Deck 6: The Cultural Construction of Social Hierarchy

Question 1

Which of the following is a definition of structural racism?

A)Racism is embedded in the organization of social institutions.
B)Prejudice and discrimination are found in some structural aspects of society,but not in others.
C)Discrimination tends to increase with the number of floors in apartment buildings.
D)Prejudice is less likely to occur in egalitarian societies.

Answer 1

Racism is embedded in the organization of social institutions.

Question 2

What other factor besides gender leads to a likelihood of poverty in Canada?

A)being Aboriginal
B)being from an urban area
C)having low intelligence
D)being religious

Answer 2

being Aboriginal

Question 3

Stephen Jay Gould examined Samuel George Morton's data on the relation of intelligence to cranial capacity.Which of these comments is NOT an accurate reflection of Gould's conclusions about Morton's research?

A)Morton was consciously manipulating his skull measurements to prove that "white" people were intellectually superior.
B)Morton included more female skulls in the "black" skull data set,lowering the overall average for "white" skulls versus "black" skulls.
C)Morton would have found no difference between Euro-American and indigenous American cranial capacity if he had included the small-brained Hindu skulls with his "white" skulls.
D)Morton may have achieved the results he did because he unconsciously altered his measurements to fit his preconceptions before beginning the research.

Answer 3

Morton was consciously manipulating his skull measurements to prove that "white" people were intellectually superior.

Question 4

Which is an accurate definition of hegemonic masculinity?

A)a form of male bonding behaviour found in fraternities or other organizations that admit only men
B)a way of asserting maleness that does not involve violence or aggression
C)the domination of men over women and the predominance of macho behaviour
D)the privileging of ideas and norms of masculinity in a society

Question 5

Emily Martin investigated the descriptions of menstruation found in contemporary medical and biology textbooks.What did she find?

A)Scientific descriptions of menstruation use metaphors similar to those used to describe the shedding of the stomach lining.
B)Menstruation was described as failed production that reflects pervasive gender stratification.
C)Male and female scientific authors described menstruation differently.
D)Scientific descriptions of menstruation are described in very similar terms to the production of sperm,even though these are different processes.

Question 6

What is the history of the Ku Klux Klan in Canada?

A)It was never established in Canada.
B)It promoted multiculturalism.
C)It was established by the 1980s.
D)It was established by the 1920s.

Question 7

Why do people in stratified societies often claim that ranking people by race is natural?

A)They believe that race is socially constructed.
B)These rankings function to maintain privileges for those at the top of the hierarchy.
C)It has been scientifically established that racial stratification creates a place for everyone in the social order.
D)They accept that racial rankings are crafted by governments using a scientific method.

Question 8

In Canada and the United States there are particular beliefs about race and identity.Which of these is NOT part of commonly held beliefs about race?

A)Race is an ascribed category.
B)Race is an achieved category.
C)Race is normally based on different physical attributes.
D)Race is something we are born with.

Question 9

Body image is an important part of identity,but Western views about heavier bodies are linked to particular beliefs about character.Which of these is NOT a perspective of adolescent girls in Arizona about body image?

A)The girls seemed to see the world in terms of fat and thin.
B)The girls believed that someone who was overweight was lazy.
C)The girls did not believe that dieting was a way to get in shape.
D)The girls did not believe that someone who was overweight cared about their appearance.

Question 10

Which of these statements accurately represents the view of anthropologists concerning the positioning of people into discreet "races" on the basis of physical features?

A)There is a scientific basis for race,but all races are equally intelligent.
B)Human races are natural and separate divisions within the human species.
C)There is too much physical diversity within specific populations to scientifically accept the idea of distinct races.
D)The limited sharing of genetic material means that over time,distinct human races have emerged and are scientifically valid.

Question 11

In what way are people in North American societies most stratified?

A)beliefs
B)religious class
C)social class
D)age

Question 12

Samuel George Morton was a scientist of the early 1800s.What did he attempt to prove?

A)that there was a scientific basis for gender equality
B)that there was a scientific basis for racial discrimination
C)that there was a scientific basis for gender discrimination
D)that there was a scientific basis for racial equality

Question 13

Which is the best explanation or definition of the relationship between sex and gender?

A)Gender refers to biological differences and sex refers to how society categorizes a person as male or female.
B)Sex and gender are interchangeable terms except that one does not refer to a third sex,but a third gender.
C)Sex refers to biological differences and gender refers to how society categorizes a person as male or female.
D)Gender refers to the presence of sex organs,whereas sex is a culturally determined categorization frequently used by governments on forms.

Question 14

Which of these is NOT a characteristic of a caste system?

A)Members of a caste have an achieved status.
B)A person's place in the social order is fixed.
C)There are rules that forbid intermarriage and other forms of interaction.
D)Someone of one caste may not be able to speak to someone of another caste.

Question 15

Which statement accurately describes the changes to social stratification that have occurred in societies?

A)As societies become more complex and more populous,it is likely that social stratification will increase.
B)As societies become more merit-based,their propensity for social stratification increases.
C)As societies engage in extensive trading,social stratification decreases.
D)As societies adopt neoliberal social policies,social stratification is likely to decrease.

