Master of Arts in Sociology

First Year

Advanced Sociology

1 Sociology is
A) an awareness of the relationship between an individual and the wider society.
B) the scientific study of social behavior and human groups.
C) concerned with what one individual does or does not do.
D) very narrow in scope.

2 Which sociologist introduced the concept of the sociological imagination?

A) Richard Schaefer
B) Auguste Comte
C) Harriet Martineau
D) C. Wright Mills

3 Durkheim's research suggested that

A) Catholics had much higher suicide rates than Protestants.
B) there seemed to be higher rates of suicide in times of peace than in times of war and
revolution.
C) civilians were more likely to take their lives than soldiers.
D) suicide is a solitary act, unrelated to group life.

4 In this sociologist's hierarchy of sciences, sociology was the "queen" and its practitioners
"scientist-priests."
A) Auguste Comte
B) mile Durkheim
C) Herbert Spencer
D) Harriet Martineau

5 Which sociologist introduced the concept of anomie to the discipline?

A) Max Weber
B) Herbert Spencer
C) mile Durkheim
D) C. Wright Mills

6 Anomie refers to
A) a construct, or a made-up model, that serves as a measuring rod against which actual cases
can be evaluated.
B) the study of small groups.
C) the loss of direction felt in a society when social control of individual
D) a set of statements that seeks to explain problems, actions, or behavior.
7 Weber taught his students that they should employ what in their intellectual work?
A) anomie
B) Verstehen
C) the sociological imagination
D) microsociology

8 Which sociological perspective holds that if an aspect of social life does not contribute to a
society's stability or survival if it does not serve some identifiably useful function or promote
value consensus among members of society?
A) conflict perspective
B) interactionist perspective
C) microsociology
D) functionalist perspective

9 One function that a university serves is to hold down unemployment. This is an example of
what kind of function?
A) dysfunction
B) manifest function
C) latent function
D) conflict function

10 Which sociological perspective assumes that social behavior is best understood in terms of
tension between competing groups?
A) conflict perspective
B) interactionist perspective
C) microsociology
D) functionalist perspective

11 Which perspective has begun to study a new form of commuter behavior called "slugging"?
A) interactionist perspective
B) conflict perspective
C) functionalist perspective
D) macrosociology

12 Which theoretical perspective would examine sports on the micro level by focusing on how
day-to-day social behavior is shaped by the distinctive norms, values, and demands of the world
of sports?
A) functionalist perspective
B) conflict perspective
C) interactionist perspective
D) both functionalist and conflict perspectives

13 Which sociologist below tried to establish a juvenile court system?

A) Charles Horton Cooley
B) Jane Addams
C) Robert Merton
D) Harriet Martineau

14 Which sociologist below made a major contribution to society through his in depth studies of
urban life, both black and white?
A) W.E.B. DuBois
B) Robert Merton
C) August Comte
D) Charles Horton Cooley

15 Within sociology, a/an __________ is a set of statements that seeks to explain problems,
actions, or behavior.
A) theory
B) hypothesis
C) operational definition
D) correlation

16 Who among the following is odd one?

A) Colley
B) Mead
C) Parsons
D) Durkheim

17 Who viewed expectation and inspiration as the two main bases of socialization and learning?
A) Parsons
B) Mead
C) J.Piaget
D) social Process

18 Suggestion is one of the basic principles of..

A) human behavior
B) class
C) socialization
D) social process

19 An individual starts learning from..

A) mother's
B) childhood
C) adulthood
D) adolescence

20 Socialization is a process involving..

A) Gradual chaining of organism
B) Training to adopt to the society
C) Setting up of social norms
D) Declaring everything as belonging to society
21 According to whom, ''suggestion is the cognitive aspect of the gregarious instincts''?
A) Ross
B) Ma clver
C) Thouless
D) Parsons

22 'Looking glass self' is a socialization process which essentially means..

