Question 1

If your teammate Omar admits to you that he is suffering from depression and anxiety, he might find your sociological insights helpful. However, which of the following statements would NOT be true in this regard?

Accepted Answer

A)   It is typical for elite-level athletes to suppress or distance themselves from mental health issues
B)   Mental health issues are typically framed as individual concerns, but in reality, they are impacted by one's social surroundings
C)   A very high proportion of current elite athletes have come forward and admitted that they suffer from mental health issues
D)   Some former athletes have described themselves as 'survivors' of the sport system, which highlights some of the deep-rooted issues athletes can face C

Question 2

If an athlete comes to adopt an individualistic understanding of her body within society, she is LESS likely to:

Accepted Answer

A)   Consider their personal pain and injury as their own responsibility
B)   Consider the management of their pain and injury as part of their regular routines
C)   Consider her pain and injury as primary a personal concern
D)   Consider how the broader structure of high-level competitive sport created the conditions in which she and her sport exists D

Question 3

Rags-to-riches stories in sport are:

Accepted Answer

A)   supported by a swathe of academic research alluding to its commonality and likelihood.
B)   used to prop up the ideology of sport as a meritocracy - a viable and reliable means of escaping poverty
C)   underplayed in media narratives and biographical accounts of athletes' personal journeys.
D)   rarely used as inspiring stories in the media due to the fact they are exceptional and unlikely. B

Question 4

The essay by Gladwell into brain injuries in professional football argued that:

Accepted Answer

A)   Professional football should be banned
B)   We show the same collective concern about animal welfare as we do for the human casualties of professional football
C)   Tackling above the waist in football should be outlawed and the sport should strive to become more like rugby in its play
D)   The players accept all of the risks but receive a fraction of the reward, while the owners and league receive most of the reward but accept none of the risks.

Question 5

The 'female athlete triad' is a combination of three different disorders that supposedly result from female athletes overexerting themselves in high-level competitive sport. Which of the following is NOT one of those three conditions?

Accepted Answer

A)   Disorder eating
B)   Amenorrhea
C)   Osteoporosis
D)   ACL injuries

Question 6

When the issue of head injuries and possible neurological and cognitive problems of football players was first brought to the attention of the NFL, they responded by:

Accepted Answer

A)   Immediately launching enquiries into the connection
B)   Supporting independent research examining the issue
C)   Working with journalists, scientists and doctors to better understand the evidence being uncovered
D)   Outright denying the evidence and downplaying the risks of brain injury in football

Question 7

In relation to health, factors like socio-economic status, food security, access to healthcare, social inclusion, education and job security would be understood by sociologists under the general term of ______:

Accepted Answer

A)   Socio-economic factors of health (SEFOH) 
B)   Social determinants of health (SDOH) 
C)   Non-biological components of health determination (NBCOH
D)  
D)   Cultural factors of health (CFOH)

Question 8

Clara Hughes and DeMar DeRozan are unique as athletes because they have:

Accepted Answer

A)   Come forward and admitted struggling with mental health issues
B)   Overcome brain injuries and continued competing in their respective sports
C)   Challenged the mainstream ideology of healthism by leading social movements to highlight the culpability of leagues/administrators in athletes' health issues
D)   Survived physical/sexual abuse from coaches and came forward to talk about it

Question 9

Incredibly, researchers from the Victorian era claimed that, if a woman played vigorous sport,

Accepted Answer

A)   She would likely die at a much younger age
B)   She would lose the ability to bear children
C)   She would likely immediately tear her ACL and be unable to walk
D)   She would begin to grow chest hair

Question 10

All of the following have been found by researchers to be a consequence of athletes traveling higher up the competitive ladder EXCEPT:

Accepted Answer

A)   The more likely they are to enjoy their sport intrinsically
B)   The more likely they are to become alienated from their activity
C)   The greater the emphasis becomes on their ability to produce winning performances
D)   The less attention is paid to the preservation of health

Question 11

Despite evidence that female athletes exhibit similar tendencies to play through pain and injury, sociological research has found that:

Accepted Answer

A)   Female athletes are still framed, at times, as having bodies that are inherently unsuitable for sport
B)   Female athletes are at a greater risk of developing injuries than male athletes
C)   Female athletes have a much higher pain threshold than male athletes
D)   Female athletes are more likely to try and inflict injuries on their opponents

Question 12

Nik Zoricic is best known as:

Accepted Answer

A)   The Canadian hockey player who died of a drug overdose after NHL doctors prescribed prescription drugs to treat his mental health issues
B)   The Canadian swimmer who died in the pool after a heart attack caused by a reaction to drugs, he was prescribed by his coach
C)   The Canadian ski-cross athlete who died during a crash into a snow bank while competing in a World Cup race
D)   The Canadian football player who died of CTE - the first Canadian to die of this disease

Question 13

How would a member of the general public LEAST likely understand slimness, implicitly, as a social construct?

Accepted Answer

A)   As a marker of personal restraint, self-discipline and good character
B)   As a model of healthy living
C)   As a marker that might induce feelings of guilt, shame and embarrassment at the sight of larger or heavier bodies
D)   As an indication of poor health, due to the likelihood of severe and prevalent health conditions like anorexia and bulimia

Question 14

Who is often referred to as the 'Father of Medicine' in recognition of his seminal contributions to the field?

Accepted Answer

A)   Socrates
B)   Aristotle
C)   Pythagoras
D)   Hippocrates

Question 15

If the ONLY way in which we consider our bodies is focused on rationalization and goal-rational action, then we risk:

Accepted Answer

A)   Exaggerating the lived experience of the body, including its health or lack thereof
B)   Dehumanizing people such as athletes
C)   Overemphasizing the components of well-being
D)   Prioritizing emotions, like fear, pleasure and pain, in our analyses of the body

Question 16

Which of the following is FALSE regarding the trickle-down theory of hosting major sporting events?

Accepted Answer

A)   There is substantial evidence of structural or systemic barriers for some individuals and communities that preclude full access to and opportunity for sport
B)   Arguments promoting the trickle-down theory are routinely made by public officials and politicians supporting the event
C)   The trickle-down theory is used routinely to support the ideology that sport is good for us and good for society
D)   Empirical evidence for positive changes related to the trickle-down theory is strong and prevalent

Question 17

The term social gradient in relation to health means:

Accepted Answer

A)   A term that highlights how health travels along a spectrum, whereby socioeconomic status and health outcomes are considered closely interrelated
B)   Behaviour that overconforms to accepted rules or standards and interferes with others
C)   A concept that can be loosely defined as the lived experience of having a body and being a body
D)   The world's dominant system of economic exchange, intimately tied to social relations of production and reproduction

Question 18

When we think of our bodies solely in functional terms, we tend to ignore its:

Accepted Answer

A)   Biological components
B)   Anatomical components
C)   Social components
D)   Physiological components

Question 19

The ideology that health is an individual responsibility is commonly referred to as the ideology of _____.

Accepted Answer

A)   Ableism
B)   Healthism
C)   Individualism
D)   Socialism

Question 20

Which of the following factors has NOT been emphasized by sociologists as a reason for the persistence of health problems associated with professional football?

Accepted Answer

A)   The organization of professional sport
B)   The players' poor discipline
C)   Medical negligence
D)   The negligence of corporations connected to professional sports

Exam 10: Sport and Health