Deck 13: Technology, the Environment, and Social Movements

Question 1

Besides ingenuity, what is required to turn scientific principles into technological innovations?

A) substantial resources of money and organization
B) support from more traditional social institutions
C) commercial incentive
D) philosophical support from politicians

Answer 1

A

Question 2

According to Ulrich Beck, which of the following is more worrisome than the fact that technologies are likely to fail sometimes?

A) technological determinism
B) environmental threats
C) technological imperialism
D) food shortages

Answer 2

B

Question 3

What term was coined by German sociologist Ulrich Beck to describe societies in which technology distributes danger among all categories of people, though unevenly?

A) hi-tech society
B) human-technology interface
C) risk society
D) technological environment

Answer 3

C

Question 4

In a classroom discussion, Connor challenges his professor's claim that class struggle is the motor of human history and the determining factor in history. Connor believes that, of all the different factors that have an impact on human life and society, none have had more influence than technology. What do sociologists call Connor's view?

A) scientific determinism
B) technological reductionism
C) technocratic domination
D) technological determinism

Question 5

According to the textbook, which of the following has the largest influence over which technologies are developed and how they are used?

A) the military and big corporations
B) the wealthy and the politicians who represent their views
C) the government and the public
D) the consumer public and corporate capitalists

Question 6

When he watched the atomic bomb detonate, Robert Oppenheimer quoted from Hindu scripture: "I am become Death, the shatterer of Worlds." Which of the following does this quote express?

A) awe for the power of technology
B) confidence in the future of technology
C) Hindu faith amid scientific genius
D) concern that technology could have negative results

Question 7

Kenrick and Sophie are discussing the relative merits of nuclear power in light of the consequences of the tsunami that damaged the nuclear reactor at the Fukushima Daiichi nuclear reactor in Japan. Kenrick defends the overall safety of nuclear energy by pointing out that the damage was caused by a natural disaster as opposed to any human error. Sophie responds by explaining that, according to some sociologists, these kinds of disasters are predictable consequences of the complexity of new technology. How do these sociologists refer to these events?

A) normal accident
B) statistical anomaly
C) catastrophic outlier
D) planned obsolescence

Question 8

What is the definition of technological determinism?

A) the belief that technology determines the creation of a risk society
B) the belief that technology determines human life chances
C) the belief that technology determines more than biology does
D) the belief that technology is the major force shaping human society and history

Question 9

While somewhat upset about the Exxon Valdez oil spill off the coast of Alaska, Miriam realizes that this event is sometimes just the cost of progress. Based on this information, how does Miriam most likely feel about the less positive outcomes that accompany technological advances?

A) that they are normal accidents
B) that they are the risks of genius
C) that they are acceptable perils
D) that they are a modern menace

Question 10

Which of the following terms did sociologist Charles Perrow coin in recognition of the fact that the complexity of modern technologies ensures they will inevitably fail, although in unpredictable ways?

A) inexplicable occurrence
B) human error
C) the two faces of technology
D) normal accident

Question 11

Under what circumstances does new technology become a major force in society and history?

A) once it is adopted in each household in the United States
B) only after there is competition to manufacture the technological devices
C) only after it is coupled with a major social need
D) once it is believed to lead to increased food production

Question 12

Which of the following is Thomas Edison credited with inventing?

A) synthetic fertilizer and the diesel engine
B) the automobile and the steam engine
C) the airplane and the vacuum cleaner
D) the electric light bulb and the phonograph

Question 13

What is the term used for the belief that technology is the major force shaping human society and history?

A) technological progress
B) technological utopia
C) technological ethic
D) technological determinism

Question 14

Allie considers herself a technological determinist. Which of the following best describes her views of technology?

A) People drive technological change.
B) Technology drives social relations and history.
C) Technology and people make history.
D) People use social forces to alter technological change.

Question 15

Charles Perrow identified such occurrences as the Union Carbide pesticide leak from its plant in Bhopal India, the nuclear reactor explosion in Chernobyl, and the Exxon Valdez's oil spill as which of the following?

