Quiz for Chapter One
Multiple Choice Questions
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1. If knowledge consists of claims that are socially constructed, how can sociologists produce knowledge?
a) Sociologists are not concerned with the truth or falsity of knowledge claims.
b) Sociologists look for diverse ways of understanding shared meanings.
c) Sociologists adopt a neutral point of view free of personal biases.
d) Sociologists abandon scientific methods, preferring subjectivity to objectivity.
Answer: B (Page 13)
2. The sociological perspective allows us to think critically about society. Which of the following separates critical thinkers from taken-for-granted thinkers?
a) Critical thinkers rigorously investigate universal measures of truth.
b) Critical thinkers adopt a position of radical individualism.
c) Critical thinkers recognize that knowledge is contextual.
d) Critical thinkers are fundamentally moral absolutists.
Answer: C (Page 13)
3. Which of the following best exemplifies how sociology is both conservative and radical?
a) Sociologists employ scientific methods to address social problems.
b) Sociologists draw from classical traditions of social change and popular action.
c) Sociologists manipulate conservative epistemologies to alter the social landscape.
d) Sociologists defend progressive action while relying on well-established research traditions.
Answer: A (Page 5)
True or False Questions
1. Habitualized activity contradicts sociological views of institutionalization.
Answer: False (Page 8)
2. Sociological research indicates that while individualism is socially constructed, it is universally understood as natural.
Answer: False (Page 14)
3. C. Wright Mills argued that sociology should not be detached from daily experience.
Answer: True (Page 11)
Fill in the Blank Questions
1. Husserl's term for the ________ of meanings is the 'lifeworld'.
Answer: communal system (Page 13)
2. According to Mills, the sociological imagination is useful in times of great ________.
Answer: social disruption (Page 11)
3. The taken-for-granted view of science is that it is the best way to gain ________ knowledge about the world around us.
Answer: objective (Page 12)
Short Answer Questions
1. What is the social construction of reality?
Answer: The social construction of reality is a concept that indicates that the different ways we understand reality are shaped by the society in which we live and our socially-mediated experiences.
2. Why is habitualization the groundwork for institutionalization?
Answer: Habitualization is the groundwork for institutionalization because once human patterns of behaviour are adopted across social groups, they take on an objective status and establish predefined patterns of conduct.
3. How can the sociological perspective be disturbing?
Answer: The sociological perspective can be disturbing because it has the potential to challenge the foundational traditions and values of a given society or culture.