Sociology Chapter 11

The story about the class at New York's Bronx Community College explains that a. race is a simple matter of skin color. b. many people have mixed racial and ethnic ancestry. c. race is not important to the lives of people in the United States. d. All of these responses are correct.

Human beings are all members of a. a single biological species. b. various species, depending on color. c. various species, depending on cultural background. d. various species, depending on where in the world they live.

Sociologists define the concept of "race" as a. people who fall into any minority category. b. a person's skin color. c. a cultural heritage shared by a category of people. d. a socially constructed category composed of people who share biologically transmitted traits that members of a society consider important.

Typically, people who live in _____ perceive fewer racial categories than people who live in _____. a. the United States; Brazil b. Brazil; the United States c. the Northeast; the Midwest d. the West; the Northeast

Why do sociologists consider the "scientific" racial types of Caucasian, Mongoloid, and Negroid to be misleading and even harmful? a. Every society's population contains a lot of genetic mixture. b. Various racial categories are genetically very much alike. c. The skin color of Caucasian people ranges from very light to very dark. d. All of these are correct.

Which of the following concepts refers to a shared cultural heritage? a. race b. minority c. ethnicity d. stereotype

Race refers to _____ considered important by a society; ethnicity refers to _____. a. cultural traits; biological traits b. biological traits; cultural traits c. differences; what we have in common d. what we have in common; differences

The largest category of Asian Americans in the United States is people of _____ ancestry. a. Korean b. Japanese c. Chinese d. Vietnamese

Which of the following concepts refers to a category of people, distinguished by physical or cultural traits, who are socially disadvantaged? a. minority b. ethnic category c. racial category d. out-group

Which of the following is the largest minority category within the U.S. population? a. people of Asian descent b. people of African descent c. people of Hispanic descent d. people of Native American descent

In the United States, minorities typically have less a. income. b. occupational prestige. c. schooling. d. All of these responses are correct.

A minority is defined as a category of people who are a. small in numbers and disadvantaged. b. less than half the society's total population. c. set apart by that society and subordinated or disadvantaged. d. born in some other country.

According to the most recent data, African Americans accounted for about what percentage of the U.S. population? a. 43.1 percent b. 33.1 percent c. 23.1 percent d. 13.1 percent

Four states currently have a "minority majority." Which are they? a. Texas, New Mexico, California, and Hawaii b. South Carolina, New York, Florida, and California c. New Jersey, Georgia, Mississippi, and California d. Louisiana, Alabama, California, and Arizona

Which of the following statements about prejudice is true? a. Prejudice involves prejudgments. b. Prejudice treats everyone in some category the same way. c. Prejudice can be positive or negative. d. All of these correct.

You would be expressing a "stereotype" if you a. made any generalization about people. b. described everyone in some category in the same way. c. held an opinion about someone based on personal experience. d. treated anyone in an unkind way.

In which of the following clusters of states do we find the least racial and ethnic diversity? a. Texas and New Mexico b. Maine, Vermont, and New Hampshire c. North Carolina and South Carolina d. Ohio, Indiana, and Illinois

Based on research using the social distance scale, you can correctly say that U.S. college students today a. are less prejudiced than students were fifty years ago. b. see less difference between minority categories than students did fifty years ago. c. express greater prejudice toward Arabs than African Americans. d. All of these responses are correct.

Scapegoat theory states that prejudice is created by a. cultural beliefs. b. high levels of immigration. c. frustration among disadvantaged people. d. people with rigid personalities.

Authoritarian personality theory states that extreme prejudice is a. built into culture itself. b. a trait of certain individuals with particular personalities. c. found among poor and disadvantaged people. d. found among most people in all societies.

People who are called "WASPs" have ancestors from which country? a. England b. Scotland c. Wales d. All of these are correct.

Which statement about African Americans is correct? a. Many of the largest U.S. cities have elected African American mayors. b. An African American president was elected in 2008 and 2012. c. A majority of African Americans are working class or poor. d. All of these responses are correct.

Conflict theory states that prejudice is a. a tool used by powerful people to oppress others. b. built into culture itself. c. common among immigrants. d. common among certain people with rigid personalities.

While prejudice is a matter of _____, discrimination is a matter of _____. a. biology; culture b. attitude; action c. choice; social structure d. abnormality; what a society considers normal

. The concept "white ethnics" refers to a. people of Hispanic ancestry who are light skinned. b. people of any ethnicity who are light skinned. c. biracial or multiracial people. d. non-WASPs of European ancestry.

