Introductory Sociology

About this exam

The exam is built around five areas: the sociological perspective itself, social institutions, social patterns, social processes and stratification. Compared with psychology, the content is narrower and more conceptual.

Questions often ask you to choose which theoretical perspective, functionalist, conflict or symbolic interactionist, best fits a situation. Being fluent in those three lenses answers a surprising number of items.

Stratification, including class, race and gender, carries significant weight and deserves extra attention.

Topic breakdown

Topic weights published by College Board.

How to study for this exam

• Master the three main theoretical perspectives and practise applying each to the same example.
• Learn the core vocabulary for institutions: family, education, religion, economy and government.
• Study stratification carefully, including mobility, poverty measures and the main forms of inequality.
• Use practice tests to get used to questions that define a term indirectly and ask you to name it.

How the practice test works

• Choose all units or a single unit to focus on.
• Set the number of questions and a time limit, or practise untimed.
• Filter by difficulty to warm up or push yourself.
• Retake as many times as you like — every attempt is free.
• Your recent sessions stay on this device so you can review them.

Common questions