Deck 15: The Family

Question 1

William Fielding Ogburn has argued that the decline in the significance of the family can be directly traced to:

A) a decline in sexual morals
B) other institutions taking over functions formerly carried out by the family
C) the growing tendency to postpone marriage
D) the large-scale entry of women into the labor market

Answer 1

other institutions taking over functions formerly carried out by the family

Question 2

The social institution of the family has all of the following goals EXCEPT:

A) social control of reproduction
B) socialization of the new generation
C) social placement of children in society
D) redirection of class conflict

Answer 2

redirection of class conflict

Question 3

The social placement of children in the institutions of the larger society is carried out by which of the following institutions?

A) religion
B) schools
C) the economy
D) the family

Answer 3

the family

Question 4

In simple societies, most of the essential functions needed for survival are performed by:

A) a highly differentiated set of institutions
B) individuals
C) religion
D) the family

Question 5

Which of the following statements about the family as a social institution is correct?

A) It emerged during the Industrial Revolution.
B) Its importance has increased.
C) It takes the same form in all societies.
D) Members of all known societies are socialized within a network of family role relations.

Question 6

In the less differentiated societies, who is responsible for communication among members?

A) Educational institutions
B) Mass media
C) Family and kin networks
D) Religious institutions

Question 7

In more differentiated societies, who is responsible for communication among members?

A) Educational institutions
B) Mass media
C) Family and kin networks
D) Religious institutions

Question 8

In the less differentiated societies, who is responsible for the production of goods and services?

A) Educational institutions
B) Mass media
C) Family groups
D) Markets and transportation institutions

Question 9

In the more differentiated societies, who is responsible for the production of goods and services?

A) Economic institutions
B) Mass media
C) Family groups
D) Markets and transportation institutions

Question 10

In the less differentiated societies, who is responsible for the protection and defense of the members?

A) family, village, and tribe
B) police
C) military
D) healthcare institutions

Question 11

In the more differentiated societies, who is responsible for the protection and defense of the Members?

A) family, village, and tribe
B) police, military, and healthcare institutions
C) religious institutions
D) economic institutions

Question 12

In the less differentiated societies, whose responsibility is it to ensure that the society's institutions continue to function and that conflict is reduced or eliminated?

A) police
B) government
C) family
D) religion

Question 13

The network of role relations among people who consider themselves to be related by blood, marriage, or adoption is referred to as:

A) consanguinity
B) family
C) kinship
D) siblings

Question 14

Fictive kin are:

A) blood relatives within the nuclear family
B) people who are considered to be kin despite the lack of blood ties
C) people who become relatives as a result of adoption
D) relatives that one acquires through marriage

Question 15

Joe Smith's best friend is Bill Robinson. Robinson visits the Smith family at least twice a month and always brings small presents for the children. The children are so fond of him that they call him Uncle Bill. To the Smiths, Robinson is:

A) a father figure
B) a fictive relative
C) an alter ego
D) a pseudo-relative

Question 16

Two or more people, related by consanguineous or conjugal ties or by adoption, who share a household, are called:

A) a conjoint family
B) a committed family
C) an extended family
D) a nuclear family

Question 17

Relations between adult persons living together according to the norms of marriage and other intimate relations are called:

A) conjugal relations
B) conjoint relations
C) an egalitarian family
D) fictive relations

Question 18

The proportion of married-couple households in the United States in 1990 was:

A) between 75 percent and 80 percent
B) nearly two-thirds
C) about one-half
D) less than one-third

Question 19

Bob and Fran are married and live in San Francisco with their two children. Sociologists would classify them as:

A) a conjoint family
B) a conjugal family
C) an egalitarian family
D) an extended family

Question 20

A major difference between a nuclear family and conjugal relations is that:

A) a nuclear family is always a result of marriage whereas a conjugal family need not be
B) in a nuclear family two or more people who are related share a household whereas conjugal relations are characterized by the norms of marriage or other intimate relationships
C) people in a nuclear family are related by ties of blood whereas in a conjugal family they need not be
D) there is greater intimacy in a nuclear family

Question 21

Which of the following statements about conjugal families is NOT true?

