Deck 5: Social Stratification, Social Class, and Families

Question 1

When social stratification is based on ascribed characteristics, we call this a ________ system.

A)class
B)caste
C)absolute
D)family recovery
E)community

Answer 1

B

Question 2

From birth to death, social class standing has a significant impact on our lives. Which is NOT an example of one of these impacts?

A)gender expectations for boys, girls, men, and women within the family
B)how parents interact with their children
C)the likelihood of marriage and age at first marriage
D)hobbies and pastimes within families
E)the likelihood of attending elementary school

Answer 2

E

Question 3

Henry's father was a lower-level manager of a department store. Meanwhile, Henry was able to go to college and get his master's degree in business administration, and now is a district manager overseeing all department stores that operate on the West Coast. This is an example of ________.

A)social mobility
B)individual-level factors
C)resiliency
D)ascribed status
E)proletariat

Answer 3

A

Question 4

What is a fundamental difference between Karl Marx and Max Weber?

A)Karl Marx did not view social class as rooted in the production process.
B)Max Weber believed that America is a caste system.
C)Karl Marx believed that the proletariat represents those people who own the means of production.
D)Max Weber emphasized a multidimensional approach to class consisting of wealth, prestige, and power.
E)Karl Marx believed that it was easy to engage in social mobility because of the nature of jobs during the Industrial Revolution.

Question 5

The working poor, which are those whose wages are generally less than about $20,000 a year, comprise about ________ percent of the U.S. population.

A)25
B)15
C)10
D)5
E)2-3

Question 6

Sheryl's father, like his father before him, has a key position on the board of Ford Motor Co. Her mother does not work, but has a trust fund from her own parents. It is expected that Sheryl will go to a private university after she has her debutante ball this summer. Sheryl is likely a member of:

A)the upper-middle class
B)new money
C)bluebloods
D)the middle class
E)the overclass

Question 7

Which of the following is true about the middle class?

A)They wield the most power in society because of their size.
B)They are often highly educated professionals.
C)They comprise about 60 percent of the population.
D)They average from about $40,000 to possibly even $100,000 with two incomes.
E)About half work in "blue collar" occupations.

Question 8

Americans like to think that they live in a meritocracy, which means:

A)we can be anything we want to be
B)there is no hierarchical ranking of people within society
C)financial and social rewards are based on personal abilities, education, and skills
D)social stratification is based on ascribed characteristics
E)that anyone can be a member of the proletariat

Question 9

Of all groups, which is MOST likely to be poor?

A)children under age 18
B)adults aged 18-64
C)the elderly aged 65 and over
D)Asians
E)Whites

Question 10

A combination of education, occupation, and income is referred to as

A)social class
B)socioeconomic status
C)social mobility
D)status
E)stratified status

Question 11

About how many people are poor in the U.S.?

A)8 million
B)15 million
C)26 million
D)37 million
E)44 million

Question 12

The data in Figure 5.1 are clear: in terms of after-tax income in the U.S. between 1979 and 2006:

A)the bottom fifth have made the most gains
B)the middle class has made the most substantial income gains
C)the U.S. is becoming more unequal
D)the bottom fifth have actually lost income
E)the distribution of income in the U.S. has not changed significantly

Question 13

Socioeconomic status (SES)is made up of some combination of:

A)education and ascribed status
B)ascribed status and occupation
C)education and income
D)education, occupation, and income
E)ascribed status, income, and education

Question 14

Professor Smyth teaches about the hierarchical ranking of people in society based on coveted resources. This is called:

A)caste
B)class
C)social stratification
D)meritocracy
E)bourgeoisie

Question 15

The official poverty line (threshold):

A)was developed during the New Deal of the 1930s
B)is based on the cost of average low-cost housing, multiplied by two
C)in 2009 was about $28,000 for a family of four, and about $24,000 for a family of three
D)is the same amount in all 50 states
E)is based on the lowest, most minimal budget offered by the U.S. Department of Agriculture

Question 16

In the opening vignette to Chapter 5, what would you conclude from the experiences of Barbara Ehrenreich?

