Deck 12: Education and Religion

Question 1

The role of the school in teaching obedience and conformity is called:

A) the formal curriculum.
B) bureaucratic standards.
C) principles of conformity.
D) the hidden curriculum.

Answer 1

D

Question 2

What proportion of people in the United States is involved in education in some way on a daily basis,as a student or employee?

A) one in ten
B) one in five
C) three in ten
D) one in two

Answer 2

C

Question 3

Credentialism is:

A) the use of educational credentials to measure an individual's worth.
B) the awarding of a degree.
C) socializing young people into obedience and conformity.
D) using the school system to reproduce culture.

Answer 3

A

Question 4

Since the mid-1980s,racial segregation in U.S.schools has:

A) decreased.
B) increased.
C) remained fairly stable.
D) no longer been measured by government agencies.

Question 5

There are three major conflict arguments summarized in your text relating to the education institution. Which of these is NOT one of them?

A) Education is a tool for capitalists to maintain their privileged position by teaching conformity and respect for authority in public schools.
B) The use of sorting and educational credentialism creates equality in economic opportunity and the development of each person's potential.
C) The education system teaches the culture of the dominant group that is primarily white and middle-class.
D) Credentials often serve as a proxy for social class and race; particular educational credentials mark some people as better than others.

Question 6

The function of education that pertains to the teaching of specific skills such as reading and mathematics is known as:

A) selection and allocation.
B) training and knowledge.
C) socialization.
D) social control.

Question 7

White students from upper-income families tend to get better grades in school.This is at least in part because of their cultural capital.Which of the following is an example of cultural capital?

A) These students have higher IQs than other students.
B) The majority of their teachers are white, and they tend to favor white students.
C) Students of this background were more likely to have been exposed to educational opportunities like museums and enrichment programs.
D) Tests and assignments tend to be culturally biased in their favor.

Question 8

From the perspective of ________,education works for the maintenance of society.

A) symbolic interactionism
B) conflict theory
C) structural-functionalism
D) control theory

Question 9

The function of education that involves the production of new knowledge is:

A) promotion of change.
B) cultural reproduction.
C) selection and allocation.
D) training and development.

Question 10

From the perspective of _________,education reinforces the status quo and perpetuates inequality.

A) structural-functionalism
B) conflict theory
C) symbolic interaction
D) control theory

Question 11

Wan Cho recently immigrated to the United States. She looks forward to sending her children to school because there they will learn what it is to be "American." This is an example of which function of education?

A) reproducing social inequality
B) social control
C) socialization
D) training and development

Question 12

The chief difference between a conflict and a structural-functional view of American education is that:

A) the functionalists recognize dysfunctions.
B) functionalists see no negative side effects.
C) functionalists are more positive about the reproducing of culture and society.
D) conflict theorists do not recognize that education benefits anybody.

Question 13

The use of educational credentials to reflect social origins and social status is known as:

A) the hidden curriculum.
B) cultural capital.
C) credentialism.
D) tracking.

Question 14

Which of the following is an example of a manifest function of the education system?

A) to reproduce inequality
B) to bestow credentials on those who can afford them
C) to teach conformity to working class students
D) to facilitate gradual and positive change

Question 15

John believes that the educational system is good because it's been around for a long time and provides much needed training for the population.He believes in which model of education?

A) structural-functional
B) conflict
C) capitalist
D) symbolic interactionist

Question 16

Which of these is at the heart of the conflict theory criticisms of education?

A) the development of a youth subculture
B) the development of a generation gap
C) the perpetuation of inequality
D) the production of new knowledge

Question 17

Which of the following is TRUE of U.S.history texts?

A) They tend to present an objective perspective from all viewpoints.
B) They tend to ignore the history of minorities in the U.S.
C) They are similar to texts used in other countries.
D) They do not gloss over history to make the U.S. look better.

Question 18

Which of the following is the BEST definition of the education institution?