A) All conjugal families are also nuclear families.
B) Specific sets of role relationships apply to the members of conjugal families.
C) The conjugal family is the most common type of household in the United States.
D) The members of a conjugal family by definition include children.

Question 22

The nuclear family in which one is born and socialized is one's family of:

A) indoctrination
B) initiation
C) orientation
D) procreation

Question 23

The nuclear family that one forms through marriage or cohabitation is one's family of:

A) indoctrination
B) initiation
C) orientation
D) procreation

Question 24

Marriage involves all of the following EXCEPT:

A) movement from the family of procreation to the family of orientation
B) the creation of a nuclear family
C) the creation of an extended family
D) the creation of a conjugal family

Question 25

Which of the following people would be included in a person's family of orientation?

A) mother
B) husband
C) wife
D) cousin

Question 26

Which of the following people would be included in a person's family of procreation?

A) mother
B) father
C) cousin
D) spouse

Question 27

Which of the following people would be included in a person's extended family?

A) mother
B) father
C) siblings
D) cousins

Question 28

All of those included in an individual's network of blood relations constitute:

A) a conjugal family
B) a family of indoctrination
C) a family of orientation
D) an extended family

Question 29

Pressures on the family from the economy can be seen by decrease in:

A) the dominance of the extended family
B) the number of married couples conforming to the norm of the traditional
C) the economic importance of children
D) the family communication

Question 30

The comparison of family structure in several industrial societies found that:

A) out-of-wedlock fertility is declining
B) most industrialized societies are experiencing similar changes in family norms and practices
C) the American family is unique in its rising divorce rate
D) the feminization of poverty is a peculiarly American phenomenon

Question 31

Study of family structure in poor families found all of the following EXCEPT:

A) female-headed families are the dominant family form
B) fatherless families seem to be a direct consequence of poverty
C) poor families tend to share the same norms of family life as others in society
D) the father is a central family figure

Question 32

Historical research has challenged which of the following ideas about the development of family structure?

A) Industrialization creates a single dominant family form and contributes to the severing of kinship ties.
B) In some places emergence of the nuclear family preceded industrialization.
C) Modern communication contributes to the maintenance of kinship ties.
D) Slaves often formed extended families that included strong nuclear units.

Question 33

Since the 1960s, the number of dual-earner families has

A) increased.
B) decreased.
C) stayed the same.
D) none of the above

Question 34

Which of the following terms refers to a specific sequence of stages that families experience?

A) family career
B) family genealogy
C) family life course
D) family life cycle

Question 35

Which of the following is NOT a stage in the family life cycle of conventional families, as proposed by Glick?

A) divorce
B) empty nest
C) family formation
D) start of childbearing

Question 36

Which of the following statements about the family life cycle is NOT true?

A) Most couples go through all of the stages of the family life cycle.
B) There is growing acceptance of cohabitation as a stage of family formation.
C) The stages of the family life cycle are useful as indicators of change.
D) The "typical" family life cycle is becoming more difficult to identify.

Question 37

Family life cycle research has found that:

A) during the eighties, age at first marriage differed substantially from the pattern at the turn of the century
B) all families go through similar stages of development
C) few families experience substantive changes in the internal system of role relations during their passage through the family life cycle
D) the idea of a family "life cycle" is a useful measure of change in families

Question 38

In recent years the median age of Americans at first marriage has:

A) decreased
B) fallen dramatically
C) remained the same
D) risen slowly

Question 39

Median age at first marriage is

A) at its highest ever for both men and women.
B) is declining for both men and women.
C) is declining for women and increasing for men.
D) is increasing for women and declining for men.

Question 40

Which of the following statements about age at marriage is NOT true?

A) Age at first marriage tends to be somewhat higher for males than females.
B) Men tend to marry women younger than they.
C) Minority group members tend to marry earlier than majority group members.
D) People with lower incomes tend to delay marriage.

Question 41

Which of the following represents required changes in family status when children become young unattached adults?

A) Refocus on marital or career issues
B) Formation of marital system
C) Development of ultimate peer relationships
D) Renegotiation of marital system as a dyad

Question 42

Which of the following represents required changes in family status for those families with young children?

