Chapter 7: Social Class and Inequality in the United States

Test Bank

Multiple Choice

1. A disparity in money, power, prestige, or another resource is referred to as what?

a. social stratification

b. social inequality

c. class differences

d. class status

Learning Objective: 7.1: Identify characteristics of stratification in traditional and modern societies.

Cognitive Domain: Knowledge

Answer Location: Stratification in Traditional and Modern Societies

Difficulty Level: Easy2. Which term describes the systematic ranking of different groups of people in a disparate hierarchy?

a. social stratification

b. social inequality

c. class differences

d. class status

Learning Objective: 7.1: Identify characteristics of stratification in traditional and modern societies.

Cognitive Domain: Knowledge

Answer Location: Stratification in Traditional and Modern Societies

Difficulty Level: Easy3. Which of the following is a characteristic of a caste society?

a. Social levels are open to anyone.

b. Social level is determined at birth by characteristics that largely cannot be changed.

c. Social mobility is expected.

d. Social stratification is based on achieved, rather than ascribed, characteristics.

Learning Objective: 7.1: Identify characteristics of stratification in traditional and modern societies.

Cognitive Domain: Comprehension

Answer Location: Caste Societies

Difficulty Level: Medium4. Historically, caste systems have been present in which type of societies?

a. urban

b. suburban

c. industrial

d. agricultural

Learning Objective: 7.1: Identify characteristics of stratification in traditional and modern societies.

Cognitive Domain: Knowledge

Answer Location: Caste Societies

Difficulty Level: Easy5. India has four categories in their caste system: priests, warriors, traders, and ______.

a. workmen

b. kings

c. enslaved

d. elites

Learning Objective: 7.1: Identify characteristics of stratification in traditional and modern societies.

Cognitive Domain: Comprehension

Answer Location: Caste Societies

Difficulty Level: Medium6. The lowest members of the caste system in India were known as the ______.

a. enslaved

b. untouchables

c. traders

d. merchants

Learning Objective: 7.1: Identify characteristics of stratification in traditional and modern societies.

Cognitive Domain: Knowledge

Answer Location: Caste Societies

Difficulty Level: Easy7. Which of the following is a characteristic of a class society?

a. Social level is determined largely by religion.

b. Social mobility can occur upwards or downwards.

c. Social level is based solely on ascribed, rather than achieved, characteristics.

d. Social mobility is looked at unfavorably.

Learning Objective: 7.1: Identify characteristics of stratification in traditional and modern societies.

Cognitive Domain: Comprehension

Answer Location: Class Societies

Difficulty Level: Medium8. What is a characteristic of class status in a class society?

a. It is ascribed.

b. It is prefixed.

c. It is relatively fluid.

d. It is inherited.

Learning Objective: 7.1: Identify characteristics of stratification in traditional and modern societies.

Cognitive Domain: Comprehension

Answer Location: Class Societies

Difficulty Level: Medium9. The United States is which type of society?

a. class

b. caste

c. gendered

d. binary

Learning Objective: 7.1: Identify characteristics of stratification in traditional and modern societies.

Cognitive Domain: Comprehension

Answer Location: Class Societies

Difficulty Level: Medium10. Which of the following is an achieved status?

a. race

b. sex

c. height

d. educational level

Learning Objective: 7.2: Describe components of social class, including income, wealth, occupation, status, and political voice.

Cognitive Domain: Analysis

Answer Location: Sociological Building Blocks of Social Class

Difficulty Level: Medium11. Which of the following is an ascribed status?

a. race

b. computer skills

c. educational level

d. salary

Learning Objective: 7.2: Describe components of social class, including income, wealth, occupation, status, and political voice.

Cognitive Domain: Analysis

Answer Location: Sociological Building Blocks of Social Class

Difficulty Level: Medium12. Race and sex are both characterized as which type of status?

a. ascribed

b. achieved

c. binary

d. categorical

Learning Objective: 7.2: Describe components of social class, including income, wealth, occupation, status, and political voice.

Cognitive Domain: Comprehension

Answer Location: Sociological Building Blocks of Social Class

Difficulty Level: Medium13. How do ascribed and achieved statuses differ?

a. Ascribed status is based on systemic inequality, while achieved status is not.

b. Ascribed status is based on income, while achieved status is based on power.

c. Achieved status is fluid, while ascribed status is fixed.

d. Achieved status is based on parents’ status, while ascribed status is not.

Learning Objective: 7.2: Describe components of social class, including income, wealth, occupation, status, and political voice.

