Exam 8: Stratification, Class, and Inequality

Why did sociologists develop the concept of the "underclass"? How is the underclass distinct from the lower class?

According to new Stanford research on intergenerational income mobility, which child is in the strongest position to earn more than his or her parents did?

Other than home mortgages, what is the largest current form of debt in the United States?

A sociologist plans a study on social mobility, which will look at:

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

Choose one form of social mobility: intergenerational mobility, intragenerational mobility, structural mobility. Briefly describe a sociological study that would analyze this form of mobility. What would this study contribute to sociological knowledge about stratification?

What are two significant differences between the "culture of poverty" argument and structural explanations for poverty? How do these arguments influence policy proposals designed to reduce poverty?

MATCHING -Underclass

The current gap between the rich and the poor in the United States is the greatest since the Census Bureau started measuring income in 1947.

Lower-class households typically have an annual household income below $20,000 and, due to their employment being unstable, are most likely to:

Describe one similarity and one difference between caste and class.

Hanson is a college student who is surprised to see growing inequality within U.S. society. He had made a different prediction, based on the Kuznets curve. Hanson expected to see, over time, inequality:

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

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

Distinguish between the middle class, the upper middle class, and the lower middle class. Why don't sociologists just merge these three into a single "middle class" category?

Which of these families is most likely to live in poverty, according to these data? Families with Children under 18 in Poverty, 2015 [img]

What is the primary difference between a caste system and slavery?

Imagine Max Weber is alive today, conducting a study of people addicted to opioids. Because this status group has negative privilege, he might call it a:

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

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