A) learning the ways of one's society
B) the formal transmission of knowledge
C) the sociology of knowledge
D) studying the processes of learning

Question 19

Which perspective has argued that because schools teach obedience,punctuality,and loyalty to the political and economic system,they serve the economic interests of the powerful?

A) organizational culture
B) the structural?functional model
C) the status attainment model
D) the conflict model

Question 20

?The structural-functional perspective of education tends to concentrate on how educational institutions:

A) benefit society and individuals.
B) are managed at the local level.
C) develop and change over time.
D) contribute to inequality.

Question 21

Margaret's teacher,Ms.Jones,is from an upper-middle class white family and is not fully aware of the culture of Margaret,who is from a working class African American family.Ms.Jones likes Margaret very much but has misinterpreted Margaret's language patterns as an indicator of lack of intelligence.Because she likes Margaret and wants her to do well and not be discouraged,she has assigned her to a remedial reading group.By the end of the school year,Margaret's reading ability actually declines to the level of the students in her reading group.This is an example of:

A) credentialism.
B) the hidden curriculum.
C) a self-fulfilling prophecy.
D) cultural capital.

Question 22

Ideally,tracking would help both gifted and slower learners.The research indicates,however that tracking:

A) hurts gifted and slower learners.
B) modestly helps gifted learners and significantly hurts slower learners.
C) significantly helps gifted learners and modestly helps slower learners.
D) modestly hurts gifted learners and significantly helps slower learners.

Question 23

Studies show that teachers are most demanding when:

A) they are of a lower social class than their students.
B) they are of a higher social class than their students.
C) the social class of both students and teacher are unknown.
D) the students are white and middle- or upper-class.

Question 24

Cognitive development is the process of:

A) raising one's IQ.
B) developing mental skills such as critical thinking.
C) learning self-control and good behavior.
D) learning to recognize social facts.

Question 25

Some evidence suggests that the use of high-stakes tests as measures of quality of education leads to:

A) much higher high school graduation rates.
B) schools encouraging or forcing low-performing students to leave school to improve the overall scores of the school.
C) a significant increase in the funding for the arts and foreign language programs.
D) higher salaries for teachers.

Question 26

Most of the benefits of tracking tend to go to:

A) the teachers, who make more money.
B) children from disadvantaged backgrounds.
C) all students, distributed fairly equally.
D) children who had the advantage to start with.

Question 27

Which of the following statements is true?

A) School segregation has increased over the last twenty years.
B) School segregation has decreased over the last twenty years.
C) Opportunities in school are the same regardless of income or ethnicity.
D) School segregation is legal.

Question 28

Which of the following statements about tracking is NOT true?

A) Tracking benefits those in high-ability groups.
B) Tracking lowers the achievement of those in low-ability groups.
C) How students are assigned to tracks has no correlation with race or social class.
D) Track assignment is related to social class.

Question 29

Your text suggests that students who are "held back" in school due to poor grades on standardized tests:

A) are disproportionately from disadvantaged backgrounds.
B) often experience an increase in their overall their long-term academic performance.
C) typically experience an increase in their chances of completing high school.
D) benefit in the long run from being able to repeat a grade.

Question 30

A major reason that students who are tracked into low-ability groups learn less than other students is that they:

A) are less able to learn.
B) are taught less.
C) have more behavioral problems.
D) miss more school because of family issues.

Question 31

Tracking is:

A) the longitudinal study of adults' educational achievement.
B) the practice of evaluating children and encouraging them to follow a particular educational program.
C) the formal term used for holding children back or moving a child ahead a grade in school.
D) a research method used to study the process of education in the U.S.

Question 32

Conflict theorists are interested in how the ________ of education leads to unequal results; symbolic interactionists are more interested in the ________ of education.

A) structure; processes
B) processes; structure
C) structure; institutionalization
D) institutionalization; structure

Question 33

At the micro level,sociologists of education might be interested in knowing about:

A) the adequacy of school budgets.
B) how the school experiences of working class and middle class students differ.
C) trends in SAT scores.
D) trends in course offerings across the country.

