Deck 8: Social Change

Question 1

Lack of access to the Internet can prevent a country from being fully integrated into the
global economy.

Answer 1

True

Question 2

The first human being was cloned in 1997.

Answer 2

False

Question 3

Air pollution in urban areas is caused primarily by emissions from automobiles, electric power plants, and heavy industries.

Answer 3

True

Question 4

To improve air quality during the 1984 Olympics in Los Angeles, people were asked to carpool and stagger their work hours, leading to a significant reduction in ozone levels.

Question 5

The Kyoto Protocol was signed by all the core nations.

Question 6

Sociologists Paul Mohai and Robin Saha examined over 600 hazardous waste treatment, storage, and disposal facilities in the United States. They found that ________ of the people living within one mile of these sites are non-Whites and Latinos.

A) 22 percent
B) 51 percent
C) 12 percent
D) 43 percent

Question 7

Which one of the following is an example of a new social movement?

A) A civil rights protest movement in a major Canadian city.
B) A parents' protest about the closure of a local high school.
C) An environmental social movement that focuses on the interconnection of all the world's people and resources.
D) A local workers' protest against poor wages and working conditions.

Question 8

Approximately, how many people, worldwide, lack safe and adequate drinking water?

A) approx 1.1 million
B) approx 5 million
C) approx 1 billion
D) approx 600 million

Question 9

What technique was used by women's liberation activists in the 1960s and 1970s to convince women that they were being deprived of their rights and of socially valued resources?

A) class consciousness groups
B) consciousness-raising groups
C) false consciousness groups
D) deprivation awareness groups

Question 10

Those with vested interests in preventing social change will often include which of the following?

A) corporations
B) the proletariat
C) factory workers
D) the poor

Question 11

Of what is the incorrect notion that traditional societies are simple or primitive an example?

A) ethnocentrism
B) dependency theory
C) colonialism
D) cultural imperialism

Question 12

What was the focus of traditional social movements?

A) economic issues
B) class consciousness
C) civil rights
D) discrimination

Question 13

Which of the following is NOT true of global climate change?

A) Climate change will affect the people in wealthy nations more quickly and more severely than it will those in less developed nations.
B) As the ice in the Arctic regions melts due to rising temperatures, this is likely in turn to create further warming.
C) Elimination of the rainforest causes changes in worldwide weather patterns.
D) Energy-hungry nations in the developed world are major contributors to climate change.

Question 14

What it the term for the significant rise in the earth's surface temperatures that occurs when industrial gases like carbon dioxide turn the planet's atmosphere into a virtual greenhouse?

A) global warming
B) air pollution
C) environmental fallout
D) globalization

Question 15

What state did Talcott Parsons view as natural for society?

A) equilibrium
B) anarchy
C) relative deprivation
D) goal displacement

Question 16

Advances in biotechnology, such as the cloning of sheep like Dolly in 1997, raised concern among many neo-luddites in terms of the ethical implications this research raises for members of society. Which sociological concept explains this concern?

A) equilibrium model
B) censorship
C) resource mobilization
D) culture lag

Question 17

What do critics of genetically-modified food call such food?

A) technoproduce
B) frankenfood
C) fake food
D) cloned food

Question 18

Which of the following has contributed to the global environmental crisis?

A) the rise in global population
B) technological advances
C) secularization
D) globalization

Question 19

Read carefully through the statement, and fill in the blanks from the options A-D below. "The _______________ is concerned with interrelationships between people and their environment, focusing on how the physical environment shapes and affects people's lives as well as how people influence their surrounding environment. As such the __________________ works to break down the divisiveness between race and social class lines that ________________ argue is a result of the capitalist treadmill of production which supports the affluent and negatively affects the less affluent".

A) world systems analysis; environmental justice movement; conflict theorists
B) human ecology perspective; environmental justice movement; conflict theorists
C) environmental justice movement; human ecology perspective; functionalist theorists
D) human ecology perspective; globalization perspective; interactionists

Question 20

Which of the following is NOT a process of social change associated with equilibrium theory?

A) value legitimation
B) differentiation
C) adaptive upgrading
D) inclusion

Question 21

The peripheral nations of Asia, Africa, and Latin America depend on the core nations for technology and the information it provides. This demonstrates that which of the following persists?

