Deck 11: Race and Ethnicity

Question 1

Race refers to ________ considered important by a society.

A) cultural traits
B) biological traits
C) differences
D) micro-level traits
E) macro-level traits

Answer 1

biological traits

Question 2

What is the term for a socially constructed category composed of people who share biologically transmitted traits that members of a society consider important?

A) minority
B) race
C) ethnicity
D) stereotype
E) peer group

Answer 2

race

Question 3

Which of the following is true regarding race?

A) Few people think of race in terms of biological traits.
B) Migration has had little impact on the variety of racial traits found today.
C) Race is a socially constructed concept.
D) In any society, definitions and meanings concerning race are stable over time.
E) People in Canada "see" more racial categories than do people in Brazil.

Answer 3

Race is a socially constructed concept.

Question 4

Which of the following is true about race?

A) Racial traits have a great deal to do with being human.
B) Race and geography are interrelated.
C) Some societies have no genetics mixtures.
D) Sociologists accept the categories "Caucasian," "Negroid," and "Mongoloid."
E) All individuals can be classified into racially distinct categories.

Question 5

Which of the following is a reason that sociologists consider the "scientific"racial types of Caucasoid, Mongoloid, and Negroid to be misleading and even harmful?

A) All societies contain biologically "pure" people.
B) The "purer" racial types are physically inferior to those who are "mixed."
C) The skin colour of "white" people is similar.
D) Some "Black" people actually have darker skin than many "white" people.
E) The population is genetically homogenous.

Question 6

Why do people construct racial categories?

A) It allows countries to keep track of what types of people are living in the country.
B) People should know who their ancestors are.
C) The categories allow societies to rank people in a hierarchy.
D) The categories allow the government to determine who needs the most resources.
E) The categories allow for more equality.

Question 7

What is the difference between race and ethnicity?

A) Ethnicity involves biology, but race does not.
B) Race refers to the sharing of common parentage, generations removed.
C) Ethnicity involves culture.
D) Race and ethnicity are interchangeable terms.
E) Race is a mixture of cultures.

Question 8

Ethnicity refers to:

A) biological traits.
B) cultural traits.
C) what we have in common.
D) micro-level traits.
E) macro-level traits.

Question 9

The term for a shared cultural heritage is:

A) minority.
B) race.
C) ethnicity.
D) cultural universal.
E) identification group.

Question 10

A family leaves Sweden and takes up residence in Canada, where they gradually become less "Swedish."They have thus changed their:

A) race.
B) ethnicity.
C) minority status.
D) religion.
E) nationality.

Question 11

What is the term for a category of people distinguished by physical or cultural difference that society sets apart and subordinates?

A) minority
B) racial group
C) ethnic group
D) stereotypes
E) nationality

Question 12

In the 2011 census, approximately ________ people stated "Canadian"as their only, or one of their, ethnic origins.

A) 2 million
B) 5 million
C) 10 million
D) 15 million
E) 30 million

Question 13

In the population of Canada, which European descent group is the largest as judged by the percent of people who state only one ethnic origin?

A) Polish
B) English
C) French
D) German
E) Irish

Question 14

In Canada, the largest ethnic group consists of those who declare themselves to be:

A) Irish.
B) Asian.
C) French.
D) English.
E) Canadian.

Question 15

Two major characteristics of minorities are:

A) genetic background and lifestyle.
B) racial background and lifestyle.
C) vulnerability and subordination.
D) distinctive identity and subordination.
E) cultural heterogeneity and lifestyle.

Question 16

Which of the following would be considered a minority group in Canada?

A) males
B) females
C) any category in society that makes up a small proportion of a society's population
D) political leaders
E) the wealthy

Question 17

The term for a rigid and unfair generalization about an entire category of people is:

A) scapegoating
B) prejudice.
C) racism.
D) stereotype.
E) discrimination.

Question 18

Which of the following is FALSE regarding guest workers in Canada?

A) Immigrants to Canada do jobs no one else wants.
B) Some employers suggest Canada make it easier to recruit immigrants.
C) Critics argue that guest workers depress wages for Canadian workers.
D) Most immigrants make much more than the minimum wage.
E) The rights of migrant workers are not well protected.

