Sociology Review Practice Exam
Questions Correctly Answered.
Conventional (street) crimes include burglary, motor vehicle theft, larceny-theft, and arson. - CORRECT
ANSWER False
__________ crimes include burglary (breaking into private property to commit a serious crime), motor
vehicle theft, larceny-theft (theft of property worth $50 or more), and arson. - CORRECT ANSWER
Property
One of the most important characteristics of systems of stratification is their degree of flexibility. In an
open system of stratification: - CORRECT ANSWER people's positions are influenced by achieved statuses
Incapacitation is punishment that a person receives for infringing on the rights of others. It imposes a
penalty on the offender and is based on the premise that the punishment should fit the crime. The
greater the degree of social harm, the more the offender should be punished. - CORRECT ANSWER False
__________ seeks to return offenders to the community as law-abiding citizens by providing therapy or
vocational or educational training. Based on this approach, offenders are treated, not punished, so that
they will not continue their criminal activity. - CORRECT ANSWER Rehabilitation
__________ is the ability of people or groups to achieve their goals despite opposition from others. -
CORRECT ANSWER Power
Sociologist Max Weber placed categories of people who have a similar level of wealth and income in the
same class. He identified a class of __________—wealthy individuals who live off their investments and
do not have to work. - CORRECT ANSWER rentiers
__________ poverty exists when people may be able to afford basic necessities but are still unable to
maintain an average standard of living. - CORRECT ANSWER Relative
A __________ is a behavior that violates criminal law and is punishable with fines, jail terms, and/or
other negative sanctions. - CORRECT ANSWER crime
,The U.S. Social Security Administration has established an official poverty line. The poverty line is
computed by: - CORRECT ANSWER determining the cost of a minimally nutritious diet (short-term) and
multiplying this figure by three to allow for nonfood costs
A person shoplifts an item of clothing from a department store and is apprehended and labeled as a
"thief." The person subsequently accepts the label, and continues to shoplift items from other stores on
numerous occasions. This example illustrates the tertiary deviance stage of the labeling theory. -
CORRECT ANSWER False
According to the sociologist Erik Wright's Marxian model, the __________ is made up of a number of
subgroups, one of which is blue-collar workers, some of whom are highly skilled and well paid and
others of who are unskilled and poorly paid. - CORRECT ANSWER working class
A few studies provide insight into the social interactions between people from vastly divergent class
locations. Sociologist Judith Rollins's (1985) study of the relationship between household workers and
their employers is one example. Based on in-depth interviews and participant observation, Rollins
examined rituals of deference that were often demanded by elite white women of their domestic
workers, who were frequently women of color. - CORRECT ANSWER True
The __________ system is an extreme form of stratification in which some people are owned by others.
It is a closed system in which people are treated as property and have little or no control over their lives.
- CORRECT ANSWER slavery
Typically sociologists and criminologists define a __________ as a group of people, usually young, who
band together for purposes generally considered to be deviant or criminal by the larger society. -
CORRECT ANSWER gang
According to the conflict perspective, the poor commit street crimes in order to survive; they find that
they cannot afford the essentials such as food, clothing, shelter, and health care. Thus, some crime
represents a rational response by the poor to the unequal distribution of resources in society. -
CORRECT ANSWER True
In 2008, the top one percent of households in the United States received income of more than 1.3
million per year, and the bottom 20 percent earned an average of: - CORRECT ANSWER $17,700
, __________ is the systematic study of crime and the criminal justice system, including the police, courts,
and prison. - CORRECT ANSWER Criminology
Most Americans view themselves as __________ class. - CORRECT ANSWER middle
According to Forbes magazine's 2010 list of the richest people in the world, Bill Gates (co-founder of
Microsoft Corporation) was the second wealthiest with a fortune of nearly $53 billion. According to the
sociologist Erik Wright's Marxian model, Bill Gates would be in the __________ class. - CORRECT
ANSWER capitalist
An estimated 30 percent of the U.S. population is in the working class. The core of this class is made up
of semiskilled machine operators who work in factories and elsewhere. - CORRECT ANSWER True
When sociologists define poverty, they define absolute poverty as a state that exists when people may
be able to afford basic necessities but are still unable to maintain an average standard of living. -
CORRECT ANSWER False
Sociologist Max Weber placed categories of people who have a similar level of wealth and income in the
same class. He identified a privileged commercial class of __________—wealthy bankers, ship owners,
professionals, and merchants who possess similar financial resources. - CORRECT ANSWER
entrepreneurs
The National Crime Victimization Survey (NCVS) was developed by the Bureau of Justice Statistics as an
alternate means of collecting crime statistics. The most recent (NCVS) indicates that __________
percent of all violent crimes are not reported to the police. - CORRECT ANSWER 50
Members of __________ seek to acquire a "rep" (reputation) by fighting over "turf" (territory) and
adopting a value system of toughness, courage, and similar qualities. - CORRECT ANSWER conflict gangs
__________ theorists view education as the "elevator" to social mobility. Improvements in the
educational achievement levels (measured in number of years of schooling completed) of the poor,
people of color, and white women have been cited as evidence that students' abilities are now more
important than their class, race, or gender. - CORRECT ANSWER Functionalist