A)Mexico is an extremely stratified country, and becoming more so every year.
B)It is impossible to survive on minimum- or near-minimum-wage work.
C)The wealthy live in their own virtual world and have little understanding of the middle class.
D)A marriage that occurs between a wealthy person and a poor person faces many serious challenges, but these difficulties can be overcome.
E)The uninsured in America have difficulty accessing the health care system.

Question 17

Bobby's family is listed in the Social Register. Based on what you have learned from the feature box, this means:

A)someone in his family is a sex offender
B)his family is on (or was recently on)Welfare assistance
C)that he is likely from the upper class
D)that someone in his family is recognized for their achievement in their specific occupation
E)he is likely Hispanic

Question 18

Why is there so little social mobility?

A)Minority groups are the fastest growing groups in society and their mobility is among the lowest.
B)The tax system penalizes wealthy families and therefore they have been losing their wealth.
C)The educational system is stratified, and the tax system favors wealthy people passing their wealth to their heirs.
D)More women work outside the home.
E)Actually, there is a lot of social mobility.

Question 19

Where would we find a social class system developed and sanctioned by the government that views the population as being in distinct categories?

A)The United States
B)India
C)Japan
D)China
E)Great Britain

Question 20

Your friend is writing a paper about social mobility in the U.S. As her friend, you advise her:

A)there is little substantial upward social mobility
B)upward mobility is primarily found at the middle income levels, with middle-class children moving up from their parents
C)one reason for so much social mobility is that more avenues for mobility exist than in the past, such as the availability of college
D)the U.S. has more social mobility than many other industrialized, developed nations, including Canada, Finland, Sweden, and Germany
E)most Americans support the estate tax because it would make society more equitable

Question 21

A caste is a system of social stratification that is based on both ascribed status and individual achievement.

Question 22

Tosha and her husband both work, but their combined income is only $29,000. They have one child, and making ends meet is a struggle. H & R Block, which is helping them file their taxes this year, suggests that they should file for a/an:

A) Medicaid Tax Refund (MTR)
B) Earnings Ratio Benefit (ERB)
C)Earned Income Tax Credit (EITC)
D)National Health Insurance (NHI)Account
E) Home Tax Credit (HOME)

Question 23

There is little substantial upward mobility in the U.S., and most of what does exist occurs among the highest income levels.

Question 24

Poverty has many harmful consequences for children. Which of the following is FALSE?

A)Poverty puts the health of children at risk by decreasing the frequency of low birthweight babies.
B)Poor children are more likely to have increased blood levels.
C)Poor children are more likely to suffer from depression.
D)Poor children perform lower academically.
E)Poor children score lower on various standardized tests.

Question 25

Wealth is the value of a person's or family's economic assets, including income, real estate, stocks, bonds, and other items of economic worth, minus debt.

Question 26

Max Weber stressed that social classes are social structures formed by a historical process that resulted from one's relationship to the means of production.

Question 27

About 15 percent of households experience _________, defined as not having enough nourishing food available on a regular basis.

A)food insecurity
B) hunger
C)nutritional deficit
D)culture of poverty
E)food deficit syndrome

Question 28

The British government uses an explicit measure of social class to categorize the population.

Question 29

The underclass comprises about 10 percent of the population, and is made up of people earning the minimum wage.

Question 30

Most Americans tend to blame their financial problems on the poor rather than on the rich.

Question 31

John strongly believes in the "Horatio Alger" stories--that anyone can pull themselves out of poverty and improve their economic conditions if they are willing to work for it. John believes in which explanation for poverty?

A)boot-strapping
B)individualism
C)fatalism
D)self-propelled
E)culture of poverty

Question 32

Adrian believes that poverty is a result of the low wages paid to those people working in the growing service sector. His beliefs represent:

A)boot-strapping
B)individualism
C)fatalism
D)structuralism
E)socialism

Question 33

A lack of resources that is life-threatening, such as what might be found in the slums of Cambodia or Nepal, would be called:

A)relative poverty
B)real poverty
C)social poverty
D)out-of-pocket poverty
E)absolute poverty

Question 34

Nalim, who lives in Bhutan, is profiled in the featured box. What type of poverty does Nalim experience?

