Deck 8: Stratification, Class, and Inequality

Question 1

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

A) Women's entrance into the paid labor force changed real income.
B) Competition from foreign companies was reduced.
C) There was an increase in productivity due to technological change.
D) There was a decrease in the size of the working-age population.

Answer 1

C

Question 2

The money a person receives from wages or salary or from investments is income, and the assets an individual owns are wealth. Why is wealth considered more significant in social stratification?

A) Wealth is more predictable and is held only by the top 1 percent.
B) Wealth is more predictable and can be used to generate more wealth.
C) Income is more predictable, but only wealth can create capital.
D) Income tends to favor the lower and middle classes, while wealth is the domain of the superrich.

Answer 2

B

Question 3

Class is most often used to analyze stratification in industrialized societies because industrialized societies:

A) do not have the religious components found in other systems
B) are characterized by divisions in income, wealth, occupation, and education
C) usually have class relations stated and defined in their constitutions
D) are more evolved than other systems

Answer 3

B

Question 4

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

A) Slaves are not able to move into different classes, whereas caste members can do this.
B) Slaves are owned, whereas caste members are not.
C) Slaves may be bought and sold, whereas caste members may only be given away.
D) Slaves may have contact with others who are not slaves, whereas caste members may not contact those of a different caste rank.

Question 5

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

A) student loans
B) credit cards
C) debts to health insurance companies
D) vehicle loans

Question 6

In India, how is the caste system held in place with the Hindu belief in rebirth?

A) People of higher castes are reborn, and people of lower castes are not reborn.
B) People of higher castes can freely punish or even imprison those of lower castes.
C) People trust deities to raise their caste level at key moments in their lives.
D) People who fail to observe the rituals and duties of their caste will be reborn in an inferior position.

Question 7

During the twentieth century, the real income of blue-collar workers in Western societies has:

A) stayed the same but dropped significantly in the past 20 years
B) increased significantly but dropped in the past 20 years
C) increased significantly but increased only slightly in the past 20 years
D) decreased significantly but then increased in the past 20 years

Question 8

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

A) life chances
B) life course
C) caste
D) reincarnation

Question 9

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 inequality has increased in the past three decades, whereas wealth inequality has decreased.

Question 10

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

A) social inequity
B) social disapproval
C) intersectionality
D) social stratification

Question 11

A form of stratification in which people earn income and own wealth and distinguish between groups on the basis of economic standing is:

A) caste
B) class
C) intersectionality
D) slavery

Question 12

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, that person is no longer classified at that level.
B) A person's life chances are significantly influenced by social position.
C) Ranks tend to fluctuate rapidly and significantly over time.
D) Upward mobility is a norm that is valued in all societies.

Question 13

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) the bourgeoisie
C) a class
D) a caste

Question 14

Sociologists define stratification as "structured inequalities" because:

A) individuals and groups enjoy unequal access to social rewards, depending on their position within the larger stratification scheme
B) multiple group memberships such as race, class, and gender affect our lives in interconnected ways
C) because some large-scale societies have inequality built into their social structures, whereas for others inequality seems randomly patterned
D) only societies with legalized slavery have structured inequalities; those without slavery have unstructured inequalities

Question 15

Caste as a stratification system affects contact between people by:

A) regulating contact between people of different caste levels
B) promoting individual contact between individuals of different rank
C) regulating social relations between older and younger people with rules that hold true in all castes
D) requiring that all individuals maintain contact with members of their caste

Question 16

According to a recent study by the Economic Policy Institute, the hourly earnings of college graduates compared to people without a degree in 2013 were almost double, and this gap is increasing over time. Why is this significant in the matter of social stratification?

A) A college education pays off in both income and wealth, which increases social stratification.
B) Those without a degree can reverse the stratification effects for their family within one generation by sending their children to college.
C) Those without a degree make more than college graduates since they enter the workforce earlier and work longer.
D) Because college graduates are generally unable to translate this income into wealth, education has an effect only on income.

Question 17

What is the key difference between the sociological definition of income and that of wealth?

