SOC of Religion Final
Q6.2) Snow, et al., posit four types of recruitment strategies used by NRMs. Which one of these is NOT one of these types of recruitment strategies in these organizations?
Biographical availability.
Q8.3) Iannacone, Finke, and Stark argue that extensive religious regulation and subsidies in countries like Sweden tends to produce:
Higher levels of affiliation but low participation rates.
Q5.9) Which is a real-world observation consistent with the "paradox of costliness" in the religious economies model?
Low cost goods are made available to many people, but on average, they are consumed infrequently.
Q1.9) Berger declares that it is part of being human to construct a "nomos". By nomos he means that we:
Order ideas, objects, beings, and experiences in meaningful terms.
Q5.11) Why does Iannaccone argue that researches should focus their attention in the study of religious organizations?
Organizations determine the costs of religious goods.
Q1.15) Based upon Berger's logic, which of the following might pose a challenge to the integrity and stability of a culture's religious nomos?
Political authorities separate religious institutions from other institutions, migrations brings people with a plurality of religious worldviews into the same society, people are obliged to choose a religion that works for them personally, and scientific understanding casts doubt on the plausibility of the religiously defined cosmos (ALL OTHER ANSWERS ARE CORRECT).
Q2.4) When Marx characterized religion as the "opium of the masses" he meant that:
Poor people rely on religion to help endure a life of suffering and inequality.
Q6.6) In their research on U.S. church attendance, Hadaway and his colleagues conclude that the percentage of Americans who attend church regularly during a typical week is:
Probably less than the percent reported by polls.
Q6.7) Research by Hadaway and his colleagues raises what sociological research issue?
Problems in drawing general inferences from survey research.
Q5.5) Bainbridge and Stark depict cults primarily as:
Producers of novel and exotic supernatural compensators.
Q5.13) Stark and Bainbridge argue that retention among members of cults can be explained by;
Affective bonds between members.
Q3.18) According to Weber, ________________ sanctification focuses on achievements behavioral strictness, and/or asceticism.
Ethical
Q5.8) What is the main effect of strictness in Iannaconne's "Why Strict Churches Are Strong?"
Limiting and increasing the costs of non-group activities.
Q2.15) Christian Smith's identity theory challenges secularization theorists in asserting that, in confronting modernization, religious groups _______________ changing sociocultural environments.
Adapt to
Q1.12) According to Durkheim, the fundamental and necessary components of religion include:
A belief system, Rituals, and a Moral community.
Q2.2) According to Norris and Inglehart, insecurity motivates religious belief and participation. Which would NOT generally improve people's feelings of existential security?
A high unemployment rate.
Q1.7) A standard definition of religion in sociology is that it is:
A set of general explanations about existence which includes the supernatural.
Q6.4) Chaves, author of "Abiding Faith", defines religious congruence as:
Alignment between an adherent's professed Faith and conformity to doctrine.
Q1.2) What is "methodological agnosticism" in the social scientific study of religion?
An approach to the study of religion in which questions about the truth of religion or questions of which religion is "best" are set aside.
Q1.20) Berger claims that "every nomos is an area of meaning carved out of a vast mass of meaninglessness." Those who stand apart from that cultural realm risk:
Anomy
Q1.5) What is the "heretical imperative" according to Berger?
As the power of the collective nomos diminishes, the social need in modern society to develop and express individual autonomy and private belief.
Q2.11) Peek, in "Becoming Muslim", argues that for immigrant children there are 3 ordered stages of religious identity, which are:
Ascribed, chosen, declared.
Q4.1) In choosing among religious groups, Stark and Finke claim that most people want a religion that is:
At least somewhat other-worldly.
Q2.7) Which of the following comparisons is the most accurate?
Both Marx and Durkheim explained religion in terms of social relations and effects.
Q3.4) Religion and magic are typically alike for all of the following reasons EXCEPT:
Both offer other-worldly rewards.
Q2.8) According to Smith's social identity theory of religion, members of social groups know "who they are by knowing who they are not." Group members achieve self-recognition and through social processes of:
Both social comparison and categorization.
Q3.15) According to Stark and Finke, uncertainty is one of the greatest dilemmas that religious adherents face. Which of these is NOT one of the ways in which religious consumers seek to mitigate uncertainty?
By secularizing their worldviews.
