Deck 2: Thinking Sociologically: Sport, Physical Culture, and Critical Theory

Question 1

Who, of the following, would be most likely to argue that suicide is much more than a personal act of agency by an individual?

A) Karl Marx
B) Max Weber
C) George Herbert Mead
D) Emile Durkheim

Answer 1

D

Question 2

All elements of a society contribute to the overall stability of the structure of that society. Who would most likely make this statement?

A) a conflict theorist
B) a functionalist
C) a critical studies theorist
D) a symbolic interactionist

Answer 2

B

Question 3

All of the following are characteristics that form the foundation of Marx's analysis of society, EXCEPT:

A) economic conditions form the base of social life
B) all elements of social systems are necessary and justifiable
C) basic economic conditions can form a more general theory of social life
D) conflict plays a critical role in social and cultural life and in the history of societies

Answer 3

B

Question 4

Which sport do Kuper and Seymanski argue actually helps to curb suicide rates?

A) Hockey
B) Basketball
C) ultimate fighting
D) soccer

Question 5

When we examine sport in ancient Greece and compare it to sport today, we find that:

A) sport in ancient Greece was very similar to sport today
B) sport in ancient Greece was less violent than sport today
C) sport today, with its handshake at the end of a competition, was adapted from the Greek tradition of hand-slapping
D) sport in ancient Greece was far more violent than sport today

Question 6

Which of the following pairs of events stand out as laying the foundation for sociology as a discipline?

A) the Industrial Revolution and the Reformation
B) the communist revolution in China and Russia and the Reformation
C) the democratic revolutions in France and the U.S. and the Industrial Revolution
D) the Reformation and the emergence of capitalism

Question 7

The Protestant Ethic and the Spirit of Capitalism was written by:

A) Karl Marx
B) Emile Durkheim
C) Max Weber
D) George Herbert Mead

Question 8

Which of the following would be the best example of alienation in a sporting context from a Marxist perspective?

A) A professional athlete banding together with his teammates to form a players' union
B) A college softball player losing control over the decisions which affect her life, and feeling isolated and detached from the social world
C) A tennis coach physically and verbally abusing a player
D) A high-flying executive exploiting the sportsmen and women that his company endorses, making huge profits in the process

Question 9

According to structural functionalist analysis, sport functions to:

A) Unhinge group bonds
B) Discourage a sense of community
C) Integrate people into society's dominant values
D) Legitimize racism and sexism

Question 10

In simple terms, sociological theory is:

A) A way of seeing and organizing the world, economically, socially, and politically based on unregulated support of free trade and markets
B) The world's dominant system of economic exchange, intimately tied to social relations of production and reproduction
C) Any activity related to influencing, making and implementing collective decisions for a political community
D) A proposition of set of propositions about the nature of the social world and people's engagement in that world.

Question 11

The most important figure to develop the ideas of functionalism, and the founding 'father' of French sociology, was:

A) Michel Foucault
B) Pierre Bourdieu
C) Max Weber
D) Emile Durkheim

Question 12

Who uttered the words: 'The philosophers have only interpreted the world, in various ways; the point, however, is to change it'.

A) Emile Durkheim
B) Max Weber
C) George Herbert Mead
D) Karl Marx

Question 13

On which of the following modes of production did Marx focus most of his attention?

A) Capitalist
B) Feudalist
C) Communist
D) Socialist

Question 14

Human action involving the most calculated means toward to achieving a particular end is referred to by Max Weber as:

A) the Protestant Ethic
B) the spirit of capitalism
C) the mode of production
D) goal-rational action

Question 15

Which of the following was NOT true of the Democratic Revolution in France in the late 18th century?

A) Society was divided into three classes: nobility, clergy and peasantry
B) Social mobility (freedom of movement) between the ranks of nobility, clergy and peasantry was virtually impossible
C) The peasantry represented approximately 75% of the population
D) The peasantry was considered the lowest-ranking 'third estate'

Question 16

Sociology emerged to consider two main questions - the issue of social problems and:

A) issues related to capitalism
B) issues related to myths
C) issues related to feudalism
D) issues related to community, authority, and traditions

Question 17

In referring to sporting events as serialized civic rituals, Alan Ingham is following the ideas and work of:

A) Emile Durkheim
B) Karl Marx
C) Max Weber
D) George Herbert Mead

Question 18

Which of the following would be the BEST place to look for an example of goal-rational action in sport?

A) children's spontaneous play
B) high-performance athletes
C) mall walkers
D) a person's daily swimming routine

Question 19

Good theory:

A) withstands the test of time
B) can be neither proven nor disproven
C) is virtually identical to common sense
D) is nothing more than ideas many people hold to be true

Question 20

Darwin's theory of evolution had an important influence on:

A) Functionalism
B) conflict theory
C) symbolic interactionism
D) critical race studies

Question 21

At the core of George Herbert Mead's theory is the manner in which humans develop:

A) Agency
B) social structures
C) a sense of self
D) functional social institutions

Question 22

According to George Herbert Mead, that part of the self that is internal and subjectively experienced is the:

A) Me
B) I
C) Id
D) Ego

Question 23

A good example of how sport reinforces class power is the cartel system in the 'big four' sports organizations (MLB, NBA, NFL and NHL), as it:

A) Allowed team franchises to be independent but organized centrally in order to monopolize the market
B) Maximized profits for players through free agency rules
C) Reduced the costs associated with being a fan through competitive bargaining
D) Shifted the balance of power between owners and players toward the latter

Question 24

According to George Herbert Mead, macro-sociological theories

A) grossly overestimated the role of human thought and volitional action
B) did not account for the symbolic nature of human thought
C) did fair justice to the social context and the role of social interaction in determining human behaviour
D) accounted fairly for the ability of humans to interpret and give meaning to the world around them through language

Question 25

Antonio Gramsci used the term hegemony to describe:

A) The exercise of power of one group over another by force and submission to its will
B) The dominance of men over women through coercion
C) The maintenance of dominance of one class over another through developing consent
D) The exploitation of workers through their subordinate relationship within economic modes of production

Question 26

Michael Robidoux's work on concussions in professional hockey revealed that:

A) Concussions were not a problem in hockey until the 1990s
B) Concussions were always diagnosed in the past
C) The impact of concussions was hidden because it was considered unmanly to reveal one's injury or pain
D) A diagnosed concussion was a sign of strength and manliness

Question 27

Ideas about what Canada is and what constitutes a true Canadian are imbued with assumptions about race. Who, of the following, would be most likely to make this statement?

A) a functionalist theorist
B) a critical race theorist
C) a feminist theorist
D) a symbolic interactionist theorist

Question 28

Through symbolic interactionism, two major themes have emerged in the sociological study of sport. These are:

A) socialization and sport subcultures
B) international sport culture and sport agency
C) sport history and sport community
D) sport subcultures and sport agency

Question 29

Which theory, would you argue, is most likely to explore the ways in which sporting experiences are affected by sex, gender, and sexuality?

A) cultural studies
B) functionalism
C) symbolic interactionism
D) feminist studies

Question 30

Critical social theories are a combination, reflection, and development of two of the sociological theories discussed at length in the text. These two theories would be:

A) symbolic interactionism and functionalism
B) functionalism and conflict theory
C) conflict theory and critical race studies
D) symbolic interactionism and conflict theory