Question 16

What important collective effect is there when men and women in the Flats avoid marriage?

A)The patrilineage is no longer responsible for preparing an expensive wedding.
B)Marriage is seen to limit the co-operation that helps to alleviate the effects of poverty.
C)The kinship networks would no longer respond to the needs of the matrilineage.
D)Children lack a supportive nuclear family and are not well cared for.

Question 17

In India,how much more likely is it that a boy will be taken to a hospital than that a girl will be?

A)twice as likely
B)five times as likely
C)fifteen times as likely
D)forty times as likely

Question 18

Which of the following is NOT part of the role,common activities,or expectations for those of two-spirit gender among the Cheyenne and Lakota?

A)sex with other men
B)participating in hunting and warfare
C)adopting the work roles of women
D)refraining from smoking

Question 19

In a society in which a person shares with others but expects them to reciprocate at some later time,what do anthropologists call this type of sharing?

A)negative reciprocity
B)balanced reciprocity
C)generalized reciprocity
D)obligatory reciprocity

Question 20

Which of the following is an example of how gender hierarchies are expressed in conversational styles?

A)The use of the third-person singular he and she to differentiate gender
B)The use of "black" in vocabulary to refer to things with negative meanings
C)Women avoiding firm commitment or expressing strong opinions
D)Men using a deeper voice to gain the upper hand in a conversation

Question 21

The description of the bodily processes of women in our own society is objective.

Question 22

In what way are the Hutterites unlike the Amish?

A)They are among the most competitive of the Christian communes.
B)They accept and use modern technology.
C)They are totally egalitarian,having no ranking by age or gender.
D)They rarely practice baptism or other sacraments.

Question 23

Paul Farmer has intervened in health and poverty issues throughout the world.What did he consider "a powerful rebuke to the hiding away of poverty"?

A)pragmatic solidarity
B)liberation theory
C)the practice of sezisman
D)structural violence

Question 24

Which of the following is an example of a modern,successful Christian communal movement?

A)the Hutterites
B)the Protestants
C)the Oneidas
D)the kibbutz

Question 25

Race is a culturally constructed form of identity that does not exist scientifically.

Question 26

Caste is generally an ascribed status or identity.

Question 27

Stephen Jay Gould concluded that Samuel George Morton may have achieved the results he did - "proving" that "white" skulls have a higher average cranial capacity - because he unconsciously altered his measurements to fit his preconceptions before beginning the research.

Question 28

Race is a form of identity that can be determined genetically.

Question 29

What is the term for actions of remote governments or international agencies that result in denial to the poor of their basic right to food,shelter,or livelihood?

A)terrorism
B)structural violence
C)ethnocide
D)problematic solidarity

Question 30

Which of the following does NOT apply to Hutterite communities?

A)Hutterite colonies are completely egalitarian.
B)Hutterite colonies are governed by an elected board.
C)Hutterite colonies build community through face-to-face interactions.
D)Hutterite colonies have no judges or police.

Question 31

An example of why intelligence is socially constructed is that it relies on the subjective judgments of the scientists and is influenced by such factors as the social class of scientists and others involved.

Question 32

Anthropologists have helped service providers alleviate the plight of refugees and displaced persons.According to the UN High Commission,what is the best estimate of how many refugees and internally displaced persons there are in the world?

A)2 million refugees;10 million displaced persons
B)40 million refugees;27 million displaced persons
C)17 million refugees;100 million displaced persons
D)320 million refugees;2.4 billion displaced persons

Question 33

Children in the United States are four times more likely to be poor than children in France.

Question 34

In the 1970s,Harvard biologist Stephen Jay Gould proved that biological races differ in intelligences.

Question 35

Franz Boas was an anthropologist who discredited the idea that there was any link between race and intelligence.

Question 36

What is one way that Hutterites build commitment to the group?

A)emphasis on individual achievements
B)making individual privacy available
C)frequent face-to-face interaction
D)providing access to the outside world

Question 37

In India,there is no longer discrimination against the dalits,who occupy the bottom of the hierarchy of the caste system.

Question 38

In how many countries have Amnesty International and Human Rights Watch documented violations of individual rights?

A)5 countries
B)28 countries
C)58 countries
D)150 countries

Question 39

Four percent of births in North America are not unambiguously of one sex or another,but have various combinations of male and female characteristics.

Question 40

Anthropologists Carole Nagengast and Carlos Velez-Ibanez suggest that,of all social scientists,anthropologists are the best prepared for human rights work.Which of the following is NOT a reason why they think so?

A)Anthropologists are trained to understand the workings of official bureaucracies.
B)Anthropologists understand complex community struggles.
C)Anthropologists have training in dealing with cultural variation.
D)Anthropologists receive training in public relations related to human rights.

Question 41

In the Flats,as described by Carol B.Stack,people refrained from marrying because of social obligations they felt unable to fulfil.

Question 42

Individual rights belong to an egocentric view of society.

Question 43

Paul Farmer has shown that human rights violations are caused by bad people and are never embedded in social inequalities.

Question 44

Negative reciprocity is a form of exchange whereby people share what they have with others without expecting them to reciprocate later.

Question 45

It is not possible for a non-stratified community to exist within a larger society.