Deck 7: Stratification

Question 1

Carrie,Max,and Lisa are friends in high school.Over the years,Carrie becomes a carpenter.Max becomes a computer programmer.Lisa becomes a physician.The government regulates salaries such that Carrie,Max,and Lisa are paid similar salaries,live in similar neighborhoods,and enjoy relatively equal standards of living.What standard of equality would this be an example of?

A) equality of opportunity
B) equality of personhood
C) equality of condition
D) equality of outcome

Answer 1

D

Question 2

A Hegelian perspective shows that the ________ relationship is alive and well today in industries such as tomato picking.

A) bourgeoisie-proletariat
B) master-slave
C) rich-poor
D) global-local

Answer 2

B

Question 3

Which kind of inequality did Jean-Jacques Rousseau believe would always exist?

A) physical
B) social
C) neither physical nor social
D) both physical and social

Answer 3

A

Question 4

Thomas Malthus believed that the human population grows ________,but the ability to produce food increases ________.

A) slowly; quickly
B) arithmetically; geometrically
C) geometrically; arithmetically
D) quickly; slowly

Question 5

Which of the following is an example of the ideology of equality of condition put into practice?

A) segregation
B) affirmative action
C) health care
D) slavery

Question 6

College student Jerry says disease,natural disasters,and even war serve a greater purpose.His friends say his views are offensive,and Jerry replies,"But I'm a Malthusian!" Along with Thomas Malthus,Jerry believes that the benefit of problems that wipe out large number of humans is that:

A) the fittest humans survive and evolve.
B) the morally superior people survive.
C) the decreased pressure on the food supply reduces starvation and misery.
D) people are forced to accept the hard parts of life.

Question 7

Karl Marx and Jean-Jacques Rousseau tended to agree on at least one thing.They both saw the primary source of social ills in society as:

A) religion.
B) private property.
C) the caste system.
D) the estate tax.

Question 8

Hamilton is an African American college student who has benefited from affirmative action.Frank,another student,criticizes him,saying,"You'll sail through college because of affirmative action." Frank is misunderstanding what affirmative action is.Hamilton is benefiting from equality of ________,but Frank misperceives it as equality of ________.

A) condition; outcome
B) opportunity; condition
C) race; outcome
D) outcome; race

Question 9

Lisa Geesh is a U.S.senator who supports policies that give preferential treatment to disadvantaged groups in employment and education.She is concerned with:

A) equality of opportunity.
B) equality of personhood.
C) equality of outcome.
D) equality of condition.

Question 10

You are dependent on your professor for your grade.Your professor,in turn,is dependent on you for his or her job.Hegel would call this a(n):

A) dialectic relationship.
B) equality of condition.
C) example of private property.
D) example of affirmative action.

Question 11

Roman is an activist who would like to see humans live in a state of sharing,equality,and harmony.His friend Omar says,"But if everyone shared and everyone thrived,wouldn't there be too many people?" If Roman and Omar read Thomas Malthus,they would consider the notion that ________keeps the population in check.

A) equality
B) capitalism
C) communism
D) inequality

Question 12

Jim gets a job in a group home for disabled adults.The executive director tells Jim that if he works hard and earns favorable reviews,he could work his way up to a position of greater responsibility and income.Such a system is referred to as:

A) meritocratic.
B) opportunistic.
C) individualistic.
D) entrepreneurial.

Question 13

A professor assigns a group project.In one group,Darin does nearly all the work.Martin,Aaid,and Abbey seem to shirk responsibility,assuming that because it's a group,someone else will pull the extra weight.Viewed with a sociological lens,this is:

A) Malthusian inevitability.
B) academic stratification.
C) the balanced principle.
D) the free rider problem.

Question 14

The game of Monopoly exemplifies equality of:

A) personhood.
B) opportunity.
C) business.
D) condition.

Question 15

Consumers and advocates grew concerned about the plight of tomato pickers,an industry marked by exploitation and even slavery.What outcome fits with Hegel's theory?

A) Tomato pickers will always be enslaved because the system is too entrenched to change.
B) Tomato pickers will suffer and die out,but this is helpful for overall population control.
C) A coalition of determined activists can break the dependencies between master and slave.
D) A governmental policy of equality of outcome is likely,given the severity of injustice.

Question 16

The modern capitalist society is an example of which type of society?

