Deck 4: Economics

Question 1

Today white families are,on average,________ times more wealthy than black and Hispanic families.

A)three
B)six
C)two
D)ten

Answer 1

B  

Question 2

In a June 2015 news clip,media commentator Bill O'Reilly said Americans needed to "get ready for the underclass." According to sociologists,what is wrong with using the term "underclass" to refer to people in poverty?

A)Liberal politicians use the term to criticize poor conservative whites.
B)It overemphasizes the role of education in economic outcomes.
C)The term is almost always used to refer to poor,uneducated rural whites.
D)It implies that a group should be kept low and ostracized from the rest of society.

Answer 2

D  

Question 3

Shelley and Sam,an African American married couple,have a new home in a middle-class neighborhood.Though they are both lawyers and have experienced economic success,they continue to be troubled by the amount of daily discrimination they and their children face.In Black Bourgeoisie,Sociologist E.Franklin Frazier would describe their predicament as a kind of:

A)physical isolation
B)spiritual suffering
C)economic deprivation
D)first world problem

Answer 3

B  

Question 4

Between 1984 and 2009,what happened to the wealth gap between white and black families?

A)The wealth gap virtually disappeared.
B)The wealth gap nearly doubled.
C)The wealth gap nearly tripled.
D)The wealth gap nearly quadrupled.

Question 5

Banks that are more likely to lend money to whites than to nonwhites and banks that charge higher mortgage rates to nonwhites are examples of:

A)present-day institutional racism
B)why there is persistent income inequality between whites and nonwhites
C)institutional racism that,while no longer practiced,has created wealth inequalities
D)the effects of past and present-day wage inequalities

Question 6

When it comes to poverty in America:

A)Though many Americans live in poverty,the rates are lower than in other industrialized nations.
B)Poverty levels in white communities and in communities of color are about the same in the United States.
C)Poverty levels are higher among senior citizens than among children.
D)Nearly one third of American "breadwinners" are among the nation's working poor.

Question 7

Bobby makes fun of Ralph,whose family is American Indian,for being poor.According to Bobby,all American Indians should be "rich" from casino money.What is one thing that Bobby should know to reassess his assumption?

A)The majority of American Indian income comes from agriculture.
B)A small group of American Indian tribes profit from casinos.
C)American Indian gaming dividends for specific tribal individuals and families are subject to such high taxes that they do not benefit families.
D)The U.S.government,rather than Native American tribes,profits most from American Indian casino money.

Question 8

What conclusion is shown in the figure below,"2009 Median Household Income by Race"?

A)Whites inherit less wealth than other racial/ethnic groups.
B)Whites inherit more wealth than other racial/ethnic groups.
C)Whites make more money than other racial/ethnic groups,but only because they work more hours.
D)Whites make more money than other racial/ethnic groups,even when they work the same hours.

Question 9

What was the result of Reaganomics on the poorest fifth of Americans?

A)Their income dropped an average of 10 percent.
B)Their income increased an average of 15 percent.
C)Their employment rate increased an average of 20 percent.
D)Their employment rate decreased an average of 2 percent.

Question 10

According to the textbook,Mexican immigrants who work in Nebraskan meatpacking plants primarily contend for jobs with:

A)semiskilled African Americans
B)immigrants from Somalia
C)poor whites
D)Native Americans

Question 11

Following the recent economic recession that began in 2008,many Tea Party Republican politicians proposed cutting taxes for the wealthy as a way to boost the economy.In doing so,which tradition are they following?

A)the Taft-Hartley Act
B)the New Deal
C)the War on Poverty
D)Reaganomics

Question 12

According to the textbook,in 2013 the poverty threshold for a single person under the age of 65 was $11,490;it was $23,550 for a family made up of a couple and their two children.What proportion of Hispanics,African Americans,and Native Americans are living below the poverty line?

A)10 percent
B)35 percent
C)50 percent
D)75 percent

Question 13

The term "white trash"-a derogatory term for rural,impoverished whites-began circulating in newspapers and books during what time period?

A)1770s
B)1850s
C)1910s
D)1970s

Question 14

What was one result of the Immigration and Nationality Act of 1965 and the 1980 Refugee Act?

A)European immigrants surged to the United States in record numbers.
B)Refugees,asylum seekers,and undocumented immigrants were no longer permitted entry to the United States.
C)Tens of thousands of Vietnamese refugees relocated to the United States in the mid-1970s.
D)Mexican immigrants became one of the wealthiest immigration groups,with just a 2 percent poverty rate for first-generation children.

Question 15

Patricia,a young white woman,and Daniel,a young black man,are both struggling to get by.However,Patricia was able to pay off her student loans when she inherited money from her grandmother.This is an example of racial disparities in:

A)income
B)wealth
C)life expectancy
D)credit

Question 16

What is the unemployment rate on the Pine Ridge Indian Reservation?

