Deck 1: Introduction to Family Studies

Question 1

An institution is a recognized area of social life that is organized along a system of norms regulating behaviour.

Answer 1

True

Question 2

In complex societies like Canada, the institution of the family has a great deal of stability.

Answer 2

False

Question 3

Jennifer lives with her grandparents, John and Susan Smith. She is living in a horizontal nuclear family.

Answer 3

False

Question 4

John cohabits with Jane. Jane was previously married to Jack. While Jane was married to Jack, they had two children, Sam and Edith. Sam and Edith now live with John and Jane. This is referred to as a extended nuclear family.

Question 5

Marriage is a more or less recent cultural invention in the history of humanity and so should not be equated with families.

Question 6

One of the problems with including friends in an inclusive definition of the family is that family is an acquired status and friends are ascribed.

Question 7

Political economy perspectives analyze social inequalities within the context of the historical development of the economy.

Question 8

A functionalist perspective differs from a political economy perspective in that social change is a necessitated.

Question 9

A social construct is a socially accepted definition of a situation; it is a cultural interpretation.

Question 10

The following statement is an example of social stratification by gender: The household division of labour is still largely unequal in that it gives more flexibility to males because they can choose the activities they engage in at home.

Question 11

An important feature of the developmental perspective in family studies is the emphasis it places on cross-sectional analysis.

Question 12

Symbolic interactionism emphasizes the formation of meanings and self-concept.

Question 13

The analysis of motherhood as a social product rather than as a purely natural product is the focus of the behaviour genetics perspective.

Question 14

Quantitative research methods are more scientific than qualitative research methods.

Question 15

A statistical survey is an example of qualitative research data.

Question 16

A society transmits its values and traditions to the next generation through the process of

A) social control.
B) socialization.
C) institutionalization.
D) reproduction.
E) role models.

Question 17

The minimum requirement to meet the definition of the family consists of

A) two close friends who share a household.
B) the extended family.
C) a husband and a wife.
D) two related generations in one household.
E) a monogamous relationship.

Question 18

A horizontal family

A) includes grandparents in the household.
B) sisters, or brothers, or cousins living together without the parent generation.
C) includes remarried or cohabiting spouses residing with at least one child from a previous union.
D) refers to a temporary period in which a LAT family shares a household residence.
E) refers to a situation in which adult children return to live with parents.

Question 19

Juanita lives with her mother part of the time but spends weekends and holidays with her father. She is living in

A) a binuclear family.
B) an extended family.
C) a horizontal nuclear family.
D) a reconstituted family.
E) a LAT family.

Question 20

Fictive kinship refers to

A) parents' friends who are incorporated in the family as uncles and aunts.
B) relatives or extended family.
C) families in fiction or novels.
D) adoption.
E) polygamous relationships.

Question 21

Which of the following statements regarding polygamous marriage is most accurate?

A) A woman most likely to enter a polygamous marriage lives in a community with a sex ratio imbalance of more women than men.
B) A woman most likely to enter a polygamous marriage lives in a urban setting, has a fairly high level of education, and comes from a upper class family.
C) A woman most likely to enter a polygamous marriage lives in a rural setting, has little education, and comes from a disadvantaged family.
D) A woman most likely to enter a polygamous relationship lives in a society in which polygamous unions are widely accepted.
E) A woman most likely to enter a polygamous marriage lives in society where gender inequality is unknown.

Question 22

Political economy perspectives focus on the social inequalities that may arise from the

A) capitalist market.
B) federal government.
C) provincial government.
D) underground economy.
E) family structure.

Question 23

Which of the following statements about political economy perspectives is correct?

A) Society functions as an organism that collaborate together for optimal success.
B) There is little interest in redressing inequality.
C) Gender inequality plays a key role in the proper functioning of society.
D) There is the possibility for change at the global level.
E) Maternal employment threatens the equilibrium of the family.

Question 24

Conflict theory is rooted in which historical theory?

