Sociology 15
Exam #2 Study Guide
Exam Information:
You will have 1 hour and 15 minutes to complete the exam. Bring a scantron form #882 and a #2
pencil.
The exam is worth a total of 50 points, and it will consist of 40 multiple choice and true/false
questions (each is worth 1 point) and 2 short answer questions (each worth 5 points).
Material covered:
 Textbook Chapters 2 and 3
 All lectures/PowerPoint’s/Assigned Articles
 All Films
Topics covered by Chapter/Lecture
Chapter 2: Prejudice
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What is ethnocentrism?
What is prejudice
What is discrimination?
What is an ethnophaulism?
What is Islamophobia?
What is a stereotype?
What is Merton’s typology and what are the 4 major categories described by Merton?
What is white privilege? When asked about race, do white people see themselves as
privileged? Is privilege easy to acknowledge?
Who was Richard LaPiere and what did he study? What did he find in his work?
What is Islamophobia?
What are the main theories of prejudice discussed in the text and in class lecture?
What is racial profiling?
What is color-blind racism?
What did W.E.B Du Bois write about regarding “The Mood of the Oppressed”?
What is intergroup hostility?
According to Marx, who makes up the bourgeoisie and the proletariat? What are false
consciousness and class consciousness?
How are racial and ethnic minorities represented in the media?
What is the contact hypothesis?
How is education related to prejudice?
***For all of the above terms and concepts, be prepared to identify each through
examples. In other words, do not just memorize the definition, but be ready to apply each
concept.
Chapter 3: Discrimination
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What is discrimination? Individual? Institutional?
What is relative deprivation?
What is Absolute deprivation?
What is the poverty line for a family of four in the U.S.?
What is total discrimination?
What is a hate crime? What racial group is the most commonly targeted group?
What is the primary goal of a “white nationalist group”?
How has the internet impacted hate group membership?
What is the gender pay gap? What is the glass ceiling?
Be familiar with the examples of individual and institutional discrimination discussed in
the book and in lecture.
What has been the key initiative in social change regarding racial inequality?
What is the American Punishment frenzy and when did it begin?
What is the prison industrial complex?
What is the concept of: “The New Jim Crow”?
What is affirmative action? What are the primary arguments for and against affirmative
action?
What are wealth and income? What has happened to the racial wealth gap since the
passage of the civil rights movement?
Short Answer Questions (2 will be chosen for the exam)
1. What is the relationship between prejudice and discrimination? Please give an example of
prejudice and discrimination.
2. How are economics related to the formation of prejudice as explained by both the exploitation and
scapegoating theories?
3. What is the relationship between education and prejudice? What does this suggest for social policy
approaches to reducing prejudice and discrimination in society?
4. What is affirmative action? What are the primary arguments for and against affirmative
action?
5. What is the main difference between the deficiency and structural theories in explaining poverty? What
does each theory see as the main cause of poverty? Explain your answer in as much detail as possible.
6. How is the American dream related to Karl Marx’s idea of the false consciousness?