BSocSc Bachelor of Social Science Bachelor of Social Science Sociology 5 — Questions and Answers
Question 1: Howard Becker's labeling theory argues that deviance is:
- An innate biological tendency in certain individuals
- A consequence of structural economic inequality
- Not a quality of the act but a consequence of applying labels by others (Correct answer)
- A result of inadequate socialization during childhood
Correct answer: Not a quality of the act but a consequence of applying labels by others
Becker argued that deviance is not inherent in behavior but is created when powerful groups successfully apply the label of 'deviant' to others.
Question 2: Which sociological concept describes the experience of workers becoming disconnected from the products of their labor, the labor process, other workers, and their own human potential?
- Anomie
- Relative deprivation
- Alienation (Correct answer)
- Social exclusion
Correct answer: Alienation
Marx's concept of alienation describes how capitalist production estranges workers from their labor, its products, fellow workers, and their own species-being.
Question 3: The 'demographic transition model' in sociology and demography describes the historical shift from:
- Rural to urban populations in industrial societies
- High birth and death rates to low birth and death rates as societies develop (Correct answer)
- Extended family structures to nuclear family structures
- Traditional authority to rational-legal authority systems
Correct answer: High birth and death rates to low birth and death rates as societies develop
The demographic transition model traces the movement from high fertility and high mortality in pre-industrial societies to low fertility and low mortality in industrialized ones.
Question 4: Which term describes the phenomenon where organizations across different societies adopt similar structures and practices due to common pressures?
- Cultural diffusion
- Isomorphism (Correct answer)
- Convergence thesis
- Cultural imperialism
Correct answer: Isomorphism
Institutional isomorphism, developed by DiMaggio and Powell, explains how organizations become increasingly similar due to coercive, mimetic, and normative pressures.
Question 5: C. Wright Mills distinguished between 'personal troubles' and 'public issues' to argue that:
- Individual psychology has no place in sociological analysis
- Many private problems are rooted in broader social structures and require structural solutions (Correct answer)
- Public policy should not interfere with personal choices
- Sociology should focus exclusively on macro-level phenomena
Correct answer: Many private problems are rooted in broader social structures and require structural solutions
Mills' 'sociological imagination' invites individuals to see the connection between their personal biography and larger historical and social forces.
Question 6: In Randall Collins' interaction ritual chain theory, 'emotional energy' refers to:
- The physiological responses triggered by social conflict
- The confidence and enthusiasm generated through successful social interaction rituals (Correct answer)
- Emotional labor performed by service-sector workers
- The affective bonds formed within nuclear families
Correct answer: The confidence and enthusiasm generated through successful social interaction rituals
Collins argues that successful interaction rituals generate emotional energy — feelings of confidence, enthusiasm, and initiative — that motivate future interactions.
Question 7: The concept of 'cumulative disadvantage' in sociology refers to:
- The increasing returns to education over time
- The process by which early disadvantages compound over the life course to widen inequality (Correct answer)
- The declining marginal utility of social welfare programs
- The tendency for poverty rates to fall as economies grow
Correct answer: The process by which early disadvantages compound over the life course to widen inequality
Cumulative disadvantage theory holds that small initial differences in resources or opportunities compound over time, producing dramatically unequal life outcomes.
BSocSc Bachelor of Social Science Bachelor of Social Science Sociology 5
Howard Becker's labeling theory argues that deviance is: