Download Chapter 1: Understanding the Sociological Imagination Multiple

Chapter 1: Understanding the Sociological Imagination
Multiple Choice:
1.
“Sociology” is best defined as the systematic study of
a. human groups and their interactions.
b. social problems and their causes.
c. face-to-face interaction.
d. social networks and their consequences for individuals.
Answer: A (page 4)
Conceptual
Moderate
Objective: Explain what the sociological perspective is.
2. Which of the following is the best definition of the sociological perspective?
a. a foundational theory of sociology
b. the unique way that sociologists view the world and the
relationships within it
c. each individual’s view of the world is influenced by the society in
which they live
d. the perspective utilized by microsociologists in their research
approach
Answer: B (page 4)
Applied
Challenging
Objective: Explain what the sociological perspective is.
3.
Which sociological theorist highlighted the difference between “personal
troubles” and “social issues”?
a.
Dorothy Smith
b.
Peter Berger
c.
Auguste Comte
d.
C. Wright Mills
Answer: D (page 4)
Factual
Easy
Objective: Describe, and provide personal reflections about, C.W. Mills’
concept of the sociological imagination.
4. C. Wright Mills defines quality of mind as
a. a person’s level of intelligence.
b. the educational values of a society.
c. the ability to influence other people with your way of thinking.
d. the ability to view personal circumstance within a social context.
Answer: D (page 4)
Factual
Easy
Objective: Describe, and provide personal reflections about, C.W. Mills’
concept of the sociological imagination.
5.
Using the sociological imagination, rising tuition costs would be best
approached in terms of
a.
private trouble.
b.
a political problem.
c.
a social issue.
d.
economic reality.
Answer: C (page 5)
Applied
Moderate
Objective: Describe, and provide personal reflections about, C.W. Mills’
concept of the sociological imagination.
6.
On average in Canada today, men earn approximately __ percent more
than women.
a.
5
b.
10
c.
20
d.
35
Answer: D (page 8)
Factual
Easy
Objective: Describe, and provide personal reflections about, C.W. Mills’
concept of the sociological imagination.
7. A sociologist would identify all of the following as possible reasons behind
homelessness except
a. a lack of affordable housing.
b. personal laziness.
c. substance abuse and mental illness.
d. societal forces.
Answer: B (page 8)
Applied
Moderate
Objective – Describe, and provide personal reflections about, C.W. Mills’
concept of the sociological imagination.
8. Homelessness, racism, and poverty are all examples of
a. personal troubles.
b. social issues.
c. symbolic interactionism.
d. the Metaphysical Stage.
Answer: B (page 4)
Applied
Moderate
Objective: Describe, and provide personal reflections about, C.W. Mills’
concept of the sociological imagination.
9.
This term is used to describe a combination of variables to position or
score people on criteria such as income level, level of education
achieved, occupation, and area of residence.
a.
ascribed status
b.
relative privilege status
c.
minority status
d.
socio-economic status
Answer: D (page 9)
Conceptual
Moderate
Objective: Describe, and provide personal reflections about, C.W. Mills’
concept of the sociological imagination.
10. Incidence of low income for female lone-parent families is approximately
_____ that of two-parent families with children.
a.
the same as
b.
double
c.
four times higher than
d.
10 times higher than
Answer: C (page 9)
Factual
Easy
Objective: Describe, and provide personal reflections about, C.W. Mills’
concept of the sociological imagination.
11. Which of the following is the best definition of ascribed status?
a. The status of a person has been gained through personal attributes
and qualities.
b. A person has been assigned advantage or disadvantage through
simply being born.
c. People should strive to achieve the most they can in life despite any
disadvantages they have.
d. We judge the status of the people around us based on social factors
such as gender and socio-economic status.
Answer: B (page 10)
Factual
Easy
Objective: Describe, and provide personal reflections about, C.W. Mills’
concept of the sociological imagination.
12. In 2004, the Canada Survey of Giving, Volunteering and Participating
reported that ____ percent of the Canadian population aged 15 and over
had contributed to a non-profit organization in the previous year.
a.
5
b.
10
c.
50
d.
85
Answer: D (page 12)
Factual
Moderate
Objective: Describe, and provide personal reflections about, C.W. Mills’
concept of the sociological imagination.
13. You are least likely to donate money to a charity if you live in this
Canadian province or territory.
a.
Nunavut
b.
British Columbia
c.
Quebec
d.
Alberta
Answer: C (page 12)
Factual
Moderate
Objective: Describe, and provide personal reflections about, C.W. Mills’
concept of the sociological imagination.
14. The term “sociology” was coined by this theorist in 1838.
a.
Plato
b.
Peter Berger
c.
Auguste Comte
d.
Émile Durkheim
Answer: C (page 14)
Factual
Easy
Objective: Understand the historical development of sociology.
