Deck 8: Stratification, class, and Inequality

Question 1

Which of the following accurately describes the stratification system?

A) The key to understanding stratification is to rely only on income; that is, the more money you have, the higher your status.
B) To achieve a high status, you must have a comparable amount of income, education, and occupational prestige.
C) It is impossible to have a high status without having a high income.
D) Income, education, and occupation often are correlated, but there are notable exceptions.
E) All of the above accurately describe the stratification system.

Answer 1

D

Question 2

A stratification system in which certain people are owned as property and more or less deprived of all rights by law is known as:

A) capitalism
B) caste
C) estates
D) slavery
E) socialism

Answer 2

D

Question 3

Which of the following is true of ALL systems of social stratification?

A) If a person no longer identifies with the other members of his category, he is no longer classified at that level.
B) A person's life chances are significantly influenced by her position.
C) Ranks tend to fluctuate rapidly and significantly over time.
D) Upward mobility is a norm that is valued in all societies.
E) Wealthy people are always ranked higher than poorer ones.

Answer 3

B

Question 4

The money a person receives from a wage or salary or from investments is _______________; the assets an individual owns are _______________.

A) wealth; property
B) wealth; income
C) property; property
D) income; wealth
E) capital; income

Question 5

In 2011,the top 5% of households in the United States earned _______________ of the total income?

A) 20%
B) 22.3%
C) 45.7%
D) 51.1%
E) 65%

Question 6

Real income for most of the working population in the United States increased over the twentieth century.The most important reason for this is:

A) women's entrance into the paid labor force
B) the reduction in competition from foreign companies
C) the increase in productivity due to technological change
D) the end of child labor
E) the decrease in the size of the working age population

Question 7

Why has there been a decline in state-mandated caste systems?

A) As more women were elected to office, the moral issues surrounding castes overrode the political ones.
B) As more countries industrialized, the caste system became economically obsolete.
C) The United Nations passed a resolution condemning caste systems.
D) Countries that sanction the caste system have experienced serious boycotts from other, more enlightened countries.
E) All of the above.

Question 8

The best explanation of the fact that slavery was made illegal throughout the world is because:

A) it is an inefficient economic system
B) slaves were too expensive to buy
C) slaves revolted
D) a postindustrial society required a different economic system
E) none of the above; in truth, slavery is still legal in places such as Iceland and the Canary Islands

Question 9

When sociologists study the existence of structured inequalities in a society,they refer to that structure as:

A) social inequity
B) social disapproval
C) socialism
D) social stratification
E) strategic sociality

Question 10

Class systems differ from slavery and castes in all the following ways EXCEPT that:

A) classes are based on personal attributes such as race and religion
B) class systems are stagnant
C) inequality in wealth and income is greater in class systems
D) movement is possible between classes
E) positions in class systems are determined at birth and cannot be changed

Question 11

An example of a caste system is:

A) requiring Jewish families to live in a separate part of European cities, known as a ghetto
B) giving political and economic rights in South Africa only to people who were genetically completely white
C) forcing children to accept their parents' status as their own in India
D) denying all civil rights to blacks in the United States
E) all of the above

Question 12

Mean household income has grown the most since 1974 for which part of the income distribution?

A) all income levels equally.
B) bottom 20%
C) highest 20%
D) middle 60%
E) top 5%

Question 13

In which country was caste associated with religious beliefs about afterlife based on broad occupational groupings?

A) the United States
B) South Africa
C) Saudi Arabia
D) Russia
E) India

Question 14

Which of the following conceptualizes the idea that your probability of economic success is largely dependent on your background?

A) life chances
B) life course
C) caste
D) reincarnation
E) relations of production

Question 15

During the twentieth century,the real income of blue-collar workers in Western societies _______________ overall,although it has _______________ in the past 20 years.

A) stayed the same; dropped significantly
B) increased significantly; dropped
C) increased significantly; increased only slightly
D) decreased significantly; increased
E) decreased slightly; increased significantly

Question 16

In which type of society is the term class most often used to analyze stratification?

A) hunting and gathering
B) industrialized
C) feudal
D) caste
E) all of the above

Question 17

Which of the following best explains the relationship between wealth and income?

A) Although income is influenced by race, education, and age, wealth is independent of these variables.
B) Wealthy people almost always inherit their money; thus, there is no relationship between wealth and income.
C) The same factors that limit people's incomes also limit their ability to accumulate wealth.
D) Income disparities between rich and poor have increased in the past three decades, whereas wealth disparities have decreased during the same time.
E) Education has a strong connection to income but a weak relationship to wealth.