Question 19

Stereotypes are:

A) common among whites, but not among minorities.
B) simplified descriptions applied to everyone in some category.
C) sociological generalizations.
D) a matter of amusement rather than actual harm to anyone.
E) the belief that one racial category is innately superior.

Question 20

Bogardus's social distance scale measures:

A) prejudice.
B) personal space.
C) race.
D) segregation.
E) ethnicity.

Question 21

The term for an exaggerated description applied to every person in some category is:

A) scapegoating.
B) prejudice.
C) racism.
D) discrimination.
E) stereotype.

Question 22

The term that refers to how closely people are willing to interact with members of some category is:

A) social distance.
B) marginal distance.
C) racism.
D) stereotype.
E) discrimination.

Question 23

A Canadian who believes that some category of people should be barred from the country would:

A) be most likely to express these feelings toward people from Europe.
B) rank high on the social distance scale.
C) rank low on the social distance scale.
D) rank low in stereotyping but high on marginal distance.
E) rank low on measures of discrimination but high on measures of stereotyping.

Question 24

Which of the following is FALSE regarding current patterns of social distance?

A) Student opinions show a trend toward greater acceptance.
B) The terror attacks of September 11, 2001, may have reduced social acceptance of Arabs and Muslims.
C) People see more difference among various minorities.
D) Today's students express less social distance toward all minorities than did students decades ago.
E) People express the least social distance toward those from northern and western Europe.

Question 25

Blaming the homeless for the poor economic situation of a nation illustrates:

A) scapegoating.
B) culture theory.
C) authoritarianism.
D) pluralism.
E) segregation.

Question 26

The term for a person or category of people, typically with little power, whom people unfairly blame for their own troubles is:

A) scapegoat.
B) bigot.
C) racist.
D) minority.
E) discrimination.

Question 27

Scapegoat theory:

A) suggests that frustrated people blame people who have less power.
B) links prejudice to frustration and disadvantaged status.
C) was invented in the turbulent 1960s.
D) usually improves the objective concerns of the scapegoater.
E) cannot account for any of the prejudice in today's society.

Question 28

Which theory of prejudice most likely will indict parental upbringing for a person's prejudice?

A) authoritarian personality theory
B) cultural theory
C) scapegoat theory
D) conflict theory
E) symbiotic theory

Question 29

Select the item that is a characteristic of Adorno's "authoritarian personality."

A) views society as naturally cooperative
B) is hostile and aggressive
C) sees certainty in right and wrong concerning moral issues
D) looses conformity to conventional cultural values
E) is calm and passive

Question 30

The cultural theory of prejudice argues that:

A) people in Canada offer vastly different evaluations of various racial groupings.
B) prejudiced people are abnormal.
C) everyone in Canada expresses some prejudice because we live in a "culture of prejudice."
D) the social equality of all people is a core value in Canada that is violated by prejudiced people.
E) prejudice is more deeply rooted among visible minorities.

Question 31

With which of the following explanations of the differences in IQ scores among minorities would most sociologists agree?

A) Environmental factors have little to do with IQ.
B) Race is related to, and affects, intelligence.
C) Where minorities live has no effect on their intelligence.
D) IQ test scores show that cultural patterns matter.
E) Categories of people do differ in intelligence.

Question 32

Which theory proposes that powerful people utilize prejudice to justify their oppression of minorities?

A) authoritarian personality theory
B) cultural theory
C) scapegoat theory
D) conflict theory
E) hostility theory

Question 33

The term for treating various categories of people unequally is:

A) scapegoating.
B) prejudice.
C) racism.
D) violation.
E) discrimination.

Question 34

Which of the following is true regarding prejudice and discrimination?

A) They often occur together.
B) Discrimination and prejudice can only be negative
C) Prejudice refers to action.
D) Discrimination is related to beliefs.
E) Discrimination refers to attitudes.

Question 35

The term for bias built into the operation of society's institutions is:

A) institutional prejudice and discrimination.
B) systematic racism and discrimination.
C) systematic prejudice without discrimination.
D) cultural stereotyping.
E) institutional racism.