A) Taking on parental roles
B) Beginning shift toward concern for older generations
C) Dealing with the disabilities and death of parents
D) Establishment of self in work

Question 43

Which of the following represents required changes in family status for the family in later life?

A) Taking on parental roles
B) Beginning shift toward concern for older generations
C) Dealing with the loss of spouse, siblings, and other peers and preparation for own death, experiencing life review, and integration
D) Establishment of self in work

Question 44

Research on step families has found all of the following to be true EXCEPT:

A) legal norms view the stepparent as a "second class" status
B) the biological father is not responsible for child support as he has never lived with the child
C) the children often hope that their parents will get back together
D) the new stepparents see themselves as healers

Question 45

Which of the following constitutes a reason for the increasing level of poverty?

A) Lack of religious affiliation
B) Lower rates of divorce
C) Higher rates of out-of-wedlock births
D) Higher proportion of immigrants in society

Question 46

Which of the following statements about marriage is ALWAYS true?

A) Interpersonal attraction and love are the primary factors in explaining why people marry.
B) It affects only the partners themselves.
C) Marriage is primarily an economic relationship.
D) Mate selection is carried out according to basic rules of bargaining and exchange.

Question 47

When sociologists study mate selection as a process of exchange, they are interested in understanding:

A) economic aspects of marriage
B) how marriage is affected by the laws of supply and demand
C) how the family controls sexual behavior
D) what values people maximize in the marriage contract

Question 48

Which of the following statements about marriage transactions is NOT true?

A) Arranged marriages are common in many societies.
B) Family bargaining in arranged marriages is based on considerations of family prestige, wealth, and the qualities of the prospective marital couple.
C) Material goods such as clothes, jewelry, land, and cattle are often part of the marriage bargain.
D) Physical attraction and love are the only factors in marriage in Western societies.

Question 49

The painting "The Marriage of Giovanni Arndini and Giovanna Cenani" by Jan Van Eyck represents

A) how the upper class spends their wedding night.
B) the symbols regarding how people of that time period felt about marriage.
C) romance in marriage.
D) love of art.

Question 50

Interracial marriages between blacks and whites

A) are virtually non-existent.
B) are illegal in all states.
C) have increased since the 1970s.
D) have decreased since the 1970s.

Question 51

The practice of marrying someone from one's own cultural group is termed:

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

Question 52

The practice of marrying someone from outside one's own cultural group is termed:

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

Question 53

In the United States, ethnic and religious groups normally put pressure on their members to:

A) become exogamous
B) become polygamous
C) remain endogamous
D) remain patriarchal

Question 54

Mark and Katherine are very much in love and plan to marry. He is the son of devout Presbyterians; Katherine is the daughter of practicing Catholics. In sociological terms, their marriage would be:

A) ambiguous
B) endogamous
C) exogamous
D) homogamous

Question 55

The conflict between Orthodox and Reformed Jews over the status of children born to non-Jewish mothers who have converted to Judaism is a conflict over norms governing:

A) endogamy-exogamy
B) patrilocality-matrilocality
C) polygamy-monogamy
D) polygyny-polyandry

Question 56

In-group is to out-group as:

A) endogamy is to exogamy
B) patrilocality is to matrilocality
C) polygamy is to monogamy
D) polygyny is to polyandry

Question 57

The tendency to marry a person similar to oneself is termed:

A) heterogamy
B) hexogamy
C) homogamy
D) hyperogamy

Question 58

Both of Joyce's parents are doctors. They insisted that she attend an exclusive upper-class college so that she will meet people from the "appropriate" social background and find a suitable husband. Joyce's parents want her to conform to the norm of:

A) heterogamy
B) hexogamy
C) homogamy
D) hyperogamy

Question 59

In an analysis of patterns of dating, research shows that:

A) dating patterns were unrelated to social class
B) most adolescents conformed to the norm of homogamy
C) most adolescents dated people from different religious backgrounds
D) there was considerable interracial dating

Question 60

Cultural norms that stress homogamy in dating and marriage:

A) lead to increased class conflict
B) limit the number of children people have
C) tend to lower the divorce rate
D) tend to perpetuate the society's stratification system

Question 61

Which of the following is NOT a consequence of the norm of homogamy?

