Deck 7: Social Stratification

Question 1

Sociologists are using the method of identifying social class when they rely on a group of people from the community to rate or locate people in the class structure.

A) survey
B) reputational
C) subjective
D) ethnographic

Answer 1

B

Question 2

Which of the following statements about economic inequality in the U.S. is true?

A) the U.S. has the most unequal economy of all nations.
B) income in the U.S. is equally distributed.
C) the poorest 30% in the U.S. have 2% of the national income.
D) the poorest 20% in the U.S. have 4..2% of the national income.

Answer 2

D

Question 3

The division of society in such a way that some people get more rewards than others is called

A) poverty.
B) social stratification.
C) the class structure.
D) social inequality.

Answer 3

B

Question 4

According to Karl Marx, the difference between the bourgeoisie and the proletariat is

A) the capitalists own the means of production and the workers do not.
B) the workers are satisfied with their situation and the owners are not.
C) blue-collar workers have become more prosperous while the owners have not.
D) the workers want a classless society while the owners do not.

Question 5

According to sociologists, a primary difference between prestige and wealth is that

A) wealth is subjective.
B) people do not fear the loss of prestige.
C) prestige is subjective.
D) people do not seek fame as they do money.

Question 6

Poverty, power and prestige are

A) types of personal strength.
B) major roots of stratification.
C) kinds of social mobility.
D) determinants of social mobility.

Question 7

Which of the following is not one of the kinds of rewards that form the basis of stratification in the United States?

A) economic rewards or wealth
B) inherited social position or membership in a wealthy family
C) power or political rewards and influence
D) prestige or social rewards

Question 8

For feminists, gender inequality should be studied as part of the overall stratification system because

A) women do more work than men in many societies.
B) women do most of the economic consumption in most societies.
C) in some societies, women are considered part of the property of men.
D) an analysis of a stratification system must include all of its members.

Question 9

The Latin American feudal system where there are three classes of people landlords, tenant-workers, and administratorsis called the system.

A) stratification
B) estate
C) hacienda
D) class

Question 10

The most common form of a master-slave stratification system in the modern world is the system.

A) debt bondage
B) human bondage
C) caste
D) ruling class

Question 11

Which of the following recent political events would give support to the pluralist theory of how power is distributed in American society?

A) the greater concentration of wealth at the top during the 1980s
B) the opposition to the Vietnam War
C) the existence of a power elite among American businessmen
D) the power of the churches to change domestic spending policies

Question 12

The ability to get people to do things they otherwise would not do is the definition of

A) wealth.
B) prestige.
C) power.
D) political influence.

Question 13

Marxist sociologists believe that hold power in the United States.

A) the owners of corporations
B) top military and government leaders
C) educational and legal professionals
D) the highest paid managers

Question 14

Gender, ethnic, and age stratification have one thing in common. They are all

A) ascribed statuses.
B) achieved statuses.
C) less important than other statuses in the system of stratification.
D) different from social class membership.

Question 15

Which of the following is an ascribed status that can lead to status inconsistency?

A) education
B) gender
C) occupation
D) political preference

Question 16

Joseph is automatically rated as a member of the middle class because he has a masterʹs degree. This way of assigning people to social classes, based on years of education and occupation, is called the method.

A) reputational
B) subjective
C) educational
D) objective

Question 17

A stratification system where there is little opportunity to accumulate wealth and where there is much social equality is called an) system.

A) free enterprise
B) status
C) caste
D) egalitarian

Question 18

Social stratification is a profoundly important subject in sociology because

A) almost every aspect of our lives, from family size to how much money we need, is linked to our status in society.
B) people in postindustrial societies such as the United States are necessarily status conscious.
C) our life chances are significantly increased if we do not have an assigned status in society.
D) most modern societies are committed to the ideal of a ʺclassless society.ʺ

Question 19

Which of the following stratification systems is the most rigid or fixed?

A) the caste system
B) the egalitarian system
C) the feudal system
D) the class system

Question 20

A is a category of people who have about the same amount of income, power, and prestige.

A) social strata
B) social class
C) social group
D) ruling class

Question 21

The huge number of women bearing the burden of poverty, mostly as single mothers or heads of families, is called the of poverty.

