Professional Documents
Culture Documents
Chapter 08
Stratification and Social Mobility in the United States
2. Which of the following terms is used by sociologists for a structured ranking of groups of
people that perpetuates unequal economic rewards and power in society?
A. social mobility
B. stratification
C. hypergamy
D. status
8-1
Copyright © 2018 McGraw-Hill Education. All rights reserved. No reproduction or distribution without the prior written consent of
McGraw-Hill Education.
Chapter 08 - Stratification and Social Mobility in the United States
4. An 83-year-old woman is placed at a small table in a dark corner of a trendy nightclub and
is ignored by the staff. Her shoddy treatment is probably due to her age, which is a(n)
________ status.
A. ascribed
B. achieved
C. horizontal
D. structural
5. A system of enforced servitude in which people are legally owned by others is known as
A. feudalism.
B. slavery.
C. communism.
D. a caste system.
8-2
Copyright © 2018 McGraw-Hill Education. All rights reserved. No reproduction or distribution without the prior written consent of
McGraw-Hill Education.
Chapter 08 - Stratification and Social Mobility in the United States
7. Which of the following terms refers to hereditary systems of rank that are relatively fixed,
immobile, and generally religiously dictated?
A. tenures
B. slavery
C. castes
D. feudalism
8. Some sociologists have suggested that in the southern U.S. in the pre-civil rights era, an
African American individual was born into a status that would always be subordinate to the
status of all of the White members of the community. This is an example of a(n)
A. estate system.
B. class system.
C. caste system.
D. feudal system.
8-3
Copyright © 2018 McGraw-Hill Education. All rights reserved. No reproduction or distribution without the prior written consent of
McGraw-Hill Education.
Chapter 08 - Stratification and Social Mobility in the United States
9. A system of stratification under which peasants were required to work land leased to them
by nobles in exchange for military protection is known as a(n)
A. estate system.
B. slavery system.
C. caste system.
D. peonage system.
11. A woman is born into a homeless single-parent family. She is very talented, and as an
adult she becomes a wealthy, world-acclaimed pianist. This scenario most closely represents
which type of stratification system?
A. caste
B. class
C. estate
D. slavery
8-4
Copyright © 2018 McGraw-Hill Education. All rights reserved. No reproduction or distribution without the prior written consent of
McGraw-Hill Education.
Chapter 08 - Stratification and Social Mobility in the United States
12. In sociologist Daniel Rossides's model of the class system of the U.S., which social class
contains the smallest portion of the population?
A. lower class
B. lower-middle class
C. working class
D. upper class
13. A single mother who works in a factory sewing large sheets of canvas would be
considered
A. upper class.
B. middle class.
C. lower middle class.
D. working class.
14. Karl Marx argued that social, economic, and political inequalities are dependent on
A. class differentiation.
B. achieved status.
C. the Protestant work ethic.
D. religious factors.
8-5
Copyright © 2018 McGraw-Hill Education. All rights reserved. No reproduction or distribution without the prior written consent of
McGraw-Hill Education.
Chapter 08 - Stratification and Social Mobility in the United States
16. Which term was used by Karl Marx to refer to the capitalist class that owns the means of
production?
A. bourgeoisie
B. proletariat
C. peasantry
D. oligarchy
17. In Karl Marx's view of class-conscious workers in revolt, who will guide the working
class in its struggle?
A. bourgeoisie
B. revolutionary leaders
C. proletariat
D. peasantry
8-6
Copyright © 2018 McGraw-Hill Education. All rights reserved. No reproduction or distribution without the prior written consent of
McGraw-Hill Education.
Chapter 08 - Stratification and Social Mobility in the United States
19. In Karl Marx's view, social relations during any period of history depend on who controls
the
A. mass media.
B. primary mode of economic production.
C. legislature.
D. most powerful religious organizations.
8-7
Copyright © 2018 McGraw-Hill Education. All rights reserved. No reproduction or distribution without the prior written consent of
McGraw-Hill Education.
