Contemporary Social Issues
Exam Preparation Guide
Course Introduction
Contemporary Social Issues explores pressing challenges and debates shaping modern society, examining topics such as inequality, discrimination, globalization, environmental change, health disparities, and the impact of technology. The course encourages critical analysis of how social, economic, and political forces influence individuals and communities, while also exploring potential solutions and the role of social movements, policy, and advocacy in addressing these issues. Students will engage with diverse perspectives through case studies, discussions, and research, developing deeper understanding and practical skills for analyzing and responding to todays most urgent social concerns.
Recommended Textbook
Sociology in Our Times The Essentials 8th Edition by Diana
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16 Chapters
2386 Verified Questions
2386 Flashcards
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Page 2
Kendall
Chapter 1: The Sociological Perspective and Research Process
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146 Verified Questions
146 Flashcards
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Sample Questions
Q1) C. Wright Mills believed that the most important decisions in the United States are made largely behind the scenes by the power superiors-a small clique composed of the top corporate, political, and military officials.
A)True
B)False
Answer: False
Q2) Reliability is the extent to which a study or research instrument accurately measures what it is supposed to measure.
A)True
B)False
Answer: False
Q3) According to sociologist Robert K. Merton, __________ are unintended functions that are hidden and remain unacknowledged by participants.
A)dysfunctions
B)latent functions
C)prerequisite functions
D)manifest functions
Answer: B
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Chapter 2: Culture
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150 Verified Questions
150 Flashcards
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Sample Questions
Q1) Groups such as the beatniks of the 1950s, the drug enthusiasts of the 1970s, and members of religious cults reject some or many of culture's basic norms and values. These groups are called
A)contracultures
B)secondary cultures
C)countercultures
D)subcultures
Answer: C
Q2) Discuss how cultural assumptions are challenged by an encounter with culture shock.
Answer: Not Answer
Q3) A __________ is a category of people who share distinguishing attributes, beliefs, values, and/or norms that set them apart in some significant manner from the dominant culture.
A)contraculture
B)counterculture
C)subculture
D)primary culture
Answer: C
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Page 4
Chapter 3: Socialization
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150 Verified Questions
150 Flashcards
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Sample Questions
Q1) According to psychologist Sigmund Freud, human development occurs in three states that reflect different levels of the personality. Which of the following is not one of the states?
A)id
B)superego
C)libido
D)ego
Answer: C
Q2) According to psychologist Jean Piaget, in the __________ stage, children understand the world only through sensory contact and immediate action because they cannot engage in symbolic thought or use language.
A)sensorimotor
B)formal operational
C)preoperational
D)concrete operational
Answer: A
Q3) Describe socialization through the life course and resocialization.
Answer: Not Answer
Q4) Summarize Jean Piaget's views on cognitive development.
Answer: Not Answer
Page 5
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Chapter 4: Social Structure and Interaction in Everyday Life
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141 Verified Questions
141 Flashcards
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Sample Questions
Q1) A(n) __________ is any physical or social attribute or sign that so devalues a person's social identity that it disqualifies that person from full social acceptance.
A)deviant quality
B)stigma
C)anomic identity
D)label
Q2) Social structure consists of all except A)institutions. B)values.
C)groups and their relationships.
D)status and roles.
Q3) Define and give an example of: role conflict, role strain, and role exit. How do they differ from another?
Q4) Facebook was originated by Facebook.
A)True
B)False
Q5) Define nonverbal communication and explain how this concept relates to our interactions with others.
Q6) Describe ethnomethodology and note its strengths.
Page 6
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Chapter 5: Groups and Organizations
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Sample Questions
Q1) __________ size refers to the number of members a group actually has.
A)Relative
B)Numeric
C)Absolute
D)Interaction
Q2) A(n) __________ is a collection of two or more people who interact frequently with one another, share a sense of belonging, and have a feeling of interdependence.
A)social group
B)aggregate
C)category
D)secondary group
Q3) __________ needs are particularly important for self-expression and support from family, friends, and peers.
A)Expressive
B)Instrumental
C)Social
D)Individual
Q4) Compare normative, coercive, and utilitarian organizations and describe the nature of membership in each.
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Chapter 6: Deviance and Crime
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149 Flashcards
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Sample Questions
Q1) The National Gang Center (2010), funded by the U.S. Department of Justice, estimates that in 2007 there were __________gangs with about 788,000 members of all ages in the United States..
