Deck 13: Family and Religion

Question 1

Today's television shows, such as Modern Family, tend to present the family

A) as a group of people who lack any sense of commitment.
B) as highly diverse, suggesting that there is no simple form for the family.
C) as something that most people today try to avoid.
D) as two parents with children, all living together.

Answer 1

as highly diverse, suggesting that there is no simple form for the family.

Question 2

A family unit that includes parents and children, as well as other kin, is called

A) a family of affinity.
B) a conjugal family.
C) a nuclear family.
D) an extended family.

Answer 2

D

Question 3

The chapter-opening story of Rosa Yniguez, who came from Mexico and is now living in California, makes the point that immigrant women in the United States

A) typically do not have children.
B) live much the same as women in their native countries.
C) typically do not work for income.
D) are deciding to have fewer children.

Answer 3

D

Question 4

A system of marriage that unites two partners is called

A) polygamy.
B) monogamy.
C) polygyny.
D) polyandry.

Question 5

The family is a social institution that is found in

A) high-income nations but not in low-income nations.
B) about half of human societies.
C) most but not all societies.
D) every human society.

Question 6

To which region of the world would you travel if you wanted to visit many countries where the law permits polygamy?

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

Question 7

A system of marriage that unites three or more people is called

A) polygamy.
B) monogamy.
C) exogamy.
D) endogamy.

Question 8

Religion is best defined as a social institution involving

A) norms about how to live.
B) beliefs about creation.
C) beliefs about right and wrong.
D) beliefs and practices concerning what is sacred.

Question 9

Jane is a woman married to one man. When she took a sociology course, she discovered that such marriages are described as

A) exogamy.
B) endogamy.
C) monogamy.
D) polygamy.

Question 10

The family is a social institution that is found in

A) every human society.
B) most but not all societies.
C) about half of human societies.
D) high-income nations but not in low-income nations.

Question 11

Which of the following is an example of civil religion?

A) singing patriotic songs on the Fourth of July
B) tax exemptions for churches
C) cannot the sex scandal in the Catholic church
D) high religiosity among members of sects

Question 12

A family composed of one or two parents and their children is called

A) a consanguine family.
B) a nuclear family.
C) an extended family.
D) a family of affinity.

Question 13

A trend over the course of the last century in high-income nations such as the United States is that families have become

A) more egalitarian with regard to gender.
B) larger.
C) more dominated by males.
D) less likely to experience divorce.

Question 14

The concept "patrilocality" refers to

A) a system of tracing descent though males.
B) a family unit composed of only males.
C) rule of men over women.
D) a residential pattern by which a married couple lives near the husband's family.

Question 15

Around the world, the most common form of marriage is

A) polygamy.
B) monogamy.
C) polygyny.
D) polyandry.

Question 16

Kinship is defined as two or more people who

A) know each other well.
B) live together.
C) are related by common ancestry, marriage, or adoption.
D) engage in economic cooperation.

Question 17

The concept "endogamy" refers to marriage between

A) people of the same sex.
B) people of different racial categories.
C) people of the same social category.
D) people who were married at least once before.

Question 18

The most difficult transition in married life is typically

A) the birth of a first child.
B) the last child leaving home.
C) the death of a spouse.
D) retirement.

Question 19

In general, industrialization tends to change the dominant family form from

A) extended families to nuclear families.
B) nuclear families to extended families.
C) endogamous families to exogamous families.
D) monogamous families to polygamous families.

Question 20

In the United States, family violence is

A) considered a private family matter.
B) a serious, often criminal, problem.
C) mostly harmful to men.
D) no longer considered as serious an issue as it was in past decades.

Question 21

In traditional regions of many lower-income nations, such as Sri Lanka, marriage is

A) unknown except among the elites.
B) arranged by the parents of the people to be married.
C) based almost entirely on romantic love.
D) delayed until the people reach their mid-thirties.

Question 22

In most low-income nations around the world, the typical number of children per family is

A) four or more.
B) two or three.
C) one.
D) none.

Question 23

What is the effect of industrialization on the typical number of children in a family?

A) Families have the same number of children.
B) Families have more children.
C) Families no longer care about how many children they have.
D) Families have fewer children.

Question 24

A social-exchange analysis of family life might consider

A) how families perpetuate social inequality.
B) how families keep society as a whole operating.
C) how families regulate sexual activity.
D) how individuals select partners who offer about as much as they do.

Question 25

The text identifies one region of the world where arranged marriage, although illegal, still takes place in rural areas. That global region is

A) India and Sri Lanka
B) Mexico and Guatemala
C) Japan and China
D) Sweden and Norway

Question 26

The concept "empty nest" refers to

A) women who marry but choose to remain childless.
B) couples who are unable to have a child.
C) families whose children have grown and left the home.
D) households in which women choose to remain single.

Question 27

Describing the lives of middle-class women, Lillian Rubin reported that most women said they wanted husbands who

A) had a steady job and were not violent.
B) were good looking.
C) were rich.
D) could talk easily and share feelings with them.

Question 28

The most difficult transition in married life is typically

A) the birth of a first child.
B) the last child leaving home.
C) retirement.
D) the death of a spouse.

