Deck 5: Inequalities of Social Stratification

Question 1

Which of the following is true regarding caste systems?

A) Caste systems allow for movement between strata, or castes.
B) Industrialization creates a demand for workers and should make castes decline.
C) Caste systems no longer exist in India.
D) Caste systems are prominent in the world today.

Answer 1

Industrialization creates a demand for workers and should make castes decline.

Question 2

The arrangement of society into a series of social layers is known as __________.

A) social stratification
B) social mobility
C) the caste system
D) the class system

Answer 2

social stratification

Question 3

The possibility of individuals, families, or groups changing their position in the stratification system is called __________.

A) social stratification
B) social mobility
C) the caste system
D) the class system

Answer 3

social mobility

Question 4

Becoming a teacher or a doctor is __________.

A) impossible in a class system
B) considered blue-collar work
C) an achieved status
D) an ascribed status

Question 5

Which social class controls much of the nation's political apparatus, either through direct participation or through behind-the-scenes influence?

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

Question 6

People in which social class are often service personnel, tradespeople, semiskilled operatives, and other blue-collar workers?

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

Question 7

__________ refers to the lifestyles, preferences, and thought patterns found among people of a stratum.

A) Achieved status
B) Ascribed status
C) Social class
D) Caste system

Question 8

Which of the following is true of the upper-upper class?

A) Membership in the upper-upper class is generally an ascribed status endowed at birth.
B) Many members of the upper-upper class lack an established family name.
C) The upper-upper class began developing during the industrial age and consisted mostly of small business owners.
D) The upper-upper class includes many small-scale entrepreneurs and people educated at public institutions.

Question 9

Max Weber claimed that a person's social standing consists of what three parts?

A) class, party, status
B) class, status, occupation
C) status, education, occupation
D) class, party, education

Question 10

Socioeconomic status (SES) consists of which of the following components?

A) wealth, party, education
B) education, occupation, wealth
C) wealth, occupation, party
D) education, occupation, party

Question 11

__________ is a measure of the honor that accrues to an individual filling a social position.

A) Ascribed status
B) Prestige
C) Esteem
D) Socioeconomic status

Question 12

Jobs such as doctor, lawyer, and college professor have some of the highest rates of __________.

A) occupational prestige
B) occupational esteem
C) relative poverty
D) episodic poverty

Question 13

Brandy works as a retail clerk in a department store. Based on this information, what type of work is she classified as performing?

A) white-collar work
B) blue-collar work
C) pink-collar work
D) upper-class work

Question 14

Which of the following statements is true about subjective class?

A) Since the end of World War II, there has been an increase in the number of Americans claiming to be middle class.
B) Subjective social class is important because it affects feelings of satisfaction.
C) Middle-class people report higher levels of happiness when they perceive a large gap between themselves and people at the higher end of the income distribution.
D) Middle-class people report low feelings of happiness when they perceive a wide gap between themselves and people at the lower end of the income distribution.

Question 15

According to statistics presented in the text, there is massive global inequality. Some __________ percent of people are classified as low income or poor, compared to less than __________ percent who are classified as high income.

A) 10; 1
B) 30; 10
C) 50; 25
D) 70; 10

Question 16

Which of the following statements describes a critique of the functional perspective on social stratification?

A) The stratification system results from the social process of matching people's skill, talent, and training to the demands of a given job.
B) The functionalist argument claims that poverty has some consequences that benefit society.
C) The functionalist argument claims that society is equally open to everyone but does not take discrimination into account.
D) The functionalist argument explains social stratification as an efficient and effective process that benefits the entire society.

Question 17

Damian believes that economic inequality can be a good thing in order for society to run efficiently. He claims that inequality motivates people to work harder to compete for jobs that will provide more money. Damian's perspective is similar to the __________.

A) conflict perspective
B) functional perspective
C) symbolic interaction perspective
D) field theory

Question 18

According to Karl Marx, the __________ own the means of production, whereas the __________ own only their labor.

A) bourgeoisie; power elite
B) bourgeoisie; proletariat
C) proletariat; bourgeoisie
D) proletariat; power elite

Question 19

Which concept can be used to explain why a social class would accept an ideology that is contrary to the best interests of that class?

A) false consciousness
B) class consciousness
C) power elite
D) class entitlements

Question 20

Marx's concept of class consciousness refers to __________.

