Free CLEP Introductory Sociology Practice Test (2026)

In the early 1900s, millions of farmers' children took factory and office jobs because industrialization created many new positions while farm jobs disappeared. This kind of mobility is called

A political sociologist finds that business groups, labor unions, environmental groups and religious organizations each win some policy battles and lose others, with no single group in control. Which model of power do these findings support?

An office worker has given up any hope of promotion or wealth, but he follows every company rule exactly and never misses a day. In Robert Merton's strain theory, he is an example of

A study finds that retirees who keep volunteering, take classes and see friends often report higher life satisfaction than those who withdraw from social life. Which theory of aging do these findings support?

A server is warm and cheerful with diners but jokes and complains about them with coworkers in the kitchen. Erving Goffman would describe the kitchen as

Ranchers share a public pasture. Each rancher gains by adding more cattle, but when all of them do, the pasture is overgrazed and becomes useless to everyone. This is an example of

Protests in a country break out not when living conditions are at their worst, but after years of improvement stall and people's expectations outrun what they actually have. Which theory best explains this?

A high school senior who plans to enlist in the Army starts running every morning, learns military ranks and practices getting up at 5 a.m. Sociologists call this

A survey of 600 adults reports the percentage in each education group who did volunteer work last year: high school or less, 18%; some college, 27%; bachelor's degree or more, 41%. Which conclusion do these data alone best support?

A town of 50,000 people recorded 600 births and 450 deaths last year. What was its crude birth rate?

Across hundreds of fires, the number of fire trucks sent is strongly and positively correlated with the amount of damage. A student concludes that fire trucks cause damage. What is the best criticism?

Over several decades, constant restlessness and inattention in children, once handled by parents and teachers as misbehavior, came to be defined as a medical condition diagnosed and treated by doctors. Sociologists call this process

Which statement best reflects a conflict-theory view of education?

According to Émile Durkheim, what is the main social function of religion?

Max Weber defined the state as the human community that

Under apartheid, Black South Africans made up most of South Africa's population. Why do sociologists still describe them as a minority group in that period?

Over 50 years, the share of a country's workers employed in factories falls from 35% to 12%, while jobs in health care, finance and software grow rapidly. Sociologists describe this as a shift toward

In Suicide (1897), Émile Durkheim found that suicide rates differed in stable ways among religious groups, family types and countries. What was his main point?

In many dual-earner couples, the woman comes home from her paid job and then does most of the housework and child care. Arlie Hochschild called this

A sociologist records the everyday conversations of married couples to learn how each partner comes to define what a "fair share" of housework means. Which theoretical perspective is she most likely using?

Speakers of some languages describe locations with compass directions ("the cup is north of the plate") instead of left and right. Researchers find that these speakers keep track of compass directions unusually well. This finding supports

A sociologist explains one graduate's heavy student debt not only as a personal choice, but as part of rising tuition, falling public funding for colleges and a changing job market. This habit of linking a personal trouble to larger public issues is called

A dishwasher with little formal education wins a $50 million lottery. Using a Weberian, multidimensional view of stratification, a sociologist would say he

In a small village, people know one another in many roles, share the same traditions, and settle disputes through family and custom rather than contracts. Ferdinand Tönnies called this type of community

A labor union is founded on democratic ideals, but over the years a few officers come to control its decisions and keep themselves in power. Which concept describes this pattern?