Test your basic knowledge |

CLEP Sociology

Subjects : clep, humanities
Instructions:
  • Answer 50 questions in 15 minutes.
  • If you are not ready to take this test, you can study here.
  • Match each statement with the correct term.
  • Don't refresh. All questions and answers are randomly picked and ordered every time you load a test.

This is a study tool. The 3 wrong answers for each question are randomly chosen from answers to other questions. So, you might find at times the answers obvious, but you will see it re-enforces your understanding as you take the test each time.
1. The tendency of workers in a bureaucracy to become so specialized that they develop blind spots and fail to notice obvious problems.






2. The study of the physical features of nature and the ways in which they interact and change.






3. The social institution that relies on a recognized set of procedures for implementing and achieving the goals of a group.






4. Japanese born in the United States who were descendants of the Issei.






5. Difficulties that occur when incompatible expectations arise from two or more social positions held by the same person.






6. Penalties and rewards for conduct concerning a social norm.






7. A principle of organizational life - originated by Laurence J. Peter - according to which each individual within a hierarchy tends to rise to his or her level of incompetence.






8. A legal strategy based on claims that racial minorities are subjected disproportionately to environmental hazards.






9. Behavior that occurs when work benefits are made contingent on sexual favors (as a 'quid pro quo') or when touching - lewd comments - or appearance of pornographic material creates a 'hostile environment' in the workplace.






10. The feeling or perception of being in direct contact with the ultimate reality - such as a divine being - or of being overcome with religious emotion.






11. Expectations regarding the proper behavior - attitudes - and activities of males and females.






12. Elements beyond everyday life that inspire awe - respect - and even fear.






13. A social structure that derives its existence from the social interactions through which people define and redefine its character.






14. A set of people related by blood - marriage (or some other agreed-upon relationship) - or adoption who share the primary responsibility for reproduction and caring for members of society.






15. A term used by Ferdinand Tonnies to describe communities - often urban - that are large and impersonal with little commitment to the group or consensus on values.






16. Subjects in an experiment who are not introduced to the independent variable by the researcher.






17. Any group that individuals use as a standard in evaluating themselves and their own behavior.






18. A term used by George Herbert Mead to refer to the child's awareness of the attitudes - viewpoints - and expectations of society as a whole that a child takes into account in his or her behavior.






19. The act of physically separating two groups; often imposed on a minority group by a dominant group.






20. Compliance with higher authorities in a hierarchical structure.






21. An inclusive term encompassing all of a person's material assets - including land and other types of property.






22. A measurable trait or characteristic that is subject to change under different conditions.






23. Another name for the classical theory of formal organizations.






24. The impact that a teacher's expectations about a student's performance may have on the student's actual achievements.






25. A formal - impersonal group in which there is little social intimacy or mutual understanding.






26. A study - generally in the form of interviews or questionnaires - that provides sociologists and other researchers with information concerning how people think and act.






27. An increase in the lowest level of education required to enter a field.






28. The requirement that people select mates outside certain groups.






29. The former policy of the South African government designed to maintain the separation of Blacks and other non-Whites from the dominant Whites.






30. Social control carried out by people casually through such means as laughter - smiles - and ridicule.






31. The physical or technological aspects of our daily lives.






32. Societal expectations about the attitudes and behavior of a person viewed as being ill.






33. An abstract system of word meanings and symbols for all aspects of culture. It also includes gestures and other nonverbal communication.






34. An approach to deviance that attempts to explain why certain people are viewed as deviants while others engaging in the same behavior are not.






35. Talcott Parsons's functionalist view of society as tending toward a state of stability or balance.






36. The average number of children born alive to a woman - assuming that she conforms to current fertility rates.






37. Governmental social control.






38. Print and electronic instruments of communication that carry messages to often widespread audiences.






39. A term used to describe the change from high birthrates and death rates to relatively low birthrates and death rates.






40. The prohibition of sexual relationships between certain culturally specified relatives.






41. The body of knowledge obtained by methods based upon systematic observation.






42. The deliberate - systematic killing of an entire people or nation.






43. The ways in which people respond to one another.






44. A negative attitude toward an entire category of people - such as a racial or ethnic minority.






45. The most technologically advanced form of preindustrial society. Members are primarily engaged in the production of food but increase their crop yield through such innovations as the plow.






46. Unreliable generalizations about all members of a group that do not recognize individual differences within the group.






47. A form of marriage in which a person can have several spouses in his or her lifetime but only one spouse at a time.






48. Changes in the social position of children relative to their parents.






49. Processes of socialization in which a person 'rehearses' for future positions - occupations - and social relationships.






50. A literal interpretation of the Bible regarding the creation of man and the universe used to argue that evolution should not be presented as established scientific fact.