15. All of the following are revolutionary events in Europe that inspired the
rise of sociology except
a. the political revolution.
b. the scientific revolution.
c. the economic revolution.
d. the Industrial Revolution.
Answer: C (page 14)
Conceptual
Moderate
Objective: Understand the historical development of sociology.
16. Comte’s Law of Three Stages defines how advances of the mind created
three different types of societies. What are the three stages?
a. Theological, Metaphysical, and Positive
b. Theological, Religious, and Atheist
c. Metaphysical, Industrial, and Political
d. Positive, Appositive, and Negativistic
Answer: A (page 14)
Conceptual
Moderate
Objective: Understand the historical development of sociology.
17. The belief that there exists an objective and knowable reality comes out
of this general theoretical approach.
a.
positivism
b.
negativism
c.
ethnomethodology
d.
qualitative sociology
Answer: A (page 16)
Conceptual
Moderate
Objective: Define and explain the differences between positivism and antipositivism.
18. Critics of positivist-oriented sociology are most likely to argue that
knowledge and understanding should be defined in relation to
a.
human subjectivity.
b.
inner feelings.
c.
theology.
d.
hard science.
Answer: A (page 16)
Conceptual
Difficult
Objective: Define and explain the differences between positivism and antipositivism.
19. Anti-positivism is a theoretical approach that considers knowledge and
understanding to be the result of
a. science.
b. positivism.
c. sociological imagination.
d. human subjectivity.
Answer: D (page 16)
Conceptual
Moderate
Objective: Define and explain the differences between positivism and antipositivism.
20. Tahira is conducting a study that examines people’s fears of living in what
they think is an increasingly violent society. She is most likely to be drawing on
this kind of general sociological approach:
a.
quantitative
b.
positivistic
c.
humanistic
d.
qualitative
Answer: D (page 17)
Applied
Moderate
Objective: Define and explain the differences between positivism and antipositivism.
21. A sociologist whose primary research interest is in the cross-cultural
comparison of income levels between genders over time most likely
comes out of which general approach?
a.
quantitative
b.
positivistic
c.
naturalisitic
d.
phenomenological
Answer: A (page 16)
Applied
Challenging
Objective: Define and explain the differences between positivism and antipositivism.
22. Which of the following provides an example of qualitative sociology?
a. crime rates
b. the emotional effects of going through a divorce
c. a comparative study on the number of homeless people in various
major cities
d. a survey about gender and earning potential
Answer: B (page 17)
Applied
Moderate
Objective: Define and explain the differences between positivism and antipositivism.
23. Cultural assessments by which something is identified as right, desirable,
and moral are referred to by sociologists as
a.
norms.
b.
standards.
c.
values.
d.
beliefs.
Answer: C (page 17)
Conceptual
Easy
Objective: Define and explain the differences between positivism and antipositivism.
24. Which of the following would not be considered an ideal of the political
revolution?
a. globalization
b. individual rights
c. equality of opportunity
d. democracy
Answer: A (page 18)
Conceptual
Moderate
Objective: Understand the historical development of sociology.
25. Jean-Jacques Rousseau’s notion that we can achieve more by working
together than we can apart is termed
a. the social contract.
b. a social issue.
c. the blank slate theory.
d. microsociology.
Answer: A (page 18)
Conceptual
Challenging
Objective: Understand the historical development of sociology.
26. As discussed in the text, all of the following are social problems that
emerged out of the Industrial Revolution and the move from rural to urban
environments except
a. child labour.
b. poverty.
c. globalization.
d. increased crime rates.
Answer: C (page 18)
Factual
Moderate
Objective: Understand the historical development of sociology
27.
Sam the sociologist approaches the social world in relation to face-toface interaction and small-group dynamics. She is approaching the world
through which approach?
a.
macrosociological
b.
microsociological
c.
sociological imagination
d.
network theory
Answer: B (page 20)
Applied
Moderate
Objective: Explain microsociology and macrosociology, and identify the
leading theorists of each.
28. The writings of Karl Marx draw our attention to
a.
power.
b.
subjectivity.
c.
meaning.
d.
authority.
Answer: A (page 20)
Conceptual
Easy
Objective: Explain microsociology and macrosociology, and identify the
leading theorists of each.
29. Émile Durkheim’s sociology draws connections between rising suicide
rates and low levels of
a.
self-esteem.
b.
religious affiliation.
c.
social integration.
d.
employment.
Answer: C (page 20)
Conceptual
Moderate
Objective: Explain microsociology and macrosociology, and identify the
leading theorists of each.
30. German sociologist Max Weber argued that the modern world is
becoming increasingly
a.
meaningless.
b.
commodified.
c.
Disneyfied.
d.
rationalized.
Answer: D (page 20)
Conceptual
Moderate
Objective: Explain microsociology and macrosociology, and identify the
leading theorists of each.