A) unprecedented disasters
B) normal accidents
C) fate
D) natural disasters

Question 16

Daniel is aware that, in the production of his new patented invention, there is the possibility for things to go awry. He believes that this possibility for harm is outweighed by the potential of his invention to be beneficial. Which of the following terms is used to refer to how Daniel most likely views the less positive possibilities of invention?

A) invention speculation
B) the risks of invention
C) normal accidents
D) invention hazards

Question 17

David is excited because he has suddenly realized the potential of science to create a better life for people all over the world. What is David excited about?

A) biodiversity
B) evolution
C) technology
D) social constructionism

Question 18

Shannon believes that all modern technological advances are harming the entire planet, and she is starting a new Facebook group to organize resistance to them. What does Shannon feel that humans today live in?

A) a Frankenstein World
B) a technopoly
C) a multinational disaster zone
D) a risk society

Question 19

Which of the following has the text identified as among the most dangerous consequences of technology currently facing the world?

A) global warming
B) increased class struggle
C) technological determinism
D) traffic congestion and urban sprawl

Question 20

Which of the following characterizes a risk society?

A) most people's engagement in risky behaviour
B) most young people's engagement in risky behaviour
C) the weighting of technological hazards against the benefits
D) the global danger posed by all technologies

Question 21

What does the fact that environmental issues can be defined as problematic or benign suggest?

A) They are contested phenomena.
B) They are social problems.
C) They are socially diverse.
D) They are complex phenomena.

Question 22

Which of the following best describes changes in research and development spending that took place during the last 40 years of the twentieth century?

A) It remained steady.
B) It tripled.
C) It doubled.
D) It decreased by half.

Question 23

Which of the following best explains the fact that public belief that global warming posed a real threat faltered, despite evidence of global warming in droughts, crop failures, the collapse of fish stocks, and violent storms during the 1990s?

A) The fossil fuel industry successfully mounted a public relations campaign challenging the legitimacy of the scientific basis of global warming.
B) The public at large came to be distracted by the global economic recession.
C) Scientists did not yet have the technology to determine the source of climatic changes.
D) The emergence of a broad consensus among scientists from a variety of disciplines and countries that the earlier evidence had been misinterpreted.

Question 24

Kadina has just begun to do her doctoral research in biogenetics at a large university. Her grandfather was a biochemist who spent his entire career teaching and doing research at a university, and they have been comparing their experiences regarding the funding of scientific research in universities. Which of the following are they most likely to find as the greatest difference in that area?

A) Scientific research is more generously funded today than it was 40 years ago.
B) Government funding is far more important today than it was 40 years ago.
C) Scientific research is less generously funded today than it was 40 years ago.
D) Industry funding is far more important today than it was 40 years ago.

Question 25

According to the textbook, which of the following is generated by the dramatic increase in the military and large corporations providing economic lures to attract researchers to commit to specific research projects?

A) concerns about the risk certain research developments present to humans
B) limitless funding for research and development
C) healthy competition among researchers for funding
D) encouragement for the most qualified to enter the field of research

Question 26

Monique is a theoretical mathematician at a large university. Which of the following is most likely to motivate her research work at the university?

A) personal interest in the development of the field
B) personal profit
C) increased fame
D) political connections

Question 27

What does the gradual increase in the average surface temperature of the earth reflect?

A) population growth
B) increased CO2 levels
C) the decline of biodiversity
D) increased urbanization

Question 28

What does the increased use of fossil fuels, especially in industry, cause?

A) genetic pollution
B) global warming
C) acid rain
D) a decrease in biodiversity

Question 29

Lucas is concerned about the consequences of global warming on some of Canada's most vulnerable communities. Of the following people or regions in Canada, which are most vulnerable to the negative consequences of global warming?

A) the urban working poor
B) farmers in the prairies
C) Inuit communities in the far North
D) senior citizens living on a fixed income

Question 30

What environmental damage is caused by the accumulation of carbon dioxide in the atmosphere resulting in an increase in the amount of solar radiation entering the Earth's atmosphere while trapping heat in the atmosphere?

