CHAPTER 14: The Sociology of the Body: Health, Illness, and Sexuality
MULTIPLE CHOICE
1. Eating disorders, such as anorexia, are diseases of:
a. the affluent
b. the poor
c. Third World countries
d. scarcity
Answer: A
2. Anorexia and other eating disorders have their origins in:
a. the changing image of women in modern societies
b. the increasing scarcity of food
c. e coli bacterial infection
d. genetically larger modern bodies
Answer: A
3. Sociology of the body is the study of:
a. how our bodies are affected by social influences
b. how medicine affects our bodies
c. the rate at which a person’s body ages
d. a theory by W.I. Thomas
Answer: A
4. Sociologically, health and illness are shaped by:
a. results of medical tests
b. social and cultural influences
c. role strain
d. role conflict
Answer: B
5. Sociologists refer to studies that focus on how our bodies are affected by social influences
as:
a. sociology of the body
b. social technological advancement, a body science
c. the naturalization of society
d. food and body science
Answer: A
6. Why does the topic of eating disorders offer a good opportunity to apply the concept of the
sociological imagination?
a. What appears to be a personal problem is part of a larger, public, social problem.
b. It is strictly a personal problem.
c. It is strictly a public problem.
d. It is a product of people’s imaginations that the media picked up on and is not really a
problem.
Answer: A
7. An overweight 45-year-old man drives a truck for a living. He is loved in the community,
coaches Little League, helps his neighbors, and is generally a nice person. He eats fast food
every day and has a heart attack. Sociologically, this would be analyzed as:
a. a social problem
b. a personal problem
c. slow suicide
d. irresponsible behavior
Answer: A
8. Which is NOT a social factor studied in weight problems?
a. gender
b. weight at birth
c. race
d. social class
Answer: B
9. Which is a social factor studied in weight problems?
a. gender
b. race
c. ethnicity
d. age
Answer: B
10. Anorexia and bulimia are:
a. the same condition
b. different conditions
c. not really medical conditions
d. conditions found in Third World countries
Answer: B
11. According to the National Institute of Mental Health, what percentage of females has
suffered from anorexia?
a. Under 5 percent
b. 10 percent
c. 25 percent
d. 30 percent
Answer: A
12. According to the National Institute of Mental Health, what percentage of females has
suffered from bulimia?
a. Under 5 percent
b. 10 percent
c. 25 percent
d. 30 percent
Answer: A
13. A woman frequently binges on food and then self-induces vomiting. This is a symptom
of:
a. anorexia
b. bulimia
c. nerves
d. being a food addict
Answer: B
14. Which age group has the highest percentage of anorexia and bulimia sufferers?
a. under 20 years of age
b. 21 to 30 years of age
c. 31 to 40 years of age
d. over 41 years of age
Answer: A
15. Women account for ________ of all people with eating disorders.
a. 50 percent
b. 60 percent
c. 75 percent
d. 90 percent
Answer: D
16. According to the Eating Disorder Coalition, since the 1960s eating disorders have:
a. remained the same
b. doubled
c. tripled
d. quadrupled
Answer: B
17. According to the National Eating Disorders Association, on any given day what
percentage of American men are dieting?
a. 10 percent
b. 20 percent
c. 25 percent
d. 35 percent
Answer: C
18. According to the National Eating Disorders Association, on any given day what
percentage of American women are dieting?