31. Macrosociology can best be defined as
a. the study of society as a whole.
b. applying the sociological perspective to everyday problems.
c. a social movement dedicated to improving the quality of mind of
Canadians.
d. the study of individual or small-group dynamics within a larger
society.
Answer: A (page 20)
Factual
Easy
Objective: Explain microsociology and macrosociology, and identify the
leading theorists of each.
32. All of the following are considered leading theorists of microsociology
except
a. George Herbert Mead.
b. Herbert Blumer.
c. Max Weber.
d. Charles Horton Cooley.
Answer: C (page 21)
Conceptual
Moderate
Objective: Explain microsociology and macrosociology, and identify the
leading theorists of each.
33. Symbolic interactionism can best be defined as
a. a macrosociological approach to exploring social problems.
b. a perspective that asserts that people and societies are defined and
created through the interactions of individuals.
c. a positivistic explanation for how knowledge and understanding are
developed.
d. the tension between quantitative and qualitative approaches to
sociological research.
Answer: B (page 21)
Conceptual
Easy
Objective: Explain microsociology and macrosociology, and identify the
leading theorists of each.
34. Where was the first Canadian sociology department formed in 1924?
a.
York University in Toronto
b.
McGill University in Montreal
c.
Queen’s University in Kingston
d.
the University of Manitoba in Winnipeg
Answer: B (page 21)
Factual
Easy
Objective: Describe the defining features of Canadian sociology.
35. What province has had a significant influence on regionalism in Canada?
a. British Columbia
b. Ontario
c. Quebec
d. Nunavut
Answer: C (page 23)
Factual
Easy
Objective: Describe the defining features of Canadian sociology.
36. Which of the following is the best explanation for why Canadian sociology
is more radical than the American tradition of sociology?
a. Canada is a more liberal society.
b. Canadian sociology is newer than American sociology.
c. Canada is more influenced by European thinking.
d. Canadian sociology has a greater focus on macrosociology and
feminist perspectives.
Answer: D (page 24)
Conceptual
Moderate
Objective: Describe the defining features of Canadian sociology.
37. In his works The Fur Trade in Canada and The Cod Fisheries, Innis
developed the staples thesis, which contends that
a. all knowledge is the result of experience.
b. regionalism has had a major influence on the development
of Canadian culture and identity.
c. Canadian development was based on the exploitation of
raw materials that were sent to European countries.
d. tensions and contradictions within society form the basis
for social change.
Answer: C (page 24)
Conceptual
Challenging
Objective – Describe the defining features of Canadian sociology.
38. Globalization can best be defined as
a. a process involving the production, distribution, and consumption of
technological, political, economic, and socio-cultural goods and
services.
b. the collapse of space and time due to electronic media, which has
enabled people to interact and experience life on a global scale.
c. the increased difficulty of communicating with others across
cultures.
d. regionalism within countries.
Answer: A (page 27)
Factual
Moderate
Objective: Review the importance of a global perspective.
39. Renowned Canadian media scholar Marshall McLuhan is recognized for
coining this term:
a.
globalization
b.
virtual reality
c.
global village
d.
political economy
Answer: C (page 27)
Factual
Easy
Objective: Review the importance of a global perspective.
40. Durkheim argued that
a. the ‘self’ emerges through communication.
b. professionals hold more power than non-professionals.
c. people want to work together.
d. people define selves by how others view them.
Answer: C (page 20)
Factual
Moderate
A Heading: Macro and Micro Approaches
41. Which of the following is a microtheorist?
a. Karl Marx
b. George Herbert Mead
c. Emile Durkheim
d. Max Weber
Answer: B (page 21)
Factual
Moderate
A Heading: Macro and Micro Approaches
42. Who named symbolic interactionism?
a. Herbert Blumer
b. Karl Marx
c. Charles Horton Cooley
d. George Herbert Mead
Answer: A (page 21)
Factual
Easy
A Heading: Macro and Micro Approaches
43. Which does not apply to anti-positivism?
a. Subjective reality exists.
b. Research is not value-free.
c. qualitative research
d. Knowable reality exists.
Answer: D (page 16)
Conceptual
Moderate
A Heading: Three Revolutions: The Rise of Sociology
44. Who was not a Renaissance thinker?
a. John Locke
b. Machiavelli
c. Descartes
d. Hobbes
Answer: A (page 17)
Factual
Moderate
A Heading: Three Revolutions: The Rise of Sociology
45. Sophists were the first thinkers to
a. understand the link between the physical and social worlds.
b. focus their efforts on human beings.
c. challenge the virtue of being paid for one’s knowledge.
d. understand a new science was necessary.
Answer: C (page 14)
Applied
Moderate
A Heading: Three Revolutions: The Rise of Sociology
46. Which does not constitute a minority status?
a. physical disability
b. women
c. people of colour
d. mental disability
Answer: B (page 9)
Conceptual
Easy
A Heading: What Makes You, You?