A) algae blooms
B) global warming
C) acid rain
D) desertification

Question 31

The fact that environmental problems affect different categories of people with varying degrees of hardship is evidence of which of the following?

A) that environmental problems are part of life, so those best able to survive are those with a positive attitude
B) that environmental problems are experienced by those with pessimistic attitudes and bad luck
C) that environmental problems are likely to affect those who do not take precautions
D) that environmental problems are socially distributed

Question 32

Which of the following best describes changes in the number of research scientists in North America during the twentieth century?

A) It increased a hundred times.
B) It tripled.
C) It doubled.
D) It increased ten times.

Question 33

According to the text, which of the following most significantly shapes the direction and priorities of research in universities?

A) ethical considerations
B) whether the country is at war or not
C) the team leader in research projects
D) the lure of commercial success

Question 34

Members of the Dene Nation were hired to transport uranium from the first uranium mine trekking it overland in burlap bags. Information about the dangers of exposure to uranium was withheld and no protective equipment was provided. What do sociologists call this?

A) prejudice and discrimination
B) industrial espionage
C) environmental racism
D) Cultural genocides

Question 35

According to the textbook's discussion regarding who most opposes the information about the dangers of global warming, which of the following is a reasonable conclusion?

A) Those who stand to profit from the causes of global warming want the information discredited.
B) Those who stand to profit the most from the causes of global warming want the information widely known.
C) Ordinary citizens stand to benefit the most from global warming.
D) Ordinary citizens stand to benefit the least from global warming.

Question 36

According to the text, Thomas Edison's products are the outcome of which of the following?

A) expensive team efforts motivated by the possibility of profit
B) his obsessive personality
C) a partner who encouraged him with her faith in him
D) trial and error

Question 37

Which of the following describes changes to government funding support for research and development?

A) It has decreased to 10 percent of total spending on research and development.
B) It has increased so it is equal to industrial funding.
C) It has dropped as much as industry's funding support has increased.
D) It has increased so that industrial backing has been virtually eliminated.

Question 38

What do scientists predict will occur if the polar ice caps continue to melt at the current rate?

A) It will become economically feasible to extract the rich mineral resources available in Canada's north.
B) More water will enter the oceans and threaten heavily populated coastal countries with devastating floods.
C) The current water shortage being experienced around the world will be resolved.
D) Polar bears will have year-around access to their food.

Question 39

Increases in evaporated water have produced bigger storms, more precipitation, more flooding, and more soil erosion. Which of the following best describes the consequences of these environmental changes?

A) corporations cashing in
B) the wealthy building their homes further from urban centres
C) technological innovation to deal with natural disasters progressing at an unprecedented speed
D) people suffering and dying

Question 40

Werner works for an organization that covers the costs of the majority of new research and development of technological applications today. What type of organization does he work for?

A) a federal government
B) a military
C) a not-for-profit
D) a private industry

Question 41

Robert Brym relates an anecdote about a high school model parliament in which he was unable to motivate his schoolmates to undertake political protest. His anecdote underscores the difficulties bound up in creating which of the following?

A) school discipline
B) democratic government
C) collective action
D) economic development

Question 42

Which of the following best characterizes the world's richest countries?

A) They are populated by environmentally aware citizens.
B) They are home to the most vocal environmental activists.
C) They consume the greatest share of the Earth's resources.
D) They have the least stringent environmental standards.

Question 43

According to breakdown theory, which of the following is a necessary characteristic of potential leaders of a social movement?

A) They must be socially marginalized people.
B) They must be able to reconcile elites and the subordinate classes.
C) They must be members of already influential groups, for example religious organizations, in their community.
D) They must be highly educated.

Question 44

What term is used for enduring and usually organized collective attempts to change (or resist change to) part or all of the social order?

A) social actions
B) social movements
C) social institutions
D) social organizations

Question 45

Carly's younger brother has asked to her to help him with a presentation for his Grade 6 social studies class. His topic is on the sources of pollution around the world, and he has to present evidence on the country that produces the most pollutants responsible for global warming. On which of the following countries would Carly tell her brother to do his presentation?