Q5.12) According to religious economies scholars, strict religious groups may have particular advantages in the production of:
Club goods.
Q1.18) Durkheim thought religious participation produced moral consensus in a group by fostering:
Collective conscience.
Q1.16) Durkheim refers to the state of heightened emotion and awareness that is experienced in group rituals as:
Collective effervescence.
Q6.9) Which best captures Chavez's argument in "Abiding Faith" about religious change in the US?
Comparatively, Americans remain highly religious but organized religion occupies less time of their and exerts less influence of their lives.
Q8.2) According to Witham, which factor could influence whether a single religious organization achieves a religious monopoly?
Competition from other groups, costs of membership, market crowding, and degree of cultural pluralism (ALL OF THESE FACTORS COULD INFLUENCE A RELIGION'S ABILITY TO ACHIEVE A MONOPOLY).
Q1.3) The best concepts in the sociology of religion should be:
Concrete, generalizable, and falsifiable
Q4.10) Stark and Finke argue the MAIN mechanisms accounting for denominational decline over time are related to:
Congregational size and clerical professionalization.
Q3.3) Stark and Finke argue that conversion should be distinguished from re-affiliation because:
Conversion involves switching across religious traditions.
Q3.12) Sociologist Andrew Greeley claimed that "There is a tendency for religious change...to take place in association with marriage, so that at least denominational homogeneity is guaranteed in the family. Normally, the change is in the direction of the more devout partner." An implication of this claim would be:
Couples in religiously mixed marriages will tend to choose the religion of the more pious spouse.
Q3.5) From an economic point of view, religious organizations face a challenge in convincing potential consumers to commit to them because the supernatural goods that they "sell" are:
Credence goods.
Q8.1) Drawing in the new paradigm approach (Stark and colleagues), a key issue in determining the dynamism of religious economies is the:
Degree of competition among religious groups in a society.
Q7.1) According to Pfaff, what is the main difference explaining the "religious divide" between Europe and the U.S.?
Differing state regulations and subsidies.
Q5.15) According to Wallis, world-affirming NRMs are characterized by a tendency of their leaders to promise adherents ______________________.
Enhanced powers and personal growth, spiritual perfection, and mental mastery.
Q3.20) Drawing from a rational-choice perspective ("new religious paradigm"), religious organizations with rapidly growing numbers of adherents are probably characterized by all of the following conditions except:
Few distinctions from other religious groups.
Q3.7) According to Weber's historical and comparative study of religious change, socio-economic development is a demand-shifter in the religious sphere. In particular, a secure means of subsistence and growing prosperity tends to create:
Greater demand for other-worldly religious goods.
Q4.6) According to Stark and Finke, what effects does rapid organizational growth have on ecclesiastical power?
Growth increases costs of administration and reliance on professional clergy.
Q6.1) Following from the logic of NRM recruitment detailed in Snow, et al., those most likely to be recruited into a high-tension sect or cult tend to be characterized by all of the following except:
Have a conventional career with good opportunities for upward mobility.
Q4.3) How did Benton Johnson improve on Troeltsch's ideal type of church sect theory?
He argued that the difference between a church and a sect is based on the cultural tension it is in relative to the surrounding society.
Q3.19) Which of these is a way for religious virtuoso to ensure he/she is in the road to sanctification?
Heroic capacity for sacrifice and self-denial, ecstatic or mystical experiences, ascetic reordering of daily life, attainment of miraculous powers (ALL OTHER ANSWERS ARE WAYS TO DEMONSTRATE SANCTIFICATION).
Q4.5) Which of the following statements about religious groups and religious goods is correct, according to Stark and Finke?
High tension groups tend to produce higher quality goods.
Q2.3) Marx wanted to understand the economic relationships between people and patterns of social order and conflict. He called this theoretical orientation:
Historical materialism.
Q2.1) When Marx claimed that, "The ruling ideas are nothing more than the ideal expression of the dominant material relationships," he meant that such ideas:
Ideological justifications for inequality.
Q1.19) For Durkheim, sacred objects are:
Imbued with the power of society's beliefs about the divine.
Q5.10) What solutions does Iannaccone identify that strict religious organizations use to contain the free rider problem?
Impose substantial sacrifices on members.
Q1.4) Berger would say all the following about religion EXCEPT:
In the process of objectification, the individual stands outside of it is alienated from the social system and no longer shares its meaning.