Question 34

The practice of evaluating children relatively early in their school experience and encouraging them to follow a particular educational program based on these evaluations is known as:

A) counseling.
B) facilitating.
C) tracking.
D) curriculum planning.

Question 35

A functionalist would argue that schools track because:

A) it is meant to perpetuate the current system of inequality.
B) it is designed to help higher-ability students more than lower-ability students.
C) tracking disadvantages higher-ability students by holding them back.
D) it should help all types of learners learn better.

Question 36

Between-track inequality is less pronounced in:

A) public schools.
B) boarding schools.
C) schools that encourage mobility between tracks.
D) schools that are pessimistic about student achievement.

Question 37

Which of these statements best describes the impact of tracking on children's education?

A) Tracking systems benefit all children equally.
B) Tracking seems to benefit children in the lower-ability groups the most.
C) Tracking only modestly benefits children in the higher-ability groups.
D) Tracking does not have any impact on student achievement.

Question 38

Cultural capital refers to:

A) the use of educational credentials to measure social status.
B) people from advantaged backgrounds.
C) people from disadvantaged backgrounds.
D) social assets such as familiarity and identification with elite culture.

Question 39

Which of these is a negative consequence of the high-stakes testing discussed in the text?

A) In some schools, teachers can now only afford to teach those aspects of a subject that are on the test.
B) Teachers must now devote time to teaching standardized test-taking skills.
C) The testing process costs considerable time, energy, and money that might have been spent on actual teaching and learning.
D) All of these are unintended negative consequences of testing discussed in the text.

Question 40

In the modern world,the ability of parents to pass on their social?class attainments to their children depends to a large extent on:

A) their children's intelligence.
B) their children's achievement motivation.
C) the parents' ability to provide their children with appropriate educational credentials.
D) the parents' involvement in politics.

Question 41

Which of the following has been a major contributor to the secularization of religion in the modern world?

A) increased population size
B) the emergence of numerous cults and sects
C) division of labor
D) science and technology

Question 42

Public schools that try to attract students through offering high-quality special programs or approaches are called:

A) home schools.
B) charter schools.
C) magnet schools.
D) voucher schools.

Question 43

Critics of school choice programs argue that they:

A) perpetuate inequality because only upper- and middle-class student can afford to participate in them.
B) perpetuate inequality, but this negative is offset by the increased racial integration they achieve.
C) benefit lower-income children at the expense of higher-income students.
D) All of these are criticism of school choice programs.

Question 44

Research on educational outcomes for students enrolled in school choice programs has found that:

A) students in charter schools perform much higher than the national averages.
B) students who are home-schooled typically suffer from a lack of educational enrichment.
C) there are no measurable differences in the achievements of students participating in school choice programs and those who do not.
D) the children who are home-schooled perform above national averages on standardized tests.

Question 45

Examining the role of religion in society,scholars:

A) have believed that secularization would increase along with the development of science and technology.
B) thought that modernization would reduce religious commitment.
C) have found that commitment to religion increases as people find their basic values are challenged.
D) All of these are true about the ways in which scholars have perceived the role of religion in society.

Question 46

The process of taking goods and services out of governmental control and instead treating them like any other marketable commodity is called:

A) commodification.
B) privatization.
C) magnetification.
D) tracking.

Question 47

Privately-controlled schools that attract students through offering high-quality special programs or approaches are called:

A) home schools.
B) charter schools.
C) magnet schools.
D) voucher schools.

Question 48

The perspective of ________ focuses on how religion meets the needs of individuals and society.

A) structural-functionalism
B) conflict theory
C) symbolic interactionism
D) feminist theory

Question 49

________ refers to religious movements that believe their most sacred books are the literal work of God and stress the importance of living in ways that mesh with those traditional interpretations.

