Inequality and Health Midterm
Exam
Course Introduction
This course explores the complex relationships between social, economic, and political inequalities and their impact on health outcomes across diverse populations. Students will examine key concepts and theoretical frameworks related to health disparities, consider the role of structural factors such as income, education, race, and gender, and analyze how these determinants contribute to unequal access to healthcare and differences in morbidity and mortality. Through case studies and current research, the course encourages critical thinking about policies and interventions aimed at reducing health inequities locally and globally.
Recommended Textbook
The Sociology of Health Healing and Illness 7th Edition by Gregory L. Weiss
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13 Chapters
357 Verified Questions
357 Flashcards
Source URL: https://quizplus.com/study-set/2026
Page 2
Chapter 1: The Sociology of Health,Illness, and Health Care
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21 Verified Questions
21 Flashcards
Source URL: https://quizplus.com/quiz/40286
Sample Questions
Q1) Which of the following research projects best reflects a sociological perspective?
A) how biological factors can trigger alcoholism
B) how one's relationship with one's mother can trigger alcoholism
C) how prejudice against Native Americans can foster high rates of alcoholism among Native Americans
D) how genetic factors can cause Native Americans to have a high rate of alcoholism
E) how Native American culture encourages individuals to become alcoholic
Answer: C
Q2) To decide whether to believe in the results of a published study,it helps to know
A) whether the research was based on a random sample.
B) whether the researchers controlled statistically for possibly confounding variables.
C) what type of magazine or journal published it.
D) all of the above
E) none of the above
Answer: D
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Chapter 2: The Social Sources of Illness
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29 Verified Questions
29 Flashcards
Source URL: https://quizplus.com/quiz/40287
Sample Questions
Q1) Research suggests that
A) having a gun in the home significantly increases the odds of homicide.
B) having a gun in the home reduces the chances of being killed if one's home is forcibly entered.
C) strangers kill about half of all homicide victims.
D) gun ownership increases the risk of homicide for African-American men but not for white men.
E) none of the above
Answer: A
Q2) The study of the distribution of disease among a population is referred to as A) sociology.
B) clinical sociology.
C) epidemiology.
D) geography.
E) enterology.
Answer: C
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Chapter 3: The Social Distribution of Illness in the United States
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24 Verified Questions
24 Flashcards
Source URL: https://quizplus.com/quiz/40288
Sample Questions
Q1) The infant mortality rate among African Americans
A) is similar to the rate among whites.
B) is similar to the rate among Western Europeans.
C) is higher than among whites primarily due to biological differences.
D) primarily reflects high rates of drug use.
E) is higher than among whites even if we look only at the middle and upper classes.
Answer: E
Q2) Which of the following is true?
A) White women live longer than white men, but African-American men live longer than African-American women.
B) African-American women live longer than African-American men, but white men live longer than white women.
C) Among both African Americans and whites, men live longer than women.
D) The same diseases are the most common causes of death among both men and women.
E) At each age, men have higher levels than women of nonfatal chronic diseases.
Answer: D
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Chapter 4: Illness and Death in the Less Developed Nations
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29 Verified Questions
29 Flashcards
Source URL: https://quizplus.com/quiz/40289
Sample Questions
Q1) How is infant mortality linked to women's social status? How is maternal mortality linked to women's status?
Q2) As a result of anti-malaria pesticide campaigns in the less developed nations, A) many mosquitoes have become resistant to pesticides.
B) malaria is no longer a serious threat.
C) bird and fish populations have flourished.
D) tuberculosis has become more common.
E) AIDS has become more common.
Q3) The special health problems along the US-Mexico border in part reflect the impact of A) social drift.
B) globalization.
C) medicalization.
D) the technological imperative.
E) leprosy.
Q4) What percentage of new HIV infections among adults occurs in sub-Saharan Africa?
A) less than 15 percent
B) about 50 percent
C) about 66 percent
D) more than 90 percent
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Chapter 5: The Social Meanings of Illness
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27 Verified Questions
27 Flashcards
Source URL: https://quizplus.com/quiz/40290
Sample Questions
Q1) According to Talcott Parsons,sick persons are
A) excused from fulfilling their normal social roles.
