Question 1

Today, the gap between rich and poor in the United States is the largest it has been since:

Accepted Answer

A)  1929, after the stock market crash. 
B)  1970, when the United States started to outsource jobs. 
C)  1947, when the United States started to measure the gap. 
D)  None of the above; the gap has been getting smaller.

Question 2

Working-class children are most likely to do which of the following after graduating from high school?

Accepted Answer

A)  travel around Europe 
B)  attend a four-year college 
C)  attend a two-year college 
D)  immediately start working

Question 3

Although official estimates show that relatively few elderly people live in poverty, these statistics may be misleading because:

Accepted Answer

A)  they do not consider the large number of elderly people who go hungry. 
B)  they do not consider the large number of elderly people who live alone. 
C)  they do not consider the vast gender, race, and marital status differences of older adults. 
D)  they do not consider the high cost of rent.

Question 4

In one to two sentences, explain how the official definition of poverty is calculated. Based on what you read in the text, how do sociologists distinguish some of the problems with this way of calculating poverty today?

Accepted Answer

The answer of In one to two sentences, explain how...

Question 5

Dr. Ramirez is a sociology professor, and while he makes much less money than doctors and lawyers, he is viewed as having relatively high prestige because of:

Accepted Answer

A)  his professional clothing. 
B)  his work hours. 
C)  his education. 
D)  his publications.

Question 6

Oprah Winfrey was born into poverty and raised by a single mother, yet today she is one of the richest women in America. According to the textbook, the social position we are born into affects our life chances, but our class position is also:

Accepted Answer

A)  based on caste. 
B)  based on looks. 
C)  in some part achieved. 
D)  determined by affirmative action.

Question 7

Caste systems like the one in India require that individuals marry within their social group. This is referred to as:

Accepted Answer

A)  caste marriage. 
B)  endogamy. 
C)  social marriage. 
D)  endomarriage.

Question 8

The money a person gets from a wage, salary, or investments is ________; the assets an individual owns are ________.

Accepted Answer

A)  wealth; property 
B)  income; wealth 
C)  wealth; income 
D)  income; inherited

Question 9

According to the textbook, what has been the relationship between higher education and social stratification in recent years?

Accepted Answer

A)  College education has become much more difficult, causing students to drop out. 
B)  College education has become more accessible, causing more students to enroll. 
C)  The importance and value of a college education in the job market have increased. 
D)  Colleges have become less selective.

Question 10

When a person moves from one position in a class structure to a nearly identical position, the person is said to experience:

Accepted Answer

A)  short-range downward mobility. 
B)  long-range downward mobility. 
C)  declining mobility. 
D)  across-position mobility.

Question 11

Intergenerational mobility is best described as when:

Accepted Answer

A)  a person achieves a different class position than the one he or she thought they would have. 
B)  a person maintains the same class position as his or her parents or grandparents. 
C)  a person has a different class position from that of his or her parents or grandparents. 
D)  a person achieves a different class position from his or her siblings.

Question 12

In three to four sentences, consider why sociologists say we are seeing the feminization of poverty?

Accepted Answer

The answer of In three to four sentences, consider why...

Question 13

According to the textbook, one conclusion we can draw about the upper class in the United States is that:

Accepted Answer

A)  it is made up of the wealthiest 20 percent of the population. 
B)  it has a distinctive lifestyle and is politically influential. 
C)  it does not include people who get their wealth from investments. 
D)  it is accessible to all Americans with a college education.

Question 14

Which of the following is an example of downward mobility?

Accepted Answer

A)  Danisha, who was just fired from his job at Wells Fargo bank. 
B)  George, who stopped receiving welfare payments after getting hired at a shoe store. 
C)  Harel, who took a leave of absence to care for his ill parents. 
D)  Jane, who was raised in a middle-class household and now works at a grocery store full time.

Question 15

Which of the following is an example of social mobility?

Accepted Answer

A)  Jasper, who grew up in a middle-class neighborhood and became a wealthy doctor 
B)  Antonio, who moved from New York City to a suburb 
C)  Smita, who does not identify with her Brahmin caste background 
D)  Tia, who was raised as a man but identifies as a woman

Question 16

When a person does not have adequate resources to maintain his or her health, such as enough food to eat, the person is said to be in:

Accepted Answer

A)  absolute poverty. 
B)  relative poverty. 
C)  downward mobility. 
D)  exchange mobility.

Question 17

When sociologists examine how far an individual moves up or down the socioeconomic scale in his or her lifetime, they are studying:

Accepted Answer

A)  absolute poverty. 
B)  social reproduction. 
C)  life change. 
D)  intragenerational mobility.

Question 18

Workers picking strawberries can pick 100 baskets an hour, but the value of 20 baskets is all it costs the employer to pay them their hourly wages. According to Karl Marx, the income the employer collects from the extra baskets is:

Accepted Answer

A)  extra wages. 
B)  surplus value. 
C)  wage theft. 
D)  extra income.

Question 19

Do you think you will experience intragenerational mobility in your lifetime? In two to four sentences, consider why or why not. Be sure to mention at least one sociological explanation of mobility in your answer.

Accepted Answer

The answer of Do you think you will experience intragenerational...

Question 20

Riley Vidal is a seventy-five-year-old who lives in a nursing home. Like many elderly people in the United States, Vidal likely relies on ________ for his income.

Accepted Answer

A)  a part-time job 
B)  money from children 
C)  savings 
D)  Social Security

Exam 7: Stratification, Class, and Inequality