Midterm Practice Exam (ungraded) · Weeks 1–7 (Objectives 1–5)

Course: Introduction to Sociology (SOC 1) · Silver Oak University (fictional sample) · Prof. Adeyemi
What this is: a low-stakes rehearsal for the cumulative midterm. It mirrors the real exam's blueprint — same coverage, item-type mix, length, and concept-and-scenario difficulty — but is built from fresh item-bank variants and shares none of the live midterm's questions.
Settings: ungraded (0 points) · unlimited attempts · feedback shown after submission · opens before the exam window so you can prepare. (Unlike the real midterm, this rehearsal is open for practice — but sit it timed and closed-book to make it count.)

This is the human-readable practice exam with its vetted answer key and feedback (released after submission). The import-ready Classic QTI 1.2 is in O-practice-exam-week-08-qti.xml (generated by a validated Python script — parses with 20 items). The Canvas placement block is at the bottom.

Integrity note for students. Every item here is a fresh variant — a new scenario and wording — with a pre-vetted answer. None of these are the live midterm questions. Working them builds the skill the midterm tests, honestly. The paired live exam is L-midterm-week-08.md.

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Blueprint (mirrors the midterm)

Coverage is proportional to teaching time, matching the real exam: Obj 1 = 4 · Obj 2 = 3 · Obj 3 = 4 · Obj 4 = 5 · Obj 5 = 4. (The actual midterm items are not listed here — only the shared structure.) Includes a correlation-vs-causation item (Q7) and a perspective → idea matching item (Q4).

#	Type	Concept	Objective	Week
1	Multiple choice	Sociology vs. psychology (level of analysis)	1	1
2	Multiple choice	Conflict theory (who benefits / power)	1	1
3	Multiple choice	The sociological imagination is a skill, not a theory	1	1
4	Matching	Perspective → level & core idea (incl. Weber)	1	1
5	Multiple choice	Sampling — representativeness over size	2	2
6	Multiple choice	The experiment establishes causation	2	2
7	True / False	Correlation vs. causation (third variable)	2	2
8	Multiple choice	Norms vs. values	3	3
9	Multiple choice	Subculture vs. counterculture	3	3
10	Multiple choice	Cooley's looking-glass self	3	4
11	Multiple answer	Nonmaterial culture (select all)	3	3
12	Multiple choice	Master status	4	5
13	Multiple choice	Primary vs. secondary group	4	5
14	Multiple answer	Weber's bureaucracy ideal type (select all)	4	5
15	Multiple choice	McDonaldization (Ritzer)	4	5
16	Multiple choice	Labeling theory / secondary deviance (Becker)	4	6
17	Multiple choice	Meritocracy as a legitimating ideology	5	7
18	Multiple choice	Weber's status dimension	5	7
19	Matching	Stratification concepts → description (income/wealth/caste/Davis-Moore)	5	7
20	True / False	Stratification is social structure, not just individual effort	5	7

Objective totals: Obj 1 = 4 · Obj 2 = 3 · Obj 3 = 4 · Obj 4 = 5 · Obj 5 = 4 → 20 items (ungraded; mirrors the 100-point midterm's emphasis).

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Questions, key, and feedback (feedback releases after you submit)

Objective 1 — The Sociological Imagination & the Three Perspectives (Week 1)

Q1 (MC). A psychologist and a sociologist both study why people drop out of college. The sociologist is more likely to ask —
- A. how an individual student's anxiety and motivation shape that student's choices
- B. how tuition costs, work demands, and class background pattern dropout rates across groups of students ✅
- C. how a single student can build better personal study habits
- D. how a student's childhood memories drive their feelings about school
Feedback: The level of analysis is the key: sociology zooms out to groups, structures, and society-wide patterns (B); psychology zooms in to the individual (A, C, D).

Q2 (MC). A sociologist examines who writes a city's zoning laws and who gains from them, concluding that the rules mostly protect the property values of already-wealthy residents at the expense of poorer ones. Asking "who benefits, who loses, and where is the power?" is most characteristic of —
- A. structural-functionalism
- B. conflict theory ✅
- C. symbolic interactionism
- D. cultural relativism
Feedback: Conflict theory (rooted in Marx) reads society as competition over scarce resources and asks who benefits and who loses. (Functionalism asks what holds society together; interactionism asks what things mean; cultural relativism is a stance toward judging other cultures.)