A) meritocratic
B) socialist
C) anarchist
D) bourgeois

Question 17

Jean-Jacques Rousseau believed that the source of all social ills was:

A) income.
B) private property.
C) racism.
D) globalization

Question 18

When sociologists study how race and ethnicity affect income,they are studying the topic of:

A) stratification.
B) wealth and assets
C) racism.
D) the free rider problem.

Question 19

Hegel felt that the relationship between slave and master was dialectic.This meant that:

A) each was dependent on the other.
B) the slave had more power over the master than vice versa.
C) the relationship was short-lived.
D) the relationship could evolve into an intimate one.

Question 20

Hegel argued that notions of inequality are constantly evolving in a larger historical arc and will eventually lead to:

A) conflict.
B) civilization
C) equality.
D) organization.

Question 21

A stratification system with a governing elite-that is,few leaders who broadly hold the power in society-is called a(n)________ system.

A) status hierarchy
B) elite-mass dichotomy
C) class
D) caste

Question 22

Nathan is an upper-class man who enjoys a mansion,a pool,and a wealthy lifestyle.Most likely,the distinguishing characteristic of Nathan's class position is his source of income,which is:

A) working in finance.
B) returns on investments,not wages.
C) real estate ownership and management.
D) inheritance.

Question 23

Vilfredo Pareto believed in a society in which status and mobility are based on individual attributes and ability,called:

A) meritocracy.
B) intelligence.
C) morals.
D) biology.

Question 24

Liam has only a high school education.His job counselor recommends ________,because it is the fastest-growing job for people with only a high school education.

A) mechanical work
B) secretarial work
C) factory work
D) food preparation

Question 25

In political speeches about the poor,those who are believed to deserve assistance are often termed the:

A) handicapped.
B) mentally challenged.
C) working poor.
D) nonworking poor.

Question 26

Before Melissa's trip to India,she read a book that said India has four main castes.When she arrived,she asked Veda,an Indian woman,"Which of the four castes does your family belong to?" Veda smiled and corrected Melissa,pointing out that:

A) it is impolite to say the word "caste."
B) over time,the caste system has evolved into thousands of subcastes.
C) the caste system no longer exists.
D) Melissa should have known Veda's caste based on Veda's dress and language.

Question 27

Which American job sector has greatly increased since the oil crisis of 1973?

A) unionized jobs
B) pink-collar office work
C) factory work
D) low-wage service work

Question 28

An entire caste in India may use language,education,or religion to shift its status in the hierarchy.Such a process is called:

A) Sanskritization.
B) caste transformation.
C) Brahminization.
D) vertical caste formation.

Question 29

Which social stratification system was favored in feudal Europe and the American South before the Civil War?

A) estate system
B) class system
C) hierarchy system
D) elite-mass hierarchy

Question 30

Denise,who comes from a lower-middle-class family,obtained a college degree,interned at a company,worked at that company for many years,and is now its CEO.Denise's experiences support the idea of:

A) the free rider.
B) globalization.
C) conflict class.
D) meritocracy.

Question 31

C.Wright Mills argues that there are three major institutions in the United States today that have the power to make decisions for the masses.What are they?

A) economy,politics,and religion
B) economy,politics,and the military
C) economy,religion,and the military
D) religion,politics,and the military

Question 32

Which of the following is a type of social stratification?

A) mobility system
B) status-attainment system
C) proletariat system
D) status hierarchy system

Question 33

Sometimes individuals seek to assert or increase their status,not just through their occupation but also through:

A) experiencing illness.
B) living in gated communities.
C) denouncing their American citizenship.
D) taking public transportation.

Question 34

Indira is a corporate CEO.Max is a janitor at a strip mall.New research on inequality trends from 1990 to 2002 suggests that for every dollar someone like Max earns,someone like Indira earns about:

A) $1.
B) $28.
C) $100.
D) $18,000.

Question 35

Elliot Essman asserts that America is a(n)________ because the very wealthy do not have much impact on the country in general.

A) elite-class nation
B) middle-class nation
C) working-class nation
D) upper-class nation

Question 36

What group sells its labor to the bourgeoisie to receive wages?

A) elites
B) working class
C) proletariat
D) bourgeoisie

Question 37

Although Indian castes historically have been ________,increasing rates of ________ have made classifying children more difficult.

A) endogamous; exogamy
B) rigid; movement
C) fluid; rigidity
D) exogamous; endogamy

Question 38

Under what system is your societal position related to your position in the economic market?

A) hierarchy
B) class
C) caste
D) estate

Question 39

Each society has a type of social stratification.How does the United States ideologically justify its type of stratification system?