47. What percentage of the Canadian population contributes to non profit
organizations?
a. 15 percent
b. 35 percent
c. 65 percent
d. 85 percent
Answer: D (page 13)
Factual
Moderate
A Heading: What Makes You, You?
48. Which of the following does not differentiate Canadian from American
Sociology?
a. regionalism
b. political economy
c. radical in nature
d. Americanization
Answer: D (page 24)
Factual
Easy
A Heading: Sociology in Canada
49. Who, of the following, was not a Canadian sociologist?
a. John Porter
b. Harold Adams Innis
c. Charles Cooley
d. Herbert Brown Ames
Answer: C (pages 25–26)
Factual
Easy
A Heading: Sociology in Canada
50. Who coined the term global village?
a. Marshall McLuhan
b. Anthoney Giddens
c. Antonio Gramsci
d. Herbert Spencer
Answer: A (page 27)
Conceptual
Easy
A Heading: Sociology in a Global Perspective
51. Which is an example of a sociological perspective?
a. seeing the causal link between smoking and poor health
b. understanding that the roles men and women enact are rooted in
biology
c. understanding that there is an inextricable link between gender and
sexuality
d. understanding that women’s lower rates of employment and wages
is related to patriarchy
Answer: D (page 4)
Applied
moderate
A Heading: Sociological Perspective
52. Peter Berger believes that the sociological perspective is the
a. ability to understand the dynamic relationship between individual
lives and the larger society.
b. ability to see the differences between personal troubles and social
issues.
c. ability to see the strange in the familiar and the general in the
particular.
d. the systematic study of human interactions.
Answer: C (page 5)
Factual
Moderate
A Heading: What Makes You, You?
53. Where is most of the world’s wealth held?
a. North
b. South
c. East
d. West
Answer: D (page 29)
Factual
Easy
A Heading: Sociology in a Global Perspective
54. According to Harold Innis, Canadian society seems to have been partly
defined by
a. the use of two distinct languages.
b. the understanding that Canada is not a major economic force.
c. the unique landscape.
d. the small population in comparison to the size of the land.
Answer: B (page 29)
Factual
Moderate
A Heading: Macro and Micro Approaches to Sociology
55. Mead believed that the self is formed through
a. negotiating conflict.
b. communication.
c. parental authority.
d. peer reflection.
Answer: B (page 21)
Factual
Moderate
A Heading: Macro and Micro Approaches to Sociology
56. Herbert Blumer’s contribution to sociology was his
a. analysis of the self.
b. looking glass theory.
c. analysis of meaning, language, and thought.
d. discussion of anomic suicide.
Answer: C (page 21)
Factual
Moderate
A Heading: Macro and Micro Approaches to Sociology
57. In The Prince Machiavelli argued that
a. human behaviour is motivated by self interest and a desire for
material gain.
b. human beings were able to understand the world through rational
reflection.
c. techniques used in the hard sciences to explain the physical world
should be applied to the social world as well.
d. ideas are not innate and that all knowledge is the result of
experience.
Answer: B (page 18)
Factual
Moderate
A Heading: Three Revolutions: The Rise of Sociology
58. Karl Marx believed that people are
a. cooperative by nature.
b. powerful.
c. naturally competitive.
d. in need of strong-handed laws.
Answer: C (page 20)
Factual
Moderate
A Heading: Macro and Micro Approaches to Sociology
59. Which of the Revolutions do Sociologists argue has had the biggest effect
on society?
a. the industrial revolution
b. the political revolution
c. the scientific revolution
d. the communicative revolution
Answer: A (pages 14–19)
Factual
Moderate
A Heading: Three Revolutions: The Rise of Sociology
True and False Questions
1. Getting fired from your job because you are always late for work is an
example of a social issue.
Answer: False (page 4)
Applied
Easy
Objective: Explain what the sociological perspective is.
2.
Mills highlighted the difference between personal troubles, which are
caused by extra-local social structural factors, and social issues, which
result from largely individual challenges.
Answer: False (page 4)
Conceptual
Moderate
Objective: Describe, and provide personal reflections about, C.W. Mills’
concept of the sociological imagination.
3. The sociological imagination can help improve a person’s quality of mind.
Answer: True (page 5)
Conceptual
Easy
Objective: Describe, and provide personal reflections about, C.W. Mills’
concept of the sociological imagination.
4. According to Berger, sociologists need to tune their sociological perspective
by thinking about what is strange and seeing it as familiar.
Answer: False (page 5)
Conceptual
Moderate
Objective: Explain Peter Berger’s use of the terms general, particular, strange,
and familiar.
5.
The ability to see the general in the particular and the strange in the
familiar is the cornerstone of the sociological perspective.
Answer: True (page 6)
Conceptual
Moderate
Objective: Explain Peter Berger’s use of the terms general, particular, strange,
and familiar.
6,
Sociology teaches us that the majority of those born poor remain poor.