A)relative poverty
B)real poverty
C)social poverty
D)out-of-pocket poverty
E)absolute poverty

Question 35

The elderly are the age group most likely to be poor.

Question 36

Of all groups, which is LEAST likely to be poor?

A)children under age 18
B)adults aged 18-64
C)the elderly aged 65 and over
D)Asians
E)Whites

Question 37

The poverty line is based on the price of a thrifty plan food budget, multiplied by three.

Question 38

Your mother is a physician and your father is a banker. Chances are, you grew up in the upper-middle class.

Question 39

As the Luxembourg Income Study (LIS)revealed, what country has the highest rates of poverty?

A)Australia
B)Spain
C)U)S.
D)Ireland
E)Belgium

Question 40

There are several pathways from poverty to adverse child outcomes, according to Figure 5.4. Which is NOT one of these pathways?

A)housing problems
B)health and nutrition
C)sex discrimination
D)quality of the home environment
E)fewer resources for learning

Question 41

Americans like to think that we are a ________ where financial and social rewards are based on abilities, education, and skills.

Question 42

According to Karl Marx, the ________ represents the individuals who must sell their labor to the owners in order to earn enough to survive.

Question 43

The ________ account for about 15 percent of the U.S. population, and their wages are usually less than $20,000 a year. They often do not receive fringe benefits and unemployment is common.

Question 44

The federal tax credit for low-income working families is called the _________.

Question 45

Betsy overheard some people in the student union discussing SES. She immediately knew that they were talking about: ________.

Question 46

The poverty line was established in 1964 by ________ to measure the number of people living in poverty.

Question 47

List the pathways from poverty to adverse child outcomes.

Question 48

Som is a high-school teacher, and his wife is a nurse. They are likely members of the ________ class.

Question 49

List the four (4)theories that have been offered to explain the nature of poverty.

Question 50

Some people suggest that the Social Register might represent ________ rather than class because membership is based on ascription rather than achievement.

Question 51

The individualistic explanation of poverty suggests that the poor have developed a subcultural set of values, traits, and expectations as a direct result of the structural conditions associated with poverty.

Question 52

Poor families often have a different home environment than non-poor families, with less nurturing parenting, harsher discipline, less stimulation, and less secure attachments.

Question 53

Lonnie and her children suffer from food insecurity, which means:

Question 54

Social stratification refers to:

Question 55

Purchasing power parity conversion allows us to measure the degree of social mobility in the U.S.

Question 56

The type of poverty that is generally found in the U.S. is called relative poverty.

Question 57

The tool that is used to measure maternal warmth and learning experiences provided to the child is called ________.

Question 58

Fatalism explains poverty as attributable to quirks, chances, or bad luck.

Question 59

________ poverty refers to lacking resources relative to others in society, while ________ poverty refers to a lack of resources that is life-threatening.

Question 60

About _________ million Americans are poor, accounting for about ________ percent of the population.

Question 61

Describe how social class is conceptualized in Great Britain, and the health differences across social class boundaries.

Question 62

From birth to death (cradle to grave)we know that social-class standing has a significant impact on our lives. List eight (8)of the impacts discussed briefly in the beginning of Chapter 5, and choose two (2)to discuss in more depth.

Question 63

Describe the lack of social mobility in the U.S. What factors account for this lack?

Question 64

Compare and contrast the four (4)theoretical explanations for poverty.

Question 65

Compare and contrast the six (6)social classes in the U.S. presented in your text.

Question 66

Describe the pathways from poverty to adverse child outcomes.

Question 67

Write an essay about poverty. Be sure to include the history of the poverty line and its current threshold, how many people are poor, and which groups are most likely to be poor.