Cognitive Domain: Comprehension

Answer Location: Sociological Building Blocks of Social Class

Difficulty Level: Medium14. Which of the following is a characteristic of socially stratified systems?

a. People’s opportunities and experiences are unaffected by how their social categories are ranked.

b. Individuals cannot alter their rank but the categories themselves can change.

c. Modern society is less stratified than the earliest human societies.

d. The hierarchical position of social categories tends to change slowly over time.

Learning Objective: 7.2: Describe components of social class, including income, wealth, occupation, status, and political voice.

Cognitive Domain: Knowledge

Answer Location: Sociological Building Blocks of Social Class

Difficulty Level: Easy15. Why did the earliest human societies have little stratification?

a. There were few resources to divide.

b. Differences within communities were very pronounced.

c. The concept of a hierarchy of power did not exist.

d. Populations were very small.

Learning Objective: 7.2: Describe components of social class, including income, wealth, occupation, status, and political voice.

Cognitive Domain: Knowledge

Answer Location: Sociological Building Blocks of Social Class

Difficulty Level: Easy16. Which of the following best refers to an individual’s economic position in society?

a. life chances

b. income

c. wealth

d. class

Learning Objective: 7.2: Describe components of social class, including income, wealth, occupation, status, and political voice.

Cognitive Domain: Knowledge

Answer Location: Sociological Building Blocks of Social Class

Difficulty Level: Easy17. Which of the following best defines social mobility?

a. a person’s economic position in society

b. the opportunities and obstacles an individual encounters in education, social life, work, and other critical areas

c. the upward or downward changes in status of individuals or groups over time

d. the prestige associated with the rise and fall of a social position

Learning Objective: 7.2: Describe components of social class, including income, wealth, occupation, status, and political voice.

Cognitive Domain: Knowledge

Answer Location: Sociological Building Blocks of Social Class

Difficulty Level: Easy18. Many middle-class Americans have experienced which of the following in recent decades?

a. downward social mobility

b. static social mobility

c. upward social mobility

d. volatile social mobility

Learning Objective: 7.2: Describe components of social class, including income, wealth, occupation, status, and political voice.

Cognitive Domain: Comprehension

Answer Location: Sociological Building Blocks of Social Class

Difficulty Level: Medium19. Sociologists like Gilbert and Kahl believe the class stratification of modern capitalist societies most closely resembles which shape?

a. rectangle

b. diamond

c. teardrop

d. pyramid

Learning Objective: 7.2: Describe components of social class, including income, wealth, occupation, status, and political voice.

Cognitive Domain: Knowledge

Answer Location: Sociological Building Blocks of Social Class

Difficulty Level: Easy20. In the class categories used by Gilbert and Kahl, which of the following are at the very bottom of the economic ladder?

a. the working poor

b. the proletariat

c. the working class

d. the underclass

Learning Objective: 7.2: Describe components of social class, including income, wealth, occupation, status, and political voice.

Cognitive Domain: Knowledge

Answer Location: Sociological Building Blocks of Social Class

Difficulty Level: Easy21. Which group is characteristic of the working class?

a. people who work in the underground economy

b. people who perform manual labor or low-wage jobs

c. people who provide skills services of some kind and work for someone else

d. people who own or exercise significant financial control over large businesses

Learning Objective: 7.2: Describe components of social class, including income, wealth, occupation, status, and political voice.

Cognitive Domain: Comprehension

Answer Location: Sociological Building Blocks of Social Class

Difficulty Level: Medium22. Most Americans describe themselves in surveys as which type of class?

a. underclass

b. working class

c. middle class

d. capitalist class

Learning Objective: 7.2: Describe components of social class, including income, wealth, occupation, status, and political voice.

Cognitive Domain: Knowledge

Answer Location: Sociological Building Blocks of Social Class

Difficulty Level: Easy

23. Which of the following classes is the smallest class?

a. the capitalist class

b. the working poor

c. the middle class

d. the working class

Learning Objective: 7.2: Describe components of social class, including income, wealth, occupation, status, and political voice.

Cognitive Domain: Knowledge

Answer Location: Sociological Building Blocks of Social Class

Difficulty Level: Easy24. Which of the following best represents a sociological definition of income?

a. an individual’s annual salary

b. wages, tips, and other compensation

c. household earnings in a given period of time

d. the value of everything a person owns, minus the value of everything he or she owes

Learning Objective: 7.2: Describe components of social class, including income, wealth, occupation, status, and political voice.

Cognitive Domain: Comprehension

Answer Location: Income

Difficulty Level: Medium25. Which of the following is most likely considered income?

a. stocks

b. bonds

c. tips

d. home equity

Learning Objective: 7.2: Describe components of social class, including income, wealth, occupation, status, and political voice.