A) stratification
B) trivialization
C) patriarchal direction
D) feminization

Question 22

Which of the following is NOT a cause of the feminization of poverty?

A) reaction to the feminist movement
B) women living longer than men
C) increase in divorce
D) the sexist and patriarchal nature of society

Question 23

The new American lower class that has emerged during the 1980s is largely composed of

A) illegal aliens.
B) migrant farmers.
C) displaced, mechanically skilled workers.
D) displaced, electronically skilled workers.

Question 24

The term ʺlife chancesʺ refers to

A) the opportunity to maintain good health.
B) the changes of living to a ripe old age.
C) the tastes, preferences, and ways of life of a class.
D) the opportunities people have for obtaining desirable resources.

Question 25

Which of the following types of poverty seems to have the greatest psychological impact on Americans?

A) absolute poverty
B) relative poverty
C) racial poverty
D) institutionalized poverty

Question 26

All of the following are differences found among the life styles of the social classes, EXCEPT for

A) speech patterns.
B) their relationship to relatives and neighbors.
C) the desire for financial rewards.
D) reading and television preferences.

Question 27

Hank was a factory worker and never graduated from high school. His son, however, went to college. Sociologists use the concept of to understand the different attainments of father and son.

A) intragenerational mobility
B) horizontal mobility
C) intergenerational mobility
D) career mobility

Question 28

Social class influences peopleʹs values. People with high income and advanced education are likely to be more politically

A) liberal.
B) conservative.
C) neutral.
D) uninterested.

Question 29

Due to job loss, divorce, disabilities and old age, studies suggest

A) that a majority of Americans will experience at least a brief period of poverty in their lifetime.
B) will become single head of a household.
C) will experience an upward change in mobility over time.
D) will experience a downward change in mobility over time.

Question 30

According to the absolute definition of poverty in the United States, persons are poor when they

A) lack the income needed to sustain a minimum standard of living.
B) derive most of their income from noncash benefits.
C) have less income in comparison to others in the society.
D) feel they need more money to purchase the basics of life.

Question 31

John Grisham was an attorney prior to become a best -selling author. This is an example of

A) horizontal mobility.
B) vertical mobility.
C) intergenerational mobility.
D) status inconsistency.

Question 32

Three percent of the population possess more than half of the wealth in the United States. People in this social stratum are classified as

A) middle class.
B) working class.
C) upper class.
D) lower class.

Question 33

The theory that best explains how poverty is created within a society is

A) functional theory.
B) conflict theory.
C) normative theory.
D) interactionism.

Question 34

Matilda works as a maid in the home of a rich capitalist and is paid the minimum wage. She is an example of

A) upward social mobility.
B) a terrible social problem.
C) how poverty is functional for society.
D) how poverty is dysfunctional for society.

Question 35

Social class affected the life chances of those involved in the Titanic tragedy because

A) a wide variety of persons perished.
B) persons at the third class level were allowed to leave first.
C) people at the first class level were allowed to leave first.
D) life boats were placed nearer the front of the boat.

Question 36

Anthropologist Oscar Lewis characterized people living in a ʺculture of povertyʺ as having all of the following attitudes EXCEPT

A) powerlessness.
B) low aspirations.
C) inferiority.
D) future oriented.

Question 37

Movement from one occupational status to another is called

A) achieved status.
B) ascribed status.
C) social mobility.
D) social structure.

Question 38

Which of the following is NOT a social force that has created homelessness?

A) a shortage of inexpensive housing for poor families
B) personal disability such as alcoholism
C) erosion of public welfare benefits
D) a decrease in the demand for unskilled labor

Question 39

The homeless of the 1950s and 1960s were predominately elderly men which differs greatly from the makeup of the homeless today. The homeless today are likely to include

A) more women and families with children.
B) teenagers and women.
C) elderly women and single head of households.
D) single mothers and teenagers.

Question 40

In 1996, Congress passed a law to end welfare dependency which mandates that the head of the household must work and that welfare benefits be limited to a time period of

A) five years throughout the life-time of the recipient.
B) twenty years throughout the life-time of the recipient.
C) two years throughout the life of the head of the household.
D) life or until the recipient dies.

Question 41

Women around the world face many disadvantages due to the fact that

A) men are more literate.
B) a majority of women are illiterate.
C) they are unwilling to work.
D) they are continually having children.

