(Henslin 12e Test Bank) (4—1)
Henslin, Essentials of Sociology, 12th Edition, Test Bank
Chapter 4: Social Structure and Social Interaction
Multiple-Choice Questions
TB_Q4.1.1
_____ is the level of analysis that sociologists use to focus on the broad features of society.
a. Interactional sociology
b. Macrosociology
c. Chaos theory
d. Microsociology
TB_Q4.1.2
In _____, the focus is on social interaction.
a. microsociology
b. behavioral sociology
c. macrosociology
d. order theory
TB_Q4.1.3
Microsociology is (was) the main focus of
a. sociologists in the past.
b. symbolic interactionists.
c. all sociologists.
d. conflict theorists.
TB_Q4.1.4
Richard had lived on the street for almost a year. His days were busy with doing things necessary
to survive at a basic level–finding shelter, keeping safe, panhandling for money, getting food and
drink, washing, and finding dry clothes. Richard knew that he did not have many chances. A
_____ would stress that Richard is located at the bottom of the U.S. social class system, and that
his low status means that most opportunities are closed to him.
a. microsociologist
b. symbolic interactionist
c. research sociologist
d. conflict theorist
TB_Q4.2.5
The typical patterns of a group of students and teachers, or of men and women, was laid out
before they were born. This pattern is known as
a. behavior.
b. ordination.
c. social structure.
d. classical structure.
TB_Q4.2.6
What is the sociological significance of social structure?
a. It guides our behavior.
b. Understanding it helps to prove the randomness of human behavior.
c. It is a synonym for the term sociology.
d. Our behavior guides it.
TB_Q4.2.7
Are street people influenced by a social structure?
a. No.
b. Yes.
c. Only in scattered instances
d. The research is unclear.
TB_Q4.2.8
People learn behaviors and attitudes according to their _____ the social structure.
a. attitude toward
b. willingness to be part of
c. location in
d. number of friends within
TB_Q4.3.9
Culture has a(n) _____ effect on people’s lives.
a. profound
b. moderate
c. occasional
d. no
TB_Q4.3.10
The _____ framework that determines what kind of people we become is culture.
a. biological
b. narrowest
c. only
d. broadest
TB_Q4.3.11
Social class is based on
a. income, education, and occupational prestige.
b. birth.
c. marriage.
d. religion.
TB_Q4.3.12
A billionaire and a person living on the street share
a. the same social class.
b. comparable status.
c. the influence of social class on their lives.
d. a comparable level of privilege.
TB_Q4.3.13
Girish is a husband, a son, an entrepreneur, and an amateur ornithologist. A sociologist would
say that these statuses or positions make up Girish’s
a. role.
b. social class.
c. status set.
d. culture.
TB_Q4.3.14
A(n) _____ status is involuntary.
a. achieved
b. ascribed
c. earned
d. marital
TB_Q4.3.15
Ex-spouse, school dropout, and debarred lawyer are examples of
a. ascribed status.
b. social classes.
c. lack of status.
d. achieved status.
TB_Q4.3.16
A backward collar is a(n) _____ for a priest.
a. negative status symbol
b. standard in all cultures
c. status symbol
d. ascribed status
TB_Q4.3.17
Aletha had an accident in which she fell into hot cooking grease. Despite many operations and
treatments, her face, neck, and hands were forever altered. Regardless of her accomplishments or
occupation, Aletha’s disfigurement was viewed by many others as her
a. ascribed status.
b. master status.
c. status symbol.
d. status set.
TB_Q4.3.18
A 90-year-old college student exemplifies
a. status shock.
b. prestige.
c. status inconsistency.
d. role.
TB_Q4.3.19
_____ lay(s) out what is expected of people.
a. Roles
b. Sociology
c. Parts
d. Master status
TB_Q4.3.20
When we belong to a group, who has the right to judge our behavior?
a. No one
b. Only a court of law
c. No one but ourselves
d. The group
TB_Q4.3.21
Marion belonged to a group that got together once a month in group members’ houses to
converse in Russian, which they had all learned in school. The Russian enthusiasts were an
example of a group that wielded influence over
a. vast segments of one’s behavior.
b. the need to conform with group norms over many aspects of life.
c. small segments of one’s behavior.
d. social class.
TB_Q4.4.22
_____ refer(s) to the standard or usual ways that a society meets its basic needs.
a. Religion
b. Social institutions
c. Status
d. Social class
TB_Q4.4.23
Daughter, son, father, and mother are examples of statuses associated with which social
institution?
a. The family
b. Medicine
c. Religion
d. The economy
TB_Q4.4.24
A basic need addressed by _____ is to regulate reproduction.
a. medicine
b. the family
c. the economy
d. education
TB_Q4.4.25
“Maximize profits” and “the customer is always right” are examples of norms associated with
which social institution?
a. Medicine
b. Economy
c. Family
d. Politics
TB_Q4.4.26
Priest, minister, rabbi, and imam are examples of statuses associated with the social institution of
a. religion.
b. the law.
c. the family.
d. medicine.
