1. Which of the following enables its possessor to understand the larger historical scene in terms of its meaning for the inner life and the external career of a variety of individuals?
a. sociological imagination
b. pathologizing
c. normative conception
d. positivist perspective
Ans: A
Cognitive Domain: Application
Answer Location: The Sociological Imagination
Difficulty Level: Medium
2. Rules of behavior that guide people’s actions are referred to as ______.
a. laws
b. folkways
c. mores
d. norms
Ans: D
Cognitive Domain: Knowledge
Answer Location: Conceptions of Deviance
Difficulty Level: Easy
3. Folkway norms are defined as ______.
a. every day norms that do not cause a major disturbance if deviated
b. moral norms that will upset people however will not face formal sanctions
c. moral norms that will upset people and receive formal sanctions
d. norms backed by official or formal sanctions and are a deviation from norms understood by majority of a group
Ans: A
Cognitive Domain: Knowledge
Answer Location: Conceptions of Deviance
Difficulty Level: Easy
4. Mores are defined as ______.
a. everyday norms and simple activities that do not cause a major disturbance if deviated
b. moral norms that may generate more outrage if broken
c. moral norms that will upset people and receive formal sanctions
d. norms backed by official or formal sanctions and are a deviation from norms understood by majority of a group
Ans: B
Cognitive Domain: Knowledge
Answer Location: Conceptions of Deviance
Difficulty Level: Easy
5. Laws are ______.
a. everyday norms and simple activities that do not cause a major disturbance if deviated
b. moral norms that will upset people however will not face formal sanctions
c. moral norms that will upset people and receive formal sanctions
d. backed by official or formal sanctions and are a deviation from norms understood by majority of a group
Ans: D
Cognitive Domain: Knowledge
Answer Location: Conceptions of Deviance
Difficulty Level: Easy
6. From a social constructionist perspective, deviance is ______.
a. defined the same across multiple countries
b. defined by multiple societies and subcultures as the same thing
c. a behavior that is inherently deviant
d. constructed based on interactions of those immediate to society and not inherent
Ans: D
Cognitive Domain: Comprehension
Answer Location: Conceptions of Deviance
Difficulty Level: Easy
7. From a critical perspective, deviance is ______.
a. established by those in power to maintain and enhance power
b. equal across gender, class, and social statuses within society
c. static across social, economic, and political conditions
d. occurring only in groups with power as a way to breakdown and minimalize group powers
Ans: A
Cognitive Domain: Comprehension
Answer Location: Conceptions of Deviance
Difficulty Level: Easy
8. ______ is important in understanding deviance because it helps us systematically think about deviance and provides solutions to the problems we study.
a. Data
b. Hypothesis
c. Theory
d. Policy
Ans: C
Cognitive Domain: Comprehension
Answer Location: The Importance of Theory and its Relationship to Research
Difficulty Level: Easy
9. Steps in scientific research methods include all of the following EXCEPT for ______.
a. research question
b. data analysis
c. pathologizing
d. data and data collection methods
Ans: C
Cognitive Domain: Application
Answer Location: The Importance of Theory and its Relationship to Research
Difficulty Level: Medium
10. According to the text, an interesting way to examine deviance is to look at it in which of the following contexts?
a. political
b. social
c. cultural
d. economical
Ans: C
Cognitive Domain: Application
Answer Location: Global Deviance
Difficulty Level: Medium
11. Objectively given deviance assumes a general set of ______ exist among society that guides people’s actions and behaviors.
a. professions
b. activities
c. norms
d. official sanctions
Ans: C
Cognitive Domain: Comprehension
Answer Location: Conceptions of Deviance
Difficulty Level: Easy
12. Subjectively problematic conceptions are also referred to as ______ and ______ perspectives.
a. normative; positivistic
b. normative, reactionist/relativist
c. social constructionist; normative
d. social constructionist; reactionist/relativist
Ans: D
Cognitive Domain: Comprehension
Answer Location: Conceptions of Deviance
Difficulty Level: Easy
13. The authors use the ______ analogy to argue multiple theoretical approaches to understanding deviance exist.
a. hot dog
b. salad bar
c. pizza buffet
d. ice-cream shop
Ans: B
Cognitive Domain: Knowledge
Answer Location: The Sociological Imagination
Difficulty Level: Easy
14. The scientific method is ______.
a. a systematic procedure that helps safeguard against researcher bias
b. not a generalizable, step by step procedure
c. often disregarded among researchers today
d. is not followed internationally
Ans: A
Cognitive Domain: Comprehension
Answer Location: The Importance of Theory and its Relationship to Research
Difficulty Level: Easy
15. According to positivist/normative conceptions of deviance, deviance is defined as ______.
a. behaviors that illicit a definition or label of deviance
b. inherently deviant behaviors committed by criminals
c. critiques of the social system that exist and create such norms
d. violations of a rule understood by the majority of the group
Ans: D
Cognitive Domain: Knowledge
Answer Location: Conceptions of Deviance
Difficulty Level: Easy
16. In order to study deviant behavior inductively, how do researchers best form a research question?
a. Researchers must systematically study the population first before creating a question.
b. Inductive reasoning includes studying people in controlled research labs.
c. A research question is formed from initial observations, followed by a scientific method after the initial observations.
d. Research questions are created through quantified facts obtained by researchers.