Question 18

Individuals and groups have unequal access to societal rewards based on their position within a stratified society,which is called:

A) class system power
B) status power
C) structured inequalities status
D) class system structured inequalities
E) stratification wealth

Question 19

Sociologists call a large group of people who occupy a similar economic position and have similar economic resources that influence the type of lifestyle they are able to lead in society:

A) slaves
B) peons
C) estate
D) class
E) caste

Question 20

In the twentieth century,which country had a caste system based on race?

A) India
B) the United States
C) South Africa
D) a and b only
E) b and c only

Question 21

In 2007,_______________ of total wealth in the United States was held by the bottom 60% of Americans hold?

A)0.5%
B) 2%
C) 12%
D) 20%
E) 50%

Question 22

Mortgage companies that offer high-interest subprime mortgages tend to target minority communities because it is more difficult for racial minorities to obtain mortgages due to:

A) bad credit
B) cultural capital
C) discrimination
D) structural social positioning
E) unwillingness for minorities to move to "white" suburbs

Question 23

Which of the following occupations is are NOT ranked at the top of occupational prestige ratings?

A) architect
B) computer programmer
C) dentist
D) lawyer
E) physician

Question 24

Which of the following factors does NOT account for current racial disparities in wealth?

A) discrimination
B) education
C) family structure
D) parents' social class
E) unwillingness of minorities to invest in the stock market

Question 25

Karl Marx called those who own the means of production _______________ and those who make their living by selling their own labor power for a wage _______________.

A) status groups; pariahs
B) sellers; buyers
C) producers; consumers
D) merchants; peddlers
E) capitalists; the working class

Question 26

Max Weber's concept of _______________ is based on the amount of social honor,or _______________,that others give individuals or groups.

A) class; power
B) power; class prestige
C) prestige; class status
D) status; prestige
E) class; surplus value

Question 27

Consumerism and consumption have blurred class differences to some extent in our society.Television and nationwide mall stores reinforce the idea that there are no intense class boundaries.Consumerism and consumption,however,do NOT alleviate the:

A) strain of credit card debt that most Americans have
B) need to spend all the time
C) twenty-first-century reality of a "mass society"
D) reality of economic inequalities that continue to increase in our society
E) pressure on low-income families to spend beyond their means

Question 28

Median net worth in 2010 was highest for family households with a head in which age group?

A) 35 to 44
B) 45 to 54
C) 55 to 64
D) 65 to 74
E) 75+

Question 29

The money a person receives from a wage or salary or from investments is _______________; the assets an individual owns are _______________.

A) wealth; property
B) income; wealth
C) wealth; income
D) income; income
E) property; property

Question 30

Max Weber referred to negatively privileged status groups as:

A) capitalists
B) contradictory class locations
C) deviants
D) pariah groups
E) working class

Question 31

The value of a college education has increased significantly in recent years because:

A) it is much more expensive to obtain
B) fewer people are going to college
C) the income gap between men and women has closed
D) of the increased demand for educated workers in the computer- and information-based economy
E) of increased global competition

Question 32

What is the principal asset in the net worth of most American families?

A) bonds
B) businesses
C) homes
D) savings and checking accounts
E) stocks

Question 33

How has globalization contributed to the increasing inequality in American society?

A) Some companies have lowered wages to compete with companies that use cheap third world labor.
B) Globalization has encouraged immigration to the United States, thus increasing the low-wage labor pool and pushing wages down.
C) Labor unions have been weakened by globalization.
D) All of the above.
E) None of the above; inequality is not increasing in the United States.

Question 34

In Karl Marx's theory,a class is made up of people who have the same relationship to the:

A) forces of nature
B) means of production
C) means of consumption
D) next generation
E) state

Question 35

Who argued that social stratification is functional,ensuring that the most talented people fill the roles they are best suited for by rewarding them accordingly?

A) Karl Marx
B) Kingsley Davis and Wilbert E. Moore
C) Melvin Tumin
D) Max Weber
E) Erik Olin Wright

Question 36

In the United States,the median net worth of a college graduate is more than _______________ times higher than that of a high school dropout.

A) 2
B) 128
C) 20
D) 700,192
E) 6,000,700

Question 37

According to Pierre Bourdieu,in a consumer society,lifestyle choices and taste:

A) are not related to social class
B) can intensify class differences
C) eliminate class differences
D) lead to the acquisition of cultural capital
E) reinforce the idea that there are no intense class boundaries

Question 38

Which of the following statements about class systems is NOT accurate?

A) The boundaries between classes are very clear cut.
B) Class systems are fluid.
C) Class positions are in some part achieved.
D) Class is economically based.
E) Class systems are impersonal.