A) Income is something everyone has, while wealth is limited to those who own property.
B) Wealth is earned, while income is held and then invested.
C) Wealth is something everyone has, while income must be worked for.
D) Income is earned, while wealth is held or invested.

Question 18

Which of the following accurately characterizes the concept of stratification?

A) Stratification relies primarily on income; that is, the more money you have, the higher your status.
B) Stratification cannot exist without extreme laws holding it in place, such as slavery or caste.
C) High status cannot be achieved without a high income.
D) Income, wealth, education, lifestyle, and occupation often are correlated, but there are notable exceptions.

Question 19

A sociologist conducts a study of the life chances of women from the Dalit caste. Accordingly, the sociologist focuses on:

A) how race, ethnicity and gender work together in all aspects of Dalit women's lives
B) the opportunities Dalit women have for increasing their economic prosperity
C) the history of the caste system
D) how slavery, caste, and class systems shape women's self-perceptions

Question 20

A form of stratification in which some people are owned as property is known as:

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

Question 21

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) inherently higher default rates

Question 22

Using Max Weber's definition, it can be said that Mari has more status than Lucas. This means that Mari has more:

A) income
B) wealth
C) social honor
D) surplus value

Question 23

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

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

Question 24

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

Question 25

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

A) lawyer
B) teacher
C) bus driver
D) surgeon

Question 26

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

A) lack health care and Social Security
B) lack dental insurance and welfare benefits
C) live at shelters with homeless people
D) be unable to afford car insurance

Question 27

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

A) are not related to social class
B) express and intensify class differences
C) reduce class differences through sharing leisure activities and consumer goods
D) lead to the acquisition of cultural capital

Question 28

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

Question 29

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

Question 30

A sociologist conducts a study of superrich Americans. One defining characteristic that separates the superrich from the upper class is that the superrich:

A) earn more than $200,000 per year
B) own a large home and probably a vacation home
C) derive most of their wealth from investments
D) vacation abroad and educate their children in private schools

Question 31

In which social class are you most likely to find mid-level corporate managers and high-income professionals?

A) lower-middle
B) upper-middle
C) old middle
D) new middle

Question 32

Which nation has the smallest degree of income inequality, as measured by the income share held by the top 10 percent of the population?

A) China, where the income share of the top 10 percent is 31.4 percent.
B) South Africa, where the income share of the top 10 percent is 51.3 percent.
C) Sweden, where the income share of the top 10 percent is 30.2 percent.
D) Mexico, where the income share of the top 10 percent is 38.9 percent.

Question 33

For a sociology class, Rodrigo interviews several pink-collar workers. Which of the following fit this category?

A) house cleaners
B) sweatshop workers
C) elementary teachers
D) clerical aides

Question 34

Karl Marx defined the relationship between those who own the means of production and those who make their living by selling their own labor power for a wage as two classes that he referred to as:

A) status groups and pariahs
B) sellers and buyers
C) producers and consumers
D) the bourgeoisie and the proletariat

Question 35

Which of the following expresses Erik Olin Wright's concept of "contradictory class location"?

A) a surgeon regrets his career choice and wishes he had been a writer
B) a bus driver wishes she earned a higher income
C) a professor thinks freely and deeply yet sells his labor to the university
D) a corporate executive still retains speech and food habits of his working-class upbringing

Question 36

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

A) lower-middle
B) middle
C) upper-middle
D) working

Question 37

Based on the fact that a group of people are lower class, a sociologist would predict that people in this group are likely 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

Question 38

The reason that a majority of Americans claim to be part of the middle class is due to:

A) the tendency to avoid association with the working class
B) statistics that show them to be earning the correct amount for that category
C) a deep fear of impoverishment
D) a belief that the United States is free of class distinctions

Question 39

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:

A) proletariat
B) negative social honor
C) deviant cluster
D) pariah group

Question 40

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

A) bourgeoisie
B) means of production
C) means of consumption
D) proletariat

Question 41

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) Some social groups value wealth, while others value income.
D) Federal regulation has eliminated racial bias in income.