Question 29

According to the structural-functional approach, the family

A) is a system to maintain the dominance of some racial categories over others.
B) operates to perpetuate economic inequality.
C) might be called the backbone of society.
D) is not necessary for a society to operate.

Question 30

In the United States, a recent trend involving parenting is that

A) women are having more children.
B) more adults are delaying having children or choosing to remain childless.
C) women are marrying earlier in life.
D) most men are now marrying before age twenty.

Question 31

The concept "homogamy" means that

A) people marry because they enjoy being married.
B) women usually marry older men.
C) people marry partners who are socially like themselves.
D) people marry partners of the same sex.

Question 32

Typically, high-income societies make use of_____ to trace ancestry.

A) patrilineal descent
B) matrilineal descent
C) bilateral descent
D) neolocal descent

Question 33

Assume you were visiting a society in which people trace family ties only through women. This society would correctly be called

A) matrilineal.
B) patrilocal.
C) matrilocal.
D) polygynous.

Question 34

Which of the following is NOT counted among the functions of the family?

A) socialization of the young
B) encouraging any and all family members to reproduce
C) social placement
D) regulation of sexual activity

Question 35

Over the course of the last century, in high-income nations such as the United States, families have become

A) larger in terms of number of children.
B) less likely to experience divorce.
C) more dominated by males.
D) more egalitarian with regard to gender.

Question 36

Today's baby boomers are often called the "sandwich generation" because

A) they so often eat on the run.
B) they spend time caring for both children and aging parents.
C) they must meet both family and work responsibilities.
D) most have had several marriages.

Question 37

Describing the lives of working-class women, Lillian Rubin reported that most women said they wanted husbands who

A) had steady jobs and were not violent.
B) were good looking.
C) were rich.
D) could talk easily and share feelings with them.

Question 38

In today's high-income societies, children are

A) leaving home to go to work earlier than ever before.
B) usually willing and able to repay parents for what it cost to raise them.
C) an economic liability, expensive to raise.
D) an economic asset, producing income.

Question 39

One concern about the great importance most people in the United States give to romantic love as the basis of marriage is that

A) romantic love can fade, which may contribute to our nation's high divorce rate.
B) romantic love brings together people who are socially quite different.
C) this focus on romance may discourage people from paying enough attention to children.
D) this focus on romance means that many marriages are not a "fair exchange."

Question 40

The incest taboo

A) is found in every human society.
B) is found among every species of animals.
C) is not observed in modern, high-income societies.
D) developed in some societies after the Industrial Revolution.

Question 41

Compared to white women of the same age, forty-year-old African American women are

A) more likely to have married several times.
B) less likely to have married.
C) equally likely to have married.
D) more likely to have married.

Question 42

Which of the following factors is NOT a reason for the long-term upward trend in divorce rates?

A) Today's women are more economically dependent on men.
B) Romantic love often fades over time.
C) Our culture is marked by a rising trend of individualism.
D) Legally, divorce is easier to get.

Question 43

Patterns that describe many Latino families include

A) strong extended kinship.
B) very egalitarian gender roles.
C) parents who give children considerable freedom in their courtship.
D) having income well above the national average.

Question 44

Adults who abuse children typically

A) were abused themselves as children.
B) are middle-class.
C) were married at a very young age.
D) are men.

Question 45

Which of the following categories of our population has the highest share of female-headed households?

A) Hispanic/Latino Americans
B) Asian Americans
C) African Americans
D) non-Hispanic whites

Question 46

American Indians who migrate from tribal reservations to cities, typically

A) rarely associate with others of their ethnic background.
B) form conventional nuclear families with just parents and children.
C) seek out others in their kin and tribal group for help in getting settled.
D) assimilate quickly and lose all traditional culture.

Question 47

Mounting research suggests that cohabitation

A) increases the odds of a child living with both biological parents until age eighteen.
B) increases the financial security of children.
C) may actually discourage marriage because people get used to low-commitment relationships.
D) strengthens a couple's commitment to one another.

Question 48

Compared to what it was a century ago, the U.S. divorce rate today is

A) lower.
B) about the same.
C) twice as high.
D) more than three times higher.

Question 49

Most people in the United States who divorce

A) remain single.
B) remarry within four years.
C) experience a rising standard of living.
D) have experienced family violence.

Question 50

Looking ahead twenty years in the United States, the one thing we can be sure of is that

A) most people will not marry.
B) the divorce rate will drop dramatically.
C) stay-at-home dads will outnumber stay-at-home moms.
D) family life will be diverse.

Question 51

Emile Durkheim described the ordinary elements of everyday life as

A) profane.
B) sacred.
C) ritual.
D) a totem.

Question 52

Which of the following people would you pick as being at the highest risk of divorce?

A) a couple both of whose parents have never experienced divorce
B) a couple both of whom have never had a divorce before
C) a young couple who marry after a short courtship
D) a couple who are both highly religious

Question 53

The concept of sacred refers to what is

A) no longer found in today's world.
B) set apart and defined as extraordinary.
C) the same for all people.
D) common to everyday life.