Question 39

According to the Kuznets curve,inequality in capitalist societies:

A) decreases at first, stabilizes, and then decreases again
B) increases at first, declines, and then stabilizes at a relatively low level
C) decreases at first, increases rapidly, and then stabilizes at a relatively high level
D) increases at first, stabilizes at a high level, and then declines gradually
E) starts out stable for a long time and then gradually increases to a high level

Question 40

Which of the following is NOT a way in which Americans identify with their social class?

A) attending religious services
B) being a fan of auto racing
C) eating at a sushi restaurant
D) going to the opera
E) shopping at a health food store

Question 41

Most lower-class people tend to reside in:

A) cities and work in semiskilled and unskilled jobs
B) suburbs and drive or take public transit to cities where they work at skilled-labor jobs
C) suburbs because they cannot afford to live in the city but drive to work at low-paying jobs in the cities
D) cities and drive their cars to the suburbs to work in semiskilled or unskilled jobs
E) cities and work in skilled jobs

Question 42

In which class does the family income just cover basic living expenses and perhaps a summer vacation?

A) lower middle class
B) middle class
C) underclass
D) upper middle class
E) working class

Question 43

People working in blue-collar or pink-collar occupations make up the:

A) lower middle class
B) middle class upper middle class
C) underclass old middle class
D) upper middle class new middle class
E) working class

Question 44

Suppose a society has truly equal opportunity,and within each generation,the more talented people move up in position while the less talented move down.Such a society would have:

A) exchange mobility
B) intergenerational mobility
C) intragenerational mobility
D) social reproduction
E) structural mobility

Question 45

Social mobility resulting from changes in the number and types of occupations in a society is called:

A) intragenerational mobility
B) intergenerational mobility
C) life course
D) social reproduction
E) structural mobility

Question 46

The majority of Americans claim to be part of the:

A) working class
B) upper middle class
C) underclass
D) middle class
E) lower middle class

Question 47

Social mobility refers to the:

A) ability of people in a society to engage in protest movements
B) migration of people across national borders
C) migration of people from rural to urban areas
D) movement of individuals and groups between class positions
E) transportation system of a society

Question 48

How far an individual moves up or down the socioeconomic scale in her lifetime is called:

A) intragenerational mobility
B) intergenerational mobility
C) life course
D) life history
E) structural mobility

Question 49

Based on Kingsley Davis and Wilbert E.Moore's concept of functional importance,the occupation that would be most important to society,and consequently should receive greater rewards is:

A) bus driver
B) elementary school teacher
C) garbage collector
D) professional athlete
E) surgeon

Question 50

The lowest group in the American class system lacks access to the world of work and of mainstream patterns of behavior.All of the following terms are used for this group EXCEPT:

A) new urban poor
B) poorest of the poor
C) truly disadvantaged
D) underclass
E) untouchables

Question 51

According to functionalist theorists Kingsley Davis and Wilbert E.Moore,stratification is necessary to ensure that:

A) all individuals are able to use their creative talents
B) equality of opportunity exists for all people
C) important positions are filled by the most qualified people
D) profit is maximized in a capitalist society
E) social solidarity is strengthened

Question 52

Which of the following is a characteristic of the concerted cultivation model of parenting according to Annette Lareau in Unequal Childhoods?

A) Children learn to be assertive with adults.
B) Children feel a sense of constraint when operating in institutions.
C) How free time is spent is up to the child.
D) It fails to provide children with skills needed for success in school.
E) Parents allow children to deal with problems at school on their own.

Question 53

According to Erik Olin Wright,people who control workers but are in turn controlled by their own employers are in:

A) a caste
B) contradictory class locations
C) pariah groups
D) the capitalist class
E) the working class

Question 54

Emma is a partner at a large law firm in New York City.Her mother was a secretary at a bank,and her mother's mother cleaned offices for a living.This family history illustrates the concept of:

A) intragenerational mobility
B) intergenerational mobility
C) life course
D) life history
E) structural mobility

Question 55

All of the following statements are true about members of the American lower middle class EXCEPT that:a.it may have relatively high status

A) it includes about 40% of American households
B) it is the most varied social class in terms of education and occupation
C) its members may have relatively high status
D) its members most likely have a high school diploma
E) it has the most job security of all the social classes

Question 56

Melvin Tumin criticized Kingsley Davis and Wilbert E.Moore's functionalist theory of stratification on a number of grounds.Which of the following is NOT one of his criticisms?

A) All positions in society are equally important.
B) Economic and cultural resources help transmit privileged status across generations.
C) The functional importance of a role is difficult to measure.
D) Social rewards bestowed on people in important roles do not reflect actual importance.
E) Stratification limits the discovery of talent in society.