TB_Q4.4.27
The social institution of _____ would include groups or organizations such as the police, courts,
and prisons.
a. religion
b. the law
c. the economy
d. politics
TB_Q4.4.28
Who believes that social institutions were originally designed to meet basic survival needs?
a. Conflict theorists
b. Order theorists
c. Both conflict and order theorists
d. The status set
TB_Q4.4.29
Which of the following is one of the five functional requisites that functionalists believe a
society must meet in order to survive?
a. Replacing members
b. Yielding the needs of the group in favor of self-interest
c. Promoting creative chaos
d. Socializing politicians
TB_Q4.5.30
Emile Durkheim was interested in how societies united their members by shared values and other
social bonds to produce
a. social dissolution.
b. aggregation.
c. dissonance.
d. social integration.
TB_Q4.5.31
For Durkheim, _____ referred to the way that people who perform similar tasks develop a shared
way of viewing life.
a. mechanical solidarity
b. impromptu solidarity
c. organic solidarity
d. social class
TB_Q4.5.32
One person catches a fish, a second person drives the fish to market, and a third person sells the
fish. This is an example of
a. common sense.
b. division of labor.
c. basic capitalism.
d. mechanical solidarity.
TB_Q4.5.33
The term organic solidarity is based on the way that different members of society
a. intermarry.
b. need each other.
c. share the same status level.
d. exploit each other.
TB_Q4.5.34
The Old Order Amish of the United States exemplify a(n) _____ community.
a. Gesellschaft
b. Gemeinschaft
c. modern
d. mainstream
TB_Q4.6.35
_____ is (are) the primary focus of microsociologists.
a. Hidden meanings and innuendo
b. The broader features of society
c. Face-to-face interaction
d. The demise of society as we know it
TB_Q4.6.36
Our assumptions about what people are like are known as
a. educated guesses.
b. stereotypes.
c. roles.
d. status set.
TB_Q4.6.37
In a self-fulfilling stereotype
a. the behaviors of the person match our expectations from the get-go.
b. the underlying truth of stereotypes is confirmed.
c. the behaviors of the person change to match our expectations.
d. many factors can play a role, but attractiveness is not one of them.
TB_Q4.6.38
Who surrounds themselves with a personal bubble (personal space)?
a. No one
b. Children only
c. Adults up to middle age
d. Everyone
TB_Q4.6.39
One of the distance zones that Hall found North Americans use is _____ distance.
a. tribal
b. stereotypical
c. social
d. aggressive
TB_Q4.6.40
(Henslin 12e Test Bank) (4—14)
To interpret _____, we consider facial expressions, posture, and gestures.
a. the extent of intimate distance
b. body language
c. stereotypes
d. macrosociology
TB_Q4.6.41
Clerks in stores smiling at customers are
a. a sign that the clerks are attracted to the customers.
b. accepted in all cultures.
c. universally encouraged.
d. not accepted in all cultures.
TB_Q4.6.42
Erving Goffman used the term _____ to mean that social life is like a drama or a stage play.
a. proscenium
b. dramaturgy
c. movie
d. rehearsal
TB_Q4.6.43
_____ refers to our efforts to manage the impressions that others receive of us.
(Henslin 12e Test Bank) (4—15)
a. Dramaturgy
b. Back stage
c. Impression management
d. Center stage
TB_Q4.6.44
According to Goffman’s scheme, we have _____ where we can have some privacy and let our
hair down.
a. front stages
b. bleachers
c. back stages
d. precast dramas
TB_Q4.6.45
Role strain is
a. conflict between roles.
b. conflict within a role.
c. compatibility between roles.
d. a vain attempt to find a role.
TB_Q4.6.46
Sign-vehicles include
(Henslin 12e Test Bank) (4—16)
a. the appearance of others.
b. written scripts.
c. role conflict.
d. our manner.
TB_Q4.6.47
Ethnomethodologists explore _____ assumptions about how the world operates that underlie our
behavior.
a. background
b. written
c. legal
d. foreground
TB_Q4.7.48
“If people define situations as real, they are real in their consequences.” This statement was
made by sociologist(s)
a. Emile Durkheim.
b. W. I. and Dorothy S. Thomas.
c. Mark Snyder.
d. Erving Goffman.
TB_Q4.7.49
(Henslin 12e Test Bank) (4—17)
The social construction of reality theory states that through our _____, we construct what for us
is reality.
a. ethnomethodology
b. interaction with others
c. classroom experience
d. introspection
TB_Q4.7.50
At a vaginal examination, male doctors _____ social reality in order to define the examination as
_____.
a. deny; sexual
b. ignore; nonsexual
c. dismiss; normal
d. construct; nonsexual
Essay Questions
TB_Q4.3.51: Distinguish the term social status from the term prestige.
TB_Q4.4.52: For the social institution of religion, name some of the basic needs addressed and
some norms of the institution.
TB_Q4.5.53: What do the German terms Gemeinschaft and Gesellschaft mean? In which
direction—toward which of the two—is society changing?
TB_Q4.6.54: What does it mean to say that we become the roles that we play?
TB_Q4.8.55: Why are both macrosociology and microsociology necessary to understand social
life?