Cognitive Domain: Comprehension

Answer Location: Income

Difficulty Level: Medium26. Which of the following statements reflects the fluid quality of income?

a. It is very difficult to quantify.

b. It flows in the form of paychecks and flows out as bills are paid and daily expenses are met.

c. U.S. household incomes have largely stagnated over the past decades.

d. It is illiquid, meaning that it is logistically difficult to transform into cash.

Learning Objective: 7.2: Describe components of social class, including income, wealth, occupation, status, and political voice.

Cognitive Domain: Comprehension

Answer Location: Income

Difficulty Level: Medium27. What has been the trend in U.S. household incomes over the past decades?

a. U.S. household incomes have significantly plummeted over the past decades.

b. U.S. household incomes have stagnated over the past decades.

c. U.S. household incomes have risen significantly over the past decades.

d. The trend is unclear, as income data are very difficult to collect.

Learning Objective: 7.2: Describe components of social class, including income, wealth, occupation, status, and political voice.

Cognitive Domain: Comprehension

Answer Location: Income

Difficulty Level: Medium28. Income gains in the United States have been disproportionately concentrated among ______.

a. the working poor

b. the working class

c. the middle class

d. top earners

Learning Objective: 7.2: Describe components of social class, including income, wealth, occupation, status, and political voice.

Cognitive Domain: Knowledge

Answer Location: Income

Difficulty Level: Easy29. Wealth is defined by the value of everything a person owns minus the value of ______.

a. everything a person owes

b. a person’s net financial assets

c. everything a person earns

d. a person’s illiquid assets

Learning Objective: 7.2: Describe components of social class, including income, wealth, occupation, status, and political voice.

Cognitive Domain: Knowledge

Answer Location: Income

Difficulty Level: Easy30. Which of the following is most important for getting ahead in the system of stratification?

a. wealth

b. income

c. status

d. occupation

Learning Objective: 7.2: Describe components of social class, including income, wealth, occupation, status, and political voice.

Cognitive Domain: Comprehension

Answer Location: Wealth

Difficulty Level: Medium31. In the United States, the key source of wealth is ______.

a. bonds

b. higher education

c. home equity

d. income

Learning Objective: 7.2: Describe components of social class, including income, wealth, occupation, status, and political voice.

Cognitive Domain: Knowledge

Answer Location: Wealth

Difficulty Level: Easy32. Which of the following is an example of an illiquid asset?

a. cash

b. ownership in a private company

c. checking account funds

d. savings account funds

Learning Objective: 7.2: Describe components of social class, including income, wealth, occupation, status, and political voice.

Cognitive Domain: Application

Answer Location: Wealth

Difficulty Level: Hard33. Which of the following is an example of net financial assets?

a. cars

b. homes

c. apartments

d. stocks

Learning Objective: 7.2: Describe components of social class, including income, wealth, occupation, status, and political voice.

Cognitive Domain: Application

Answer Location: Wealth

Difficulty Level: Hard34. Which of the following is true of wealth?

a. It is typically used to pay for clothes, food, and car repairs.

b. The key source of wealth in the United States is retirement assets.

c. It may be passed down from generation to generation.

d. It is a less important source of status as people rise on the income ladder.

Learning Objective: 7.2: Describe components of social class, including income, wealth, occupation, status, and political voice.

Cognitive Domain: Comprehension

Answer Location: Wealth

Difficulty Level: Medium35. Which of the following reflects the sociological definition of an occupation?

a. the prestige associated with a given position

b. a person’s primary vocation

c. the average household’s net income

d. a salary package

Learning Objective: 7.2: Describe components of social class, including income, wealth, occupation, status, and political voice.

Cognitive Domain: Knowledge

Answer Location: Occupation

Difficulty Level: Easy36. Which of the following would be considered a blue-collar occupation?

a. car mechanic

b. business manager

c. investment banker

d. salesperson

Learning Objective: 7.2: Describe components of social class, including income, wealth, occupation, status, and political voice.

Cognitive Domain: Comprehension

Answer Location: Occupation

Difficulty Level: Medium37. Which of the following would be considered a white-collar occupation?

a. a fry cook at a fast-food chain

b. an investment broker

c. a restaurant server

d. a truck driver

Learning Objective: 7.2: Describe components of social class, including income, wealth, occupation, status, and political voice.

Cognitive Domain: Comprehension

Answer Location: Occupation

Difficulty Level: Medium38. The term gold collar was introduced in the 1990s to categorize which of the following?

a. people in service job such as receptionists and servers

b. singers, rappers, and musicians

c. CEOs of multinational corporations

d. young tech professionals with high salaries and high occupational positions

Learning Objective: 7.2: Describe components of social class, including income, wealth, occupation, status, and political voice.