A) United States
B) India
C) Indonesia
D) Mexico

Question 46

Most Canadians view environmental problems as real but, at the same time, as remote and abstract. According to the textbook, what effect does this have with respect to the implementation of strategies to resolve environmental degradation?

A) Canadians are unwilling to make large personal sacrifices to fix environmental problems.
B) Canadians believe that ordinary people can't have an impact on environmental problems.
C) Canadians believe that only governmental task forces can effectively address environmental problems.
D) Canadians believe environmental problems will be resolved through market mechanisms.

Question 47

Strategies that invest heavily in energy-saving technologies, environmental cleanup, and subsidizing environmentally friendly industrialization are grouped under which of the following categories?

A) cooperative alternatives
B) unrealistic visions
C) prudent business practices
D) new millennium businesses

Question 48

Which of the following factors suggests that market forces on their own cannot solve environmental problems because prices are often artificially supported?

A) Consumers demand more corporate responsibility and adopt no personal responsibility.
B) Prices do not generate the signals that prompt necessary changes in consumer behaviour.
C) Consumers are redirected to lobbying the government instead of changing consumption patterns.
D) Consumers are less likely to take remedial action in relation to price increases.

Question 49

Heather is angered because people only see the cost of fuel at the pump but not the overall cost to the environment of extracting the fuel, transporting the fuel, and storing the fuel. What is she angry about?

A) environmental costs
B) social costs
C) market costs
D) technological costs

Question 50

Which of the following nations is most likely to be responsible for global environmental damage?

A) Canada
B) India
C) Indonesia
D) Mexico

Question 51

According to the text, before any drastic interventions will be adopted or accepted, which of the following must the entire developed world do?

A) recreate a society in which tradition, religion, and family integrity take priority over individualism
B) accept that environmental issues are grave enough to justify making substantial economic sacrifices
C) experience a natural disaster of extreme proportions
D) elect green governments committed to implementing and enforcing effective remedies

Question 52

The inhabitants of which of the following geographic areas cause a disproportionately large share of the world's environmental problems?

A) Europe
B) the Middle East
C) the Northern Hemisphere
D) Sub-Saharan Africa

Question 53

The anti-nuclear movement is an example of a movement that forced changes in corporate and government policies. What is demonstrated by the success of this movement?

A) the importance of global media
B) the importance of political pressure
C) the importance of rapid change
D) the importance of collective goals

Question 54

On the basis of which of the following has it been optimistically argued that various forms of environmental degradation will be resolved?

A) global need
B) human inventiveness and the profit motive
C) cooperative research
D) consumer resolve

Question 55

Which of the following best supports the view that market forces alone CANNOT resolve environmental problems?

A) The pace of social change lags behind that of technological change.
B) Consumers choose technological innovation rather than any other solution.
C) Market forces affect only the producers, not consumers.
D) Prices follow consumer behaviour.

Question 56

Which of the following groups are most at risk for environmental racism?

A) visible minorities
B) those in urban centres
C) those in the lowest socio-economic class
D) recent immigrants

Question 57

According to breakdown theory, which of the following must occur before a social movement can form?

A) Norms must be strained or disrupted.
B) Local leaders must support elite economic interests.
C) There must be an absence of downward social mobility.
D) High levels of solidarity between elites and lower classes must form.

Question 58

Until the 1970s, many sociologists believed that the people who lead and first join social movements are likely to be which of the following?

A) predisposed to violence
B) socially marginalized
C) socially mobile
D) sufficiently wealthy

Question 59

Which of the following terms is used by sociologists to characterize a situation in which people act in unison to bring about or resist social, political, and economic change?

A) subversion
B) collective action
C) democratic government
D) economic development

Question 60

The B.C. Teachers' Federation threatened various job actions after a year's worth of negotiations did NOT bring them any closer to a contract with the provincial government. What is the B.C. Teachers' Federation engaging in?

A) a social movement
B) a protest organization
C) a social institution
D) an organizational change movement

Question 61

A group of single mothers protest cuts to welfare benefits. According to the textbook, what most likely sparked this action?

