Deck 13: Work,Consumption,and the Economy

Question 1

Which of the following is NOT true of automation?

A)Machines can perform dangerous work.
B)It increases the flexibility of production.
C)It decreases the need for human labor.
D)Service industry jobs have not been impacted by it.

Answer 1

D

Question 2

Which of the following would NOT be considered a symbolic analyst?

A)an accountant who finds and eliminates inefficiencies in a company's finances
B)a computer programmer who designs software to better analyze security risk
C)a flight attendant with highly developed people skills
D)an engineer who develops a new and profitable technology

Answer 2

C

Question 3

Overall,wages for the average U.S.worker are

A)rising steadily
B)keeping pace with inflation and cost of living
C)stagnating or decreasing slightly compared with earlier decades
D)decreasingly greatly

Answer 3

C

Question 4

Which of the following groups is considered employed by the Bureau of Labor Statistics?

A)prison and jail inmates
B)involuntary part-time workers
C)people who are not working but have actively searched for a job in the past four weeks
D)long-term unemployed

Question 5

Which of following is NOT true of mass production?

A)An assembly line typically moves products along.
B)It results in large numbers of highly standardized commodities.
C)Each individual worker is responsible for putting entire products together from start to finish.
D)It lowers the cost of production.

Question 6

Which of the following is NOT a characteristic of a preindustrial agricultural economy?

A)cities develop around trade routes
B)high emphasis on the production of knowledge
C)the rise of cottage industries
D)domestication and husbandry of animals

Question 7

Which of the following was a consequence of scientific management?

A)Workers were de-skilled and more vulnerable to layoffs.
B)Productivity decreased.
C)Factory managers lost control of the production process.
D)Workers became more difficult to replace.

Question 8

Which of the following is NOT associated with higher rates of unionization?

A)higher wages
B)less job security
C)membership in the middle class
D)benefits

Question 9

Which of the following best represents a sociological understanding of economic systems?

A)Nearly all countries display a mix of economic systems,not purely capitalist,socialist,or communist.
B)The majority of societies have a communist economic system.
C)The United States and other similarly developed countries have a purely capitalist economic system.
D)Socialism relies more heavily on a service economy.

Question 10

Which of the following would be considered a good?

A)a medical procedure
B)delivering food
C)repairing a flat tire
D)a house

Question 11

According to Arlene Hochschild,which of the following is characteristic of emotional laborers?

A)An emotional laborer is expected to provide bad customer service if he or she is having a bad day.
B)Their physical strength is the most important part of their work.
C)Their labor has no exchange value.
D)They are alienated from their emotional lives.

Question 12

Which of the following is NOT a characteristic of industrial society?

A)use of machinery and mass production
B)dense urban centers
C)development of a class society
D)upper class primarily made up of merchants

Question 13

Which of the following is NOT considered a service sector occupation?

A)nursing assistant
B)cell phone sales rep
C)automobile factory worker
D)waiter

Question 14

Who would be counted as unemployed,according to the Bureau of Labor Statistics?

A)someone who has given up looking for work
B)someone who scans the online classified ads once a week
C)someone who is jobless but has applied for multiple employment opportunities in recent weeks
D)a part-time worker who is seeking full-time employment

Question 15

Which of the following is NOT characteristic of postindustrial economies?

A)increasing number of low-wage,part-time jobs
B)less emphasis on education
C)increased outsourcing
D)growth of automation and flexible production

Question 16

The social institution that organizes the ways in which a society produces,distributes,and consumes goods and services is known as the ______.

A)economic order
B)labor market
C)economy
D)financial system

Question 17

Which of the following is true of capitalist systems?

A)Capital accumulation and profit are based on driving down the costs of production.
B)The government ensures that capitalist structures are kept in check to prevent harm to human and natural resources.
C)Capitalist systems are based on a collective and cooperative work ethic.
D)Capitalist class systems are designed to distribute wealth and resources equally.

Question 18

Which of the following companies is most likely to be "headcount-efficient"?

A)General Motors
B)Chrysler
C)U.S.Steel
D)Snapchat

Question 19

Who was the large business owner who introduced modern mass production and the use of assembly lines in the early 1900s?

A)Henry Ford
B)Frederick Taylor
C)Karl Marx
D)George Ritzer

Question 20

Which of the following is true of services?

A)They are objects that have an economic value to others.
B)Markets for their exchange first arose in the 19th century.
C)They have become more important in postindustrial society.
D)They do not include complex activities.

Question 21

Which of the following is characteristic of deep economic integration?

