Deck 7: Inequality, Mobility, and Social Change

Question 1

Inequality is

A) the unequal distribution of money, power, or status
B) a person's movement up or down the socioeconomic hierarchy
C) your sense of mobility compared to your peers' mobility
D) spending money in order to impress others

Answer 1

A

Question 2

What explanation of social inequality did Aristotle offer?

A) Inequality reflects natural differences in people's abilities.
B) Inequality is a consequence of the exploitation of the powerless by the powerful.
C) Inequality is a motivation for people who have less to work harder.
D) Inequality is the result of rewarding jobs that are more important to society more than ones that are less important.

Answer 2

A

Question 3

Who argued that the existence of social relationships leads to social comparisons and, ultimately, to the desire for personal gain and advantages?

A) Jean-Jacques Rousseau
B) Aristotle
C) Charles Tilly
D) Kingsley Davis and Wilbert E. Moore

Answer 3

A

Question 4

Compared to categorical inequality, relative deprivation

A) is less of a source of poor quality of life
B) is a greater source of poor quality of life
C) has no impact on quality of life
D) has an equivalent impact on quality of life

Question 5

Societies with higher levels of inequality also tend to have higher levels of all of the following EXCEPT

A) infant mortality
B) mental illness and drug addiction
C) literacy
D) incarceration rates

Question 6

Each of the following saw inequality as a positive force in society EXCEPT

A) Kingsley Davis and Wilbert E. Moore
B) Aristotle
C) Adam Smith
D) Karl Marx

Question 7

Mr. Denniston owns a mid-sized business. He sets wages based on the contribution that the employee makes to the business. Mr. Denniston subscribes to which theory of inequality?

A) Marginal productivity theory
B) World systems theory
C) Davis theory of inequality
D) Moore theory of inequality

Question 8

What field of study do sociologists draw the metaphor of stratification from?

A) Geography
B) Astronomy
C) Geology
D) Anthropology

Question 9

Marx argued that societies were divided into two classes:

A) the self-sufficient and the dependent
B) the private sector and the public sector
C) the business owners and the property owners
D) the dominant and the dominated

Question 10

Each of the following is an example of a caste system EXCEPT

A) the slave system in the American colonies and, later, the U.S. South
B) the apartheid system in South Africa
C) the junior college and four-year college system in the U.S.
D) the caste system in India for the previous 3,000 years, though it was made illegal in 1950

Question 11

_______________ describes inequality between groups of people who are very different from each other, whereas _______________ describes our sense of inequality between ourselves and others like us.

A) categorical inequality, relative deprivation
B) relative mobility, absolute mobility
C) cultural capital, degree and inequality
D) contentious politics, structural mobility

Question 12

What is stratification, sociologically speaking?

A) Small differences between people who are relatively alike to which those people assign little meaning.
B) The effort to reduce inequality using social policy.
C) A combination of educational attainment, occupational prestige, and wealth and income that determines where you stand in comparison to your peers.
D) A description of structured patterns of inequality between different groups of people.

Question 13

To calculate your net worth, you should

A) estimate the total cost of living from birth through college graduation
B) multiply the total amount you spend on food in a year by three
C) subtract the total of your property, and sales taxes paid in a year from your annual income
D) add your income and your wealth and subtract your debts

Question 14

Traditionally, Indian culture divided people into more than 3,000 different social groups and 25,000 sub-groups, with strict social segregation between groups. Such a system is known as a

A) class system
B) status system
C) caste system
D) party system

Question 15

In what decade did India's laws change to prohibit strict discrimination based on what social group you were born into?

A) 1930s
B) 1950s
C) 1970s
D) 1990s

Question 16

South Africa's apartheid system divided people into the following racial groups:

A) white, Bantu (black Africans), Colored (people of multiple races), and Asian
B) Brahmin, Shudra, Dalit
C) white, black, mixed race
D) native African, Dutch

Question 17

South Africa won its freedom from Great Britain in 1910. What year did apartheid begin and end in that nation?

A) 1910-1990.
B) 1932-1969
C) 1948-1994
D) 1955-1998

Question 18

How did defenders of South African's racist regime try to undermine the authority of the African National Congress in the international community as the ANC fought against apartheid?

A) They called them communists.
B) They called them capitalists.
C) They called them racists.
D) They called them descendant of slave traders.

Question 19

Which statement about class systems below is accurate?

A) The world has fewer class-based societies than in the past.
B) Many advanced democracies have achieved economic equality in their societies.
C) In today's global economy, the advantages that were once available to people who control economic means of production are disappearing.
D) In today's global economy, the people who control the means of economic production have more advantages than ever.

Question 20

According to Max Weber, class systems function most effectively when they are

A) highly diverse
B) organized around status groups
C) in competition with each other
D) open to innovation from newcomers

Question 21

Which of the following is an example of a status group?

