Deck 14: Education, Health, and Medicine

Question 1

Which of the following is a latent function of schooling?

A) teaching about the U.S. way of life
B) providing child-care
C) teaching job skills
D) teaching basic literacy

Answer 1

B

Question 2

In Japan-compared with the United States-getting into college is more a matter of

A) who you know.
B) being rich.
C) athletic ability.
D) personal ability demonstrated on achievement tests.

Answer 2

D

Question 3

In low-income nations, most education is a matter of

A) formal schooling and then college.
B) what children can teach themselves.
C) teaching by religious leaders.
D) what parents and other community members teach their children.

Answer 3

D

Question 4

States began enacting mandatory education laws about a century ago, at the time that

A) the nation entered the computer age.
B) the baby boom began.
C) immigration became very high.
D) slavery was outlawed.

Question 5

Education is the social institution by which society provides people with important knowledge, including teaching them

A) job skills.
B) basic facts and information.
C) cultural norms and values.
D) All of the above are correct.

Question 6

In the United States in 2009, ___________ of people over the age of twenty-five had earned a four- year college degree.

A) 89.5 percent
B) 69.5 percent
C) 49.5 percent
D) 29.5 percent

Question 7

The United States reached the point where half the adult population had earned a high school diploma by

A) the mid-1960s.
B) about 1920.
C) about 1875.
D) about 1800.

Question 8

Euthanasia refers to

A) assisting in the death of a person suffering
B) people's legal "right to die."
C) helping seriously ill people receive medical from a terminal illness. treatment.
D) providing medical assistance to those who cannot afford it.

Question 9

If you were to enter a school in ancient Greece of China, the students you would find there would be mainly

A) the rich.
B) soldiers.
C) women.
D) foreigners.

Question 10

In the United States, the focus of education has always been

A) what is practical and job-related.
B) what is historical.
C) what is spiritual.
D) what is theoretical.

Question 11

From a structural-functionalist point of view, which of the following is NOT a societal function of schooling?

A) socializing the young
B) ensuring that people remain in the same
C) helping to integrate a diverse population
D) creating new culture

Question 12

Mandatory schooling came to Japan after

A) industrialization in the 1870s.
B) World War I.
C) World War II.
D) the beginning of the computer age.

Question 13

The basic reason that schooling is limited in India is

A) a lack of teachers.
B) although India is now a middle-income country, many families need children to work for income.
C) most male children become soldiers.
D) the Hindu religion forbids formal schooling for girls.

Question 14

Which of the following statements about education is NOT correct?

A) Education is a social institution by which society provides its members with knowledge.
B) How economically well off people are affects the type of schooling they have.
C) Education always takes place in schools.
D) How economically well off a nation is affects the amount of schooling its people receive.

Question 15

In the United States today, about ___________of the adult population has a high school diploma.

A) 37 percent
B) 59 percent
C) 87 percent
D) 99 percent

Question 16

Around the world, about ___________of children never get to the secondary grades of school.

A) one-third
B) one-half
C) three-fourths
D) almost all

Question 17

Society shapes human health because

A) cultural patterns define what is or is not healthy.
B) social inequality affects health.
C) technology affects health.
D) All of the above are correct.

Question 18

Jonathan Kozol criticizes the U.S. educational system for

A) focusing too much on students' future careers.
B) unequal funding that makes some schools far.
C) making too little use of achievement tests.
D) paying some teachers more than they are worth.

Question 19

In the United States, an important medical issue is

A) the fact that many hospitals are going bankrupt.
B) a surplus of nurses.
C) a shortage of nurses.
D) doctors a e making less and less money.

Question 20

The greatest preventable cause of death in the United States is

A) sexually transmitted diseases.
B) automobile accidents.
C) cigarette smoking.
D) drinking alcohol.

Question 21

"Schooling for profit" refers to

A) public schools that are run by private companies.
B) private schools that have a religious curriculum.
C) public schools that have the freedom to try new programs and policies.
D) private schools that typically enroll high-income students.

Question 22

Charter schools are

A) private schools that have a religious curriculum.
B) public schools that are run by private companies.
C) private schools that typically enroll high-income students.
D) public schools that have the freedom to try new programs and policies.