Question 42

Anne searches nation-level data for a country characterized by exchange mobility. She finds that:

A) smaller countries are more likely than larger countries to have exchange mobility
B) smaller countries with socialist governments are more likely to have exchange mobility
C) there are no countries with exchange mobility, but the notion is still helpful in inequality
D) countries with public education systems are closer to exchange mobility than others

Question 43

In the 2008 recession, a lot of male, middle-aged corporate executives experienced downward mobility firsthand. At the same time, there may have been an increase in the participation by women, in part because:

A) job training that preceded that downturn afforded many women the chance to prove themselves as executives
B) women are homemakers and were not working at that time
C) women are paid less than men and so maintained jobs during the 2008 recession
D) women were able to take the jobs that men left

Question 44

According to Thomas Piketty's Capital in the Twenty-First Century, ever-increasing wealth inequality is a necessary and inevitable feature of almost all capitalist economic systems. The major exception to this rule was the:

A) nineteenth century
B) mid-twentieth century
C) 1970s
D) years since the 2008 recession

Question 45

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. What would such a society have?

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

Question 46

Which of these families is most likely to live in poverty, according to these data? Families with Children under 18 in Poverty, 2015
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A) a widowed mother with two children
B) a widowed father with three children
C) a married couple with two children
D) any family, when the parents have little education

Question 47

In her study of structural mobility in China, Dr. Kung analyzes the relationship between:

A) children's social class and their grandparents' social class
B) the expansion of tech jobs and the contraction of factory jobs
C) the rise of creatively gifted people in social class and the decline of less gifted people
D) the social class of first-born sons and their later-born brothers

Question 48

Which research question focuses on intergenerational mobility?

A) How many children born in an impoverished region achieve college education?
B) What is the influence of early childhood education programs on high school degree completion?
C) Which government policies support transference of skills from low-growth industries to high-growth industries?
D) What factors influence social class movement, upward or downward, between grandparents and grandchildren?

Question 49

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?

A) one born in 1940
B) one born in 1985
C) one with exceptional personal abilities
D) one who seeks a managerial career

Question 50

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 what concept?

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

Question 51

You are conducting a study of the highest-poverty social groups, and you want to compare age and race. Which age and race groups would you select? Americans Living in Poverty, 2015
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A) Non-Hispanic white and 65+
B) Black and Under age 18
C) Black and 65+
D) Hispanic and Under age 18

Question 52

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

Question 53

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) educational attainment plays a major factor in occupational mobility

Question 54

Which statement about income distribution in the United States is accurate, based on this figure? Distribution of Income in the United States, 1967-2015
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A) Income inequality has been increasing since 1967.
B) The share of income earned by the top 5 percent began increasing after the 2008 recession.
C) The lowest 20 percent of the population receives close to 20 percent of total income.
D) The middle income group has nearly disappeared, with nearly all income distributed at the top and bottom.

Question 55

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 little role in determining social status
B) educational attainment plays little role in an individual's adult social status
C) family social status significantly affects the child's educational attainment
D) only economic capital is inherited; cultural capital can be acquired

Question 56

A sociologist uses Pierre Bourdieu's concept of cultural capital to conduct a study of family life. To see cultural capital at play, a sociologist would look at:

A) census records that record names and dates of birth over several generations
B) tax records that show family income over a period of years
C) everyday family conversation, including parent vocabulary, tone, and general use of language
D) trends in job availability across the economy as a whole

Question 57

Most lower-class people in the United States:

A) do not vote
B) drive good used cars
C) have jobs that will likely lead to promotion and work-provided medical insurance
D) have stable, long-term, full-time jobs, even though these jobs do not provide health insurance

Question 58

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

Question 59

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

A) individuals who move multiple times in their lives
B) groups who migrate from one nation to another
C) individuals who move up or down in social class
D) how higher education correlates with higher-paying jobs

Question 60

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:

A) decrease at first, stabilize, and then decrease again
B) increase at first, decline, and then stabilize at a relatively low level
C) decrease at first, increase rapidly, and then stabilize at a relatively high level
D) increase at first, stabilize at a high level, and then decline gradually

Question 61

If you were conducting a sociological study of inequality in America, would you analyze income, wealth, or both income and wealth? Why? Your answer should reflect an accurate
of conceptual differences between income and wealth.

