Lesson 4.2.7.5

4.2.7.5 Media representations of social groups Quiz: AQA Sociology, Unit 2

20 questions

Written by Revision Ninja · Last reviewed 11 October 2026

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Lesson 4.2.7.5, Media representations of social groups: 20 multiple choice questions for the AQA Sociology (7192), Unit 2: Topics in Sociology, written with Revision Ninja.

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The 20 questions

  1. What term describes an oversimplified, generalised, and exaggerated representation of a social group?

    • Subculture
    • Stigma
    • Stereotype
    • Archetype

  2. Which feminist concept, coined by Laura Mulvey, describes women being depicted as sexual objects for men?

    • The double burden
    • The male gaze
    • The glass ceiling
    • Symbolic annihilation

  3. How are older people most commonly represented in mainstream media formats?

    • Culturally dominant
    • Frail and dependent
    • Powerful and dominant
    • Rebellious and radical

  4. How are ethnic minorities disproportionately presented in British news coverage according to sociologists?

    • As primary definers
    • As social problems
    • As wealthy elites
    • As invisible groups

  5. Which concept describes the media underrepresenting, condemning, or trivialising certain social groups?

    • Agenda setting
    • Moral panic
    • Symbolic annihilation
    • Cultural hegemony

  6. How are working-class characters most commonly portrayed in traditional British media stereotyping?

    • Intellectual and elite
    • Comic and feckless
    • Creative and ambitious
    • Heroic and powerful

  7. According to sociologists, how are disabled people traditionally portrayed in British media?

    • Intellectual and powerful
    • Tragic or heroic
    • Dominant and elite
    • Ordinary and autonomous

  8. Which concept describes depicting women primarily as passive sexual or aesthetic objects in media?

    • Infantilisation
    • Marginalisation
    • Hegemony
    • Objectification

  9. Which concept refers to the omission, trivialisation, or underrepresentation of social groups in media?

    • Cultural hegemony
    • Hyperreality
    • Symbolic annihilation
    • Agenda setting

  10. Sociological research shows that news coverage of crime disproportionately portrays ethnic minorities as what?

    • Authorities
    • Perpetrators
    • Neutral observers
    • Victims

  11. According to Gerbner's cultivation theory, what effect does heavy television viewing have on audiences?

    • Teaches critical thinking
    • Has zero effect
    • Shapes worldview gradually
    • Triggers immediate violence

  12. Why do fictional media representations matter sociologically despite being recognised as fictional?

    • Cumulative long-term influence
    • Guaranteed behavioural change
    • Total audience brainwashing
    • Immediate direct imitation

  13. What condition must be met to pass the Bechdel test for gender representation in film?

    • Female lead director
    • No male characters
    • Women discuss non-men
    • Equal dialogue split

  14. Which method is best suited to studying patterns of class representation in newspapers over time?

    • Content analysis
    • Participant observation
    • Focus groups
    • Unstructured interviews

  15. Which perspective argues that media representations are constructed rather than direct mirrors of reality?

    • Positivist realism
    • Functionalist realism
    • Social constructionism
    • Biological determinism

  16. Which term describes media reporting that routinely links a specific ethnic group with crime or deviance?

    • Racialised framing
    • Symbolic annihilation
    • Pluralist representation
    • Cultural assimilation

  17. What term describes the absence or rare inclusion of specific social groups in central media roles?

    • Cultural hegemony
    • Underrepresentation
    • Hyperreality
    • Overrepresentation

  18. Which process describes how audiences internalise social expectations through repeated exposure to media representations?

    • Gatekeeping
    • Desensitisation
    • Catharsis
    • Socialisation

  19. In media sociology, what characterises a realistic positive representation of a social group?

    • Flawless and heroic
    • Uniform and predictable
    • Exclusively elite
    • Complex and varied

  20. What term refers to inserting a minority character purely to give a superficial impression of diversity?

    • Pluralism
    • Sensationalism
    • Gatekeeping
    • Tokenism

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