4 Check your knowledge: mid-course quiz
This quiz is designed to help you check your understanding of what you have learned so far. If you find that you’re unsure about any of your answers, you may benefit from going back over the previous sections.
Activity 4: Mid-course quiz
Question 1
At the start of the course, you learned about two key ideas: society and the social world. Read the following statements and decide whether this is an example of society or the social world. Answer in the free response boxes below.
| A group of diverse people who share a geographic territory, interact with a common social structure, and follow the same laws or rules. They typically share many similar cultural values and expectations of each other. However, in some highly multicultural societies there may also be many cultural differences. | |
| The idea that people’s lives and society, more generally, are shaped by a variety of relationships, cultures, communities and institutions. |
Answer
| A group of diverse people who share a geographic territory, interact with a common social structure, and follow the same laws or rules. They typically share many similar cultural values and expectations of each other. However, in some highly multicultural societies there may also be many cultural differences. | society |
| The idea that people’s lives and society, more generally, are shaped by a variety of relationships, cultures, communities and institutions. | the social world |
a.
True
b.
False
The correct answer is b.
Answer
Section 1.1 suggested that rather than being stable, society and the social world are dynamic. This means that they are in a state of constant change, movement and evolution. This makes social science an interesting subject to study, but can also present challenges.
Question 3
In Section 2, you learned about some of the different types of questions that social scientists ask. What type of question is being described below?
‘This type of question is concerned with the morally right or wrong course of action to take.’
Answer
This is an ethical question. You saw that ethical questions often arise in practical, personal or professional situations, where the person must decide the morally right or wrong course of action. Professions in which people are likely to encounter ethical dilemmas – such as medicine – often have a code of conduct which is directly informed by ethical questions.
Question 4
In Section 3, you were introduced to the concepts of inequality and interconnection. Read the following statements and decide whether this is an example of inequality or interconnection. Answer in the free response boxes below.
| The uneven access to or allocation of resources or opportunities within a society. This can result in advantage or disadvantage between individuals or groups. | |
| Instances where two or more things are linked, connected or interact in some way. |
Answer
| The uneven access to or allocation of resources or opportunities within a society. This can result in advantage or disadvantage between individuals or groups. | inequality |
| Instances where two or more things are linked, connected or interact in some way. | interconnection |