Answer: True (page 9)
Applied
Moderate
Objective: Describe, and provide personal reflections about, C.W. Mills’
concept of the sociological imagination.
7. Gender inequality is no longer a social issue.
Answer: False (page 9)
Conceptual
Moderate
Objective: Describe, and provide personal reflections about, C.W. Mills’
concept of the sociological imagination.
8. Oprah Winfrey’s success can be attributed to her ascribed status.
Answer: False (page 10)
Conceptual
Easy
Objective: Describe, and provide personal reflections about, C.W. Mills’
concept of the sociological imagination.
9.
A basic premise of positivism is that truth is relative to the knower.
Answer: False (page 16)
Conceptual
Moderate
Objective: Define and explain the differences between positivism and antipositivism.
10. Positivism is a theoretical approach that considers all understanding to be
based on science.
Answer: True (page 16)
Conceptual
Moderate
Objective: Define and explain the differences between positivism and antipositivism.
11. Quantitative sociology focuses on behaviours that can be measured.
Answer: True (page 17)
Conceptual
Easy
Objective: Define and explain the differences between positivism and antipositivism.
12.
Qualitative sociologists propose that we can and should separate
scientific inquiry from values.
Answer: False (page 17)
Conceptual
Challenging
Objective: Define and explain the differences between positivism and antipositivism.
13. According to Hobbes, the true nature of humankind is compassion for
others.
Answer: False (page 18)
Conceptual
Moderate
Objective: Understand the historical development of sociology.
14. Urbanization is a significant outcome of the Industrial Revolution that is
still impacting our society today.
Answer: True (page 19)
Conceptual
Challenging
Objective: Understand the historical development of sociology.
15. Karl Marx’s perspective can best be described as microsociological.
Answer: False (page 20)
Conceptual
Easy
Objective: Explain microsociology and macrosociology, and identify the
leading theorists of each.
16. Microsociology focuses on individuals and/or small groups and how they
behave in particular face-to-face social networks.
Answer: True (page 20)
Applied
Moderate
Objective: Explain microsociology and macrosociology, and identify the
leading theorists of each.
17. Political economy can be defined as the interactions of politics,
government and governing, and the social and cultural constitution of
markets, institutions, and actors.
Answer: True (page 24)
Factual
Moderate
Objective: Describe the defining features of Canadian sociology.
18. Canadian sociology has historically been, and remains to be, much more
critical than American sociology.
Answer: True (page 24)
Factual
Challenging
Objective: Describe the defining features of Canadian sociology.
19. Contrary to what many so-called “globalization experts” say, our world is
less interconnected and intermingled today than it was in the early 20th
century.
Answer: False (page 27)
Applied
Moderate
Objective: Review the importance of a global perspective.
20. The international community did nothing to prevent the Tutsi genocide in
Rwanda, nor did they get involved once it began.
Answer: True (page 27)
Factual
Moderate
Objective: Review the importance of a global perspective.
21. Of the six billion people alive today, only one billion live in developed
countries.
Answer: True (page 29)
Factual
Easy
A Heading: Sociology in a Global Perspective
22. Sociologists believe that our mundane choices have rich social significance.
Answer: True (page 4)
Factual
Easy
A Heading: The Sociological Perspective
23. C. Wright Mills describes the Sociological perspective as the ability to see
the general in the particular and the strange in the familiar.
Answer: False (page 5)
Factual
Easy
A Heading: The Sociological Perspective
24. Men earn approximately 20 percent more than women in Canada.
Answer: False (page 9)
Factual
Easy
A Heading: What Makes you, You?
25. Canadian volunteer rates are highest among stay-at-home mothers whose
household income was below $100 000.
Answer: False (page 13)
Factual
moderate
A Heading: What Makes you, You?
26. Positivism derived from the scientific revolution.
Answer: True (page 15)
Conceptual
moderate
A Heading: Three Revolutions: The Rise of Sociology
27. Interviewing a swim team about their experiences as part of a competitive
team is an example of quantitative sociology.
Answer: False (page 17)
Applied
Moderate
A Heading: Three Revolutions: The Rise of Sociology
28. Elementary school teachers refusing to “volunteer” their time to supervise
extracurricular activities is an example of Weber’s rationalization.
Answer: True (page 21)
Applied
Moderate
A Heading: Macro and Micro Approaches to Sociology
29. Canadian sociology developed prior to American sociology but has had less
notoriety.
Answer: False (page 21)
Factual
Moderate
A Heading: Sociology in Canada
30. Political economy looks at the ways in which political institutions, the
political environment, and the economic system influence each other.
Answer: True (page 24)
Conceptual
Moderate
A Heading: Sociology in Canada
Short-Answer Questions
1. Explain what Peter Berger meant by the terms general, particular, strange,
and familiar. How do they relate to sociology?
