Some sociologists do not use a strict definition of sports to guide their research. Instead, they use an alternative approach in which they ask the question:
When do sports become socially significant?
Why do all cultures have competitive sports?
What activities are identified as sports in a society?
Why do children prefer play over sports?
2. Which of the following is LEAST likely to be a concern among sociologists who study sports?
The social worlds created around sports.
Sports as social phenomena.
The motivation and personalities of athletes.
The cultural meaning and importance of sports.
3. Which of the following is LEAST likely to be studied by someone in the sociology of sport?
The physical demands associated with individual and team sports.
The relationship between sports and religion.
The ways that sports are included into social life.
The forms and meanings of sports from one group to another.
4. The connections between ideologies and sports are
complex.
unchanging.
meaningless.
based on irrationality.
5. People in the sociology of sport focus much of their research on
organized, competitive sports.
play and informal games.
tradition folk games in different cultures.
games that are played at professional levels in more than one country.
6. Sport participation among urban workers was relatively rare during the early days of the Industrial Revolution, and when it occurred it was often limited to
dancing and physical movement activities done mostly by white women.
bowling and billiards played mostly by white men.
track and field events played mostly by black men.
softball played mostly by black or Chinese women.
7. Those who organized sport programs for young males around the year 1900 in the U.S. were primarily interested in teaching
lower-class boys to be successful business and military leaders.
lower-class boys how to fit into upper-class activities.
overfeminized middle-class boys how to be successful, assertive leaders.
boys from all backgrounds that leisure should be important in their lives.
8. Tournaments and games in Medieval Europe differed from today's organized competitive sports in that they
lacked organization and specialization.
always measured and recorded athletic achievements.
allowed everyone to participate regardless of background or social status.
gave priority to participation by children and women.
9. Rates of sport participation in the early years of the Industrial Revolution were
high because people had a desperate need for distractions from work.
low because upper class people had no time to develop physical skills.
high because work and play were seen as equally important parts of life.
low because work and production were emphasized more than leisure.
10. Around the turn of the century (1900) in the United States and parts of Europe, sports came to be seen as activities that
destroyed nationalism and created international awareness.
interfered with the productivity of workers.
promoted positive relationships between men and women.
could be used to change the character and behavior of individuals.