4.2.6.1 Development, underdevelopment and global inequality Quiz: AQA Sociology, Unit 2

The 20 questions

1. According to modernisation theory, what are the stages of economic growth that societies pass through, as set out by Walt Rostow?

   • Feudal, mercantile, colonial, socialist and globalised, in a sequence that depends on each country's form of government
   • Traditional society, preconditions for take-off, take-off, drive to maturity and the age of high mass consumption
   • Hunter-gatherer, pastoral, agrarian, industrial and post-industrial, in a fixed sequence that every society must follow
   • Subsistence, commercial, manufacturing, service and information, in a sequence set by the level of foreign investment

2. Which theory argues that underdevelopment in poorer countries is caused by their historical relationship with richer countries, which extracts surplus and keeps them dependent?

   • Dependency theory
   • Human capital theory, which argues that poverty is caused mainly by low levels of education and skills among workers
   • Modernisation theory, which argues that poorer countries can develop by adopting the institutions and values of wealthier ones
   • Functionalism, which argues that inequality between nations helps to maintain global social stability and order

3. Which sociologist is associated with the 'world systems' analysis that divides the global economy into core, semi-periphery and periphery?

   • Amartya Sen, who described development as the expansion of human capabilities and freedoms
   • Immanuel Wallerstein
   • Andre Gunder Frank, who described the development of underdevelopment through historical dependence
   • Walt Rostow, who described the stages of economic growth from traditional society to mass consumption

4. What does the Human Development Index (HDI) combine to measure development?

   • Trade volume, exports and foreign direct investment, all measured in US dollars for each country
   • Average wage, unemployment rate and the level of government debt as a share of national income in each year
   • Population size, land area and the number of hospitals and schools available across the country
   • Life expectancy, education and income per person, each converted to a common scale

5. What is meant by 'global inequality' in the sociology of development?

   • Differences in income, health, education and life chances between countries and between people in different parts of the world
   • The fixed geographical position of countries, which determines whether they are rich or poor for ever
   • The equal distribution of wealth across all countries, which is achieved when every nation has the same income per person
   • The legal rules governing trade between nations, which are the same for all countries regardless of their wealth

6. A country has a GNI of 900 million dollars and a population of 30 million. What is the GNI per person in dollars, to the nearest whole dollar?

   • 30,000 dollars per person
   • 3,000 dollars per person
   • 300 dollars per person
   • 30 dollars per person

7. Which concept describes the expansion of human capabilities and freedoms as the central aim of development, associated with Amartya Sen?

   • The core-periphery approach, which measures development by the share of trade held by the richest countries
   • The stages approach, which measures development by the speed at which a country moves through Rostow's stages
   • The reserve army approach, which measures development by the number of unemployed workers available to employers
   • The capabilities approach, which measures development by what people are able to do and to be

8. Which concept describes the position of countries that are neither wholly core nor wholly peripheral in the global economy?

   • The semi-periphery
   • The commons, which is the shared resource held by a community for the benefit of all its members equally
   • The reserve army, which is the pool of unemployed workers whose availability keeps wages low in the economy
   • The enclave, which is a small region of high-productivity industry within an otherwise poorly developed country

9. Which factor did dependency theorists identify as a major cause of underdevelopment in former colonies?

   • The early adoption of democratic government, which reduced the speed at which economic decisions could be made
   • The natural absence of any mineral or agricultural resources, which makes development impossible without outside help
   • The excessive investment in local industry, which led to inflation and the collapse of the national currency
   • The extraction of resources and the unequal terms of trade that favoured the colonial power and its successors

10. Which claim is most consistent with the criticisms made of modernisation theory?

    • It assumed that no societies can develop, so it recommended that poorer countries remain in their traditional form permanently
    • It assumed that all societies follow the same path as the West, and it underestimated colonial and global economic relations
    • It assumed that global inequality is impossible, so it argued that no country could ever become richer than another
    • It assumed that development is caused only by the weather, so it ignored all economic and political factors in each nation

11. Why is GNI per head sometimes criticised as a measure of development?

    • It hides how income is distributed and says nothing about health, education or freedom within a country
    • It is measured only in local currency, which makes it impossible to compare countries with each other at all
    • It includes only the income of the richest households, so it always overstates the wealth of the poorest groups
    • It is always calculated incorrectly, because governments never report their national income accurately to international bodies

12. Which concept describes a country's economy being dominated by the production of one or a few raw materials for export?