Question 36

As a minority person, you discover that your employer has passed you and other minorities by on salary increases, even though your record is the same as or better than that of the people who did get an increase. You have experienced:

A) prejudice.
B) institutional racism.
C) individual racism.
D) stereotyping.
E) mandatory treatment.

Question 37

The vicious circle of prejudice and discrimination:

A) produces social inferiority.
B) forces minority persons to occupy a low position in society.
C) is interpreted as evidence that minorities are innately inferior.
D) is unrelated to beliefs about innate inferiorities.
E) perpetuates itself.

Question 38

According to the Thomas theorem, how could racial prejudice in Canada be reduced?

A) Eliminate racial inequality in the economic sphere.
B) Create more voting opportunities for minorities.
C) Stop institutional racism.
D) Sabotage white supremacist groups.
E) Provide widespread demonstration that racial stereotypes are absolutely inaccurate.

Question 39

The fact that white people interpret social disadvantage as evidence that minorities do not measure up to their standards and then unleash a new round of prejudice and discrimination is evidence for the accuracy of which theory?

A) the Thomas theorem
B) the scapegoat theory
C) cultural theory
D) conflict theory
E) authoritarian theory

Question 40

A pluralistic approach to conditions in contemporary Canada would argue the following:

A) A large proportion of people in Canada maintain a distinct racial and ethnic identity.
B) Tolerance for social diversity is limited in Canada.
C) Pluralism characterizes the ideals and practices of Canada.
D) People of various colours and cultures have unequal social standing.
E) No person should take pride in their cultural heritage.

Question 41

The rise of white supremacist groups in Canadian cities in reaction to the growing proportion of minorities demonstrates:

A) the fact that the large variety of languages spoken is causing problems.
B) the need for people to have a common way to communicate.
C) the limitation of our tolerance for social diversity.
D) the need to create equal social standing for everyone.
E) the interactionist approach to conflict.

Question 42

What is the process by which minorities gradually adopt patterns of the dominant culture?

A) genocide
B) assimilation
C) segregation
D) pluralism
E) concentration

Question 43

Multiculturalists find fault with the assimilation model because they believe it:

A) is too radical in the current historical context.
B) tends to paint the majority as the group in need of change.
C) would lead to a true "mosaic."
D) would lead to even more segregation.
E) tends to paint minorities as the problem by defining them as the ones who must change.

Question 44

________ discrimination is discrimination that is overt and legal.

A) De facto
B) Post facto
C) De jure
D) Pro tem
E) Ipso facto

Question 45

________ is the systematic killing of one category of people by another.

A) Genocide
B) Fratricide
C) Miscegenation
D) Mass murder
E) Assimilation

Question 46

What is the term that refers to Hitler's treatment of Jews as a scapegoat, blaming them for the ills of German society?

A) the Killing Fields
B) the Holocaust
C) the Genocide
D) Nazism
E) the Miscegenation

Question 47

Which of the following is a historical example of genocide?

A) immigration
B) outmigration
C) the economic domination of India
D) the decimation of the population of Aboriginal Canadians
E) the Tutsi killing of Hutus in Rwanda

Question 48

The first people to inhabit Canada were the

A) French
B) Spanish
C) British
D) Vikings
E) Aboriginals

Question 49

When the first Europeans arrived in the Americas in the fifteenth century, Aboriginals:

A) followed shortly thereafter.
B) had just migrated from Asia.
C) came with them from Europe.
D) only had permanent settlements north of the Canadian-American border.
E) had already inhabited the land for over 15 000 years.

Question 50

What does the acronym WASP stand for?

A) White Anglo's Superiority Pride
B) White Anglo-Saxon Protestant
C) White Americans who Support Pluralism
D) Without Any Social Prejudice
E) Whites Against Stereotyping and Prejudice

Question 51

Which of the following are characterizations of the position of Aboriginals in Canada?