A)It is typical of globalization several decades ago.
B)Countries are less interdependent.
C)All of the manufacturing of a product is done in one country.
D)Management and sales might be located in different countries.

Question 22

An economic system in which the government manages the economy in the interests of the workers is referred to as ______.

A)communism
B)Marxism
C)socialism
D)capitalism

Question 23

Which of the following is characteristic of socialism?

A)minimizing government's role in economic decision making
B)efforts to keep wages low
C)unregulated markets
D)elimination of extreme poverty

Question 24

Which of the following is characteristic of shallow economic integration?

A)Corporations are multinational rather than just national.
B)Raw materials may be sourced in one country and shipped to another for production.
C)Most countries only do business within their own country.
D)A single product is made in a single country.

Question 25

The formal economy has declined in importance since the industrial revolution.

Question 26

Which of the following is NOT a characteristic of the formal economy?

A)includes self-employment
B)about half (50%)of people over 16 years of age who are not in the armed forces,prisons,or mental hospitals are in the labor force
C)regulated by numerous governmental agencies
D)grown in importance since the industrial revolution

Question 27

Which of the following does NOT demonstrate the connections between consumption,the economy,and the government?

A)rationing and self-subsistence during World War II framed as patriotic
B)early American Protestants having low levels of consumption because they believed it was sinful
C)George W.Bush encouraging consumption after 9/11 to boost the economy
D)government-subsidized loans and mortgages after World War II to promote suburbanization and home ownership

Question 28

Which of the following would NOT typically be managed by the government under a socialist system?

A)religious institutions
B)hospitals
C)housing
D)meat factories

Question 29

Which of the following would NOT be considered an activity in the informal or underground economy?

A)gambling in Las Vegas
B)holding a summer yard sale
C)selling pirated movies on eBay
D)selling homemade alcohol to friends

Question 30

Which of the following is NOT true of work?

A)includes paid and unpaid labor
B)includes hobbies pursued purely for personal pleasure
C)has been sold for monetary wages since the industrial era
D)can occur in formal or informal economies

Question 31

What is the largest remaining socialist country in the world?

A)India
B)Russia
C)South Africa
D)China

Question 32

Which type of society is most likely to feature a barter economy?

A)hunting and gathering
B)agricultural
C)industrial
D)postindustrial

Question 33

Which of the following does NOT reflect a consumption economy?

A)ever-present advertising and marketing
B)the "reenchantment" of everyday items
C)small farms producing enough food to feed a few families
D)mass production and automation

Question 34

Which of the following is NOT a characteristic of capitalism?

A)competition between corporations that seek to attract customers
B)encouragement of innovation and creativity
C)lower inequality than socialist economies
D)profit is the primary motive

Question 35

Which of the following would NOT be considered work?

A)playing a guitar in your backyard
B)feeding and diapering one's baby
C)volunteering at a nursing home
D)writing campaign letters at your unpaid internship

Question 36

Which of the following is characteristic of the means of consumption,according to George Ritzer?

A)They are a modern instrument of control over workers but not consumers.
B)Modern capitalism features a natural enchantment.
C)It can be based in fantasy and simulation.
D)It emphasizes what people need,not what they want.

Question 37

Which of the following is true of the global market for labor?

A)Corporate executive salaries have increased.
B)The global wage is higher than U.S.workers are accustomed to receiving for virtually any job.
C)It does not include professional and technical occupations.
D)Companies are becoming less likely to relocate jobs in search of lower labor costs.

Question 38

Which of the following is NOT characteristic of a modern capitalist society,according to Ritzer?

A)Consumption is partly a response to a fantasy about the item being consumed.
B)Capitalism requires control over the consumer rather than just the worker.
C)Structures such as Disney World or the mall are "enchanted" and stimulating.
D)There is spontaneity,spirituality,and surprise.

Question 39

Which of the following is true of the underground or informal economy?

A)Few of us ever participate in it.
B)All income-generating activities in the informal economy are illegal.
C)It's larger in advanced countries than in developing economies.
D)Disproportionate numbers of low-income,female,and immigrant people work in it.

Question 40

Which of the following is true of communism?

A)It eliminates economic inequality in its ideal-typical form.
B)It is a transitional form of economic organization between capitalism and socialism.
C)Its primary motive is profit.
D)It emphasizes private ownership of the means of production.

Question 41

In service work,the emotional laborer is alienated from his or her emotional life,similar to Marx's ______ laborer,who was alienated from the fruits of his or her labor.