B) not held responsible for their illnesses.
C) expected to work to get well.
D) all of the above
E) a and b only
Q2) Those who use the concept of "fetal rights" typically
A) believe that mothers can best determine their babies' best interests.
B) place the welfare of the fetus above the civil rights of the childbearing woman.
C) question whether a father's behavior might have endangered his pregnant wife's fetus.
D) investigate why pregnant women use illegal drugs.
E) are Jewish.
Q3) Which of the following can be important supporters of medicalization?
A) doctors
B) lay groups
C) pharmaceutical companies
D) all of the above
E) none of the above
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Page 7
Chapter 6: The Experience of Disability, Chronic Pain, and Chronic Illness
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28 Verified Questions
28 Flashcards
Source URL: https://quizplus.com/quiz/40291
Sample Questions
Q1) Which of the following statements suggests that disabled persons form a minority group?
A) "Normals" often discriminate against disabled persons.
B) Disabled persons often are considered inferior by others.
C) Disabled persons generally do not feel a sense of community with other disabled persons.
D) all of the above
E) a and b only
Q2) Health social movements may have a variety of goals,including
A) pressuring insurance companies to cover certain treatments.
B) bringing attention to the health needs of certain marginalized populations.
C) pressuring doctors to recognize contested illnesses.
D) all of the above
E) none of the above
Q3) In part,an individual's experience of disability and illness reflects their social identity.What do studies tell us about how women's and men's experiences of disability differ?
Q4) How does the social construction of illness-both specific illnesses and illness in general-affect the lives of persons who have chronic illnesses?
Page 8
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Chapter 7: The Sociology of Mental Illness
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29 Verified Questions
29 Flashcards
Source URL: https://quizplus.com/quiz/40292
Sample Questions
Q1) The sociological model of mental illness assumes that
A) psychiatrists label any behavior that breaks social norms as mental illness.
B) anyone who breaks social norms is equally likely to be labeled mentally ill.
C) behavior becomes labeled as mental illness when powerful persons consider it both unacceptable and incomprehensible.
D) treatment for mental illness may not help, but it cannot hurt.
E) sociologists can treat mental illness better than psychologists can.
Q2) The Rosenhan study suggests that
A) mental health workers cannot always tell whether someone needs psychiatric care.
B) definitions of mental illness vary cross-culturally.
C) mental illness is primarily caused by organic problems.
D) homosexuality should not be considered a mental illness.
E) psychiatrists are less well trained than psychologists.
Q3) How are residential colleges similar to and different from total institutions?
Q4) Explain the link between stress and mental illness,and then use that explanation to explain class,gender,and race differences in mental illness.
Q5) Critique the medical model of mental illness,using evidence from the textbook.
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Page 9
Chapter 8: Health Care in the United States
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30 Verified Questions
30 Flashcards
Source URL: https://quizplus.com/quiz/40293
Sample Questions
Q1) Health care in the United States is more expensive than in other developed nations because
A) Americans receive more care than do citizens of those other nations.
B) the United States has unusually high rates of malpractice lawsuits.
C) the US population is aging more quickly than that of those other nations.
D) All of the above.
E) None of the above
Q2) Because of the success of commercial insurers,non-profit insurers have
A) been forced out of business in many markets.
B) begun to shift to actuarial risk rating.
C) reemphasized their commitment to service.
D) reemphasized their not-for-profit standing.
E) sought out high-risk clients who are willing to pay high premiums.
Q3) What factors account for the rise of managed care? What are the potential pitfalls and benefits of managed care?
Q4) Why have health care costs risen in the United States?
Q5) How has Canada's single payer system kept health care costs down more effectively than the US system?
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Chapter 9: Health Care Around the Globe
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29 Verified Questions
29 Flashcards
Source URL: https://quizplus.com/quiz/40294
Sample Questions
Q1) Compared to US citizens,Canadians have
A) a lower average rate of doctor visits per year.
B) a higher rate of infant mortality.
C) higher out-of-pocket costs for health care.
D) longer waiting times in life-threatening emergencies.
E) none of the above
Q2) The factor that has most helped Canada to restrain the costs of health care is the
A) sharp separation between ambulatory care and hospital doctors.