a. 20 percent
b. 35 percent
c. 45 percent
d. 50 percent
Answer: C
19. How much per year do Americans spend on dieting and dieting products?
a. $20 million
b. $75 million
c. $1 billion
d. $40 billion
Answer: D
20. What percentage of 13-year-old girls has begun to diet?
a. 20 percent
b. 35 percent
c. 50 percent
d. 60 percent
Answer: D
21. What is the percentage of American male college students who want to lose weight?
a. 10 percent
b. 25 percent
c. 30 percent
d. 50 percent
Answer: D
22. What percentage of American male college students are actually on diets?
a. 10 percent
b. 25 percent
c. 30 percent
d. 50 percent
Answer: C
23. What percentage of 10-year-old children are afraid of being fat?
a. 5 percent
b. 25 percent
c. 50 percent
d. 80 percent
Answer: D
24. Who is most likely to have an eating disorder?
a. a self-confident female vice president of a Fortune 500 company
b. an antisocial male factory worker
c. a shy teenage girl who thinks people do not like her
d. an egotistical male basketball player
Answer: C
25. Obesity is a body mass index (BMI) of:
a. less than 18.5
b. 18.5–24.9
c. 25.0–29.9
d. 30 or more
Answer: D
26. Which sociological perspective views illness as a social role?
a. functionalism
b. symbolic interaction
c. conflict
d. feminism
Answer: A
27. Which sociological perspective looks at the meanings of how illness is socially
constructed?
a. functionalism
b. symbolic interaction
c. conflict
d. feminism
Answer: B
28. Which sociological perspective looks at how socially constructed meanings of illness
affect people’s behaviors?
a. functionalism
b. symbolic interaction
c. conflict
d. feminism
Answer: B
29. According to the ________ perspective, illness is a dysfunction.
a. functionalism
b. symbolic interaction
c. conflict
d. feminism
Answer: A
30. You get the flu and stay home from work. According to the functionalist’s sick role
theory, you are:
a. held personally responsible for your illness
b. behaving according to societal expectations
c. not behaving according to societal expectations
d. the only person affected by your illness
Answer: B
31. The sick role, like all roles, requires the person to accept the role and for others to
acknowledge the role. Which person is most likely to be granted the sick role?
a. a gay male with AIDS
b. a corporate technical writer with breast cancer
c. a homeless male alcoholic
d. a factory worker with chronic fatigue syndrome
Answer: B
32. To maintain regimes of health, which of the following do chronically ill people NOT
engage in?
a. everyday work
b. biographical work
c. illness work
d. stigmatized work
Answer: D
33. Joshua is chronically ill. He reconstructs his personal narrative to incorporate his illness
as part of his life. Sociologists refer to Joshua’s symbolic interaction as:
a. doing illness work
b. adopting the sick role
c. performing health maintenance
d. doing biographical work
Answer: D
34. Which of the following is NOT a health condition someone may have that stigmatizes
him or her?
a. AIDS
b. obesity
c. cancer
d. flu
Answer: D
35. What was the major feature of the development of modern health care systems?
a. centering the treatment of serious illnesses in the home and family
b. the application of science to medical diagnosis and cure
c. a philosophy that focuses on the balance of psychological and physical aspects of the
person
d. the elimination of alternative and complementary medicine
Answer: B
36. In premodern societies, the main institution for dealing with sickness was:
a. families
b. doctors
c. hospitals
d. government
Answer: A
37. In the United States, alternative medicine is:
a. gaining in popularity
b. only practiced by the Chinese and Native Americans
c. not accepted
d. considered new age bunk
Answer: A
38. Among main stream physicians, alternative medicine is:
a. seldom accepted
b. slowly gaining acceptance
c. not accepted
d. considered new age bunk
Answer: B
39. Acupuncture is an example of:
a. conventional medicine
b. alternative medicine
c. superstitious beliefs
d. a rite of passage
Answer: B
40. Complementary medicine is:
a. alternative medical techniques used in conjunction with traditional medicine
b. the same as traditional medicine
c. medical techniques used in place of traditional medicine
d. free medical treatments
Answer: A
41. Alternative medicine is:
a. alternative medical techniques used in conjunction with traditional medicine
b. the same as traditional medicine
c. medical techniques used in place of traditional medicine
d. free medical treatments
Answer: C
42. CAM stands for:
a. complementary arterial medicine
b. common asthma medicine
c. complementary and alternative medicine
d. common ailments medicine
Answer: C
43. Marguerite goes to the doctor for a back problem and also visits an acupuncturist for the
same problem. She is using:
a. only traditional medicine
b. complementary and alternative medicine
c. only alternative medicine
d. none of the above
Answer: B
44. A 2002 survey found that ________ of Americans used complementary and alternative
medicine.
