Sociology is the systematic study of society, social groups, and institutions; how people interact, form identities, and distribute power and resources. It investigates culture, norms, inequality, race, gender, class, family, religion, work and technology, using theory and research methods to explain patterns and change. Insights help design policy, improve organizations, and foster inclusion by revealing the social forces shaping everyday life. It asks not just what occurs but why and for whom. Please note that the questions require knowledge and not all questions are the same difficulty level. Ready for my sociology questions?

Multiple choice: The sociological imagination primarily involves the ability to connect:
A) Personal troubles to individual flaws only
B) Personal troubles to public issues and social structures
C) Biology to chemistry
D) Psychology to neuroscience

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Short answer: Define culture in one clear sentence.

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Fill in: Norms are rules for behavior, while __________ are shared ideas about what is good and desirable.

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True or False: Ethnocentrism is the practice of evaluating another culture by the standards of that culture itself.

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Multiple choice: Which method best captures naturalistic, in-depth understanding of a social setting?
A) Laboratory experiment
B) Survey with closed questions only
C) Ethnography with participant observation
D) Content analysis of laws only

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Short answer: State the difference between independent variable and dependent variable.

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Fill in: A sample that gives each member of the population an equal chance of selection is a __________ sample.

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True or False: Correlation by itself proves causation in sociological research.

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Multiple choice: Which ethical principle requires researchers to disclose risks and obtain voluntary agreement?
A) Deception without limit
B) Informed consent
C) Mandatory participation
D) Public shaming

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Short answer: Define operationalization.

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Fill in: Reliability refers to consistency of measurement, while __________ refers to accuracy of measuring what is intended.

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True or False: A spurious relationship is a false association produced by an unmeasured third variable.

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Multiple choice: Which research design best isolates causal effects in a controlled setting?
A) Cross-sectional survey
B) Field ethnography
C) Laboratory or field experiment with comparison groups
D) Historical narrative

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Short answer: Define content analysis in one sentence.

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Fill in: In mixed methods research, investigators integrate quantitative data and __________ data to enrich findings.

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True or False: Socialization ends at adulthood.

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Multiple choice: Which agent of socialization most directly transmits the hidden curriculum?
A) Family only
B) Peer group only
C) School
D) Media only

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Short answer: Define role conflict.

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Fill in: When expectations within a single role are difficult to meet, the person experiences role __________.

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True or False: A status that is assigned at birth and usually involuntary is called an achieved status.

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Multiple choice: Which concept refers to groups that are small, close, and enduring with strong emotional ties?
A) Secondary groups
B) Primary groups
C) Bureaucracies
D) Crowds

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Short answer: Define bureaucracy according to key features.

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Fill in: The “iron law of oligarchy” claims that organizations tend toward rule by a small __________.

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True or False: Strong social ties always spread new information more effectively than weak ties.

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Multiple choice: Which theoretical perspective views society as a system of interrelated parts working to maintain stability?
A) Symbolic interactionism
B) Conflict theory
C) Structural functionalism
D) Exchange theory

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Short answer: State the main idea of conflict theory.

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Fill in: Symbolic interactionism focuses on the creation of meaning through everyday __________.

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True or False: Anomie refers to strong regulation and clear norms.

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Multiple choice: Which term refers to behavior that violates a social norm?
A) Culture
B) Deviance
C) Role
D) Status

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Short answer: Explain labeling theory in one sentence.

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Fill in: According to strain theory, deviance may occur when there is a gap between cultural goals and legitimate __________.

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True or False: Social control theory proposes that stronger social bonds can reduce deviance.

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Multiple choice: Which term describes formal penalties used to enforce norms?
A) Folkways
B) Sanctions
C) Values
D) Symbols

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Short answer: Define social stratification.

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Fill in: A system where status is fixed at birth with little mobility is a __________ system.

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True or False: Intergenerational mobility refers to movement within a single person’s lifetime only.

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Multiple choice: Which concept refers to total assets minus debts?
A) Income
B) Wealth
C) Wage
D) Salary

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Short answer: Define meritocracy.

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Fill in: The idea that multiple social categories combine to shape advantage and disadvantage is called __________.

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True or False: Prejudice is a behavior, while discrimination is an attitude.

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Multiple choice: Which term describes a group that shares a cultural heritage such as language or tradition?
A) Race
B) Ethnicity
C) Class
D) Caste

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Short answer: Define assimilation in one sentence.

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Fill in: Viewing one’s own culture as the center and superior to others is __________.

True or False: Gender refers only to biological attributes.