Answer: Seeing the general in the particular is the ability to look at seemingly
unique events or circumstances and then recognize the larger or general
features involved (page 5). Sociologists need to tune their sociological
perspective by thinking about what is familiar and seeing it as strange (page
5).
Conceptual
Moderate
Objective: Explain Peter Berger’s use of the terms general, particular, strange,
and familiar.
2.
What does it mean to say that an individual has “agency”?
Answer: To say that individuals have agency is to highlight that, however
limited, they do have some ability to alter their socially constructed lives (page
7).
Conceptual
Challenging
Objective: Describe, and provide personal reflections about, C.W. Mills’
concept of the sociological imagination.
3.
Identify the two distinct yet complementary perspectives that define the
sociological perspective as developed by Peter Berger in his 1963 book
Invitation to Sociology: A Humanistic Perspective.
Answer: Berger argued that thinking sociologically requires one to see (1) the
general in the particular and (2) the strange in the familiar (page 6).
Conceptual
Moderate
Objective: Explain Peter Berger’s use of the terms general, particular, strange,
and familiar.
4. Describe and explain the sociological imagination. What sociologist
developed this term? Why is it important to sociology?
Answer: Mills developed the term. Answers will vary (see pages 4–5).
Applied
Moderate
Objective: Describe, and provide personal reflections about, C.W. Mills’
concept of the sociological imagination.
5. What is the relationship between the concepts of sociological imagination
and quality of mind?
Answer: The sociological imagination improves quality of mind (page 5).
Conceptual
Challenging
Objective: Describe, and provide personal reflections about, C.W. Mills’
concept of the sociological imagination.
6.
What specific problem does Human Resources and Social Development
Canada identify with respect to the compilation of numbers of homeless
persons in Canada?
Answer: At the present time, no reliable method for counting the number of
people who are homeless can be identified (page 7).
Factual
Challenging
Objective: Describe, and provide personal reflections about, C.W. Mills’
concept of the sociological imagination.
7.
What is the difference between “achieved” and “ascribed” status?
Answer: A person’s ascribed status refers to all attributes (advantages and
disadvantages) assigned at birth, whereas their achieved status refers to all
attributes developed throughout life as a result of effort and skill (page 10).
Conceptual
Moderate
Objective: Describe, and provide personal reflections about, C.W. Mills’
concept of the sociological imagination.
8.
Which three revolutions are associated with the emergence of the
discipline of sociology?
Answer: The scientific, political, and Industrial revolutions (pages 14).
Factual
Easy
Objective: Understand the historical development of sociology.
9. Describe Auguste Comte’s Law of Three Stages and explain why sociologists
today do not give much credit to his ideas.
Answer: Comte’s Law of Three Stages defines how advances of the mind
created three different types of societies (3 stages – Theological,
Metaphysical, and Positive). Two reasons the Law of Three Stages is not given
much credibility: it assumes that human thinking is currently as good as it will
get, and the idea that the third and final stage was just emerging during
Comte’s lifetime is somewhat self-serving (pages 14-15).
Challenging
Conceptual
Objective: Understand the historical development of sociology.
10. Positivism is based on three primary assumptions. List the three
assumptions and provide the anti-positivist response to each.
Answer: (1) There exists an objective and knowable reality. Anti-positivism:
The formulas that positivists use to explain the universe have meaning only
when we collectively assign social value to them. (2) Since all sciences explore
the same, singular reality over time, all sciences will become more alike. Antipositivism: No single methodological approach can reach a complete
understanding of our world. (3) There is no room in science for value
judgments. Anti-positivism: Science cannot be separated from values (pages
16-17).
Conceptual
Challenging
Objective: Define and explain the differences between positivism and antipositivism.
11. What does Weber mean in his characterization of modern society as
“rationalized”?
Answer: People are becoming more focused on “efficiency” in the
accomplishment of particular ends. Weber notes that while society may
become more productive and efficient, people also come to act, increasingly,
as machines (page 20).
Conceptual
Challenging
Objective: Explain microsociology and macrosociology, and identify the
leading theorists of each.
12. Identify the three key theorists associated with the development of the
American tradition known as “microsociology.”
Answer: The works of George Herbert Mead (1863–1931), Charles Horton
Cooley (1864–1929), and Herbert Blumer (1900–1987) were instrumental in
establishing and promoting a microsociological perspective of the social world
(page 20).
Factual
Moderate
Objective: Explain microsociology and macrosociology, and identify the
leading theorists of each.
13. Define microsociology and macrosociology. Choose a theorist associated
with each approach.
Answer: Macrosociology – the study of society as a whole; theorists Karl Marx,
Émile Durkheim, and Max Weber (see pages 20-21). Microsociology – the
study of individual or small-group dynamics within a larger society; theorists
George Herbert Mead, Charles Horton Cooley, and Herbert Blumer (see page
21).
Conceptual
Moderate
Objective: Explain microsociology and macrosociology, and identify the
leading theorists of each.
