Chapter 1

Families and the Sociological Imagination

1.1 Multiple Choice Questions

1) Your family has a special friend that you are very close to, and call Auntie Marge, even
though she is not related to you. You invite her to many family functions, and share many
traditions together. Marge is an example of a/an: fictive kin

2) Relationships by blood, marriage, or affection, in which members may cooperate
economically, may care for any children, and may consider their identity to be intimately
connected to the larger group define a/an: family

3) Which of the following best summarizes the attitudes of U.S. high school seniors towards
marriage and family? Teenagers are more likely to accept divorce, cohabitation, singlehood,
and being childfree as legitimate lifestyles, while at the same time also believing that
marriage, children, and a strong family life are important goals.

4) An organized pattern of social relationships and social institutions that together form the
basis of society is called: social structure


5) C. Wright Mills stressed the importance of understanding the relationship between
individuals and the society in which they live because many of our personal issues or problems
are shaped by social forces. He was referring to something called: the sociological imagination

6) When one family is uninsured, we are tempted to see it as a private problem; however, when
50 million people are uninsured, it is really a social problem. This is the point of: the
sociological imagination

7) Brandon traveled to Mexico recently and made fun of the way the poor families lived. Geez,
dont they know that they should do things like we do here in America? Everyone knows our
way is best. This is an example of: ethnocentrism

8) ________ is a method that answers questions through a systematic collection and analysis of
data, including description and a determination of cause and effect. The empirical approach

9) As illustrated in World Map 1.1, a comparative perspective reveals that the U.S.:
has one of the lowest infant mortality rates in the developed world

10) Adrian is a researcher doing a detailed study about attitudes and opinions people have
about being childfree. She wants detailed information from each person. Which method would
be best to use? in-depth interview

11) What are the advantages and disadvantages of an experiment?
advantage: provides greatest opportunity to assess cause and effect; disadvantage: the setting
may have an artificial quality about it

12) Jake is analyzing some data collected by the Census Bureau for his senior project. What type
of research method is he using? secondary analysis

13) Macro theories represent a general framework that focuses on: societal patterns

14) This theoretical perspective emphasizes issues surrounding social inequality, power, and
social change: conflict theory

15) Which theory is an example of a micro theory? family systems theory

16) Structural functionalist theory focuses on: all social institutions, including the family, that
exist to fill a need in society

17) A number of changes in families have taken place over the past several decades. These
changes include: both men and women are postponing the age of marriage

18) There are several different perspectives of family change. Shane believes that the changing
economic structure, such as through a loss of high-paying manufacturing jobs or an erosion of
the minimum wage, leads to changing family and gendered roles, which ultimately leads to an
underclass with extraordinary challenges facing poor children. Shane represents which
perspective? liberal

19) The feminist perspective: suggests that children face problems because of a lack of
cooperation between the community, family, and employment to improve the quality of life

20) Compared to other developing nations, the U.S. has a ________ national family policy. weak

21) A welfare program like Temporary Assistance for Needy Families (TANF) is an example of
what type of social program? means-tested

22) Jenna and Roberto are debating how the U.S. deals with family policies. Help them out.
How does the U.S. compare with other developed nations with respect to family policy?
The U.S. is the only developed country without universal health insurance, paid maternity
leaves, or family/child allowances.

23) Carlas husband recently left her and their three children for another woman. He pays no
child support, she has few job skills, and is destitute. Therefore she turns to the principal cash
welfare program, which is called: Temporary Assistance for Needy Families

24) A ________ is a major sphere of social life, with a set of beliefs and rules that are organized
to meet basic human needs. social institution

25) You, your siblings, and your parents comprise your: family of orientation

26) You, your spouse, and your children comprise your: family of procreation

27) There are five (5) themes of this textbook. Which is NOT one of them? Human agency
interferes with family change.

28) How does the ideology of family shape perceptions of immigrant children, according to
researcher Karen Pyke in the feature box? The cultural imagery of American families that
children see on television is often at odds with many immigrant families and the children
denigrate their own families as deficient.

