Social Problems
Exam Practice Tests
Course Introduction
This course provides an in-depth examination of contemporary social problems affecting diverse communities at local, national, and global levels. Students will explore issues such as poverty, inequality, crime, discrimination, substance abuse, environmental degradation, and health disparities. Through sociological theories and empirical research, the course analyzes causes, consequences, and potential solutions to these pressing societal challenges, encouraging critical thinking and constructive discussion about the role of individuals, institutions, and policy in addressing social problems.
Recommended Textbook
Race in America 1st Edition by Matthew Desmond
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Chapter 1: Race in the Twenty-First Century
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Sample Questions
Q1) According to the textbook,which of the following best defines "racial domination"?
A)Racial domination is characterized by overt coercion and violence.
B)Racial domination is an organizing force in society that disproportionately offers benefits to some groups and not others.
C)Racial domination is often necessarily the conscious intention of those who benefit from it.
D)none of these
Answer: B
Q2) In the United States,__________ often creates distinctions and identities within _____________.For instance,four people may be considered white,yet they may each have ancestry and cultural traditions originating from different countries,including Poland,Ireland,England,and Norway.
A)racial identity;ethnic groups
B)ethnicity;racial groups
C)culture;ethnic groups
D)racial groups;cultures
Answer: B
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Chapter 2: The Invention of Race
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Q1) From 1600 to 1900,approximately what percentage of America's indigenous peoples died as a direct result of European colonization?
A)25 percent
B)55 percent
C)75 percent
D)90 percent
Answer: D
Q2) Thousands of blacks were lynched during Reconstruction and throughout the mid-twentieth century.These acts of violence can be described as ________________.
A)erratic acts of mob aggression
B)an unfortunate result of the lack of a formal criminal justice system
C)isolated events limited to a few counties in the South
D)preplanned events that drew large crowds of onlookers
Answer: D
Q3) Compare and contrast the two methods by which the English were able to create the category of "Indian."
Answer: Answers will vary and should include a discussion of homogenization and polarization.
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Page 4
Chapter 3: Politics
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Sample Questions
Q1) Jarrod is a 48-year-old wealthy,African American CEO.Which political party is he most likely to vote for?
A)Independent
B)Republican
C)Green
D)Democrat
Answer: D
Q2) The American Indian movement attempted to organize against federal "Indian Termination" policies.What was the effect of these policies?
A)When tribes lost federal recognition,they also lost federal aid and land rights.
B)The policies afforded Native Americans extensive federal benefits by lumping them together with other minorities.
C)Federal administrators were allowed to jail Native Americans who politically organized.
D)Ninety percent of tribes were relocated to North and South Dakota.
Answer: A
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Chapter 4: Economics
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Sample Questions
Q1) The term "white trash"-a derogatory term for rural,impoverished whites-began circulating in newspapers and books during what time period?
A)1770s
B)1850s
C)1910s
D)1970s
Q2) Between 1984 and 2009,what happened to the wealth gap between white and black families?
A)The wealth gap virtually disappeared.
B)The wealth gap nearly doubled.
C)The wealth gap nearly tripled.
D)The wealth gap nearly quadrupled.
Q3) What are the two dominant sociological arguments about how ethnic enclaves affect immigrants' upward mobility and economic prosperity?
Q4) Briefly list two of the three structural causes of poverty outlined by the textbook.
Q5) Explain the two sides of the debate surrounding the claim that high levels of immigration lead to racial disparities in income levels.Which side do you find most convincing and why?
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Chapter 5: Housing
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Q1) Based on the chart below,"Diversity Experiences in Each Group's Typical Neighborhood,2010," which racial/ethnic group is most likely to live in a segregated neighborhood?
A)whites
B)blacks
C)Hispanics
D)Asians
Q2) What does Massey's spatial assimilation thesis say about ethnic enclaves?
A)They are used by new immigrants to get economically established and improve their English skills before moving to a place with a higher standard of living.
B)They are sought out by new and old immigrants to create a self-segregated community in the United States,celebrating the same holidays,eating the same food,and speaking their native language.
C)Immigrants are forced into ethnic enclaves due to a lack of affordable housing opportunities,and these enclaves prevent new immigrants from ever getting ahead and moving out.
D)Immigrants self-select into enclaves and exhibit no interest in leaving these underprivileged neighborhoods because the enclaves feel like their native country.
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Chapter 6: Crime and Punishment
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Q1) In what way did lynch mobs uphold white patriarchy?
Q2) "Structural disadvantage" refers to what?