Question 23

Magnet schools encourage

A) students to take control of their own education.
B) school busing to increase cultural diversity.
C) students to specialize in specific areas of study.
D) students to complete their education in fewer years.

Question 24

Read the following statements about U.S. community colleges. Which statement is NOT correct?

A) Community college enrollments have declined sharply during the recent economic recession.
B) Community colleges enroll half of all African American and Hispanic undergraduates.
C) Community college faculty focus their efforts on classroom teaching rather than research.
D) Community colleges place higher education within the financial reach of millions of people.

Question 25

The problem of functional illiteracy refers to the fact that

A) a significant share of U.S. children never attend school.
B) older people have forgotten the lessons they learned in school.
C) young people leave school without having learned basic skills.
D) teachers in U.S. schools do not teach very well.

Question 26

Which of the following correctly states the effect of additional schooling on average personal income?

A) Earning a high school diploma and a college degree does not change average personal income.
B) Earning a high school diploma does not affect personal income, but earning a college degree raises personal income.
C) Earning a high school diploma raises personal income, but earning a college degree does not affect personal income.
D) Earning a high school diploma and earning a college degree both raise personal income.

Question 27

Theodore Sizer claims that rigid bureaucracy harms schooling. Which of the following statements is NOT one of the arguments made by Sizer?

A) Rigid bureaucracy encourages students to learn more on their own.
B) Rigid bureaucracy encourages officials to expect all students to progress at the same rate.
C) Rigid bureaucracy encourages officials to emphasize test scores and other numerical ratings.
D) Rigid bureaucracy imposes uniformity on culturally diverse local schools.

Question 28

For the United States as a whole, about ___________of people between age sixteen and twenty-four drop out before completing high school.

A) 1 percent
B) 8 percent
C) 28 percent
D) 38 percent

Question 29

Conducting research on how students from different social backgrounds perform in schools, Douglas Downey concluded that

A) student gender-balance makes a huge difference in the quality of schooling.
B) differences in school funding are the main cause of differences in student performance.
C) tracking increases personal achievement for most students.
D) the home and local community matter most in shaping students' academic performance.

Question 30

Jonathan Kozol condemns the U.S. educational system for

A) unequal funding that makes some schools far better than others.
B) making too much use of achievement tests.
C) focusing too much on students' future careers.
D) paying some teachers more than they are worth.

Question 31

Jane Elliott's "blue eyes/brown eyes" experiment in her Iowa classroom confirmed

A) the self-fulfilling prophecy by which students perform to meet the expectations of teachers.
B) that most do not study what they are interested in.
C) that most students care little about what teachers think of them.
D) the value of tracking.

Question 32

The practice of including people with disabilities in regular educational classes and programs is called

A) the magnet school policy.
B) chartering.
C) mainstreaming.
D) tracking.

Question 33

Parents spending more time reading to their children is an example of

A) the U.S. cultural value of progressive education.
B) the child benefitting from school tracking.
C) the child having greater cultural capital.
D) how schooling is used as a type of social control.

Question 34

According to Jonathan Kozol, one result of tracking is that

A) the brightest students get the worst teachers.
B) students do not get to study what they are interested in.
C) students from disadvantaged backgrounds end up in higher tracks where they cannot do the work.
D) the students who get the best schooling are usually those who are more privileged to begin with.

Question 35

According to the social-conflict approach, schooling in the United States

A) is more or less the same for all due to mandatory education laws.
B) is highly successful in increasing social equality.
C) transforms social privilege into personal merit.
D) is the key path to economic opportunity.

Question 36

People who support the school choice movement claim that U.S. public schools perform poorly because

A) some schools lack adequate funding.
B) they have no competition.
C) too many parents are not involved in the schools.
D) of a high national poverty rate.

Question 37

The classic study of U.S. education by James Coleman concluded that

A) schools now provide equal learning to all students.
B) schools alone cannot overcome problems of social inequality.
C) students in the United States outperform those in most other high-income countries.
D) students have become much more active in the classroom.

Question 38

The average grades given in U.S. high schools today, compared to those given thirty-five years ago, are

A) much higher.
B) roughly the same.
C) slightly lower.
D) much lower.