Question 42

The term outsourcing can refer to both low-cost foreign labor and the use of U.S.-based contractors.

Question 43

One explanation for low wages,low hours,and low benefits of service sector work is that such occupations are often categorized as "feminine" and therefore devalued.

Question 44

One of the reasons labor movements in the early to mid-1900s were so successful was because there were extended periods of low unemployment in which workers had greater leverage in negotiating job conditions.

Question 45

Robots or other forms of artificial intelligence have replaced waiters,journalists,and surgeons.

Question 46

Most ______ in the U.S.are precipitated by the loss of a job or unexpected health care costs.

Question 47

Discuss the relationship between technology and work.How have advancements in technology changed the nature of work and class systems over time?

Question 48

Because the service sector has become so important,"creative types," such as those who invent or design products or engineer technology,are among the least compensated.

Question 49

An estimated ______% of the U.S.economy is linked to consumption.

Question 50

The Wagner Act of 1935 helped increase ______ in the United States.

Question 51

Explain the difference between the public sector and the private sector in a capitalist country.

Question 52

Before the collapse of the Soviet Union and its socialist allies in Eastern Europe,nearly one third of the world's population lived in ______ countries.

Question 53

Provide definitions and explore the relationships between the economy,goods,services,and work.

Question 54

Karl Marx introduced the idea of the reserve army of ______,a pool of job seekers whose numbers outpace the available positions and who contribute to keeping wages low and conditions of work tenuous.

Question 55

Although work in the manufacturing sector has declined,it still makes up about a third of the total labor market in the United States.

Question 56

Compare and contrast workers in the early industrial era (1800s),industrial workers in the 1900s,and industrial workers today.What is life like for the average worker?

Question 57

Under ______ regimes,extreme poverty and inequality were often eliminated,as the vast majority of people were provided housing,education,health care,and basic social services.

Question 58

According to Marxist beliefs,capitalist societies cannot function without unemployment.There must always be a surplus of laborers waiting to fill empty positions.

Question 59

Karl Marx viewed industrial workers as "instruments of labor" chained to an exploitative system.

Question 60

In 2014,the average CEO pay was more than ______ times greater than that of the average worker.

Question 61

Propose a research study that examines the relationship between gender and work.Identify the research topic,include discussion of how you would frame your research question and what theory or theories you would use,select an appropriate research methodology,weigh any ethical implications,and discuss any challenges or threats to data collection,reliability,or validity that may arise.

Question 62

Discuss the strengths and weaknesses of the economic system of capitalism.

Question 63

Explain the difference between deep and shallow economic integration in a global economy,and illustrate each with a detailed example.

Question 64

Discuss how the capitalist class has used science,technology,and the government to control workers over time.

Question 65

Discuss the means of consumption,as theorized by Karl Marx and George Ritzer.Include an explanation of enchantment,reenchantment,and disenchantment.

Question 66

Explore the relationship between the growth of the service sector in the United States and its impact on the social class structure.Include discussion of the upper class,middle class,working class,and very poor.

Question 67

Describe the class system in an industrial society,including discussion of the relationships between classes.Discuss how this class system created conflict.

Question 68

Explain how unemployment is measured in the United States by the Bureau of Labor Statistics.Provide a sociological critique of this measurement.Include a discussion of the prevalence of unemployment in a capitalist economic system.

Question 69

Identify the differences between outsourcing and offshoring,and discuss their impact on U.S.labor.

Question 70

The global economy is postindustrial.Present a sociological argument for whether you agree or disagree with this statement.

Question 71

Some politicians have proposed addressing unemployment in the U.S.by "bringing back" manufacturing jobs.Explain whether you think that is likely given the globalization of labor in a postindustrial economy?

Question 72

Define the term emotional labor,and provide three examples of occupations that require emotional labor.

Question 73

Use a feminist perspective to explain why certain types of work in the informal economy,such as prostitution,are illegal.

Question 74

Provide three examples of enchanted or reenchanted goods or services.

Question 75

Discuss the rise of the credit industry in the United States and the present-day consumer's relationship to debt.

Question 76

Explain the differences between the formal and informal economy.Apply a conflict-oriented perspective to explain why the informal economy disproportionately employs low-income,female,and immigrant workers.

Question 77

Discuss the strengths and weaknesses of the economic system of socialism.

Question 78

Describe the history of economic changes over time,including the dawning of the agricultural revolution,the shift to industrialization,and the emergence of a postindustrial,information-based economy.Discuss what effect these changes have had on the average worker.