Deck 11: Inequalities of Social Class

Question 1

The basic and most readily available measures of inequality in any society include all of the following EXCEPT:

A) educational attainment
B) income
C) occupational prestige
D) religion

Answer 1

religion

Question 2

Sociologists measure educational attainment by:

A) a person's scores on standardized examinations such as the SAT
B) the number of years of both formal and information education that a person has received
C) the number of years of school completed by an individual
D) whether or not a person has a formal degree

Answer 2

the number of years of school completed by an individual

Question 3

Which of the following resources is most equally distributed throughout the U.S. population?

A) education
B) income
C) power
D) wealth

Answer 3

education

Question 4

Which of the following is NOT a basic measure of inequality in any society?

A) educational attainment
B) occupational prestige
C) social class
D) wealth

Question 5

The term "educational achievement" refers to:

A) basic reading, writing, and computational skills
B) number of years of on-the-job training
C) number of years of school completed
D) whether or not a person has a formal degree

Question 6

The term "human capital" refers to the:

A) number of people unemployed at any given point in time
B) number of years of on-the-job training
C) wealth producing capacity of a people
D) years of schooling completed

Question 7

Reyna Flores, a Latino woman, has just completed her bachelor's degree and is starting graduate school next semester. This accomplishment is referred to as

A) educational achievement
B) educational attainment
C) educational prestige
D) educational parity

Question 8

The U.S. Census Bureau indicates that in 2004 the top fifth of the American population earned approximately what percentage of all income?

A) 10%
B) 15%
C) 20%
D) 50%

Question 9

Statistics show that since 1970, the gap between the rich and the poor in terms of the division of a nation's income

A) has increased.
B) has decreased.
C) has stayed the same.
D) doesn't exist.

Question 10

The rating given by people throughout a society to a particular job is termed:

A) occupational attainment
B) occupational prestige
C) status differentiation
D) status placement

Question 11

The term "the American paradox" refers to:

A) the rates of poverty and how they are measured
B) the productivity and the achievement that accompanies it
C) the contradiction between achievements and growing inequality
D) the worsening health indicators among children

Question 12

The prestige that is attached to a particular occupation is heavily influenced by which of the following:

A) the amount of the future earnings that a person in this occupation will have
B) the number of people employed in this particular field
C) the amount of education required for this job
D) the family's reputation in the community

Question 13

All of the following influence the amount of prestige people attach to an occupation EXCEPT:

A) the amount of education required for the job
B) the amount of income that the job provides
C) the degree of authority associated with the job
D) the fringe benefits attached to the job

Question 14

Which of the following statements about occupational prestige is correct?

A) Blue-collar jobs tend to have higher prestige than white-collar jobs.
B) People tend to value all occupations essentially equally.
C) The prestige of a job is heavily influenced by the amount of education it requires.
D) The salary associated with a job is the most important factor determining its prestige.

Question 15

Which of the following has the highest occupational prestige score?

A) Sociologist
B) College professor
C) Factory owner
D) Physician

Question 16

Which of the following seems to have the lower occupation prestige score?

A) Housewife
B) Househusband
C) Housekeeper
D) Garbage collector

Question 17

In the Jeffersonian view of American society:

A) factory workers were the dominant class of stratification
B) most families lived on farms or ran small commercial enterprises
C) the majority of classes consisted of plantation owners and their slaves
D) the United States had a complex system of stratification

Question 18

Which of the following statements BEST describes the position of Native Americans in the 1830s?

A) After several generations, they would be granted citizenship.
B) They tended to live mixed in with the rest of the population.
C) They were considered a pariah class.
D) They were fully assimilated into the class structure.

Question 19

Which of the following was not a part of the culture of Middletown as described by Helen and Robert Lynd?

A) control over one's assets
B) free competition
C) private property
D) shared wealth and power

Question 20

In the Middletown of today

A) the upper class still has a significant influence.
B) the lower class has the most influence.
C) class structure is much less cohesive and clear-cut.
D) none of the these

Question 21

In Warner's analysis of "Yankee City," property owners such as storekeepers and highly educated professionals were classified as members of the:

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

Question 22

In "Yankee City," "poor but honest workers, who more often than not are only semi-skilled or unskilled"Were classified as members of the:

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

Question 23

In his analysis of "Yankee City," Warner classified people who were "improvident and unwilling or unable to save money and therefore often dependent on the philanthropy of the private or public agency and on poor relief"
As members of the:

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

Question 24

According to Warner's "Yankee City" study, which of the following classes spends a higher percentage of their income on the necessities of life?