Cognitive Domain: Knowledge

Answer Location: Occupation

Difficulty Level: Easy39. Status refers to the ______ associated with a social position.

a. wealth

b. income

c. prestige

d. power

Learning Objective: 7.2: Describe components of social class, including income, wealth, occupation, status, and political voice.

Cognitive Domain: Knowledge

Answer Location: Status

Difficulty Level: Easy40. Which of the following best represents an occupation with high prestige or status but lower income?

a. nurse

b. doctor

c. lawyer

d. stockbroker

Learning Objective: 7.2: Describe components of social class, including income, wealth, occupation, status, and political voice.

Cognitive Domain: Application

Answer Location: Status

Difficulty Level: Hard41. What is the term for the ability to exercise influence on government institutions?

a. prestige

b. political power

c. transformational power

d. social status

Learning Objective: 7.2: Describe components of social class, including income, wealth, occupation, status, and political voice.

Cognitive Domain: Knowledge

Answer Location: Political Voice

Difficulty Level: Easy42. Which of the following shapes best represents the stratification system of most advanced agricultural societies?

a. teardrop

b. diamond

c. rectangle

d. pyramid

Learning Objective: 7.2: Describe components of social class, including income, wealth, occupation, status, and political voice.

Cognitive Domain: Knowledge

Answer Location: Political Voice

Difficulty Level: Easy43. In Mills’s view, which of the following best describes the political power of the masses?

a. Their power is greater than most people understand.

b. Their power is less than what people think it is.

c. Their power is growing over time.

d. Their power is a concept that is difficult to study sociologically.

Learning Objective: 7.2: Describe components of social class, including income, wealth, occupation, status, and political voice.

Cognitive Domain: Comprehension

Answer Location: Political Voice

Difficulty Level: Medium44. What has been the general trend in inequality over the past few decades?

a. Inequality has reached its lowest levels.

b. Inequality is declining.

c. Inequality is stagnating.

d. Inequality is rising.

Learning Objective: 7.3: Describe dimensions of socioeconomic inequality in the United States.

Cognitive Domain: Knowledge

Answer Location: Class and Inequality in the U.S.: Dimensions and Trends

Difficulty Level: Easy45. Each year the U.S. Census Bureau calculates how much income is distributed across the population of earners. All households are ranked by annual income and then categorized into which of the following?

a. thirds

b. fifths

c. eighths

d. tenths

Learning Objective: 7.3: Describe dimensions of socioeconomic inequality in the United States.

Cognitive Domain: Knowledge

Answer Location: Income Inequality

Difficulty Level: Easy

46. What is the term for workers who are not making full use of their skills or are working part time when they would like to be working full time?

a. unemployed

b. underemployed

c. gainfully employed

d. overemployed

Learning Objective: 7.3: Describe dimensions of socioeconomic inequality in the United States.

Cognitive Domain: Knowledge

Answer Location: Income Inequality

Difficulty Level: Easy

47. Karen graduated with her bachelor’s degree but cannot find a job in her field. She therefore decides to take a job at the mall. This best represents an example of which of the following?

a. social status

b. overemployment

c. gold collar job

d. underemployment

Learning Objective: 7.3: Describe dimensions of socioeconomic inequality in the United States.

Cognitive Domain: Application

Answer Location: Income Inequality

Difficulty Level: Hard48. Which of the following is true of wealth inequality in the United States?

a. The distribution of wealth is more equal than the distribution of income in the United States.

b. If we exclude the ownership of cars and homes, the distribution of wealth is more equal than the distribution of income in the United States.

c. The distribution of wealth is about the same as the distribution of income in the United States.

d. The distribution of wealth is more unequal than the distribution of income in the United States.

Learning Objective: 7.3: Describe dimensions of socioeconomic inequality in the United States.

Cognitive Domain: Comprehension

Answer Location: Income Inequality

Difficulty Level: Medium49. Which of the following best explains the decline in health insurance coverage for workers in the bottom quintile of earners from the 1980s to the 1990s?

a. the increase in the population of children under age 18

b. the growth of service sector jobs that are unlikely to offer benefits

c. lack of access to healthy food and potable water

d. higher rates of heart disease, diabetes, and many types of cancer

Learning Objective: 7.3: Describe dimensions of socioeconomic inequality in the United States.

