Deck 8: Social Inequality: With Emphasis on Social Mobility

Question 1

Social stratification is ________ process ranked on a scale of social worth and awarded access to valued resources and experiences

A)a random
B)an arbitrary
C)a systematic
D)an automatic

Answer 1

C

Question 2

The PEW Hispanic Center estimates that there are at least 12 million undocumented workers living in the United States. Without this source of "cheap labor" fruits and vegetables would rot in the fields, toddlers in Manhattan would be without nannies, towels in hotels would go unlaundered, and bedpans and trays would go uncollected. This situation illustrates

A)functional uniqueness.
B)comparable worth.
C)the functions of poverty.
D)status consciousness.

Answer 2

C

Question 3

According to the functionalist perspective, the unequal distribution of rewards is necessary in order to

A)ensure that the most functionally important occupations are filled by the best-qualified people.
B)make the least functionally important occupations attractive to the masses.
C)justify denying some people the opportunity to achieve functionally important occupations.
D)make the system as democratic as possible.

Answer 3

A

Question 4

From a functionalist perspective, social inequality

A)causes people in the entry-level jobs to work harder.
B)ensures that the best-qualified people will fill the most demanding positions.
C)increases the motivation level of all workers.
D)guarantees that incompetent people will not seek the most important jobs.

Question 5

Conflict theorists argue that the functionalist theory of social stratification falls short because

A)one must assume that social stratification exists in all societies.
B)workers who perform the same jobs tend to receive equal pay regardless of their race or sex.
C)salary reflects an occupation's contribution to society.
D)it is difficult to determine the functional importance of an occupation to society.

Question 6

Sociologists use the term social prestige to mean

A)the amount of wealth associated with a status.
B)the social value assigned to a status.
C)the level of respect or admiration for a status apart from any person who happens to occupy it.
D)the reputation that someone has earned.

Question 7

In analyzing social inequality functionalists ask

A)who benefits from social stratification and at whose expense?
B)how do people of different social statuses interact?
C)why does social inequality exist?
D)why do the disadvantaged lack the work ethic needed to advance?

Question 8

Sociologists use the term esteem to mean

A)the amount of wealth associated with a status.
B)the social value assigned to a status.
C)the level of respect or admiration for a status apart from any person who happens to occupy it.
D)the reputation that someone has earned.

Question 9

When a son or daughter achieves an occupation that is higher or lower in rank and prestige than a parent's occupation, sociologists label that mobility

A)intragenerational.
B)intergenerational.
C)downward.
D)upward.

Question 10

A situation in which valued resources and desired outcomes are distributed in such a way that people have unequal amounts and/or access to them is known as

A)the social lottery.
B)social equality.
C)social inequality.
D)life chances.

Question 11

Economist Paul Hertz followed about 9,000 children into adulthood to calculate odds of changing or maintaining economic status. Which of the following statements describe his findings?

A)The chances of moving from lowest-income category to the highest are quite high.
B)The chances of remaining in the highest income category (top 20 percent)are relatively low.
C)Children classified as black have an advantage over children classified as white.
D)Children from high income households receive more education and are healthier as adults than lower income counterparts.

Question 12

Poor people purchase goods and services that would otherwise go unused, such as day-old bread, used cars, and second-hand clothes. Such purchases speak to

A)functional uniqueness.
B)comparable worth.
C)the functions of poverty.
D)status consciousness.

Question 13

A person who improves his or her social standing during his or her lifetime through marriage, graduation, inheritance, or job promotion is experiencing

A)intergenerational mobility.
B)intragenerational mobility .
C)horizontal mobility.
D)status mobility.

Question 14

Ideally, in a class system of stratification,

A)life chances are inherited.
B)people rise and fall on the strength of their abilities.
C)there is no intergenerational mobility.
D)inequality is systematic.

Question 15

Mary worked as a secretary for 25 years. Her daughter Jane works as a biological engineer. The difference in status speaks to

A)intergenerational mobility.
B)intragenerational mobility.
C)horizontal mobility.
D)status mobility.

Question 16

Davis and Moore argue that the more functionally unique an occupation, the greater it's functional importance. Functionally unique means that

A)few other people can perform the same occupation.
B)just about anyone can do the job.
C)the occupation has an unusual name.
D)few people want to do the job.

Question 17

In a caste system of social stratification

A)inequality is not systematic.
B)there is a systematic connection between ascribed characteristics and life chances.
C)people can change their class position through hard work.
D)talent, merit, and ability determine a person's life chances.

Question 18

Comparable worth means

A)that when men and women work in the same firms in the same occupation, they must not be paid differently.
B)that when occupational categories are agreed to be equivalently valuable within a firm, the compensation must be equivalent across those categories.
C)male and female dominated occupations should be valued equally.
D)men and women can be paid differently, even if they are in the same occupation.

