All Free Sociology MCQs with Answers

• A. bilineal
• B. neolocal
• C. patrilineal
• D. matrilineal

Explanation: Matrilineal descent traces ancestry and inheritance through the mother’s side of the family. Patrilineal arrangements trace them through the father’s side, while bilineal systems recognise both sides.

• A. University of Cambridge
• B. The Open University
• C. London Metropolitan University
• D. University of Manchester

Explanation: The Open University has traditionally been the UK’s largest university by student enrolment, mainly because it provides distance-learning programmes. The stem appears to contain a typo, reading “JK” instead of “UK,” but the options make the intended reference clear.

• A. Christianity
• B. Hinduism
• C. Islam
• D. Judaism

Explanation: Hinduism is generally classified as polytheistic because it recognises and worships multiple deities, although Hindu beliefs also include concepts of an underlying unity. Christianity, Islam and Judaism are usually classified as monotheistic.

• A. world-affirming
• B. world-rejecting
• C. world-enhancing
• D. world-accommodating

Explanation: New Age movements are usually classified as world-affirming because they seek spiritual fulfilment, healing or personal transformation within ordinary life rather than rejecting the world. World-rejecting movements instead demand withdrawal from or radical opposition to society.

• A. Buddhism
• B. Confucianism
• C. Hinduism
• D. Taoism

Explanation: In this classification, Buddhism, Confucianism and Taoism are treated as ethical religions centred on moral conduct and disciplined living. Hinduism is generally classified as a ritualistic or sacerdotal religion, making it the exception here.

• A. confluent love
• B. social reflexivity
• C. liquid desire
• D. plastic sexuality

Explanation: Giddens discusses confluent love, social reflexivity and plastic sexuality in post-traditional intimacy. Liquid desire is associated mainly with Bauman's account of fluid relationships, not Giddens's terminology.

• A. 22.6
• B. 23.1
• C. 25.52
• D. 28.4

Explanation: The recorded average age at first marriage for women in England and Wales in 1971 was 22.6 years. The other figures refer to later ages or are not the standard historical statistic used here.

• A. flexible monogamy
• B. serial monogamy
• C. liquid monogamy
• D. reflexive monogamy

Explanation: Serial monogamy means having one spouse or partner at a time but entering a succession of long-term relationships after separation or divorce. This describes contemporary marriage patterns better than the non-standard terms listed.

• A. a did not exist in any form
• B. had begun to disappear as extended networks of kin became more important
• C. had begun to emerge through the separation of work and home life
• D. was simply another institution of patriarchal control?

Explanation: Stone's historical research challenged the claim that the nuclear family was created only by industrialisation, suggesting that it had already been developing beforehand as household and work arrangements became more separated. It therefore did exist in pre-industrial forms, rather than being wholly absent or merely patriarchal control.

• A. British-born second-generation immigrants from the Asian subcontinent
• B. White Americans who wanted to convert to Islam
• C. African-Americans who felt excluded from the ethnic melting pot in the USA
• D. African-Caribbean's who lived in the inner cities and had a distinctive youth culture

Explanation: The Nation of Islam appealed particularly to African-Americans who experienced exclusion and racial subordination within the dominant American society. It offered an alternative collective identity rather than primarily targeting Asian immigrants, white converts or Caribbean youth.