Deck 8: Education and Religion

Question 1

Which of the following is True about new religious movements or cults?

A) They are large, organized religions that are not officially linked to the state or government.
B) They are generally small, alternative faith communities that represent either a new religion or a major innovation in an existing faith.
C) They are religious groups that are the outgrowth of sects, yet they are traditionally more respectable than sects.
D) They are relatively small religious groups that have broken away from another religion to return to fundamentalism.

Answer 1

They are generally small, alternative faith communities that represent either a new religion or a major innovation in an existing faith.

Question 2

According to Max Weber, Protestants make better capitalists because at the heart of most Protestant belief systems, such as Calvinism, is the idea that only the rich can enter heaven.

Answer 2

False

Question 3

Karl Marx described religion as an "opiate." What did he mean by this? To what extent would both the interactionist and functionalist perspectives share this perspective on religion?

Answer 3

No Answer

Question 4

What term did Weber use to refer to a disciplined commitment to worldly labor driven by a desire to bring glory to God, shared by followers of Martin Luther and John Calvin?

A) predestination
B) the sanctuary movement
C) the Protestant ethic
D) liberation theology

Question 5

The concept of the sacred encompasses

A) the practices required or expected of members of a faith.
B) a unified system of beliefs and practices relative to profane things.
C) the elements of everyday life that humans do not understand.
D) elements beyond everyday life that inspire awe, respect, and even fear.

Question 6

Which of the following would be considered examples of religious practices?

A) fasting
B) All of the answer choices are correct.
C) church attendance
D) meditation

Question 7

To which of the following does liberation theology refer?

A) the use of a church in a political effort to eliminate poverty, discrimination, and other forms of injustice from a secular society
B) a religious organization that claims to include most of the members of a society
C) members of faith communities who support a literal interpretation of the book of Genesis
D) the use of a church, primarily Islam, to influence political legislation, equitable distribution of wealth, and governmental proceedings

Question 8

The rigid adherence to core religious doctrines is referred to as

A) ecclesia.
B) fundamentalism.
C) ritual.
D) belief.

Question 9

Which of the following is True about Max Weber and religion?

A) He studied the effects of emerging religions on Western society.
B) He examined the influence of religion on suicide.
C) He called religion the "opiate of the masses."
D) He examined the connection between religious faith and capitalism.

Question 10

A religious organization that claims to include most or all members of a society and is recognized as the national or official religion is known as a(n)

A) sect.
B) ecclesia.
C) denomination.
D) cult.

Question 11

Which of the following BEST reflects the most significant trend concerning religion in the United States?

A) There has been an increase in people who identify as "nones."
B) Most people feel that there should be no separation of church and state.
C) Judaism is the fastest-growing religion and is poised to overtake Islam.
D) Religion is becoming more fundamentalist in response to secular pressure.

Question 12

Peter Berger's definition of religion as "the human enterprise by which a sacred cosmos is established" is an example of a functional definition of religion because it focuses on the importance of the role religion plays in the lives of ordinary people.

Question 13

Durkheim argued that religion had what type of effect on society?

A) diffusing
B) aggravating
C) integrating
D) leveling

Question 14

Which of the following is True about secularization?

A) It refers to elements beyond everyday life that inspires awe, respect, and even fear.
B) It is the process through which religion's influence on the public sphere diminishes.
C) It refers to ordinary and commonplace elements of life, as distinguished from the sacred.
D) It is the process through which religion's influence on other social institutions increases.

Question 15

Karl Marx suggested that religion

A) plays an important role in propping up the existing social structure.
B) helps perpetuate patterns of social inequality.
C) All of the answer choices are correct.
D) serves as an opiate that is particularly harmful to the oppressed.

Question 16

Explain how religion can function as a force for preserving social order. Can religion also function as a force for social change? Use examples to illustrate how religion can serve both as an agent of order and as an agent of change.

Question 17

Which of the following is True of religious denominations?

A) Denominations are religions with very few members.
B) Denominations are not officially linked to the government.
C) Denominations wield as much power as ecclesia.
D) Denominations are often considered a threat to the secular government.

Question 18

Which of the following statements about liberation theology is correct?

A) It is closely associated with the promotion of capitalist values.
B) It dates back to pamphlets put out by radical organizations in the 1960s.
C) It has made significant inroads into eliminating social injustice in central Africa.
D) None of the answer choices are correct.

Question 19

Which of the following groups do not function like a religion?

A) political supporters
B) soccer moms
C) sports fans
D) followers of bands

Question 20

Support for a sports team could be considered a religion according to a functionalist definition of religion, but not according to a substantive definition.