Cognitive Domain: Comprehension

Answer Location: Other Gaps: Inequalities in Health Care, Health, and Access to Consumer Goods

Difficulty Level: Medium50. Which of the following is an accurate representation of the relationship between health outcomes and class?

a. Poor people may be more physically active because they have less access to transportation to get them to and from work.

b. Grocery stores are available in almost all neighborhoods; middle-class people are more educated about which food choices are the healthiest.

c. Less affluent people are more likely to die from cancer because they may lack access to health insurance or clinics that offer health screenings.

d. Hospitalization rates for asthma for Black children are lower than for white children because they are not as prone to breathing problems.

Learning Objective: 7.3: Describe dimensions of socioeconomic inequality in the United States.

Cognitive Domain: Comprehension

Answer Location: Other Gaps: Inequalities in Health Care, Health, and Access to Consumer Goods

Difficulty Level: Medium51. Which of the following is true of the jobs that were created in the 1980s and 1990s?

a. Most of the jobs created were manufacturing jobs.

b. The quality of jobs created was lower than the quality of jobs lost due to automation and outsourcing.

c. Health-care coverage for workers in the bottom quintile rose dramatically.

d. The quantity of new jobs decreased.

Learning Objective: 7.3: Describe dimensions of socioeconomic inequality in the United States.

Cognitive Domain: Comprehension

Answer Location: Other Gaps: Inequalities in Health Care, Health, and Access to Consumer Goods

Difficulty Level: Medium52. Which of the following is characteristic of service sector occupations?

a. They have increasingly replaced manufacturing jobs as the primary employment for those with less education.

b. They are more likely to offer benefits such as medical or dental insurance.

c. They typically offer a “living wage” rather than just a minimum wage.

d. They offer a solid means of achieving middle-class status.

Learning Objective: 7.3: Describe dimensions of socioeconomic inequality in the United States.

Cognitive Domain: Comprehension

Answer Location: Other Gaps: Inequalities in Health Care, Health, and Access to Consumer Goods

Difficulty Level: Medium53. Which of the following is a goal of the Affordable Care Act?

a. to increase spending on health care

b. to expand health insurance coverage for the working poor

c. to protect insurance companies against arbitrary actions by claimants

d. to penalize uninsured Americans

Learning Objective: 7.3: Describe dimensions of socioeconomic inequality in the United States.

Cognitive Domain: Comprehension

Answer Location: Other Gaps: Inequalities in Health Care, Health, and Access to Consumer Goods

Difficulty Level: Medium

54. Which of the following is a government health insurance program that primarily serves the poor?

a. supplemental Social Security income

b. welfare

c. Medicare

d. Medicaid

Learning Objective: 7.3: Describe dimensions of socioeconomic inequality in the United States.

Cognitive Domain: Knowledge

Answer Location: Other Gaps: Inequalities in Health Care, Health, and Access to Consumer Goods

Difficulty Level: Easy55. Which of the following is characteristic of food deserts?

a. fresh fruit, vegetables, and meat

b. lower prices for food

c. lower quality stores

d. more neighborhood food options to choose from

Learning Objective: 7.3: Describe dimensions of socioeconomic inequality in the United States.

Cognitive Domain: Comprehension

Answer Location: Other Gaps: Inequalities in Health Care, Health, and Access to Consumer Goods

Difficulty Level: Medium56. Which of the following is a result of the transition to a postindustrial economy in the United States?

a. Workers with less education have become more highly valued.

b. Workers with more education have become more highly valued.

c. Outsourcing has become less highly valued.

d. Production workers have become more highly valued.

Learning Objective: 7.3: Describe dimensions of socioeconomic inequality in the United States.

Cognitive Domain: Analysis

Answer Location: Why Has Inequality Grown?

Difficulty Level: Medium57. In which of the following areas has the modern U.S. economy produced the largest number of jobs?

a. manufacturing

b. agriculture

c. container shipping

d. production of knowledge and information

Learning Objective: 7.3: Describe dimensions of socioeconomic inequality in the United States.

Cognitive Domain: Knowledge

Answer Location: Why Has Inequality Grown?

Difficulty Level: Easy58. Wage gains for women have particularly been driven by ______.

a. women who work in pink-collar jobs

b. college-educated women

c. Ivy League–educated women

d. working-class women

Learning Objective: 7.3: Describe dimensions of socioeconomic inequality in the United States.

Cognitive Domain: Comprehension

Answer Location: Why Has Inequality Grown?

Difficulty Level: Medium59. Which of the following has become a common theme in political discourse?

a. the growth of manufacturing

b. the disappearing service industry

c. the disappearing middle class

d. the increase of blue-collar jobs

Learning Objective: 7.3: Describe dimensions of socioeconomic inequality in the United States.

