(Henslin 12e Test Bank) (5—1)
Henslin, Essentials of Sociology, 12th Edition, Test Bank
Chapter 5: Social Groups and Formal Organizations
Multiple-Choice Questions
TB_Q5.1.1
_____ are people who think of themselves as belonging together and who interact
with one another.
a. Categories
b. Groups
c. Primary categories
d. Aggregates
TB_Q5.1.2
A(n) _____ is made of people who temporarily share the same physical space, but
do not see themselves as belonging together.
a. group
b. aggregate
c. primary group
d. category
TB_Q5.1.3
Which of the following might be termed “simply a statistic”?
a. Group
(Henslin 12e Test Bank) (5—2)
b. Aggregate
c. Voluntary association
d. Category
TB_Q5.1.4
An example of a category is
a. drivers waiting at a red light.
b. a family.
c. college women who are over six feet tall.
d. the American Sociological Association.
TB_Q5.1.5
In what is known as a _____, people experience intimate, long-term, face-to-face
association and cooperation.
a. secondary group
b. category
c. primary group
d. tertiary group
TB_Q5.1.6
Secondary groups differ from primary groups in that secondary groups are
a. not as important.
b. rare in contemporary society.
c. extremely informal.
d. larger and more anonymous.
TB_Q5.1.7
Jeff is a financial advisor. He belongs to two different organizations for financial
advisors, and he likes to go to their annual meetings. The financial organizations
that Jeff belongs to are examples of
a. secondary groups.
b. inner circles.
c. primary groups.
d. aggregates.
TB_Q5.1.8
When you drive into a small American town, you are likely to see a sign that
identifies some of the town’s _____, such as the Lions, Elks, Eagles, or Knights
of Columbus.
a. inner circle
b. voluntary associations
c. primary groups
d. categories
TB_Q5.1.9
Many voluntary associations are controlled by
a. an inner circle.
b. an outer circle.
c. people outside of the organization.
d. hereditary posts.
TB_Q5.1.10
The tendency of formal organizations to be dominated by a small, self-
perpetuating elite is known as
a. six degrees of separation.
b. voluntary association.
c. the iron law of oligarchy.
d. soft power.
TB_Q5.1.11
A group towards which one feels loyalty is known as a(n)
a. in-group.
b. out-group.
(Henslin 12e Test Bank) (5—5)
c. reference group.
d. aggregate.
TB_Q5.1.12
In Guantanamo, prisoners made up the
a. in-group.
b. out-group.
c. reference group.
d. inner circle.
TB_Q5.1.13
A(n) _____ has standards that we refer to as we evaluate ourselves.
a. in-group
b. out-group
c. reference group
d. aggregate
TB_Q5.1.14
(Henslin 12e Test Bank) (5—6)
Which of the following might be likened to a spider’s web?
a. Reference group
b. Social network
c. Aggregation
d. Out-group
TB_Q5.1.15
Within a larger group, a(n) _____ is a cluster of people who choose to interact
with one another.
a. clique
b. out-group
c. reference group
d. category
TB_Q5.1.16
Stanley Milgram’s research led to the phrase “_____ degrees of separation.”
a. two
b. three
c. six
d. fifteen
TB_Q5.1.17
Which of the following statements is true about the findings of Stanley Milgram’s
research on “the small world phenomenon”?
a. The findings are true beyond the shadow of a doubt.
b. Subsequent research discovered that Milgram actually did not conduct the
study at all, but made it up.
c. The correct number of degrees of separation has since been discovered to be
twelve.
d. Milgram’s sample and methods were flawed, but some subsequent research has
come to similar conclusions.
TB_Q5.2.18
A formal organization with a hierarchy of authority, impersonality of positions,
and written-down procedures is
a. a bureaucracy.
b. the opposite of McDonaldization.
c. an example of goal displacement.
d. a meritocracy.
TB_Q5.2.19
How many levels are there from “sociology faculty” (count this as one level) to
“board” (count this as another level) in a typical university?
a. Three
(Henslin 12e Test Bank) (5—8)
b. Five
c. Seven
d. Eleven
TB_Q5.2.20
The _____ of society refers to the process by which ordinary aspects of life are
rationalized and efficiency comes to rule them, including such things as food
preparation.
a. alienation
b. goal displacement
c. McDonaldization
d. bureaucracy
TB_Q5.2.21
In _____, even after an organization achieves its goal and no longer has a reason
to continue, it continues anyway.
a. red tape
b. McDonaldization
c. goal displacement
d. a bureaucracy
TB_Q5.2.22
What happens when the head of a bureaucracy resigns, retires, or dies?
a. The organization’s mission is over.
b. The organization goes through a period of turmoil followed by adaptation.
c. In most cases, the bureaucracy informs neither its employees nor the public of
the fact.
d. The organization continues without skipping a beat.
TB_Q5.2.23
Marx used the term _____ to refer to workers’ lack of connection to the product
of their labor.
a. powerlessness
b. alienation
c. goal displacement
d. McDonaldization
TB_Q5.2.24
Lu-Ellen worked in an office containing 100 cubicles. Few had windows, and
those that did looked out on a parking lot. She felt very much a cog in a machine.
But after work, Lu-Ellen and three or four friends out of the 100 cubicles often
went out for a drink together. There she let her hair down and felt more human,
and she and her coworkers got to know each other as people. In this manner, Lu-
Ellen was resisting
a. goal displacement.
(Henslin 12e Test Bank) (5—10)
b. red tape.
c. alienation.
d. McDonaldization.
TB_Q5.2.25
According to Weber, in a bureaucracy, assignments flow _____ and
accountability flows _____.
a. downward; downward
b. downward; upward
c. upward; downward
d. upward; upward
TB_Q5.3.26
In a(n) _____, preconceived ideas of what someone is like actually lead to the
person behaving in ways that match those ideas.
a. hidden corporate culture
b. open corporate culture
c. self-fulfilling stereotype
d. diverse workplace setting
TB_Q5.3.27
In the case of job _____, the bosses in many companies tend to groom workers
who have winning characteristics similar to their own.
a. satisfaction
b. termination
c. promotion
d. demotion
TB_Q5.3.28
According to research by Kanter (1977, 1983), self-fulfilling stereotypes are part
of a(n) _____ corporate culture.
a. hidden
b. overt
c. written-down
d. employee-friendly
TB_Q5.3.29
How big a proportion of the U.S. workforce is made up of women, minorities, and
immigrants?
a. One-tenth
b. One-fourth
c. More than half
d. Nearly three-fourths