Chapter 08 - Stratification and Social Mobility in the United States
21. Which of the following terms did Karl Marx use to refer to an attitude held by members of
a class that does not accurately reflect the class's objective position?
A. false consciousness
B. bourgeoisie consciousness
C. class consciousness
D. proletariat consciousness
22. In Karl Marx's view, a worker who identifies with the wealthy and believes that she can
achieve great wealth through hard work is likely to have developed a
A. bourgeoisie consciousness.
B. class consciousness.
C. false consciousness.
D. caste consciousness.
23. One shortcoming of Karl Marx's work is that he failed to anticipate the
A. end of feudalism.
B. extent to which political liberties and relative prosperity could contribute to a false
consciousness.
C. effects of alienated labor on the working class.
D. conflict between various capitalist nations.
8-8
Copyright © 2018 McGraw-Hill Education. All rights reserved. No reproduction or distribution without the prior written consent of
McGraw-Hill Education.
Chapter 08 - Stratification and Social Mobility in the United States
24. Max Weber uses the term class to refer to people who share a similar level of
A. culture.
B. wealth and income.
C. power.
D. esteem.
25. Which of the following did Max Weber suggest were analytically distinct components of
stratification?
A. conformity, deviance, and social control
B. class, status, and power
C. class, caste, and age
D. class, prestige, and esteem
8-9
Copyright © 2018 McGraw-Hill Education. All rights reserved. No reproduction or distribution without the prior written consent of
McGraw-Hill Education.
Chapter 08 - Stratification and Social Mobility in the United States
28. Every evening at a neighborhood bar, the clientele—construction workers, police officers,
plumbers, and factory workers—watch sports events on the big screen television set and play
pool. The people who hang out in this bar are an example of a
A. status group.
B. power group.
C. class.
D. caste.
29. Max Weber defined ________ as the ability to exercise one's will over others.
A. control
B. status
C. class
D. power
8-10
Copyright © 2018 McGraw-Hill Education. All rights reserved. No reproduction or distribution without the prior written consent of
McGraw-Hill Education.
Chapter 08 - Stratification and Social Mobility in the United States
30. The owner of a major league baseball team can fire employees for not winning a pennant,
can have the city build him a new ballpark, and can prevent organizations that compete
against his own team from airing advertisements during the team's televised games. In Max
Weber's view, this owner would most likely be considered as having
A. power.
B. class.
C. esteem.
D. status.
31. Thorstein Veblen suggested persons at the top of the social hierarchy convert wealth into
conspicuous consumption, while the behavior of the lower classes is often subjected to
ridicule. Veblen's views are from the
A. functionalist perspective.
B. conflict perspective.
C. interactionist perspective.
D. feminist perspective.
8-11
Copyright © 2018 McGraw-Hill Education. All rights reserved. No reproduction or distribution without the prior written consent of
McGraw-Hill Education.
Chapter 08 - Stratification and Social Mobility in the United States
32. What term did Thorstein Veblen use to refer to the behavior of those at the top of the
social hierarchy when they engage in such activities as jetting off to a remote destination for
dinner?
A. consumption flow
B. inconspicuous ridicule
C. conspicuous leisure
D. consumptive frivolity
33. Which sociological perspective would be most likely to argue that most talented people
would not go to school for many years to become biochemists if they could make as much
money and gain as much respect working as elevator operators?
A. functionalist perspective
B. conflict perspective
C. interactionist perspective
D. feminist perspective
34. Which sociological perspective argues that competition for scarce resources results in
significant political, economic, and social inequality?
A. functionalist perspective
B. conflict perspective
C. interactionist perspective
D. feminist perspective
8-12
Copyright © 2018 McGraw-Hill Education. All rights reserved. No reproduction or distribution without the prior written consent of
McGraw-Hill Education.
Chapter 08 - Stratification and Social Mobility in the United States
35. Gerhard Lenski argues that social inequality may have once served the overall purposes of
society, but the degree of social and economic inequality that now exists far exceeds the need
to provide for goods and services. This facet of Lenski's analysis is consistent with which
perspective?