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Multiple choice: Which concept refers to the unequal distribution of power and resources between genders?
A) Gender socialization
B) Gender stratification
C) Gender identity
D) Gender expression

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Short answer: Define social construction of reality.

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Fill in: Families, schools, media, and peers are primary agents of __________.

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True or False: The nuclear family is the only universal family form.

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Multiple choice: Which function of education involves transmitting basic norms and values?
A) Manifest function: socialization
B) Latent function: matchmaking
C) Latent function: childcare
D) Dysfunction: inequality

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Short answer: Define hidden curriculum.

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Fill in: The view that health and illness are influenced by social factors is called social __________.

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True or False: Secularization refers to increasing religious influence over public life.

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Multiple choice: Which type of authority is based on legal rules and procedures?
A) Traditional authority
B) Charismatic authority
C) Legal-rational authority
D) Familial authority

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Short answer: Define civil society in one sentence.

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Fill in: The process by which everyday life becomes organized around efficiency, calculability, predictability, and control is called __________.

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True or False: Mass media only reflect society and never shape it.

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Multiple choice: Which term refers to the spread of cultural traits across societies?
A) Cultural diffusion
B) Cultural lag
C) Cultural capital
D) Social capital

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Short answer: Define cultural capital in simple terms.

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Fill in: The resources embedded in social networks and relationships are called social __________.

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True or False: Urbanization is the movement of people from cities to rural areas in large numbers.

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Multiple choice: The demographic transition model links declining birth and death rates to:
A) War cycles
B) Industrialization and development
C) Seasonal climate change
D) Short-term fashion trends

Short answer: Define gentrification.

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Fill in: The worldwide interconnectedness of economies, cultures, and populations is called __________.

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True or False: Collective behavior refers to structured, long-lived organizations only.

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Multiple choice: Which factor is central to the resource mobilization approach to social movements?
A) Random chance
B) Availability of money, organization, and networks
C) Individual charisma only
D) Natural disasters

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Short answer: Define framing in the context of social movements.

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Fill in: A temporary, unregulated gathering that acts in a common focus is a __________.

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True or False: Moral panic describes a widespread, disproportional public reaction to a perceived social threat.

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Multiple choice: Which concept describes the process by which nonmedical problems become defined and treated as medical issues?
A) Secularization
B) Medicalization
C) Urbanization
D) Rationalization

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Short answer: Define digital divide.

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Fill in: The practice of interpreting events through preexisting beliefs and selecting stories to influence perception is media __________.

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True or False: Stigma refers to a deeply discrediting attribute that reduces a person from whole to tainted in others’ eyes.

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Multiple choice: Which group is characterized by large size, impersonal ties, and goal orientation?
A) Primary group
B) Secondary group
C) Kinship group
D) Clique

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Short answer: Define reference group.

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Fill in: The expectation that illness exempts one from normal roles but requires seeking help is the __________ role.

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True or False: Deviance is the same in all societies and time periods.

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Multiple choice: Which concept refers to the process by which behaviors once seen as deviant become normalized?
A) Destigmatization
B) Anomie
C) Socialization
D) Diffusion without change

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Short answer: Define social distance.

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Fill in: A widely shared emotional reaction that spreads rapidly through a population is a collective __________.

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True or False: Cultural lag occurs when technology changes faster than norms and institutions adjust.

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Multiple choice: Which statement best defines social capital?
A) Money in banks
B) The value of social networks, trust, and norms that enable coordination
C) Total years of schooling
D) Government bonds

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Short answer: Define status set.

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Fill in: When behavior is guided by rules and calculation over tradition and emotion, this is social __________.

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True or False: High culture and popular culture always have identical audiences and functions.

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Multiple choice: Which concept refers to learning how to behave in a new role or situation after major life changes?
A) Primary socialization
B) Resocialization
C) Groupthink
D) Diffusion

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Short answer: Define groupthink.

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Fill in: The process by which people manage impressions to control how others see them is called impression __________.

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True or False: A folkway is a norm with strong moral significance whose violation brings severe sanctions.

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Multiple choice: Which process describes persistent negative treatment of a group by institutions, not just individuals?
A) Individual prejudice
B) Institutional discrimination
C) Cultural relativism
D) Assimilation

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Short answer: Define social change in one sentence.

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Fill in: The tendency to favor one’s own group over others is called in-group __________.

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True or False: A status that dominates all others in shaping a person’s identity is called a master status.

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Multiple choice: Which concept refers to unequal access to technology and digital skills?
A) Cultural lag
B) Digital divide
C) Anomie
D) Mechanical solidarity

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Short answer: Define mechanical solidarity according to Emile Durkheim.

