Deck 8: Social Class in the United States

Question 1

Based upon family income distribution, in 2010, the richest fifth of U.S. families received approximately what percent of the total income for the year?

A) 3.3%
B) 25%
C) 50.2%
D) 65.5%
E) 85%

Answer 1

C

Question 2

Hector is a master electrician. He holds a high school diploma, and owns a modest home but can t afford many luxuries. He considers himself politically conservative and fairly religious. Hector is most typical of which of the classes listed?

A) lower-middle class
B) upper-middle class
C) upper class
D) lower class
E) lower-lower class

Answer 2

A

Question 3

In a class system, each member of a given class shares similar:

A) opportunities.
B) lifestyles.
C) attitudes.
D) all of the above

Answer 3

D

Question 4

According to Weber, which of the following is NOT a criteria for stratification in a modern society?

A) political power
B) social status
C) tradition
D) prestige

Question 5

Today, noncash benefits account for about _____ of federal welfare benefits.

A) 1/2
B) 1/3
C) 2/3
D) 1/4
E) 98%

Question 6

Maurice and Shirley are both attorneys who live in a comfortable suburban home. Their children attend private schools and expect to go to college and on to graduate school. This family is best described as:

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

Question 7

A social class is composed of people with similar:

A) attitudes and behaviors.
B) lifestyles.
C) vocational positions.
D) all of the above

Question 8

The ____________ class dominates the professional and technical fields and often consists of two-income families.

A) upper-middle
B) lower-middle
C) working
D) upper
E) lower-upper

Question 9

What was the poverty level for a family of four in 2012?

A) about $ 8,000
B) about $23,000
C) about $27,000
D) about $39,000
E) about $46,000

Question 10

In 2010, the poorest 20% of American families earned _____ of the country s total income for the year.

A) 3.3%
B) 25%
C) 50.2%
D) 65.5%
E) 85%

Question 11

Members of the upper class:

A) are unemployed or under employed.
B) have little in the way of education or occupational skills.
C) stress obedience and respect for elders.
D) have great wealth, often going back for many generations.
E) can be seen by their avoidance of everyday activities like shopping.

Question 12

A successful professional who has a college education, lives in an exclusive suburb, and has a savings reserve would be placed into which of the following class categories?

A) lower-upper
B) middle
C) upper-middle
D) upper
E) lower-lower

Question 13

The poverty index is based solely on:

A) food stamp allocations.
B) money income.
C) the stock market.
D) family wealth.
E) social service contributions.

Question 14

Jason sees himself as a cut above his close-knit neighborhood, where people have little knowledge of world events and are often too tired to get involved in community or political activity. Jason fits which class description?

A) upper middle class professionals
B) lower middle class
C) gold coast socialites
D) lower class

Question 15

The working class is made up of:

A) skilled laborers.
B) semi-skilled laborers.
C) factory employees.
D) blue-collar workers.
E) all of the above

Question 16

Bob lives adequately but has little left over; he is very involved with his extended family; he feels politically powerless and he did not bother to vote last election. Bob is:

A) working class.
B) middle class.
C) a family man in any class.
D) politically compromised by his network.

Question 17

Poverty is more frequent:

A) among blacks and Hispanics than among whites.
B) among whites than among blacks or Hispanics.
C) in urban than in rural areas.
D) in the Northeast than in the South.
E) among urban whites.

Question 18

Approximately what percent of the population in the United States belongs to the upper class?

A) 1-3%
B) 5-6%
C) 10-11%
D) 15-16%
E) 20-21%

Question 19

A large percentage of the new upper-middle class:

A) are two-income couples.
B) are couples who are both college-educated.
C) are corporate executive executives or high governmental officials.
D) are gentrifying run-down city neighborhoods.
E) all of the above

Question 20

Rural residents have _____ than urban residents.

A) higher unemployment rates
B) more healthy leisure activities
C) a wider range of flexible skills
D) higher reading scores

Question 21

Teresa is a waitress in Chicago who has little control over the system, but when she joins the 99% Movement she attempts to exercise ____________ as part of a group.

A) formal sanctions
B) appeals process
C) class privilege
D) power

Question 22

Which of the following is a criticism of poverty figures?

A) Poverty status should be determined by comparing a person s financial situation with the rest of society.
B) There is no geographic cost of living adjustment.
C) The money used to pay taxes should be excluded since it cannot buy necessities.
D) The poverty threshold is merely a guess.
E) all of the above

Question 23

Because of the American political ideal of the basic equality of all citizens, the United States has a class structure with less stratification than any other country.

Question 24

Comparisons of poverty levels among male-headed and female-headed households show that:

A) they are equally likely to fall below the poverty level.
B) male-headed households are more apt to be below the poverty level.
C) female-headed households are more apt to fall below the poverty level.
D) families with divorced spouses face the greatest likelihood of poverty no matter who heads the household.
E) there is virtually no difference between the two in terms of poverty level.

Question 25

Statistics on poverty in the United States show that:

A) most poor people do not work even though they could.
B) most able-bodied poor of working age hold jobs.
C) unwed mothers are the smallest single group of poor people.
D) all of the above

Question 26

One myth that many Americans hold is that the poor are poor because they do not have enough:

A) work.
B) ambition.
C) education.
D) children.
E) intelligence.

Question 27

When we look at functionally important jobs in our society, the patterns show:

A) functionality is not related to job rewards.
B) people with more important functional jobs are rewarded more highly.
C) function varies with race, gender, and region.
D) function depends on education levels.

