Deck 6: Social Stratification

Question 1

Based on current figures that show the percentages of aggregate income of each economic layer in the U.S. ,we live in a highly egalitarian society.

Answer 1

False

Question 2

The ideal that people in America should experience rewards that they earn through their merit and competence is not totally realized,since America also places some degree of reliance on ascription.

Answer 2

True

Question 3

The United States serves as a good example of a relatively open class system.

Answer 3

True

Question 4

Social stratification is the term used to describe the ranking or grading of people and groups into layers representing structured inequality.

Question 5

Social respect,admiration,and recognition associated with a particular social status are examples of the sociological view of prestige.

Question 6

Income refers to what people own at a particular point in time,while wealth refers to the amount of new money people receive within a given time frame.

Question 7

Social differentiation is a process that is equivalent to social stratification.

Question 8

Our social positions change throughout the life cycle,and so do the status symbols of these positions.

Question 9

For every dollar in wealth owned by a white household,the average African American household owns 15 cents and the average Hispanic household owns 11 cents.

Question 10

The United States is founded on the idea that all people should enjoy equal status within the confines of a classless society.

Question 11

A closed class system is supported by stratification that is based primarily on achieved status.

Question 12

Max Weber is given credit for developing the roles that conspicuous leisure and conspicuous consumption have in revealing social ranking.

Question 13

Karl Marx believed that the key to social stratification in capitalist societies is the separation between those who own and control the means of production and those who are the laborers.

Question 14

In highly egalitarian societies,the percentages of aggregate income for each economic layer should be fairly close to each other.

Question 15

Social differentiation sets the stage for the social ranking of people in a society.

Question 16

Inequality in the incomes of American citizens is greater than inequality in wealth.

Question 17

From the social stratification perspective,social arrangements essentially are neutral because they serve and promote the goals and interests of people in a roughly egalitarian manner.

Question 18

Prestige determines the ability of people to make the world work on their behalf even when the "world" may not want to work on their behalf.

Question 19

Max Weber took a single-dimensional view of stratification by identifying social class as the only concept of significance in the social ranking of people and groups.

Question 20

Recent surveys show that most Americans typically are optimistic about the future,believing they have a good chance for "getting ahead."

Question 21

Chances for upward mobility in the U.S.are no better,and in some cases worse,than they are in other industrialized countries.

Question 22

The reputational method of identifying social classes has people rank others on the basis of their knowledge of who associates with whom.

Question 23

Class distinctions in the United States that once were clear have become harder to discern.

Question 24

Between 2001 and 2002,the poverty rate increased among suburban dwellers,but it stayed the same for city dwellers.

Question 25

The self-placement method of identifying social classes (also known as the subjective method)views class as a social category in which people sense the attributes they share with others in the same category.

Question 26

Being rich or poor is permanent in the United States.

Question 27

In discussing inequality on campus,the text points out that

A) unlike the rest of society,campus life involves very little inequality.
B) social stratification is a pervasive component of campus life.
C) ethnicity,prestige,and wealth tend to dissolve as significant aspects of student life on campus.
D) students and teachers are essentially alike in their experience of classroom freedom.

Question 28

Inequality tends to occur in a random fashion,and differences in wealth and income develop primarily by chance.

Question 29

Regarding social stratification,the text observes that

A) the process of stratification results in benefits to all members of society.
B) social arrangements are neutral.
C) most societies of the world are organized so that their institutions systematically distribute benefits and burdens unequally among different categories of people.
D) All of the choices are correct.

Question 30

During the Vietnam War,80 percent of the 2.5 million men who served in Southeast Asia came from working-class and impoverished backgrounds.

Question 31

The poverty rate is lower for whites than for African Americans.

Question 32

The objective method of identifying social classes views class as a numerically measurable category.

Question 33

According to the functionalist perspective,social stratification is a structural feature of all societies.

Question 34

Between 1996 and 2000,the number of people receiving government handouts increased by 2.5 million.

Question 35

Jencks argues that sociologists use the term "underclass" as a stereotype.

Question 36

Being poor makes a person part of the underclass.

Question 37

Elman and O'Rand found that education increased increased adult wages equally for for whites and blacks.

