Deck 10: Social Stratification

Question 1

Caste systems encourage romantic love and personal choice as the basis of marriage.

Answer 1

False

Question 2

China stands out as a country without any social classes.

Answer 2

False

Question 3

Caste systems encourage the commitment to long-term labor required by agriculture.

Answer 3

True

Question 4

Great Britain has eliminated all aspects of its historic aristocracy.

Question 5

Structural social mobility refers to an individual's upward or downward social movement due to personal effort or, in some cases, good or bad luck.

Question 6

In class systems, social categories are more clearly and rigidly defined than they are in caste systems.

Question 7

Compared to the U.S.society, Japanese society exhibits more caste elements.

Question 8

Social stratification is found in most-but not all-societies.

Question 9

Social stratification is a matter of not only inequality, but also beliefs about fairness.

Question 10

People living in societies with class systems, compared with those living in societies with caste systems, tend to think of others in terms of social categories instead of as individuals.

Question 11

The more a society is a meritocracy, the greater the society's level of social mobility.

Question 12

Compared with people in United States, people in Great Britain are more likely to experience social mobility.

Question 13

Class systems assign social position based on both birth and individual achievement.

Question 14

The concept of social mobility refers to changes in people's positions in the social hierarchy.

Question 15

Caste systems are typical of high-income societies.

Question 16

In the United States, social inequality is determined only by people's talents and abilities.

Question 17

Ideology refers to ideas that support social stratification.

Question 18

For most people in the United States, social standing remains much the same over the course of a lifetime.

Question 19

Individuals in class systems typically exhibit more status inconsistency than people in caste systems.

Question 20

The former Soviet Union was a classless society without social stratification.

Question 21

Comparing societies in history and around the world, we see that social stratification may involve differences in

A)what is unequal.
B)how unequal people are.
C)why people are unequal.
D)All of these are correct.

Question 22

Weber agreed with Marx that a socialist revolution would result in complete social equality.

Question 23

Davis and Moore base their claim that stratification is not inevitable on the fact that it does not exist in every society.

Question 24

The point of the story about passenger deaths that accompanied the sinking of the ocean liner Titanic is that

A)advanced technology cannot prevent tragedy.
B)all people have the same right to life.
C)social stratification is important and can sometimes be a matter of life and death.
D)social stratification often has little to do with everyday life.

Question 25

Conspicuous consumption refers to the fact that rich people and poor people generally shop for different products, such as food and clothing.

Question 26

In general, income disparity is greater in lower-income nations than it is in higher-income nations.

Question 27

Social stratification is a concept that refers to

A)specialization in productive work.
B)ranking categories of people in a hierarchy.
C)the idea that some people are more talented than others.
D)All of these are correct.

Question 28

Today, U.S.workers have far fewer legal protections than U.S.workers had a century ago, when the industrial age was just beginning.

Question 29

In all societies, kinship plays a part in social stratification because

A)children determine their own social position based on their personal talents and efforts.
B)parents pass their social position on to their children.
C)children usually end up with a social position higher than that of their parents.
D)all children begin life with about the same social standing.

Question 30

Social stratification shapes our patterns of interaction by encouraging people to socialize with others of similar social position.

Question 31

The Davis-Moore thesis states that social stratification has consequences that are beneficial to society.

Question 32

Using the sociological perspective, we see that social stratification

A)gives some people more privileges and opportunities than others.
B)places everyone on a level playing field .
C)ensures that hard work will lead people to become wealthy.
D)means that what people get out of life is pretty much what they put into it.

Question 33

Weber described stratification as a complex socioeconomic status ranking.

Question 34

The Davis-Moore thesis implies that societies without social inequality would be the most productive.

Question 35

Max Weber said social stratification involved three distinct dimensions: economic class, social prestige, and political power.

Question 36

The socialist revolution Karl Marx predicted took place in most industrial-capitalist societies about a century ago.

Question 37

Karl Marx claimed that social stratification in high-income nations, such as the Great Britain and the United States, reflect a capitalist economy.

Question 38

Read the four statements below.Which one of these statements about stratification is NOT true?