29) The capacity to rebound from adversity, misfortune, trauma, or other transitional crises and
become strengthened and more resourceful is called: resiliency

30) Ju-long has overcome a difficult childhood to become a successful college student, a kind
friend, and a loving boyfriend. He was, and continues to be insightful, independent, creative,
and has a good sense of humor and a strong sense of morality. Within the concept of resiliency,
these are known as: individual-level protective factors


Chapter 2
Families Throughout the World: Marriage, Family, and Kinship

2.1 Multiple Choice Questions

1) According to anthropologist William Stephens, the definition of marriage includes four
important components. Which is NOT one of them? involves one man and one woman

2) Families are found throughout the world. Despite their diversity, there are many critical
universal features of families. Which is NOT one of these universal features? taking care of the
elderly

3) Deeya is a graduate of Yale University. This is an example of a/an: achieved status

4) Laurel is a White teenager who lives in Beverly Hills, CA with her wealthy parents. Her sex,
race, and social class are examples of a/an: ascribed status

5) As a student, you usually take notes in class. Student is your ________; taking notes is your
________. status; role

6) Carl and Belinda are in love and plan to marry next year. Their parents strongly disapprove
of their relationship, however, because Carl is White and Belinda is Black. Carl and Belinda are
violating the norm of: endogamy

7) Mary and Jessica have been in love and living together for many years. Currently they live in
Texas, but plan to move to Massachusetts soon because it is one of the few states that allows
same-sex marriage. Their parents strongly disapprove of lesbian relationships because they
believe that Mary and Jessica are violating what type of social norm? exogamy

8) What is a key feature of marriage among the !Kung San of Southern Africa, according to Box 2.1?
A new husband must hunt for his father-in-law for many years to establish and maintain his
marriage.

9) According to World Map 2.1:
Africa and the Middle East are the regions most likely to permit the practice of polygamy.

10) Although illegal in the U.S., there may be more than 100,000 Americans currently practicing
the marital pattern of ________, according to your text. polygyny

11) Polygyny is defined as: one man married to multiple women


12) Which is a characteristic of polyandry? The multiple husbands are usually brothers or
otherwise related.

13) Adolph, Mary, and Megan, as portrayed in Box 2.2, illustrate that: people who practice
polygyny tend to cite the Bible to justify their marriage

14) In many places around the world, women cannot vote, drive, or have their hair or face
uncovered in public, and should be escorted at all times. We would consider these to be
examples of: patriarchy

15) What is a fistula? a hole between a womans vagina and other internal organs caused by
prolonged and obstructed childbirth

16) The pattern of descent that is characterized as having the lineage more closely aligned with
the womens families rather than mens families is called: matrilineal

17) Dat and his new wife followed the traditional Vietnamese pattern of moving in with his
parents after they married. This is an example of the practice of: patrilocal

18) The process of social and cultural transformation from a third world or a
nonindustrialized society to a developed industrial society is called: modernization

19) With a shift to modernization, societies experience a progressive loss of the intimacy found
in primary relationships, referred to as ________, and the result is a society composed of more
impersonal secondary relationships, known as ________. gemeinschaft; gesellschaft

20) The concept of gesellschaft, discussed by German sociologist Ferdinand Tonnies, contains
several specific features. What is NOT one of the features that characterize gesellschaft?
patriarchy

21) According to sociologist William J. Goode, many changes in families occur as societies
modernize and become more industrialized and developed. Which would be an example of this
change? families become more egalitarian

22) Which theory of social change is concerned with the exploitation of poor countries by more
wealthy countries? world systems theory

23) World systems theory has much in common with the tenants of ___________ theory
discussed in Chapter 1. conflict

24) Which is NOT one of the ways that core countries use their historical advantages to
manipulate other poorer countries for their own benefit, according to world systems theory?
building faulty sanitation facilities


25) Which of the following is TRUE about India? It is considered a patriarchal society.

26) Which of the following countries has reduced its birthrate most dramatically since 1950?
India

27) Which of the following countries has the lowest infant mortality rate? Sweden

28) The infant mortality rate is defined as: the number of deaths within the first year of life
per 1,000 births in the population


29) With respect to Sweden: the vast majority of mothers are employed outside the home

30) Why does the Swedish government enact the family policies that it does? to keep pace with
Swedens changing conceptions of gender and move toward more egalitarian relationships


Chapter 3
Families Throughout History


1) The opening vignette of Chapter 3 describes the life of a slave girl in nineteenth-century
America. Which of the following best describes the ordeal in the narrative? She is forced to
have a sexual relationship with a man she detests so that her owner can have more slave
children.