Institutional prejudice and discrimination refers to the fact that a. some people hold rigid and unfair attitudes. b. bias was more pronounced in this nation's history. c. bias is built into the operation of social institutions. d. many people still hold prejudiced opinions.

The idea that prejudice and discrimination form a vicious circle means that a. prejudice is more common than actual discrimination. b. it is easy to prove that most stereotypes are wrong. c. most people do not act on their prejudices. d. prejudice and discrimination reinforce each other.

The claim that defining members of some minority as inferior will make them inferior is one application of a. social distance research. b. the iron law of oligarchy. c. the Thomas theorem. d. authoritarian personality theory.

Which of the following concepts refers to a state in which racial and ethnic minorities are distinct, but have more or less equal social standing? a. genocide b. segregation c. assimilation d. pluralism

The United States is not truly pluralistic because a. some people live in "ethnic enclaves." b. many people value ethnic diversity. c. racial and ethnic categories do not have equal social standing. d. All of these responses are correct.

Assimilation refers to the process by which a. people become more tolerant of minorities. b. minorities gradually adopt patterns of the dominant culture. c. all minority categories become more equal in social standing. d. people regain their lost cultural heritage.

A national civil rights movement, which ended most instances of lawful discrimination, took place during a. World War II. b. the 1950s and 1960s. c. the 1970s. d. the 1990s.

Which of the following concepts refers to biological reproduction by people of different racial categories? a. assimilation b. racial typology c. pluralism d. miscegenation

The adoption of the English language by Mexican immigrants in the United States is an example of a. genocide. b. segregation. c. assimilation. d. pluralism.

In the United States during the 1930s and 1940s, the existence of the "Negro leagues," with all African-American players, is an example of a. assimilation. b. segregation. c. pluralism. d. miscegenation.

Which of the following concepts refers to the physical and social separation of categories of people? a. pluralism b. assimilation c. segregation d. miscegenation

The killing of people in the Darfur region of Africa is a recent example of a. assimilation. b. genocide. c. miscegenation. d. hypersegregation.

Significant immigration of Asian Americans to the United States was first sparked by a. laws regulating Chinese immigration enacted in 1882. b. the California Gold Rush in 1849. c. the need for labor during the Great Depression in the 1930s. d. World War II.

For Chinese immigrants, one result of living in Chinatowns was _____. a. maintaining traditional culture. b. forming kinship networks, or clans. c. reducing their chance to learn English, which limited job opportunities. d. All of these responses are correct.

Which category of Asian Americans has an average income above the national average? a. Filipino Americans b. Chinese Americans c. Japanese Americans d. All of these responses are correct.

Japanese immigrants differed from earlier Chinese immigrants by a. favoring living in rural areas. b. coming to this country in larger numbers. c. knowing less about the United States before they got here. d. All of these responses are correct.

Which of the following categories of the U.S. population is most likely to own and operate a small business? a. Native Americans b. African Americans c. Korean Americans d. Mexican Americans

The Hispanic population of the United States is a. spread evenly across the country. b. concentrated in the West, Southwest, and southern Florida. c. concentrated in industrial cities of the Northeast. d. concentrated in the Deep South.

Which of the following categories of Hispanics in the United States is largest in terms of population size? a. Cuban Americans b. Mexican Americans c. Puerto Ricans d. Bolivians

Arab Americans are a U.S. minority that a. is increasing in population size. b. has ancestors from many different nations. c. has Islam as the dominant religion. d. All of these responses are correct.

Which statement about Arab Americans is true? a. Some Arab Americans are recent immigrants; some are not. b. Some Arab Americans speak Arabic; some do not. c. Some Arab Americans are Muslims; some are not. d. All of these responses are correct.

When the first Europeans arrived in the Americas in the fifteenth century, Native Americans a. followed shortly thereafter. b. had migrated to North America from Asia a century before. c. came with them from Europe. d. had inhabited this land for 15,000 years.

. Native Americans gained the right to U.S. citizenship in a. 1865. b. 1924. c. 1965. d. 1990.

. The overall social standing of Native Americans is a. above the national average. b. about the national average. c. below the national average. d. mixed, with families found equally at all class levels.

What Gunnar Myrdal called the "American dilemma" was a. the denial of basic rights to African Americans by a so-called "democratic society." b. the placing of Native Americans on reservations. c. the restriction of immigration by a nation that was built by immigrants. d. the refusal of many minorities to improve their social standing.