A)20 percent
B)45 percent
C)60 percent
D)75 percent

Question 17

Following World War II,suburban America exploded due in large part to homebuilding funded by which legislation?

A)Social Security
B)the Taft-Hartley Act
C)the GI Bill
D)Reaganomics

Question 18

What was one outcome of the New Deal?

A)It created greater income equality by almost eliminating segregation in public schools.
B)Because many jobs and industries that predominantly employed people of color were excluded from its programs,the benefits of the New Deal were disproportionately applied to whites.
C)It allowed people of color greater access to mortgage loans and desegregated neighborhoods,which in turn provided opportunities for them to build household wealth.
D)Southern Republicans celebrated the legislation,which outlawed Jim Crow policies.

Question 19

Which group prospered most following World War II?

A)African Americans
B)white Americans
C)Latino Americans
D)Native Americans

Question 20

Juliana,whose parents are immigrants from the Dominican Republic,was the first person in her family to go to college.Her parents,who recently retired after years of work as domestic servants,like to tell their friends that the family is wealthy now that their daughter has graduated from medical school.Why is their boast about their family wealth not quite accurate?

A)They forget that most wealth is passed down through family generations and that having a high income is not the same thing as having wealth.
B)They naively place their faith in a woman as a breadwinner.
C)They ignore the power of government programs in helping families get out of poverty.
D)They forget that doctors' incomes will decline because of the Affordable Care Act.

Question 21

Little Italy in New York City,where a number of Italian Americans have lived and owned businesses for generations,is an example of what?

A)an immigrant consortium
B)an ethnic enclave
C)a cosmopolitan canopy
D)an assimilation district

Question 22

Federally mandated affirmative action rules apply only to companies that conduct a fair amount of business with the federal government,which is about what percentage of American firms?

A)3 percent
B)15 percent
C)30 percent
D)59 percent

Question 23

What was the name of the policy put forward by President Bill Clinton that placed restrictions on how long families could receive welfare?

A)Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program
B)Aid to Families with Dependent Children
C)Personal Responsibility and Work Opportunity Reconciliation Act
D)Earned Income Tax Credit

Question 24

According to social scientists,what is one result of affirmative action?

A)Most women and blacks feel that affirmative action has played a major role in their employment opportunities.
B)The self-esteem of women and people of color has been impacted negatively,especially with regard to self-efficacy at work.
C)Most women and people of color feel that their coworkers doubt their abilities because of affirmative action.
D)People hired through affirmative action policies do just as well as those not hired through affirmative action policies.

Question 25

What does the concept "homosocial reproduction" mean?

A)People of color are less likely to condone homosexual relations than whites.
B)People in homosexual relationships tend to have higher salaries.
C)Authorities tend to fill positions of power with people like themselves.
D)People in lower-level positions tend to recruit people like themselves for coworkers.

Question 26

While numerous groups such as Black Girls Code have tried to encourage women of color to enter industries traditionally dominated by white males,such women continue to be underrepresented in top levels of employment in these industries.What term do sociologists use to describe this phenomenon?

A)the split labor market
B)the glass ceiling
C)the cement wall
D)the glass escalator

Question 27

What happened when antipoverty programs became intertwined with antiracism movements?

A)People of color entered PhD programs at higher rates.
B)The racial employment gap dramatically decreased.
C)Whites began turning away from the Democratic Party and their new policies.
D)Welfare use went down,especially among African Americans.

Question 28

______________ women are more likely to return to welfare than white women for many reasons,including the fact that ____________.

A)Black and Hispanic;women of color face more obstacles in the labor market
B)White;women of color tend to have a stronger "private safety net" than white women do
C)Black and Hispanic;white women who receive welfare are less likely to be married than women of color are
D)White;there are more white women in the United States than there are black and Hispanic women

Question 29

A national homebuilder developing a new home community needs to hire framers,plumbers,painters,electricians,and other construction workers.There are plenty of qualified,unionized,nonimmigrant job applicants,but the builder chooses to hire mostly Mexican immigrants.According to sociologist Edna Bonacich,this choice reflects the existence of:

A)community college training programs
B)a tight labor market
C)equal opportunity employment laws
D)a split labor market

Question 30

Aside from the structure of the economy,the class privileges or lack thereof)of immigrants,and ethnic enclaves,what else does the textbook say impacts how well immigrants fare in America?

A)racial privileges
B)luck
C)mathematical ability
D)number of children

Question 31

In the case Fisher v.University of Texas at Austin,Abigail Fisher,a white woman,challenged the admissions process at the University of Texas at Austin after being denied admission to the school,claiming the denial was the result of affirmative action.Her case is indicative of which pattern?