Question 39

Comparing high-income U.S. families to families with low income, we find that among the high- income families,

A) a larger share of women, but a smaller share of men, go to college.
B) a larger share of children go to college.
C) there is the same share of children who attend college.
D) a smaller share of children go to college.

Question 40

The school dropout rate is highest (18 percent) for

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

Question 41

Read the following statements about health in the United States. Which statement is CORRECT?

A) The children of rich families have higher rates of both accidents and illness.
B) Adults with higher incomes assess their own health more negatively than adults with low incomes.
C) Children in poor families are as vulnerable to disease as children in many low-income nations.
D) Life expectancy for men exceeds life expectancy for women by about five years.

Question 42

On the typical U.S. college campus, about ___________ of the students are men.

A) 73 percent
B) 63 percent
C) 53 percent
D) 43 percent

Question 43

If you were to visit a low-income nation to study its high death rates, what would you suspect to be the most common causes of death?

A) infectious diseases
B) accidents
C) old age
D) cancer and heart disease

Question 44

Centuries ago in Europe ___________, was a leading cause of death; today, ___________is the leading cause of death.

A) infectious disease; chronic illness
B) chronic illness; infectious disease
C) disease; accident
D) accident; hunger

Question 45

The World Health Organization states that about ___________people in the world suffer from poor health caused by poverty.

A) 1 million
B) 10 million
C) 1 billion
D) 10 billion

Question 46

A sociological approach suggests that health is

A) a concept so variable that it is almost meaningless.
B) a matter for medical specialists to understand.
C) an idea that has only become important in recent decades.
D) not only a biological matter but is a social issue.

Question 47

In 2007, the leading cause of death in the United States was

A) AIDS.
B) diabetes.
C) accidents.
D) heart disease.

Question 48

Back in 1900, a leading causes of death was influenza, a disease that

A) kills as many people today as it did then.
B) kills many more people today than it did then.
C) kills very few people today.
D) no longer exists today.

Question 49

In Western Europe and North America, scientists began to understand the causes of infectious diseases at about what point in history?

A) 1775
B) 1850
C) 1920
D) 1950

Question 50

Across the life course

A) men and women have the same patterns of health.
B) women have a higher suicide rate than men.
C) men have fewer accidents than women.
D) women have better health than men.

Question 51

Advancing medical technology has attacked infectious disease in poor countries with what result?

A) Most children die earlier in life than ever before.
B) Almost nothing: This technology has had little effect.
C) Death rates have dropped to near zero.
D) Populations have increased rapidly.

Question 52

Research shows that masculinity is linked to health because

A) men learn to be strong and avoid illness.
B) men avoid many of the lifestyle dangers common to women.
C) our culture's definition of masculinity encourages stress and heart disease.
D) None of the above is correct.

Question 53

Which of the following is an example of a chronic illness?

A) influenza
B) pneumonia
C) accidents
D) cancer

Question 54

A major cause of death among young people in the United States is

A) accidents.
B) cancer.
C) stroke.
D) kidney disease.

Question 55

Social epidemiology is the study of

A) the biological basis of disease.
B) the distribution of health and illness in a population.
C) where physicians receive their medical training.
D) the availability of doctors around the world.

Question 56

Read the following four statements. Which statement is NOT correct?

A) A society's degree of social inequality affects health.
B) Cultural patterns define what is or is not healthy.
C) Standards of health have remained the same for most of human history.
D) A society's level of technology affects health.

Question 57

In the United States today

A) there is a surplus of teachers.
B) there is a shortage of teachers.
C) there are enough teachers.
D) private schools, but not public schools, lack enough teachers.

Question 58

Members of hunting and gathering societies

A) had excellent health by modern standards.
B) typically lived to about age twenty and rarely lived to age forty.
C) lived longer, on average, than people in the United States do today.
D) had a high death rate from cancer and heart disease.

Question 59

Older adults-people over the age of twenty-five-now account for about ___________of all students in degree-granting programs in the United States.

A) 9 percent
B) 19 percent
C) 39 percent
D) 59 percent

Question 60

A general lesson we learn from sociological research about education is that

A) good education depends not only on schools but on the state of families and local communities.
B) U.S. schools are steadily getting better.
C) schools matter more than families and local neighborhoods.
D) most public schools perform well; most private schools do not. (Applied;

Question 61

The rise of scientific medicine in the United States began about when?

