variable A in the traditional society.
6.The mass media is a primary agent of socialization.
7.Herbert Spencer is functionalist who presented the organic view of society.
8.The Industrial Revolution and Enlightenment did not have a significant impact on the rise of
sociology as a discipline.
9.Sociology examines and seeks to understand social phenomena.
10.T he functional prerequisite (AGIL schema) were developed by Talcott Parsons.