Deck 5: Aging and Inequality

Question 1

In a ______, the greatest wealth, power, and prestige belong to a society's oldest members.

A)theocracy
B)democracy
C)meritocracy
D)gerontocracy

Answer 1

D

Question 2

In 1987, Congress passed legislation that

A)set ages of mandatory retirement for everyone.
B)allowed each state to decide if mandatory retirement should exist.
C)required employers to phase out mandatory retirement policies.
D)made mandatory retirement policies optional for companies.

Answer 2

C

Question 3

The most common source of support and companionship for elderly people is

A)community senior citizen centers.
B)religious institutions.
C)family members.
D)educational programs like Elderhostel.

Answer 3

C

Question 4

Which one of the following statements is correct?

A)Most elderly men and most elderly women live alone.
B)Most elderly men live alone; most elderly women live with a husband.
C)Seventy-two percent of elderly men live with a wife; just 42 percent of elderly women live with a husband.
D)Eighty percent of both elderly men and elderly women live with a spouse.

Question 5

In Japan, a very low birthrate has resulted in

A)the proportion of Japan's population over the age of sixty-five is increasing faster than in any other country.
B)the nation's population will continue to increase for decades to come.
C)the number of elderly people is steadily declining.
D)there are now far more males than females in the population.

Question 6

Of the levels of "old" discussed in the text, which category is increasing the most rapidly in number?

A)the "younger old"
B)the "elder old"
C)the "older old"
D)the "oldest old"

Question 7

Which of the following terms refers to the average life span of a country's population?

A)longevity
B)life expectancy
C)life course
D)age cohort

Question 8

What percentage of the 62,000 centenarians in the United States (people aged 100 years or older) are women?

A)22 percent
B)42 percent
C)62 percent
D)82 percent

Question 9

In 1950, people in the United States typically retired at about age sixty-eight; after dropping to age sixty-three in 2005, by 2012, the retirement-age number was about

A)fifty-five.
B)sixty-five.
C)sixty-nine.
D)seventy.

Question 10

Which term refers to the socially constructed stages people pass through as they live out their lives?

A)aging
B)geriatrics
C)gerontology
D)the life course

Question 11

By 2030, according to projections, people over the age of sixty-five will represent what percentage of the U.S. population?

A)2 percent
B)20 percent
C)30 percent
D)50 percent

Question 12

Our society began to define elder abuse as a social problem in the

A)1950s.
B)1960s.
C)1970s.
D)1980s.

Question 13

Sociologists argue that stages of life are

A)defined by biological changes.
B)socially constructed.
C)rooted in psychological states.
D)exactly the same around the world.

Question 14

Portraying elderly people as a whole as senile, rigid, or old-fashioned is an example of

A)racism.
B)classism.
C)ageism.
D)sexism.

Question 15

The average age of the U.S. workforce is

A)going up.
B)going down.
C)staying about the same.
D)going up for men and going down for women.

Question 16

Which of the following statements about elderly widows (females) or widowers (males) remarrying is correct?

A)Widowers are more likely to remarry than widows.
B)Widows are more likely to remarry than widowers.
C)Widowers and widows are equally likely to remarry.
D)Widows and widowers rarely remarry.

Question 17

In comparison with the word elder, commonly used in preindustrial societies, the modern term elderly

A)has the same meaning.
B)has a more positive meaning.
C)has a more negative meaning.
D)is without meaning.

Question 18

Which term refers to a branch of the social sciences dealing with aging and the elderly?

A)geriatrics
B)aging
C)gerontology
D)gerontocracy

Question 19

When older people, especially women, appear on television or in films, it is most often

A) in stereotypical roles.
B)in leading roles.
C)as physically active people.
D)as the most wealthy and powerful people.

Question 20

The fact that the death of a spouse is a very difficult experience helps explain why

A)surviving partners thrive once this transition is behind them.
B)the surviving partner is at high risk of death, sometimes by suicide.
C)divorce rates are high as people enter old age.
D)single people typically outlive married people.

Question 21

What type of facility offers homelike care that provides physical and emotional comfort to dying people and their families?

A)a nursing home
B)hospice
C)a hospital
D)a rehabilitation facility

Question 22

Which of the following concepts refers to social inequality among various age categories within a society?

A)ageism
B)age stratification
C)gerontocracy
D)aristocracy

Question 23

If you were studying informal and unpaid care provided to a dependent person by family members, other relatives, or friends, which of the following would be your focus?

A)day care
B)disengagement
C)caregiving
D)hospice

Question 24

In 2012, about what percentage of people over the age of sixty-five in the United States was living below the official poverty line?

A)3 percent
B)9 percent
C)19 percent
D)24 percent

Question 25

Which of the following terms refers to assisting in the death of a person suffering from an incurable disease?

A)euthanasia
B)living will
C)justifiable homicide
D)negotiated death

Question 26

What is the term for doctors stopping the treatment of a terminally ill person by turning off respirators or other life-support machines?

A)active euthanasia
B)positive euthanasia
C)passive euthanasia
D)negative life support

Question 27

Among full-time workers, women aged twenty-five to forty-four earn 77 percent as much as comparably aged men. Among people approaching retirement age (forty-five to sixty-four years) women earn _____?___ percent as much as men in the same age category.

A)34
B)54
C)74
D)94

Question 28

In a study of a declining neighborhood along the coast of Southern California, Barbara Myerhoff found that, above all, elderly residents wanted to

A)remain independent.
B)go out at night.
C)move to senior citizen housing
D)move in with their adult children.