A) a social class's acceptance of an ideology that is contrary to the best interests of that class
B) a social class's awareness of itself as being held to a higher standard than other social classes
C) an awareness by members of a social class that it is being oppressed and that membership in the class dooms everyone to the same fate
D) a social class's acceptance that members of that class are unable to achieve upward social mobility

Question 21

Which of the following statements is true about the power elite?

A) The power elite model implies that democracy is important because it allows everyone to equally achieve their goals.
B) The three social institutions of politics, the economy, and the military are where most people in the power elite hold positions of power.
C) The power elite does not serve its own interests; instead, members of the power elite work together on a political agenda that is best suited to everyone.
D) Most members of the power elite hold positions of power in churches, civic organizations, special-interest groups, and unions.

Question 22

Understanding micro-level processes, such as how individuals develop class conciousness, is part of the __________ perspective on social stratification.

A) functional
B) conflict
C) symbolic interaction
D) field theory

Question 23

Which of the following statements is true regarding class entitlements?

A) All people have the same number of class entitlements.
B) Class entitlements are a subtle form of socialization.
C) Most people are aware of their social class entitlements.
D) People rarely get offended if they are not treated with the degree of respect they believe they are entitled to.

Question 24

"Meeting the right people" is an example of __________.

A) economic capital
B) habitus
C) cultural capital
D) social capital

Question 25

Marx and Bourdieu, along with many sociologists, believed that the sum of a person's or a group's money and other valuables was an important factor in the development of the class system. This is known as __________.

A) economic capital
B) habitus
C) cultural capital
D) social capital

Question 26

Ashanti is interviewing for a new job. She notices the person interviewing her has a picture of his family in front of the Eiffel Tower. Ashanti uses this to start a conversation about their commonalities, which leads to discussions of fine art, music, and dining. These intangible resources that Ashanti drew upon are examples of __________.

A) economic capital
B) habitus
C) cultural capital
D) social capital

Question 27

Habitus can be defined as a __________.

A) summation of a person's or group's money and other valuable goods
B) set of valuable resources people garner through membership in a group or social network
C) set of intangible resources that promote distinctiveness, such as education, styles of speech, and preferences for food, music, and art
D) set of socially acquired dispositions, thoughts, and routine behaviors that lead people to smoothly interact with members of their own social class

Question 28

A person who grew up in a rough neighborhood where violent crime was rampant would likely know how to navigate the streets, what areas to avoid, and how to handle police surveillance. This seems "natural" because the person is not consciously aware of it. This is an example of __________.

A) social capital
B) cultural capital
C) economic capital
D) habitus

Question 29

According to Bourdieu, society is organized into __________ where games are played for status and domination.

A) types of habitus
B) types of capital
C) fields
D) entitlements

Question 30

__________ refers to a comparison of the standing of one group to the standing of another group.

A) Poverty
B) Absolute poverty
C) Relative poverty
D) Economic capital

Question 31

The federal government measures poverty using __________, a statistical measure relating family income to quality of life.

A) the poverty threshold
B) the poverty index
C) relative poverty
D) absolute poverty

Question 32

The condition in which people do not have enough income to buy the minimal necessities of life is known as __________.

A) absolute poverty
B) relative poverty
C) habitus
D) the poverty threshold

Question 33

If we compare the salary of a company's CEO with the salaries of the workers, it would be an example of __________.

A) absolute poverty
B) relative poverty
C) habitus
D) the poverty threshold

Question 34

People who have no food and no place to live are experiencing __________.

A) absolute poverty
B) relative poverty
C) habitus
D) the poverty threshold

Question 35

The annual income at which a person or household does not have enough income to buy the minimal necessities of life is referred to as __________.

A) the poverty threshold
B) the poverty index
C) relative poverty
D) absolute poverty

Question 36

Which of the following statements is true regarding poverty worldwide?

A) A person considered poor in the United States is likely to be considered poor in any other part of the world.
B) Living on $2 per day anywhere in the United States is the same regardless of location.
C) Standards of living vary by country, and what is poor in one place may be considered rich in another.
D) Members of the truly disadvantaged are found only in places outside the United States.

Question 37

Service workers, migrant workers, and day laborers routinely experience periods of the year when they are unemployed and poor. This is known as __________.