A) Members of Costco, a store where you are able to buy items in bulk
B) A college fraternity
C) Members of a book club who meet together regularly to read literary novels
D) Members of a Dungeons and Dragons club who meet together regularly to play the fantasy game

Question 22

Those who engage in high-status behavior and who form, protect, and benefit from institutions that create a community of privilege and control are said to be

A) a party system
B) elites
C) vertically mobile
D) conspicuous consumers

Question 23

Compared to class systems, status systems display

A) lower levels of rigidity and ascriptiveness, and somewhat higher levels of crystallization across categories of privilege
B) higher levels of rigidity but lower levels of ascriptiveness, and much lower levels of crystallization across categories of privilege
C) equivalent levels of rigidity but lower levels of ascriptiveness, and much lower levels of crystallization across categories of privilege
D) equivalent levels of rigidity but higher levels of ascriptiveness, and much higher levels of crystallization across categories of privilege

Question 24

In what kind of system does power and privilege come from the effective leadership of important organizations?

A) Class system
B) Party system
C) Caste system
D) Status system

Question 25

Compared to other stratification systems, a party system is

A) more rigid and more ascriptive
B) more rigid but less ascriptive
C) less rigid but more ascriptive
D) less rigid and less ascriptive

Question 26

In a meritocracy, you advance in status based on

A) your family history
B) your abilities on exams and other formal tests of your ability
C) your nation of origin
D) your dedication

Question 27

Consumerism encourages people to

A) buy only items that have value to them
B) buy items with the lowest negative effect on the health of the planet
C) buy items that are made in ways that provide dignified livings for the workers who created them
D) buy more than what they need

Question 28

Maxwell is a rising real estate agent. He wants to signal to his clients and potential clients that he is successful so that they trust him with their business. In order to do this, he leases an expensive luxury car to drive when he gives them tours of houses. Maxwell is participating in

A) structural mobility
B) conspicuous consumption
C) philanthropy
D) ascriptiveness

Question 29

In a "culture of upscale spending,"

A) wealthier people do not engage in luxury spending in order to protect their wealth
B) people consume media images of luxury but moderate their own desires based on their incomes so that they do not spend beyond what they can afford
C) people set unrealistic consumption goals and often obsess about things they cannot afford
D) people select friend circles who spend more modestly than they can afford in order to ensure that they do not face peer pressure to engage in conspicuous consumption

Question 30

Philanthropy is the

A) donation of large sums of money by the superrich to causes they care about such as libraries, education, and public health
B) large donations from partisan political groups to causes that appear to be "grassroots" but are actually deeply connected to elite political actors
C) transferring wealth from a parent to an adult child while that parent is alive as a gift in order to avoid inheritance taxes
D) the distribution of corporate profits not just to stockholders but to company employees

Question 31

Each of the following defines the middle class EXCEPT

A) the ability to live off profit from investments rather than salary
B) those whose income matches the median income for households in the U.S.
C) those whose annual income is between 66% and 200% of the median income for their household size
D) the social expectations, personal aspirations, and consumption patterns we associate with people of the middle class, such as home ownership and college attendance

Question 32

What kinds of occupations do people in the upper-middle class hold?

A) Physicians, lawyers, engineers
B) Fast food line cook, telemarking and call center jobs, cashier
C) Branch managers, accountants, oil drill operators
D) Nail salon technician, hotel housekeeper, wait staff

Question 33

What kinds of occupations do people in the middle class hold?

A) Physicians, lawyers, engineers
B) Fast food line cook, telemarking and call center jobs, cashier
C) Branch managers, accountants, oil drill operators
D) Nail salon technician, hotel housekeeper, wait staff

Question 34

What kinds of occupations do people in the lower-middle class hold?

A) Physicians, lawyers, engineers
B) Fast food line cook, telemarking and call center jobs, cashier
C) Branch managers, accountants, oil drill operators
D) Nail salon technician, hotel housekeeper, wait staff

Question 35

The first poverty line measurement was calculated by

A) calculating the minimum amount of food it would cost to feed each member of a family and considering other costs, such as housing, relative to food, and making the poverty line
B) calculating the minimum amount of food it would cost to feed each member of a family and considering other costs, such as housing, relative to food, and multiplying it by three, and then making that the poverty line
C) calculating the minimum amount of food it would cost to feed each member of a family and considering other costs, such as housing, relative to food, and multiplying it by five, and then making that the poverty line
D) calculating the minimum amount of food it would cost to feed each member of a family and considering other costs, such as housing, relative to food, and multiplying it by eight, and then making that the poverty line

Question 36

From the list below, what is the least amount of money a family of four could earn and not be considered poor by the federal government?

A) $20,000
B) $30,000
C) $40,000
D) $50,000

Question 37

According to the U.S. Census, about what percentage of Americans fall below the poverty line?

A) 10%
B) 12%
C) 15%
D) 18%

Question 38

People in the working poor are poor

A) because they took the risk of a well-paying job in an unstable industry and were eventually laid off
B) because they frequently quit jobs
C) by choice in order to avoid paying income taxes
D) despite being employed for at least half of the year

Question 39

Which group of people was described by urban sociologist William Julius Wilson as experiencing long-term unemployment, social isolation, and segregation into impoverished urban neighborhoods?