A) globalization
B) the digital divide
C) industrialization
D) innovation

Question 22

Technological advances have been found to facilitate activism and the formation of social movements. As an example, interaction through the use of Facebook and MySpace, people are able to create virtual bonds with like-minded individuals globally in order to strengthen the political landscape. Which one of the stages of social movements does this activity represent?

A) institutionalization
B) decline
C) coalescence
D) resource mobilization

Question 23

Which of the following theoretical perspectives is likely to argue that it is the capitalist press for ever more inputs at ever cheaper prices to feed profitable overconsumption in wealthy nations that is the chief driver of global climate change?

A) interactionist
B) feminist
C) conflict theory
D) functionalist

Question 24

Why is the Marxist view of social change is appealing to some?

A) It permits people to take a passive role in responding to inevitable cycles or changes in material culture.
B) It is a means of giving power to those most fit to wield it.
C) It will produce equality in the Weberian sense.
D) It permits people to seize control of the historical process and gain their freedom from injustice.

Question 25

Who wrote "Science leads to foresight, and foresight leads to action"?

A) Karl Marx
B) Émile Durkheim
C) Auguste Comte
D) Charles Darwin

Question 26

Sociologists view many aspects of biotechnology as an extension of the recent trend toward the __________ of society.

A) industrialization
B) progress
C) medicalization
D) globalization

Question 27

A student was asked the following question: "Briefly describe and analyze the processes of the equilibrium model of social change". "The equilibrium model holds that there are four inevitable processes of social change. The first, differentiation refers to the increasing complexity of social organizations, such as the increasing specialization of institutions. The second process, adaptive upgrading is related to the first, as the purpose of institutions becomes more specialized. An example is when occupations become more specialized. The third process is the inclusion of groups such as ethnic minorities and women who were previously excluded because of their race, class or gender. Finally, the development of values that legitimize new activities such as the acceptance of preventative and alternative medicine is an example of value generalization. Together these processes broaden the view of health care due to societal agreement of social values". How would you rate this student's answer?

A) Unacceptable (a process is missing and/or the explanations are not clear or are irrelevant and the analysis is not well developed)
B) Good (all processes discussed, the explanations are clear, but the analysis could be more developed)
C) Excellent (all processes discussed, with clear and correct explanations, and a developed analysis)
D) Mediocre (all processed discussed, with fairly clear explanations but the analysis is not well developed)

Question 28

The term sabotage is derived from French workers throwing what item into factory machinery to destroy it?

A) metal shavings
B) wooden shoes
C) animal bones
D) rocks

Question 29

Which of the following illustrates relative deprivation?

A) Middle management workers in a corporation who are discontented because they cannot afford the luxury cars or expensive homes that their bosses have.
B) Residents searching for food and shelter in earthquake-ravaged Haiti.
C) A group of sweatshop workers who are incapable of buying adequate food for their families.
D) Residents of a squatter settlement in Nigeria who are incapable of affording adequate housing and plumbing.

Question 30

By whom was the One Laptop per Child campaign initiated?

A) Nelson Mandela
B) Al Gore
C) Immanuel Wallerstein
D) Nicholas Negroponte

Question 31

What does the acronym NIMBY stand for?

A) not in my backyard
B) never intervening maliciously before yesterday
C) nuclear innovation mandated by you
D) nuclear interests may bury you

Question 32

In terms of adopting new technology you have surrounded yourself with information technology and you use it consistently to participate in online life, staying in touch with your friends and surfing digital content. You are considered to fit into which of the following groups?

A) connector
B) omnivore
C) experienced experimenter
D) mobile centric

Question 33

Which of the following is NOT an initiative undertaken by college and university students towards social change?

A) Setting up campus chapters for organizations such as Amnesty International
B) Forming Students against Sweatshops
C) Participating in the Spread the Net Student Challenge to raise funds to fight malaria in Africa
D) Fundraising for the C.D. Howe Institute

Question 34

Which of the following is NOT projected to increase as a result of global warming?

A) likelihood of wildfires
B) desertification
C) population growth
D) severe weather effects

Question 35

Which of the following is NOT true of social movements?

A) As people become part of a social movement, norms develop to guide their behaviour.
B) Social movements require a charismatic leader in order to keep them vibrant.
C) To sustain social protest or resistance, there must be an organizational base and continuity of leadership.
D) In forming a distinct identity, an emerging social movement may give rise to a special language, or new words for familiar terms.

Question 36

What continent has the largest proportion of its population with Internet access?

