Exam 7: Class and Stratification in the United States.

__________ is the hierarchical arrangement of large social groups based on the control over basic resources.

According to sociologist Erik Wright's Marxian model, the __________ is made up of a number of subgroups, including blue-collar workers, some of whom are highly skilled and well paid and others of who are unskilled and poorly paid.

Discuss consequences of inequality in relation to housing.

__________ often has life-threatening consequences, such as when a homeless person freezes to death on a park bench.

A university instructor is promoted to the position of professor. This results in her being granted tenure and she receives a small increase in salary. This person has experienced __________ mobility.

Structural problems contribute to both unemployment and underemployment. Corporations have been disinvesting in the United States, displacing millions of people from their jobs. Economists refer to this displacement as the __________ of America.

According to your text, several factors have eroded the American Dream for the middle-class. Which of the following factors was not identified in the text?

Describe the poor in the United States, referencing age, gender, and race/ethnicity elements.

Of all age groups, persons aged __________ are the most likely to be uninsured.

When sociologists define poverty, they define absolute poverty and state that it exists when people may be able to afford basic necessities but are still unable to maintain an average standard of living.

Discuss the changes in the minimum wage and the debate concerning whether or not our laws should guarantee people a living wage.

The gulf between the rich and poor continues to widen in the United States. Between 1993 and 2003, the income of the top one-fifth of U. S. families increased by 31 percent; during that same period of time, the income of the bottom one-fifth of U. S. families __________.

Recently, four factors have eroded the American Dream for the middle class: escalating housing prices, occupational insecurity, blocked mobility on the job, and the cost-of-living squeeze that has penalized younger workers, even when they have more education and better jobs than their parents.

__________ poverty exists when people may be able to afford basic necessities but are still unable to maintain an average standard of living.

Sociologist Max Weber suggested that a person who has a high level of prestige is assumed to receive deferential and respectful treatment from others. Which of the following aspects related to prestige was not identified by Weber?

Becky's mother is an architect and her father is a college professor. Becky left home at age 16 to live with her boyfriend. When their relationship ended, Becky no longer communicated with her parents and did not return to high school. After working briefly at a fast?food restaurant, Becky started panhandling (asking for money from passersby) at a shopping area located adjacent to a large university. Becky's situation is an example of __________ mobility.

About two-thirds of all adults living in poverty are women. In 2006, single-parent families headed by women had a __________ percent poverty rate as compared with a 10 percent poverty rate for two-parent families.

Lack of affordable housing is one central problem brought about by economic inequality. Another concern is substandard housing, which refers to facilities that have inadequate heating, air conditioning, plumbing, electricity, or structural durability.

Outline sociologist Karl Marx's theory on the relationship to the means of production and apply the theory to contemporary America.

According to some social analysts, throughout recorded history only five societies have been slave societies. Those in which the social and economic impact of slavery was extensive include ancient Greece, the Roman Empire, the United States, the Caribbean, and Brazil.