Question 19

Class systems of stratification are characterized as

A)rigid.
B)closed.
C)restricted.
D)fluid.

Question 20

Many businesses, governmental agencies, and nonprofit organizations exist to serve poor people or to monitor their behavior. This arrangement is an example of

A)functional uniqueness.
B)comparable worth.
C)the functions of poverty.
D)status consciousness.

Question 21

In her book Nickeled and Dimed , Ehrenreich tells of a colleague who becomes "frantic about a painfully impacted wisdom tooth and keeps making calls from our house (we are cleaning)to try and locate a source of free dental care." This example illustrates

A)one of the many ways inequality is enacted.
B)ideas of comparable worth.
C)a socialist system of welfare.
D)relative poverty.

Question 22

The negatively privileged property classes include all but which one of the following?

A)completely unskilled persons
B)those dependent on seasonal employment
C)those at the bottom of the class system
D)the bourgeoisie

Question 23

Which of the following words apply to caste system of stratification?

A)open
B)fluid
C)closed
D)choice

Question 24

Body builders are a _______________ in that they have developed a lifestyle around maximizing the size and appearance of muscles.

A)status group
B)negatively privileged property class
C)political party
D)proletariat

Question 25

Which one of the following questions do conflict theorists ask to highlight the problems with the functional perspective of social stratification?

A)How can we attract the best qualified people to fill the most functionally important positions?
B)Will the most qualified people be attracted to the less functionally important occupations?
C)How much inequality in salary is really necessary to ensure that people choose the most important positions in society?
D)Why do the disadvantaged lack the motivation to acquire the training needed to fill the most important positions in society?

Question 26

According to Max Weber, persons completely unskilled, lacking property, and dependent on seasonal or sporadic employment constitute the

A)negatively privileged property class.
B)ascribed property class.
C)marketing class.
D)negatively privileged status group.

Question 27

The shared life style of a _________ may revolve around leisure activities, diet, friendships, and even amount of time dedicated to sleep.

A)status group
B)master status
C)political party
D)secondary group

Question 28

Since the 1970s credit has helped drive the US and global economy giving people money to spend that they did not have. This credit "binge" resulted in a great divide in society between

A)bourgeoisie and proletariat.
B)the negatively and positively privileged property class.
C)high and low status group.
D)the debt-free and indebted.

Question 29

Which of the following is an example of economic restructuring that led to the creation of inner city poor?

A)a massive exodus of jobs from suburbs to cities
B)the transfer of manufacturing jobs out of the United States
C)the rise of customer service jobs
D)the decline in surplus labor

Question 30

People in households with an annual income under $10,000 add to their income and recycling efforts when they collect cans and bottles. This represents

A)structural strain.
B)comparable worth.
C)a function of poverty.
D)status consciousness.

Question 31

In the U.S. sandwich makers earn $18,100 or $8.72 per hour which puts them in the _____________ of all incomes.

A)middle 20 percent
B)top 40 percent
C)top 20 percent
D)bottom 20 percent

Question 32

In The Truly Disadvantaged , Julius Wilson emphasized the role of _____________ in creating a population known as the inner city poor.

A)motivation
B)self-esteem
C)economic transformation/restructuring
D)misguided liberal policy

Question 33

___________ seek to understand the experience of inequality - how it is communicated and how that inequality is conveyed.

A)Functionalists
B)Conflict theorists
C)Symbolic interactionists
D)Modernization theorists

Question 34

In the U.S. surgeons earn a median salary of $365,885, which puts them at the ________ of all income.

A)middle 20 percent
B)top 20 percent
C)bottom 20 percent
D)top 40 percent

Question 35

The CEO of Starbucks earns the equivalent of $13,458 per hour. That wage is 1,583 times higher than that of a barista who earns between $7.50 and $9.50 per hour. ____________ explain the unequal wages as justified by the need to attract the most skilled and talented to the job of CEO.

A)Conflict theorists
B)Symbolic interactionists
C)Functionalists
D)Social action theorists

Question 36

The richest 8.3 million people in the world represent the

A)negatively privileged property class.
B)semiperipheral class.
C)functionally unique.
D)positively privileged property class.

Question 37

The question "Why should full-time workers at a child care center (a traditionally female occupation)receive a median weekly salary of $386, while a person working as an auto mechanic (a traditionally male occupation)earns $704?" relates to issues of

A)pay equity.
B)comparable worth.
C)functional uniqueness.
D)status consciousness.

Question 38

While the research on payday loans is limited, existing data suggests that

A)most, if not all borrowers, repay the loan in full when it comes due.
B)a large fraction of payday loans customers roll over their principal multiple times.
C)interest rates are competitive with those on credit cards.
D)they keep people out of debt.