A) Fundamentalism
B) Religious economics
C) Civil religion
D) Religiosity

Question 50

Secularization is:

A) the process that religions go through to define what is sacred and what is profane.
B) the process of transferring things, ideas, or events from the sacred to the profane.
C) the process of developing a set of rituals.
D) the process of a religious person becoming charismatic.

Question 51

Sociologists define religion as:

A) any organized group of people who believe in God.
B) a system of beliefs and practices related to sacred things that unites people in a moral community.
C) a way of life shared by members of society.
D) all of the material and nonmaterial aspects of culture that have to do with religious worship.

Question 52

Proponents of school choice:

A) argue that government-funded schools provide the most consistent quality education.
B) are opposed to privatization of education.
C) are almost exclusively liberals.
D) include liberals and conservatives who argue that when schools compete with one another for students they will provide a better service.

Question 53

The process of transferring things or ideas from the sacred to the profane is called:

A) religion.
B) science.
C) secularization.
D) religiosity.

Question 54

Fundamentalist violence is most common:

A) among people of the Muslim faith.
B) among members of the upper classes.
C) when people feel their religion or culture is being suppressed or corrupted by authorities.
D) when people lose their faith in the power of religion to benefit humanity.

Question 55

It is difficult to document the effects of school choice programs because:

A) the programs are so controversial no one wants to evaluate them.
B) there have not been enough students involved to have any accurate measurements.
C) the parents of students in school choice programs have the resources and interest in finding the best educational options for their children, thereby setting them apart from other students.
D) All of these are reasons that the effects of school choice programs are difficult to measure.

Question 56

Which of the following statements is TRUE?

A) Non-Hispanic white males are most likely to be enrolled in college.
B) Proportionately, more professional and doctoral degrees are granted to women than to men.
C) Non-Hispanic white females are most likely to be enrolled in college.
D) Today, a total of one-third of all high school graduates between the ages of 18 and 24 are enrolled in a college or university.

Question 57

Studies of persons completing their college education indicate that:

A) most are disappointed with what they have learned.
B) College-educated individuals are more likely to lead long and healthy lives than non-college educated people.
C) the majority would not go to college if they had it to do over again.
D) many feel college is irrelevant to getting a job and getting ahead.

Question 58

Sociologists find that commitment to religion:

A) has significantly decreased over time.
B) is fundamentally irrational.
C) is rational when the costs are outweighed by benefits such as the promise of supernatural rewards and support for traditional values.
D) is rational only when it is accompanied by secular views of values and morality.

Question 59

Which of these is NOT a criticism of school choice programs?

A) The programs reinforce inequality because only upper- and middle-class students can afford to participate.
B) School choice programs increase segregation; many parents use them to keep their children from others who are not like them.
C) Many fear that school choice programs are weakening America's commitment to high quality public education for all students.
D) School choice programs are costing taxpayers more money without any evidence that they are improving education.

Question 60

In 2011,which group was least likely to be unemployed?

A) People with less than a high school degree
B) People with just a high school degree
C) People with some college, but no degree
D) People with a college degree

Question 61

A distinction between new religious movements (NRM)and sects is that:

A) a sect is usually founded by a charismatic leader whereas a NRM is not.
B) a sect typically withdraws from society whereas a NRM works with society.
C) a sect is an offshoot of some existing religion in society whereas a NRM develops independent of society's religious traditions.
D) All of these are distinctions between NRMs and sects.

Question 62

According to your text,the form and character a religion assumes is shaped by the way it resolves the tension between:

A) good and evil.
B) compromising with or rejecting the world.
C) wants and needs.
D) life and death.

Question 63

Which of the following is NOT a characteristic of charismatic religious leaders?

A) People turn to them for answers to questions of ultimate meaning.
B) They have extraordinary characteristics thought to be supernatural in origin.
C) They are successful because they always have the best interests of their followers in mind.
D) They give answers to questions of ultimate meaning that often disagree with traditional answers.

