1. A social category of people who share a common culture (i.e., language, national background, or religion) is
referred to as a(n) _____ group.
a. minority
b. dominant
c. racial
d. ethnic
2. In order for a group to be considered an ethnic group they must
a. look different than the members of other ethnic groups.
b. speak the same language as other members of the group.
c. share an identity they see as different from that of others in society.
d. have a shared system of norms and values.
3. Which of these statements regarding the variability of a group’s ethnic identity is true?
a. A group’s ethnic identity is constant;it does not change over time.
b. Ethnic identity may form or is strengthened when a group is excluded from participation by more powerful
social groups.
c. Ethnic identity can only change when one changes their place of residence or marries someone of another
ethnicity.
d. Ethnic identity is always imposed involuntarily.
4. Which of these statements regarding race is true?
a. Race is a socially constructed category.
b. Racial categories in a society reflect differences in the biological makeup of individuals.
c. Race is assigned based on scientific investigation.
d. Racial categories are the same in countries throughout the world.
5. Racial groups are defined by:
a. religious beliefs.
b. the cultural and social norms within a society.
c. biological characteristics.
d. how the groups have been treated and labeled historically.
6. How does the concept of race compare between Brazil and the U.S.?
a. In the U.S., a person with any amount of Black ancestry has historically been designated as Black; this has
not been the case in Brazil.
b. In Brazil, a person with any amount of Black ancestry has historically been designated as Black; this has not
been the case in the U.S.
c. In the U.S. and in Brazil, one’s racial categorization is strongly influenced by one’s social class status.
d. In Brazil, race is determined by religious standards.
7. Which of these statements regarding the racial system in Brazil is false?
a. In Brazil, a person is considered Black only if they have no discernible White ancestry.
b. A person who might be considered Black in the U.S. would be considered white in Brazil if they had high
socioeconomic status.
c. Brazil has successfully created a nation in which there is no social inequality based on race.
d. The racial system in Brazil is different from that of the U.S.
8. Sociologists refer to the process by which something or someone is perceived as having racial characteristics as
_____.
a. racialization
b. racial formation
c. ethnogeneration
d. ethnicity identification
9. John has a mixed-race background. Which of the following is true of John with regard to his racial category?
a. He fits well into categories of race.
b. He is able to define his own social category of race.
c. He is someone who determines how he is categorized.
d. He defies biological categories typically used to define race.
10. What is the current practice of the U.S. Census for reporting one’s race?
a. A person may select a single race as their identity.
b. A person may select what they consider their primary, and also their secondary, racial identity.
c. A person may select as many racial categories as they feel applies to them.
d. A person may select a single ethnicity.
11. Which of the following statements about race is true?
a. Official recognition of race by the government matters.
b. Racial formation occurs in youth.
c. Biological characteristics are the major determinants of race.
d. Individuals may have a single race but multiple ethnicities.
12. What is the most important factor for determining the racial categories within any society?
a. The beliefs and interests of the most powerful group(s) in society
b. The amount of difference in ancestry or “blood” that different groups have
c. The degree to which members of different groups differ from each other biologically
d. The language that each group speaks
13. In the 1890 U.S. Census, which of the following was not a racial classification?
a. Chinese
b. Quadroon
c. Black
d. Hispanic
14. The historical process in any society by which a group comes to be defined as a race is called _____.
a. racial formation
b. immigration contact theory
c. the principle of physical salience
d. engendered racism
15. The process of racial formation is supported by:
a. family members.
b. the government.
c. religious organizations.
d. social institutions.
16. Which of these is an illustration of the concept of out-group homogeneity?
a. Members of some minority groups are perceived as being very similar to the dominant group in society.
b. Members of a set of minority groups, such as Laotians, Chinese, Japanese, and Indonesians, are
perceived as being similar enough to share a general category (Asian).
c. Members of all groups considered minority groups in a society are perceived as having the same biological
backgrounds.
d. Members of some ethnic groups, such as Italian, German, and French, are considered similar enough to
the dominant group so they are no longer considered minority groups.
17. Which of the following does not apply to all minority groups?
a. Possessing characteristics generally considered different from the dominant group
b. Being smaller in number than the dominant group
c. Sharing a sense of group identity
d. Experiencing prejudice and discrimination in society
18. Which of the following is not a characteristic of a racial or ethnic minority group?
a. They possess characteristics considered different from those of the dominant group.
b. They suffer prejudice and discrimination within the society by the dominant group.
c. Group members share a sense of solidarity and identity.
d. Group members share common beliefs.
19. Which of these statements regarding the judgments people make about others is false?
a. People make quick assessments and judgments about others in order to save time.
b. The judgments people make enable them to process a great deal of information very quickly.
c. Quickly categorizing the people one meets is a very common and widespread practice.
d. Most of the time the quick judgments that people make are remarkably comprehensive and accurate.
