4.2.5.1 Ideology, science and religion Quiz: AQA Sociology, Unit 2

The 20 questions

1. In Karl Marx's writing, what did he mean when he described religion as the 'opium of the people'?

   • Religion is a pharmaceutical product that the state regulates to control addiction and ensure public health across all of society
   • Religion offers comfort that can dull people's awareness of exploitation and reduce their desire to change their conditions
   • Religion is a form of entertainment that workers enjoy at weekends, with no effect on their political views or actions
   • Religion is a physical medicine that cures illness and was used by ancient societies to treat the sick across Europe

2. What is an ideology in sociology?

   • A scientific method for testing hypotheses through controlled experiments that are repeated under identical conditions
   • A set of beliefs and values that justify the interests of a social group and help maintain or challenge power relations
   • A legal code that governs the rights and duties of citizens and is enforced by the courts and police forces
   • A religious text that sets out the moral rules followed by members of a faith community in daily life

3. Which sociologist argued that religion is a social institution that generates collective effervescence and helps to unify society?

   • Max Weber, who argued that Protestant ethics encouraged the rational pursuit of profit and the growth of capitalism
   • Karl Marx, who argued that religion is a consolation that helps to sustain the economic and social interests of the ruling class
   • Peter Berger, who argued that religion provides a sacred canopy that gives meaning to human experience
   • Emile Durkheim

4. In Max Weber's work, what was the Protestant ethic thought to encourage?

   • Withdrawal from all economic activity, so that believers could focus on prayer and meditation for their entire lives
   • Strict division of labour by gender, so that men and women worked in entirely separate spheres of economic life
   • Collective ownership of land and property, so that wealth was shared equally among the members of each congregation and parish
   • Disciplined hard work, saving and rational pursuit of success as a sign of spiritual worth, which Weber linked to capitalism

5. What does Weber mean by the 'disenchantment of the world'?

   • The growth of religious faith in modern societies, as people turn to magic and mysticism to explain everyday events
   • The rise of religious conflict between different faiths, which leaves societies fragmented and bitterly divided over belief
   • The loss of faith by religious leaders, who abandon their congregations in large numbers during periods of economic change
   • The decline of magical and religious explanations as scientific and rational ways of thinking become dominant in modern societies

6. Which religious tradition is most strongly associated with the concept of the Five Pillars of religious practice?

   • Buddhism, whose core practices include meditation, the Eightfold Path and the observance of monastic discipline
   • Sikhism, whose core practices include meditation on the name of God, honest labour and sharing with the community
   • Islam
   • Hinduism, whose core practices include ritual worship, pilgrimage and the observance of dharma in daily life

7. Which of the following is a central feature of Christian denominations that sociologists often compare with non-Christian traditions?

   • Organised churches with formal membership, doctrine and worship, differentiated into denominations such as Catholic and Protestant
   • Absence of any formal doctrine, since Christianity has no shared beliefs about God, Jesus, salvation or the authority of scripture at all
   • Worship that takes place only in private homes, with no church buildings, clergy or formal organisation of any kind
   • Belief that the material world is an illusion, with all religious practice focused on escaping from physical existence

8. What is meant by 'science as ideology' in Marxist and critical sociology?

   • The view that science is a set of religious beliefs, which have no empirical content and are accepted on faith alone
   • The view that scientific knowledge is inaccessible to ordinary people, so that only experts can understand its methods
   • The view that science has no social influence, because its results are always neutral and unaffected by the funding or values behind them
   • The view that scientific knowledge can serve particular social and economic interests, reflecting the values of those who fund it

9. Which sociologist argued that scientific knowledge progresses through the falsification of hypotheses rather than through their confirmation?

   • Karl Popper
   • Paul Feyerabend, who argued that there is no single scientific method that all successful science has followed
   • Robert Merton, who argued that the norms of science include universalism, communism, disinterestedness and scepticism
   • Thomas Kuhn, who argued that science advances through shifts between paradigms that are accepted by scientific communities

10. Which concept describes a set of beliefs that a community accepts as the basis of its practice and that justifies the community's approach to the world?

    • Paradigm, in Thomas Kuhn's sense, which refers to the shared assumptions that guide normal scientific research
    • Syncretism, which describes the blending of religious beliefs and practices from different traditions into a new form
    • Civil religion, which describes the public use of religious symbols to affirm the values of a national community
    • Secularisation, which describes the decline of religious institutions and the loss of religious influence in public life

11. Which claim best describes the relationship between religion and social control, as discussed by functionalist sociologists?

