Social structure and institutions sample question 2

Three close friends who have shared meals and confidences since childhood

Social structure and institutions sample question 4

a reference group, one used as a standard for evaluating oneself.

Social structure and institutions sample question 5

Informal social control, through disapproval and exclusion, produced compliance where formal control did not achieve it.

MCAT · Psychological, Social, and Biological Foundations of Behavior · Sociology

Social structure and institutions

Social structure and institutions is part of Sociology in the MCAT Psychological, Social, and Biological Foundations of Behavior section. The questions below are written in the style of the real test, each with the answer and a worked explanation.

Question types you will see here include sociological theory lens, manifest, latent and dysfunctions, institutions: education, family, religion, medicine and bureaucracy and formal organisations.

Common traps: attributing inequality to function when conflict theory fits; confusing interactionism with constructionism; mixing macro and micro levels.

Sample questions

Question 1
A theorist argues that a city's housing law persists because landlords hold power to shape the law in their own interest, while tenants have little say. Which perspective is this?
- A.
  Structural functionalism
- B.
  Symbolic interactionism
- C.
  Conflict theory
- D.
  Social constructionism
Answer: C. Conflict theory
Laws that reflect the interests of the powerful, with groups competing for resources, are the core of conflict theory (C). Functionalism (A) stresses stability and shared function, interactionism (B) face-to-face meaning, and constructionism (D) socially created categories.
Question 2
Cooley described primary groups as intimate, face-to-face groups that shape a person’s social nature and ideals. Which is the best example?
- A.
  A university lecture class of 300 students who attend together twice a week
- B.
  A sales department with formal job titles
- C.
  A trade association that meets once a year
- D.
  Three close friends who have shared meals and confidences since childhood
Answer: D. Three close friends who have shared meals and confidences since childhood
Small, enduring, personal ties that shape the self are Cooley’s primary groups (D). A large lecture class (A), a formally structured department (B) and a yearly association (C) are impersonal or goal-oriented secondary groups.
Question 3
In Etzioni's classification of formal organisations, a software company whose members participate mainly in exchange for salaries is best described as:
- A.
  a normative organisation, like a charity staffed by volunteers.
- B.
  a coercive organisation, like a prison.
- C.
  a utilitarian organisation.
- D.
  a primary group.
Answer: C. a utilitarian organisation.
Etzioni distinguished organisations by why people belong: utilitarian organisations offer material rewards such as wages, normative organisations draw members through shared goals or values, and coercive organisations compel membership. A primary group is a small, intimate, long-term group such as a family, which a company is not.
Question 4
A junior doctor in Accra, who has no contact with her former classmates now working in finance, compares her salary and lifestyle with theirs and feels dissatisfied. For her, these classmates are best described as:
- A.
  a primary group, with close and enduring face-to-face ties.
- B.
  a secondary group, with impersonal, goal-based relationships among members who rarely meet.
- C.
  a reference group, one used as a standard for evaluating oneself.
- D.
  an in-group, a group she belongs to and identifies with.
Answer: C. a reference group, one used as a standard for evaluating oneself.
She uses the classmates as a standard of comparison without interacting with them, which defines a reference group: C. A requires close personal ties, which she lacks; B requires interaction around a shared purpose; D is wrong because she no longer belongs to or identifies with them.
Question 5
In a small village, a man who dumps rubbish in the river is ignored by the only police officer. His neighbours stop greeting him and his family is no longer invited to gatherings until he stops. Which statement best describes this?
- A.
  Formal social control through law enforcement caused his compliance.
- B.
  Informal social control, through disapproval and exclusion, produced compliance where formal control did not achieve it.
- C.
  Anomie, a breakdown of norms, explains his behaviour.
- D.
  Secondary deviance, in which the label applied by the neighbours led him to dump even more rubbish in the river
Answer: B. Informal social control, through disapproval and exclusion, produced compliance where formal control did not achieve it.
B is right: neighbours' disapproval, not the police, changed his behaviour. A is contradicted because the officer ignored him. C describes normlessness, whereas the village clearly enforces norms. D is contradicted because he stopped.

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