A) South America
B) North America
C) Asia
D) Europe

Question 37

Which sociologist recognized the importance of social movements when he defined them as "collective enterprises to establish a new order of life"?

A) Herbert Blumer
B) Émile Durkheim
C) Talcott Parsons
D) Karl Marx

Question 38

Which of the following is NOT true of technology?

A) Technology is universally beneficial.
B) Technology allows human beings to expand their capabilities.
C) Some aspects of technology need to be monitored for potential misuse.
D) Technology is cumulative and based on culturally transmitted knowledge.

Question 39

Which of the following would NOT be an example of a social movement?

A) The civil rights movement of the 1960s and 1970s
B) A person writing a letter to the Canada Customs and Revenue Agency disputing a tax bill
C) Activists opposed to the war in Iraq
D) People who organized for or against abortion rights

Question 40

Read carefully through the statement below, and decide which of the options A-D is correct. "One of the primary factors causing the global environmental crisis is considered to be the rise in global population. Coupled with this, are the advances in technology which contribute to increased environmental concerns. According to the Kyoto Protocol, the more people on the planet, the more resources we need to sustain them, the more waste they produce and the more strain we place on the earth's capacity to house us all".

A) The phrase "global environmental crisis" should be replaced by "global warming
B) The word "technology" should be replaced by "inequalities"
C) The phrase "Kyoto protocol" should be replaced by "human ecology model"
D) The word "resources" should be replaced by "finances"

Question 41

What event in 1997 intensified the debate on genetic engineering?

A) The transplantation of an animal fetus into a human
B) The cloning of a sheep
C) The production of tomatoes without soil
D) The development of multi-headed animals

Question 42

One significant approach to social change derives from the evolutionary argument presented by Charles Darwin in On the Origin of Species. What is the main argument of this seminal work?

A) a continuing progression of successive generations of life forms as they adapt to their environment
B) the superiority of natural evolution to planned breeding and propagation initiatives
C) all life forms are evolving towards divine perfection
D) survival of the fittest

Question 43

The Internet evolved from a computer system built by whom?

A) NATO
B) the U.S. Defense Department
C) Microsoft
D) Apple

Question 44

Which of the following is true of new social movements?

A) They emphasize a global perspective on social and political activism.
B) They emphasize economic issues.
C) They emphasize resource mobilization on a local level.
D) They have their roots in social class, usually working-class, activism.

Question 45

Which of the following is NOT true of new social movements?

A) Members of new social movements call into question the legitimacy of arguments made by established authorities.
B) They typically seek to overthrow the government.
C) Educated, middle class people are significantly represented in some of these movements.
D) They generally do not view government as their ally in the struggle for a better society.

Question 46

Which of the following is true of Neo-Luddites?

A) They destroyed some of the machinery used in the early industrial revolution, when they raided factories at night.
B) They hate technology.
C) They were early supporters of Marxism.
D) They have questioned the incessant expansion of industrialization.

Question 47

Read carefully through the statement, and fill in the blanks from the options A-D below. "Those in society with a disproportionate share of society's wealth, status and power often experience a(n) ___________, hoping to preserve the status quo. ___________ welcome ____________ because the struggle to adapt to change strains the relationship between social
institutions, thus challenging social change.

A) culture lag; luddites; vested interest
B) equilibrium; functionalists; culture lag
C) vested interest; neo-luddites; culture lag
D) equilibrium; conflict theorists; technology

Question 48

Which term was coined by Thorstein Veblen?

A) nonmaterial culture
B) false consciousness
C) fads
D) vested interests

Question 49

Less affluent nations exploit their mineral deposits, forests, and fisheries in order to meet their debt obligations to developed nations. Of what is this an example?

A) equilibrium theory
B) neocolonialism
C) postindustrialization
D) world systems analysis

Question 50

Apply the term vested interests to contemporary society.

Question 51

Describe the impact that technology has on influencing social change.

Question 52

Discuss the positive and negative consequences of genetically modified food.
What ethical concerns are raised by genetic manipulation?

Question 53

Discuss ways in which ordinary people can participate in the processes of social change. Give examples to support your answer.

Question 54

Discuss the "treadmill of production" and its long-term effect on the
environment. Give examples to support your answer.

Question 55

Define the term environmental justice. Give examples to support your answer.

Question 56

Discuss the effects of globalization, both positive and negative. Give examples to support your answer.