A) a self perception of what other think of us
B) a true judgment of approval and disapproval

23 Who said that socialization takes place through two major mechanism identification and
repression?
A) M. Mead
B) Tonnies
C) S. Freud
D) Sumner

24 Primary socialization take place during infancy, usually within.

A) Family
Bb) Community
C) Out group
D) Mother's care

25 Socialization is a process of converting a biological organism into..

A) Modern man
B) Primitive man
C) Human being
D) social man

26 Which Rigveda Sukta or hymn speaks of four classes originating from four parts of the body
of the creator?
A) Vishnu Sukta
B) Narada Sukta
C) Purush Sukta
D) Pushan Sukta

27 The term gender stratification refers to stratifications between..

A) Sexes
B) Generations
C) Income groups
D) Racial groups

28 Marx's recognitions of five types of society does not included..

A) Ancient society
B) Asiatic society
C) Feudal society
D) Tribal society

29 Social stratification involves division of society in permanent groups on the basis of..
A) Culture difference
B) The relationship of superiority and subordination
C) Economic inequalities
D) Religious differentiation

30 The word ''cast'' was applied to the Indian institution ''jati'' in the 16th century by the...
A) Portugues
B) American
C) Spanish
D) British

31 Culture is defined as
A) the largest form of human group.
B) the totality of learned, socially transmitted customs, knowledge, material objects, and
behavior.
C) the established standards of behavior maintained by a society.
D) norms governing everyday behavior.

32 People's need for food, shelter, and clothing are examples of what Murdock referred to as
A) norms.
B) folkways.
C) cultural practices.
D) cultural universals.

33 The process of introducing a new idea or object to culture through discovery or invention is
known as
A) innovation.
B) diffusion.
C) globalization.
D) cultural relativism.

34 The finding of the structure of the DNA molecule is an example of a/an

A) invention.
B) discovery.
C) cultural universal.
D) Sapir-Whorf hypothesis.

35 What term do sociologists use to refer to the process by which a cultural item spreads from
group to group or society to society?
A) innovation
B) globalization
C) diffusion
D) cultural relativism

36 The emergence of Starbucks in China represents what aspect of culture?

A) innovation
B) globalization
C) diffusion
D) cultural relativism

37 What term did William Ogburn introduce to refer to the period of maladjustment when the
nonmaterial culture is still adapting to new material conditions?
A) culture lag
B) cultural relativism
C) ethnocentrism
D) diffusion

38 Which one of the following statements is true according to the Sapir-Whorf hypothesis?
A) Language simply describes reality.
B) Language does not transmit stereotypes related to race.
C) Language precedes thought.
D) Language is not an example of a cultural universal.

39 The statement "Respect your elders" reflects which one of the following?
A) diffusion
B) cultural universals
C) ethnocentrism
D) norms

40 In the United States, we often formalize norms into

A) ideals.
B) folkways.
C) laws.
D) values.

41 Which sociological perspective argues that the present organization of social institutions is no
accident?
A) functionalist perspective
B) conflict perspective
C) interactionist perspective
D) global perspective

42 Sociologist Mitchell Duneier studied the social behavior of word processors from which
sociological perspective?
A) functionalist perspective
B) conflict perspective
C) interactionist perspective
D) global perspective
43 Social control in the Gemeinschaft community is maintained through all but which one of the
following means?
A) moral persuasion
B) gossip
C) legally defined punishment
D) gestures

44 Which society is characterized by a reliance on mechanical power and new sources of energy?
A) agrarian
B) industrial
C) postindustrial
D) postmodern

45 In the 1970s this sociologist wrote about the technologically advanced postindustrial society,
whose economic system is engaged primarily in the processing and control of information.
A) Ferdinand Tonnies
B) Gerhard Lenski
C) Mitchell Duneier
D) Daniel Bell

46 Which type of society is a technologically sophisticated society that is preoccupied with

consumer goods and media images?
A) postmodern society
B) industrial society
C) postindustrial society
D) All societies are preoccupied with consumer goods and media images.

47 In sociological terms, what do we call any number of people with similar norms, values, and
expectations who interact with one another on a regular basis?
A) a category
B) a group
C) an aggregate
D) a society

48 Gerhard Lenski views technological advances as related to changes in a society. What does he
call this evolution?
A) Gemeinschaft
B) Gesellschaft
C) anomie
D) sociocultural evolution

49 The scientific management approach is also known as what theory of formal organizations?
A) the functional theory
B) the classical theory
C) the oligarchical theory
D) the interactionist theory
50 Social psychologist Philip Zimbardo conducted an experiment involving a "mock prison
setting," wherein student participants were asked to play the roles of correctional officers and
inmates. Zimbardo's investigation best illustrates which concept?
A) negotiation
B) social interaction
C) ascribed status
D) negotiated order