A) Aboriginals comprise a homogeneous population.
B) More than a million people claimed some Aboriginal ancestry in the 1871 census.
C) Fewer than 300 000 (about 1 percent) considered themselves Aboriginal persons in the 2001 census.
D) The median family income for Aboriginal Canadians is far below the national average.
E) Aboriginal Canadians are more likely to live in dual-parent families than other Canadians.

Question 52

Select the Aboriginal group from among the following.

A) Conquistadors
B) Hispanics
C) Anglos
D) Nisga'a
E) WASPs

Question 53

Which ethnic category is not representative of WASPs?

A) Canadian
B) English
C) Scottish
D) Welsh
E) Irish

Question 54

Which of the following illustrates the concept of the "two solitudes"?

A) a country where poverty exists in the midst of plenty
B) a country where there is inequality in a land espousing equality
C) a country where there are socialist institutions in a capitalist economy
D) a democratic country where there are categories of people who are denied basic rights and freedoms
E) a country where two large ethnic groups are joined in uneasy political union

Question 55

The "head-tax"on Chinese immigrants was lifted in:

A) 1886.
B) 1904.
C) 1947.
D) 1970.
E) 1980.

Question 56

Chinese immigrants in the nineteenth century faced which form of discrimination?

A) They were charged a head tax.
B) During the construction of the transnational railroad, Chinese were permitted to come to Canada as a expensive source of labour.
C) During the early stages of Chinese immigration, women far outnumbered men.
D) Chinese immigrants in Nanaimo, B.C., had to go to an integrated school.
E) They were not granted voting rights until 1949.

Question 57

Visible minorities have an average income that is ________ that of other Canadians.

A) lower than
B) higher than
C) equal to
D) almost similar to
E) greater than

Question 58

From where do most contemporary Canadian immigrants come?

A) high- and low-income countries
B) high- and middle-income countries
C) middle- and low-income countries
D) high-income countries
E) Europe

Question 59

Which of the following is true about immigrants in Canada?

A) Recent years have witnessed rising hostility toward foreigners.
B) Europe still provides most of the immigrants to Canada.
C) The new immigrants to Canada are bringing the most profound cultural changes to eastern cities.
D) The new immigrants do not face the same problems of prejudice and discrimination experienced by those who came before them.
E) Few immigrants try to maintain their traditional cultures.

Question 60

What is the term for a "fear of what is strange"-used to describe the rising hostility in Canada toward foreigners?

A) agoraphobia
B) xenophobia
C) furrinophobia
D) universaphobia
E) sterophobia

Question 61

New immigrants to Canada today:

A) face little prejudice and discrimination.
B) face more prejudice but less discrimination than in the past.
C) face more discrimination but less prejudice than in the past.
D) face much the same prejudice and discrimination as in the past.
E) are welcomed without prejudice.

Question 62

Humans display "racial characteristics"due to living in different geographical regions of the world for thousands of generations.

Question 63

In Canada, people typically "see"fewer racial categories than do people in Brazil.

Question 64

Scientific research confirms the rightness of a racial hierarchy.

Question 65

Many "white"people actually have darker skin than many "Black"people.

Question 66

Early in the twentieth century, many southern states legally defined as "coloured"anyone who had 1/32 African ancestry.

Question 67

Jews are considered a race.

Question 68

A person's ethnicity can be changed.

Question 69

Guest workers typically earn more than minimum wage.

Question 70

By building a rigid attitude out of a few selected facts, stereotypes grossly distort reality.

Question 71

The concept of social distance refers to how closely people are willing to interact with members of some category.

Question 72

Student opinions show a trend toward greater acceptance toward all minorities.

Question 73

Racism refers to the belief that one racial category is superior or inferior to another.

Question 74

According to the conflict theory of prejudice, frustration among people who are themselves disadvantaged results in prejudice.

Question 75

Prejudice and discrimination persist in Canada because they are mutually reinforcing.

Question 76

Canada became pluralistic during the early 1950s.

Question 77

Both de jure and de facto segregation have disappeared in Canada.

Question 78

Genocide is the systematic killing of one category of people by another.

Question 79

Genocide is a relic of the past.

Question 80

WASPs were the first people to inhabit Canada.