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

Question 25

In Robert and Helen Lynd's study, Middletown, a major finding was the:

A) assimilation of ethnic groups into the community
B) conflict and distance between the major economic classes
C) effect of Roosevelt administration policies on class relations
D) unusual patterns of upward mobility

Question 26

In their second study of Middletown, Robert and Helen Lynd noted that as a result of the Depression:

A) opportunities for upward mobility were greater than ever
B) the business class was more unified than ever
C) there was more hostility among the economic classes than before
D) the working class was more conservative than before

Question 27

Which of the following is NOT among the findings of Theodore Caplow and his associates in their analysis of Middletown forty years after the original study by the Lynds?

A) At the lower end of the economic scale, lifestyles were more homogeneous.
B) Factory workers had risen to the middle stratum of social life in Middletown.
C) Labor unions were still excluded from the mainstream of life in Middletown.
D) The distinctive upper class that the Lynds saw emerging in the 1930s had vanished by the 1970s.

Question 28

In the 1930s, studies of Southern communities documented:

A) that blacks were excluded from certain occupations for lack of the necessary skills
B) that blacks were unwilling to make the sacrifices necessary to enter the economic mainstream
C) that discrimination against blacks had largely disappeared
D) the existence of a racially based caste system

Question 29

A section of a city that is segregated either racially or culturally is:

A) a ghetto
B) an urban island
C) a racial sector
D) a zone

Question 30

In their analysis of Chicago's black population in the 1940s, Drake and Cayton concluded that:

A) compared with those in the South, economic conditions in the North were better for blacks
B) compared with that of blacks in the South, the personal life of blacks in the North was far more disorganized
C) most blacks were unprepared for the rigors of industrial living in the North
D) the situation of blacks in Chicago constituted a northern form of the racial caste system

Question 31

In analyzing the conditions of blacks in Chicago, Drake and Cayton argued that they were faced with a "job ceiling." By this they meant that:

A) a racial caste system prevented blacks from obtaining better-paying jobs
B) poor economic conditions severely limited the opportunities of blacks to achieve upward mobility
C) the occupational levels to which they could aspire were limited by their lack of skills
D) the political system in Chicago favored whites over blacks

Question 32

Many of the persistent racial inequalities within the occupational sector (i.e. government jobs, industrial jobs, commerce jobs) originated from

A) the Civil War.
B) the job ceiling.
C) the Black Metropolis.
D) none of these

Question 33

The shift from an industrial to a postindustrial society has changed the occupational structure so that in 1990 the proportion of people working in the service sector is:

A) about half
B) about three-quarters
C) seven out of ten
D) three out of ten

Question 34

Which of the following statements BEST describes the trend in jobs in the past century?

A) The educational requirements for most jobs have decreased dramatically.
B) There has been a dramatic rise in the number of independent business people.
C) There has been a dramatic shift from goods-producing to service-producing jobs.
D) There has been a dramatic shift from public sector to private-sector jobs.

Question 35

Which of the following is the most important component of Daniel Bell's vision of the "postindustrial society"?

A) a ruling class based on ownership of property
B) party politics at the national level
C) raw muscle power
D) scientific and technical information

Question 36

Changes in the structure of the American economy and especially in the types of jobs it produces have resulted in:

A) a blurring of class lines
B) a heightening of class conflict between workers and the owners of the means of production
C) little or no change in the class structure
D) sharper distinctions between the working class and the middle class

Question 37

Which of the following terms refers to a research method in which the researcher asks selected members of the community their opinion about the social class rankings?

A) deductive method
B) introspective method
C) objective method
D) subjective method

Question 38

When a researcher from a major advertising firm asked Mrs. Smith to rate her friends and neighbors in terms of their class standing in the community, the researcher was employing a technique known as the:

A) deductive method
B) introspective method
C) objective method
D) subjective method

Question 39

Which of the following terms refers to a research method in which the researcher uses such criteria as type of home, level of education, occupational prestige, and place of residence to rank people?