20. Stereotypes are:
a. generally only applied to a dominant groups within any society.
b. oversimplified statements of belief about members of a particular group.
c. understood to apply only to a few members of any particular group.
d. generalizations about minorities groups by the dominant group.
21. A teacher assumed Ryan is like all Lebanese people. He is experiencing _____.
a. in-group homogeneity effect
b. racial formation
c. ethnicization
d. out-group homogeneity effect
22. The _____ principle states that people categorize others on the basis of what appears initially prominent and
obvious about them.
a. stereotypic
b. salience
c. prejudice
d. perception
23. Which of the following is not a salient characteristic specified by the text?
a. Hair texture
b. Tone of voice
c. Skin color
d. Nose shape
24. Which of the following statement is true about salient characteristics?
a. Salient characteristics are not culturally specific.
b. Salient characteristics change over time.
c. Salient characteristics differ in various countries.
d. Salient characteristics are constant over time.
25. When it comes to gender stereotypes
a. men are generally stereotyped more negatively than women.
b. the same stereotypes are most often applied to both men and women.
c. stereotypes about women are more negative than those about men.
d. men are not subject to stereotyping.
26. The principle of _____ holds that stereotypes, especially negative ones, are often applied similarly from one group
to another.
a. cultural relativism
b. stereotype interchangeability
c. selective identity
d. universal applicability
27. Jokes that use humor to stereotype a group as stupid or inept are often repeated substituting different ethnic
groups. This is an example of the concept of ______.
a. cultural relativism
b. stereotype interchangeability
c. selective identity
d. universal applicability
28. A traditional stereotype of African Americans is that they are inherently lazy. This stereotype has also been
applied to Hispanics, Polish, and Irish groups. This is an example of _____.
a. cultural relativism
b. stereotype interchangeability
c. ethnic inferiority
d. retrospective determinism
29. Thestereotypeofpeoplebeing“snooty,aloof,condescending,andphony,”aremostlikelyattributedtowhichsocial
class?
a. Middle-class
b. Lower-class
c. Upper-class
d. Upper-middle class
30. Prejudice is:
a. always positive.
b. usually negative.
c. neither positive nor negative.
d. equally positive and negative.
31. _____ is the evaluation of a social group based on misconceptions about the group.
a. Racism
b. Prejudice
c. Discrimination
d. Bias
32. A prejudiced person is likely to have:
a. positive attitudes toward members of both in-group and out-group.
b. positive attitudes toward members of an in-group and negative attitudes toward members of an out- group.
c. negative attitudes toward members of an in-group and positive attitudes toward members of an out- group.
d. negative attitudes toward members of an in-group and out- group.
33. How do strongly prejudiced people end up that way?
a. Some people seem to naturally have negative feelings about others who are not like them.
b. Children are rarely prejudiced until they enter school and are influenced into prejudice by their peers.
c. Socialization leading to prejudiced attitudes occurs in the family, as well as through the media and peers.
d. Deviant individuals are more likely to be prejudiced than conforming individuals.
34. Research on socialization leading to prejudiced attitudes indicates that
a. children tend to be free of prejudice until around the ages of 9 or 10 years old.
b. there is a close correlation between the racial and ethnic attitudes of parents and those of their children.
c. children and young adults who believe they can think for themselves are able to avoid taking on their
parents racial or other prejudices.
d. most people today are unaffected by parental prejudices since the media has become so important.
35. While prejudice is an attitude, discrimination is _____.
a. internal
b. overt behavior
c. hidden
d. a belief
36. Research on discrimination in housing has found that
a. discrimination in housing is less important than other forms of discrimination.
b. when two people of different races apply for the same housing both are equally likely to be accepted or
turned down.
c. members of minority groups are frequently turned down for housing in situations in which a White person
is not.
d. reverse discrimination, or discrimination toward a White person is equally as common as discrimination
against minority group members.
37. Which of these statements about economic inequality is true?
a. The gap between the income of Whites and the income of Blacks and Hispanics has remained much same
over time .
b. The median income of Blacks and Hispanics has remained very flat since the 1950s.
c. Although still unequal, per capita income for Whites, Blacks, and Hispanics has been growing at the same
rate since 1967.
d. There is little data on the relative incomes of Whites and members of minority groups.
38. Measurements of economic inequality indicate that
a. the income gap between Blacks and Whites has closed in recent years.
b. net worth among all groups is now relatively equal.
c. the poverty rate is higher for Blacks and Hispanics than it is for Whites and Asians.
d. poverty among members of racial minority groups has been increasing since the 1960s.