A)Social stratification is a trait of society.
B)Social stratification is universal and also variable.
C)A family's social standing typically changes a great deal from generation to generation.
D)Social stratification is a matter of inequality and also beliefs about why people should be unequal.

Question 39

What concept describes a person who moves from one occupation to another that provides about the same level of rewards?

A)upward social mobility
B)downward social mobility
C)horizontal social mobility
D)This is not social mobility at all.

Question 40

The Kuznets curve shows that industrial societies have the greatest social stratification.

Question 41

Why do societies with class systems keep some elements of caste

A)because too many people would be poor if society were based only on merit
B)because some caste elements increase productivity
C)because a pure meritocracy would eliminate families and other social loyalties that tie a society together
D)because some caste elements increase social mobility

Question 42

The historical replacement of caste systems with class systems

A)brings an end to most social inequality.
B)replaces one kind of inequality with another.
C)means that individuals experience less social mobility.
D)means that categories of people become more clearly unequal.

Question 43

For more than 1,500 years, Japanese society operated with a

A)class system.
B)meritocracy.
C)caste system.
D)large middle class.

Question 44

If you lived in a society with a traditional caste system, you would expect your marriage to be

A)polygamous.
B)exogamous.
C)based on romantic love.
D)endogamous.

Question 45

A category of people defined as "untouchable" because they perform work that is viewed as "unclean" is part of social stratification in

A)India.
B)Canada.
C)Sweden.
D)the former Soviet Union.

Question 46

If you were born into a traditional caste system, you would expect that, based on birth, you would be

A)raised to do a certain type of job.
B)required to marry someone of your own social category.
C)encouraged to socialize with other people within your own category.
D)All of these are correct.

Question 47

In Japan, as in other societies with a long history of caste, today people may not always discuss _____ openly, but it is never far from the surface when people size up one another socially.

A)family background
B)personal talent
C)educational degree
D)the economy

Question 48

A caste system is defined as

A)social stratification based on ascription, or birth.
B)social stratification based on personal achievement.
C)a meritocracy.
D)any social system in which categories of people are unequal.

Question 49

In general, societies that have caste systems have economies that are

A)based on hunting and gathering.
B)industrial.
C)agrarian.
D)postindustrial.

Question 50

The degree of status consistency is

A)greater in caste than class systems.
B)the same in all types of social stratification.
C)greater in class than caste systems.
D)greater the more productive a society is.

Question 51

A college professor with advanced degrees, moderate salary, and little power to shape national events can be described as having

A)high status consistency.
B)horizontal social mobility.
C)downward social mobility.
D)low status consistency.

Question 52

The concept "meritocracy" refers to social stratification

A)with no social mobility.
B)in which people "know their place."
C)based entirely on personal merit.
D)as found in the United States.

Question 53

Half of all the people in the United Kingdom today consider themselves to be in the

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

Question 54

In English history, the aristocracy included

A)the hereditary nobility.
B)the highest church officials.
C)the royal family.
D)All of these are correct.

Question 55

Ravi was born into a caste system in a small village in Sri Lanka.He can expect to

A)earn his social position through his own efforts.
B)change his social position many times throughout his life.
C)have the same social standing as his parents.
D)choose his life's work for himself after finishing college.

Question 56

England's aristocracy contained about what share of the entire country's population?

A)50 percent
B)25 percent
C)5 percent
D)half of one percent

Question 57

At the lowest level of social stratification in ancient Japan were the

A)shogun.
B)burakumin or "outcasts."
C)samurai or "warriors."
D)Shudra.

Question 58

Which of the following concepts refers to the historical practice in England of passing on property to only the first-born male descendant?

A)the law of the estates
B)the law of meritocracy
C)the law of status consistency
D)the law of primogeniture

Question 59

One good indication that caste still operates in the United Kingdom is the importance people attach to

A)graduating from college.
B)social mobility.
C)money.
D)accent in speech.

Question 60

The ending of apartheid in South Africa has led to

A)that society becoming a meritocracy.
B)little improvement for millions of poor, black people.
C)complete social mixing by people of all races.
D)the election of the first white president.