A. functionalist perspective
B. conflict perspective
C. interactionist perspective
D. global perspective
36. The objective method of assessing social class assigns individuals to classes on the basis
of
A. criteria such as occupation, education, income, and place of residence.
B. self-assessment.
C. assessments by friends and colleagues.
D. the neighborhoods in which they reside.
8-13
Copyright © 2018 McGraw-Hill Education. All rights reserved. No reproduction or distribution without the prior written consent of
McGraw-Hill Education.
Chapter 08 - Stratification and Social Mobility in the United States
38. Which term is used to refer to the reputation that a specific person has within an
occupation?
A. power
B. prestige
C. esteem
D. status
39. Which sociological perspective would be most likely to suggest that studies of social class
have tended to neglect the occupations and incomes of women as determinants of social rank,
thereby elevating the status of males?
A. functionalist perspective
B. conflict perspective
C. interactionist perspective
D. feminist perspective
8-14
Copyright © 2018 McGraw-Hill Education. All rights reserved. No reproduction or distribution without the prior written consent of
McGraw-Hill Education.
Chapter 08 - Stratification and Social Mobility in the United States
41. A panhandler makes $15 to $20 per day on the streets. This is his
A. status.
B. prestige.
C. income.
D. wealth.
42. Wealth is
A. all of a person's material assets, including land, stocks, and other types of property.
B. salaries and wages.
C. a term used by Max Weber to refer to people who have a similar level of income and
prestige.
D. a term used by Thorstein Veblen for people who have the same lifestyle, independent of
their class position.
43. A well-known Hollywood actress owns a home in Beverly Hills and another one on the
French Riviera. She also owns her own movie production company, along with a large stock
portfolio. The total of the different things she owns is considered her
A. income.
B. caste.
C. esteem.
D. wealth.
8-15
Copyright © 2018 McGraw-Hill Education. All rights reserved. No reproduction or distribution without the prior written consent of
McGraw-Hill Education.
Chapter 08 - Stratification and Social Mobility in the United States
44. The federal tax policies of the last four decades, especially in the 1980s and in the ten
years from 2001 to 2010, have favored
A. people below the poverty line.
B. lower-class income earners.
C. middle-class income earners.
D. the affluent.
45. The fact that an unemployed coal miner in Appalachia has a higher standard of living than
a doctor in Congo illustrates the idea that
A. poverty is absolute.
B. poverty is relative.
C. medicine is not a high-prestige occupation in all countries.
D. Americans are ethnocentric.
8-16
Copyright © 2018 McGraw-Hill Education. All rights reserved. No reproduction or distribution without the prior written consent of
McGraw-Hill Education.
Chapter 08 - Stratification and Social Mobility in the United States
47. The commonly used "poverty line" measure of poverty, used by the federal government,
measures which type of poverty?
A. relative poverty
B. absolute poverty
C. elementary poverty
D. dramatic poverty
48. Which of the following refers to a floating standard of deprivation by which people at the
bottom of a society are judged to be disadvantaged in comparison to the nation as a whole?
A. absolute poverty
B. elementary poverty
C. relative poverty
D. dramatic poverty
49. By 2014, female householders accounted for 54 percent of the poor in the U.S. This
alarming trend is referred to as
A. discriminating poverty.
B. elementary poverty.
C. the feminization of poverty.
D. dramatic poverty.
8-17
Copyright © 2018 McGraw-Hill Education. All rights reserved. No reproduction or distribution without the prior written consent of
McGraw-Hill Education.
Chapter 08 - Stratification and Social Mobility in the United States
50. Which sociological perspective suggests that the higher rates of poverty among single
mothers are due to the difficulty women have in finding affordable child care; to sexual
harassment; and to sex discrimination in the labor market?
A. functionalist perspective
B. conflict perspective
C. interactionist perspective
D. global perspective
51. A family lives in a remote area of Appalachia, where coal mines that once employed
many workers have been idle for years. There are no jobs in the area, the distant schools are
poorly funded, and because of the remote location, there are no churches or medical facilities
nearby. These poor, chronically unemployed people who barely survive from winter to winter
are an example of
A. the underclass.
B. structural mobility.
C. an estate.
D. false consciousness.
8-18
Copyright © 2018 McGraw-Hill Education. All rights reserved. No reproduction or distribution without the prior written consent of
McGraw-Hill Education.
