Deck 6: The Cultural Construction of Social Hierarchy

Question 1

The process of "outsourcing" means that jobs are:

A) given to those with special expertise
B) moved from richer to poorer countries
C) concentrated into a single location
D) distributed equally to all groups

Answer 1

moved from richer to poorer countries

Question 2

According to Stephen Jay Gould, what key fact, ignored by Morton, skewered the reliability of his claims about race, skulls, and brain size?

A) Morton never defined what he meant by "black" skulls.
B) Morton never actually measured skulls.
C) Morton ignored the fact that brain size in linked to body size, and that male skulls are on average larger than female skulls.
D) Morton ignored the fact that people with more varied diets tend to have both larger bodies and skulls, and hence brains.

Answer 2

Morton ignored the fact that brain size in linked to body size, and that male skulls are on average larger than female skulls.

Question 3

What factor links the intelligence studies of Francis Galton, Karl Pearson, and Charles Spearman?

A) Each relied on objective methods.
B) Each linked intelligence with actions and appearances similar to their own.
C) Each sought to use racial differences as the basis for intelligence measurements.
D) Each regarded intelligence as "fixed" and measurable.

Answer 3

Each linked intelligence with actions and appearances similar to their own.

Question 4

Francis Galton, founder of modern statistics, argued that "genius" is:

A) inherited.
B) randomly distributed within a population.
C) largely a result of environment.
D) a product of education.

Question 5

The higher incarceration rate of blacks as compared to whites is because:

A) blacks are more likely to break the law
B) blacks are more likely to be caught in criminal activities
C) black youth are ten times more likely than white youth to be convicted
D) black population growth has affected statistics of black crime

Question 6

The term "generalized reciprocity" describes which of these situations?

A) A person shares with others but expects them to reciprocate at some later time.
B) A person shares with others but does not expect them to reciprocate at some later time.
C) A person does not share with others but expects sharing from others.
D) A person shares with others and items are exchanged on the spot.

Question 7

Marx and Engels argued that classes arose when a certain group-a landowner or boss-gained control of:

A) people's labor value.
B) people's land.
C) the means of production.
D) the rules of occupation.

Question 8

Western assumptions that men are superior to women are usually based on all of the following EXCEPT:

A) biology.
B) the role of women in reproduction.
C) a negative view on menstruation and menopause.
D) religious reasons.

Question 9

According to Thomas Belmonte, social stratification is NOT inevitable because

A) Humans have the knowledge to prevent it
B) There is not genetic evidence for it
C) Societies like the Ju/wasi and Inuit have no class system.
D) Individuals can change their class status.

Question 10

Who coined the term "culture of poverty?"

A) Stephen Jay Gould
B) Franz Boaz
C) Oscar Lewis
D) Samuel Morton

Question 11

According to John and Jean Comaroff youth culture is:

A) limited to Europe and the U.S.
B) overwhelmingly male
C) the product of advertising campaigns
D) of limited importance economically

Question 12

According to Philippe Bourgois, poverty and marginalization of lower-class residents of cities has resulted in an "inner-city street culture." This subculture is:

A) coherent.
B) based on political opposition.
C) limited to the inner city.
D) a spontaneous set of rebellious practices.

Question 13

According to Marxist theory, whose interests are served by promoting the ideology of class?

A) Working class
B) Ruling class
C) Immigrant class
D) Middle class

Question 14

A Gini coefficient score of "0" for a country indicates what?

A) Perfect income equality.
B) A lack of disposable income for the average person.
C) Perfect income inequality.
D) The unequal distribution of labor by women and men

Question 15

Based on the Gini coefficient, which of these countries has the most equal distribution of household income?

A) Albania
B) Costa Rica
C) The United States
D) Sweden

Question 16

In Murray Milner's study of high school social groups, which of the following was NOT used as a symbolic identity marker?

A) Clothing
B) Food eaten at lunch
C) Gathering places in school
D) Music preferences

Question 17

Samuel George Morton, a respected nineteenth century scientist, attempted to prove a scientific basis for:

A) gender discrimination.
B) gender equity.
C) racial discrimination.
D) racial equity.