Q3 (MC). A student writes that "the sociological imagination is one of the three major theoretical perspectives, alongside conflict theory and interactionism." The best correction is that the sociological imagination is —
- A. correct as stated — it is a fourth perspective
- B. a skill or capacity (linking personal troubles to public issues), distinct from the three theoretical perspectives ✅
- C. just another name for structural-functionalism
- D. a research method for collecting survey data
Feedback: The sociological imagination (Mills) is a skill — connecting personal troubles to public issues — not one of the three theories. Mixing the skill up with the perspectives is a classic error.

Q4 (Matching). Match each major sociological perspective to the description that fits it.
| Prompt | Correct description |
|---|---|
| Structural-functionalism (macro) | Society is a system of interconnected parts that each serve a function to keep the whole stable |
| Conflict theory (macro) | Society is an arena of inequality in which structures tend to serve the interests of more powerful groups |
| Symbolic interactionism (micro) | Society is built from face-to-face interaction and the shared meanings people attach to symbols |
| Max Weber | Rationalization and verstehen — the interpretive understanding of the meanings people give their action |
Feedback: Function (glue, macro), conflict (power, macro), interaction (meaning, micro). Weber is named factually for rationalization and verstehen (interpretive understanding) — distinct from the three perspective labels.

Objective 2 — Research Methods & Reading Social Data (Week 2)

Q5 (MC). A morning talk show invites its own viewers to text in their opinion on a policy; 200,000 do, and 75% agree. A sociologist cautions that the result may not reflect the country. The single biggest problem is that the sample is —
- A. far too small to be meaningful
- B. self-selected, so it is not a random, representative sample of the population ✅
- C. impossible to interpret because text polls never measure opinion
- D. too lopsided — a 75% majority cannot be real
Feedback: The flaw is self-selection: only motivated viewers texted in, so the sample isn't representative. Representativeness beats sheer size — even 200,000 biased responses don't generalize.

Q6 (MC). A researcher wants to know whether a tutoring program actually causes higher test scores. Which approach is best designed to support a cause-and-effect claim, because it allows control of conditions and random assignment to a treatment and a comparison group?
- A. a one-time survey of students who chose to enroll
- B. participant observation in a single classroom
- C. an experiment with random assignment ✅
- D. secondary analysis of old enrollment records
Feedback: The experiment — manipulating a variable under controlled conditions with random assignment — is the design built to establish causation. (Surveys, field observation, and existing-data analysis reveal patterns and meaning but can't, alone, prove cause.)

Q7 (True / False). Across neighborhoods, the number of stork-themed baby boutiques is correlated with the number of births. Concluding that the boutiques cause the births ignores that a third variable — the share of young families living there — likely drives both. This shows that a correlation, by itself, does not establish causation.
- True ✅
- False
Feedback: True. This is the textbook third-variable point: the share of young families drives both the boutiques and the births. A correlation is a link, not a cause — "correlation is a clue, not a verdict."

Objective 3 — Culture & Socialization (Weeks 3–4)

Q8 (MC). Many Americans hold the abstract standard that "freedom and self-reliance are good and worth striving for." A specific rule like "stand and remove your hat during the national anthem" is different in kind. The abstract standard about what is desirable is best classified as a —
- A. norm
- B. value ✅
- C. sanction
- D. folkway
Feedback: A value is an abstract cultural standard of what is desirable or worthwhile; a norm (like standing for the anthem) is a concrete rule for behavior. (A sanction is a reward/punishment; a folkway is a type of norm.)

Q9 (MC). One group of hobbyists shares its own slang, dress, and gathering spots but still accepts mainstream society's core values; a separate movement actively rejects and seeks to overturn those mainstream values. The second group is best described as a —
- A. cultural universal
- B. subculture
- C. counterculture ✅
- D. dominant culture
Feedback: A counterculture actively rejects and opposes mainstream values; a subculture keeps its own style but still largely accepts the broader society's core values. The cue is opposition.

Q10 (MC). After giving a toast at a wedding, Andre is sure the guests found it awkward and feels embarrassed — even though they actually enjoyed it. His self-feeling here is built from how he imagines others judged him. This illustrates —
- A. Mead's generalized other
- B. Cooley's looking-glass self ✅
- C. a total institution
- D. anticipatory socialization
Feedback: Cooley's looking-glass self: we form a self-image from how we imagine others see and judge us — even when our guess is wrong. (The generalized other is Mead; a total institution is Goffman; anticipatory socialization is rehearsing a future role.)

Q11 (Multiple answer — select all that apply). Which of the following are examples of nonmaterial culture (intangible) rather than material culture?
- A. A society's value that elders deserve respect ✅
- B. The temples and shrines built for worship
- C. A norm that you lower your voice in a library ✅
- D. The printed books on a library's shelves
- E. The grammar and vocabulary of a spoken language ✅
Feedback: Nonmaterial culture is the intangibles — values (A), norms (C), and language (E). The physical temples (B) and printed books (D) are material culture.

