In this week’s Strayer Story, why were the leaders of the Memphis Islamic Center concerned
about building their new mosque on Church Road?
because
... [Show More] of concerns that being surrounded by churches might weaken their members’
faith
because of threats that had been made directly to the Memphis Islamic Center
because of tensions between Christian and Muslim communities
because the property available for building didn’t include enough space for the
Center’s needs
What is the difference between a sacred belief and a profane belief?
Sacred beliefs are about supernatural things, and profane beliefs are about practical
or worldly things.
Sacred beliefs refer to beliefs held by clergy or other religious figures, and profane
beliefs refer to beliefs held by ordinary people.
Sacred beliefs refer to strong religious faith, and profane beliefs refer to atheism.
Sacred beliefs are about practical things, and profane beliefs are about things that
can’t be easily explained.
How did Émile Durkheim approach the study of religion?
He treated it as a social problem that needed to be solved.
He treated it as something purely supernatural.
He treated it as a private and personal matter.
He treated it as a social institution
According to Max Weber, what did the rise of Protestantism lead to?
socialism
monotheism
capitalism
polytheism
What is the world’s largest religion today?
Christianity
Buddhism
Islam
Hinduism
According to the functionalist perspective, which of the following is a function that religion
serves for society?
It reinforces social unity and stability.
It helps maintain the existing system of social inequality.
It helps convince the poor to accept their lot in life.
It promotes traditional views about gender roles
According to Durkheim, which of the following is one way that religion unifies and strengthens
social connections?
It encourages debate and disagreement, allowing people space to discover their own
beliefs.
It gives meaning to life and helps people deal with the unanswerable questions of
human existence.
It brings people together and gives them space to establish bonds and communicate
with one another.
It requires people to interact with members of their community, even if they don’t
wish to do so
What did Karl Marx mean when he called religion “the opium of the people”?
Religion, like a drug, is addictive and difficult to eradicate from one’s life.
Religion, like a drug, makes people content because they believe that their condition
is God’s will.
Religion can work almost as well as prescription medication to manage physical
pain.
Religion makes people act unpredictably and irresponsibly, making social revolution
more likely.
Which of the following does the symbolic interactionist perspective emphasize about religion?
that beliefs and practices are sacred because people believe that they’re sacred
the communal practice of religion as a way to strengthen social bonds
that religion leads the poor to accept their fate
that religion can also promote social conflict
What are the two subtypes of church organization?
ecclesia and denomination
ecclesia and sect
church and megachurch
megachurch and denomination
Which of the following would be a functionalist criticism of megachurches?
Megachurches often include such amenities as coffee bars, making church more of a
social occasion.
Megachurches are so big that members are unable to develop close bonds with each
other.
Megachurches often use loud music and light shows, which can be difficult for older
members to tolerate.
Megachurches convince their members that economic hardship is the will of God.
Which of the following describes a difference between a sect and an NRM?
Sects typically break off from a traditional denomination in an effort to reform its
views, while NRMs generally form around something entirely new or newly
rediscovered.
A sect is far less likely to proselytize, or try to recruit new members; NRMs, on the
other hand, spend much of their resources in trying to expand their membership.
NRMs are only somewhat at odds with the norms and values of traditional religion,
whereas sects are often dramatically opposed to traditional religious norms and values.
A sect is much more likely than an NRM to rely on a highly charismatic personality
for leadership.
According to Figure 8.2, which of these religious affiliations is the most commonly held?
unaffiliated
Jewish
Protestant
Catholic
Of the age groups mentioned in the text, which is LEAST likely to express no religious
preference?
18-29
65 and older
30-44
45-64
What does experiential religiosity refer to?
how important people consider religion to be in their lives
the extent to which religion affects people’s daily behavior
the extent of people’s knowledge of their religion’s history and teachings
the degree to which people accept religious doctrine
Prayer is an example of which dimension of religiosity?
consequential religiosity
ritualistic religiosity
intellectual religiosity
ideological religiosity
Based on the data in Figure 8.5, which of these groups had the highest average score in the Pew
survey of knowledge about religion?
people with graduate degrees
college graduates
people with a high school degree or less
people who had taken some college courses
Which of the following tended to increase during college, according to the HERI research study?
religious skepticism
religious struggle
religious commitment
religious and social conservatism
What is secularization?
the decreasing role of religion in both society and daily life
the emphasis in many churches on spiritual issues rather than practical action
the continuing role of civil religion in American society
the increasing role of religious conservatism in politics
Which of the following issues is a religious conservative MOST likely to support?
new Federal Communication Commission (FCC) rules that limit the number of sex
acts on cable TV shows
new laws that prohibit students from bringing a Bible to school
new laws requiring all gynecological medical providers to offer abortion services or
referrals
new school curriculum that includes examples of families with single-sex parents
Which of the following religious issues is the Memphis Friendship Foundation working to
address?