Cognitive Domain: Comprehension

Answer Location: Why Has Inequality Grown?

Difficulty Level: Medium60. What is the term for the dollar amount set by the government as the minimum necessary to meet the needs of a family?

a. poverty line

b. poverty rate

c. living wage

d. minimum wage

Learning Objective: 7.4: Describe and Describe and discuss the problems of household and neighborhood poverty.

Cognitive Domain: Knowledge

Answer Location: Poverty in the United States

Difficulty Level: Easy61. Which of the following does the annual poverty rate capture?

a. the number of households who dropped into poverty

b. the number of households whose total income over a 12-month period fell below the poverty line

c. the number of households who climbed out of poverty

d. the number of households who fell into poverty for at least 2 months in a 12-month period

Learning Objective: 7.4: Describe and discuss the problems of household and neighborhood poverty.

Cognitive Domain: Comprehension

Answer Location: Poverty in the United States

Difficulty Level: Medium62. Why is caution suggested when looking at the annual poverty rate?

a. It does not include people who have a total income under the poverty threshold.

b. The rate is inflated based on individuals who have been below the poverty line for years.

c. People who are below the poverty line for 1 or 2 months are not included.

d. Too many households are permanently below the poverty line.

Learning Objective: 7.4: Describe and discuss the problems of household and neighborhood poverty.

Cognitive Domain: Analysis

Answer Location: Poverty in the United States

Difficulty Level: Medium63. How does the government determine who is “nonpoor”?

a. those who are able to pay their bills each month

b. those with pretax earnings of at least one cent over the poverty line

c. those who are able to pay rent and buy food

d. those with minimum wage earnings and above

Learning Objective: 7.4: Describe and discuss the problems of household and neighborhood poverty.

Cognitive Domain: Knowledge

Answer Location: Poverty in the United States

Difficulty Level: Easy64. Which of the following households is most likely to be found in a poverty area?

a. white and poor

b. Black and female-headed

c. male-headed and white

d. middle-class and Black

Learning Objective: 7.4: Describe and discuss the problems of household and neighborhood poverty.

Cognitive Domain: Analysis

Answer Location: The Problem of Neighborhood Poverty

Difficulty Level: Medium65. Which of the following is true of poverty areas?

a. A declining proportion of Americans reside in poverty areas.

b. A poverty area is one in which 10% of households are impoverished.

c. Poverty areas can be rural, suburban, or urban.

d. Male-headed households are more likely than other family types to experience poverty.

Learning Objective: 7.4: Describe and discuss the problems of household and neighborhood poverty.

Cognitive Domain: Comprehension

Answer Location: The Problem of Neighborhood Poverty

Difficulty Level: Medium

66. In a speech, a candidate for governor claims that the high numbers of people living in poverty reflect a lack of skill and personal ambition. They claim that the United States is set up to reward effort, so those who live in poverty must not be trying to better themselves. This candidate most likely believes the United States is a functioning ______.

a. meritocracy

b. proletariat

c. oligarchy

d. bourgeoisie

Learning Objective: 7.5: Analyze the existence and persistence of stratification and poverty from sociological perspectives.

Cognitive Domain: Application

Answer Location: The Functionalist Explanation

Difficulty Level: Hard

67. According to functionalists Kingsley Davis and Wilbert Moore, the United States is a society in which personal success is based on which of the following?

a. geographic location

b. gender

c. one’s place in the stratification system

d. talent and individual effort

Learning Objective: 7.5: Analyze the existence and persistence of stratification and poverty from sociological perspectives.

Cognitive Domain: Comprehension

Answer Location: The Functionalist Explanation

Difficulty Level: Medium

68. A politician gives a speech to address the growing population of working poor in a city. They argue that this is a positive trend, as the city should become more attractive to many businesses due to the large source of cheap labor. Which perspective on inequality does this politician most likely ascribe to?

a. labeling

b. social conflict

c. functionalist

d. symbolic interactionist

Learning Objective: 7.5: Analyze the existence and persistence of stratification and poverty from sociological perspectives.

Cognitive Domain: Application

Answer Location: The Functionalist Explanation

Difficulty Level: Hard

69. Which statement about inequality is most likely to be made by a social conflict theorist?

a. Minimum-wage jobs perform a valuable service for society.

b. The capitalist class has an interest in keeping the minimum wage low.

c. Having a large source of cheap labor keeps society functioning.

d. Without people living in poverty, day-old food would go to waste.

Learning Objective: 7.5: Analyze the existence and persistence of stratification and poverty from sociological perspectives.

