Understanding the Social World MCQs

Understanding the Social World MCQs

Answer these 40+ Understanding the Social World MCQs and assess your grip on the subject of Understanding the Social World. Scroll below and get started!

1: The ______ theory asserts that individuals are fundamentally concerned with self-interests and make decisions based on the projected costs or benefit outcomes of their actions.

A.   Verstehen

B.   Rational choice

C.   Conflict

D.   Interaction

2: Before the 19th century, the philosophers who studied social life did so purely objectively.

A.   True

B.   False

3: “Why do you like children?” is an example of an open-ended question.

A.   True

B.   False

4: The statement “Certain types of people use online dating services” is a ______.

A.   Theory

B.   Fact

C.   Method

D.   Empirical test

5: Tom is researching the effect that pet ownership has on physical health. In Tom’s study, “pet ownership” is the dependent variable and “physical health” is the independent variable.

A.   True

B.   False

6: Moving from general theories to specific hypotheses is known as deductive reasoning.

A.   True

B.   False

7: The statement “there is life after death” can be studied scientifically.

A.   True

B.   False

8: Ting wants to examine some of the messages targeted at women during World War II. He plans to do this by analyzing magazine advertisements from the 1940s. What is Ting’s proposed research method?

A.   Triangulation

B.   Secondary analysis

C.   Ethnography

D.   Content analysis

9: What are the two types of survey methodology?

A.   Interview and ethnography

B.   Existing sources and field work

C.   Interview and questionnaire

D.   Questionnaire and ethnography

10: Which sociological perspective focuses on the interconnectedness of social units?

A.   Structural Functionalist

B.   Symbolic Interaction

C.   Conflict

D.   Intersectionality

11: Which of the following statements best describes theoretical perspectives?

A.   They are normally micro level

B.   They help guide sociologists’ research

C.   They are overseen by human subjects boards

D.   They are normally macro level

12: _____ Relationships in which one variable stimulates a change in another

A.   Content

B.   Control

C.   Conflict

D.   Cause and effect

13: ____ Theory that contends that conflict is inevitable in any group or society

A.   Content

B.   Control

C.   Conflict

D.   Cause and effect

14: ____ Analysis that entails the systematic categorizing and recording of information from written or recorded sources—printed materials, videos, radio broadcasts, or artworks

A.   Content

B.   Control

C.   Conflict

D.   Cause and effect

15: ____ group in which the subjects are not exposed to the variable the researcher wants to test

A.   Content

B.   Control

C.   Conflict

D.   Cause and effect

16: A relationship between variables with change in one variable associated with change in another is called

A.   Correlation

B.   Coefficient

C.   Statistics

D.   All of these

17: ____ variable in a cause-and-effect relationship that is affected by and comes after the independent variable in time sequence

A.   Dependent

B.   Independent

C.   Constant

D.   Zero

18: Actions that undermine the stability or equilibrium of society is called

A.   Function

B.   Dysfunction

C.   Stability

D.   All of these

19: ____ Knowledge founded on information gained from evidence (facts), rather than intuition

A.   Molecular

B.   Empirical

C.   Proper

D.   All of these

20: Facts and observations that can be objectively observed and carefully measured using the five senses (sometimes enhanced by scientific instruments) is called

A.   Law

B.   Experiment

C.   Evidence

D.   Theory

21: ____ Groups in which subjects are exposed to the variable being studied; this process is to test the effects of that variable on human behavior

A.   Law

B.   Experiment

C.   Evidence

D.   Theory

22: Procedures in which all variables except the one being studied are controlled so researchers can study the effects on the variable under study is called

A.   Experiments

B.   Law

C.   Theory

D.   Research

23: ____ Theory that critiques the hierarchical power structures that disadvantage women and other minorities

A.   Feminist

B.   Relatable

C.   Irreversible

D.   Reversible

24: Consequences of an action or behavior is called

A.   Interviews

B.   Hypothesis

C.   Functions

D.   Experiments

25: An educated guess or prediction is called

A.   Interviews

B.   Hypothesis

C.   Functions

D.   Experiments

26: _____ variable in a cause-and-effect relationship that comes first in a time sequence and causes a change in another variable

A.   Independent

B.   Dependent

C.   Constant

D.   All of these

27: Research conducted by talking directly with people and asking questions in person or by telephone is called

A.   Interviews

B.   Hypothesis

C.   Functions

D.   Experiments

28: Unplanned or unintended consequences of actions or of social structures is ____ functions

A.   Latent

B.   Manifest

C.   Positive

D.   Negative

29: The planned outcomes of interactions, social organizations, or institutions is ____ functions

A.   Latent

B.   Manifest

C.   Positive

D.   Negative

30: Property, machinery, and other means of creating saleable goods or services is means of production

A.   True

B.   False

31: The quality of taking steps to ensure that one’s personal opinions or values do not bias or contaminate data collection and analysis is called ____

A.   Objectivity

B.   Subjectivity

C.   Negativity

D.   All of these

32: Observational Studies that involve systematic, planned observation and recording of interactions and other human behavior in natural settings (where the activity normally takes place, rather than in a laboratory)

A.   True

B.   False

33: ____ Sociologists who strive to better understand how society operates and to make practical use of their sociological findings

A.   Public

B.   Individual

C.   Positive

D.   Negative

34: A set of questions and other types of items designed to solicit information appropriate to analysis of research questions is called

A.   Questionnaires

B.   Rationality

C.   Sample

D.   All of these

35: Rational choice theory that focuses on humans as fundamentally concerned with self-interests, making rational decisions based on weighing costs and rewards of the projected outcome

A.   True

B.   False

36: The attempt to reach maximum efficiency with rules that are rationally designed to accomplish goals is called

A.   Questionnaires

B.   Rationality

C.   Sample

D.   All of these

37: A group of systematically chosen people who represent a much larger group to study is called

A.   Questionnaires

B.   Rationality

C.   Sample

D.   All of these

38: Secondary analysis that uses existing data, information that has already been collected in other studies—including data banks, such as the national census

A.   True

B.   False

A.   Spurious

B.   Positive

C.   Negative

D.   Pure

40: Structural functional Theory that assumes that all parts of the social structure (groups, organizations, and institutions), the culture (values and beliefs), and social processes

A.   True

B.   False

41: _____ interaction Theory that sees humans as active agents who create shared meanings of symbols and events and then interact on the basis of those meanings

A.   Symbolic

B.   Metabolic

C.   Parabolic

D.   All of these

42: An object or an action that represents something else and therefore has meaning beyond its own existence (e.g., flags and wedding rings) is called

A.   Theories

B.   Symbols

C.   Triangulation

D.   None of these

43: Theoretical perspective is basic view of society that guides sociologists’ research and analysis. Theoretical perspectives are the broadest theories in sociology, providing overall approaches to understanding the social world and social problems

A.   True

B.   False

A.   Theories

B.   Symbols

C.   Triangulation

D.   None of these

45: The use of two or more methods of data collection to enhance the amount and type of data for analysis and the accuracy of the findings is called

A.   Theories

B.   Symbols

C.   Triangulation

D.   None of these

46: Concepts (ideas) that can vary in frequency of occurrence from one time, place, or person to another is called

A.   Variables

B.   Coefficient

C.   Correlation

D.   Research

A.   True

B.   False