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This quiz consists of 5 multiple choice and 5 short answer questions through Chapter 3: Thermostats, Lemons, and Other Families of Models.

Multiple Choice Questions

1. What does Schelling say the presence of a small group of black students in a college student body does for any economic propositions about the behavior of that student body?
(a) Introduces tension and inequality.
(b) Introduces randomness.
(c) Introduces non-economic competition.
(d) Introduces uncertainty.

2. What does the critical mass provide for the individual?
(a) Safety in numbers.
(b) Deniability.
(c) A plausible excuse.
(d) Confidence that he is right.

3. Why can the Golden Gate Bridge charge a double toll for traffic in one direction without fear of being unfair?
(a) Because the traffic reverses direction at the end of every day.
(b) Because even one-way drivers will return one day.
(c) Because people coming south have more money than people in the city.
(d) Because tolls are designed to repair social inequality.

4. What does Schelling say social scientists hope to describe by characterizing a system?
(a) A mathematical model that accounts for all microbehavior within the phenomenon.
(b) Heuristics with which to judge behavior in nature.
(c) An explanation for other phenomena that fit the same pattern.
(d) Information about the difficulties of modeling social behavior.

5. How does Schelling describe a critical-mass behavior?
(a) Something that can only take place if there is a large audience to watch it.
(b) Something that cannot be stopped once it begins.
(c) Something that becomes self-sustaining once a certain number of people start to do it.
(d) Something that has to be restarted after a certain interval.

Short Answer Questions

1. What case does Schelling use to illustrate the difficulty of making an economic proposition?

2. What is the second thing Schelling says a social behavior model can be?

3. What does Schelling say distinguishes the sociologist from other scientists?

4. What additional reason does Schelling give for the desire to sit in the back of a theater?

5. What does Schelling say individuals react to?

(see the answer key)

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