Sping Midterm Practice Questions

2012 Sping Midterm Practice Questions
(During the review session, I was confused on the question 18. The answer is mother and daughters. Sorry for the confusion.)

1. | The fact that sexual identities have only recently emerged as a concept suggests that: | A) | this is a phenomenon not worthy of study. | B) | they are socially constructed. | C) | we need to base everything on biology. | D) | this is a new phenomenon. |

2. | In sociological terms, gender is considered a __________ creation, while sex is considered a _________ creation. | A) | social/psychological | C) | biological/social | B) | psychological/biological | D) | social/biological |

3. | Conflict theorists in sociology would have a favorable view of the
dynamics and structure of the 1950s family. | | A) True | | B) False |

4. | African American families maintained weaker kinship links than other groups. | | A) True | | B) False |

5. | The real responsibility of the True Woman as described by historian Barbara Welter was | A) | to share equally with men the struggle to survive. | B) | to help her husband economically. | C) | to bear children to increase the population. | D) | to save men from immoral behavior and take over much of the day-to-day home tasks for men. |

6. | Family households in the United States most likely to be headed by a married couple are from the __________ racial-ethnic group. | | A) Asian-American B) Hispanic C) African-American D) non-Hispanic white |

7. | Living together without marrying would be more common among the poor of a society primarily because | A) | there is less social stigma. | B) | it matters less who is morally or legally bound to whom. | C) | of loose morals. | D) | of different values. |

8.
| Feminist research methodologists stress an orientation toward research centered on __________ over the more traditional orientation they describe as __________. | A) | social change; “seperated knowing” | C) | objectivity; “reflexivity” | B) | social change; “post-modernism” | D) | objectivity; “separated knowing” |

9. | Over the past few decades, nearly all Western nations have undergone similar changes with respect to family life including: | A) | increasing dominance of extended families. | B) | stronger emphasis on family culture. | C) | increases in cohabitation, childbearing outside of marriage, and divorce. | D) | fewer mothers working outside the home. |

10. | The number of middle-class black families in the United States has been increasing, but one critical aspect that distinguishes them from middle-class white families is their | A) | assets such as savings, investments, and homes. | B) | salaries. | C) | family support. | D) | education. |

11. | If you were concerned with the way families discipline their children, handle their disagreements, or share their affection, you would be focusing on the | A) | sexually based primary relationship. | C) | private family. | B) | external family. | D) | public family. |
12-14

A. Cubans
B. assimilation
C. immigrant enclave
D. Mexican American

12. | large, dense, single-ethnic group that is relatively self-sufficient C |

13. | currently the largest Hispanic group in the United States D |

14. | first waves of these immigrants were the result of a political migration A |

15. | The problems of the current U.S. job market affect people with college educations as much as those without college educations. | | A) True | | B) False |

16. | The central mechanism of the socialization approach to explaining male/female differences is __________ while that of the psychoanalytic approach is __________. | A) | unconscious; conscious | C) | learning; internalization | B) | activity; memorization | D) | internalization; learning |

17. | In the United States there appears to have been a broad cultural shift in the values Americans hold most dear. The general trend has been from an emphasis on ________ to _________. | A) | parenting; employee relationships | C) | personal relationships; obligations | B) | parenting; self-fulfillment | D) | personal growth; service to others |

18. | It has been argued that the white masters destroyed social organization among African American slaves and as a result, slave family life was destroyed with the only stable bond(s) remaining between | A) | husbands and wives. | C) | mothers and daughters. | B) | fathers and sons. | D) | both b and c. |

19. | According to the interactionist approach, gender differences between men and women exist primarily because of | A) | rigid social structures that reinforce gender appropriate behavior. | B) | parental socialization. | C) | inherent differences present from birth. | D) | everyday behavior that reinforces gender distinctions. |

20. | Which of the following is not an example of a mediating structure? | | A) the family B) a church C) a neighborhood D) the court system |

21. | Income inequality among families has increased because of all but the following reason | A) | the decline in number of children born in each family | B) | the movement of middle-class wives into the workforce | C) | the growing inequality in the earnings of men | D) | the growth of single-parent families |

22. | To overcome their economic hardships, Puerto Ricans have used a system of __________, much as African Americans have used a system of __________. | A) | grandfamilies; female-centered kin networks | B) | informal marriage; female-centered kin networks | C) | female-centered kin networks; informal marriage | D) | grandfamilies; informal marriage |

23. | As marriage is transformed from institution to companionship it becomes stronger and more adaptable. | | A) True | | B) False |

24. | Overall, in the United States in recent decades, the incomes of less educated men have __________, and the incomes of more educated men have __________. | A) | increased/increased | C) | increased/remained the same | B) | increased/decreased | D) | decreased/increased |

25. | Which of the following is not a factor contributing to the later marriage rates of the current generation of Americans? | A) | increasing cohabitation among American unmarried couples | B) | increasing rate of childbirth outside of marriage | C) | increasing work skills and experience of our young women | D) | earlier childbearing |

26. | The sex-gender system refers to the transformation of biological differences into a social order that supports male domination. | | A) True | | B) False |

27. | Gender theorists maintain that economic inequalities between men and women benefit capitalists because: | A) | they allow families to save the profits they accrue. | B) | the unpaid work of housewives allows families to subsist on the modest wages men earn. | C) | they undermine the provider wage system. | D) | they support the privacy of families. |

28. | The population group in the United States that has been increasing the least is | A) | Hispanics. | C) | African Americans. | B) | white Europeans | D) | Native Americans. |

29. | Sociologists generally do not use experiments to prove or disprove relationships between two factors since ______ is seldom possible. | | A) observation B) hypothesizing C) randomization D) data collection |

30. | Romantic or erotic love and marriage in the United States prior to the twentieth century could best be characterized as | A) | two very separate entities. | C) | one leading to the other. | B) | being very closely linked. | D) | none of the above. |