A)the concentrated accumulation of overlapping and mutually reinforcing social problems in a single residential area
B)the genetic predisposition of African Americans to committing violent crime
C)the extent to which people of color are able to commit crimes without being brought to trial
D)the inability of whites to get away with committing violent crime,especially in predominantly white residential areas
Q3) Between 1925 and 1975,the prison population remained the same,fluctuating between 100,000 and 200,000 prisoners.By 2000,the prison population reached what number?
A)400,000
B)770,000
C)1,000,000
D)1,400,000
Q4) Briefly summarize the debate surrounding the death of Trayvon Martin.What are three ways in which his case is an example of broader racial issues in the United States?
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Page 8
Chapter 7: Education
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Q1) Familism is a variant of _____________ having to do with one's attachment to,and reliance on,family-based relationships.
A)cultural capital
B)social capital
C)economic capital
D)symbolic capital
Q2) Approximately ______ percent of first-year students enrolled in America's top universities are white students who failed to satisfy their universities' minimum requirements.
A)5
B)10
C)15
D)20
Q3) How did the 1945 Mendez v.Westminster School District case help pave the way for the Brown v.Board of Education decisions?
Q4) Scholar Chandra Mohanty challenges other scholars to "decolonize our disciplinary thoughts and pedagogical practices".Given the examples of how whiteness shapes literature,history,and anthropology,offer an example of how to "decolonize" knowledge.
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Chapter 8: Aesthetics
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Q1) Where can we find the roots of our problematic ideas about "cultural authenticity"?
A)performance artists
B)museum curators
C)multiethnic artists
D)European colonizers
Q2) Norman Rockwell's paintings and country music songs that reminisce over the "good old days" are examples of what concept?
A)the racist aesthetic
B)the nonracist aesthetic
C)cultural appropriation
D)racial nostalgia
Q3) The sale of imitation Native American headdresses at popular music festivals by non-Native groups to be worn predominantly by non-Native Americans,thereby weakening the political and cultural significance of the headdress,is an example of:
A)cultural capital
B)narrowcasting
C)strategic amnesia
D)antiracist cultural appropriation
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Chapter 9: Associations
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Q1) When people think about members of hate groups,they typically envision a certain type of person.What are the stereotypes about who joins hate groups? What did sociologist Kathleen Blee,who studies hate group joiners,find in her work about the members of these groups?
Q2) The fact that our religious institutions are as racially and ethnically segregated as they are is an example of:
A)racial homophily in religious life
B)something more common before Brown v.Board of Education 1954)
C)nonwhite places of worship encouraging these divisions
D)religious associations promoting racial and ethnic identities
Q3) Because we often don't know a person's racial identity online,many Internet users have come to regard _______ as the virtual norm.
A)nerds
B)colorblindness
C)whiteness
D)blackness
Q4) What are the key demographic characteristics of the states with the highest percentages of white nationalists per 100,000 people?
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Page 11
Chapter 10: Intimate Life
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Q1) Which of the following is an accurate explanation for why homosexuality is viewed by some African Americans as a predominantly "white" phenomenon?
A)because statistically fewer blacks are homosexual than whites
B)because the history of homosexuality overlaps with colonial exploitation of blacks by whites
C)because Euro-Americans have systematically sought to create a historical stereotype of black homosexuality that contemporary African Americans reject
D)because the social construction of black sexuality precludes the possibility of homosexuality
Q2) According to sociologist Kenneth Clark,for some inner-city African American and Latina women,an out-of-wedlock birth is:
A)a mark of utter disgrace
B)an abdication of their chances of finding a husband
C)a symbol of their womanhood
D)a testament to their economic independence
Q3) What is "racial authenticity," and why is it important?
Q4) Explain why marriage rates for black women are the lowest for any group in American society.
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Page 12
Chapter 11: Toward Racial Democracy
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Q1) One problem with Horace Kallen's ideal of a hyphenated,culturally pluralistic society is that ______________.
A)it excludes whites of European descent from its "orchestra" analogy
B)it doesn't address the obstacles hindering the incorporation of nonwhites into a majority-white nation
C)it erodes our national culture by focusing on differences more than similarities
D)groups lose their identities over time and become part of an overarching American identity
Q2) An aspect of the color-blind ideology called "color-blind racism" occurs when:
A)everybody in society ignores racism and discrimination because we are supposed to live in a colorblind society
B)people lash out at each other for reasons other than race
C)poor whites' lack of awareness of the existence of other groups in society
D)whites use the language and rhetoric of color-blindness to discriminate against blacks and other people of color
Q3) Why do the proponents of color-blindness critique cosmopolitanism? Do you agree with their critiques? Why or why not?
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