4.2.5.2 Social change, social stability and religious belief Quiz: AQA Sociology, Unit 2

The 20 questions

1. Which view of religion do functionalist sociologists tend to hold regarding social stability?

   • Religion promotes social stability by reinforcing shared values, norms and collective identity
   • Religion is controlled entirely by the economy, so its effect on social stability depends only on market conditions
   • Religion always destabilises society, because it creates divisions between believers and non-believers in every community
   • Religion has no effect on social stability, because it concerns only private beliefs that never affect public life

2. According to Marxist sociologists, how can religion relate to social change?

   • Religion can sustain the status quo by consoling the oppressed, but can also inspire protest against injustice in some cases
   • Religion always produces revolution, because every religious movement calls for the immediate overthrow of the existing state
   • Religion is irrelevant to social change, because economic forces alone determine all forms of social transformation
   • Religion is neutral in all cases, because it reflects only the personal beliefs of individuals and not any class interests

3. Which religious movement in Latin America is associated with a call for social justice and action on behalf of the poor?

   • Liberation theology
   • Deism, which emphasised rational belief in a creator who does not intervene in the workings of the world
   • Puritanism, which called for simplicity, self-discipline and the strict observance of moral rules in daily life
   • Quakerism, which emphasised pacifism, silent worship and direct personal experience of God in every meeting

4. Which sociological theory is most associated with the claim that modernisation leads to a decline in the social significance of religion?

   • Postmodernism, which holds that all grand narratives, including religious ones, have lost their authority in modern societies
   • Resource mobilisation theory, which holds that religious movements grow when they secure funding and organisational support
   • Rational choice theory, which holds that religious participation is a free decision made by individuals to maximise benefits
   • Secularisation theory

5. Which evidence is most often cited to support the view that religion has declined in influence in the UK?

   • A long-term fall in church attendance and in the proportion of people who identify with a religion in surveys
   • A steady increase in the number of religious buildings constructed each year across the country over several centuries
   • A growth in the number of people who say religion is the most important influence on their daily lives since 1950
   • A rise in church attendance in every decade since the Second World War, which shows religious growth in the population

6. What is meant by 'sacred canopy' in Peter Berger's account of religion?

   • A set of religious beliefs that gives meaning and order to human experience and protects it from chaos
   • A physical structure built over a holy site, which is used to shelter pilgrims from bad weather during festivals
   • A legal arrangement that gives religious institutions special status and exemption from taxation in modern states
   • A political alliance between religious leaders and governments, which protects both from criticism in public debate

7. Which religious tradition has grown rapidly in many parts of the Global South in recent decades, often through charismatic and Pentecostal forms?

   • Zoroastrianism, which has grown rapidly in several African countries through the building of new temples
   • Taoism, which has grown rapidly in several Latin American countries through the establishment of monasteries
   • Christianity, especially Pentecostal and charismatic forms
   • Shintoism, which has grown rapidly in several countries in Latin America through the expansion of its shrines

8. Which concept describes a society in which religion remains important in public life even when personal religious practice declines?

   • Disenchantment, in which magical explanations of the world are replaced by rational and scientific ones
   • Anomie, in which the decline of social norms leaves individuals without clear guidance about how to behave
   • Civil religion or public religiosity, in which religious symbols and values continue to shape national identity
   • Syncretism, in which beliefs from different traditions are blended into new religious forms and practices

9. Which sociologist has argued that religion's social role can change, but that the decline of institutional religion does not necessarily mean the disappearance of religious belief?

   • Karl Marx, with the phrase 'opium of the people', describing religion as a consolation for economic oppression
   • Max Weber, with the phrase 'iron cage', describing the rationalisation of modern economic and bureaucratic life
   • Emile Durkheim, with the phrase 'collective effervescence', describing the shared emotional energy of rituals
   • Grace Davie, with the phrase 'believing without belonging'

10. Which factor is most likely to explain the changing role of religion in social change, according to Max Weber?

    • The rationalisation of economic and social life, which can reshape the meaning and social role of religious belief
    • The growth of military conflict between states, which removes religion from every area of public life
    • The disappearance of all economic activity from modern societies, which removes the material basis for religious life
    • The fixed and unchanging nature of religious doctrine, which prevents any change in social life or belief

