Deck 12: Social and Economic Stratification

Question 1

The number of social classes recognized as existing by social scientists is:

A) over one hundred.
B) thought to be between four and seven.
C) always three.
D) not generally agreed upon by social scientists.

Answer 1

D

Question 2

People in a community who are somewhat similar in their economic status, their attitudes and beliefs, their educational attainments, their ways of living, the regard in which others hold them, and their power are called a:

A) neighborhood.
B) social class.
C) hierarchy.
D) peer group.

Answer 2

B

Question 3

How is globalization related to social mobility in the United States?

Answer 3

The issues of a global economy are greatly related to social class in the U.S. In general, globalization is making upward social mobility for U.S. citizens at the bottom of the class/income scale more difficult. Worldwide, poor U.S. workers are still on the high end of the income distribution ladder, and U.S. "low-wage" jobs are "high-wage" jobs for many. An increasing number of U.S. companies are moving overseas, making those jobs in the U.S. scarcer. It is expected that as we experience social change, the question of social mobility will be of increasing concern.

Question 4

What are the three major types of social stratification? How do these three types differ from one another?

Question 5

Most Americans are:

A) highly conscious of class distinctions.
B) very much concerned about class status.
C) highly interested in relative social classes.
D) not highly class conscious.

Question 6

What is social mobility? Why is social mobility important in studies of social stratification?

Question 7

What is class consciousness? Describe factors that explain why Americans are not overly class conscious.

Question 8

The combination of hierarchies-education, occupation, and income-forms an individual's:

A) mental IQ.
B) personality hierarchy.
C) socioeconomic status.
D) level of intelligence.

Question 9

Any class system is somewhat inconsistent with the:

A) autocratic system of rule by a few.
B) idea of noble classes.
C) democratic ideal of equal opportunity.
D) idea of royal families.

Question 10

Karl Marx divided the populations of industrial societies into:

A) four classes.
B) one equal class.
C) capitalists and the proletariat social classes.
D) technical and nontechnical groups.

Question 11

What is the experience for those immigrating to the U.S. to work in the unskilled labor market?

A) They find there are no unskilled jobs available for immigrant laborers.
B) They rapidly move into the American middle class because their wages are so high.
C) They usually return to their native countries because they can't survive here on such low wages.
D) They make good money because our "low-wage" jobs are "high-wage" jobs for them.

Question 12

The poverty threshold will be:

A) higher for an individual than for a family.
B) exactly the same for an individual and a family.
C) lower for an individual than for a family.
D) not different for families of different size.

Question 13

An open-class system is one in which:

A) class lines are not definite.
B) Europeans and Americans have equal upward mobility.
C) people have no chance of moving up socially.
D) class lines are definite.

Question 14

The primary unit of stratification is the:

A) village.
B) family.
C) region.
D) social club.

Question 15

What is true of socioeconomic hierarchies in American society since the 1930s?

A) We evolved into a society of upper class people.
B) We evolved into a society of middle class people.
C) The underclass has become the largest class in America.
D) Our society has changed little in socioeconomic hierarchy since the 1930s.

Question 16

What are the causes of income inequality? How is poverty measured by social scientists?

Question 17

Which is not a part of the reason the U.S. economic class system is not strongly developed?

A) Historical factors.
B) Social inequality.
C) The government and market economy.
D) U.S. ideology that sees class consciousness as a negative trait.

Question 18

Social classes are:

A) organized like families.
B) organized like communities.
C) not social realities.
D) best compared in all situations with a layer cake.

Question 19

One of the best ways to advance from one class to another is through:

A) thrift.
B) winning the lotto.
C) education.
D) an increase of income.

Question 20

As a rule, the most important factors in determining social class are:

A) random chance and fortune.
B) occupation, wealth, and income.
C) regional.
D) based on geography.

Question 21

The apartheid system is not like a caste system.

Question 22

Max Weber argued that the basis of class was:

A) property alone.
B) prestige alone.
C) power and influence.
D) property, prestige, and power.

Question 23

Mobility in a class system is much less possible than in a caste system.

Question 24

Most sociologists today tend to use a form of:

A) Marx's concept of class.
B) Weber's concept of class.
C) Orwell's concept of class.
D) Ancient Greek class categories.

Question 25

Which of the following is NOT one of the three principal types of social stratification?

A) Slavery.
B) Estates.
C) Castes.
D) Class.

Question 26

Some claim that blacks in the U.S. are stratified as a caste system, like in India.

Question 27

Under the caste system, an individual acquired a social position at birth.

Question 28

The caste system allows for movement between castes before death.

Question 29

Most modern industrial societies do not have formal stratification systems.

Question 30

Karma is the belief that every person should fulfill in this life the duties associated with membership in a caste.

Question 31

The lessening of stratification often is accompanied by social unrest, because that reduction focuses attention on the unfairness of the system.

Question 32

Except in rare cases all members of a family are regarded as belonging to the same social stratum.

Question 33

Differences in income arise directly from all of the following sources except:

A) variations in taxes owed to the government each year.
B) variations in earnings from personal services.
C) differences in the amounts of property owned.
D) variations in transfer payments from the government.

Question 34

Social classes are clear-cut entities.

Question 35

Most people do not have any idea of the social class to which they belong.

Question 36

Caste:

A) is a rigid class distinction based on birth or wealth.
B) systems are flexible class systems.
C) refers to a system of stratification first developed in feudal Europe.
D) systems are never clear-cut distinctions.

Question 37

When firmly established, social stratification contributes to social:

A) confusion.
B) instability.
C) ambiguity.
D) stability.

Question 38

The medieval estate system was better suited to a static society.

Question 39

What effect is reform in public assistance programming believed to be having?

A) If it continues it will increase the number of people on welfare.
B) If it continues it will decrease the number of people on welfare.
C) If it continues it will decrease the number of jobs available to unskilled workers.
D) If it continues it will eventually eliminate public assistance all together.

Question 40

In an estate system, the position of an individual in society is nearly always:

A) inherited from parents.
B) based on achievement.
C) rotated each year.
D) subject to annual renewal.

Question 41

A substantial amount of poverty exists in the U.S.

Question 42

Max Weber argued that property is the sole basis of class.

Question 43

One of the best ways to advance from one social class to another is through education.

Question 44

The people of every society can always be divided into groups.

Question 45

Discussions of mobility often overlook one simple fact: Room at the top is always limited.

Question 46

Defining poverty is easy for social scientists.

Question 47

Greg Duncan and colleagues compared class mobility between 1968-1979 and 1980-1987 and found that the incidence of upward mobility for those in the lower class increased.

Question 48

The U.S. economic class system is strongly developed.

Question 49

Horizontal mobility has reduced class consciousness in the U.S.

Question 50

Karl Marx believed capitalistic exploitation would lead to an increase in the condition of the worker.