Sample Questions: Introductory Sociology

The following Introductory Sociology sample questions aren't used in actual CLEP exams and aren’t presented here as they will be on the test. Use them to get a sense of question format and difficulty level.

Directions

Each of the questions or incomplete statements below is followed by five suggested answers or completions. Select the one that is best in each case.

Questions

1. Which of the following religious organizations seeks to maintain exclusiveness, claims to represent the true faith, and is most likely to have split off from a larger religious group?
   1. Cult
   2. Sect
   3. Church
   4. Denomination
   5. Ecclesia
2. Which of the following concepts involves a consensus of opinion, or group conformity, by taking a narrow view of an issue?
   1. Groupthink
   2. Resocialization
   3. Institutionalization
   4. Mass hysteria
   5. Resource mobilization
3. Which of the following groups have the lowest intermarriage rates in the United States?
   1. American Indians and Whites
   2. Latinos and Whites
   3. Asian Americans and Whites
   4. African Americans and Whites
   5. Jewish Whites and Protestant Whites
4. Marguerite recently moved to the United States from Spain for better economic opportunity. Her move is an example of which of the following processes?
   1. Forced migration
   2. Internal migration
   3. Step migration
   4. Selective immigration
   5. Voluntary migration
5. Which of the following is true of a random sample?
   1. It provides every member of the population with an equal chance of being selected.
   2. It is biased, and therefore cannot be used to make generalizations about a population.
   3. It is mostly used when the research assumes multiple causation.
   4. It is mostly used in qualitative research.
   5. It is a census list of all households.
6. With which of the following statements would a sociologist adhering to the disengagement theory most likely disagree?
   1. It is less disruptive to society when older people live beyond retirement age.
   2. When older people retire, it creates opportunities for younger people.
   3. When workers retire, it means a loss of experienced labor for businesses.
   4. Mandatory retirement is beneficial because older workers tend to experience a decline in physical abilities that can negatively affect work performance.
   5. Retirement improves morale and happiness.
7. In the United States, which family members are primarily responsible for what is known as the second shift?
   1. Fathers only
   2. Mothers only
   3. Both fathers and mothers
   4. Children
   5. Grandparents
8. Maria woke up with a fever. She called in sick to work, took medicine, and spent the rest of the day in bed. Maria’s actions are most representative of
   1. a sick role
   2. a role strain
   3. a role conflict
   4. medicalization
   5. socialized medicine
9. Cutting in a line at a store, using the wrong eating utensil at a formal dinner, or failing to hold a door open for another nearby pedestrian are all violations of
   1. mores
   2. socialization
   3. laws
   4. anomie
   5. folkways
10. Online communities were created before the rules for appropriate behavior in these virtual spaces were created. This is an example of
    1. technology
    2. cultural lag
    3. culture shock
    4. ethnocentrism
    5. socialization

Answers

1) B   2) A   3) D   4) E   5) A   6) C   7) B   8) A   9) E   10) B