Ans: C
Cognitive Domain: Comprehension
Answer Location: The Importance of Theory and its Relationship to Research
Difficulty Level: Medium
17. ______ programs focus on groups or individuals who are deemed likely deviant and involve attempts to change this assumed deviant behavior.
a. Retribution
b. Punitive
c. Rehabilitation
d. Prevention
Ans: C
Cognitive Domain: Comprehension
Answer Location: Ideas in Action
Difficulty Level: Easy
18. Which of the following focuses on groups or individuals who are assumed to be more “at risk” for deviant behavior?
a. normative conception
b. prevention programs
c. positivist perspective
d. folkways
Ans: B
Cognitive Domain: Application
Answer Location: Ideas in Action
Difficulty Level: Medium
19. ______ policies focus on the punishment and social control of behavior deemed deviant.
a. Depression
b. Suppression
c. Supervision
d. Repression
Ans: B
Cognitive Domain: Knowledge
Answer Location: Ideas in Action
Difficulty Level: Easy
True/False
1. Objectively given and subjectively problematic are the same conception of deviance.
Ans: F
Cognitive Domain: Comprehension
Answer Location: Conceptions of Deviance
Difficulty Level: Easy
2. Objectively given deviance is also referred to as normative or positivistic.
Ans: T
Cognitive Domain: Knowledge
Answer Location: Conceptions of Deviance
Difficulty Level: Easy
3. Subjectively problematic means that deviance is constructed based on interactions of those in society.
Ans: T
Cognitive Domain: Comprehension
Answer Location: Conceptions of Deviance
Difficulty Level: Easy
4. According to objectively given conceptions, behaviors or conditions are not inherently deviant.
Ans: F
Cognitive Domain: Comprehension
Answer Location: Conceptions of Deviance
Difficulty Level: Easy
5. A critical conception of deviance is NOT a legitimate conception of deviance today.
Ans: F
Cognitive Domain: Comprehension
Answer Location: Conceptions of Deviance
Difficulty Level: Easy
6. Neoliberalism refers to a political, economic, and social ideology arguing for low government intervention, a privatization of services that in the past have predominately been the domain of government, an adherence to a free-market philosophy, and an emphasis on deregulation.
Ans: T
Cognitive Domain: Comprehension
Answer Location: Ideas in Action
Difficulty Level: Easy
7. If the researcher is engaging in deductive research, this question comes from a theoretical perspective.
Ans: T
Cognitive Domain: Comprehension
Answer Location: The Importance of Theory and its Relationship to Research
Difficulty Level: Easy
8. C. Wright Mills argues that the only way to truly understand the experiences of the individual is to first understand the societal, institutional, and historical conditions that individual is living under.
Ans: T
Cognitive Domain: Comprehension
Answer Location: The Sociological Imagination
Difficulty Level: Easy
9. A universal definition of deviance exists.
Ans: F
Cognitive Domain: Comprehension
Answer Location: Introduction
Difficulty Level: Easy
10. Theory is what turns anecdotes about human behavior into a systematic understanding of societal behavior.
Ans: T
Cognitive Domain: Comprehension
Answer Location: The Importance of Theory and its Relationship to Research
Difficulty Level: Easy
Short Answer
1. List the four steps to the scientific method, as listed in the book.
Ans: A strong answer will identify the following steps:
- Step 1 – research question
- Step 2 – data and data collection methods
- Step 3 – data analysis
- Step 4 – results and theory
Cognitive Domain: Comprehension
Answer Location: The Importance of Theory and its Relationship to Research
Difficulty Level: Easy
2. Summarize what the goals of a deviance and social control text might include.
Ans: A strong answer will identify the following goals: to examine why deviance occurs, why some behaviors may or may not be defined as deviant, and why some individuals are more likely to be defined as deviant.
Cognitive Domain: Comprehension
Answer Location: Conclusion: Organization of the Book
Difficulty Level: Easy
3. Provide an example of deviance found in popular culture. Why is it deviant?
Ans: Answers may vary. Examples include anything from film, television, music, and so forth. An example answer might state that the show Seinfeld provides examples of deviance found in popular culture. Seinfeld is a situation comedy that is simply masterful at focusing on small behaviors or characteristics that break norms and are perceived as deviant. Episodes on the close-talker, the low-talker, and the high-talker, for example, all illustrate unwritten norms on interpersonal communication.
Cognitive Domain: Application
Answer Location: Various
Difficulty Level: Hard
Essay
1. Consider an act of deviance. What are four to five things to consider when considering a topic of deviance (think of Ws)? Once you have chosen an act of deviance, explain the four to five things to consider and why they are important to you in this course.
Ans: Answers may vary, but students should consider including who, what, where, when, and how.
Cognitive Domain: Application
Answer Location: Various
Difficulty Level: Hard
2. Explain the basic difference in creating a research question and researching deviance inductively versus deductively.
Ans: If a researcher is engaging in inductive research, he or she also starts with a research question, but in the beginning, the researcher’s theory may be what we call “grounded theory.” Using qualitative methods such as participant observation or in-depth interviews, the researcher would collect data and analyze these data, looking for common themes throughout. These findings would be used to create a theory “from the ground up.” In other words, while a deductive researcher would start with a theory that guides every step of the research, an inductive researcher might start with a broad theoretical perspective and a research question and, through the systematic collection of data and rigorous analyses, would hone that broad theoretical perspective into a more specific theory. This theory would then be tested again as the researcher continued on with his or her work, or others, finding this new theory to be useful and interesting, might opt to use it to inform both their deductive and inductive work.
Cognitive Domain: Comprehension
Answer Location: The Importance of Theory and its Relationship to Research
Difficulty Level: Hard
