Question 1

What is the single biggest reason why an increasing proportion of those in poverty are women?

Accepted Answer

A)  Single women are more likely to be raising small children than single men. 
B)  Women are facing increasing discrimination in the job market. 
C)  Fewer women than men have earned their high school diplomas. 
D)  In many cultural groups within the United States,women are discouraged from seeking employment.

Question 2

According to William Sewell and Robert Hauser,the key factor behind occupational status is

Accepted Answer

A)  educational and career aspirations. 
B)  genetics. 
C)  power. 
D)  luck.

Question 3

Sarah believes her neighbors are poor because they have been socialized into a set of values,beliefs,and norms that result in behavior that leads to poverty.Sarah supports which of the following theories of poverty?

Accepted Answer

A)  culture of poverty 
B)  structural poverty 
C)  blame the system 
D)  feminization of poverty

Question 4

Answer the following question in three to five sentences.How has the distribution of income in the United States changed over the past thirty years? Apply one of the stratification theories discussed in the chapter to explain the reason for this change.

Accepted Answer

The answer of Answer the following question in three to...

Question 5

Today people are taken against their will and forced to work as bricklayers in Pakistan or as sex workers in Thailand.According to the textbook,these examples are best described as

Accepted Answer

A)  modern-day slavery. 
B)  a caste system based on occupation. 
C)  cheap labor in a capitalist system. 
D)  the worst occupations in a class system.

Question 6

One of the main differences between Marx's and Weber's understanding of social class is that

Accepted Answer

A)  Marx emphasized one's life chances in his understanding of social class. 
B)  Weber recognized that social classes also differ with respect to their power and status. 
C)  Marx put more emphasis on how race and gender intersected with class. 
D)  Weber argued that social discrimination can lead to class inequality.

Question 7

According to the textbook,members of the lower middle class today

Accepted Answer

A)  work at primarily blue-collar jobs. 
B)  make up about 90 percent of American households. 
C)  are rarely politically active beyond exercising their right to vote. 
D)  make over $200,000 annually.

Question 8

According to the textbook,what is one of the reasons that slavery does not exist in most societies around the world today?

Accepted Answer

A)  It is an inefficient economic system. 
B)  Slaves are too expensive to buy. 
C)  The Civil War outlawed it. 
D)  Around the world,slavery has always been considered immoral.

Question 9

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 10

According to a Pew Research poll conducted in 2015,which household income category is MOST likely to answer that they had recovered "hardly at all" from the economic recession that began in 2008?

Accepted Answer

A)  less than $30,000 
B)  $30,000-$74,999 
C)  $75,000-$99,000 
D)  $100,000 or more

Question 11

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 sociologists...

Question 12

According to the textbook,what three main characteristics do social systems of stratification share? Provide an example of each.Your answer should be one paragraph in length.

Accepted Answer

The answer of According to the textbook,what three main characteristics...

Question 13

Social Security accounts for about ______ of the income of the typical retiree.

Accepted Answer

A)  13 percent 
B)  33 percent 
C)  53 percent 
D)  73 percent

Question 14

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

Accepted Answer

A)  1947,when the United States started to measure the gap. 
B)  1970,when the United States started to outsource jobs. 
C)  2000,after the economic boom of the 1990s. 
D)  None of these choices are correct;the gap has been getting smaller.

Question 15

Which of the following is an example of what Pierre Bourdieu refers to as cultural capital?

Accepted Answer

A)  the ability to pay for cultural events and resources such as art museums,opera companies,and symphony orchestras 
B)  parents paying for school tutoring 
C)  parents reading to their children and encouraging them to do well in school 
D)  having an uncle who works for Goldman Sachs

Question 16

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 are homeless. 
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 17

According to Karl Marx,the working class in industrialized countries would remain poor and live near subsistence level.Marx was right about the persistence of poverty in industrialized countries,but he was wrong in thinking that

Accepted Answer

A)  there would be very few poor people in most industrialized countries. 
B)  most people would own the means of production collectively in capitalist countries. 
C)  the income of most of the population would remain extremely low. 
D)  industrial capitalism would decrease the wealth and income gap.

Question 18

From 1977 to 2016,the richest 20 percent saw its income rise ______,while the poorest 20 percent saw its income rise by ______.

Accepted Answer

A)  67 percent;8 percent 
B)  15 percent;60 percent 
C)  100 percent;0 percent 
D)  75 percent;95 percent

Question 19

According to Peter Blau and Otis Dudley Duncan,the key factor behind occupational status is

Accepted Answer

A)  ambition. 
B)  genetics. 
C)  education. 
D)  luck.

Question 20

Which of the following is an example of a caste system?

Accepted Answer

A)  forcing rural women in Thailand into sex work 
B)  the racial wealth gap in the United States 
C)  forcing children to accept their parents' status as their own in India 
D)  high rates of child poverty in Slovenia

Exam 7: Stratification,class,and Inequality