a. 17 percent
b. 36 percent
c. 58 percent
d. 62 percent
Answer: D
45. The biomedical model of health:
a. defines disease objectively and holds that the human body can be restored through
scientifically based medical treatment
b. is a form of complementary and alternative medicine
c. is the use of biotechnology to clone parts of the body
d. maintains a healthy body through nutrition
Answer: A
46. Which of the following is NOT a reason some people use alternative medicine?
a. they feel traditional medicine treats the body but not the mind and spirit
b. traditional medicine is not very good at treating modern problems such as stress
c. financial problems
d. it’s the “in” thing to do
Answer: D
47. Which of the following does social class NOT consists of?
a. education
b. occupation
c. income
d. race/ethnicity
Answer: D
48. Which social class has better health?
a. lower classes
b. middle classes
c. upper classes
d. class does not make a difference
Answer: C
49. The social class element of income is important in health care because:
a. medical insurance is expensive and without it, illnesses and diseases may not be treated
b. the higher the income the more one can purchase the best health insurance
c. with a low income, one cannot afford expensive medical care or health insurance
d. all of the above
Answer: D
50. Which occupational category has the highest mortality rate?
a. professional workers
b. manual workers
c. domestic workers
d. office workers
Answer: B
51. Which social class is more likely to do aerobic exercise, know their blood pressure, and
not be overweight?
a. lower classes
b. blue-collar classes
c. middle classes
d. class does not make a difference
Answer: C
52. Why do differences in occupational status lead to inequalities in health and illness?
a. People who work in offices are less likely to be injured and exposed to hazardous
materials.
b. White-collar workers have more job-related stress than blue-collar workers.
c. In all societies, white-collar workers have better access to health care than blue-collar
workers.
d. In all societies, blue-collar workers have better access to health care than white-collar
workers.
Answer: A
53. Which group has the highest life expectancy at birth?
a. black males
b. black females
c. white males
d. white females
Answer: D
54. Which group has the highest mortality rate due to murder?
a. black males
b. black females
c. white males
d. white females
Answer: A
55. Which group has the highest mortality rate at any age?
a. black males
b. black females
c. white males
d. white females
Answer: A
56. Mike is a black male, Kelly is a black female, Joshua is a white male, and Mary is a white
female. Which of the following statements is true?
a. Mike has a greater risk of hypertension than Mary.
b. Joshua has a greater risk of hypertension than Mike.
c. Kelly is most at risk of hypertension.
d. Mike is least at risk of hypertension.
Answer: A
57. Which would be the most effective policy to counter the effect of poverty on health?
a. increased access to health care
b. health education programs
c. disease prevention programs
d. programs directed at reducing or eliminating poverty
Answer: D
58. Dawn and John are asked in a survey to report on the status of their health. Who reports
the poorest health, Dawn or John?
a. Dawn, like most women, reports the poorest health
b. John, like most men, reports the poorest health
c. Both Dawn and John, like average Americans, report the same health status
d. there is no data on this issue
Answer: A
59. As a whole, women live longer than men and yet report poorer health. Which of the
following is NOT a reason why?
a. Women are more likely to use preventive health care.
b. Women are more likely to seek medical care.
c. Longer life and aging brings more health problems.
d. Women are more emotional and complain more than men.
Answer: D
60. Comparing men and women and the amount of time they spend in bed due to illness,
women spend what percentage more time in bed than men?
a. 5 percent
b. 15 percent
c. 30 percent
d. 40 percent
Answer: D
61. What was the effect of colonialism on health?
a. The plague was introduced to Europe.
b. Nutrition for colonized people improved and this had a positive impact on their health.
c. Entire indigenous populations in the Americas were wiped out due to exposure to diseases
they had no immunity to.
d. Colonialism did not affect health.