A) Structural functionalism.
B) Marxism
C) Life course perspectives
D) Symbolic interactionism
E) Behaviour genetics

Question 25

Gender differentiation within a structural functionalist perspective holds that there is an instrumental role and an expressive role to be fulfilled within the family. An example of the instrumental role would be

A) a father as breadwinner and conduit between family and society.
B) a mother as caregiver and domestic labourer.
C) a heterosexual couple fulfilling the economic needs of the family through wage labour.
D) children engaged in domestic chores suitable to their age and development.
E) a mother engaged in maintaining community relations between family and society.

Question 26

According to structural functionalism, when Maria is engaged in making a meal for her family and her husband, Phillipe, is still at work, she is engaging in a(n) _________ function and he is engaging in a(n) ________ function.

A) masculine, feminine
B) feminine, masculine
C) instrumental, expressive
D) expressive, instrumental
E) cooking, earning money

Question 27

Nghia, 26, is contemplating marriage with his girlfriend whom he has been dating since high school. His decision is complicated because another woman, whom he finds very attractive, has made it very clear that she is interested in him. Compared to his girlfriend, she is better educated and has a better job. His difficulty in making this decision best reflects the tenets of

A) feminist perspectives.
B) interactional-transactional perspectives.
C) developmental perspectives.
D) rational theory.
E) social exchange theory.

Question 28

Which of the following is an example of parental transmission of cultural capital?

A) Parents who provide nutritious meals for their children.
B) Parents who provide their children with a large financial allowance.
C) Parents who take their children to a science museum.
D) Parents who take their children on long walks.
E) Parents who set early bedtimes for their children.

Question 29

A family whose members often interact informally with a number of politicians and their families have more ___________ than a family who never has an opportunity to meet with politicians on an informal basis.

A) rational choices
B) human capital
C) social capital
D) economic alternatives
E) instrumental value

Question 30

Which of the following concepts is most closely identified with the catch phrase "it takes a village to raise a child"?

A) Effective community
B) Cultural capital
C) Distributive justice
D) Altruistic motives
E) Social closure

Question 31

An example of a social construct is

A) a social definition.
B) childhood.
C) the description of a woman who nurses her child.
D) a cultural invention.
E) a function for which the family as an institution is responsible.

Question 32

The way in which motherhood is socially constructed in a particular society is primarily a product of

A) the internal practices of family interaction.
B) the choices parents make in socializing their children.
C) genetics.
D) the economic system.
E) the socioeconomic status of a particular family.

Question 33

In which geographic region is multiple mothering or parenting the norm?

A) Canada
B) Europe
C) Africa
D) Australia
E) The United States

Question 34

That the family is understood to be a private institution, unaffected by external inequities, is criticized by both

A) structural functionalism and feminist perspectives.
B) rational theory and feminist perspectives.
C) structuralism and feminist perspectives.
D) symbolic interactionism and feminist perspectives.
E) social constructionism and feminist perspectives.

Question 35

Gender stratification refers to

A) the organization of society whereby males have access to more resources, power, and autonomy than women.
B) gender roles.
C) the analysis of the social system within a feminist perspective.
D) the organization of social classes.
E) the intersection of race, class, and gender.

Question 36

Developmental theories of the family that focus on the macro-level would analyze which of the following?

A) The economic structure of society.
B) The role of current political affairs.
C) The effects of current technological innovations on the family.
D) The historical context of the society.
E) The intergenerational transmission of a family's culture.

Question 37

Which of the following is an example of an off-time family event?

A) A child graduating from high school at eighteen years of age
B) A mother bearing her first child at age fifteen
C) A mother returning to waged labour when her child starts kindergarten
D) Becoming a grandparent when middle-aged
E) A couple choosing to have their first child after completing post-secondary education

Question 38

The recognition that the age at which couples have their first child will affect family dynamics, child development, and life chances is derived from

A) social structural perspectives.
B) symbolic interactionism.
C) rational theory.
D) feminist perspectives.
E) developmental perspectives.