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Fill in: In complex societies, cohesion based on interdependence from specialized work is called __________ solidarity.

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True or False: Max Weber identified traditional, charismatic, and legal-rational types of authority.

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Multiple choice: Which stage is first in many models of social movement development?
A) Bureaucratization
B) Decline
C) Emergence
D) Institutionalization

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Short answer: Define urban ecology.

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Fill in: The process of adopting elements of another culture while retaining one’s original culture is __________.

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True or False: A social role is the position a person holds; a status is the expected behavior in that position.

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Multiple choice: Which choice best defines a subculture?
A) The culture of the entire society
B) A group with distinct patterns that exist within a larger culture
C) A group that rejects and actively opposes the dominant culture
D) A small clique without norms

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Short answer: Define social integration.

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Fill in: The belief that society is held together by shared values and consensus is the __________ perspective.

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True or False: According to exchange theory, social interaction involves costs and rewards that influence behavior.

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Multiple choice: Which concept names the process of defining and ranking occupations by esteem and respect?
A) Economic capital
B) Status attainment
C) Occupational prestige
D) Relative deprivation

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Short answer: Define relative deprivation.

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Fill in: The perception that one’s own group has been wronged and deserves redress is grievance __________.

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True or False: Population aging has no sociological consequences for families or care systems.

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Multiple choice: Which statement best describes socialization through media?
A) Media only entertain, not educate
B) Media transmit norms, values, and identities through content and framing
C) Media are separate from social life
D) Media influence only children

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Short answer: Define agency in one sentence.

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Fill in: When a society moves from agricultural to industrial and then to service-based production, it undergoes economic __________.

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True or False: A stereotype is an oversimplified belief about a group that can persist even when contradicted by evidence.

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Multiple choice: Which concept refers to learning the norms and behaviors associated with aging roles?
A) Anticipatory socialization
B) Age stratification socialization
C) Life course socialization
D) Gerotranscendence only

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Short answer: Define sanction and give one example.

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Fill in: A learned, socially shared symbol that stands for something else is a __________.

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True or False: Structural inequalities can persist even without individual intent to discriminate.

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Multiple choice: Which concept refers to feeling disconnected from one’s work, products, or fellow workers?
A) Alienation
B) Integration
C) Enchantment
D) Acculturation

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Short answer: Define social norm.

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Fill in: The measurable number of live births per woman over her lifetime is the total __________ rate.

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True or False: Education always reduces inequality.

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Multiple choice: Which process spreads cultural elements rapidly through digital networks?
A) Slow diffusion only
B) Viral diffusion
C) Mechanical solidarity
D) Estate stratification

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Short answer: Define symbolic boundary.

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Fill in: The informal, often invisible barriers that limit advancement for some groups in organizations are called the __________ ceiling.

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True or False: Network closure always increases innovation.

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Multiple choice: Which term refers to the tendency to associate with similar others?
A) Heterophily
B) Homophily
C) Random mixing
D) Triadic closure only

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Short answer: Define deviance amplification.

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Fill in: The patterned, organized ways a society meets basic needs are called social __________.

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True or False: A counterculture is a subculture that opposes important aspects of the dominant culture.

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Multiple choice: Which concept explains how everyday routines become taken for granted and unquestioned?
A) Externalization only
B) Habitualization and institutionalization
C) Sudden revolution
D) Pure chance

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Short answer: Define life chances.

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Fill in: The expectation to fit multiple valued roles perfectly at the same time creates the __________ ideal.

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True or False: Social facts are ways of acting, thinking, and feeling external to the individual and endowed with coercive power.

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Multiple choice: Which concept refers to the spread of norms or innovations through network paths?
A) Structural holes
B) Diffusion
C) Bureaucracy
D) Organic solidarity

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Short answer: Define symbolic interactionism in one sentence.

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Fill in: The systematic study of population size, composition, and distribution is __________.

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True or False: Social research that includes community members in defining problems and methods is participatory research.

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Multiple choice: Which classical thinker focused on class conflict as the engine of social change?
A) Emile Durkheim
B) Max Weber
C) Karl Marx
D) Georg Simmel

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Short answer: Define ideal type as used by Max Weber.

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Fill in: Georg Simmel highlighted the importance of group size, noting that a two-person group is a __________ and a three-person group is a __________.

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True or False: Auguste Comte coined the term sociology and promoted a scientific approach to society.

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Multiple choice: Which statement best captures the sociological perspective on common sense?
A) Common sense is always accurate
B) Common sense is sufficient for explanation
C) Common sense can be misleading and should be tested with systematic evidence
D) Common sense makes research unnecessary