A)100,000
B)50,250
C)27,300
D)10,750
Q2) In relation to the symbolic interactionist perspectives on deviance, assess sociologist Walter Reckless' control theory and sociologist Travis Hirschi's social bonding theory.
Q3) According to sociologist Edwin Lemert, several stages may occur in the labeling process. A few people engage in __________ deviance, which occurs when a person who has been labeled a deviant seeks to normalize the behavior by relabeling it as nondeviant.
A)career
B)primary
C)tertiary
D)secondary
Q4) Discuss the issue of graffiti
Q5) Outline the principle elements of sociologist Robert Merton's strain theory.
Page 8
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Chapter 7: Class and Stratification in the United States
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150 Flashcards
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Sample Questions
Q1) Asian Americans are among the most severely disadvantaged persons in the United States. About one-third are below the poverty line, and some of these individuals live in extreme poverty.
A)True
B)False
Q2) When sociologists define poverty, they define absolute poverty and state that it exists when people may be able to afford basic necessities but are still unable to maintain an average standard of living.
A)True
B)False
Q3) __________ mobility is the social movement of individuals within their own lifetime.
A)Intergenerational
B)Structural
C)Intragenerational
D)Exchange
Q4) Define the official poverty line and differentiate between absolute poverty and relative poverty.
Q5) Discuss consequences of inequality in relation to housing.
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Chapter 8: Global Stratification
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150 Verified Questions
150 Flashcards
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Sample Questions
Q1) U.S. President John F. Kennedy's economic advisor Walt W. Rostow suggested that all countries go through four stages of economic development. He stated that the second stage is the take-off stage-a period of economic growth accompanied by a growing belief in individualism, competition, and achievement.
A)True
B)False
Q2) According to some social scientists, global wealth and poverty are linked to the level of __________ and economic development in a given society. It almost inevitably brings with it a higher standard of living in a nation and some degree of social mobility for individual participants in the society.
A)industrialization
B)capitalization
C)urbanization
D)welfare socialism
Q3) Following the Vietnam War, the Marshall Plan provided massive sums of money in direct aid and loans to rebuild the Southeast Asian economic base destroyed during the war.
A)True
B)False
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Page 10
Chapter 9: Race and Ethnicity
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150 Flashcards
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Sample Questions
Q1) According to the text, Native Americans have not been subjected to __________.
A)genocide.
B)forced migration.
C)restrictive immigration quotas.
D)forced assimilation.
Q2) In the United States, whites with Northern European ancestry (often referred to as Euro-Americans, white Anglo-Saxon Protestants, or WASPs) have been considered to be the __________ group for many years.
A)multilateral
B)minority
C)subordinate
D)majority
Q3) Describe sociologist Robert Merton's typology of the relationship between prejudice and discrimination and provide examples of each.
Q4) Outline sociologist Joe Feagin's four major types of discrimination and provide examples of each.
Q5) Summarize the theories of prejudice and explain how prejudice is measured.
Q6) Define prejudice, stereotypes, and racism.
Q7) Theories of prejudice and measuring prejudice
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Chapter 10: Sex, Gender, and Sexuality
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Sample Questions
Q1) __________ is embedded in the images, ideas, and language of a society and is used as a means to divide up work, allocate resources, and distribute power.
A)Sex
B)Body consciousness
C)Gender
D)Sexuality
Q2) Virtually everything social in our lives is gendered; people continually distinguish between males and females and evaluate them differently. Gender is an integral part of the daily experience of both women and men.
A)True
B)False
Q3) According to journalist Nicholas Kristof, which two religions have been on the rise in recent years?
A)Islam and Buddhism
B)Christianity and Hinduism
C)Evangelical Christianity and Islam
D)Hinduism and Buddhism
Q4) Describe the process of gender socialization.
Q5) Discuss the biological dimension of sex.
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Chapter 11: Families and Intimate Relationships
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150 Verified Questions
150 Flashcards
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Sample Questions
Q1) One of the major concerns of commercial surrogacy is the possible exploitation of the surrogate.
A)True
B)False
Q2) Discuss child-related family issues and parenting.
Q3) Analyze the family from the conflict and feminist perspectives.
Q4) Most people's behavior is shaped by cultural rules. __________ is the practice of marrying outside one's own social groups or category.
A)Exogamy
B)Homogamy
C)Heterogamy
D)Endogamy
Q5) In preindustrial societies, kinship is usually traced through one parent (unilineally). The most common pattern of unilineal descent is __________, which is a system of tracing descent through the father's side of the family.
A)patriarchal descent
B)patrilineal descent
C)patrilocal descent
D)patricentric descent
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Chapter 12: Education and Religion
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150 Flashcards
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Sample Questions
Q1) __________ involves "proper" attitudes toward education, socially approved dress and manners, and knowledge about books, art, music, and other forms of high and popular culture.
A)Cultural mystique
B)Proper social grace
C)Accumulated social wisdom
D)Cultural capital
Q2) Working-class and poverty-level income parents endow their children with more cultural capital than do middle- and upper-income parents. Because cultural capital is essential for acquiring an education, children with more cultural capital have fewer opportunities to succeed in school.
A)True
B)False
Q3) Attempts to remove textbooks from the schools have occurred at what level?
A)elementary
B)middle
C)high
D)attempts have occurred at all levels
Q4) Discuss the three sociological perspectives as they relate to religion.
Q5) Outline opportunities and challenges in colleges and universities.
14
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Chapter 13: Politics and the Economy in Global Perspective
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Sample Questions
Q1) Although the most basic form of power is physical violence or force, most political leaders do not want to base their power on force alone; they seek to legitimize their power by turning it into __________, which is the power that people accept as legitimate rather than coercive.
A)control
B)leverage
C)authority
D)political influence
Q2) A __________ is an organization whose purpose is to gain and hold legitimate control of government; it is usually composed of people with similar attitudes, interests, and socioeconomic status.
A)power elite
B)populist group
C)political party
D)pluralist interest group
Q3) C. Wright Mills argued that the major function of the media and journalists was to be a "watchdog for the public."
A)True
B)False
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Page 15
Chapter 14: Health, Health Care, and Disability
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150 Verified Questions
150 Flashcards
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Sample Questions
Q1) The United States has two nationwide public health insurance programs, Medicare and Medicaid. Medicare is a jointly funded federal-state-local program, established to make health care more available to the poor; whereas, Medicaid is a program for persons age 65 or older who are covered by Social Security or who are eligible and "buy into" the program by paying a monthly premium.
A)True
B)False
Q2) According to some analysts, a major weakness of sociologist Talcott Parson's sick-role model is that it __________.
A)does not emphasize the major role of physicians.
B)does not explain society's role in defining sickness.
C)does not take into account racial/ethnic, class, and gender variations.
D)provides for a societal explanation of illness-related behavior.
Q3) __________ use occurs when a person takes a drug for a specific purpose.
A)Pleasure
B)Therapeutic
C)Chronic
D)Recreational
Q4) Describe health in global perspective.
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Chapter 15: Population and Urbanization
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150 Flashcards
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Sample Questions
Q1) The age distribution of a population has a direct bearing on the demand for schooling, health, employment, housing, and pensions. The current distribution of a population can be depicted in a population pyramid, which is a graphic representation of the distribution of a population by sex and age.
A)True
B)False
Q2) Known as the __________, this approach suggests that after flows of migration commence, the pattern may continue because potential migrants have personal ties with relatives and friends who now live in the country of destination and can serve as a source of stability when the potential migrants relocate to the new country.
A)world systems theory
B)institutional theory
C)neoclassical economic approach
D)network theory
Q3) Cancer is the number one killer in the U.S.
A)True
B)False
Q4) Describe the study of demography and define the basic demographic concepts.
Q5) Summarize urban problems in the United States.
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Chapter 16: Collective Behavior, Social Movements, and Social Change
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150 Verified Questions
150 Flashcards
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Sample Questions
Q1) Some protests take the form of __________, which is nonviolent action that seeks to change a policy or law by refusing to comply with it.
A)civil insubordination
B)civil rebellion
C)civil disobedience
D)civil dismissiveness
Q2) Describe social movements and note when and where they are most likely to develop.
Q3) Scholar Gustave Le Bon asserted that emotions such as fear and hate are contagious in crowds because people experience an increase in personal responsibility; they will do things by themselves that they would never do as a collectivity.
A)True
B)False
Q4) A fad is defined as a currently valued style of behavior, thinking, or appearance. Unlike fashions, fads tend to be longer lasting. A fashion is a temporary but widely copied activity enthusiastically followed by large numbers of people.
A)True
B)False
18
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