A) inductive method
B) objective method
C) reputational method
D) subjective method

Question 40

When people are asked to identify the social class they belong to the most frequent response is:

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

Question 41

A recent study of the social classes Americans feel they belong to found that:

A) blacks and Hispanics are far less likely than whites to assign themselves to the middle class
B) most people are unaware of the existence of social classes in the United States
C) most people consider themselves members of the working class
D) most people deny that they belong to any social class

Question 42

Which social class are blacks most likely to report belonging to?

A) Lower class
B) Working class
C) Middle class
D) Upper class

Question 43

Which social class are whites most likely to report belonging to?

A) Lower class
B) Working class
C) Middle class
D) Upper class

Question 44

A social rank based on a combination of occupation, earned income, level of education, and family prestige is:

A) a prestige level
B) an ascribed status
C) a social class
D) a socioeconomic status

Question 45

When discussing someone's socioeconomic standing, which of the following terms might also be used?

A) social class
B) socioeconomic status
C) class consciousness
D) social status

Question 46

A major problem with most studies of social inequality in the United States is that:

A) most people do not have any idea to which class they belong
B) most people do not wish to respond to the researcher's questions
C) most studies tend to exclude the farm population
D) sociological measures of class are vague and imprecise

Question 47

In Warner's "Yankee City" studies, respondents had the greatest difficulty distinguishing between the:

A) lower-middle and upper-lower classes
B) upper-lower and lower-lower classes
C) upper-middle and lower-middle classes
D) upper-upper and lower-upper classes

Question 48

In a recent study of socialization in elite American prep schools, Cookson and Persell concluded that "preppies":

A) become maladjusted adults as a direct result of their experiences in these schools
B) develop close ties to their classmates that can be valuable in later life
C) have no better chance of achieving economic success than students who go to public schools
D) resent the years they spend in elite schools

Question 49

In Robert and Mary Jackman's analysis of the social classes Americans tend to identify with, what proportion of the respondents placed themselves in the lower class?

A) 5 percent
B) 10 percent
C) 25 percent
D) 40 percent

Question 50

Which of the following statements about the upper class in the United States is correct?

A) It consists of about 25 percent of the population.
B) Over the past several years the wealth of the upper class have enjoyed dramatic increases
C) There is fairly easy movement into the upper class from other classes.
D) The richest members of the upper class control 37 percent of all personal wealth in the United States.

Question 51

Winthrop Richardson Gottrocks is the newborn son of Lovely City's oldest family. Given his social class position, we might expect all of the following are likely to be true EXCEPT:

A) he is a full-term baby
B) he is less likely to have fetal alcohol syndrome
C) he is more likely to smoke
D) in adulthood he is less likely to be employed in a hazardous occupation

Question 52

All of the following are true politically about the poor and the working class EXCEPT:

A) most believe that current levels of income inequality are unfair
B) they are more likely to support measures that increase equality of opportunity
C) they are more likely to vote Democratic
D) they believe that social difference ought to be based on individual achievement

Question 53

The upper class may be divided into two parts:

A) those who are active in national politics and those who are not
B) those who are born into the upper class and those who are newly arrived
C) those who favor a more equitable distribution of resources and those who do not
D) those whose capital is tied up in the industrial sector of the economy and those whose capital is invested in banking

Question 54

Which of the following statements concerning the upper class in the United States is NOT true?

A) They constitute no more than 3 percent of the population.
B) They control a disproportionate amount of wealth and resources.
C) They generally vote Democratic.
D) They tend to separate themselves from the rest of American society.

Question 55

Which of the following is NOT a characteristic of the "power elite"?

A) It controls a disproportionate amount of wealth.
B) It includes high-level employees in the government and military.
C) It is highly cohesive.
D) There is relatively easy movement into and out of this group.

Question 56

The concept of the hyper-rich is based on the fact that:

A) their wealth has accumulated over several hundreds of years
B) they own a vast number of manufacturing businesses
C) their average annual income is in excess of $3 million a year
D) power is concentrated in the hands of those who are excessively wealthy

Question 57

The idea that competing centers of wealth and power within the upper class prevent it from becoming a cohesive ruling class is known as the:

A) governing class theory
B) pluralist theory
C) power elite theory
D) theory of mass society

Question 58

The largest single class in American society is the:

A) middle class
B) underclass
C) upper class
D) working class

Question 59

People whose income is derived from small businesses may be classified as members of the:

A) bourgeoisie
B) lumpenproletariat
C) petit bourgeoisie
D) proletariat

Question 60

Which of the following statements about the suburban middle class is correct?

