Deck 11: Education and Religion

Question 1

Jill and Steve are college-educated parents who stress the importance of a college education to their children. Because of this socialization, their children are likely to develop a(n) ______.

A) college-going habitus
B) achievement orientation
C) organizational capacity
D) cumulative advantage

Answer 1

A

Question 2

The process by which the most advantaged individuals are awarded the best opportunities is referred to as the ______.

A) cumulative advantage
B) tracking advantage
C) performance advantage
D) schooling advantage

Answer 2

A

Question 3

What was the most controversial finding from The Bell Curve by Richard Herrnstein and Charles Murray that sociologists have debunked?

A) Men are innately smarter than women.
B) There are innate intelligence differences by race.
C) Those from elite social groups are innately smarter than those from lower classes.
D) Some individuals are incapable of learning at a college level.

Answer 3

B

Question 4

In the U.S. education system, students with the highest reading and math scores ______.

A) come from various backgrounds
B) are divided evenly based on the teacher's experience level
C) are correlated to the education level of the students' parents
D) decrease between groups from first grade to twelfth grade

Question 5

On what basis do Japanese schools recommend an academic track following the first nine years of school?

A) evaluation of student grade record
B) standardized test
C) a combination of past performance and student career assessment measures
D) a formal interview with student and parents

Question 6

The first large-scale study of American schools was conducted in the 1960s by ______.

A) Émile Durkheim
B) James Coleman
C) David Brooks
D) Randall Collins

Question 7

The first study of American schools found that the most important school characteristics were the family background and racial composition of the students attending the school as well as ______.

A) teacher quality
B) a friendly administration
C) funding
D) gender

Question 8

In his 1996 study, Coleman found few school characteristics that were related to ______.

A) employment outcomes
B) student learning
C) subjective well-being
D) graduation rates

Question 9

Rankings of worldwide student educational performance are known as ______.

A) WSEP rankings
B) PISA rankings
C) MOOC rankings
D) EDUC rankings

Question 10

Education and ______ are closely related processes because education builds on the base of knowledge already acquired in early life.

A) socialization
B) family
C) bureaucracy
D) stratification

Question 11

Betty Hart and Todd Risley concluded through their research that there is a correlation between children's exposure to differences in parenting practices and ______.

A) academic performance
B) how they raised their own children
C) vocabulary growth
D) discipline problems

Question 12

______ argue that within meritocracies, advantaged groups can secure better opportunities for their children, ultimately reproducing inequalities across generations.

A) Symbolic interactionists
B) Conflict theorists
C) Feminists
D) Structural-functionalists

Question 13

The correlation between educational attainment and employment earnings is ______.

A) strong and negative
B) strong and positive
C) weak and positive
D) weak and negative

Question 14

Which one of these social events did the original Coleman study address?

A) whether schools should be racially integrated
B) whether schools should educate girls and boys separately
C) whether educational differences were genetic or biological
D) whether students should be homeschooled

Question 15

John is a factory worker who has a high school degree. He would like to be promoted to a managerial position, but Bob, who has a bachelor's degree, obtains the position. If Bob's college degree played an important role in his landing the job, this is an example of ______.

A) discriminatory meritocracy
B) credentialing
C) workplace bias
D) commercialization

Question 16

Which alternative to public school attempts to allow every student and teacher an equal voice in decision making about how long classes are and who teaches them?

A) homeschooling
B) charter schools
C) voucher schools
D) unschooling

Question 17

The popularity of ______ has/have grown in recent years, while the popularity of ______ has/have been mixed at best.

A) charter schools; homeschooling
B) homeschooling; unschooling
C) unschool; charter schools
D) homeschooling; charter schools

Question 18

Richard Herrnstein and Charles Murray argue that educational inequalities and differences in learning and schooling are largely determined by ______.

A) social class background
B) one's neighborhood
C) inborn differences in intelligence
D) teaching quality

Question 19

According to the text, differences in children's educational levels can be detected as early as ______.

A) six months of age
B) two years of age
C) four years of age
D) seven years of age

Question 20

Government-issued certificates that allow students to pay tuition to private school with public tax dollars are called ______.

A) scholarships
B) vouchers
C) coupons
D) grants

Question 21

All global religions originated in ______.