Answer: C
62. Before the Spanish conquest in the early sixteenth century, which of the following
diseases was known to the indigenous people of Central and South America?
a. smallpox
b. measles
c. typhus
d. the common cold
Answer: D
63. International nongovernmental organizations (INGOs) provide health services to:
a. developed countries
b. developing countries
c. INGOs have nothing to do with health
d. oil-rich nations
Answer: B
64. According to the World Health Organization, what was a major health issue in 2007 that
was NOT a priority for international nongovernmental organizations (INGOs)?
a. AIDS
b. malaria
c. malnutrition
d. women who die in childbirth
Answer: D
65. How many deaths occur worldwide each year from malaria?
a. 100,000
b. 500,000
c. 1 million
d. 2 million
Answer: C
66. Which age group has the highest risk of death from malaria?
a. children
b. young adults
c. middle age
d. old age
Answer: A
67. An estimated ________ people worldwide are infected with HIV.
a. 10–15 million
b. 16–20 million
c. 21–30 million
d. 30–36 million
Answer: D
68. Which area of the world has the largest HIV/AIDS population?
a. Western and Central Europe
b. Latin America
c. North America
d. sub-Saharan Africa
Answer: D
69. The majority of the people in the world with HIV/AIDS are:
a. heterosexual
b. homosexual
c. bisexual
d. IV drug users
Answer: A
70. What percentage of people in the world with HIV/AIDS are women?
a. 20 percent
b. 30 percent
c. 50 percent
d. 60 percent
Answer: C
71. Young women of sub-Saharan Africa are how much more likely than men to be infected
with HIV/AIDS?
a. less than 1 percent
b. 25 percent
c. 50 percent
d. 75 percent
Answer: C
72. What has been the most profound way in which the AIDS epidemic in developing
countries affects those who live in the United States?
a. Other than humanitarian concerns for the ill, there is little impact on the United States.
b. All drugs available for treating AIDS are being sent to these countries.
c. More jobs become available for American workers in these countries as the native
population dies from AIDS.
d. Travelers to developing countries can bring the disease home; particularly vulnerable are
those people who visit prostitutes.
Answer: D
73. Worldwide, the number of homosexual versus heterosexual infections of HIV is:
a. 1 heterosexual to 4 homosexual
b. 2 heterosexual to 3 homosexual
c. even
d. 4 heterosexual to 1 homosexual
Answer: D
74. In which income bracket has the rate of new HIV infections declined?
a. high income
b. middle income
c. low income
d. income does not make a difference
Answer: A
75. In the United States, which region had the highest rate of new HIV infections in 2006?
a. Northeast
b. Midwest
c. West Coast
d. South
Answer: D
76. In 2006, what percentage of the U.S. southern region’s new HIV cases were African
American?
a. 10 percent
b. 23 percent
c. 33 percent
d. 42 percent
Answer: C
77. African American women are ________ times as likely as white women to be infected
with HIV.
a. two
b. four
c. six
d. eight
Answer: D
78. What is the leading cause of death among African American women ages 25–34?
a. heart disease
b. cancer
c. AIDS
d. sickle cell anemia
Answer: C
79. The United Nations Joint Program on HIV and AIDS reports that African Americans are
________ as likely as white Americans to receive antiretroviral treatment for HIV and AIDS
infections.
a. one fourth
b. one third
c. half
d. two thirds
Answer: C
80. A 2002 survey found that ________ doctors and nurses in Nigeria refused to treat a
person with AIDS.
a. 1 in 10
b. 2 in 10
c. 3 in 10
d. 0
Answer: A
81. In Uganda, 77 percent of the population is under the age of 18. What percent are orphans
because of AIDS?
a. one fourth
b. one third
c. half
d. two thirds
Answer: B
82. How many sexual identities did Judith Lorber classify?
a. 1
b. 2
c. 4
d. 10
Answer: D
83. Sexual norms:
a. vary from society to society
b. are universal
c. do not exist
d. are considered folk ways rather than taboos
Answer: A
84. In ancient Greece, the highest form of sexual love was the love of:
a. men for men
b. men for women
c. women for women
d. men for boys
Answer: D
85. Which best exemplifies the “double standard” of sexual behavior?
a. There is one standard of behavior for heterosexuals and another for gays and lesbians.
b. Americans have different standards of sexual behavior based on social class.
c. Most people are more tolerant of male than female promiscuity.
d. Premarital sex is tolerated more in urban areas than in rural areas.