Cognitive Domain: Analysis

Answer Location: The Social Conflict Explanation

Difficulty Level: Medium

70. A researcher gives a presentation on the slowing birth rate in the United States. They argue that this represents a problem for the wealthy and powerful, because it will lead to fewer potential poor workers for them to exploit. Which perspective on inequality does this researcher most likely ascribe to?

a. symbolic interactionist

b. functionalist

c. social conflict

d. labeling

Learning Objective: 7.5: Analyze the existence and persistence of stratification and poverty from sociological perspectives.

Cognitive Domain: Application

Answer Location: The Social Conflict Explanation

Difficulty Level: Hard

True/False

1. Social inequality is the systematic ranking of different groups of people in a hierarchy of inequality.

Learning Objective: 7.1: Identify characteristics of stratification in traditional and modern societies.

Cognitive Domain: Knowledge

Answer Location: Stratification in Traditional and Modern Societies

Difficulty Level: Easy

2. In a caste society, social status is the outcome of achieved characteristics.

Learning Objective: 7.1: Identify characteristics of stratification in traditional and modern societies.

Cognitive Domain: Knowledge

Answer Location: Caste Societies

Difficulty Level: Easy

3. In the United States, there are few barriers to upward social mobility. As long as someone works hard enough, they can achieve middle- or upper-class status.

Learning Objective: 7.2: Describe components of social class, including income, wealth, occupation, status, and political voice.

Cognitive Domain: Comprehension

Answer Location: Sociological Building Blocks of Social Class

Difficulty Level: Medium

4. Income gains in the United States are much higher for top earners than for other people.

Learning Objective: 7.2: Describe components of social class, including income, wealth, occupation, status, and political voice.

Cognitive Domain: Comprehension

Answer Location: Income

Difficulty Level: Medium

5. Most Americans describe themselves in surveys as working class.

Learning Objective: 7.2: Describe components of social class, including income, wealth, occupation, status, and political voice.

Cognitive Domain: Knowledge

Answer Location: Sociological Building Blocks of Social Class

Difficulty Level: Easy

6. Liquid assets are easy to convert into cash.

Learning Objective: 7.2: Describe components of social class, including income, wealth, occupation, status, and political voice.

Cognitive Domain: Knowledge

Answer Location: Wealth

Difficulty Level: Easy

7. Manufacturing jobs in the United States have been primarily replaced with higher-paying jobs in the service sector.

Learning Objective: 7.3: Describe dimensions of socioeconomic inequality in the United States.

Cognitive Domain: Knowledge

Answer Location: Why Has Inequality Grown?

Difficulty Level: Easy

8. There is a tendency that more Americans have money invested in the stock market, which means that wealth is more evenly distributed across the population than ever before.

Learning Objective: 7.3: Describe dimensions of socioeconomic inequality in the United States.

Cognitive Domain: Knowledge

Answer Location: Wealth Inequality

Difficulty Level: Easy

9. Functionalists assert that the United States is a meritocracy.

Learning Objective: 7.5: Analyze the existence and persistence of stratification and poverty from sociological perspectives.

Cognitive Domain: Knowledge

Answer Location: The Functionalist Explanation

Difficulty Level: Easy10. Sociologist Herbert Gans studied how poverty is functional in the United States.

Learning Objective: 7.5: Analyze the existence and persistence of stratification and poverty from sociological perspectives.

Cognitive Domain: Knowledge

Answer Location: The Functionalist Explanation

Difficulty Level: Easy

Short Answer

1. Discuss the difference between an open social stratification system and a closed social stratification system.

Learning Objective: 7.1: Identify characteristics of stratification in traditional and modern societies.

Cognitive Domain: Analysis

Answer Location: Stratification in Traditional and Modern Societies

Difficulty Level: Medium

2. What is the difference between caste societies and class societies?

Learning Objective: 7.1: Identify characteristics of stratification in traditional and modern societies.

Cognitive Domain: Comprehension

Answer Location: Caste Societies

Difficulty Level: Medium

3. Discuss the three main characteristics of a socially stratified system.

Learning Objective: 7.2: Describe components of social class, including income, wealth, occupation, status, and political voice.

Cognitive Domain: Analysis

Answer Location: Sociological Building Blocks of Social Class

Difficulty Level: Medium

4. Explain the difference between income inequality and social inequality.

Learning Objective: 7.2: Describe components of social class, including income, wealth, occupation, status, and political voice.

Cognitive Domain: Analysis

Answer Location: Sociological Building Blocks of Social Class

Difficulty Level: Medium

5. Explain the difference between social inequality and social stratification, and why this difference is important.

Learning Objective: 7.2: Describe components of social class, including income, wealth, occupation, status, and political voice.