B) use of utilization reviews.
C) switch to a single-payer system.
D) successful effort to restrain the number of doctors.
E) closing of unnecessary hospital beds.
Q3) To control health care costs,the British health care system has encouraged
A) the privatization of health care.
B) the use of acupuncture.
C) specialized medical education.
D) the building of new hospitals on a regular basis.
E) all of the above
Q4) Which nation's health care system would you prefer? Why?
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Chapter 10: Health Care Settings and Technologies
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30 Verified Questions
30 Flashcards
Source URL: https://quizplus.com/quiz/40295
Sample Questions
Q1) Which of the following is a result of commodification?
A) keeping nursing home residents strapped to chairs during the day
B) purchasing gourmet foods for nursing home residents
C) requiring nursing home residents to shower daily
D) increased drug use among nursing home staff
E) increased drug use among nursing home administrators
Q2) Give an example of how medical technology shapes society,and of how society shapes medical technology.
Q3) How does the profit motive affect the experiences of hospital patients and nursing home residents?
Q4) Hospitals were first developed to
A) provide care for the "deserving" poor.
B) protect wealthy people from seeing poor, sick, homeless people.
C) deal with epidemics.
D) provide care for those with chronic illnesses.
E) generate profits for investors.
Q5) Imagine that you are the primary caregiver for a family member with a chronic condition.What would your day look like? Your week or your month? What are the benefits of being able to care for someone at home? What hardships might you face,and how might you do so?
Page 12
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Chapter 11: The Profession of Medicine
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28 Verified Questions
28 Flashcards
Source URL: https://quizplus.com/quiz/40296
Sample Questions
Q1) The process through which medical students learn the skills,knowledge,and values of medicine as an occupation is referred to as
A) normative errors.
B) medical norms.
C) medical dominance.
D) professional dominance.
E) professional socialization.
Q2) Doctors' mechanistic model of the body may encourage them to A) distrust natural bodily processes.
B) value "watching and waiting" rather than quickly intervening in Emergency Rooms.
C) rely on redactive treatment.
D) burn out after working in medicine for a few years.
E) listen carefully to their patients.
Q3) Another term for "regular doctors" is
A) allopaths.
B) homeopaths.
C) chiropractors.
D) botanic healers.
E) bonesetters.
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Page 13
Chapter 12: Other Mainstream and Alternative Health Care
Providers
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26 Verified Questions
26 Flashcards
Source URL: https://quizplus.com/quiz/40297
Sample Questions
Q1) Which of the following is true?
A) Acupuncturists believe that illness can be cured by blocking chi.
B) No scientific evidence supports the use of acupuncture.
C) In most states, licensure laws forbid doctors from using acupuncture unless they have trained specifically in that field.
D) Doctors have worked to strip acupuncture of its grounding in traditional Chinese medical philosophy.
E) Acupuncturists work primarily with wealthy clients.
Q2) When doctors first began medicalizing pregnancy,many women welcomed the change because it
A) offered guilt-free access to painkillers.
B) was less expensive than midwifery care.
C) was scientifically demonstrated to be safer than midwifery care.
D) was less expensive than osteopathic care.
E) allowed their husbands to participate in the process.
Q3) What similarities and differences do you see between curanderos and acupuncturists in terms of who they serve,how they enter the field,and their current social and legal positions?
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Chapter 13: Issues in Bioethics
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27 Verified Questions
27 Flashcards
Source URL: https://quizplus.com/quiz/40298
Sample Questions
Q1) The Tuskegee Syphilis Study lasted for about A) three years.
B) five years.
C) ten years.
D) forty years.
E) seventy years.
Q2) During the 1960s,hospital selection committees
A) typically decided who would receive kidney dialysis based solely on medical criteria.
B) typically decided who would receive kidney dialysis based in part on social criteria.
C) typically decided who would receive kidney dialysis based solely on age.
D) were abolished by most hospitals.
E) were declared legal, but nonetheless fell into disuse.
Q3) The modern bioethics movement developed in the A) 1920s.
B) 1930s.
C) 1940s.
D) 1960s.
E) 1990s.
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