14. As a new sociologist, do you identify more with the macro or micro
approach to sociology? Why?
Answer: Answers will vary (see pages 20-21).
Applied
Challenging
Objective: Explain microsociology and macrosociology, and identify the
leading theorists of each.
15. Name the four features of Canadian sociology that distinguish it from
American sociology. Explain two of them.
Answer: Geography and regionalism, focus on political economy,
Canadianization movement, and radical nature of Canadian sociology (pages
22-24). Answers will vary.
Conceptual
Moderate
Objective: Describe the defining features of Canadian sociology.
16. What does “political economy” refer to? Identify two Canadian
sociologists associated with this theoretical approach.
Answer: As discussed by leading Canadian sociologist Wallace Clement,
political economy is the study of the interactions of politics, government and
governing, and the social and cultural constitution of markets, institutions,
and actors. According to Clement, political economy–oriented sociology
attempts to seek out tensions and contradictions within society to form the
basis for social change. The first Canadian sociologist to investigate Canada’s
political economy in a systematic way was Harold A. Innis (page 24).
Conceptual
Challenging
Objective: Describe the defining features of Canadian sociology.
17. What was the “Canadianization movement” and what general condition
gave rise to its emergence?
Answer: In the 1950s and1960s, Canadian sociologists felt the significant need
to hire and train more Canadian sociologists to study Canadian society from a
distinctively Canadian perspective. This movement was largely stimulated by
the dominance of American sociology in Canadian sociology departments at
that time (page 24).
Factual
Challenging
Objective: Describe the defining features of Canadian sociology.
18. Select two early Canadian sociologists and describe their contributions to
the field of sociology.
Answer: Answers will vary (see pages 25-27).
Conceptual
Moderate
Objective: Describe the defining features of Canadian sociology.
19. Define and discuss what McLuhan’s phrase “global village” refers to.
Answer: This phrase references the collapsing of space and time through
electronic media, which enable people to interact and experience life on a
global scale. McLuhan argues that technology has shrunk the globe to the size
of a village, to the extent that we perceive a closeness that transcends
traditional boundaries of time and space (page 26).
Conceptual
Moderate
Objective: Review the importance of a global perspective.
20. Define globalization and discuss how it relates to sociology.
Answer: Globalization is a worldwide process involving the production,
distribution, and consumption of technological, political, economic, and sociocultural goods and services (page 27). Answers will vary.
Applied
Challenging
Objective” Review the importance of a global perspective.
21. Explain the differences between quantitative and qualitative research.
Answer (page 17): Quantitative research focuses on measuring and is
positivistic in nature. Qualitative research focuses on experience—non
measurable behaviours—and is anti-positivistic in nature.
Conceptual
Moderate
A Heading: Three Revolutions: The Rise of Sociology
22. Discuss five social factors which influence who we become.
Answer (pages 7–11): Minority status (visible, mental, or physical disability,
gay lesbian, bi-sexual); gender (women disadvantaged); Socio-economic status
(ascribed vs. achieved status); family structure (married/divorced/single
parent/extended); urban-rural difference (live in small town vs. large city).
Applied
Moderate
A Heading: What Makes You, You?
23. Discuss C. Wright Mills’ importance to sociology.
Answer (pages 4–5): Need to appreciate how individual challenges are
influenced by larger social forces. Personal troubles/social issues/sociological
imagination.
Conceptual
Moderate
A Heading: The Sociological Perspective
24. The ability to see the general in the particular and the strange in the
familiar is said to be the cornerstone of the sociological perspective. What
does this mean and who coined this phrase?
Answer (pages 5–7): Peter Berger, an American sociologist, said that the
sociological imagination included the ability to see the world from two
distinct, yet complimentary, perspectives; seeing the general in the particular
and seeing the strange in the familiar.
Conceptual
Moderate
A Heading: The Sociological Perspective
25. According to the text, what inspired the rise of sociology?
Answer (pages 14–19): The three revolutions—scientific, political, industrial.
Factual
Easy
A Heading: Three Revolutions: The Rise of Sociology
26. Outline the differences between positivism and anti-positivism.
Answer (pages 16–17): Positivism is a theoretical approach that considers all
understanding to be based on science. There are three primary assumptions:
there exists an objective and knowable reality; since all sciences explore the
same, singular reality, over time all sciences will become more alike. There is
no room in science for value judgment. Anti-positivism is a theoretical
approach that considers knowledge and understanding to be the result of
human subjectivity. Anti-positivists challenge each positivist assumption
arguing the exact opposite.
Conceptual
Challenging
A Heading: Three Revolutions: The Rise of Sociology
27. Explain the differences between macro- and microsociology, and list which
theorists fall under the perspective categories.
Answer (pages 20–21): Attempting to understand society as a whole is
referred to as macrosociology whereas microsociology investigates individual
or small group dynamics. Macro: Marx and Durkheim. Micro: Mead, Cooley,
Blumer.