Question 42

Which of the following is not a form of slavery that exists in some places in the world?

A) economic slavery
B) chattel slavery
C) child laborers
D) wage slavery

Question 43

Conflict theorists argue that stratification

A) is universal and necessary.
B) is a reflection of power, not necessity.
C) is a Western concept.
D) will disappear eventually and gradually.

Question 44

According to feminists, women as a group are more vulnerable than men to poverty because of the sexist nature of society.

Question 45

Sociologist have long defined social class as a category of people who have about the same amount of income, power, and prestige.

Question 46

As the worldʹs leading democratic society, the United States has the most equal distribution of income.

Question 47

Sociologists who follow the functionalist theory believe that stratification is

A) universal and necessary.
B) university but unnecessary.
C) an expression of the values of the rich.
D) a result of industrialization.

Question 48

The traditional study of stratification focuses on women only.

Question 49

According to the text, the working class constitutes the largest class in the United States and is much more diverse in occupation than the upper-middle class.

Question 50

The class system is the least stratified, with minimal inequality.

Question 51

The widening disparity between the rich and the poor in the U.S. can be attributed to all of the following EXCEPT

A) increased use of computer-assisted technology.
B) a shift away from manufacturing jobs.
C) an increase in union workers.
D) an increase in two-career households.

Question 52

All of the following EXCEPT are sources of structural mobility.

A) expansion of industrial economy
B) low birth rates in lower classes
C) increase in educational attainment
D) lower birth rates in higher classes

Question 53

In the poor, peripheral countries of the world, women

A) have considerable opportunities for advancement.
B) die earlier than men.
C) face cultural and economic disadvantages.
D) have more equality than women in more prosperous countries.

Question 54

Karl Marx believed that capitalist sought to maximize profit by exploiting workers.

Question 55

Life chances is the likelihood of living a good, long, successful life in society.

Question 56

According to the text, it is harder today than 30 years ago for Americans to move from a lower to a higher social class.

Question 57

The lack of minimum food and shelter necessary for maintaining life is called .

A) relative poverty
B) life chances
C) absolute poverty
D) social poverty

Question 58

Kuznets curve is the changing relationship between economic development and social inequality, named after its discoverer, Simon Kuznets.

Question 59

Characteristics of global poverty include all of the following EXCEPT

A) high poverty levels in rural areas.
B) large families.
C) government neglect.
D) low child labor.

Question 60

The essence of global stratification is

A) diverse patterns of global class structure.
B) increasing global equality.
C) inequality among nations.
D) individual, not global, stratification patterns.

Question 61

According to and , stratification motivates people to work hard by promising them such rewards as money, power, and prestige.

Question 62

The ability to control the behavior of others, even against their will is called .

Question 63

Most of the worldʹs poor love in Africa, Asia and .

Question 64

According to economist 2005), 1.1 billion or nearly one-fifth of the people in the world are extremely poor, struggling to survive with an income of less than $1 a day.

Question 65

Like many conservatives, President Bush has long denied the widening income inequality between the rich and class.

Question 66

involves moving up or down the status ladder.

Question 67

Only one- of the poor are on welfare.

Question 68

is a change in an individualʹs social standing.

Question 69

According to the conflict perspective, society creates and maintains poverty because benefits can be derived from it.

Question 70

is the system in which some people get more, or less, rewards than others.

Question 71

Most of the poor in the United States are not on welfare.

Question 72

The incomes of richer Americans far exceed those of poorer Americans.

Question 73

is the economic control exercised by rich nations over their former colonies.

Question 74

According to the perspective, stratification limits opportunities for the underprivileged, preserves injustices, and provokes unrest.

Question 75

The Feudal system is made up of several segregated groups whose positions are ascribed and fixed in society.

Question 76

Shocking as it may be, slavery is not uncommon today.

Question 77

Upward movement is called downward mobility, and downward movement is call upward mobility

Question 78

The of poverty refers to a huge number of women bearing the burden of poverty, mostly as single mothers or heads of families.

Question 79

The changing relationship between development and inequality is known as the
curve.

Question 80

When using the method to determine class structure, sociologists find that people generally rank themselves higher then they really are.