39. Re-drawing the boundaries of school districts and election districts in order to maintain racial segregation is
called ______.
a. gerrymandering
b. redlining
c. outsourcing
d. outlining
40. As a result of gerrymandering, _____ remains a problem in the U.S.
a. economic inequality
b. residential segregation
c. racism
d. the digital racial divide
41. Sociologists find that racism
a. is the perception and treatment of members of a racial group as inferior.
b. is limited to individual behavior.
c. involves actions, not attitudes.
d. has practically disappeared in the U.S. since Barack Obama was elected as the president.
42. According to the text, there are different forms of racism. Overt, obvious racism, such as physical violence or the
use of racial slurs is termed ______.
a. aversive racism
b. old-fashioned racism
c. covert racism
d. neo-racism
43. Consistently avoiding contact with people of different races than one’s own would be considered an example of
_____.
a. old-fashioned racism
b. aversive racism
c. neo-racism
d. traditional racism
44. Which of the following is not an element of laissez-faire racism?
a. Subtle and persistent negative stereotyping
b. A tendency to blame blacks for the gap in economic standing
c. Resistance to policy efforts to alleviate racially oppressive practices
d. An inability to understand non-racist viewpoints
45. Holding the belief that one does not notice racial differences, and that discussing race only perpetuates racism,
would be considered ______.
a. old-fashioned racism
b. traditional racism
c. color-blind racism
d. institutional racism
46. Blaming Blacks for economic inequality and resistance to policies that might alleviate racial oppression is
considered ______.
a. traditional racism
b. aversive racism
c. color-blind racism
d. symbolic or laissez-faire racism
47. If an administrator engages in institutional racism he or she is able to apply which of the following?
a. Party
b. Class
c. Power
d. Prestige
48. Which of the following is the best example of institutional racism?
a. Airport security procedures that specify people who appear to be Middle Eastern should be scrutinized
more closely than others
b. A waiter refusing to serve a Black man who sits in his section
c. Dr. Jones, a professor, claiming she doesn’t even notice the color of her students‘ skin
d. A landlord who will never rent to anyone who has dark skin
49. Racial profiling is an example of _____.
a. color-blind racism
b. institutional racism
c. aversive racism
d. Jim Crow racism
50. _____ is the psychological theory that argues that members of the dominant group vent their frustrations and
aggressions toward minority groups instead of the real source of their frustration.
a. Contact theory
b. Scapegoat theory
c. Pluralist frustration theory
d. Functionalist theory
51. According to a fairly old psychological theory of prejudice and racism, the tendency to rigidly categorize other
people, to rigidly conform, and be intolerant of ambiguity is part of a(n) _____.
a. authoritarian personality
b. repressed personality
c. subordinate personality
d. stereotypic personality
52. The assimilation perspective argues that in order to be full members of society members of minority groups must
adopt as many aspects of the dominant culture as possible. This perspective pertains to which type of
sociological theory?
a. Conflict theory
b. Functionalist theory
c. Symbolic interaction theory
d. Authoritarian personality theory
53. Contact theory argues that under certain conditions interactions between Whites and members of minority groups
will reduce prejudice within both groups. This theory is a type of _____ theory.
a. functionalist
b. conflict
c. symbolic interaction
d. social exchange
54. The process by which a minority becomes socially, economically, and culturally absorbed within the dominant
society is called _____.
a. cultural relativism
b. assimilation
c. amalgamation
d. cultural affiliation
55. Contact theory argues that interaction between Whites and minorities will reduce prejudice on part of both groups if
all of the following conditions are met, except:
a. the parties interact on equal ground.
b. the contact is sustained.
c. social norms favoring equality are agreed upon by the participants.
d. all parties agree to work to reduce the prejudice.
56. Which theory argues that race and ethnicity are socially constructed categories?
a. Functionalist theory
b. Social conflict theory
c. Symbolic interaction theory
d. Social exchange theory
57.
In the debate as to whether class or race is more important as the source of inequality, sociologist William
Julius Wilson argues that:
a. the disadvantaged status of minority groups is more a matter of race than class.
b. ignoring skin color and cultural differences is the only way to solve the country’s problems of racism.
c. changes in the economic structure are more important than race in shaping the life chances of different
groups.
d. the social construction of race is a myth.
58. The view that race intersects with class to shape one’s experience in the social structure is a perspective related to
_____.
a. functionalism
b. conflict theory
c. symbolic interaction theory
d. social exchange theory
59. The situation for women in society should be studied separately within each social class because differences
between men and women are not the same in every racial or class group. This is an argument of the ______
perspective.
a. intersection
b. functionalist
c. symbolic interactionist
d. social exchange
60. The perspective that argues that minority groups‘ life chances result from the opportunities formed by the
interactions of class, race, and gender is called _____.
a. functionalist perspective
b. the intersection perspective
c. social interaction perspective
d. social exchange perspective