Q7.3) There are several reasons that Berger gave for religion's increasing contemporary political importance. Which of these is NOT among the reasons?
Increasing rates of subjective secularization around the world.
Q4.7) Montgomery's model of denominational secularization argues that which of the following is the prime cause of denominational change from sect to church over time?
Inter-generational socio-economic change.
Q1.14) Which would Durkheim regard as the most important social function of religious behavior?
It produces communally integrative emotions.
Q4.4) According to Stark and Finke, churches would be most likely to move toward sect-like practices if the __________________ insist on a greater degree of tension and strictness.
Lay members of the group.
Q5.2) Which of the following religious groups has experienced the most significant decrease in its chafe of Americans over the last half century in the United States?
Mainstream Protestant denominations.
Q3.13) Weber argued that, "In keeping with the law of marginal utility, a certain concern with ones own destiny after death generally arises when the most essential earthly needs have been met, and thus this concern is limited primarily to circles of the elite and wealthy classes." An implication of this argument would be that:
Members of the privileged classes have a greater interest in other-worldly rewards of religion than do the poor and the powerless.
Q1.6) The social scientific study of religion differs most clearly from normative approaches on the basis of its:
Methodological agnosticism and ethical commitment to objectivity.
Q5.7) According to Stark and Bainbridge, which of the following is NOT one of the general reasons why NRMs succeed?
NRMs do best at a very high level of socio-cultural tension.
Q1.17) Which of the following is NOT an outcome of Randall Collins' theory of interaction ritual chains?
None - all the other answers are ritual outcomes.
Q1.1) Which of the following is NOT part of the general definition of religion used in this class?
Official establishment of a faith by governing authorities
Q6.5) As discussed in lecture, Froese and Bader outline "America's Four Gods". They argue that the kind of God that Americans believe in varies across several important dimensions and this reflects values and moral commitments. Which one of these is NOT one of the four types of god?
Omnipotent
Q3.14) According to Stark and Finke, __________________ refers to "shifts within religious traditions".
Re-affiliation
Q2.14) Christina Smith agreed with Peter Berger that:
Religion is a basic source of social meaning.
Q2.13) Which of the following statements would be supported by the identity theory of religion?
Religion provides its adherents with a moral orientation and a sense of belonging with like minded people.
Q2.10) Smith argues that religion is unlikely to disappear from modern, urban societies because:
Religion remains one of the best institutions for people trying to construct personal meaning systems.
Q3.10) From and economic point of view, the spiritual education, expertise, skills and doctrinal familiarity that enhance the quality of religious experiences can be understood as:
Religious capital.
Q7.4) Berger argues that subjective secularization is evident when the following occurs:
Religious explanations have lost plausibility for most people.
Q2.12) Sociologists have long observed that the immigration experience tends to reinforce religious identity and attachment. This is probably because:
Religious groups can provide mutual support against marginalization and deprivation.
Q7.5) According to the classical sociological perspectives on religious change, which of the following is NOT a mechanism by which modernization causes secularization?
Religious organizations mobilize their followers and construct robust religious counter-cultures to secularism.
Q6.10) According to Putnam and Campbell, on average, religiously active people in America tend to ____________________.
Volunteer and give more than other Americans.
Q8.4) According to Iannacone, Finke and Stark, the "sudden" appearance of Asian religious organizations and their recruitment of new members in the 1970's in the U.S. was due to:
Revised immigration laws that allowed the entry of more Asian immigrants.
Q3.17) According to Weber, __________ sanctification focuses on ceremonies observance of holy days, and participation in sacred events.
Ritual
Q3.8) Weber argued that religions of salvation can be understood by reference to the following ideal-typical routes to sanctification.
Ritual and ethical sanctification.
Q1.8) Religious organizations facilitate an individual's experience of the supernatural by providing opportunities for and interpretations of:
Rituals, mystical experiences, miracles, and prayers (ALL OF THE OTHER ANSWERS ARE CORRECT)
Q3.9) According to Weber, religious virtuosi are driven by which of the following motives:
Seeking mystical or charismatic experiences, status seeking in their religious community, desire to excel in demonstrating their holiness, and uncertainty concerning their salvations (ALL OTHER ANSWERS CHARACTERIZE THEIR MOTIVES).