Question 18

A Hindu person's caste status in India is:

A) inherited at birth.
B) of little importance these days.
C) linked to one of three castes.
D) necessary to determine occupation.

Question 19

According to Paul Willis, all EXCEPT which of the following are reasons why socio-economic class tends to reproduce itself from generation to generation in industrial economies such as the United States and Great Britain?

A) Because there is a bias toward the middle class in schools
B) Because of a lack of funding for working-class public schools
C) Because working class students rebel against school discipline
D) Because working class youth prefer manual labor to appear manly

Question 20

Some people believe that social stratification is unavoidable. Which of the following is NOT one of the reasons they give for this belief?

A) Scarce resources
B) Natural differences in capabilities
C) Occupational specialization
D) The power of elite groups to control the behavior of others

Question 21

In their work The Bell Curve, Herrnstein and Murray assumed that intelligence:

A) is a flexible quality.
B) is a single fixed quality.
C) can be improved.
D) is variable.

Question 22

What Hutterite activity occurs every fifteen years and provides communities with a constant goal?

A) Group divisions
B) Group discussions
C) Group marriages
D) Barn raisings

Question 23

According to Jean and John Comaroff, the current "crisis of masculinity" is largely limited to highly industrialized societies.

Question 24

From 1983 to 2007, income inequality:

A) grew.
B) shrank.
C) Doubled in size.
D) Remained relatively constant.

Question 25

Despite laws banning discrimination in housing the group that is much more likely to live in segregated neighborhoods are:

A) Asians.
B) Latinos.
C) Poor whites.
D) Blacks.

Question 26

In Paul Willis's study, working-class high-school boys resisted study and schoolwork because they thought it was unmasculine.

Question 27

Outsourcing is the process by which jobs are shifted from rich to poor countries.

Question 28

In most societies access to wealth and social privileges is determined mainly by a person's social and class status.

Question 29

All societies use the same criteria to differentiate people into various status levels.

Question 30

A person's intelligence is a product of many factors and varies throughout a lifetime.

Question 31

What is one way that members of Hutterite communities build commitment to the group?

A) Emphasis on individual achievements
B) Making individual privacy available
C) Frequent face-to-face interaction
D) Providing access to the outside world

Question 32

In Milner's study of high school campuses, the campus group at the top of the hierarchy was the Rockers.

Question 33

The Gini Co-efficient is a statistical tool for measuring income distribution.

Question 34

Which state agencies, according to Philippe Bourgois, do women in inner-city neighborhoods such as El Barrio usually have contact with?

A) The penal system and welfare system
B) The education system and the welfare system
C) The public housing authority and the police
D) They have little or no contact with any agencies.

Question 35

According to Marx, class divisions only emerge when some group gains control of the means of production.

Question 36

According to Carol Stack, how did residents of The Flats care for their children in the face of poverty?

A) Through reliance on public services
B) In much the same way any nuclear family does
C) Through networks of support that might involve three or four adults
D) By depending on the children's fathers

Question 37

Which of these well-known scientists used human skulls in an effort to prove that northern Europeans were socially and biologically superior to other groups of people?

A) Stephen Jay Gould
B) Franz Boaz
C) Oscar Lewis
D) Samuel Morton

Question 38

According to Karl Marx, that portion of one's wage that goes to profit is called:

A) the means of production
B) the surplus value of labor
C) the ideology of profit
D) the fractional value

Question 39

Karl Marx and Friedrich Engels had opposing viewpoints on the nature of society in the nineteenth century.

Question 40

The Hutterites are strongly egalitarian but they:

A) value wealthier members over those with less wealth.
B) regard women as inferior and subordinate.
C) tend to value competition.
D) tend to value outspokenness.

Question 41

In The Flats, described by Carol B. Stack, the conditions of poverty forced people into nuclear families rather than kinship and friendship networks.

Question 42

The jobs most affected by outsourcing include those that are labeled "unskilled."

Question 43

Describing menstruation as "failed reproduction" is an example of how gender stratification is embedded in American English.

Question 44

Among the Hutterites, inappropriate behavior is punished through the decisions of a panel of male elders.

Question 45

While Hutterite communities are generally egalitarian, Hutterites regard women as inferior.