51 __________ refers to the way in which a society is organized into predictable relationships.
A) Social interaction
B) Status
C) Social structure
D) Social role

52 To study the relationship between social networks and obesity, researchers repeatedly tracked
the weight of 12, 067 respondents. What type of research method did they use?
A) surveys
B) experiments
C) in-home interviews
D) all of these

53 What do sociologists call any group that individuals use as a standard for evaluating
themselves and their own behavior?
A) a coalition
B) a primary group
C) a secondary group
D) a reference group

54 Which man first directed researchers to the significance of bureaucratic structure?

A) Karl Marx
B) Max Weber
C) George Simmel
D) Laurence J. Peter

55 Sociologist George Ritzer theorizes that the principles of the fast-food restaurant are coming
to dominate more and more sectors of American society as well as the rest of the world. Ritzer
refers to this phenomenon as
A) Have It Your Wayitis.
B) McDonaldization.
C) Wendy's Revenge.
D) Taco Bellism.

56 Society brings about acceptance of basic norms through techniques and strategies for
preventing deviant human behavior. This process is termed
A) stigmatization.
B) labeling.
C) law.
D) social control.

57 Which of the following is NOT an example of informal social control?

A) jail
B) laughter
C) raising of an eyebrow
D) ridicule

58 Police officers, school administrators, employers, and managers of movie theaters are all
instruments of
A) informal social control.
B) formal social control.
C) the state.
D) the government.

59 Deviance is
A) always criminal behavior.
B) behavior that violates the standards of conduct or expectations of a group or society.
C) perverse behavior.
D) inappropriate behavior that cuts across all cultures and social orders.

60 Durkheim used which term in referring to the loss of direction felt in a society when social
control of individual behavior has become ineffective?
A) stigma
B) functionalism
C) anomie
D) labeling

61 The term __________ describes a condition in which members of a society have differing
amounts of wealth, prestige, or power.
A) stratification
B) status inconsistency
C) slavery
D) social inequality

62 Which of the following is NOT an example of income?

A) salaries
B) property
C) wages
D) All of these are examples of income.

63 Land, stocks, and other types of property are all examples of

A) wealth.
B) income.
C) wages.
D) salaries.

64 The most extreme form of legalized social inequality for individuals and groups is
A) homelessness.
B) vagrancy.
C) slavery.
D) unemployment.

65 Hereditary systems of rank, usually religiously dictated and tending to be fixed and immobile,
are referred to as
A) social classes.
B) class divisions.
C) socioeconomic groups.
D) castes.

66 __________ is a social ranking based primarily on economic position in which achieved

characteristics can influence social mobility.
A) Caste membership
B) Varnas
C) A class system

67 __________ is an economic system in which the means of production are largely in private
hands and the main incentive for economic activity is the accumulation of profits.
A) Socialism
B) Capitalism
C) Communism
D) A mixed economy

68 A subjective awareness held by members of a class regarding their common vested interests
and the need for collective political action to bring about social change is referred to as
A) false class-consciousness.
B) class consciousness.
C) status group membership.
D) the capitalist self.

69 The ability to exercise one's will over others is referred to as

A) authority.
B) domination.
C) class consciousness.
D) power.

70 According to the __________ perspective, stratification is universal.

A) conflict
B) interactionist
C) functionalist
D) Marxian

71 Which one of the following statements is true from a conflict perspective?

A) Stability requires a consensus and the support of a society's members.
B) Cultural traits all work toward stabilizing society.
C) A common culture serves to maintain the privileges of certain groups.
D) Practices such as prostitution continue to survive because they contribute to the overall social
stability.

72 Which one of the following terms describes the set of cultural beliefs and practices that help
to maintain powerful social, economic, and political interests?
A) mores
B) dominant ideology
C) consensus
D) values

73 Which of the following life goals has shown the strongest gain in popularity for first-year
college students in the United States from 1966-2011?
A) developing a meaningful philosophy of life
B) helping to promote racial understanding
C) helping others
D) being very well-off financially

74 An American touring different parts of China wants local meat for dinner, but is shocked to
learn that the specialty in one restaurant is dog meat. This illustrates
A) counterculture.
B) dominant ideology.
C) a cultural universal.
D) culture shock.

75 Ultraconservative militia groups in the U.S. are examples of

A) cultural universals.
B) subcultures.
C) countercultures.
D) dominant ideologies.