Q4.2) Ernst Troeltsch and others emphasized moral tension as a one-dimensional continuum of religion's Paiute toward the secular order. Stark and Finke insist that tension is more complicated. Which dimension(s) did they add?
Separation, antagonism, and distinctiveness.
Q5.4) If a New Religious Movement relies heavily on relatively unproductive recruitment strategies such as appealing to strangers in public places, it may be indicative of the group's:
Social encapsulation resulting from the loss of ties to non-group members.
Q5.14) The sociological approach to research concerning sects and cults tends to emphasize __________________ in explaining the reasons why people join and remain in them.
Social incentives.
Q1.13) According to Durkheim, religion is animportant and persistent social fact because:
Symbols of the sacred facilitate communication, people crave collective experience, idea of the sacred helps to constitute and reinforce social order, and through rituals - the group is able to articulate and find meaning. (ALL OTHER ANSWERS ARE CORRECT)
Q6.8) Which of the following religious groups has experienced the most substantial increase in its share of Americans over the past half century in the United States?
The 'unchurched'; i.e. religiously unaffiliated Americans.
Q1.11) According to Berger's theory, why would the act of an individual choosing his or her religion tend to decrease confunde in that religion?
The act of choice diminishes the sense of absolute trust upon which religious adherence is built.
Q5.1) In which ways are sects and cults similar?
The both tend to exist in a state of tension with their sociocultural environment.
Q3.6) According to Iannacone, the collective production of religious goods is especially vulnerable to:
The free-rider problem.
Q3.11) "Religious capital enhances the satisfaction one receives from participation in that religion and so increases the likelihood and probable level of one's religious participation." An implication of this proposition is that the following should be true:
The greater and individual's stock of religious capital, the more a person will seek to retain and increase it.
Q5.6) According to Wallis, all of the following are characteristics of world-rejecting new religious movements EXCEPT:
The group emphasizes personal mastery, spiritual perfection, and self-empowerment. Y
Q3.1) In the "new paradigm" in the social study of religion, the term religious economy refers to:
The marketplace where religious demand, religious suppliers and religious products meet.
Q3.2) According to Stark and Finke, which theological factors tend to influence average levels of commitment in a religious organization?
The perceived dependability of the god/s, the perceived scope of the god/s power, the perceived responsiveness of god/s, and the number of gods that a religion recognizes (ALL OF THESE WOULD INFLUENCE COMMITMENT).
Q1.10) Which of the following would a sociologist of religion be most likely to study?
The relationship between a group's beliefs and its organizational structure.
Q3.16) All of the following are characteristics of the relationship between private production of religious goods and religious firms EXCEPT:
The relationship is typically exclusive to one faith.
Q2.5) In order to liberate humanity, Marx argued that:
The subjective need for religion would have to be overcome.
Q2.6) According to research by Norris and Inglehart, which of the following is the most important single factor explaining the level of religious devotion in a given society?
The vulnerability to risk and material insecurity by average people.
Q8.5) Following from the logic of the religious economics model, we would expect that religious organizations will be the most satisfied with the political situation and committed to peaceful co-existence in the countries in which the operate if:
They have the freedom to define and publicly profess their beliefs.
Q7.2) Pfaff distinguishes between the history of secularization as a _________________ phenomenon in the U.S. and as a(n) ____________________ phenomenon in European countries.
Top-down; bottom-up
Q5.3) Traditional research on cults and sects focuses on their ideological appeal and the grievances and deprivations of those who join them. A problem with this approach is that:
Traditional research selected subjects on the dependent variable; i.e., only studied those that were successfully recruited to cults and sects.
Q4.8) According to Stark and Finke, when people decide to commit to a costly religious group, they may do so because they are attentive to the relative _______________ of the groups goods compared with other groups.
Value
Q2.9) Smith notes, "Religious traditions have always strategically renegotiated their collective identities by continually reformulating the ways they engage the changing sociocultural environments they confront". Among successful religious groups, renegotiation and engagement takes each of the following forms EXCEPT:
Wholeheartedly embracing the norms and values of secular society.
Q4.9) Following Troeltsch, the origins of the Protestant Reformation may lie in the rise of upstart sects objecting to the Roman Church's ________________.
Worldliness
Q6.3) According to Stark and Bainbridge in "Networks of Faith", the sociological approach to research concerning sects and cults emphasizes ___________________.
the exploitation of intimate social ties to foster recruitment and member retention.