Cognitive Domain: Analysis

Answer Location: Sociological Building Blocks of Social Class

Difficulty Level: Medium

6. Identify the differences between occupations that are labeled as blue collar, white collar, pink collar, and gold collar.

Learning Objective: 7.2: Describe components of social class, including income, wealth, occupation, status, and political voice.

Cognitive Domain: Application

Answer Location: Occupation

Difficulty Level: Hard

7. Discuss the relationships between occupation, income, and status. Present an argument to explain inconsistencies between an occupation’s income and its status.

Learning Objective: 7.2: Describe components of social class, including income, wealth, occupation, status, and political voice.

Cognitive Domain: Application

Answer Location: Status

Difficulty Level: Hard

8. Briefly discuss how inequality has grown in the United States.

Learning Objective: 7.3: Describe dimensions of socioeconomic inequality in the United States.

Cognitive Domain: Analysis

Answer Location: Why Has Inequality Grown?

Difficulty Level: Medium

9. Define the term official poverty line. How is having an official poverty line useful for measuring inequality? How is the official poverty line problematic?

Learning Objective: 7.3: Describe dimensions of socioeconomic inequality in the United States.

Cognitive Domain: Analysis

Answer Location: Poverty in the United States

Difficulty Level: Medium10. What is the distinction between household poverty and neighborhood poverty?

Learning Objective: 7.4: Describe and discuss the problems of household and neighborhood poverty.

Cognitive Domain: Analysis

Answer Location: The Problem of Neighborhood Poverty

Difficulty Level: Medium

Essay

1. Discuss how the United States was originally a caste society and moved to a class-based society.

Learning Objective: 7.1: Identify characteristics of stratification in traditional and modern societies.

Cognitive Domain: Analysis

Answer Location: Caste Societies

Difficulty Level: Medium

2. Discuss the evolution of stratification over time, from hunter-gatherer societies to agriculture-based societies to modern capitalist societies today.

Learning Objective: 7.2: Describe components of social class, including income, wealth, occupation, status, and political voice.

Cognitive Domain: Analysis

Answer Location: Sociological Building Blocks of Social Class

Difficulty Level: Medium

3. Explain the relationship between power and class. What role do political power and voice play in the reproduction of class differences?

Learning Objective: 7.2: Describe components of social class, including income, wealth, occupation, status, and political voice.

Cognitive Domain: Analysis

Answer Location: Political Voice

Difficulty Level: Medium

4. Explain the difference between wealth and income, including what they are, how they are primarily used, and how wealth and income inequalities have changed over time.

Learning Objective: 7.2: Describe components of social class, including income, wealth, occupation, status, and political voice.

Cognitive Domain: Analysis

Answer Location: Wealth

Difficulty Level: Medium

5. How does political power influence class status? Provide an example in the context of income.

Learning Objective: 7.2: Describe components of social class, including income, wealth, occupation, status, and political voice.

Cognitive Domain: Application

Answer Location: Political Voice

Difficulty Level: Hard

6. Discuss the relationships between occupation, income, and health. Include a discussion of the shift in types of occupation, in particular the growth of the service sector.

Learning Objective: 7.3: Describe dimensions of socioeconomic inequality in the United States.

Cognitive Domain: Analysis

Answer Location: Other Gaps: Inequalities in Health Care, Health, and Access to Consumer Goods

Difficulty Level: Medium

7. Discuss the factors involved in the disappearance of the middle class in the United States.

Learning Objective: 7.4: Describe and discuss the problems of household and neighborhood poverty.

Cognitive Domain: Analysis

Answer Location: Why Has Inequality Grown?

Difficulty Level: Medium

8. How is poverty positively functional in U.S. society? Describe the views of sociologist Herbert Gans.

Learning Objective: 7.5: Analyze the existence and persistence of stratification and poverty from sociological perspectives.

Cognitive Domain: Analysis

Answer Location: The Functionalist Explanation

Difficulty Level: Medium

9. What is the difference between the functionalist explanation and conflict theory explanation regarding inequality and poverty?

Learning Objective: 7.5: Analyze the existence and persistence of stratification and poverty from sociological perspectives.

Cognitive Domain: Analysis

Answer Location: The Functionalist Explanation / The Social Conflict Explanation

Difficulty Level: Medium

10. In what ways is the United States not a meritocratic society?

Learning Objective: 7.5: Analyze the existence and persistence of stratification and poverty from sociological perspectives.

Cognitive Domain: Analysis

Answer Location: Why Do Stratification and Poverty Exist and Persist in Class Societies?

Difficulty Level: Hard