Answer: C
86. Which Western institution has traditionally shaped people’s attitudes toward sexual
behavior?
a. religious organizations
b. government
c. family
d. education
Answer: A
87. For most of the past 2,000 years in the West, which of the following is NOT true?
a. attitudes toward sexuality were shaped by Christianity
b. sexual activity was for reproduction
c. sexual satisfaction for women in a marriage was not expected
d. prostitution was accepted
Answer: D
88. During the 1960s, women’s groups:
a. pressed for greater independence from male sexual values
b. rejected the double standard
c. wanted to achieve greater sexual satisfaction in their relationships
d. all of the above
Answer: D
89. During the women’s movement in the 1960s, women became more sexually assertive.
Lillian Rubin’s interviews with men in the late 1980s revealed which of the following
statements to NOT be true?
a. men loved women’s assertiveness
b. men felt inadequate
c. men found it impossible to satisfy women
d. men felt they never did anything right
Answer: A
90. Edward Laumann’s study revealed that ________ of Americans had one sexual partner in
the preceding year.
a. 20 percent
b. 53 percent
c. 83 percent
d. 95 percent
Answer: C
91. How many sexual partners do Americans average during their lifetime?
a. 1
b. 3
c. 5
d. 10
Answer: B
92. In a 1994 study, what percentage of men reported having an extramarital affair in their
lifetime?
a. 10 percent
b. 25 percent
c. 30 percent
d. 45 percent
Answer: B
93. In a 1994 study, what percentage of women reported having an extramarital affair in their
lifetime?
a. 10 percent
b. 25 percent
c. 30 percent
d. 45 percent
Answer: A
94. What percentage of Americans getting married today report that they are sexually
experienced?
a. 20 percent
b. 55 percent
c. 75 percent
d. 95 percent
Answer: D
95. According to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention 2007 study, what percentage
of high school students have had sexual relations?
a. 23 percent
b. 36 percent
c. 48 percent
d. 66 percent
Answer: C
96. Sexual or romantic attraction is a person’s:
a. sexual preference
b. sex role
c. romantic ideology
d. sexual orientation
Answer: D
97. The most commonly found sexual orientation in all cultures is:
a. homosexuality
b. heterosexuality
c. bisexuality
d. asexuality
Answer: B
98. Which religious group averages the highest number of sexual partners?
a. Jewish
b. Protestant
c. Catholic
d. Muslim
Answer: A
99. What is the estimated number of middle and high school students harassed for being gay,
lesbian, and bisexual?
a. 75,000
b. 125,000
c. 2 million
d. 5 million
Answer: C
100. According to a 2007 Gallup poll, what percentage of Americans view homosexuality as
an acceptable lifestyle?
a. 25 percent
b. 38 percent
c. 57 percent
d. 86 percent
Answer: C
TRUE/FALSE
1. Starvation is always caused by a lack of food.
Answer: False
2. In parts of the world where food is scarce, obesity is scarce.
Answer: True
3. Anorexia is a social problem.
Answer: True
4. Obesity is a personal—not a social—problem.
Answer: False
5. Social factors are not important in studying weight problems.
Answer: False
6. Poor people are more likely to be obese than wealthy people.
Answer: True
7. Men are more likely to have anorexia than women.
Answer: False
8. Throughout history, thinness was always the desired female shape.
Answer: False
9. Throughout history, thinness was associated with poverty.
Answer: True
10. Even though anorexia and bulimia are different, they often occur in the same individual.
Answer: True
11. Men do not have eating disorders.
Answer: False
12. Anorexia has the highest mortality rate of any eating disorder.
Answer: True
13. Weight has nothing to do with someone’s psychological well-being.
Answer: False
14. Poverty makes it difficult for some people to buy healthy foods.
Answer: True
15. Obesity is the top public health problem facing Americans today.
Answer: True
16. Obesity is not really a problem in the United States. There are only a couple of states with
a high percentage of obesity.
Answer: False
17. According to Talcott Parsons, the sick role is learned through the socialization process.
Answer: True
18. Health and illness occur unevenly throughout the U.S. population.
Answer: True
19. Health inequalities reflect larger socioeconomic patterns in our society.
Answer: True
20. As a whole, women live longer than men in the United States.
Answer: True
Test Bank for Essentials of Sociology
Anthony Giddens, Mitchell Duneier, Richard P Appelbaum, Deborah Carr
9780393932379, 9780393674088, 9780393937459, 9780393918830
