Sociology 4
life chances
Sociologist Max Weber's term __________ refers to the extent to which individuals have access to important societal resources such as food, clothing, shelter, education, and health care.
high unemployment and the low wages paid for many jobs
Social inequality and poverty have both economic and structural sources. According to your text, in the United States a great deal of poverty is due to __________.
workers are alienated from the goods they produce because they use their creativity and labor to produce them but do not own them
Marx described workers as alienated for a variety of reasons, including that __________.
horizontal
A factory worker is promoted to the position of foreman in the factory. She receives a small increase in pay. This person has experienced __________ mobility.
superstructure
According to Marx, the capitalist class maintains its position at the top of the class structure by control of the society's __________, which is composed of the government, schools, churches, and other social institutions.
1 percent
According to the social class model developed by Gilbert and Kahl, and based on the theory of Weber, the upper (capitalist) class of the United States includes about __________ of the population.
flexibility
According to the text, one of the most important characteristics of systems of stratification is their degree of __________.
class
Both Karl Marx and Max Weber identified ___________ as an important determinant of social inequality and social change.
upper-upper
In the model of American social classes based on Weber's theory, the __________ is made up of prominent families that have held great wealth for several generations.
racial classification
A difference between the caste system in India and the caste system in South Africa is that in South Africa caste was based largely on __________.
3 to 5 percent
About __________ of the U.S. population is included in the underclass.
capitalist
According to Forbes magazine, the richest people in the world are Mexican entrepreneur Carlos Slim Helu, Bill Gates (co-founder of Microsoft Corporation), and investor Warren Buffet. In Wright's Marxian model these men would be members of the __________ class.
working class
An estimated 30 percent of the U.S. population is __________, which includes occupations such as semiskilled machine operators in factories and people in the service sector, such as clerks and salespeople.
systems where status is determined at birth
Caste systems and slavery are both __________.
deskilling
Computers and other technologies perform a great deal of work today, reducing the need for workers with special expertise. As a result, high-paying positions have been replaced with low-paying positions. This process has been termed __________.
people's relationships with others in the production process
Contemporary Marxian (or conflict) theorists examine class in terms of __________.
a meritocracy
Davis and Moore, two functionalists, believe that stratification results in __________.
16 percent
For many of the working poor, medical insurance is out of the question. In 2010, approximately __________ of people in the United States were without health insurance coverage.
functionalism
From the perspective of __________, social inequality is not only inevitable; it is an essential part of any healthy society.
50
In 2009, the wealthiest 20 percent of households in the United States received approximately __________ percent of the total income pie.
40 percent
In 2012, the top 5 percent of households in the United States received more than 20 percent of all income—an amount greater than that received by the bottom __________ of all households.
managerial class
In Wright's Marxian model, persons who have substantial control over production and over workers but do not participate in key corporate decisions such as how to invest profit are the __________.
working class
In 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 whom are unskilled and poorly paid.
status is based on access to and ownership of resources
In a class system_____________________________.
subemployment
In addition to unemployment, structural problems contribute to __________, where people work at jobs that do not pay a living wage and lack security.
the feminization of poverty
In the late 1970s, sociologist Diana Pearce coined the term __________to refer to the trend in which women are disproportionately represented among individuals living in poverty.
symbolic interactionist
Meredith studies how waiters are treated by diners at a country club in order to learn about the daily structure of inequality and how these patterns are enacted and replicated. Meredith is a __________.
3
Of the richest 20 people in the world, how many are women?
are at greater risk for heart disease and cancer than more affluent persons
Poor people in the United States______________________________.
food insecure
The Department of Agriculture uses the term __________ for people whose access to adequate food is limited by lack of money and other resources.
17,500
The U.S. State Department estimates that about __________ foreigners are brought to the United States and enslaved annually.
17,500
The U.S. State Department estimates that about __________ foreigners are brought to the United States and enslaved annually.
prestige
The dimension of Weber's system of stratification that helps determine one's class consists of the respect or regard that a person is given by others, and is called __________.
class
The open stratification system based on the ownership and control of resources, as well as the type of work people do, is termed __________.
social mobility
The sociological term for the movement of individuals or groups from one level in a stratification system to another is __________.
underclass
The term __________ refers to those who are poor, are seldom employed, and experience long-term deprivation.
semiskilled positions that are low paying, are not manual labor, and are primarily held by women
The term pink-collar refers to_____________________________.
local property taxes
Today, great disparities exist in the distribution of educational resources. Because funding for education comes primarily from __________, school districts in wealthy suburban areas generally pay higher teachers' salaries, have newer buildings, and provide state-of-the-art equipment.
conflict theorists
When analyzing social class, __________ are most likely to consider the degree of control that workers have over the decision-making process and their ability to plan and implement their own work.
working poor
Working single mothers and their children and African Americans are overrepresented among the __________.
Slavery
__________ is an extreme form of stratification in which some people are owned by others. It is a closed system in which people are treated as property and have little or no control over their lives.
Absolute poverty
__________ is the most likely to have life-threatening consequences, such as when a homeless person freezes to death on a park bench.
Social stratification
__________ is the sociological term for the hierarchical arrangement of large social groups based on the control of basic resources.
Intragenerational
__________ mobility refers to the social movement of individuals within their own lifetime.
Relative
__________ poverty exists when people may be able to afford basic necessities but are still unable to maintain an average standard of living.
Absolute
__________ poverty refers to the condition in which people do not have the means to secure the most basic necessities of life.
Conflict
__________ theorists stress that schools are agencies for perpetuating social inequality because parents with limited income are not able to provide the same educational opportunities for their children as are families with greater financial resources.
egalitarian
Marx predicted that when workers realized that capitalists were the source of their oppression, they would overthrow the capitalists and take over the government, creating a(n) __________ society.
alienation
Marx used the term __________ for the feeling of powerlessness and estrangement from other people and from oneself that he suggested resulted from continually being exploited.
proletariat
Marx used the term __________ to refer to those who must sell their labor to the owners in order to earn enough money to survive.
the economic basis of class systems
Marx's theory had important insights into capitalist societies; for example,________________.
lower-upper class
Members of the __________ have earned most of their money during their own lifetime. This class includes entrepreneurs, presidents of major corporations, sports or entertainment celebrities, and top-level professionals.
middle class
Of the two categories of people who work for wages, Weber called the white-collar workers, public officials, managers, and professionals the __________.
there is little or no social mobility
One of the most important characteristics of systems of stratification is their degree of flexibility. In a closed system of stratification __________.
was challenged by some slaves through acts of resistance and sabotage
Slavery in the United States ___________.
alienation
Sociologist Karl Marx believed that the workers are exploited as capitalists maximize their profit by paying the workers less than the resale values of what they produce. Marx believed that this resulted in a feeling of powerlessness and estrangement that he called __________.
Max Weber
The model of the American class system based on the work of __________ is based on three elements: education, occupation of family head, and family income.
working class
Weber called the class consisting of skilled, semiskilled, and unskilled workers the __________.
power
Weber defined social class using ___________ as a major contributor.
power
Whereas Marx defined class in purely economic terms, Max Weber developed a multidimensional approach to social stratification that reflects the interplay among wealth, prestige, and __________.
Wealth
__________ is the value of all of a person's or family's economic assets, including income, personal property, and income-producing property.
Horizontal mobility
__________ occurs when people experience a gain or loss in position and/or income that does not produce a change in their place in the class structure.
Vertical mobility
__________ occurs when people experience movement either up or down the class structure.