    • Religion always undermines social order, because every religious group rejects the norms and laws of the society around it
    • Religion has no connection to social order, because it deals only with private beliefs that do not affect society
    • Religion is controlled entirely by the state, which means that it cannot influence the behaviour of ordinary members
    • Religion can reinforce shared norms and values, which helps to integrate members and maintain social order

12. Which concept describes a religious movement that combines elements of several traditions into a new synthesis, such as some New Age beliefs?

    • Syncretism
    • Disenchantment, which describes the removal of magical explanations from the world through rationalisation
    • Civil religion, which describes the use of religious symbols to affirm national values in public life
    • Secularisation, which describes the decline of the social significance of religion in modern societies

13. Why might sociologists regard the 'ideological' function of religion as important when studying social change?

    • Religious beliefs can justify or challenge existing power relations, so they can either support or resist social change
    • Religious beliefs are never linked to social or economic interests, so they have no ideological function in any society
    • Religious beliefs always promote social change, because every faith tradition calls for the overthrow of the existing order
    • Religious beliefs are fixed and identical in all societies, so their ideological function cannot change over time

14. Which concept describes the way that a belief system is accepted as natural and common sense, so that its interests are rarely questioned?

    • Hegemony, in which dominant groups secure consent to their leadership through shared ideas that seem natural
    • Rationalisation, in which traditional authority is replaced by rules, calculation and bureaucratic procedures
    • Ritualism, in which people follow the routines of social life without any clear commitment to the goals behind them
    • Anomie, in which social norms break down and individuals lose clear guidance about acceptable behaviour

15. Which tradition is most associated with the idea of dharma and karma as central concepts of religious belief?

    • Judaism, whose central concepts include covenant, Torah and the observance of mitzvot in daily religious life
    • Islam, whose central concepts include tawhid, the oneness of God, and the prophethood of Muhammad
    • Hinduism
    • Christianity, whose central concepts include the Trinity, salvation through Christ and the sacraments of the church

16. Evaluate the claim that science is entirely free from ideology.

    • The claim is fully proven, because science has no social dimension at all, and scientists work in isolation from the society around them
    • The claim is confirmed by the fact that every scientific theory has been accepted without any debate in every period
    • The claim is weakened, since funding, institutions and social values can shape which questions are asked and how findings are used
    • The claim is irrelevant, because science and ideology are the same thing, so the claim cannot be meaningfully tested

17. Which conclusion best follows from the view that both religion and science can function ideologically?

    • Religion is ideological and science is not, so only religious claims need to be examined for their social interests
    • Claims in both religion and science should be critically examined for the interests and power relations they may serve
    • Science is ideological and religion is not, so only scientific claims need to be examined for their social interests
    • Religion and science are equally reliable in all respects, so no critical examination of either is ever necessary

18. What does Durkheim mean by the 'sacred' and the 'profane' in his account of religion?

    • The sacred is set apart and treated with reverence, while the profane is the ordinary everyday world of routine life
    • The sacred is the world of paid labour and markets, while the profane is the world of home, family and private belief
    • The sacred is the state's official calendar of public holidays, while the profane is the calendar of local religious festivals
    • The sacred is found only in ancient texts, while the profane is found only in modern scientific writing and public debate

19. Which of these is a non-Christian religious tradition that sociologists of religion often study?

    • Mormonism, founded in nineteenth-century America by Joseph Smith as a movement that claims to restore the early church
    • Lutheranism, founded in sixteenth-century Germany by Martin Luther as a reform movement within the Western church
    • Methodism, founded in eighteenth-century England by John Wesley as a revival movement within the Church of England
    • Sikhism, founded in the Punjab region by Guru Nanak in the late fifteenth century

20. Why do functionalists argue that shared religious rituals are important for society?

    • Because rituals are banned in most modern states, so they survive only in private homes and never in public life
    • Because rituals are mainly used to raise money from believers, which funds the wider economy and the industries that serve it
    • Because rituals keep individuals apart and encourage competition, which increases political conflict within communities
    • Because rituals bring people together, reinforce shared values and strengthen social solidarity across the community

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