A) Asia
B) North America
C) South America
D) Europe

Question 22

A group who believes in a shared religious message, wants to remain apart from society, and admits only new members who conform to the group's norms is an example of a(n) ______.

A) church
B) cult
C) ecclesia
D) sect

Question 23

Like a church, a(n) ______ is an organized form of religious expression that is usually supportive of the social order and of other religious forms.

A) movement
B) cult
C) denomination
D) evangelical

Question 24

Émile Durkheim argued that all human experience could be divided into two categories, the ______ and the ______.

A) ordinary; extraordinary
B) sacred; profane
C) plain; special
D) reverend; sublime

Question 25

According to the text, in which region do countries report the highest importance of religion?

A) countries in parts of Asia, the Middle East, and sub-Saharan Africa
B) countries in Eastern Europe and the Mediterranean
C) countries in Western Europe and North America
D) countries in Central America and South America

Question 26

______ accompany major transitions in life, such as birth, puberty, marriage, economic crises, and death.

A) Experiences
B) Sects
C) Rites of passage
D) Baptisms

Question 27

______ tend to set themselves apart from the larger society and admit only those who rigorously conform to the group's norms.

A) Sects
B) Denominations
C) Religions
D) Churches

Question 28

Each year, the Smith family spends time visiting national historical monuments in Virginia and Washington, D.C. This ritual is part of ______.

A) family religion
B) state religion
C) civil religion
D) ecclesiastic religion

Question 29

According to the text, one of the most difficult things for any religion is ______.

A) to explain why we are here
B) to explain why there are other religions
C) to explain suffering
D) to explain the signs of a higher power without scientific evidence

Question 30

A small group at odds with established religions, with new beliefs, an exclusive religious tradition, and voluntary membership is an example of a(n) ______.

A) church
B) cult
C) ecclesia
D) sect

Question 31

A large group of religiously oriented people who were born into the group or joined it, who draw members from all social classes, and who follow a highly codified belief system is an example of a(n) ______.

A) church
B) cult
C) ecclesia
D) faction

Question 32

There is a negative relationship between wealth and religiosity, demonstrated in the fact that ______.

A) People living in richer nations are more religious than those in poorer nations.
B) People living in poorer nations are more religious than those in richer nations.
C) People in the poor neighborhoods of rich countries are more religious than those in the richer areas of the same countries.
D) There are more churches in poorer countries.

Question 33

An organization with at least 2,000 people attending worship services each week is referred to as a ______.

A) sect
B) megachurch
C) church
D) cult

Question 34

______ is a strongly held belief in the basic precepts of a religion and a rejection of the modern secular world.

A) Islam
B) Pluralism
C) Fundamentalism
D) Sectarianism

Question 35

The major components of religion are beliefs, rituals, and ______.

A) experiences
B) habits
C) occurrences
D) content

Question 36

The decline in the significance of religion is called ______.

A) secularization
B) demystification
C) civil religion
D) atheization

Question 37

Some people would say that the beliefs, experiences, and rituals that provide a sense of collective national identity create a ______.

A) patriotic religion
B) state religion
C) capitalist religion
D) civil religion

Question 38

Which one of these forms does a cult most resemble?

A) a sect
B) a church
C) a historical church
D) a consumer experience

Question 39

The religion with the largest number in the world's population is ______.

A) Islam
B) Buddhism
C) Christianity
D) Hinduism

Question 40

A(n) ______ is an idea that explains the world and identifies what should be sacred.

A) belief
B) ritual
C) attitude
D) religion

Question 41

We can tell that American education is meritocratic because social origin and ascribed statuses have little effect on how much students learn and how far they go in school.

Question 42

In what part of the world has resistance to creating cultural and religious space for Muslim immigrants been greatest?

A) The United States
B) Western Europe
C) China
D) Eastern Europe

Question 43

According to the text, rituals are often used for which of these purposes?

A) to identify the source of a problem
B) to characterize what is evil
C) to remove boundaries
D) to arrive at a means for working on a solution

Question 44

Denominations are both hierarchical and bureaucratic.

Question 45

Recent research on school effects has contradicted the findings of the Coleman Report.

Question 46

According to current college enrollment statistics ______.

