Exam 7: Social Class: the Structure of Inequality

A homeless shelter in Illinois held a "sleep out," a protest to alert members of the general public to the dangers of letting funding for homeless shelters drop, forcing shelters to turn away people in need. The organizers of the rally saw their work as particularly important because they suspected that most residents didn't realize just how many poor people existed in their community, a result of what sociologists would call:

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Question 1

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What criteria does a social class system use to stratify its members?

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Question 2

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Residential segregation is the geographical isolation of the poor from the rest of a city's population. Explain how residential segregation is able to flourish in the United States and what characterizes a neighborhood that is segregated in this manner.

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Question 3

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Any answer should discuss the role of public housing projects in the promotion of residential segregation and in the characterization of segregated, low-income neighborhoods. While these HUD-funded complexes provide affordable housing to the poor, they are often densely packed apartment complexes that are typically located in economically depressed areas with high crime rates. A good answer should also mention the practice of "redlining," whereby banks and mortgage companies discriminate against people from lower-class neighborhoods. A good answer might also mention that the phrase "the wrong side of the tracks" originated because railroad tracks often served as boundaries between black and white neighborhoods in American cities.

What does Paul Fussell's living room scale attempt to measure?

(Multiple Choice)

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Question 4

When the poor organize politically, their successes are often not well publicized.

(True/False)

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Question 5

What makes the just-world hypothesis psychologically appealing to the average person?

(Multiple Choice)

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Question 6

Apartheid is a specific example of what system of social stratification?

(Multiple Choice)

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Question 7

Approximately what percentage of the United States population falls below the federal poverty line?

(Multiple Choice)

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Question 8

What is the relationship between social class and race, ethnicity, gender, and age in the United States today?

(Multiple Choice)

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Question 9

The Welfare Reform Act of 1996 ended the concept of entitlements by requiring recipients of welfare to find work within two years of receiving assistance. How has this changed the lives of the poor?

(Multiple Choice)

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Question 10

A majority of Americans believe that poverty is a big problem, but addressing it is not a priority for most. Why not?

(Multiple Choice)

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Question 11

The American Dream is the pursuit of material and personal success and the idea that anyone can achieve such success. How does widespread belief in the American Dream and individualism actually serve to reinforce socioeconomic barriers?

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Question 12

What sort of jobs can support a middle-class lifestyle in America today?

(Multiple Choice)

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Question 13

What school of social thought insists that all social structures, including systems of stratification, are built out of everyday interactions?

(Multiple Choice)

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Question 14

Homogamy, a term sociologists use to mean the tendency to choose romantic partners based on similarities in background and group membership, is very common. Why?

(Multiple Choice)

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Question 15

The difference between a person's ascribed status and his achieved status is measured in terms of his:

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Question 16

Which of the following is a form of stratification in which all positions are awarded on the basis of merit?

(Multiple Choice)

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Question 17

The culture of poverty has been almost universally accepted within sociology.

(True/False)

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Question 18

Social structures help to shape everyday interactions, but interactions can never reshape larger social structures like social class.

(True/False)

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Question 19

Although the United States lost many jobs in the recession of the late 2000s, many people are optimistic that the lost jobs will be replaced with others. However, even if the optimists are right, the shift in the economy may permanently alter the class status of many, as the jobs being lost are largely in manufacturing and new jobs are often in information technology, suggesting that the newly unemployed will have trouble competing for newly created jobs. If this is the case, what is it called?

(Multiple Choice)

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Question 20

Showing 1 - 20 of 136

What criteria does a social class system use to stratify its members?

Residential segregation is the geographical isolation of the poor from the rest of a city's population. Explain how residential segregation is able to flourish in the United States and what characterizes a neighborhood that is segregated in this manner.

What does Paul Fussell's living room scale attempt to measure?

When the poor organize politically, their successes are often not well publicized.

What makes the just-world hypothesis psychologically appealing to the average person?

Apartheid is a specific example of what system of social stratification?

Approximately what percentage of the United States population falls below the federal poverty line?

What is the relationship between social class and race, ethnicity, gender, and age in the United States today?

The Welfare Reform Act of 1996 ended the concept of entitlements by requiring recipients of welfare to find work within two years of receiving assistance. How has this changed the lives of the poor?

A majority of Americans believe that poverty is a big problem, but addressing it is not a priority for most. Why not?

The American Dream is the pursuit of material and personal success and the idea that anyone can achieve such success. How does widespread belief in the American Dream and individualism actually serve to reinforce socioeconomic barriers?

What sort of jobs can support a middle-class lifestyle in America today?

What school of social thought insists that all social structures, including systems of stratification, are built out of everyday interactions?

Homogamy, a term sociologists use to mean the tendency to choose romantic partners based on similarities in background and group membership, is very common. Why?

The difference between a person's ascribed status and his achieved status is measured in terms of his:

Which of the following is a form of stratification in which all positions are awarded on the basis of merit?

The culture of poverty has been almost universally accepted within sociology.

Social structures help to shape everyday interactions, but interactions can never reshape larger social structures like social class.

Sociology and the Real World

Studying Social Life: Sociological Research Methods

Cultural Crossroads

The Self and Interaction

Separate and Together: Life in Groups

Deviance

Race and Ethnicity As Lived Experience

Constructing Gender and Sexuality

The Macro-Micro Link in Social Institutions: Politics, Education, and Religion

The Economy, Work, and Working

Life at Home

Leisure and Media

Health and Illness

City and Country: the Social World and the Natural World

Social Change: Looking Toward Tomorrow

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