A)When asked who was most likely to face discrimination at work,survey respondents picked whites over blacks by two to one.
B)Qualified white applicants have been denied admission at countless universities,creating a new achievement gap.
C)When denied employment or admission at one institution,white applicants are unlikely to find employment or admission at another institution.
D)White women have been the least likely group to benefit from affirmative action policies.

Question 32

In order to determine if and how discrimination affects hiring decisions,sociologists conduct studies in which they send paired actors to apply for real jobs.The actors are equal in every way aside from race.What are these studies called?

A)audit studies
B)ethnography
C)survey studies
D)conversation analysis

Question 33

Those who argue that employment disparities can be improved by simply providing people of color with better work training promote their belief in:

A)impersonal market forces
B)institutional racism
C)interpersonal racism
D)affirmative action

Question 34

What is an "ethnic enclave"?

A)a semiautonomous economy,large or small,that is owned,operated,and managed by members of the same immigrant or ethnic community
B)a group of immigrants who are forcibly contained in one place
C)an urban center where people of various nationalities interact and participate in local commerce
D)a group of recent immigrants who participate in collective child raising and caregiving

Question 35

According to the textbook,in 2013,if black women were paid as much as white men with similar credentials they would earn an average of how much more per year?

A)$500
B)$2,000
C)$5,000
D)$7,000

Question 36

What is the umbrella term referring to a collection of policies and practices designed to address past wrongs,institutional racism,and sexism by offering people of color and women both employment and educational opportunities?

A)equal employment opportunity
B)affirmative action
C)reverse discrimination
D)SNAP

Question 37

What proportion of all Americans collects means-tested public assistance during some point in their lives?

A)one in five
B)one in two
C)two in three
D)seven in eight

Question 38

In 2013,the unemployment rate for whites was 6.4 percent.What was the unemployment rate for blacks?

A)3.4 percent
B)6.7 percent
C)13.2 percent
D)20.5 percent

Question 39

Which of the following groups of workers might company executives refer to as "strike insurance"?

A)workers who never initiate strikes because they receive high pay and good benefits
B)women workers who are too passive to initiate strikes
C)African American workers who replace striking workers
D)managers who strong-arm their employees into not striking

Question 40

According to social scientific evidence,what has been the impact of affirmative action policies on white men?

A)Employers regularly pass over equally or better qualified whites to hire people of color.
B)It can help white men in cases where qualified white men are given more of a chance against candidates who would have landed a job through old-boy networks and cronyism.
C)Companies often hire unqualified people of color or women over qualified white men.
D)White men regularly file formal complaints citing "reverse discrimination."

Question 41

Several studies have shown that black and Hispanic women were just as likely as white women to hold continual employment after leaving welfare,yet also more likely than white women to return to welfare.Given this finding,assess the effectiveness of the contemporary welfare system in alleviating poverty across race.Provide at least two points of evidence mentioned in the textbook to justify your answer.

Question 42

In the discussion of income and wealth disparities,the authors of the textbook argue that banks and financial institutions work against their own economic interests when it comes to race.What do they mean by that?

Question 43

Some sociologists,like William Julius Wilson,have argued that affirmative action programs have only tended to favor already economically advantaged racial minorities.As a result,some sociologists have advocated for economic-based affirmative action.Give one example of what that might look like and evaluate what the potential effectiveness of such a policy might be.

Question 44

Explain the two sides of the debate surrounding the claim that high levels of immigration lead to racial disparities in income levels.Which side do you find most convincing and why?

Question 45

According to the textbook,many Americans oppose affirmative action on the grounds that it is "'reverse discrimination' or an affront to meritocracy." What are some reasons why it is ironic that some whites complain about blacks being given a "head start"?

Question 46

What are the two dominant sociological arguments about how ethnic enclaves affect immigrants' upward mobility and economic prosperity?

Question 47

List the three common pathways through which immigrants adapt to American society,according to sociologists Alejandro Portes and Min Zhou,and provide an example of each.

Question 48

Sociologist Mary Waters observes that "We should not just be asking as a society,'How can we structure our immigration policy and our institutions to facilitate immigrants adopting our civic culture and becoming American?' We should also be asking,'What can we do about the pervasive inequalities in American life that often mean that becoming black American or Mexican American leads to a less bright future than remaining an immigrant?'" Propose a government policy that you think would address this issue.

Question 49

According to Herbert Blumer,how can we best understand the way that people's personal feelings of prejudice and discrimination are shaped by how they perceive their employment opportunities?

Question 50

Briefly list two of the three structural causes of poverty outlined by the textbook.