A) relative deprivation
B) absolute deprivation
C) social breakdown
D) anomie

Question 62

Having a doctoral degree, a job as a professor, and a large saving account are all examples of which of the following?

A) social goods
B) social inducements
C) social goals
D) social rewards

Question 63

What term is used by sociologists for widely valued goods such as money, education, prestige, and security?

A) universal goods
B) social inducements
C) worldly goods
D) social rewards

Question 64

According to relative deprivation theory, when are people most likely to rebel?

A) when community leaders experience deprivation
B) when organizations fail to maintain social control
C) when expectations fall to hopelessness
D) when rising expectations go unfulfilled

Question 65

Under which of the following circumstances would resource mobilization theory predict an increase in strike activity?

A) when union membership was high
B) when collective violence was high
C) when state surveillance was decreasing
D) when businesses refused to make concessions

Question 66

A group of gay and lesbian activists and supporters stage a demonstration at the Alberta Legislature regarding equal rights for same-sex couples. Which theory argues that this particular group would be expected to demonstrate?

A) resource mobilization theory
B) contagion theory
C) breakdown theory
D) solidarity theory

Question 67

Breakdown theory sees collective action as a form of social imbalance caused by social institutions not working. Because of this, breakdown theory may be seen as a variant of which of the following?

A) social instability index
B) political process
C) conflict theory
D) functionalism

Question 68

Which of the following terms is used to describe the situation people find themselves in when rising expectations are met by a widening gap between the social rewards expected and those received?

A) symbolic deprivation
B) relative deprivation
C) normalized dissatisfaction
D) solidarity dislocation

Question 69

Which term refers to the growth of an intolerable gap between the social rewards people expect to receive and those they actually receive?

A) collective contagion
B) institutional strain
C) relative deprivation
D) organizational deprivation

Question 70

The social conditions of strike frequency provide evidence of which aspect of solidarity theory?

A) the building means phase
B) the recruitment phase
C) the resource mobilization component
D) the vision formation aspect

Question 71

What term is sometimes used in breakdown theory for the violation of norms in response to a perceived gap between expected social rewards and actual social rewards?

A) strain
B) deviance
C) criminality
D) sanctioning

Question 72

According to resource mobilization theory, which of the following circumstances are associated with an increase in strike activity?

A) when businesses refuse to make concessions
B) when state surveillance is decreasing
C) when collective violence is high
D) when there is growing prosperity

Question 73

Which of the following might be seen as a variant of functionalism?

A) frame alignment theory
B) solidarity theory
C) breakdown theory
D) postmodern revolutionary theory

Question 74

The protestors at the Johnson Road blockade got a lot of media attention through their high-profile lawyer leader, and they got many cash donations from various supportive groups and unions to keep the protest alive. According to the textbook, what is this process called?

A) contagion
B) resource mobilization
C) frame alignment
D) resource opportunism

Question 75

Which of the following theories states that social movements emerge from collective action when discontented people succeed in building a stable membership and organizational base?

A) liberal feminist theory
B) relative deprivation theory
C) solidarity theory
D) pluralist theory

Question 76

Which of the following is the term used by solidarity theorists to describe the process through which disadvantaged groups increasingly engage in collective action as they gain new members and become better organized?

A) building means
B) resource mobilization
C) collective action
D) social mobilization

Question 77

Which of the following is a variant of conflict theory?

A) solidarity theory
B) frame alignment theory
C) contagion theory
D) breakdown theory

Question 78

Which theory assumes that collective action results from the disruption or breakdown of traditional norms, expectations, and patterns of behaviour?

A) social control theory
B) resource mobilization theory
C) political opportunity theory
D) breakdown theory

Question 79

What term is used for the process by which a group gains access to organizational, material, and other resources that enable it to engage in more collective action?

A) resource mobilization
B) frame alignment
C) breakdown
D) resource opportunism

Question 80

Forming a union is an example of which of the following?

A) pluralist collective action
B) non-consensual action
C) resource mobilization
D) non-routine collective action