the risk that adults with psychological trauma will refuse the help that religion might
provide
the need for religious tolerance and interfaith cooperation
the needs of older adults for the social bonding that religious services can provide
the risk that religious adolescents will fall into potentially harmful behaviors
Which of the following BEST describes the goal of your third assignment?
to identify specific sociological theories and explain the history of how they
developed
to practice drawing your own sociological research conclusions from multiple studies
to identify the conclusion of a research article and then view the conclusion through
one of the major sociological theories
to select a social issue and then use one of the four major sociological theories and
related research to solve that issue
Which of the following provides the MOST accurate description of the assignment’s structure
requirements?
There are two parts to the assignment, as well as an optional personal reflection.
Students must use all four sociological theories in their answers to the questions in
the Theory section.
Each part of the assignment should be answered in one complete sentence.
The assignment includes three sections: Learn, Theory, and Evaluate.
What kind of references should you include in this assignment?
I should include APA-style parenthetical citations.
I should include Chicago-style footnotes.
I should include MLA-style parenthetical citations.
I should not include any references.
Where did the research study take place?
at an elementary school
at a fine-dining restaurant
in a mall food court
in a university cafeteria
What problem were the researchers trying to solve?
high prices of healthy foods in college cafeterias
low consumption of healthy foods
frequency of overeating in self-serve food settings
peer pressure to make poor food choices
What were the findings or results of the research?
Diners in a college cafeteria were more likely to choose vegetables with indulgentsounding names.
Diners in a college cafeteria were more likely to choose vegetables with lower prices.
Diners in a college cafeteria were more likely to make healthy choices when their
friends did the same.
Diners in a college cafeteria were more likely to choose vegetables with labels that
emphasized health benefits.
What conclusion was drawn from the research study?
Giving healthy foods rich-sounding names may help to increase their consumption,
particularly by young people.
Labeling vegetables with indulgent-sounding names may help to discourage people
from eating them, due to nutritional concerns.
Educating people about their bodies’ nutritional needs is the best way to encourage
healthy food choices.
Healthy foods like vegetables need to be affordably priced in order to encourage
more people to eat them regularly.
According to functionalism, why are social institutions like family and religion important?
because they encourage people to wait a while before having children
because they help people agree upon important cultural norms and values
because they encourage people to think independently and act alone
because they help people focus on issues of faith and the supernatural
How would a functionalist explain why more people chose healthy foods with indulgentsounding names?
Indulgent-sounding food names show that people want to choose a food that seems to
promise the quick gratification of salt, fat, or sugar.
Indulgent-sounding food names allow consumers to feel like they are part of a higher
social class.
Indulgent-sounding food names give the foods a symbolic meaning that appeals to
people more than healthy-sounding names.
Indulgent-sounding food names reinforce an existing shared value in American
culture that food should taste good.
According to conflict theorists, what is the relationship among the different social classes?
There is mutual respect among the classes, arising from their agreed-upon positions
in society.
There is harmony among the classes, arising from their privileged positions in
society.
There are divisions among the classes, arising from their chosen positions in society.
There is opposition among the classes, arising from their unequal positions in society.
From the perspective of a conflict theorist, why would renaming healthy foods result in more
people wanting to eat them?
Indulgent-sounding names give the foods a symbolic meaning that is more appealing
to people than healthy-sounding names.
People are more likely to choose a food that seems to promise the quick gratification
of salt, fat, or sugar.
People are more likely to choose foods that sound indulgent because they associate
those foods with a higher social class.
Relabeling the healthy foods reinforces an existing norm in American culture that
sees indulgence as a positive thing.
According to symbolic interactionists, why are symbols like words so important to society?
Members of a society use the shared meaning of symbols like words to try to gain
advantages over people in other social classes.
Members of a society use the shared meaning of symbols like words to communicate
with people at great distances.
Members of a society rely on symbols like words to document their individual
private thoughts and emotions.
Members of a society rely on the shared meaning of symbols like words to reach an
understanding of their interactions.
According to symbolic interactionists, why would renaming a food dish with an indulgentsounding name affect a person’s food choice?
The indulgent-sounding name evokes the pleasure that people get from salt, fat, and
sugar, which would explain an individual’s food choice.
The indulgent-sounding name is a symbol that people interpret as something
desirable based on its shared meaning.
The indulgent-sounding name reinforces an existing societal value that indulgence is
a positive thing.
The indulgent-sounding name makes people feel as though they are getting
something that is typically obtained by those in a higher social class.
According to rational choice theorists, how do people make decisions?
by considering what will increase their benefits and decrease their disadvantages
by being guided by their internalized norms and values
by ensuring they get what they want from life despite the personal cost [Show Less]