Question 28

The functionalists argue that society should distribute its wealth in terms of each according to his or her needs.

Question 29

Lower-class people tend to blame themselves for lack of success and for material need.

Question 30

Conflict theorists believe that a small amount of social mobility is left open by the powerful to keep the masses in line.

Question 31

Of the following nations, the highest rate of poverty among children is found in:

A) the United States.
B) Canada.
C) the United Kingdom.
D) Germany.
E) Sweden.

Question 32

Which one of the following does NOT explain why so many children live in poverty in the United States?

A) Many children live in poor immigrant households.
B) Unmarried single women have lower incomes or job opportunities.
C) The gap between the rich and the poor brings everyone down.
D) Children do not vote, and the U.S. system favors groups with lobbies and advocates.

Question 33

Mother Teresa controlled no industry or property and had little wealth, but she influenced people all over the world. Which theorist would best account for her position?

A) Karl Marx
B) Max Weber
C) Ralf Dahrendorf
D) Davis and Moore

Question 34

The United States has been most successful in holding down poverty among:

A) children.
B) working-age adults.
C) the elderly.
D) women.
E) single parents.

Question 35

Janis was a young mother in her late 20s when she and her husband divorced, forcing her to live on her sole income as a part time minimum wage worker. Janis represents:

A) competition in the low wage market for better jobs.
B) interruptions in structural mobility.
C) a popular myth about why women cannot live without assistance.
D) the feminization of poverty.

Question 36

Who expanded Marx s views about class into a multidimensional view of stratification?

A) Max Weber
B) mile Durkheim
C) Cooley Mead
D) Davis Moore
E) Harriet Martineau

Question 37

Class distinctions exist in the United States based on race, education, family name, career choice, and wealth.

Question 38

The feminization of poverty refers to:

A) a trend in which females represent an increasing proportion of the poor.
B) the fact that more feminists are poor these days.
C) a phenomenon in which nearly all of the social workers who work with the poor are female.
D) the fact that females seem to cope with poverty better than males.
E) the fact that as more women have entered the labor force, they have lowered women s wages.

Question 39

Most government assistance from programs goes to which social class?

A) the poor
B) women and children among the poor
C) the middle class
D) elderly retired men among the poor

Question 40

Which of the following is a myth about the poor?

A) Most poor people are black and most black people are poor.
B) Most poor people live in inner-city ghettos.
C) Most people are poor because they are too lazy to work.
D) Most poor people live in female-headed households.
E) all of the above

Question 41

Happiness is related to how you spend your time, not how you spend your money.

Question 42

Conflict theorists would argue that providing unequal rewards ensures that the most talented and best trained individuals will fill the social roles of greatest importance.

Question 43

In America, poverty in rural areas is actually higher than it is in cities.

Question 44

Davis and Moore argue that different positions in society make different levels of contributions to the well-being and preservation of society.

Question 45

The poor are more likely to be arrested, charged with a crime, convicted, and sentenced to prison; they receive longer sentences than middle- and upper-class criminals.

Question 46

Conflict theorists see stratification as an outcome of a struggle between groups for dominance of resources and social control.

Question 47

A functionalist theory of stratification would argue that stratification is socially necessary to give rewards for achievement.

Question 48

There is substantial agreement among sociologists regarding the actual number of social classes in the United States.

Question 49

Marx argued that in order to understand human societies, one must look at the economic conditions producing the necessities of life.

Question 50

Historically, the upper class in the United States have been members of Presbyterian and Episcopalian churches.

Question 51

The richest 20% of Americans own more than 75% of all of the country s wealth.

Question 52

The view of class presented by Weber can be characterized as more of a multidimensional view than the one presented by Marx.

Question 53

Social stratification has shown that social class does not affect social aspects of people s lives.

Question 54

Critics of the functionalist view suggest that stratification is immoral because it creates extremes of wealth and poverty and denigrates the people at the bottom.

Question 55

Functionalists would argue that filling the more complex and important positions in society often requires talent that is scarce and has a long period of training.

Question 56

A social class is made up of people who share similar resources.

Question 57

The richest 5% of all families in the United States own over half the country s wealth.

Question 58

Lower-class people get sick more often and have higher infant mortality rates, shorter life expectancies, and larger families than the upper classes.

Question 59

Marx believed that wealth should be distributed according to need.

Question 60

Sociologists place successful business and professional people who earn reasonably high incomes in the upper-class category.

Question 61

The number of families receiving welfare assistance has continued to rise since 1996.

Question 62

Most poor people are white.

Question 63

African Americans make up more than half the long-term poor.

Question 64

What are the known characteristics of the poor in the United States? Discuss how we measure and account for poverty.

Question 65

Identify and describe the characteristics of each of the social classes in the United States.

Question 66

Smoking is associated with lower social status in society.

Question 67

Outline and discuss the distribution of wealth and income in the United States. What are the proven consequences of social inequalities in this country?

Question 68

Using what you know about stratification in the United States, what kind of synthesis of functionalism and conflict theory could you offer to account for the major features of the country s class structure? Be sure to use specific facts to support your theory.

Question 69

Why does stratification exist? Summarize and compare the functionalist and conflict theory views of social stratification. Who were the proponents of each of these views? Compare and contrast these two perspectives.

Question 70

Most government assistance benefits today are in the form of goods and services.

Question 71

The homeless are a large proportion of people counted as living in poverty by the U.S. Census.