Question 39

Symbolic interactionism is highly suitable for the study of _____________, a previously neglected aspect of the study of family life.

A) significant others
B) emotions
C) the development of gender identity
D) ascribed status
E) the looking glass self

Question 40

Symbolic interactionism refers to the idea that people develop their ___________through interaction with significant others.

A) self-definition
B) egos
C) emotions
D) instincts
E) values

Question 41

The interactional-transactional perspective explains how, for instance,

A) interactions between parents and children feedback upon each other.
B) family members develop their feelings of group solidarity.
C) the transactions between parents and the economic system operate.
D) family members are part of a larger kinship system.
E) fictive kin become important to a nuclear family.

Question 42

When parents are teaching their children to ride a bicycle, they are dependent upon the interest and cooperation of their children in order to be successful. This example underlines the importance of

A) parent-child bonding.
B) discipline in parent-child relations.
C) good balance.
D) seeing the child as an active social actor.
E) teaching children the skills necessary to interact with peers.

Question 43

According to behaviour genetics, child development is a product of

A) biological determinism.
B) the genetic makeup of the parents.
C) evolutionary processes.
D) the interaction between genetics and environment.
E) the shared environment of genetically related individuals.

Question 44

In the following statement, which is the independent variable? "Children who are cared for in day care centres develop a high degree of comfort in social interaction with both peers and adults."

A) children who are cared for in day care centres
B) children who are not cared for in day care centres
C) child care
D) degree of comfort in social interaction
E) peers and adults

Question 45

In the following statement, which is the dependent variable? "Husbands who beat
Their wives were raised in abusive families."

A) abusive families
B) wives
C) degree of physical harm to wives
D) husbands who beat their wives
E) spousal abuse

Question 46

Which of the following is stated as a testable hypothesis?

A) A hypothesis is a testable prediction or sentence.
B) Families come in many different shapes and sizes..
C) Women with higher earnings than their husbands receive more help in housework than women with lower earnings than their husbands.
D) Husbands and wives tended to lead entirely separate lives among lower-class Romans 22 centuries ago.
E) Young single mothers make up the majority of Canada's urban poor.

Question 47

The HIV 'epidemic' in South Africa has created enormous numbers of orphaned children. This event provides an opportunity for

A) observation.
B) a 'natural' experiment.
C) a contextual analysis.
D) an invasion of private grief.
E) evaluative research.

Question 48

What concerns us most as family sociologists is choosing

A) statistical methods that include very large samples.
B) a research method that can best describe the human reality we wish to study within its social context.
C) a method that allows us to draw from personal experience.
D) a research method that is longitudinal.
E) a research method that is most suitable to the nuclear family structure.

Question 49

Which of the following is a characteristic that can be used to describe qualitative research?

A) statistical
B) simple
C) holistic
D) economic
E) linear

Question 50

Which of the following statements is the most accurate? The family is an ideal phenomenon for

A) making associations between microsociological and macrosociological analysis.
B) recognizing the polarization of micro and macro level sociological analysis.
C) creating holistic theories about social institutions.
D) debunking the ability of sociologists to adequately explain small groups.
E) recognizing that sociological analysis is primarily commonsense.

Question 51

Describe why Durkheim (1895) refers to families as institutions.

Question 52

Describe how developmental (life course) perspectives are unique to the study of families.

Question 53

Describe the interactional-transactional approach and its use in the study of the family.

Question 54

How are social constructionism and feminism related in the study of the family?

Question 55

How is family defined in this Chapter? In what ways is this definition an exclusive one? In what ways is it an inclusive one? What are the problems with definitions of family that are too inclusive?

Question 56

What is the distinction between the concepts of gender stratification and gender roles? Explain how these two concepts relate to each other.

Question 57

How can quantitative and qualitative methods complement each other?