All Free Sociology MCQs with Answers

• A. merging of work and private lives
• B. job security
• C. all of the above
• D. group-oriented production

Explanation: Japanese-style management is commonly associated with job security, group-oriented production and a close integration of organisational…

• A. Michel Foucault
• B. Robert Michels
• C. Zygmunt Bauman
• D. Paul Gay

Explanation: Paul du Gay emphasizes that bureaucracy can provide equal and impartial treatment by applying general rules to each case rather than…

• A. people know they should be guaranteed fair and consistent treatment
• B. the rules could be upheld at all cost even in the face of a better solution
• C. adherence to the rules takes precedence over organizational goals
• D. workers are not encouraged to be flexible in making decisions

Explanation: Fair and consistent treatment is a potential strength of bureaucracy, not a dysfunction.

• A. the chaos of informal organizations
• B. the developing power of officials
• C. the compulsion to work in offices
• D. politicians abuse of power and influence

Explanation: De Gournay used the idea of bureaucratic illness to criticize the growing power and influence of officials.

• A. is compatible with private sector values and ensures that politicians goals can be met even against opposition
• B. ensures administrative responsibility for the public interest and includes impartial and equal treatment for all
• C. ensures that politicians goals can be met even against opposition and ensures administrative responsibility for the public interest
• D. is compatible with private sector values and includes impartial and equal treatment for all

Explanation: Du Gay's defence presents bureaucracy as compatible with private-sector organization and values impartial, equal treatment.

• A. 5,164
• B. 8,898
• C. 51,509
• D. 123,305

Explanation: The number of international non-governmental organizations increased dramatically, reaching about 51,509 by 2006.

• A. Max Weber
• B. Robert Michel's
• C. Michel Foucault
• D. Zygmunt Bauman

Explanation: Robert Michels formulated the iron law of oligarchy, arguing that even democratic organizations tend to develop leadership elites.

• A. classical theory
• B. scientific management approach
• C. both A and B
• D. human relations approach

Explanation: Union pressure helped challenge the view of workers as mere objects in classical and scientific-management theories.

• A. the Pan-Arab League
• B. the League of Nations
• C. the Football League
• D. the Hanseatic League

Explanation: The Hanseatic League was a medieval commercial and political association linking cities and merchants across northern Europe, preceding…

• A. institutional capitalism
• B. managerial capitalism
• C. welfare capitalism
• D. family capitalism

Explanation: Institutional capitalism is associated with interconnected organizations, corporations, and business leaders forming a consolidated system…

• A. that the rules were written down a long time in the past
• B. that the rules have little actual substance in reality
• C. that the rules never in fact existed in the first place
• D. that rules are a hindrance in large organization

Explanation: Meyer and Rowan argued that formal rational rules can function as institutional myths: organizations adopt them to appear legitimate even…

• A. polycentric
• B. ethnocentric
• C. heliocentric
• D. geocentric

Explanation: Perlmutter identified ethnocentric, polycentric, and geocentric orientations for multinational corporations.

• A. a prison
• B. an army barracks
• C. an asylum
• D. a school

Explanation: Bentham’s Panopticon was a prison design in which a central observer could potentially watch inmates in surrounding cells.

• A. social control
• B. social stratification
• C. social conflict
• D. social solidarity

Explanation: Social stratification refers to the layered arrangement of people or groups in a society, while movement between these layers is called…

• A. it has more millionaires than any other city
• B. it has been hardened against the poor
• C. it has been hardened against than any other US city
• D. it has a policy of promoting opportunity for all

Explanation: In City of Quartz, Mike Davis used the image of a hardened city to describe Los Angeles as increasingly fortified against poor and…

• A. Whites
• B. Indians
• C. Black Caribbean's
• D. Bangladeshis

Explanation: Bangladeshi households have historically recorded the highest poverty rates among these ethnic groups in UK income data.

• A. they lead more people to be defined as in poverty
• B. the mean is distorted by a few people at the very top of the distribution
• C. the median is a more accurate measurement of earnings than the mean
• D. all of the above

Explanation: A few very high earners can pull the mean upward, making it a poor representation of the typical household.

• A. Bangladesh
• B. Mozambique
• C. China
• D. Pakistan

Explanation: China had a smaller share living below one dollar a day than Bangladesh, Mozambique, or Pakistan in the period reflected by these…

• A. the subjective nature of such indices means it is difficult to make comparisons between different studies and time periods
• B. there is an arbitrary nature to how items are selected for a deprivation index
• C. it may be choice not poverty that means some people do not qualify for some of the items on a deprivation index
• D. the personal experience of poverty is not the concern of sociologists

Explanation: The personal experience of poverty is relevant to sociological analysis, so saying it is not a concern is not a valid criticism.

• A. to be killed in road accident
• B. to have a diet consisting primarily of vegetables
• C. to live in male-headed households
• D. none of the above

Explanation: Poverty is associated with greater exposure to dangerous housing, roads, and transport conditions, increasing children's risk of fatal…