Objective 4 — Interaction, Groups, Organizations & Deviance (Weeks 5–6)

Q12 (MC). After a celebrated athlete is convicted of a crime, the public comes to see almost everything about him through the single label "convicted felon," which overrides his other statuses as parent, neighbor, and former champion. A status that dominates how others perceive a person and overrides their other statuses is a —
- A. an ascribed status
- B. a master status ✅
- C. a role set
- D. a reference group
Feedback: A master status dominates how others perceive a person and overrides their other statuses (for better or worse). (An ascribed status is simply one assigned at birth; a role set and a reference group are different concepts.)

Q13 (MC). A tight circle of lifelong friends bound by warmth and face-to-face ties is a primary group. A large, impersonal, goal-directed group such as the staff of a government licensing office is best classified as a —
- A. secondary group ✅
- B. in-group
- C. dyad
- D. reference group
Feedback: A secondary group is large, impersonal, and goal-oriented; a primary group is small, close, and emotionally bound. (An in-group is one you identify with; a dyad is a two-person group; a reference group is one you compare yourself to.)

Q14 (Multiple answer — select all that apply). According to Max Weber, which of the following are defining features of a bureaucracy as an "ideal type"?
- A. A clear hierarchy of authority (a chain of command) ✅
- B. Explicit, written rules and procedures ✅
- C. Impersonality — decisions follow rules rather than personal feelings ✅
- D. Promotion based on family ties and personal favoritism
- E. A specialized division of labor ✅
Feedback: Weber's ideal-type bureaucracy features hierarchy (A), written rules (B), impersonality (C), and a division of labor (E). Promotion by family ties and favoritism (D) is the opposite of bureaucratic impersonality and technical competence.

Q15 (MC). A national tutoring company replaces individualized lessons with a tightly scripted curriculum, standardized timing, measurable per-session targets, and close monitoring of every tutor. A sociologist using George Ritzer's concept would read this as increasing —
- A. McDonaldization (efficiency, calculability, predictability, and control) ✅
- B. the looking-glass self
- C. cultural relativism
- D. role exit
Feedback: McDonaldization (Ritzer) is the spread of fast-food-style organizational principles — efficiency, calculability, predictability, and control — into other domains. The scripted, standardized, monitored tutoring is a textbook case.

Q16 (MC). A teenager is caught skipping school once, is publicly labeled a "delinquent," is treated as one by teachers and police, and gradually adopts that identity and acts accordingly. In Howard Becker's labeling theory, this later behavior organized around the deviant label is called —
- A. primary deviance
- B. secondary deviance ✅
- C. conformity
- D. differential association
Feedback: Secondary deviance is behavior organized around a deviant label and identity that society has applied; the initial isolated act was primary deviance. (Differential association — Sutherland — is the separate idea that deviance is learned from others.)

Objective 5 — Social Stratification & Class (Week 7)

Q17 (MC). A pundit insists that "in this country, anyone who truly works hard will succeed." A sociologist notes that, true or not, this belief can make existing inequality feel fair and deserved and can justify the current order. The sociologist is treating meritocracy as a —
- A. proven empirical fact about social mobility
- B. legitimating ideology ✅
- C. closed stratification system like caste
- D. measure of absolute poverty
Feedback: Treating meritocracy as a legitimating ideology means noticing that, whatever its truth, the belief can make inequality feel deserved and justify the status quo. Sociologists weigh this against the documented mobility data rather than simply accepting or rejecting it.

Q18 (MC). A long-revered religious leader commands enormous social honor and respect but earns very little money, while a newly rich influencer has wealth but little prestige. In Max Weber's multidimensional view of stratification, the dimension capturing prestige and social honor (as distinct from class and party) is —
- A. class
- B. status ✅
- C. party
- D. caste
Feedback: In Weber's three dimensions — class (economic position), status (prestige/social honor), and party (power) — the honor-and-prestige dimension is status. The revered-but-poor leader is high in status, low in class.

Q19 (Matching). Match each stratification concept to its correct description.
| Prompt | Correct description |
|---|---|
| Income | A flow — money received over a period, such as wages or a salary |
| Wealth | A stock — the total value of what a person owns minus what they owe |
| Caste system | A closed system in which rank is ascribed at birth and essentially fixed for life |
| The Davis-Moore thesis | Stratification is functional: unequal rewards motivate talented people to fill important, hard-to-fill positions |
Feedback: Keep these straight: income = a flow; wealth = a stock (assets minus debts); a caste system is closed (ascribed at birth); the Davis-Moore thesis is the functionalist defense of stratification.

