All Free Sociology MCQs with Answers
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1258 questions · page 28 of 126
271. Which of the following conducted observation research on two groups of high school males-the Saints and the Roughnecks-and concluded that social class played an important role in the varying fortunes of the two groups ?
- A. Richard Quincy
- B. Edwin Sutherland
- C. Emile Durkheim
- D. William Chambliss
Explanation: William Chambliss studied the Saints and the Roughnecks and showed that social class influenced how their behaviour was interpreted and controlled. The more affluent group benefited from more favourable treatment despite similar delinquent activities.
Correct answer: William Chambliss272. Domestic violence is physical abuse by one family member against another which two of the following are most likely to be victims of such abuse ?
- A. female partners/spouses and older relatives
- B. male partners/spouses and children
- C. female partners/spouses and children
- D. older relatives and children
Explanation: Women in intimate partnerships and children are among the groups most commonly exposed to domestic abuse because the violence occurs within unequal family and household relationships. Older relatives can also be victims, but they are not the best pairing here.
Correct answer: female partners/spouses and children273. White-collar and corporate crimes______________?
- A. are committed by relatively affluent people often in the course of business activities
- B. are not very costly compared to the dollar cost of other crimes
- C. are crimes the average person is less likely to experience than street crime
- D. usually result in severe punishment for those who are caught
Explanation: White-collar and corporate crimes are typically committed by relatively privileged people while performing occupational or business activities. They can cause very large financial losses, and offenders do not necessarily receive severe punishment.
Correct answer: are committed by relatively affluent people often in the course of business activities274. Labeling theorists________________?
- A. focus on why individuals engage in deviant behavior
- B. contend that some acts such as rape are inherently criminal
- C. contend that labeling people as deviant has no effect on their behavior
- D. contend that in many cases those labeled deviant identity and pursue a career of deviance
Explanation: Labeling theory argues that being publicly defined as deviant can shape a person's self-image and later conduct, sometimes producing a deviant career. It focuses on the social reaction to deviance rather than treating deviance as an inherent quality of an act.
Correct answer: contend that in many cases those labeled deviant identity and pursue a career of deviance275. In order for a deviant act to be considered a crime______________?
- A. the state must undertake a political process of criminalizing it
- B. it must be committed by someone labelled a criminal
- C. it must involve the violation of a person or property
- D. the majority of the population must consider the act criminal
Explanation: An act becomes a crime through legal criminalisation by the state, not merely because most people dislike it or because it harms a person or property. This distinction separates crime from broader forms of deviance.
Correct answer: the state must undertake a political process of criminalizing it276. Fred is a intelligent student Last year he was on the honor roll This year he began hanging out with friends who spend more time playing video games than studying they routinely earn C, s and D, s Over time Fred slowly stops doing his homework and turning in work for extra credit. He drops out of his honors classes and his grades drop out from mostly A, s to C, s Which theory of deviance best explains what has happened here ?
- A. structural strain theory
- B. social control theory
- C. differential association theory
- D. Each of these theories explains the situation equally well
Explanation: Differential association theory explains Fred's change through sustained association with peers who model and reward attitudes favouring leisure over study. Social control theory could explain weakened commitment, but the peer-learning pattern most directly indicates differential association.
Correct answer: differential association theory277. The social condition in which people find it difficult to guide their behavior by norms they experience as weak unclear or conflicting is called______________?
- A. social disorganization
- B. anomie
- C. deviance
- D. none of the above
Explanation: Anomie is a condition in which norms lose their clarity or strength, leaving people without reliable guidance for behaviour. Durkheim linked this normlessness to rapid social change and increased deviance.
Correct answer: anomie278. Functionalists view social control as_______________?
- A. operating to favor powerful groups at the expense of others
- B. an indispensable functional requirement for social survival
- C. a source of social chaos
- D. both b and c
Explanation: Functionalists see social control as necessary for maintaining conformity, order and cooperation, making it an indispensable condition of social survival. The claim that it mainly serves powerful groups belongs to conflict theory.
Correct answer: an indispensable functional requirement for social survival279. Deviance is dysfunctional in that it_______________?
- A. can impair and undermine organized social life
- B. increases our willingness to play our roles
- C. increases our willingness to contribute to the larger social enterprise
- D. enhances our trust of one another
Explanation: Deviance is dysfunctional when it disrupts shared expectations and weakens the orderly coordination of social life. The other options describe effects associated with conformity or social integration, not deviance.
Correct answer: can impair and undermine organized social life280. The essential function of punishment in society is_______________?
- A. reform
- B. revenge
- C. affirmation of moral standards
- D. None of these
Explanation: From a Durkheimian perspective, punishment publicly reaffirms the society's moral boundaries and shared standards. Reform may be a modern aim of punishment, but it is not its essential sociological function in this view.
Correct answer: affirmation of moral standards