Question 61

According to the Davis-Moore thesis

A)complete equality is functional for every society.
B)the more inequality a society has, the more productive it is.
C)more important jobs must provide enough rewards to attract the talent necessary to perform them.
D)meritocracy is less productive than a caste system.

Question 62

In Karl Marx's analysis, another name for the capitalist class is the

A)nobility.
B)aristocracy.
C)proletariat.
D)bourgeoisie.

Question 63

According to Davis and Moore, a system of unequal rewards increases productivity by

A)encouraging people to want an important job.
B)motivating people to work longer, harder, or better.
C)encouraging people to gain the schooling and skills needed to perform more important jobs.
D)All of these are correct.

Question 64

Work involving mostly mental activity is called

A)blue-collar work.
B)white-collar work.
C)pink-collar work.
D)agrarian work.

Question 65

Davis and Moore point out that an egalitarian society

A)could never exist.
B)could exist, but only if people are willing to allow anyone to perform any job.
C)would be more productive than a stratified society.
D)has existed in many societies at various times in history.

Question 66

Who coined the concept "survival of the fittest"?

A)Charles Darwin
B)Karl Marx
C)Herbert Spencer
D)Max Weber

Question 67

Ideology, or beliefs that support social stratification, is found in

A)caste systems.
B)class systems.
C)both class and caste systems.
D)only U.S.society.

Question 68

When Marx argued that capitalism "reproduces the class structure," he meant that

A)it is really ordinary people who create social inequality.
B)society operates and carries class differences from one generation to the next.
C)class differences are the same throughout human history.
D)society could never abolish class inequality.

Question 69

If you have a job that involves manual labor, you are doing

A)blue-collar work.
B)white-collar work
C)service work.
D)farming.

Question 70

Compared to other high-income nations, the United States has

A)the same level of economic inequality.
B)almost no economic inequality.
C)a classless society.
D)more economic inequality.

Question 71

The common ideology of a class system states that success and wealth result mainly from

A)sheer luck.
B)family background.
C)flaws in society.
D)personal talent and effort.

Question 72

In 1917, the Russian Revolution transformed the feudal aristocracy and placed productive property under the control of

A)the capitalists.
B)a meritocracy.
C)the nobility.
D)the state.

Question 73

At the top of the system of inequality in the former Soviet Union were the

A)industrial capitalists.
B)intelligentsia, or educated professionals.
C)apparatchiks, or high government officials.
D)hereditary nobility.

Question 74

Read the four statements below.Which is NOT a reason given in the text that a socialist revolution never took place in capitalist societies as Marx predicted?

A)Stock places ownership of companies in the hands of tens of millions of people.
B)Living standards for the majority have gone up.
C)Wealth is no longer concentrated in the hands of a few.
D)The law affords workers far more legal protections.

Question 75

According to Karl Marx, social stratification in a capitalist society always involves

A)class conflict.
B)negotiation and compromise leading to stability.
C)the abolition of work itself.
D)All of these are correct.

Question 76

Which of the following statements accurately describes social stratification in the People's Republic of China?

A)A new set of social classes is gradually emerging.
B)There is no longer any social inequality.
C)Social standing reflects only a person's position in the Communist Party.
D)China has the same social stratification that is found in Japan.

Question 77

While the Davis-Moore thesis suggests "to each according to the importance of one's work," Karl Marx supported the idea

A)"to the victor goes the spoils."
B)"to each according to the degree of schooling."
C)"from each according to ability, to each according to needs."
D)"productivity is more important than equality."

Question 78

The concept of structural social mobility refers to

A)cultural beliefs that justify social stratification.
B)change in social position due to people's own efforts.
C)change in the social position of many people due to changes in society itself.
D)change in a family's social position from one generation to the next.

Question 79

Read the four statements below.Only one of them is FALSE.Which is it?

A)Living standards in the United States have risen since Marx's lifetime.
B)More workers have unions to represent them than in Marx's lifetime.
C)Today, laws enhance workplace safety and set minimum wages, which was not the case during Marx's lifetime.
D)Today, ordinary working people no longer experience the effects of the social inequality.

Question 80

Olga works as a district sales manager for a small corporation.Which of the following categories correctly describes her work?

A)blue-collar
B)white-collar
C)capitalist
D)agrarian