A) absolute poverty
B) relative poverty
C) episodic poverty
D) the poverty threshold

Question 38

People who are trapped in a cycle of joblessness, deviance, crime, welfare dependency, and unstable family life are considered to be __________.

A) experiencing episodic poverty
B) members of the power elite
C) homeless
D) members of the truly disadvantaged

Question 39

Some sociologists contend that the plight of the truly disadvantaged will not improve until __________.

A) people develop a wealthy "state of mind" that dismisses a victim mentality
B) the economy improves and the improvement reaches areas where the truly disadvantaged reside
C) there is more research into the root causes of poverty
D) society commits to upholding mainstream values

Question 40

Which of the following claims is derived from a sociological explanation of homelessness?

A) Most homeless people lack the personal motivation to do better.
B) Most homelessness results from a combination of predisposing conditions: hard economic times, high cost of housing, disabilities, and natural disasters.
C) Government and nonprofit assistance programs have allowed people to remain homeless and avoid taking responsibility for their lives.
D) The majority of those who are homeless voluntarily choose to live on the streets.

Question 41

Which of the following refers to one of the enduring stories in American culture that involves hard work and individual effort?

A) biblical stories
B) Greek mythology
C) a rags-to-riches saga
D) the Harry Potter series

Question 42

What have sociological studies on intergenerational mobility shown?

A) With hard work and individual effort, all people can move up the social ladder.
B) Upward mobility is possible for at least three-fourths of the poor population.
C) Very few people move from the lower class to the upper class.
D) When people have to work harder to achieve success, they are more likely to be upwardly mobile.

Question 43

The movement of entire categories of people upward or downward in the statification system caused by changes in society itself is called __________.

A) intergenerational mobility
B) episodic poverty
C) structural mobility
D) upward mobility

Question 44

Which of the following statements is true about structural mobility?

A) Upward social mobility is possible only through individual effort.
B) The economy expanding has no effect on social mobility.
C) The poverty threshold prevents groups of people from structural mobility.
D) The expansion of the labor market, more than individual achievement, produces changes in social stratification.

Question 45

What accounts for the overall modest rate of upward mobility in the United States?

A) There are too many high-status jobs that pay high salaries.
B) Upward mobility is determined in part by where people start their climb up the socioeconomic ladder.
C) Working-class people do not have the emotional commitment that would allow them to become upwardly mobile.
D) The majority of Americans view high-status jobs as "real" jobs because they produce tangible results.

Question 46

White Americans have, on average, __________ times the wealth of African Americans.

A) 5
B) 10
C) 15
D) 20

Question 47

The phenomenon that women represent a disproportionate share of the world's poor is called __________.

A) feminization of poverty
B) pink-collar poverty
C) gender stratification
D) female impoverishment

Question 48

Which of the following is true about poverty, race/ethnicity, and gender?

A) Poverty does not intersect with gender and race/ethnicity.
B) Asian Americans are more likely to be impoverished than African Americans and Hispanic/Latino Americans.
C) Men have higher education levels than women in every racial/ethnic group.
D) In all racial/ethnic groups, more women are impoverished than men.

Question 49

According to the text, which of the following helps to explain the differences between urban and rural poverty?

A) Wages are higher in rural areas because there are fewer people to compete for jobs.
B) The rural job market tends to be depressed compared to urban markets.
C) There are fewer high-paying jobs in urban areas.
D) People are leaving urban and rural areas for jobs in the suburbs.

Question 50

Which of the following is true regarding the decline of the American middle class?

A) Over the past 40 years, there has been a slow and steady decline in the middle class, but currently the decline seems to be leveling off.
B) In the future, more than half of the U.S. population will be middle class.
C) The middle class always opposes governmental regulation of business and civil life, and that opposition will expand in the future as the middle class grows.
D) Currently, the middle class is expanding at a rapid rate.

Question 51

Explain Pierre Bourdieu's theory about social class. Why is his theory important to the study of sociology?

Question 52

Explain absolute poverty and relative poverty. Provide an example of each.

Question 53

What is the problem sociologically with claiming poverty is a "state of mind" that can be overcome with hard work? How do sociologists address poverty as a social problem?

Question 54

How do the major sociological theories explain social stratification?

Question 55

How realistic is social mobility in American society? Write an essay explaining your position.