Question 21

Which of the following would be an example of liberation theology?

A) the leadership of Pope John Paul II among Catholic clergy adhering to traditional pastoral duties
B) All of the answer choices are correct.
C) a Catholic church in South America that leads a movement to earn equal rights for poor women
D) the role of Martin Luther King Jr. in the civil rights movement in the United States in the 1960s

Question 22

Émile Durkheim's approach to religion is closely tied to and gave rise to the _____ definition of religion.

A) substantive
B) feminist
C) functionalist
D) interactionist

Question 23

The approach to religion that focuses less on what religion is than on what religions do, with a particular emphasis on how religions contribute to social order, is the ______ approach.

A) substantive
B) postmodernist
C) functionalist
D) interactionist

Question 24

Which of the following is NOT a way that Hinduism differs from Christianity, Islam, and Judaism?

A) It is mostly an oral tradition.
B) Its followers believe in a spiritual world.
C) It embraces a number of gods.
D) Its followers believe in reincarnation.

Question 25

Which of the following is NOT a belief that is shared by Christianity and Islam?

A) monotheism
B) a judgment day
C) Jesus as the son of God
D) Jesus as a prophet

Question 26

For most Christians, bread is a profane object that becomes sacred during the act of communion.

Question 27

Which of the following groups was NOT one of those Weber noted to be overwhelmingly Protestant in his 1904 book?

A) owners of capital
B) business leaders
C) skilled workers
D) unskilled workers

Question 28

The main difference between ecclesiae and denominations is that ecclesiae are recognized by the government as national churches whereas denominations are not recognized as national churches.

Question 29

Which of the following religions has variations within faiths?

A) Islam
B) All of the answer choices are correct.
C) Judaism
D) Hinduism

Question 30

The term "profane" refers to

A) things that are ordinary, rather than sacred.
B) elements beyond the commonplace.
C) the sacred cosmos.
D) spiritual elements, such as heaven and the soul.

Question 31

Which of the following statements about education in the United States is correct?

A) It severely disrupts the establishment of social order.
B) It has become less important since the 1930s.
C) All of the answer choices are correct.
D) It offers opportunity, but it also perpetuates inequality.

Question 32

One long-term effect of the "correspondence principle" is that class divisions within society have been reduced significantly.

Question 33

Education is often viewed as a method for reducing social inequalities within a society. How can education achieve this goal? To what extent can education serve to increase, or reinforce social inequalities?

Question 34

Which of the following BEST describes the relationship between parents' education and the test performance of their children?

A) Children with well-educated parents tend to get good scores, while those whose parents were poorly educated tend to get average scores.
B) There is no relationship.
C) Children with well-educated parents tend to get good scores, while those whose parents were poorly educated tend to get below-average scores.
D) Children with well-educated parents tend to get average scores, while those whose parents were poorly educated tend to get below-average scores.

Question 35

Contrary to conventional wisdom, a parent's level of education has no impact on the academic performance of the parent's children.

Question 36

Sociologists Kingsley Davis and Wilbert E. Moore used the term ______ to refer to workers' knowledge, skills, abilities, and experiences.

A) human capital
B) most valuable workers
C) educational coefficient
D) survival positions

Question 37

The term "tracking" refers to

A) the practice of placing students in specific groups based on test scores and other criteria.
B) the standards of behavior that are deemed proper by society and are taught in schools.
C) the practice of favoring students based on the power and wealth of their parents.
D) the process of following a student's progress from Kindergarten through twelfth grade.

Question 38

Which of the following describes what has happened since women have been awarded greater opportunities in education?

A) Wage disparities between men and women have disappeared.
B) Women now are more likely to major in philosophy, physics, or aerospace than in elementary education, registered nursing, or psychology.
C) By 2016, more bachelor's degrees were awarded to women than men.
D) After an initial surge, the percentage of college-educated women has dropped.

Question 39

Which of the following characteristics is MOST likely to be True of families who homeschool?

A) having three or more children
B) having parents who are older than average
C) being Hispanic or African American
D) owning multiple homes

Question 40

Which of the following accurately describes the current reality for U.S. teachers?

A) There have been public calls for new competency exams for teachers.
B) Teachers are consistently paid less than those in many comparably educated professions and skilled workers.
C) Respect for teachers as competent and responsible professionals has been challenged in the political arena.
D) All of the answer choices are correct.

Question 41

In 1848, Horace Mann, often referred to as the father of public education, called education

A) an instrument of social control.
B) an essential component of democratic societies.
C) the opiate of the masses.
D) the great equalizer.

Question 42

How do college campuses provide an environment for cultural innovation?