A) The class a person is in has nothing to do with ability; one is born into it.
B) A person is in complete control over the class he or she is in.Hard work (or lack of it)determines class.
C) One's relatives are responsible for one's social class.
D) Luck determines class.

Question 40

C.Wright Mills had a negative view of the elite-mass dichotomy.His view fits with the ________ paradigm.

A) symbolic interactionism
B) functionalism
C) conflict
D) social justice

Question 41

The effect of globalization has been to bifurcate labor into:

A) upper class and middle class.
B) technical and support.
C) high skilled and low skilled.
D) middle class and working class.

Question 42

Compare and contrast Rousseau's perspective of social inequality with that of Malthus,Millar,and Ferguson.

Question 43

The rise or fall of an individual (or group)from one social stratum to another is called ________ social mobility.

A) conditioned
B) horizontal
C) vertical
D) structural

Question 44

The typical African American family has about ________ of the net worth of the typical white family.

A) the same amount
B) 50 percent
C) 35 percent
D) 10 percent

Question 45

An example of horizontal social mobility is a(n):

A) secretary changing firms but retaining his or her occupational status.
B) barista's promotion to store manager.
C) family that migrates from low-income housing to an upper-middle-class gated community.
D) office manager who moves into a similar position in a much larger firm,where he or she earns greater status and income.

Question 46

Emilia is studying global development,and in investigating underdevelopment in Africa,she turns to economist Jeffrey Sachs.She agrees with Sachs's point of view,that:

A) brutal as they may be,mass poverty and starvation help balance the human population.
B) Africa's challenges include its geography and colonial legacies.
C) the most important factor shaping Africa's history is governmental corruption.
D) underdevelopment is an unsolvable problem because it is rooted in private property.

Question 47

Briefly distinguish between wealth and income.Offer an example of a person who has low income but great wealth.Offer an example of a person who has high income but low wealth.Of these two,which person is better off,and why?

Question 48

Social class is so difficult to precisely define that some sociologists argue it is a useless concept.Why is it so difficult to precisely define social classes? In your answer,compare definitions of poverty (easier to define)with middle class (more difficult to define).

Question 49

The German philosopher Georg Hegel explained inequality from a master-slave perspective.Describe and explain the interdependence of the master-slave analogy for inequality.

Question 50

Jerod is a young boy who is ambitious,smart,and wants to pursue a life of more education and wealth than what his parents achieved.Predict Jerod's life journey in two of the following stratification systems: estate system,caste system,class system,status hierarchy system.

Question 51

Trade of goods and services across national boundaries,as well as the mobility of businesses and labor through immigration,is called:

A) international business.
B) globalization.
C) civilization
D) equality of condition

Question 52

Sociologists distinguish between three types of equality: equality of opportunity,equality of condition,and equality of outcome.For each type,describe what equality would look like in the United States.In your view,which type of equality is most desirable for society,and why?

Question 53

An alien drops onto the planet,and the only books he reads are Horatio Alger,Jr.,novels.The alien concludes that:

A) the rags-to-riches narrative of social mobility is true and realistic.
B) the most lucrative profession is journalism.
C) American inequality is increasing in severity and permanence.
D) race,geography,and history all influence a nation's economic development.

Question 54

Ugo's promotion to regional manager at Sears with a higher salary and more prestige is an example of what type of vertical social mobility?

A) ascending
B) escalating
C) descending
D) advancement

Question 55

Akamai is a paralegal for a law firm in Manhattan.He gets a new job as a paralegal for a law firm in Boston.Sociologists see such a shift as ________mobility.

A) horizontal
B) vertical
C) stagnant
D) professional

Question 56

There are five types of social stratification systems.List and briefly describe three of them,and explain how each justifies inequality.

Question 57

In studying global inequality,sociologists have theorized about why Europe (and ultimately the United States)was first to experience industrialization.Using information from the chapter,develop your own theory of why the United States industrialized sooner than Africa.In light of this theory,what strategies would support African economic development today?

Question 58

Mobility that is inevitable from changes in the economy is called:

A) vertical.
B) horizontal.
C) escalating.
D) structural.

Question 59

When compared to low-income students with similar test scores and academic records,high-income students:

A) make up a decreasing share of the enrollment at selective colleges.
B) make up an increasing share of the enrollment at selective colleges.
C) make up the same share of the enrollment at selective colleges.
D) are less likely to be accepted because of affirmative action.