    • Deindustrialisation, in which the manufacturing base of a wealthy economy shrinks as jobs move to the service sector
    • Primary product dependence, in which export revenues rely on a few commodities whose prices are volatile
    • Post-industrialisation, in which the service sector becomes the largest part of a national economy over time
    • Urbanisation, in which the population moves from rural areas to towns and cities as jobs become concentrated there

13. Which pattern would a sociologist of development expect to see in a country that remains dependent on a few export commodities?

    • Rapid diversification into high-technology manufacturing, because commodity dependence always leads to fast industrial growth
    • Vulnerability to commodity price falls, with budget shortfalls and limited diversification of its economy
    • Full employment in all sectors, because commodity exports always create enough jobs for every worker in the country
    • Stable export revenues that never change, because raw material prices remain fixed for decades at a time

14. Which factor is most often cited by sociologists as contributing to the persistence of global inequality?

    • Unequal control of trade, finance and technology between rich and poor countries
    • The absence of any trade between nations, which prevents wealthy countries from exploiting poorer ones at all
    • The equal distribution of technology across all countries, which allows every nation to compete on the same terms
    • The shared adoption of the same educational system in every country, which removes all differences in skills

15. What is the purpose of adjusting national incomes for purchasing power parity (PPP) when comparing countries?

    • To account for differences in the prices of goods and services, so that comparisons reflect what income can actually buy
    • To add government spending on defence to each country's income, so that military strength is included in the total
    • To convert all incomes into the currency of the richest country, so that every nation uses the same unit of money
    • To remove all income from the calculation, so that only population and land area are compared between countries

16. Evaluate the claim that aid alone can end global inequality.

    • The claim is fully proven, because every country that has received substantial aid has become wealthy within a single decade
    • The claim is irrelevant, because global inequality does not exist, since all countries have equal access to resources
    • The claim is weakened, since aid cannot address trade rules, debt, unequal power or domestic governance, which also shape development
    • The claim is confirmed by the fact that aid is always distributed fairly and without any political conditions attached

17. Which conclusion best follows from the dependency view that the global economy has a core and a periphery?

    • Development outcomes depend only on the weather, so the global economic position of countries is irrelevant to their prospects
    • Development outcomes depend only on the internal choices of each country, so the global system has no effect on any nation at all
    • Development outcomes for poorer countries depend in part on their position in the global system and on richer states' power
    • Development outcomes are the same for all countries, so the core and periphery do not differ in any meaningful way at all

18. What is 'aid dependency' in development economics?

    • A situation where aid agencies employ local staff only, so the country gains more jobs than it could otherwise create
    • A situation where a country refuses all foreign aid, so it develops using only its own savings and domestic investment
    • A situation where a country relies heavily on external aid, which can weaken incentives for domestic revenue and governance
    • A situation where donors fund all of a country's schools, so its government no longer collects tax from its citizens

19. Which feature is most associated with 'core' countries in world systems theory?

    • Dependence on single exports, weak institutions and large informal sectors with few formal jobs for their citizens
    • Subsistence farming and self-sufficiency, with little contact with global trade or foreign capital investment
    • Low life expectancy, high child mortality and poor access to clean water across most of the country's population
    • Strong industrial bases, advanced technology, and control over finance and trade

20. Why is education often treated as important in the Human Development Index?

    • Education has no measurable effect on income, so it is excluded from indices that measure the human development of societies
    • Education raises productivity, improves health and widens the opportunities people can take up
    • Education reduces the number of people working in agriculture, which is always the most productive sector in developing countries
    • Education is measured only by the number of school buildings, so it has no link to what students actually learn in practice

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