Q20 (True / False). Social stratification refers to a society's system of ranking whole categories of people into a hierarchy with an unequal distribution of resources — a feature of social structure, not merely the result of individual differences in effort.
- True ✅
- False
Feedback: True. Stratification is a feature of social structure — whole categories of people ranked unequally — not just the sum of individual choices. That structural framing is the heart of the sociological view of inequality.

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Answer key (quick reference)

Q	Answer	Q	Answer
1	B	11	A, C, E
2	B (conflict theory)	12	B (master status)
3	B (a skill, not a theory)	13	A (secondary group)
4	Functionalism→system of parts / Conflict→power & inequality / Interactionism→meaning / Weber→rationalization & verstehen	14	A, B, C, E
5	B (self-selected, not representative)	15	A (McDonaldization)
6	C (experiment with random assignment)	16	B (secondary deviance)
7	True	17	B (legitimating ideology)
8	B (value)	18	B (status)
9	C (counterculture)	19	Income→flow / Wealth→stock / Caste→closed/ascribed / Davis-Moore→functional
10	B (looking-glass self — Cooley)	20	True

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Quality gate (self-checked)

• Mirror check: 20 items, coverage Obj 1 = 4 · Obj 2 = 3 · Obj 3 = 4 · Obj 4 = 5 · Obj 5 = 4 — matches the midterm blueprint's emphasis and item-type mix (14 MC + 2 matching + 2 true/false + 2 multiple-answer).
• Single-answer integrity: every multiple-choice and true/false item has exactly one correct option; the two matching items (Q4, Q19) pair four prompts one-to-one; the multiple-answer items (Q11, Q14) key A/C/E and A/B/C/E respectively (the remaining options must be left unselected). Confirmed by parsing the QTI (16 single-answer items each with exactly one SCORE-100 condition; both matching items have four Add conditions).
• No arithmetic: all items test concepts, perspectives, theorists, and data-reading judgment — no computation to mis-key. The required correlation-vs-causation item is Q7 (keyed True — it correctly states the fallacy); Q4 is the perspective → idea matching item.
• Fact-and-data-accuracy gate PASS. Real theorists named factually: Marx (conflict), Weber (rationalization/verstehen; the bureaucracy ideal type; the class/status/party dimensions), Cooley (looking-glass self), Ritzer (McDonaldization), Becker (labeling/secondary deviance), and the Davis-Moore thesis. No published statistic is asserted as a graded answer on this form (the data-reading skill is tested via the sampling, experiment, and correlation items), so there is no number to mis-state; no correlation is presented as causation (Q7 names the third-variable trap explicitly). No fabricated study, statistic, or quotation.
• QTI parse confirmation: O-practice-exam-week-08-qti.xml parses as imsqti_xmlv1p2 with 20 items; every single-answer respcondition sets SCORE = 100 on exactly one option; each item's points_possible = 5.0. (In Canvas the placement makes it ungraded with feedback on; the engine still scores attempts so students see what they missed.)
• Integrity vs. the live exam: 0 items are shared with L-midterm-week-08.md — verified by full stem comparison (0 identical prompts; 0 high-similarity pairs). Where a concept slot overlaps the midterm, this form uses a different scenario and often a different sub-concept (e.g., the midterm's Obj-1 MC tests structural-functionalism on religion while Q2 here tests conflict theory on zoning; the midterm's Obj-3 self item tests Mead's generalized other while Q10 here tests Cooley's looking-glass self; the midterm's Obj-5 set tests income/wealth and Davis-Moore as MCs while this form tests meritocracy, Weber's status, and a stratification matching item).

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Item-bank & coverage note

All 20 items are fresh variants assembled from the Week 1–7 item banks, preferring items not used on the live midterm and authoring fresh scenarios where a concept overlaps. Tagged course=SOC1 · form=practice-midterm · weeks=1–7 · objectives=1–5 and deposited back into the banks for future per-term ($39) regenerations. Each term's update regenerates fresh practice variants alongside the midterm and continues to share none of the live items.

Canvas placement block

canvas_object             = Quizzes::Quiz
title                     = "Midterm Practice Exam (ungraded)"
assignment_group          = "Practice exercises"
points_possible           = 0
grading_type              = not_graded
allowed_attempts          = unlimited
show_feedback             = true        # released after submission
available_from_offset_days = -3        # opens 3 days before the exam window
due_offset_days           = 6         # on or before the exam due date
published                 = true
shuffle_answers           = true
provenance                = "~ Prof. Adeyemi's edition · Fall 2026 · built with thecoursemaker.com"