Deck 2: Position and Prestige

Question 1

The concept of ______ is a sentiment in the minds of people that is expressed in social interaction.

A) prestige
B) stratification
C) class
D) social chances

Answer 1

A

Question 2

Which sociologist during the 1930s conducted a study of the social class structure of a small New England town?

A) W. Lloyd Warner
B) Richard Coleman
C) Lee Rainwater
D) Max Weber

Answer 2

A

Question 3

In his study of Yankee City, W. Lloyd Warner discovered a hierarchy of prestige classes based on both ______.

A) social and political distinctions
B) economic and social distinctions
C) economic and political distinctions
D) religious and political distinctions

Answer 3

B

Question 4

Which of the following did Warner use as a shorthand index for prestige position?

A) annual income
B) occupation
C) political party affiliation
D) clique and association memberships

Question 5

W. Lloyd Warner and his colleagues were able to classify what percent of Yankee City residents?

A) 50%
B) 30%
C) 80%
D) 99%

Question 6

In the Yankee City classificatory schema, which level had the largest share of residents?

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

Question 7

The PBS documentary People Like Us: Social Class in America is primarily about ______.

A) the vast differences in wealth seen in America
B) the vast differences in income in America
C) the struggles that members of the lower class must go through to find employment
D) the way Americans experience class differences

Question 8

Synthesizing individual judgments about the class system was problematic for Coleman and Rainwater because ______.

A) their data consisted of verbal statements about general symbols rather than details about particular others in the community
B) their data consisted of a large number of highly detailed documents
C) respondents were not as cooperative as they would have liked
D) respondents provided information that was inconsistent with their expectations

Question 9

According to the Coleman-Rainwater model of the class structure, members of the upper-middle class tend to which type of occupations?

A) lower-level managers; small business owners; lower status professionals
B) middle professionals and managers
C) unskilled labor and service jobs
D) top professionals; senior corporate executives

Question 10

According to the NORC occupational prestige scores, which of the following is considered a high-prestige job?

A) school teacher
B) plumber
C) manager of a supermarket
D) insurance agent

Question 11

Social classificatory schemas are ______.

A) useful abstractions that attempt to organize and summarize a great deal of data
B) precise measures of occupational prestige
C) used by the federal government when distributing tax rebates
D) both useful abstractions that attempt to organize and summarize a great deal of data and precise measures of occupational prestige

Question 12

Coleman and Rainwater studied prestige among individuals in ______.

A) Yankee City
B) Middletown
C) Boston and Kansas City
D) Kansas City and Baltimore

Question 13

Warner's Yankee City research led him to conceive of social class in much the same way as ______.

A) Karl Marx
B) Gilbert-Kahl
C) Richard Coleman
D) Max Weber

Question 14

According to the work of Coleman and Rainwater, the class with the largest number of families in it is the ______.

A) upper-upper class
B) upper-middle class
C) middle class
D) working class

Question 15

Americans are ______.

A) uncomfortable making class distinctions
B) unable to rank different occupations
C) less able to make distinctions among those close to themselves in the hierarchy than far away
D) comfortable with the idea of social inequality

Question 16

W. Lloyd Warner and his colleagues classified the residents of Yankee City into ______ classes.

A) two
B) four
C) six
D) eight

Question 17

According to W. Lloyd Warner and his colleagues, the largest proportion of residents of Yankee City were ______.

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

Question 18

Davis et al. in their report, Deep South, led to all of the important conclusions about perceptions of the class structure EXCEPT ______.

A) people at all class levels perceive class differences, but there is disagreement about the number of classes in the community
B) people make more distinctions among those close to themselves in the hierarchy than among those who are far away
C) people often agree about where individuals or families belong in the class hierarchy and about why they are there
D) despite class differences in the number of classes perceived at various levels in the hierarchy, the distinctions actually made by people from different classes coincide

Question 19

How was the class level of children measured in Warner's study in Yankee City?

A) Children were assigned the status level of their parents.
B) Children were assigned a status group based on the school they attended.
C) Children were assigned a status based on the neighborhood they lived in.
D) Children were not included in the study.

Question 20

In the Gilbert-Kahl model, the class at the top of the model with the most wealth is termed ______.

A) elites
B) capitalists
C) upper-upper class
D) bourgeoisie

Question 21

In the Gilbert-Kahl model, the class at the bottom of the model with the least amount of wealth is termed ______.

A) low class
B) lower-lower class
C) the bottom
D) underclass

Question 22

______ is a fair indicator of two other sources of prestige: income and education.

A) Lifestyle
B) Family background
C) Occupation
D) Association

Question 23

According to NORC, the highest prestige occupation is ______.

A) lawyer
B) nurse
C) physician
D) college professor

Question 24

According to NORC, the lowest prestige occupation is ______.

A) house painter
B) janitor
C) bus driver
D) garbage collector

Question 25

Which is true about how Americans view class structure?

A) Americans perceive a prestige hierarchy of both persons and occupations, which they divide into a few categories or classes.
B) There is a consensus about how to define and differentiate class levels.
C) There is more agreement about the criteria used in making ranking decisions than the rank order.
D) There is more agreement about division into classes than making rankings.

Question 26

Prestige is a sentiment in the minds of people that is expressed in interpersonal interaction.

Question 27

Warner noted that when a person had an equivalent rank on all the economic and social variables, people in Yankee City had difficulty determining their prestige rank.

Question 28

The class system in Yankee City is a summary of what residents told Warner.

Question 29

According to Davis et al., class structures look different depending upon where one is situated in the class structure.

Question 30

Occupational prestige ratings across subgroups have been quite consistent and stable over time.

Question 31

The PBS documentary People Like Us: Social Class in America is based on systematic research.

Question 32

Individuals tend to make more class distinctions between themselves and those closest to themselves in the social class hierarchy.

Question 33

In terms of occupational prestige, a supermarket manager ranks higher than a public school teacher.

Question 34

The Gilbert-Kahl model was based solely on economic considerations.

Question 35

In America, there is a prestige hierarchy recognized by most citizens which places people into a few classes.

Question 36

Occupational prestige scores range from 20 to 80.

Question 37

Warner discovered that moral status had no connection to class position.

Question 38

Coleman and Rainwater found that working-class families were more likely to own larger and more expensive automobiles than middle-class families.

Question 39

According to Coleman and Rainwater, members of the upper-upper class get most of their income from inherited wealth.

Question 40

Social ranking is usually a conscious process.

Question 41

In studies of peoples' perceptions of social class, there is greater ranking consistency than cutting consistency.

Question 42

In perceptions of social class, people lump together into large groups those who are furthest from them.

Question 43

Occupational prestige rankings in the NORC have varied immensely over the past several decades.

Question 44

In the Gilbert-Kahl model, the top 1% are termed capitalists.

Question 45

Davis et al. found eight classes in their study entitled Deep South.

Question 46

How does the Coleman-Rainwater metropolitan model differ from the Gilbert-Kahl national model outlined in Chapter 1?

Question 47

The Warner and Coleman-Rainwater class models were concerned primarily with prestige. The Gilbert-Kahl model was based solely on economic considerations. Explain why these models still show remarkable consistency.

Question 48

Why is there no longer any clear distinction between the concepts of "blue collar" and "white collar"? Illustrate your explanation with examples.

Question 49

Americans engage in greater "ranking consistency" than "cutting consistency" when identifying where people go in the social class structure. What is the difference between the two of them? Use examples in your definition.

Question 50

Define prestige and give an example illustrating it.