76 What term do sociologists use to refer to a segment of society that shares a distinctive pattern
of customs, rules, and traditions that differs from the pattern of the larger society?
A) dominant culture
B) counterculture
C) subculture
D) superculture

77 Anyone who feels disoriented, uncertain, out of place, even fearful, when immersed in an
unfamiliar culture may be experiencing
A) culture lag.
B) culture shock.
C) cultural relativism.
D) xenocentrism.

78 What is the term used when one places a priority on understanding other cultures, rather than
dismissing them as "strange" or "exotic"?
A) ethnocentrism
B) culture shock
C) cultural relativism
D) xenocentrism

79 Sociobiology is founded on the work of

A) Herbert Spencer.
B) Charles Darwin.
C) Karl Marx.
D) William Ogburn.

80 Evaluating the practices of other cultures on the basis of our own perspective is referred to as
A) ethnocentrism.
B) culture shock.
C) cultural relativism.
D) xenocentrism.

81 All cultures are constantly

A) constant
B) changing
C) Not changing
D) None of these

82 No society is exactly succeeded in

A) analysing the human nature.
B) exactly copying and transmitting the culture of its ancestors.
C) None of these

83 To stabilise word meaning and stop language changes the dictionary was created by
A) Samuel Johnson
B) Adam Smith
C) August Comet

84 Samuel Johnson published his dictionary in the hope that it would stabilise word meaning and
stop language changes in
A) 1655
B) 1755
C) 1855

85 Social change is
A) continuous
B) irresistible
C) both of these

86 In social change there is

A) no distinction
B) distinction
C) an individual increase in wealth

87 Culture change means

A) change in social structure.
B) change in social relationship.
C) change in the culture of a society.
D) None of these

88 Which of the following is included in social change?

A) Changes in the age distribution.
B) Invention and popularisation
C) Changing concept of property.
D) All of above
E) None of these

89 Which of the following is included in social change?

A) Change in average educational level.
B) Change in poliitical condition.
C) Change in environment.

90 Which of the following is not included in social change?

A) New forms of music.
B) Changing concept of propriety and morality.
C) Changes in age distribution.
D) Change in poliitical environment.

91 The response of individuals to one another is

A) social interaction
B) culture
C) ethos

92 Symbolic interactionism is theory of

A) P. V. Young
B) Herbert Blumer's
C) Karl Marx

93 Social stratification indicates

A) process by which a person gets ranks in society.
B) backwardness of society
C) international understanding of society.

94 Social stratification is based on

A) social understanding
B) social inequality
C) social harmony

95 War theory is associated with

A) Karl Marx
B) Herbert Blumer's
C) Kingsely Davis

96 Which of the following is not true of social stratification?

A) It is in the form of hierarchy.
B) It is based on the division of society into groups.
C) It indicates rank and status of a person.
D) It indicates only difference in society.

97. Social stratification is guided mainly by

A) extent of contacts.
B) economic consideration of the people.
C) the extent of socialisation.

98 In feudal society, stratification was affected by the factor

A) religion
B) estate
C) None of these

99 In feudal society, stratification was based on

A) cast of a person.
B) whether one was slave or free.
C) whether one lived in a city or an urban area.

100 Which one of the following is not functional utility of social stratification?
A) It helps in deciding responsibility of everyone in the society.
B) It helps in providing opportunities.
C) None of above.
Answer Keys:
1. B 2. D 3. B 4. A 5. C 6. C 7. B 8. D 9. C 10. A
11. A 12. C 13. B 14. A 15. A 16. D 17. A 18. C 19. B 20. B
21. A 22. A 23. A 24. A 25. D 26. C 27. A 28. A 29. A 30. C
31. B 32. D 33. A 34. B 35. C 36. B 37. A 38. C 39. D 40. C
41. B 42. C 43. C 44. B 45. D 46. A 47. B 48. D 49. B 50. B
51. C 52. A 53. D 54. B 55. B 56. D 57. A 58. B 59. B 60. C
61. D 62. B 63. A 64. C 65. D 66. C 67. B 68. B 69. D 70. C
71. C 72. B 73. D 74. D 75. C 76. C 77. B 78. C 79. B 80. A
81. B 82. B 83. A 84. B 85. A 86. A 87. C 88. D 89. A 90. D
91. A 92. B 93. A 94. B 95. C 96. A 97. B 98. B 99. B 100. A