A) students with higher-income backgrounds are more likely to go to college
B) the number of low-income students enrolled in college has increased
C) students from middle-class backgrounds are the most likely to complete a degree
D) all students, regardless of class background, want and expect to get a college degree

Question 47

Judaism is one of the smallest of the world's religions.

Question 48

Educational experts have been interested in the consistently high rankings of Finland. Which of these are characteristics of Finland's educational system?

A) Finnish teachers are well trained and unionized.
B) Finnish schools rely heavily on standardized testing.
C) Finnish schools have consistent educational opportunities across schools.
D) Finnish schools have high levels of school choice.

Question 49

The text compares schools in the United States, Germany, and Japan to illustrate the superiority of the U.S. educational system when compared to other developed nations.

Question 50

Asian countries ranked highest in the PISA scores for math, reading, and science.

Question 51

When the Pew-Templeton Global Religious Futures Project looked at patterns of religion and migration, which religious group accounted for the largest number of immigrants worldwide?

A) Muslims
B) Christians
C) Hindus
D) Jews

Question 52

Monotheism is considered the world's largest global religion.

Question 53

How does the U.S. system differ from those of Germany and Japan?

A) Tracking occurs within schools, not between schools.
B) The United States organizes education at the state level, but Germany and Japan each have a centralized system.
C) The United States has the highest levels of achievement inequality when compared to levels in Germany and Japan.
D) Students seem to like school more in the United States than in Germany and Japan.

Question 54

Education can serve as a buffer to those with higher educational levels in times of economic recession.

Question 55

According to the study referenced in your text, a group of black impoverished children who attended an enriched preschool (Perry Preschool) for two years ______.

A) performed at an equal level to children from the same background who didn't attend preschool
B) maintained an academic advantage throughout elementary school but resembled peers without preschool by the time they reached junior high school
C) experienced larger gains in intelligence than those who didn't attend preschool
D) were more likely to finish college

Question 56

Proponents of alternatives to public school share a common view of the importance of school choice.

Question 57

Education makes a big difference at the individual level but varies too much person by person to affect the national level of income.

Question 58

Which of the following values did Robert Dreeben believe schools should teach students for them to become successful?

A) independence
B) achievement
C) specific skill competence
D) care for other children

Question 59

According to the text, which alternatives to public school have emerged over the past few decades?

A) outdoor education
B) vouchers
C) unschooling
D) charter schools

Question 60

Completion of a bachelor's degree or higher varies by race more than graduation from high school.

Question 61

Transnational migration contributes to multireligiousness.

Question 62

Mormonism has shown drastic global decline in the last 60 years.

Question 63

Members of sects tend to be drawn from those of the lower social classes.

Question 64

The majority of the world's estimated 230 million to 500 million Buddhists reside in many countries across Asia, with the largest number in China.

Question 65

Religious organizations and movements can be spread through independent missions.

Question 66

Discuss three ways by which religion can be seen as a form of consumption. What are the implications of seeing religion through a consumption lens?

Question 67

In terms of country of origin, more Christian immigrants are from Europe than from any other region.

Question 68

Describe the purpose of rituals in religious traditions. What steps do rituals take to address crises? At what times are rituals more likely to take place and toward what purpose?

Question 69

What is tracking? How does it relate to inequality within schools?

Question 70

Christianity today is declining in Europe.

Question 71

Select any two religions that are discussed in your text and explain the characteristics of each religion, such as its size, social characteristics, and where it is primarily located in the world.

Question 72

Discuss two ways by which education is related to socialization within the family.

Question 73

Discuss the Coleman Report findings in relation to The Bell Curve by Herrnstein and Murray. What claims did each make, and what were its implications? How has sociology responded to these findings?

Question 74

The two fastest-growing religions in the world today are Islam and Buddhism.

Question 75

Secularization is increasing. What is meant by secularization? What are three of the mechanisms that have contributed to the historical development of secularization? What is the prediction about secularization going forward?

Question 76

Define the term meritocracy. Discuss two findings of the Coleman Report, which was conducted in the 1960s. What does the Coleman Report suggest about meritocracy in the American educational system?

Question 77

Select and discuss one way in which family background has affected educational outcomes in the United States. What does this say about equality within the American education system?

Question 78

How does the text define beliefs in the context of religion? What are three areas of belief that religious traditions typically address?

Question 79

A cult is a new, innovative, small, and exclusive religious tradition.