A) All of the answer choices are correct.
B) They expose students to new cultures throughout the world.
C) They provide a context for experimentation with new ideas and practices.
D) Faculty research generates new technology, techniques, and knowledge.

Question 43

Compare and contrast education's function as an instrument of social integration with its function as a mechanism for training and social control. Are these necessarily positive functions of education, or can these functions be viewed in a negative light?

Question 44

The "hidden curriculum" refers to

A) placing students in specific curriculum groups on the basis of test scores and other criteria.
B) teaching students to submit to authority and accept society's dominant ideology.
C) teaching art, music, industrial arts, acting, and other courses sometimes viewed as nonessential.
D) afterschool programs, such as sports, music, and theater, that increase student learning.

Question 45

Community college students are likely to possess which of the following traits, compared to their peers at four-year schools?

A) They are more likely to be low-income.
B) They are more likely to be female.
C) All of the answer choices are correct.
D) They are older.

Question 46

Which of the following is NOT one of the five positive functions that education serves for both individuals and society?

A) It encourages cultural innovation.
B) It promotes social integration.
C) It eliminates the need for social control.
D) It transmits culture.

Question 47

In Rosenthal and Jacobson's teacher-expectancy experiment, what is a "spurter"?

A) a child who had a "light-bulb" moment after one-on-one instruction
B) a child who scored low on aptitude tests but high in the classroom
C) a child who only performed well outside a structured class setting
D) a child who showed particular academic potential

Question 48

Societies use education to

A) transmit culture.
B) promote social isolation.
C) discourage cultural innovation.
D) All of the answer choices are correct.

Question 49

Which of the following is a social institution dedicated to the formal process of transmitting culture from teachers to students?

A) All of the answer choices are correct.
B) government
C) athletics
D) education

Question 50

The term "hidden curriculum" is used by sociologists to specifically describe what they see as the positive role played by schools in preparing students to be productive members of society.

Question 51

In most states, a significant percentage of funding for public schools comes from

A) the federal government.
B) local property taxes.
C) school fees.
D) sales taxes.

Question 52

Jonathan Kozol determined that wide disparities exist between what types of schools?

A) private and public
B) all female and all male
C) wealthy and poor
D) northern and southern

Question 53

One of the key reasons identified by researchers for why education perpetuates inequalities is the disparity in spending on education between rich and poor areas.

Question 54

Higher levels of education generally lead to

A) unreasonable standards of living.
B) higher annual earnings.
C) lower levels of debt.
D) an inability to fit in socially.

Question 55

The movement for day care and preschool has been driven, partly, by economic forces.

Question 56

Schools that socialize students to embrace their existing social class position are implementing what Bowles and Gintis call the correspondence principle. This results in a reproduction of the existing class structure. Do you agree or disagree that the existing class structure will be maintained if students are socialized to embrace their current social class? Why or why not?

Question 57

The impact that a teacher's expectations about a student's performance may have on the student's actual achievements is known as

A) the teacher-expectancy effect.
B) the hidden curriculum.
C) the worker-expectancy effect.
D) tracking based on test scores.

Question 58

Tracking programs, in reality,

A) can reinforce the disadvantages that children from less affluent families face.
B) tend to identify those students with the potential to succeed.
C) have been supported by recent research as being extremely effective.
D) All of the answer choices are correct.

Question 59

Many colleges require students to live on campus during their first two years. Which of the following is a reason for this policy?

A) Neither answer choice is true.
B) Both answer choices are true.
C) It stimulates cultural innovation.
D) It promotes social integration.

Question 60

Sociologists draw on what perspective to better understand how education can reproduce existing systems of inequality?

A) feminist perspective
B) conflict perspective
C) interactionist perspective
D) functionalist perspective

Question 61

For most of human history, which of the following institutions had the primary responsibility for teaching us the knowledge and skills we need to survive?

A) religion
B) families
C) schools
D) government

Question 62

The "correspondence principle" refers to

A) schools allowing students to correspond with students from other cultures via email.
B) teaching students to submit to authority and accept society's dominant ideology.
C) parents placing their children in schools that teach social values similar to their own.
D) requiring schools to socialize students to accept their existing social status.

Question 63

Reynolds and Baird's study revealed that those who failed to achieve their educational dreams did not experience long-term frustrations over that failure. They called this response

A) social control.
B) the Hawthorne effect.
C) resocialization.
D) adaptive resiliency.

Question 64

Federal Title IX policies require schools to

A) eliminate sex-segregated classes.
B) All of the answer choices are correct.
C) give females equal opportunity in athletics.
D) end sex discrimination in admissions.