Question 62

College students who graduated in the years following the 2008 recession are likely to experience long-term negative consequences in terms of earning and social mobility.

Question 63

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

Question 64

You are conducting a study of wealth in the United States and are using intersectionality as a framework. Describe how intersectionality will influence your perspective on wealth.

Question 65

You are conducting a study of stratification on a global scale. Would you work with Karl Marx's theory or Max Weber's theory? Develop a research question, and explain how your question is derived from the theory you chose. Explain why this theory is helpful for
stratification on a global scale.

Question 66

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

Question 67

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?

Question 68

Choose one term: intergenerational mobility, intragenerational mobility, structural mobility. Describe a person's life story that fits the term you chose.

Question 69

What does the new Stanford study on intergenerational income mobility predict for today's young adult-aged college students?

Question 70

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.

Question 71

Describe one similarity and one difference between caste and class.

Question 72

Would a person have better life chances in a caste society or a class society? Why? Your answer should include definitions of life chances, caste, and class.

Question 73

MATCHING
a. Grew throughout much of the twentieth century but has been shrinking the past four decades
b. The most varied of the social class strata
c. Mostly wealthy but not superrich
d. Located in the highest-poverty neighborhoods of the inner city
e. Primarily blue-collar workers such as mechanics and pink-collar laborers such as clerical aids
f. Their jobs, when they can find them, are dead-end
g. Includes college professors
Lower class

Question 74

MATCHING
a. Grew throughout much of the twentieth century but has been shrinking the past four decades
b. The most varied of the social class strata
c. Mostly wealthy but not superrich
d. Located in the highest-poverty neighborhoods of the inner city
e. Primarily blue-collar workers such as mechanics and pink-collar laborers such as clerical aids
f. Their jobs, when they can find them, are dead-end
g. Includes college professors
Working class

Question 75

MATCHING
a. Grew throughout much of the twentieth century but has been shrinking the past four decades
b. The most varied of the social class strata
c. Mostly wealthy but not superrich
d. Located in the highest-poverty neighborhoods of the inner city
e. Primarily blue-collar workers such as mechanics and pink-collar laborers such as clerical aids
f. Their jobs, when they can find them, are dead-end
g. Includes college professors
Middle class

Question 76

MATCHING
a. Grew throughout much of the twentieth century but has been shrinking the past four decades
b. The most varied of the social class strata
c. Mostly wealthy but not superrich
d. Located in the highest-poverty neighborhoods of the inner city
e. Primarily blue-collar workers such as mechanics and pink-collar laborers such as clerical aids
f. Their jobs, when they can find them, are dead-end
g. Includes college professors
Lower middle class

Question 77

MATCHING
a. Grew throughout much of the twentieth century but has been shrinking the past four decades
b. The most varied of the social class strata
c. Mostly wealthy but not superrich
d. Located in the highest-poverty neighborhoods of the inner city
e. Primarily blue-collar workers such as mechanics and pink-collar laborers such as clerical aids
f. Their jobs, when they can find them, are dead-end
g. Includes college professors
Underclass

Question 78

MATCHING
a. Grew throughout much of the twentieth century but has been shrinking the past four decades
b. The most varied of the social class strata
c. Mostly wealthy but not superrich
d. Located in the highest-poverty neighborhoods of the inner city
e. Primarily blue-collar workers such as mechanics and pink-collar laborers such as clerical aids
f. Their jobs, when they can find them, are dead-end
g. Includes college professors
Upper middle class

Question 79

Describe one significant difference between Karl Marx's theory of stratification and Max Weber's.

Question 80

MATCHING
a. Grew throughout much of the twentieth century but has been shrinking the past four decades
b. The most varied of the social class strata
c. Mostly wealthy but not superrich
d. Located in the highest-poverty neighborhoods of the inner city
e. Primarily blue-collar workers such as mechanics and pink-collar laborers such as clerical aids
f. Their jobs, when they can find them, are dead-end
g. Includes college professors
Upper class