Social Issues
Chapter 1 Study Guide
How Sociologists View Social Problems: The Abortion Dilemma
1) Looking at people’s behaviors and attitudes in the context of the social forces that
shape them are known as _____________________.
2) ________________ is the systematic and objective study of human society or the
study of the development, structure, and functioning of human society. The study
of social problems
3) Sociology attempts to understand and explain the connection between
___________ and ____________.
Applying the Sociological Imagination to Personal Troubles
1) What has influenced the attitudes of women surrounding abortion?
2) Abortion was made legal in ___________.
3) Abortion is one of the most common medical procedures among women
___________.
4) What does the Women’s movement say about abortions?
5) List 3 viewpoints on abortion that your “grandmothers” may have had growing
up.
6) _____________________ invites us to look at our lives from different
perspectives.
7) What are the three levels of social context? Define each.
The Significance of Social Location
1) The term ___________ location describes the process of becoming aware of
ourselves by evaluating our own identity in relation to other people.
2) Who has more abortions married or unmarried women?
3) What age group receives the most abortions?
4) What race/ethnicity has a higher abortion rate white or black/other?
5) What % of pregnancies end in abortions for females under 15?
6) Social location does not determine your __________; rather, it means that people
who experience certain locations in society are exposed to influences that are
different from the influences who occupy other corners of life.
7) Your age, race or ethnicity does not mean you will have an abortion. These
influences have an impact in people’s ____________ and ______________.
Characteristics of Social Problems
1) A Social Problem is sine aspect in Society that people are concerned about and
would like to _____________.
2) Social Problems have 2 key components. What are they and define them.
3) What was the name of the landmark case that legalized abortion?
4) Define Value:
5) What state legalized abortion in 1970?
6) What are the 4 stages of Social Problems
7) What are the 3 forms of strategy that are used by proabortion group?
8) What was the ruling of Webster v. Reproductive Services of 1989?
9) What was the ruling of Casey v. Planned Parenthood (1992)?
10) What was passed in 1993?
11) What was approved in 2000?
12) What are the 5 ways Sociology helps us to better understand social problems?
13) How does gender, race, age and education effect abortion statistics?
14) How does income, where you live and politics effect abortion?
15) What are the 4 basic research designs used in Sociology? Describe each.
16) What are the 4 methods of gathering information for Sociologists?
17) To take a position on a social problem is to take sides----and because __________
is not equipped to make judgments about our values and morality, sociology
cannot tells us what side to take.