Question 39

In a study that involved showing respondents 3 hypothetical distributions of wealth, most people believed the top 20 percent should have __________ percent of all wealth.

A)84
B)36
C)20
D)10

Question 40

Barbara Ehrenreich studied inequality in everyday life as it is experienced by working in jobs that paid $8.00 or less. Ehrenreich's approach is one that a ___________ would take.

A)functionalist
B)conflict theorist
C)symbolic interactionist
D)modernization theorist

Question 41

Hiring, firing, layoffs, work force reduction, plant closings and corporate restructuring captures the

A)processes functionalists emphasize.
B)finance aristocracy.
C)creative destruction and turbulent unpredictability of capitalism.
D)structural need for poverty level wages.

Question 42

In the U.S. during the Jim Crow era (1880-1967)people legally classified as black chose to pass as white to increase chances of upward mobility. The choice to pass was dependent on the person possessing physical characteristics associated with white. In this sense the choice depended on

A)context.
B)chance.
C)achieved characteristics.
D)family wishes.

Question 43

Apply functionalist, conflict, and symbolic interactional theories of inequalities to the salary you earn and your experiences and of the job.

Question 44

American children tend to assume that struggling on assignments is a sign they are not very smart. This cultural tendency illustrates

A)chance.
B)choice.
C)context.
D)assumptions.

Question 45

Think about your cultural capital. Give examples of the objectified, embodied and institutionalized cultural capital you possess.

Question 46

Infants cannot control the country into which they were born or their parents' income and education level. From the infant's point of view, these factors are a matter of

A)chance.
B)choice.
C)context.
D)God's will.

Question 47

A low income child is struggling in math. He lives in a culture that attributes his failure to lack of intelligence. This backdrop is a matter of

A)chance.
B)choice.
C)context.
D)opinion.

Question 48

Ming finds that she is struggling in reading. She and everyone around her tell her that she needs to "practice, practice, practice" and she will succeed. The backdrop to Ming's struggles is a matter of

A)chance.
B)choice.
C)context.
D)fate.

Question 49

What sets ______ apart from the economic systems that preceded it, is the "constant revolutionizing of production. the uninterrupted disturbance of all social condition, and everlasting uncertainty and asitation."

A)democracy
B)socialism
C)capitalism
D)communism

Question 50

Which one of the following statements best illustrates how sociologists think about an infant's chances to "succeed" in life?

A)Success looks "bleak" for infants born in low-income households.
B)Success looks "bleak" for infants born in single parent households.
C)Infants born into high-income households have fewer constraints to overcome.
D)Success is a certainty for babies born in high-income households.

Question 51

Jerome has a car and that makes it easier for him to participate in after-school activities. Jerome possesses _____ cultural capital.

A)institutionalized
B)embodied
C)objectified
D)significant

Question 52

Xavier is applying for a customer service job. He has a charming personality but the interviewer noticed Xavier has missing teeth. Xavier does not get the job because he lacks __________ cultural capital.

A)institutionalized
B)embodied
C)objectified
D)significant

Question 53

In the U.S., 34 percent of children age 6 and under live households with monthly income of $72,000. From the child's point of view the situation is a matter of

A)chance.
B)choice.
C)context.
D)individual effort.

Question 54

In the U.S. during the Jim Crow era (1880-1967)people legally classified as black chose to pass as white to increase chances of upward mobility. The choice to pass was a response to laws of the day that limited mobility based on race. In this sense the choice depended on

A)context.
B)chance.
C)achieved characteristics.
D)ascribed characteristics.

Question 55

Helping a nonsmoker qualifies as __________ cultural capital because smoking is prohibited in most public spaces and some work places give preference to nonsmokers when hiring.

A)institutionalized
B)embodied
C)objectified
D)significant

Question 56

In 2012 and 2013 Blockbuster Video closed 800 stores, leaving 500 in place of the 9,000 that once existed. Redbox DVD and Netflix offered products that made Blockbuster obsolete. This is an example of

A)social mobility.
B)economic growth.
C)creative destruction.
D)embodied cultural capital.

Question 57

Sociologists place great emphasis on external forces that shape chances of social mobility. Which one of the following qualifies as such?

A)work ethic
B)attitude
C)inherited wealth
D)ability to delay gratification

Question 58

Use at least three concepts covered in textbook to describe upward and downward mobility in your life and across generations in your family.

Question 59

Apply the concepts of chance, choice, and context to your life- especially consider how these three factors have shaped a particular success or failure.

Question 60

Abe's parents send him to world language camp each summer. Now Abe is fluent in Chinese and can communicate easily with native speakers. Abe possesses ________ capital.

A)institutionalized.
B)embodied.
C)objectified.
D)significant

Question 61

Describe how you or a family member have gained or lost from economic stability and/or turbulent unpredictability.