A) 1960, with advances in computer technology
B) 1917, about the time of World War I
C) 1890, as the rate of immigration increased
D) 1847, with the founding of the American Medical Association

Question 62

Which of the following categories of the U.S. population has the highest life-expectancy?

A) white women
B) white men
C) African American women
D) African American men

Question 63

Which category of people in the United States is most likely to smoke cigarettes?

A) college graduates.
B) women of high social position
C) men of low social position
D) married people

Question 64

The U.S. government pays ___________of the population's medical costs.

A) 82 percent
B) 62 percent
C) 42 percent
D) 22 percent

Question 65

"Euthanasia" refers to

A) a person's legal "right to die."
B) assisting in the death of a person suffering from a terminal illness.
C) providing medical assistance to those who cannot afford it.
D) helping seriously ill people receive medical treatment.

Question 66

Which of the following world regions is experiencing the most severe epidemic of AIDS?

A) Latin America
B) the Middle East
C) southern Africa
D) Asia

Question 67

Of the following high-income nations, which country relies the most on a direct-fee market system to pay for medical treatment?

A) the United States
B) Sweden
C) Great Britain
D) Japan

Question 68

In which region of the United States is the problem of obesity most widespread?

A) the Southeast
B) the Southwest
C) the West Coast
D) the Northern Plains

Question 69

Research shows that college women

A) believe that physical looks are not as important as "what's inside."
B) believe that being thin is key to being attractive.
C) want to be thinner than men would like them to be.
D) are much happier with their body shapes than college men are.

Question 70

The medical establishment in the United States can be described as oriented toward

A) scientific medicine.
B) holistic treatment.
C) herbal healing.
D) traditional healing arts. (Applied;

Question 71

The greatest preventable cause of death in the United States is

A) drinking alcohol.
B) automobile accidents.
C) sexually transmitted diseases.
D) cigarette smoking.

Question 72

The 2010 health care reform bill passed by Congress

A) establishes the government as a "single payer" for medical care.
B) replaces both Medicare and Medicaid.
C) reduces the cost of health care by eliminating coverage for children under the age of twenty-six.
D) requires all families to purchase medical insurance, regulated by the government, by 2014.

Question 73

"Barefoot doctors," acupuncture, and the use of medicinal herbs are all part of the medical system in

A) Great Britain
B) China
C) Japan
D) the United States

Question 74

Read the following statements that explain the rise of obesity in the United States. Which statement is NOT correct?

A) Our diet contains lots of fatty and salty foods.
B) More and more workers have jobs that require little physical activity.
C) The time spent by children watching television and playing video games has declined.
D) Over the last decade, the typical person has been eating larger amounts of food.

Question 75

Read the following statements about the right-to-die debate. Which statement is NOT correct?

A) Under the law, the first duty of doctors and hospitals is to assist in the peaceful death of patients.
B) The U.S. Supreme Court has stated that there is no constitutional "right to die."
C) Voters in the states of Oregon and Washington have approved a physician-assisted suicide law.
D) Surveys show that most U.S. adults think dying people should be able to choose to die with a doctor's help.

Question 76

An exception to the downward trend in infectious disease in the United States over past decades is

A) the rising rate of obesity.
B) higher rates of infant mortality.
C) a rising death rate from influenza.
D) a rising number of sexually transmitted diseases (STDs).

Question 77

Upon infection, people with HIV typically

A) display no symptoms for a year or more.
B) display visible symptoms within a few weeks.
C) display visible symptoms within a few minutes.
D) get very sick within several days.

Question 78

Holistic medicine asserts that

A) the best way to promote health is to treat the symptoms of disease.
B) patients should take a reactive approach to illness.
C) treatment of all patients should be equal and impersonal.
D) patients should rely on themselves-not just physicians-to enhance their health.

Question 79

About ___________ of U.S. physicians are women.

A) 72 percent
B) 52 percent
C) 32 percent
D) 12 percent

Question 80

Which of the following is NOT considered a behavior that increases the risk of HIV infection?

A) engaging in anal sex
B) sharing needles
C) using any drug that impairs judgment
D) having casual contact with persons infected with HIV