Question 57

Most lower-class people in the United States:

A) do not vote
B) drive new cars
C) have jobs that will likely lead to promotion and work-provided medical insurance
D) have stable, long-term, full-time jobs
E) live in suburbs of major cities and have jobs that will likely lead to promotion

Question 58

Lower-class households typically have an annual household income below:

A) $20,000
B) $38,000
C) $60,000
D) $100,000
E) $180,000

Question 59

According to the text,the upper class in the United States:

A) is made up of the wealthiest 20% of the population
B) has a distinctive lifestyle and is politically influential
C) does not include "new money" entrepreneurs such as Bill Gates
D) is accessible to all Americans with a college education
E) is racially and ethnically diverse

Question 60

The social class in which you are most likely to find mid-level corporate managers and high-income professionals is:

A) lower middle class
B) upper middle class
C) old middle class
D) new middle class
E) working class

Question 61

If a person has a different class position from that of his parents or grandparents,he has experienced:

A) intragenerational mobility
B) intergenerational mobility
C) life course
D) life history
E) exchange mobility

Question 62

An example of what Pierre Bourdieu refers to as cultural capital is:

A) the admission fee charged by art museums, opera companies, and symphony orchestras
B) the father's income combined with the mother's income
C) the parents' reading to their children and helping them with homework
D) that the social network ties to powerful individuals
E) the tuition cost of private schools

Question 63

The additional income received in the workplace for each additional year of schooling or academic degree is referred to as:

A) cultural capital
B) economic capital
C) exchange mobility
D) returns on education
E) social reproduction

Question 64

Researchers of social mobility from Peter Blau and Otis Dudley Duncan in the 1960s to Pierre Bourdieu in the 1980s have shown that:

A) cultural capital plays no role in determining social status
B) educational attainment has little to do with ultimate social status
C) the family's social status affects the child's educational attainment
D) only economic capital is inherited; cultural capital can be acquired
E) public education makes up for class background differences among students

Question 65

The child most likely to experience intergenerational mobility is the child of:

A) a university president
B) a university groundskeeper
C) two university professors
D) a school cafeteria worker
E) a high school teacher

Question 66

An issue associated with downward mobility is that:

A) it is more common among men than women
B) it occurs only to blue-collar jobholders
C) it was experienced during the Great Recession by many middle-age corporate executives
D) it was experienced by nearly all people in their lifetime, regardless of class position
E) it protects upper middle-class status

Question 67

In 2009,Hispanics aged 18 to 24 had the lowest rate of high school completion compared to whites and African Americans.

Question 68

Over the past century,Western societies have virtually eliminated the income inequality that characterized earlier eras.

Question 69

Consumption patterns are indicators of class location.

Question 70

The factor that accounts for racial disparities in wealth and income is:

A) education
B) social class of parents
C) discrimination
D) all of the above
E) none of the above

Question 71

If the same level of inequality that existed 35 years ago still existed today,the after-tax income:

A) of the top 5% would be about $100,000 lower than it actually is now
B) of the top 5% would be about $100,000 higher than it actually is now
C) of the middle 20% would be about $20,000 lower than it actually is now
D) of the middle 20% would be about $20,000 higher than it actually is now
E) inequality did not change

Question 72

Which of the following best explains why the wealth gap is greater than the income gap between blacks and whites?

A) A culture of poverty among African Americans discourages achievement and saving money.
B) The legacy of discrimination provided little or no opportunity to accumulate wealth.
C) The African American family is "disorganized."
D) all of the above
E) none of the above; there is no wealth gap

Question 73

Differences in wealth accumulation between black and white Americans are caused wholly by income differences.

Question 74

The emergence of the "new urban poor" in the past quarter of a century was precipitated by:

A) economic globalization, which led to high unemployment among the unskilled sectors of the lower class
B) racial discrimination in hiring for the remaining low-skilled jobs in urban centers
C) changes in government policies that cut back or eliminated welfare programs
D) the cycle of poverty that is reinforced among the poor
E) all of the above

Question 75

Sociologist William Domhoff estimates that between 1990 and 2004,CEO pay increased by _______________?

A) 5%
B) 30%
C) 50%
D) 100%
E) 300%

Question 76

As a formal institution,slavery is illegal in every country in the world today.

Question 77

In their classic study of social mobility in the United States,Peter Blau and Otis Dudley Duncan found that:

A) vertical mobility was uncommon
B) there has been little upward mobility
C) the rags-to-riches story was quite common
D) most mobility in the twentieth century was exchange
E) educational attainment plays a major factor in occupational mobility

Question 78

It is much easier for a person to experience social mobility in a class system than in a caste system.

Question 79

Among the countries listed,which country has the highest level of income inequality?

A) the United States
B) france
C) Norway
D) Hungary
E) Japan

Question 80

In 2006,black female-headed families earned _______________ as much as white married-couple families.

A)35.5%
B)54.4%
C)76.7%
D)85.6%
E)95.2%