Question 38

The Federal Reserve Board Survey of Consumer Finances showed that in 2004 the wealthiest one percent of U.S.households own 33.3 percent of all private wealth.

Question 39

Two-thirds of Americans between the ages of 20 and 65 will use a welfare program,and 90 percent of those who use it will use it more than once.

Question 40

The officers of the largest U.S.corporations earn about 100 times more than the president of the United States.

Question 41

Thorsten Veblen's concept of conspicuous consumption asserts that

A) we must merely possess power and wealth in order to gain social prestige.
B) wealth and power must be put on public display.
C) little evidence of wealth is required.
D) we must engage in appropriate conspicuous buying rituals to maintain our personal identity.

Question 42

Societies with closed social stratification systems are characterized by

A) little social mobility.
B) a great amount of social mobility.
C) little social differentiation.
D) a great amount of social differentiation.

Question 43

The amount of money people receive from jobs is referred to as

A) wealth.
B) income.
C) investment potential.
D) K-1 retirement plans.

Question 44

Sociologically,power

A) is the ability to force people to do something,even if they don't want to do it.
B) affects the ability to make the world work on their behalf.
C) unconnected to wealth and income.
D) is the ability to force people to do something,even if they don't want to do it and affects the ability to make the world work on their behalf are correct.

Question 45

A good example of a closed stratification system is the

A) British class system.
B) American class system.
C) American caste system.
D) Hindu caste system.

Question 46

Highly egalitarian societies should

A) produce levels of aggregate income that are fairly similar,percentage-wise,to each other.
B) be modeled after the United States,which currently has a very small gap between rich and poor.
C) experience substantial inequalities between "haves" and "have-nots."
D) maintain relatively high levels of inequality in wealth,with income remaining relatively equal.

Question 47

____________________ requires that people be distributed within the social structure so that statuses are filled and their accompanying roles performed.

A) Social differentiation
B) Social gradation
C) Social degradation
D) Social stratification

Question 48

The economic dimensions of social stratification include

A) wealth and income.
B) prestige and power.
C) wealth and power.
D) power and status.

Question 49

The type of society in which people can change their social status is a(n)

A) open system.
B) closed system.
C) ascribed status system.
D) closed system and ascribed status system are correct.

Question 50

Thorsten Veblen documents how

A) conspicuous consumption is an accurate measure of the total wealth of the individual.
B) relative success can become an established end.
C) self-esteem is not connected to high status.
D) conspicuous leisure has no role in the social ranking of the individual.

Question 51

When we speak about the "things" that people own,we are referring to their

A) wealth.
B) income.
C) prestige.
D) power.

Question 52

Sociologists define _________ as the ranking or grading of individuals and groups into hierarchical layers.

A) social stratification
B) social structure
C) social status
D) social differentiation

Question 53

While status symbols may affect adult status,the core of adult status is symbolized primarily by

A) clothing,jewelry,and housing.
B) clothing,computers,and cultural products.
C) wealth and income.
D) where one lives,the nature of one's occupation,the roles one plays and the people with whom one associates.

Question 54

According to most theorists,the United States is an example of

A) the ideal type of a closed social stratification system.
B) a relatively closed social stratification system.
C) a relatively open social stratification system.
D) the ideal type of an open social stratification system.

Question 55

Karl Marx believed the key to social stratification is the

A) prestige of the "haves" vs.the "have-nots" in socialistic societies.
B) division between those who own and operate the means of production and those who sell their labor in capitalist societies.
C) informal communication network between workers and owners.
D) bureaucratic structure of modern times.

Question 56

Most Americans believe

A) they have a good chance of getting ahead.
B) they have a better standard of living than their parents.
C) their children will have a better chance of succeeding than they had.
D) All of the choices are correct.

Question 57

Max Weber's three dimensions of social stratification include all of the following except

A) class.
B) party (power).
C) education.
D) status (prestige).

Question 58

Which of the following is TRUE?

A) Social stratification depends upon but is not the same as social differentiation.
B) Social stratification is analogous to social differentiation.
C) Social differentiation depends upon but is not the same as social stratification.
D) There is no relationship whatever between social stratification and social differentiation.

Question 59

Societies with open social stratification systems have a greater reliance on

A) ascribed statuses.
B) achieved statuses.
C) caste statuses.
D) inverted class statuses.