11. Which argument best supports the view that religion can be a force for social change rather than only for stability?

    • Religious movements have never challenged any social arrangement, because every faith tradition calls for total acceptance of the state
    • Religious movements have only ever supported the government, because they receive all of their funding from state budgets
    • Religious movements have no members, so their influence on social arrangements is always negligible in every society
    • Religious movements have campaigned against slavery and for civil rights and welfare, challenging existing social arrangements

12. What is the 'secularisation thesis' most often criticised for?

    • Failing to notice that religion has no social or political significance in any society, past or present
    • Overstating the decline of religion, since religion has continued to grow in many parts of the world and has taken new forms
    • Claiming that religion has always been stronger in the modern world than in traditional societies of the past
    • Ignoring the decline of religion in every country, since religious participation has grown steadily in all societies

13. In rational choice accounts of religion, what is meant by a 'religious economy' or 'religious market'?

    • A setting in which many religious organisations compete for adherents, so that religious vitality depends on competition
    • A system in which religious groups trade goods and services with each other, which is the main source of their income
    • A system in which religious buildings are rented out to commercial companies for use as offices, shops and restaurants in the city
    • A system in which the state pays all religious leaders a fixed salary, so that no organisation competes for members

14. Why might stable social conditions be associated with the persistence of religious belief, according to some sociologists?

    • Rapid change always produces a fixed religious doctrine, because people in crisis adopt the same beliefs everywhere
    • Social stability has no effect on belief, because religious practice depends only on the wealth of individuals
    • Stable communities can sustain religious practice across generations, while rapid change may weaken ties and create new beliefs
    • Stable conditions always destroy religion, because people who feel secure no longer need any form of belief, ritual or community

15. Which conclusion best follows from the evidence that religious movements can both support and challenge the social order?

    • Religion always supports the social order, so its challenges to the social order are never historically significant
    • Religion always challenges the social order, so its support for the social order is never historically significant
    • The social role of religion depends on context, so its effect on stability or change must be assessed case by case
    • Religion has no effect on the social order, so its apparent support or challenge is simply a matter of coincidence

16. Evaluate the claim that secularisation is an inevitable result of modernisation.

    • The claim is fully proven, because every modern society has seen religion disappear completely from both public and private life over time
    • The claim is confirmed by the fact that religious membership has grown in every modern society since the Second World War
    • The claim is weakened by religious growth and persistence in many regions, which shows modernisation does not always remove religion
    • The claim is irrelevant, because modernisation has no effect on social institutions, including the family and the economy

17. A country experiences rapid economic change and rising inequality. Which sociological prediction about religious belief is most consistent with the functionalist perspective?

    • Religion will become a purely commercial product, because economic change eliminates every non-market form of belief
    • Religion will have no role at all, because economic inequality is not something that religious communities respond to
    • Religion will disappear within a few years, because economic change always removes every form of collective belief at once
    • Religion may become more important as people seek shared meaning and community in times of disruption and uncertainty

18. According to secularisation theorists, what happens to the authority of religious institutions as societies modernise?

    • They lose authority over areas such as education, law and welfare, which become governed by secular institutions
    • They disappear entirely within a decade of modernisation, because no institution can survive social change of any kind
    • They gain authority over every area of life, because modern states rely on religious bodies to enforce their laws
    • They keep the same authority, because modernisation has no effect on the role of religion in any society at all

19. Which factor did Max Weber identify as central to the rise of a rational outlook in the modern West?

    • The decline of cities and trade, which encouraged people to return to traditional farming and local belief systems
    • The spread of magic and ritual across Europe, which encouraged people to use charms in economic and legal matters
    • The growth of monastic orders, which encouraged people to reject all economic activity and rational thought in daily life
    • The Protestant ethic and the disenchantment of the world, which encouraged systematic calculation of work and wealth

20. Which measure is commonly used to show religious decline over time in UK social surveys?

    • The number of religious ministers ordained each decade, which is recorded by denominations for statistical use
    • The proportion of people who give no religious affiliation when asked about their religious identity
    • The number of new religious buildings opened each year, which is recorded by local councils in planning returns
    • The amount of money given to religious charities each year, which is measured in real terms over time

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