A) It provides opportunities for upward mobility.
B) It serves to maintain the separateness of religious groups.
C) It serves to maintain the separateness of racial groups.
D) It tends to reproduce the society's stratification system.

Question 62

Which of the following statements about interracial marriages is TRUE?

A) They are more likely in the upper class than in other classes.
B) They are still illegal in some parts of the United States.
C) Their number has decreased steadily over the years.
D) They represent a very small part of all marriages.

Question 63

Cancian has found in her research on loving relationships that:

A) couples want enduring love and self-development
B) couples want intimacy and passion
C) couples close ties with family and friends
D) couples want commitment

Question 64

According to Cancian, when men and women place a high value on individuality it may result in

A) greater commitment
B) increased intimacy
C) passion
D) a weakening of close ties

Question 65

Fertility for unmarried black women has been

A) increasing.
B) decreasing.
C) leveling off.
D) eliminated.

Question 66

In the United States, sociologists find that marriages tend toward:

A) homogamy
B) polyandry
C) polygyny
D) serial polygamy

Question 67

Which of the following is the most common reason given for mate selection in Western cultures?

A) economic exchange
B) mutual protection
C) romantic love
D) status enhancement

Question 68

Which of the following theories argues that people who fall in love tend to be alike in social characteristics like family prestige, education, and income but different in their psychological needs?

A) complementary needs
B) emotional reciprocity
C) mutual attraction
D) social determinism

Question 69

According to the theory of complementary needs, an upper-class man who is shy would most likely be attracted to:

A) an outgoing lower-class woman
B) an outgoing upper-class woman
C) a shy lower-class woman
D) a shy upper-class woman

Question 70

Which of the following theories argues that love is a result of relationships in which people feel satisfied with the exchanges between them?

A) complementary needs
B) emotional exchange
C) emotional balance
D) emotional reciprocity

Question 71

Joe has been married to Rita for five years and has recently felt that although he is a giving person he receives nothing in return. As a result, he is giving serious thought to seeking a divorce. Which of the following theories best explains his feelings?

A) complementary needs
B) emotional balance
C) emotional exchange
D) emotional reciprocity

Question 72

In a study of 231 dating couples, Zick Rubin found that the couples who were most likely to remain together were those who:

A) came from the same social background
B) felt that they loved each other with equal intensity
C) had opposite temperaments
D) met immediately after ending disastrous relationships with others

Question 73

Which of the following is NOT an element of Peter Blau's theory of attraction and emotional reciprocity?

A) Attraction is governed by the norms of exchange.
B) Inequalities in love can lead to separation.
C) People with opposite temperaments are attracted to each other.
D) We tend to love someone who loves us.

Question 74

According to the theory of complementary needs, people who fall in love tend to differ in their:

A) education
B) family background
C) income
D) psychological needs

Question 75

What proportion of all first marriages end in annulment or divorce within the first three years?

A) 20 percent
B) 40 percent
C) 50 percent
D) 75 percent

Question 76

The most stressful period of marriage occurs:

A) after the birth of the first child
B) after the youngest child leaves the household
C) during the first few years
D) with the midlife crisis

Question 77

Which of the following is NOT a factor in divorce?

A) age at marriage
B) inadequate role performance
C) the number of siblings each partner has
D) unequal division of labor

Question 78

Which of the following statements about cohabitation is TRUE?

A) Couples who cohabit before marriage are somewhat less willing to accept divorce as a solution to marital problems.
B) Marital stability is greater in those marriages where the couple lived together before marriage.
C) The divorce rate among couples who cohabited before marriage is about the same as for noncohabitors.
D) The divorce rate among couples who cohabited before marriage is greater than that of
noncohabitors.

Question 79

Based on the information in Figure 15.2, the percent of women living alone has

A) increased
B) decreased
C) stayed about the same
D) increased some and then decreased

Question 80

-As shown in Figure 15.2 from the text, the percent of married couples with children decreased by what amount between 1970 and 1980?

A) 5 percent
B) 10 percent
C) 15 percent
D) 20 percent