2) Some people think that in the good old days we had fewer family problems such as
divorce, poverty, or family violence. What do other people say? The good old days were a
myth.

3) Anthropologists, historians, and family scholars who tell us about daily life, customs, and
lifestyles of ordinary citizens are weaving together: social history

4) Kim is an anthropologist studying how family members of different racial and ethnic groups
care for their elderly. He is taking extensive notes of the way their culture shapes attitudes
towards the elderly. These detailed accounts are called: ethnographies

5) Jerome is interested in studying racial and ethnic differences in how families care for the
elderly. He is interviewing some of the oldest family members he can find because his goal is to
compile all available information about significant family events. He will look through other
pertinent documents as well. This method is called: family reconstitution

6) Which type of societies had subsistence economies? hunting and gathering

7) According to Table 3.1, which type (or types) of society tended towards nuclear families?
hunting-gathering; industrial

8) In many ways families in modern industrial and postindustrial societies, such as the U.S.,
resemble families in ________ societies in terms of their functions, forms, and many of their
intimate relationships. hunting and gathering

9) Among the early Roman families, the ________ were landowners, and therefore at the top of
the stratification system, while slaves were at the bottom. patricians

10) You are living in the Middle Ages. Your father has decided that the family farm will go to
your oldest brother now that he can no longer take care of it. You are left with nothing. This is a
practice known as: primogeniture

11) Why were there few extended families in early Europe, the Middle Ages, or preindustrial
Europe? Most people did not live long enough to spend significant time with their adult
children.

12) Which of the following characterizes Native Americans in the preindustrial United States?
Some tribes practiced polygamy, although most were monogamous.

13) Pretend that you are a 20-year-old White woman in colonial America. Which of the
following would likely describe aspects of your courtship and partnering? You could choose
your own spouse, but marriage required parental consent.

14) A dating practice in colonial America in which a young man and woman could continue
their date by spending the night in a bed together separated by a wooden board was called:
bundling

15) How would we characterize parenting in colonial America? children were treated as
miniature adults in many ways

16) The slave trade in America was well underway by about: 1790

17) Which of the following is true about slave marriages? Because of the constant threat that
their marriage would be broken up, slaves tended to have weak family bonds.

18) Maria strongly believes that family relationships are paramount and take precedence over
individual needs or wants. This view is referred to as: familism

19) Which of the following best characterizes Mexican families in the United States? Most
Mexican landowners had their land confiscated after the U.S. annexed Mexican territory in
1848, and they ended up becoming laborers on land now owned by others.

20) ________ transformed an economy from a system based on small family-based agriculture to
one based on large industrial capital. Industrialization

21) Which of the following is NOT a characteristic of industrialization?
Industries sought men, women, and children to work in the factories and mills; however, by
1860 child labor laws were passed prohibiting children under age 14 from working.

22) The year is 1886. You are 16 years old and have immigrated from Poland with your family.
What may have been your experience in the U.S.? You or your parents may have worked in a
clothing factory, as three-quarters of such employees were foreign-born.

23) Who was instrumental in helping the 19th Amendment to the U.S. Constitution be ratified,
according to feature box? Susan B. Anthony

24) Marriages that are based on mutual affection, sexual attraction, compatibility, and personal
happiness are called: companionate families

25) Which of the following statements is TRUE about families in the first half of the 20th
century? The divorce rate rose dramatically during and immediately after World War II.

26) What was so unique about the 1950s?
A) For the first time in a non-war period, married women with children were encouraged to
work outside the home. The average age at first marriage dropped to 19 years, an all-time low
for women.

27) Which decade is characterized as one of social change? 1960s

28) The 1960s and 1970s were a time of significant social change that affected families, including
the civil rights movement, the womens movement, and the anti-war movement. What caused
society to critically question so many dimensions of social life all at once, according to your
text? the sheer number of young adults in society

29) Increasingly, many new jobs are part-time, sub-contracted, temporary in nature, occur at
night, or offer irregular work schedules. These types of jobs are referred to as: nonstandardized
work schedules

30) The text suggests that understanding history can help us understand todays events, and
offers a look at families and the changing economy as an example. What is an economic feature
of families today? The unemployment rate is about twice as high as it was in 2007 before the
recession