A) Underclass
B) Working poor
C) Willful poor
D) Unwitting poor

Question 40

Which of the following statements is true about stratification today?

A) It is more pronounced between nations than within them.
B) It is more pronounced within nations than between them.
C) The inequality between nations is equivalent to the inequality within them.
D) It has lessened over the last 200 years.

Question 41

Worldwide, 1% of the global population owns what percentage of all household wealth?

A) Slightly more than 15%
B) Slightly more than 25%
C) Slightly more than 40%
D) Slightly more than 50%

Question 42

The world's poor are disproportionately

A) North American
B) white
C) male
D) young

Question 43

On what continent today is poverty most concentrated?

A) Asia
B) South America
C) North America
D) Africa

Question 44

Which sociologist developed world systems theory?

A) Karl Marx
B) Max Weber
C) Adam Smith
D) Immanuel Wallerstein

Question 45

World systems theory

A) defends colonialism as the best means of providing humans with the full use of the Earth's resources
B) emphasizes the relative positions of countries in the world economy as crucial determinants of inequality
C) seeks to rectify inequality through the mandatory redistribution of wealth across national lines through a global tax system
D) argues that it is a nation's geography and topography that shapes whether it is a "have more" or a "have less" nation

Question 46

"Rags to riches" tales that tell the story of people moving from poverty to wealth are stories of

A) vertical mobility
B) horizontal mobility
C) relative mobility
D) intergenerational mobility

Question 47

In real life, upward mobility is usually

A) common and quick
B) rapid and within a class rather than across class lines
C) slow but dramatic over the course of a lifetime
D) slight and slow

Question 48

Kaitlyn's job has transferred her within the company to a new city, where she will do the same work for the same pay. Here, she will have to meet new friends and form new social relationships. What kind of mobility is Kaitlyn experiencing?

A) Horizontal mobility
B) Vertical mobility
C) Absolute mobility
D) Relative mobility

Question 49

You are purchasing a new home. You complain to your grandmother that the house is only 2,600 square feet. She points out that this is twice the size of the average house when she was buying her first home 50 years ago. Your grandmother's point is that you have experienced

A) horizontal mobility
B) vertical mobility
C) absolute mobility
D) relative mobility

Question 50

Candace purchased her first home in 2008, right before the Great Recession. During the Great Recession, the value of her home plummeted, and she has never been able to fully recover financially. In contrast, her younger sister purchased her first home in 2013, and it has increased steadily in value and quickly came to surpass the value of Candace's home. This change in her sister's status compared to her own has frustrated Candace since they made similarly wise financial decisions and were equally responsible about home ownership. What form of mobility is causing Candace distress?

A) Horizontal mobility
B) Vertical mobility
C) Absolute mobility
D) Relative mobility

Question 51

Compared to European social welfare programs, U.S. policies to address poverty are

A) decentralized
B) robust
C) unpopular among those who rely on them
D) open to more people

Question 52

A tax system that taxes wealthy people at a higher rate than poor people is called a

A) flat tax
B) regressive tax
C) progressive tax
D) luxury tax

Question 53

Linking Social Security payments to a person's employment history,

A) distinguished between people who were considered deserving and undeserving of government financial support in their old age
B) ensured that people would not take more in Social Security benefits than they put in
C) ensured that people paid their own Social Security benefits rather than relying on future earners for it
D) ensured that all people would be eligible for Social Security benefits

Question 54

In what decade did the U.S. introduce widespread social welfare policies?

A) 1860s
B) 1900s
C) 1930s
D) 1960s

Question 55

Which of the following is an example of violent contentious politics?

A) Labor strikes
B) Civil disobedience
C) Rioting
D) Voting

Question 56

Contentious politics attempt to draw attention to an issue in order to

A) work through respectful and familiar channels for social change
B) engage in public debates about an issue
C) educate people on the multiple sides of an issue
D) force people to take a side in a conflict

Question 57

The Occupy Wall Street movement attempted to address

A) economic inequality, especially between the corporate world and working people
B) gross disparities in land ownership in South Africa
C) mistreatment of the lowest castes of people in India
D) the human trafficking that the world's poorest people are at risk of falling victim to

Question 58

What did the Wagner Act of 1935 guarantee?

A) the right to unionize, engage in collective bargaining, and to strike
B) the right to a minimum wage
C) the right to a safe working environment
D) the right to basic food, safety, and shelter as part of citizenship

Question 59

Because our socioeconomic status is comprised of more than just our economic standing,

A) a person can be privileged in some ways but not in others
B) a person's privilege in one area makes their privilege in another inevitable
C) there is rarely a connection between privilege in different areas
D) privilege is in the eye of the individual experiencing it

Question 60

By presenting only affluent men as contestants on The Bachelor, the show reinforces the idea that

A) men of more modest means are less handsome
B) a man is desirable as a husband because he is wealthy
C) men who are wealthy will be more loving fathers
D) women today are not seeking a mate to provide for them financially since women are able to be financially independent