Question 1

Which of the following best explains why the wealth gap is greater than the income gap between blacks and whites?

Accepted Answer

The legacy of discrimination provided little or no opportunity to accumulate wealth, such as through homeownership or inheritance. This historical disadvantage has created a significant wealth gap between blacks and whites, as opposed to a simple income gap.

Question 2

Anne searches nation-level data for a country characterized by exchange mobility. She finds that:

Accepted Answer

The answer of Anne searches nation-level data for a country...

Question 3

In the 2008 recession, a lot of male, middle-aged corporate executives experienced downward mobility firsthand. At the same time, there may have been an increase in the participation by women, in part because:

Accepted Answer

During the 2008 recession, companies often retained employees who were paid less, which included many women, thus maintaining their jobs.

Question 4

According to Thomas Piketty's Capital in the Twenty-First Century, ever-increasing wealth inequality is a necessary and inevitable feature of almost all capitalist economic systems. The major exception to this rule was the:

Accepted Answer

Piketty argues that the mid-twentieth century was a major exception to the rule of ever-increasing wealth inequality due to the disruptive effects of two world wars, the Great Depression, and the implementation of government policies such as progressive taxation, strong trade unions, and welfare programs. These factors contributed to a more equal distribution of wealth in many countries during this period.

Question 5

Suppose a society has truly equal opportunity, and within each generation, the more talented people move up in position while the less talented move down. What would such a society have?

Accepted Answer

Exchange mobility refers to the concept where individuals in a society move up or down the social ladder, but the overall structure of society remains unchanged. In a society with equal opportunity, talent determines movement, fitting the definition of exchange mobility.

Question 6

Which of these families is most likely to live in poverty, according to these data? Families with Children under 18 in Poverty, 2015
[img]

Accepted Answer

According to the data given, families headed by a single parent are more likely to be in poverty than married couple families. Additionally, households with more children are more likely to live in poverty. Therefore, a widow with two children (option A) is the most likely to live in poverty among the given options.

Question 7

In her study of structural mobility in China, Dr. Kung analyzes the relationship between:

Accepted Answer

The answer of In her study of structural mobility in...

Question 8

Which research question focuses on intergenerational mobility?

Accepted Answer

Intergenerational mobility refers to the movement of social class between generations, such as from grandparents to grandchildren. Choice D is the only option that directly addresses this topic.

Question 9

According to new Stanford research on intergenerational income mobility, which child is in the strongest position to earn more than his or her parents did?

Accepted Answer

Children born in 1940 were in the strongest position to earn more than their parents, due to the economic conditions and growth patterns of that era, which were more favorable to upward income mobility compared to later decades.

Question 10

Emma is a partner at a large law firm in New York City. Her mother was a secretary at a bank, and her mother's mother cleaned offices for a living. This family history illustrates what concept?

Accepted Answer

Intergenerational mobility refers to the movement of individuals between social classes across different generations. In this case, Emma's upward mobility from her mother's and grandmother's working-class occupations to her own high-status position as a lawyer reflects intergenerational mobility.

Question 11

You are conducting a study of the highest-poverty social groups, and you want to compare age and race. Which age and race groups would you select? Americans Living in Poverty, 2015
[img]

Accepted Answer

According to the data from Americans Living in Poverty, 2015, the highest-poverty social groups are Black Americans and those under age 18. Therefore, the best choice for this study would be option B - Black and Under age 18.

Question 12

The additional income received in the workplace for each additional year of schooling or academic degree is referred to as:

Accepted Answer

Returns on education specifically refer to the additional income earned in the workplace as a result of obtaining higher levels of education or academic degrees. Cultural capital refers to non-monetary social assets and privileges, economic capital refers to monetary assets and resources, and exchange mobility refers to social mobility opportunities between different social classes.

Question 13

In their classic study of social mobility in the United States, Peter Blau and Otis Dudley Duncan found that:

Accepted Answer

Blau and Duncan found that educational attainment played a major factor in occupational mobility. They argued that education was a key factor in creating opportunities for social mobility and that individuals with higher levels of education were more likely to achieve upward mobility.

Question 14

Which statement about income distribution in the United States is accurate, based on this figure? Distribution of Income in the United States, 1967-2015
[img]

Accepted Answer

The figure shows that income inequality has been increasing since 1967. The share of income earned by the top 5 percent has been steadily increasing, while the bottom 20 percent has been receiving a decreasing share of income. The middle class has also seen a decline in their share of income, indicating a widening income gap between the rich and poor. Option B is incorrect as the trend of increasing income share of top 5 percent started before the 2008 recession. Option C is also incorrect as the lowest 20 percent of the population receives less than 5 percent of total income. Option D is incorrect as while the middle class share of income has decreased, they still receive a significant percentage of total income.

Question 15

Researchers of social mobility, from Peter Blau and Otis Dudley Duncan in the 1960s to Pierre Bourdieu in the 1980s, have shown that:

Accepted Answer

Researchers have shown that a child's family social status significantly affects their educational attainment and therefore their adult social status.

Question 16

A sociologist uses Pierre Bourdieu's concept of cultural capital to conduct a study of family life. To see cultural capital at play, a sociologist would look at:

Accepted Answer

Cultural capital refers to the knowledge, skills, education, and other cultural assets that are valued in a particular society. Everyday family conversation, including parent vocabulary, tone, and general use of language, is an example of cultural capital because it reflects the cultural values and norms that parents transmit to their children. This type of cultural capital can have a significant impact on a child's success in school and in later life. Options A, B, and D do not directly relate to cultural capital.

Question 17

Most lower-class people in the United States:

Accepted Answer

According to research, lower-class individuals in the U.S. are less likely to vote than middle and upper-class individuals.

Question 18

How far an individual moves up or down the socioeconomic scale in her lifetime is called:

Accepted Answer

Intragenerational mobility refers to the social mobility of an individual within their own lifetime, meaning how much they move up or down the socioeconomic scale during their own adult life. Intergenerational mobility, on the other hand, refers to the social mobility between generations, meaning how much an individual's socioeconomic status changes compared to their parents' socioeconomic status. Life course and life history refer to the overall trajectory and events of an individual's life, but not specifically to their social mobility.

Question 19

A sociologist plans a study on social mobility, which will look at:

Accepted Answer

Social mobility is the movement of individuals or groups from one social position to another. This can involve moving up or down in social class, which is what choice C addresses. The other choices do not necessarily relate to social mobility in the same way.

Question 20

Hanson is a college student who is surprised to see growing inequality within U.S. society. He had made a different prediction, based on the Kuznets curve. Hanson expected to see, over time, inequality:

Accepted Answer

The Kuznets curve hypothesizes that as an economy develops, market forces first increase and then decrease economic inequality. This suggests that inequality would increase in the early stages of economic development, decline as a country becomes more economically advanced, and then stabilize at a lower level.

Quiz 8: Stratification, Class, and Inequality