A) It is composed largely of highly educated professionals.
B) It is culturally diverse.
C) It is mostly composed of "yuppies."
D) There is little mobility into it from the working class.

Question 61

Perhaps the central symbol of membership in the American middle class is:

A) a white collar job
B) graduation from high school
C) graduation from college
D) home ownership

Question 62

Below the secure segment of the middle class is a larger stratum that is made up of

A) highly skilled but poorly educated individuals
B) less skilled, less educated individuals facing economic insecurity
C) less educated but economically secure group of individuals
D) increasingly more secure individuals

Question 63

The social class that is undergoing the most rapid and difficult change in the United States today is the:

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

Question 64

The class that is characterized by employment in skilled, semi-skilled, or unskilled manual occupations is the:

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

Question 65

The most diverse class in racial and ethnic terms is the:

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

Question 66

Which of the following is NOT a characteristic of the working class?

A) An increasing proportion of its members are joining labor unions.
B) It is undergoing a greater degree of social change than any other social class.
C) Its members are more likely to belong to labor unions than are members of other social classes.
D) Its members tend to be concentrated in skilled, semi-skilled and unskilled occupations.

Question 67

The working class may be divided into two parts:

A) blue-collar and white-collar workers
B) industrial workers and skilled crafts workers
C) skilled crafts workers and industrial workers
D) white-collar workers and quasi-professionals

Question 68

Compared with skilled workers, industrial workers are more likely to:

A) be aware of their class identity
B) feel financially secure
C) identify with the middle class
D) support the Republican party

Question 69

Compared with industrial workers, skilled workers are more likely to:

A) abandon membership in unions
B) be conscious of their class membership
C) feel financially insecure
D) think of themselves as members of the middle class

Question 70

John Pajak is an assembly-line worker at the Belchfire Motor Works in Detroit. All of the following are likely to be characteristic of John EXCEPT that he:

A) is a blue-collar worker
B) is a union member
C) is conscious of his working class status
D) feels financially secure

Question 71

Which of the following statements about the working class is NOT true?

A) Its members are frequently plagued by financial worries.
B) Its members are more likely to belong to labor unions than members of other classes.
C) Its members are more racially and ethnically diverse than members of other classes.
D) Many of its members have gained considerable protection against arbitrary changes in their working conditions and earnings.

Question 72

Rates of poverty have ________________ since the economic expansion.

A) increased simultaneously
B) increased slightly
C) generally decreased
D) stayed the same

Question 73

People whose wages for full-time work do not elevate them above the poverty level are referred to as the:

A) lower class
B) marginal working class
C) working class
D) working poor

Question 74

Sam Ravich has a wife and four children. All of his life he has worked at jobs that paid minimal wages. However hard he tries, he never seems to have enough money to buy things that other Americans would see as providing a comfortable lifestyle. Which of the following terms would sociologists use to describe the Ravich family?

A) lower class
B) marginal working class
C) working class
D) working poor

Question 75

Among the leading reasons for the increase in poverty in recent years is the:

A) decrease in the number of jobs available
B) disappearance of the family farm
C) growing percentage of black teenagers who have dropped out of school
D) increase in the number of female-headed families with young children

Question 76

According to recent statistics, most of the nation's poor are concentrated in

A) small metropolitan areas.
B) small towns and rural areas.
C) large central cities.
D) large suburban cities.

Question 77

The term "feminization of poverty" means that:

A) an increasing number of poor families are headed by single females
B) most jobs for women are low-paying
C) most poor people are women
D) that women are more likely to lose their jobs

Question 78

Which of the following is TRUE regarding the Mississippi Delta Region?

A) The land is owned primarily by a few white families.
B) The land is owned primarily by a few black families.
C) Very little of the land is good for farming.
D) none of these

Question 79

Which of the following statements about farmers in the United States is correct?

A) About half farm part-time and work at wage-paying jobs full time.
B) Government policies have made economic setbacks easier for farmers to adjust to.
C) Most farmers would willingly give up farming for better opportunities in the city.
D) Technological advances have made farming less satisfying.

Question 80

Which of the following statements about the impact of large farms and agribusiness on rural communities and counties is NOT true?

A) Local businesses maintain the status quo but do not thrive.
B) The number of civic associations decreases.
C) There is an increase in poverty.
D) These communities are characterized by declining population.