Conceptual
Easy
A Heading: Macro and Micro Approaches to Sociology
28. Discuss the four features that define Canadian sociology as different from
American sociology.
Answer (pages 22–25): Canada’s geography and regionalism: development
and maintenance of a community despite hostile elements and outside
political forces, unique linguistic and cultural influences of Quebec. Focus on
political economy; interest in the interactions of politics, government and
governing, and the social and cultural constitution of markets, institutions,
and actors. Canadianization movement, radical nature of Canadian sociology;
greater focus on macrosociology as well as feminism.
Factual
Moderate
A Heading: Sociology in Canada
29. When looking at sociology in a global context, why do the authors argue
that capitalism is an important aspect?
Answer (pages 27–28): We often see capitalism as the only possible economic
system. While capitalism has led to great wealth for some countries and for
some individuals, it has created greater poverty as well. Of the six billion
people on the planet, five billion live in poverty. The one billion who live in
developed countries control 80 percent of global resources.
Conceptual
Moderate
A Heading: Sociology in a Global Perspective.
30. What does the term global village mean?
Answer (page 27): Marshall McLuhan coined the term global village. The
global village describes how electronic media allows for the collapse of space
and time, and thus enables people everywhere to interact and experience life
on a global scale.
Conceptual
Moderate
A Heading: Sociology in a Global Perspective.
Essay Questions
1. Define the “sociological imagination” and discuss how this “quality of mind”
would apply to you as a university student.
Answer: The sociological imagination makes reference to the ability to
understand the dynamic relationship between individual lives and the larger
society. This “quality of mind” involves stepping outside of one’s own
immediate circumstances and utilizing a new perspective that broadly
contextualizes one’s life. This perspective requires one to move beyond the
individual level by seeing oneself as the product of family, income level, race,
and gender. As Mills discussed, when people understand themselves and
others through the sociological imagination, they appreciate that very few
things are black and white (pages 4-5).
Applied
Moderate
Objective: Describe, and provide personal reflections about, C.W. Mills’
concept of the sociological imagination.
2. Choose a social problem and explore it from a sociological perspective,
making reference to the ideas of C.W. Mills and Peter Berger. How has this
exploration impacted your initial views on the social problem? Explain Peter
Berger’s use of the terms general, particular, strange, and familiar.
Answer: Answers will vary (see pages 4–7).
Applied
Challenging
Objective: Describe, and provide personal reflections about, C.W. Mills’
concept of the sociological imagination; explain Peter Berger’s use of the
terms general, particular, strange, and familiar.
3. Choose three social factors that you believe have been most influential for
defining the person you have become. From a sociological perspective, discuss
how these social factors have had an influence on your life.
Answer: Answers will vary (see pages 7 – 12).
Applied
Challenging
Objective: Describe, and provide personal reflections about, C.W. Mills’
concept of the sociological imagination.
4.
Discuss some of the key features of Canadian sociology and some key
Canadian sociologists whose work embodies these features.
Answer: Essays will vary, but they should include some reference to the
following key dimensions that have shaped the development of Canadian
sociology: Canadian geography and regionalism (pages 22-23), the focus on
political economy, Canadianization, and radical perspectives (pages 24-25).
Strong essays will include some discussion of key Canadian sociologists,
including Carl Dewson, Harold Innis, Aileen Ross, Helel Abell, Kathleen
Herman, John Porter, and Ruth Rittenhouse Morris (pages 25-26).
Conceptual
Moderate
Objective: Describe the defining features of Canadian sociology.
5.
Peter Berger is an American Sociologist who defined the sociological
perspective as the ability to see the world from two distinct and
complimentary perspectives—seeing the general in the particular and the
strange in the familiar. Apply your sociological imagination to any event of
your choosing; it could be a sporting event, preparing dinner, attending class,
or any other activity which you carry out. Write a few paragraphs describing
your chosen event. At the end of your ‘seeing the strange in the familiar’
ensure that you include a description of the event in familiar language.
Answers will vary. Students can refer to page 5 of the textbook.
Applied
Challenging
A Heading: The Sociological Perspective
6.
Discuss the sociological perspective and the relationship between social
forces and personal social identity.
Answer (pages 4–11): The sociological perspective is the view that society is
based on the dynamic relationships between individuals and the larger social
networks in which we live. It can be illustrated by Charles Wright Mills’
discussion of sociological imagination, personal troubles, and social issues, as
well as Peter Berger’s defining features of the sociological perspective (seeing
the strange in the familiar and the general in the particular). There is an
understanding that individuals have agency, but there are social factors which
help to shape us. Should include discussion of gender, family structure,
minority status, socio-economic status, and urban-rural differences.
Applied/Conceptual
Challenging
A Heading: The Sociological Perspective and What Makes You, You?