Chapter 08 - Stratification and Social Mobility in the United States
52. Which sociologist has identified a number of social, economic, and political functions that
the poor perform for society (e.g., poor people do society's dirty work at low cost; poverty
creates jobs for those in occupations serving the poor; the existence of poor people guarantees
the higher status of the more affluent)?
A. Herbert Gans
B. Émile Durkheim
C. Peter Blau
D. Daniel Rossides
53. Which of the following statements about the minimum wage in the U.S. is accurate?
A. Higher-income workers charge that minimum wage workers are often guilty of wage theft.
B. The purchasing power of the minimum wage tends to shrink over time.
C. Proponents of the minimum wage often refer to it as a "living wage" to make it sound more
attractive.
D. Economists are in majority agreement that increases in the minimum wage tend to cause
the economy to shed very large numbers of jobs.
54. Max Weber referred to people's opportunities to provide themselves with material goods,
positive living conditions, and favorable experiences as
A. power.
B. wealth.
C. life chances.
D. status.
8-19
Copyright © 2018 McGraw-Hill Education. All rights reserved. No reproduction or distribution without the prior written consent of
McGraw-Hill Education.
Chapter 08 - Stratification and Social Mobility in the United States
55. Which sociological perspective would be most likely to emphasize that a person's health
and educational opportunities are affected by his or her class position in important ways?
A. functionalist perspective
B. conflict perspective
C. interactionist perspective
D. global perspective
56. Which of the following refers to the movement of individuals or groups from one position
of society's stratification system to another?
A. social mobility
B. life chances
C. relative poverty
D. social distribution
57. A stratification system that implies that the position of each individual is influenced by the
person's achieved status is referred to as a(n)
A. open stratification system.
B. closed stratification system.
C. egalitarian class system.
D. fractured class system.
8-20
Copyright © 2018 McGraw-Hill Education. All rights reserved. No reproduction or distribution without the prior written consent of
McGraw-Hill Education.
Chapter 08 - Stratification and Social Mobility in the United States
58. Some analysts suggest that inner-city riots have frequently occurred when poor people
realize that their chances of climbing out of poverty are unlikely because of the structure of
our social system. Their frustration is based on their perception that they are living in a(n)
A. open stratification system.
B. closed stratification system.
C. egalitarian class system.
D. fractured class system.
59. An inner-city youth spends many hours in the neighborhood playground shooting baskets
on the basketball court and engaging in every game that he can play. His skills become
outstanding, and he receives a college scholarship and then signs a lucrative contract to play
in the National Basketball Association. This is an example of
A. vertical mobility.
B. ascribed status.
C. horizontal mobility.
D. structural mobility.
60. A woman who was born and raised in a poor family becomes a regional supervisor for the
U.S. Postal Service. She has experienced
A. structural mobility.
B. horizontal mobility.
C. upward intergenerational mobility.
D. institutional mobility.
8-21
Copyright © 2018 McGraw-Hill Education. All rights reserved. No reproduction or distribution without the prior written consent of
McGraw-Hill Education.
Chapter 08 - Stratification and Social Mobility in the United States
61. Which sociologist first made the distinction between vertical and horizontal mobility?
A. Ferdinand Tönnies
B. Émile Durkheim
C. Pitirim Sorokin
D. Wilbert Moore
62. Research concerning the degree of social mobility that exists within the occupational
structure of the U.S. indicates that
A. occupational mobility has been common among males.
B. much of the social mobility in the U.S. covers a very "great distance."
C. occupational mobility among African Americans is no longer sharply limited by racial
discrimination.
D. All of these answers are correct.
63. Which level of college degree serves as less of a guarantee of upward mobility today than
it did in the past?