Question 29

The cost to live in a retirement community is typically between $2,000 and $6,000 per month for an apartment and meals. In addition, residents must usually pay entrance fees of as much as

A)a month's rent.
B)six months of Social Security payments.
C)a half a million dollars.
D)a quarter of a million dollars.

Question 30

The majority of caregiving to elderly people in the U.S. is provided by

A)senior daycare facilities.
B)nursing homes.
C)women.
D)other elderly people.

Question 31

Which theoretical approach points out that society solves the problem of people's physical decline by disengaging the elderly, transferring their roles and responsibilities to younger people?

A)structural-functional approach
B)social-conflict approach
C)symbolic-interaction approach
D)social-disorganization approach

Question 32

Most elders prefer to "age in place," meaning that they

A)remain in the same job they had when they were younger.
B)stay in the homes where they lived while working and raising their children.
C)seek places to live where aging is easily accommodated, such as assisted living facilities.
D)expect their capabilities to remain the same as they age.

Question 33

About what percentage of U.S. seniors live in a nursing facility at any specific point in time?

A)4 percent
B)24 percent
C)44 percent
D)64 percent

Question 34

As of early 2012, which states have enacted laws allowing physicians to assist in the deaths of terminally ill people?

A)California, Massachusetts, and Rhode Island
B)Oregon, Washington, and Vermont
C)Florida, Alabama, and Mississippi
D)Michigan and Minnesota

Question 35

The government-sponsored program that pays for hospital care and 80 percent of other medical care costs for people over the age of sixty-five is

A)Medicaid.
B)Medicare.
C)Temporary Assistance for Needy Families.
D)National Health Insurance.

Question 36

In the United States, if you track income by age, you find that income typically peaks at about what age?

A)30
B)40
C)50
D)60

Question 37

On average, U.S. men and women over the age of sixty five spend what percentage of their household budget on health care?

A)1 percent
B)5 percent
C)15 percent
D)35 percent

Question 38

What theory states that modern societies operate more smoothly by transferring responsibilities from the elderly to younger people?
A)disengagement theory

A)geriatric theory
B)activity theory
D)age stratification theory

Question 39

Intersection theory helps us to see that

A)some categories of elders confront greater disadvantages than others.
B)disengagement is functional for society as a whole.
C)physicians must play a part in a "negotiated death."
D)the poverty rate for seniors is declining over time.

Question 40

Suppose that a physician administered a lethal injection to a dying person to bring a painless end to life. This would be called

A)active euthanasia
B)complex euthanasia
C)passive euthanasia
D)physician-assisted suicide

Question 41

State the essential insights of structural-functional, symbolic-interaction analysis, social-conflict analysis, and feminist analysis of aging. Also note at least one limitation of each. Which makes the most sense to you? Why?

Question 42

What is ageism? Provide examples of age-based prejudice and discrimination.

Question 43

According to the radical left view, age stratification is

A)necessary to keep society operating.
B)a dimension of the striking social inequality caused by the capitalist U.S.economy.
C)beneficial because it makes society more productive.
D)a result of insufficient planning for the future on the part of the elderly and their families.

Question 44

According to disengagement theory, what event eases aging people out of productive roles while they are still capable of performing them?

A)illness
B)infirmity
C)retirement
D)death

Question 45

Which theoretical analysis highlights age stratification, pointing out ways that society limits older people's opportunities and resources?

A)the social-conflict approach
B)the structural-functional approach
C)the symbolic-interaction approach
D)the social-disorganization approach

Question 46

Conservatives see which of the following as the main cause of problems faced by the elderly?

A) government cutbacks in funding
B)traditional stereotypes about aging
C)weaker families
D)rapid social change

Question 47

What British nurse and physician helped establish the hospice movement?

A)Cicely Saunders
B)Cicely Tyson
C)Florence Nightingale
D)Mother Theresa

Question 48

As conservatives see it,

A)a healthy society is built on strong families that care for their members.
B)today's society has strong family ties.
C)elderly people should band together and demand greater benefits.
D)government has the major responsibility to provide income to elderly people.

Question 49

According to the liberal view regarding caring for elders, individuals and families should

A)not be involved at all.
B)not have to solve these problems by themselves.
C)save significant amounts of money for the future.
D)expect to have their elderly relatives live with them.

Question 50

Activity theory is an application of which theoretical approach?

A)structural-functional approach
B)social-conflict approach
C)symbolic-interaction approach
D)social-disorganization approach

Question 51

According to the liberal view, government programs (such as Social Security) are

A)crucial to meeting the needs of the elder population.
B)actually hurting the interests of the elderly.
C)weakening families.
D)more generous than they should be.

Question 52

What is the life course? In what ways does old age differ from other stages of life? How does society construct the stages of the life course?

Question 53

A major criticism of disengagement theory is that

A)it overlooks the fact that at least some older people are not physically able to maintain a busy schedule.
B)disengagement carries personal costs, including loss of status and income as well as social isolation.
C)disengagement interferes with the efficiency of the labor force.
D)since seniors are disadvantaged in various ways, they cannot shape their lives as they may wish to.

Question 54

Explain how the conservative, liberal, and radical-left viewpoints define problems linked to aging. What does each approach favor in terms of solutions to these problems? How might we learn from each to improve the social lives of our older population?

Question 55

Explain intersection theory in terms of the income and or poverty rates of elderly women and racial and ethnic minorities compared to elderly men and whites.