Question 64

In Durkheim's view,the major function of religion for society is that religion:

A) provides individuals with a source of comfort and satisfaction.
B) provides individuals with answers to life's uncertainties.
C) counterbalances the tendencies for individuals to be nonconformists.
D) reinforces the traditions of society, giving traditions a sacred or moral imperative.

Question 65

Sects have _________ organization; churches have __________ organization.

A) informal; bureaucratic
B) informal; informal
C) bureaucratic; bureaucratic
D) bureaucratic; informal

Question 66

Today most people in the U.S.:

A) claim no particular religious beliefs.
B) belong to religious denominations.
C) are members of sects.
D) are atheists.

Question 67

The sociological term for religious organizations that are not connected to any of the mainstream religious traditions is:

A) new religious movement.
B) sect.
C) ecclesia.
D) denomination.

Question 68

What is the fastest growing religion in the world?

A) Roman Catholicism
B) Judaism
C) Islam
D) Buddhism

Question 69

Jim and Kathy both believe in working hard.They make decisions rationally,live simple lives,and believe that idleness is a sin.They are following:

A) frugalism.
B) the spirit of capitalism.
C) Mormonism.
D) the Protestant ethic.

Question 70

According to your text,the lasting contribution of Weber's analysis of the Protestant ethic and the spirit of capitalism is the idea that:

A) religion is a totally independent institution.
B) Protestantism revolutionized social institutions.
C) Capitalism benefited Protestants more than others.
D) religion can be an important element in social change.

Question 71

Which of the following is NOT one of the elementary forms of religion set forth by Durkheim?

A) A distinction between the sacred and the profane
B) A set of beliefs that help one to cope with the uncertainties of life
C) A belief in a single all-powerful deity
D) A set of rituals

Question 72

Most people become members of churches by:

A) rejecting the faith of their parents.
B) converting to them.
C) being born into them.
D) feeling estranged from society and seeking a sense of belonging.

Question 73

Marx saw religion as:

A) a social organization fostering comfort and individual satisfaction.
B) a source of change, constantly challenging the status quo of society.
C) a belief system that serves to keep the downtrodden and poor from revolting.
D) the consequence of capitalism and exploitation.

Question 74

The infant daughter of a highly religious couple died unexpectedly from sudden infant death syndrome.In the absence of any medical explanation,the parents accepted her death as God's will. They are viewing health and illness as part of the:

A) profane.
B) secular.
C) mundane.
D) sacred.

Question 75

The "Protestant ethic" refers to a belief that:

A) the monasteries should be closed.
B) good Christians must reject the world and all that is in it.
C) frugality, rationalism, and plain living are moral virtues.
D) making money is a sacred duty.

Question 76

Which sociologist first studied religion from a structural-functionalist perspective?

A) Weber
B) Marx
C) Bellah
D) Durkheim

Question 77

Religious organizations that arise in rejection of the changes modern society has created within churches are referred to as:

A) cults.
B) new religious movements.
C) sects.
D) denominations.

Question 78

Modern conflict theory differs from Marx's view of religion in that it:

A) recognizes that religion may be a source of power for the oppressed.
B) recognizes the role of religion in fostering or repressing conflict between social groups.
C) recognizes that changes in society may lead to changes in religion, and vice versa.
D) All of these are characteristics of modern conflict theory that differ from Marx.

Question 79

Marx,unlike both Durkheim and Weber,saw religion:

A) as a source of social change.
B) as a delusion deliberately fostered by the elite.
C) from a strictly value-free position.
D) as the source of community.

Question 80

Which of the following set of characteristics BEST describes a new religious movement (NRM)?

A) Small in size, appeal to a small proportion of the population, emphasis on withdrawal from society
B) Small in size, formal structure, emphasis on literal interpretation of scriptures
C) Moderate in size, formal organization, professional clergy
D) Emphasis on religious conversion or experience, moderate in size, formal organization