A. A.A./A.A.S.
B. B.A./B.S.
C. M.A./M.S.
D. Ph.D.
8-22
Copyright © 2018 McGraw-Hill Education. All rights reserved. No reproduction or distribution without the prior written consent of
McGraw-Hill Education.
Chapter 08 - Stratification and Social Mobility in the United States
64. The most extreme form of legalized social inequality for individuals or groups is a caste
system.
FALSE
66. Peasants being required to work land leased to them by nobles in exchange for military
protection and other services is referred to as a caste system.
FALSE
67. According to Karl Marx, a worker with class consciousness may feel that he or she is
being treated fairly by the bourgeoisie, while a worker with a false consciousness realizes that
all workers are being exploited by the bourgeoisie and have a common stake in revolution.
FALSE
8-23
Copyright © 2018 McGraw-Hill Education. All rights reserved. No reproduction or distribution without the prior written consent of
McGraw-Hill Education.
Chapter 08 - Stratification and Social Mobility in the United States
68. Max Weber argued that the actions of individuals and groups can be understood solely in
economic terms.
FALSE
69. Stratification is universal, in that all societies maintain some form of social inequality
among members.
TRUE
70. Even if stratification is inevitable, the functionalist explanation for differential rewards
does not explain the wide disparity between the rich and the poor.
TRUE
71. Conflict theorists argue that stratification will inevitably lead to instability and to social
change.
TRUE
8-24
Copyright © 2018 McGraw-Hill Education. All rights reserved. No reproduction or distribution without the prior written consent of
McGraw-Hill Education.
Chapter 08 - Stratification and Social Mobility in the United States
72. The United Nations has valued the unpaid work performed by women in child care,
agriculture, and housework at $11 trillion.
TRUE
73. The concentration of wealth in the U.S. has decreased substantially in the last two
decades.
FALSE
74. A 2013 Federal Reserve Bank study showed that in the United States, the wealth of the
top 3 percent exceeds the collective wealth of the bottom 97 percent.
TRUE
75. Conflict theorists would argue that poverty is functional in the U.S. system.
FALSE
8-25
Copyright © 2018 McGraw-Hill Education. All rights reserved. No reproduction or distribution without the prior written consent of
McGraw-Hill Education.
Chapter 08 - Stratification and Social Mobility in the United States
76. Men are more likely than women to withdraw from the workforce when their skills far
exceed the jobs offered to them.
FALSE
Essay Questions
77. Describe the differences between ascribed status and achieved status. Give examples to
support your answer.
Blooms: Analyze
Learning Objective: Describe the four general systems of stratification: slavery, castes, the estate system, and the class system.
Topic: Stratification
78. Describe how Lenski's view of stratification can represent a synthesis of the conflict and
functionalist views of stratification and poverty.
Blooms: Analyze
Learning Objective: Compare and contrast the functionalist and conflict perspectives on the existence and necessity of social stratification.
Topic: Perspectives on stratification
Topic: Poverty
8-26
Copyright © 2018 McGraw-Hill Education. All rights reserved. No reproduction or distribution without the prior written consent of
McGraw-Hill Education.
Chapter 08 - Stratification and Social Mobility in the United States
79. Discuss Karl Marx's views on class differentiation. Define the terms bourgeoisie and
proletariat. Describe what Marx termed a false consciousness, and give an example to support
your answer.
Blooms: Analyze
Learning Objective: Analyze stratification using the three major sociological perspectives, including the views of Karl Marx and Max
Weber.
Topic: Perspectives on stratification
80. Compare and contrast the functionalist and conflict views of social stratification. Give
examples of each view to support your answer.
Blooms: Analyze
Learning Objective: Analyze stratification using the three major sociological perspectives, including the views of Karl Marx and Max
Weber.
Topic: Perspectives on stratification
81. Describe the effort of the International Women Count Network to give a monetary value
to women's unpaid work. What are the social and economic implications of this effort?
Blooms: Analyze
Learning Objective: Summarize the factors used to measure stratification.
Topic: Measuring stratification
82. Describe the various issues surrounding the definition of poverty. Define the difference
between absolute and relative poverty.
