Chapter 1
The Sociological Imagination
Multiple-Choice Questions
1. Sociology is the scientific study of
a. human activity in society.
b. mental processes.
c. people.
d. multiple personalities.
ANS: A SEC: The Sociological Imagination TYP: comprehension SOURCE: new
2. From a sociological point of view, a is the day-to-day activities from birth to
death that make up a person’s life.
a. social fact
b. sociological imagination
c. biography
d. autobiography
ANS: C SEC: The Sociological Imagination TYP: comprehension SOURCE: new; study guide
3. Emile Durkheim defined social facts as
a. census statistics.
b. having the remarkable property of existing outside the individual.
c. fundamentally psychological.
d. things we know to be true.
ANS: B SEC: The Sociological Imagination TYP: knowledge
,4. Only when people do they come to know the power of social facts.
a. grow older
b. cooperate
c. comply
d. rebel against the established ways of doing things
ANS: D SEC: The Sociological Imagination TYP: comprehension
5. Durkheim wrote that he was not forced to speak French or to use the legal currency, but
it was impossible for him to do otherwise. Durkheim was writing about
a. mechanical solidarity.
b. social relativity.
c. social facts.
d. social interaction.
ANS: C SEC: The Sociological Imagination TYP: application
6. Durkheim wrote, “Even when, in fact, I can struggle free from these rules and
successfully break them, it is never without being forced to fight against them.” This
statement is a reference to
a. mechanical solidarity.
b. social relativity.
c. social facts.
d. social interaction.
ANS: C SEC: The Sociological Imagination TYP: application
7. “Because I refuse to shave under my arms, I have to pay a price. On a personal level, this
price was my mother’s hostility. On a public level, the price is dealing with the stares of
strangers.” This statement illustrates
a. mechanical solidarity.
b. social relativity.
c. the power of social facts.
d. the idea of double consciousness.
ANS: C SEC: The Sociological Imagination TYP: application
,8. A woman writes, “I can’t be anything but what my skin color tells people I am. I am
black because I look black. It does not matter that my family has a complicated
biological heritage.” She is writing about the power of
a. social facts.
b. troubles.
c. the sociological imagination.
d. rationalization.
ANS: A SEC: The Sociological Imagination TYP: application SOURCE: study guide
, 9. An American traveling to Ghana, Africa, on business notices that the “men, including
the men I was with, hold hands. One day one of the men I was with took my hand as we
walked. In order not to offend him, I took his hand in mine.” The American is responding
to a(n)
a. trouble.
b. issue.
c. social fact.
d. traditional action.
ANS: C SEC: The Sociological Imagination TYP: application
10. Sociologists argue that people fall in love
a. when they experience a violent, irresistible attraction to another person.
b. only once in the course of a lifetime.
c. when certain conditions are met.
d. with people like themselves.
ANS: CSEC: The Sociological Imagination TYP: comprehension
11. In examining patterns of courtship and marriage, sociologists would emphasize which of
the following in shaping a couple’s decision to marry?
a. the personalities of the couples
b. the importance of love
c. personal preferences
d. social considerations such as age, sex, race, income, etc.
ANS: D SEC: The Sociological Imagination TYP: knowledge SOURCE: new
12. Peter L. Berger equates the sociologist with
a. a curious observer who, walking down the neighborhood streets of a large city, is
fascinated with what he or she cannot see taking place behind the building walls.
b. an Internal Revenue Service auditor.
c. a judge giving instructions to a jury.
d. a talk show host interviewing guests.
ANS: A SEC: The Sociological Imagination TYP: knowledge
The Sociological Imagination
Multiple-Choice Questions
1. Sociology is the scientific study of
a. human activity in society.
b. mental processes.
c. people.
d. multiple personalities.
ANS: A SEC: The Sociological Imagination TYP: comprehension SOURCE: new
2. From a sociological point of view, a is the day-to-day activities from birth to
death that make up a person’s life.
a. social fact
b. sociological imagination
c. biography
d. autobiography
ANS: C SEC: The Sociological Imagination TYP: comprehension SOURCE: new; study guide
3. Emile Durkheim defined social facts as
a. census statistics.
b. having the remarkable property of existing outside the individual.
c. fundamentally psychological.
d. things we know to be true.
ANS: B SEC: The Sociological Imagination TYP: knowledge
,4. Only when people do they come to know the power of social facts.
a. grow older
b. cooperate
c. comply
d. rebel against the established ways of doing things
ANS: D SEC: The Sociological Imagination TYP: comprehension
5. Durkheim wrote that he was not forced to speak French or to use the legal currency, but
it was impossible for him to do otherwise. Durkheim was writing about
a. mechanical solidarity.
b. social relativity.
c. social facts.
d. social interaction.
ANS: C SEC: The Sociological Imagination TYP: application
6. Durkheim wrote, “Even when, in fact, I can struggle free from these rules and
successfully break them, it is never without being forced to fight against them.” This
statement is a reference to
a. mechanical solidarity.
b. social relativity.
c. social facts.
d. social interaction.
ANS: C SEC: The Sociological Imagination TYP: application
7. “Because I refuse to shave under my arms, I have to pay a price. On a personal level, this
price was my mother’s hostility. On a public level, the price is dealing with the stares of
strangers.” This statement illustrates
a. mechanical solidarity.
b. social relativity.
c. the power of social facts.
d. the idea of double consciousness.
ANS: C SEC: The Sociological Imagination TYP: application
,8. A woman writes, “I can’t be anything but what my skin color tells people I am. I am
black because I look black. It does not matter that my family has a complicated
biological heritage.” She is writing about the power of
a. social facts.
b. troubles.
c. the sociological imagination.
d. rationalization.
ANS: A SEC: The Sociological Imagination TYP: application SOURCE: study guide
, 9. An American traveling to Ghana, Africa, on business notices that the “men, including
the men I was with, hold hands. One day one of the men I was with took my hand as we
walked. In order not to offend him, I took his hand in mine.” The American is responding
to a(n)
a. trouble.
b. issue.
c. social fact.
d. traditional action.
ANS: C SEC: The Sociological Imagination TYP: application
10. Sociologists argue that people fall in love
a. when they experience a violent, irresistible attraction to another person.
b. only once in the course of a lifetime.
c. when certain conditions are met.
d. with people like themselves.
ANS: CSEC: The Sociological Imagination TYP: comprehension
11. In examining patterns of courtship and marriage, sociologists would emphasize which of
the following in shaping a couple’s decision to marry?
a. the personalities of the couples
b. the importance of love
c. personal preferences
d. social considerations such as age, sex, race, income, etc.
ANS: D SEC: The Sociological Imagination TYP: knowledge SOURCE: new
12. Peter L. Berger equates the sociologist with
a. a curious observer who, walking down the neighborhood streets of a large city, is
fascinated with what he or she cannot see taking place behind the building walls.
b. an Internal Revenue Service auditor.
c. a judge giving instructions to a jury.
d. a talk show host interviewing guests.
ANS: A SEC: The Sociological Imagination TYP: knowledge
