Test Bank for Medical Sociology, 15e William
Cockerham (All Chapters)
Chapter 1
Medical Sociology
Multiple Choice Questions
1. Which is NOT a major area of investigation in medical sociology?
a. Social facets of health and disease.
b. Social behavior of health care personnel and their patients.
c. Social functions of health organizations and institutions.
d. The relationship of health care delivery systems to other systems.
e. All of the above answers are major areas of investigation in medical sociology.
Answer: E Page: 4
2. Medical sociology is an important area of study because:
a. It promotes the role biology plays in social life.
b. It represents a departure from the theory-heavy discipline of general sociology.
c. It recognizes the role that social factors play in determining or influencing health.
d. It is the result of a merger between medicine and sociology.
e. None of the above.
Answer: C Page: 4
3. What influences how societies organize their resources to cope with health hazards and
deliver health care to the population at large?
a. Climate
b. Available money
c. Neighboring countries’ health care systems
d. Social, cultural, economic, and political factors
e. Uniqueness of medical education
Answer: D Page: 5
4. Medical sociology, as a subdiscipline, began gaining strength:
a. It was always part of sociology as a major focus of classical sociologists.
b. When Max Weber published his work on suicide in the late nineteenth century.
c. After World War II with the infusion of large amounts of federal funding for
research.
d. Only in the last two decades when major worldwide health crises highlighted the
need for it.
1
Information Classification: General
, e. It never has been a major part of sociology and exists only as a small part of the
medical field.
Answer: C Page: 6
5. Which circumstance(s) particularly affected the development of medical sociology in its
early stages?
a. Pressure to produce work that could be applied to medical practice and health
policy.
b. Rich development of theories unique to medical sociology by academic
sociologists.
c. Lack of attention on the role of medicine and health from classical theorists.
d. A and B
e. A and C
Answer: E Page: 6-7
6. Why did sociology’s founders overlook medicine?
a. Medicine was unorganized at the time.
b. Medicine lacked any professionalization to study.
c. Medicine was too secretive to study
d. Medicine blocked sociologists from studying the discipline.
e. Medicine did not shape the structure and nature of society.
Answer: E Page: 7
7. The scholar who first provided a major theoretical approach for medical sociology was:
a. Durkheim.
b. Parsons.
c. Weber.
d. Mead.
e. Goffman.
Answer: B Page: 8
8. What important event occurred in 1951 that began to reorient American medical
sociology toward the use of theory?
a. The Vietnam War.
b. The publication of Parsons’s The Social System.
c. The increase in chronic diseases.
d. The growth of universities.
e. The political swing towards a more conservative era.
Answer: B Page: 8
2
Information Classification: General
, 9. Talcott Parsons’s book The Social System contained which concept important for medical
sociology?
a. Micro theory.
b. Medicalization.
c. Patient power.
d. Culture.
e. Sick role.
Answer: E Page: 8
10. In the case of the sick role, illness is seen as __________, and its undesirable nature
reinforces the motivation to be healthy.
a. Deviance.
b. Normal.
c. Biological.
d. Social.
e. A stimulus.
Answer: A Page: 8
11. In developing his concept of the sick role, Parsons linked his ideas to which two classical
theorists?
a. Marx and Goffman.
b. Weber and Marx.
c. Marx and Engels.
d. Durkheim and Weber.
e. Durkheim and Goffman.
Answer: D Page: 8
12. What is NOT a task of a sociologist in medicine?
a. Analyze the social etiology or causes of health disorders
b. Study the differences in social attitudes as they relate to health
c. Understand the way in which the incidence and prevalence of a specific health
disorder is related to social variables.
d. Develop theory that assists in understanding social issues related to health.
e. All of these are tasks of a sociologist in medicine.
Answer: D Page: 10
13. Most sociologists of medicine are employed as:
a. Biostatisticians.
b. Hospital workers.
c. Professors at universities.
d. Researchers in governmental agencies.
e. Independent contractors.
3
Information Classification: General
, Answer: C Page: 10
14. What trend(s) reduced tensions between sociologists in medicine and sociologists of
medicine?
a. Most government funding is awarded to research with practical application.
b. Medical sociology itself is converging with general sociology.
c. Sociology of medicine became the more dominant side of medical sociology.
d. A and B
e. B and C
Answer: D Page: 11
15. What encourages medical sociologists working in health care and in academic settings to
conduct research that deals with topics that have practical utility?
a. The willingness of government agencies and private foundations to only fund
health-related research that can help solve problems or improve health conditions.
b. The influence of economic structures like capitalism on health care and academic
settings.
c. The need to develop new approaches to population-wide health disparities that
can generate profit for health care and academic settings.
d. The lack of interest in creating theoretical models to explain the health needs of a
population.
e. The pressure to abandon theoretical explanations of health and illness in the face
of COVID-19.
Answer: A Page: 11
16. What is the social psychology of health and illness concerned with studying?
a. The influence of social psychological processes on the distribution of health and
disease
b. The impact of the health care delivery system on social psychological processes
c. The social psychological outcomes of health-related behaviors
d. The social psychological processes that explain or modify health and health-
related behaviors
e. The influence of social psychological process in the education of health
professionals
Answer: D Page: 11
17. The World Health Organization defines health as:
a. Normality.
b. The absence of disease.
c. Ability to function.
d. A state of complete physical, mental, and social well-being
e. All of the above.
4
Information Classification: General
The benefits of buying summaries with Stuvia:
Guaranteed quality through customer reviews
Stuvia customers have reviewed more than 700,000 summaries. This how you know that you are buying the best documents.
Quick and easy check-out
You can quickly pay through credit card or Stuvia-credit for the summaries. There is no membership needed.
Focus on what matters
Your fellow students write the study notes themselves, which is why the documents are always reliable and up-to-date. This ensures you quickly get to the core!
Frequently asked questions
What do I get when I buy this document?
You get a PDF, available immediately after your purchase. The purchased document is accessible anytime, anywhere and indefinitely through your profile.
Satisfaction guarantee: how does it work?
Our satisfaction guarantee ensures that you always find a study document that suits you well. You fill out a form, and our customer service team takes care of the rest.
Who am I buying these notes from?
Stuvia is a marketplace, so you are not buying this document from us, but from seller AcademiContent. Stuvia facilitates payment to the seller.
Will I be stuck with a subscription?
No, you only buy these notes for $33.58. You're not tied to anything after your purchase.