Question 54

As of 2010, seven countries have national laws that permit same-sex marriage-both in name and in practice. Which of the following is NOT one of them?

A) Canada.
B) Sweden.
C) Spain.
D) the United States.

Question 55

Research shows that growing up in a single-parent family

A) has no effect on children.
B) can disadvantage children.
C) is beneficial to boys, but harmful to girls.
D) is beneficial to children.

Question 56

Jessie Bernard claimed that traditional marriages

A) benefit both women and men equally.
B) benefit men more than women.
C) benefit women more than men.
D) are harmful to both women and men.

Question 57

In 1950, 90 percent of U.S. households were families, meaning that they contained two or more people related by blood, marriage, or adoption. In 2009, _____of U.S. households were families.

A) 50 percent
B) 67 percent
C) 75 percent
D) 90 percent

Question 58

Regardless of race, families headed by single women are

A) much larger than other family types.
B) much smaller than other family types.
C) likely to experience greater upward mobility.
D) at high risk for poverty.

Question 59

In the United States, family violence is

A) no longer considered as serious an issue as it was in past decades.
B) mostly harmful to men.
C) considered a private family matter.
D) a serious, often criminal, problem.

Question 60

The recent trend in racially mixed marriages has been

A) upward-the numbers are increasing.
B) flat-the numbers are holding steady.
C) downward-the numbers are falling.
D) downward for men, but upward for women.

Question 61

Durkheim explained that what people understand as profane are things

A) in the past.
B) that are set apart as "forbidden."
C) that involve ultimate meaning.
D) that are common to everyday life.

Question 62

As Max Weber saw it, capitalism amounted to

A) a new religion seeking a new sacred truth.
B) a force that supported tradition.
C) a disenchanted religion.
D) Calvinism with an added measure of Christianity.

Question 63

Religion is best defined as a social institution involving

A) beliefs about creation.
B) norms about how to live.
C) beliefs and practices concerning what is sacred.
D) beliefs about right and wrong.

Question 64

In the United States, the Amish would be an example of a

A) state church.
B) cult.
C) charismatic cult
D) sect.

Question 65

_____refers to the fusion of Christian principles with political activism, often Marxist in character

A) Liberation theology
B) Liberal Christianity
C) Evangelism
D) Fundamentalism

Question 66

A religious organization well integrated into the larger society is called a

A) sect.
B) church.
C) charismatic cult.
D) cult.

Question 67

An analysis of how religion supports the interests of a society's elites would fall under which of the following theoretical approaches?

A) structural-functional approach
B) symbolic-interaction approach
C) social-conflict approach
D) social-exchange approach

Question 68

Ritual is a matter of

A) who you socialize with.
B) formal, ceremonial behavior.
C) song and dance.
D) beliefs.

Question 69

Karl Marx believed that religion

A) treats existing society as secular and corrupt.
B) weakens the power of the state.
C) focuses on life in the present rather than the future.
D) reinforces patterns of social inequality.

Question 70

Over the course of its history, the Roman Catholic Church has been a

A) denomination.
B) state church.
C) church.
D) It has been all of the things listed here in varying times and places.

Question 71

Sociological analysis of religion is concerned with

A) the purpose of life.
B) learning the will of God.
C) patterns of religious activity and their effect on social life.
D) which religions are true and which religions are false.

Question 72

In his analysis of Protestantism and the rise of capitalism, Max Weber argued that

A) Protestantism held back the development of capitalism.
B) the conflict between Protestantism and the Roman Catholic Church discouraged political revolution.
C) Protestantism was a strong force that supported the status quo and discouraged social change.
D) Protestantism's emphasis on duty and hard work led to greater economic production, encouraging the rise of capitalism.

Question 73

Emile Durkheim pointed to three societal functions of religion. Which of the following is NOT one of them?

A) providing social control
B) providing meaning and purpose
C) increasing social cohesion
D) increasing social conflict

Question 74

Faith is a way of knowing based on

A) belief or conviction rather than scientific evidence.
B) scientific research.
C) human senses.
D) rational thought.

Question 75

Which type of religious organization includes leaders who are formally trained and ordained?

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

Question 76

Which of the following is a correct criticism of the structural-functional approach to religion?

A) It does not say much about what religion does in today's world.
B) It ignores religion's ability to cause social conflict.
C) It ignores the positive consequences of religion for society.
D) It ignores the way religion can provide meaning to people.

Question 77

Which sociologist claimed that religion turned people's attention away from social inequality in the world?

A) Karl Marx
B) Emile Durkheim
C) Ernst Troeltsch
D) Peter Berger

Question 78

Which of the following concepts was used by Emile Durkheim to refer to an object in the natural world collectively defined as sacred?

A) symbol
B) totem
C) idol
D) profane

Question 79

As the official Church of England, the Anglican Church is best described as a

A) sect.
B) cult.
C) state church.
D) charismatic cult

Question 80

Based on the symbolic-interaction approach, we would study how religion and religious ideas

A) give rise to social conflict.
B) operate as a type of social control.
C) are socially constructed.
D) play a part in helping society to operate