Question 60

The social respect,admiration,and recognition associated with a particular social status is known as

A) wealth.
B) power.
C) prestige.
D) income.

Question 61

The _____________ approach to measuring social class views social class as a social category in which people perceive themselves as sharing attributes with others.

A) objective method.
B) self-placement method.
C) reputational method.
D) distributional method.

Question 62

The magnitude and manner in which we consume our society's goods and services is called

A) life chances.
B) style of life.
C) inducement theory.
D) the law of supply and demand.

Question 63

Social inequality in the United States

A) is a part of the structure of contemporary life.
B) is institutionalized.
C) does not occur randomly,but follows a relatively consistent and stable pattern.
D) All of the choices are correct.

Question 64

Objective measures of social class neglect people's

A) income and wealth.
B) perceptions of their social class.
C) occupational categories.
D) educational attainment.

Question 65

The 2004 Federal Reserve Board Survey of Consumer Finances shows that the wealthiest 1 percent of U.S.households own __________ percent of all private wealth.

A) 7.5
B) 18.2
C) 33.3
D) 42.7

Question 66

Two perceptions promote that social classes exist as distinct groups.are promoted regarding the answer to this question.They include the idea that

A) classes exist,but are invisible due to the "melting pot" theory.
B) classes are real and exist in a state of conflict with one another.
C) American society is essentially classless,a situation in which class divisions are blurred by their continuous nature.
D) classes are real and exist in a state of conflict with one another and American society is essentially classless,a situation in which class divisions are blurred by their continuous nature are correct.

Question 67

When we talk about level of living and options for choice,we are considering

A) life chances.
B) social differentiation.
C) inducements.
D) status spheres.

Question 68

In America,

A) white households maintain higher levels of wealth than both African American and Hispanic households.
B) for every dollar in wealth owned by white households,the average African American household owns 16 cents.
C) for every dollar in wealth owned by white households,the average Hispanic household owns 10 cents.
D) All of the choices are correct.

Question 69

The simplest and cheapest approach to identifying social class is usually provided by the

A) objective method.
B) self-placement method.
C) reputational method.
D) distributional method.

Question 70

The Coleman-Rainwater approach to understanding class structure

A) combined the objective with the self-placement methods of measuring class.
B) is a simpler,though less descriptive method of determining social class.
C) refined the reputational method of measuring social class.
D) involves a somewhat unwieldy,but more descriptive approach to measuring social class by combining the self-placement and reputational approaches.

Question 71

The advantage of the self-placement approach to measuring social class is that

A) it is cheaper.
B) it is less complex.
C) it can be applied to large populations.
D) it is particularly effective when dealing with small communities.

Question 72

__________ refer(s)to the magnitude and manner of consumption of goods and services.

A) Life chances
B) Social stratification
C) Style of life
D) Social classes

Question 73

Lower-class people are more likely to drink beer,eat frozen pizza,and watch more television than are middle-class people.This is an example of

A) who's better and who isn't.
B) innate intelligence.
C) good socialization.
D) differing styles of life.

Question 74

__________ refer(s)to the likelihood that individuals and groups will enjoy desired goods and services,fulfilling experiences,and opportunities for living healthy and long lives.

A) Social stratification
B) Style of life
C) Social classes
D) Life chances

Question 75

In Yankee City and Old City,W.Lloyd Warner identified six classes.Which of the following is NOT one of these?

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

Question 76

According to the text,social class affects

A) education.
B) health and life expectancy.
C) life chances in a variety of ways.
D) All of the choices are correct.

Question 77

"Status spheres" are

A) classes established on the basis of wealth and income.
B) based on a person's location on a dimension of value,such as ethnicity,lifestyle,or occupation.
C) areas within cities that form social class "islands."
D) None of the choices are correct.

Question 78

The ______________ approach to measuring social class focuses on the knowledge of who associates with whom and tends to be limited to small communities.

A) objective
B) occupational
C) reputational
D) distributional

Question 79

__________ is probably the most powerful single contributor to premature morbidity and mortality worldwide.

A) Lower socioeconomic status
B) Race
C) Ethnicity
D) Religion

Question 80

The ____________ method of identifying social class views social class as a statistical category.

A) objective
B) self-placement
C) reputational
D) distributional