Blooms: Analyze
Learning Objective: Explain poverty in the United States using the conflict and functionalist perspectives.
Topic: Poverty
8-27
Copyright © 2018 McGraw-Hill Education. All rights reserved. No reproduction or distribution without the prior written consent of
McGraw-Hill Education.
Chapter 08 - Stratification and Social Mobility in the United States
83. Analyze the impact of ascriptive characteristics such race, gender, and family background
in the occupational structure of our society.
Blooms: Analyze
Learning Objective: Explain the relationship of various social factors to social mobility in the United States.
Topic: Social mobility
8-28
Copyright © 2018 McGraw-Hill Education. All rights reserved. No reproduction or distribution without the prior written consent of
McGraw-Hill Education.
Another random document with
no related content on Scribd:
meaning in its realities, and into the settled purpose of determining
to know what kind of a world this is in which God has cast their lot,
and soon these hard names will be only as finger-posts, directing to
certain roads on which they may journey to the end of a happy
pilgrimage. Aye, better than any old pilgrimage to a fabulous Holy
Sepulchre, will be your pilgrimage to sepulchres wrought by the hand
of Infinite Benevolence, for the creatures whom his infinite wisdom
had formed, and sustained until he pronounced the decree, “Return!”
1. CUCULLEA CARINATA.
2. CUCULLEA UMBONATA.
3. MODIOLA BIPARTITA.
4. TEREBRATULA GLOBOSA.
5. TEREBRATULA DIGONA.
6. TEREBRATULA MAXILLATA.
But when the researches of science had laid bare the whole of the
fossil remains of this heterogeneous creature, when the head and
gape of the crocodile, the wing-hands of the bat, and the web-feet of
the duck were all revealed; when it was ascertained to be one of those
flying reptiles that have no existing type, and that it was “the most
extraordinary of all the beings of whose former existence the study of
fossils has made us aware,” and “the most unlike anything that exists
in the known world;” the blank wonder of the geologist gave way to
calm and admiring study, as these undreamt-of relics of the past
were made subservient to the wisdom and delight of the present.
The following is Cuvier’s description of this strange creature,
borrowed from Ansted, vol. i, p. 418:—
“You see before you,” he says, “an animal which in all points of
bony structure, from the teeth to the extremity of the nails, presents
the well-known saurian characteristics, and of which one cannot
doubt that its integuments and soft parts, its scaly armour, and its
organs of circulation and reproduction, were likewise analogous. But
it was at the same time an animal provided with the means of flying;
and when stationary, its wings were probably folded back like those
of a bird, although, perhaps, by the claws attached to its fingers, it
might suspend itself from the branches of trees. Its usual position,
when not in motion, would be upon its hind feet, resting like a bird,
and with its neck set up and curved backwards, to prevent the weight
of the enormous head from destroying its equilibrium. Any attempt,
however, to picture this strange animal in a living state, would
appear to one who has not followed the whole argument to be rather
the production of a diseased imagination, than the necessary
completion of a sketch of which the main outlines are known to be
true. The animal was undoubtedly of the most extraordinary kind,
and would appear, if living, the strangest of all creatures. Something
approaching to it in form we may perhaps recognise in the fantastic
pictures of the Chinese; but art has, in this respect, not been able to
rival nature; and the fabled centaur, or dragon, do not present
anomalies more strange than those of the species we have been
considering.”
This description of Cuvier will recal to the reader’s mind the well-
known words of Milton (Par. Lost, Book II. line 247), in which, in his
description of an imaginary fiend, he almost realizes to the life the
animal whose extinct and fossil remains have been so recently
disinterred.
“The fiend
O’er bog, or steep, through strait, rough, dense, or rare,
With head, hands, wings, or feet, pursues his way,
And sinks or swims, or wades or walks, or creeps or flies.”
2. SKELETON RESTORED.
3. THE PTERODACTYLE.
CHAPTER X.
SECONDARY ROCKS.
No. 4. The Wealden.
“The works of the Lord are great, sought out of all them that have pleasure
therein.”—David.