Sociology Chapter Review Quizzes 7-11

(Q007) Which statement offers an essentialist explanation for gender differences?

Women are overrepresented in professions such as nursing, teaching, and social work because they are inherently more nurturing and caring than men.

(Q021) Marissa Mayer was appointed the chief executive officer (CEO) of Yahoo Corporation in July 2012. Mayer is not the highest paid CEO in the United States, but her position suggests that more women are

able to break the glass ceiling.

(Q008) Which scenario is an example of the free-rider problem?

A group of six teenagers is trying to get 100 signatures for a petition. They meet three days before their deadline to see how they are doing. Two of the teens have collected 25 signatures each, totaling 50. But the other four teenagers have only collected 25 signatures between the four of them, so the group is still 25 signatures short. The two teens who collected the most signatures are irritated about the poor results from the other four group members.

(Q010) Which ethnic group has a higher median family income than whites in the United States?

Asian Americans

(Q013) Why are Asian Americans sometimes labeled a "model minority"?

Compared to other minorities, most Asian Americans have achieved educational and financial success in the United States.

(Q008) What does the example of the nadle in Navajo tribes teach us about gender?

Concepts of gender are not absolute and unchanging.

(Q006) In his interview with Dalton Conley, David Grusky explains why the notion of perverse incentives is outdated. What is an example of a perverse incentive?

Entry to a special honors program is based solely on grades with no review of the types of classes students have taken, so some students take easier classes the semester before applying to boost their grade point average.

(Q017) How did the economic boom that followed World War II contribute to a blurring of the lines between the middle class and the working class?

Higher wages for working-class whites gave these individuals greater access to markers of a middle-class lifestyle, such as home ownership, a college education for their children, and more leisure activities.

(Q019) In 1964, President Lyndon Johnson declared a "War on Poverty." This ambitious plan led to the creation of numerous agencies, some of which persist today. These include which of the following?

Head Start and College Work Study

(Q016) Same-sex marriage is now legal in the United States, and the numbers of persons marrying those of the same sex has skyrocketed and become easily visible. In Brazil, we see that the travesti take on distinctly female characteristics, declare themselves as men, and yet have penetrative sex with men who have an exclusively male appearance. How do these two different examples help describe the difference between homosexuality and homosexual behavior?

Homosexuality is a certain social identity, whereas homosexual behavior is an activity that is not necessarily tied to a social identity.

(Q018) What has the pattern in income growth among low-, middle-, and high-income earners in the United States over the past 30 years looked like?

Income growth for high-income individuals has far outpaced that of middle- and low-income individuals.

(Q018) How has the timing of the transition to a free-market economy been used to partially explain the great difference in inequality and poverty between the United States and other advanced democracies?

Institutions that could better protect the weak or disadvantaged were more fully developed in countries that transitioned to a free-market economy later than the United States.

(Q024) What is a criticism of the official definition of poverty first developed by Mollie Orshansky in 1963?

It does not take into account regional variation in the cost of living.

(Q002) Of the following social theorists, whose ideas about private property and social conflict could be said to align most closely with those of Karl Marx?

Jean-Jacques Rousseau

(Q016) Think for a moment about the story in the text of Marlin, how his life turned out, and how he wound up where he is today. Based on all you have read about him throughout the entire chapter, what seems to be the best explanation for his life and his story?

Marlin's mother suffered from many problems herself, which led to a detrimental outcome for Marlin.

(Q007) According to William Julius Wilson, how do factors such as deindustrialization, globalization, suburbanization, and discrimination contribute to high rates of welfare-dependent, single-mother families?

Such factors have contributed to a net shrinkage of the pool of employed, unincarcerated men, thus greatly limiting women's opportunity to find a stable life partner.

(Q014) Which statement is most closely associated with a conflict theory approach to gender studies?

Men benefit economically from women's inferior position in the family and the workplace.

(Q023) What is an accurate statement regarding recent trends and patterns in teen sexuality?

Most adolescents with a sexually transmitted disease don't know they are infected.

(Q013) Family wealth means debt subtracted from salable assets. Given the prevalence of debt for those in poverty, what are the possible implications for inheritance for the children of impoverished parents?

Since people living in poverty rarely have salable assets such as a house, there is usually nothing to pass on to their children.

(Q012) Why would three partners who own a small graphic design business fit into what Erik Olin Wright calls contradictory class locations?

The fact that they own their own business puts them in the capitalist class, but they do not control the labor of others.

(Q020) What is a major critique of how the poverty line is calculated in the United States?

The formula does not reflect the fact that housing now takes up a much larger portion of family budgets.

(Q004) Why did the negative income tax experiment lead to more women leaving their marriages?

The guaranteed payment that people received through the program meant that many women were no longer financially dependent on a man.

(Q021) What is a reason why the United States has a relatively high level of poverty compared to other advanced democracies?

The safety net in the United States was originally designed to exclude blacks.

(Q004) How was racism expressed in Ancient Greece?

There is no evidence that racism, as we know it today, was a part of Ancient Greek culture.

(Q004) Tina believes that inequality is necessary to keep the world population in check. Her view is most consistent with the views of which theorist?

Thomas Malthus

(Q010) In India, a system of stratification persists, partially because it was exploited by British colonialism to persistently divide the people. This division of society into four main groups (Brahman, Kshatriya, Vaishya, and Shudra) is an example of

a caste system.

(Q019) What is discussed in this chapter as the gateway to becoming middle class?

a college education

(Q020) There has been a significant increase in the number of men joining the nursing profession. Since 1970, the US Census Bureau reports that there has been about an 8 percent jump in the number of male nurses. The pay disparity also exists, with male nurses being paid about 20 percent more than their female counterparts. This change in gender balance in this profession seems counter to the idea that

a female-dominated profession is the result of fewer men entering the field, with the corresponding increase in women in that field.

(Q015) When you board an airplane, the boarding order generally starts with first-class passengers, and then makes its way down to the coach class. Imagine you are boarding an aircraft, and you are in coach class. As you search for a place to store your luggage, you notice that the people in first class are already being served free wine and snacks. This an example of

a status hierarchy.

(Q003) Some Enlightenment thinkers felt that individuals preserving current resources and transforming them into assets was a good thing for society. Part of the thinking was that this opportunity would encourage individuals to work to build up society. In the eyes of the Enlightenment thinkers, this system

acceptably fosters inequality through the emergence of private property.

(Q018) At his predominantly white boarding school, DeMarcus pretends not to care when his classmates ask to touch his hair or assume stereotypical things about him because he is black, but when he is at home in his predominantly black neighborhood he complains to his friends about these experiences. What is this an example of?

acceptance

(Q025) In August 2018, alt-right figurehead Jason Kessler organized the Unite the Right 2 Rally in Washington, D.C. to advocate for "white civil rights." This example illustrates white nationalists' reaction to the "browning of America" in that they are

adopting the rhetoric of minority status.

(Q015) Betty Friedan's The Feminine Mystique championed women's right to work in the early 1960s. For many black feminists, Freidan's book ignored thousands of working women and instead suggested that

all women experience oppression in the same way.

(Q015) Some theorists argue that there can never be an absolute definition of poverty. In fact, the text suggests that wealth actually creates poverty. In other words, poverty is

always relational.

(Q002) At a party, you listen in on a conversation about sex. One person states that he has had sex in some pretty far-out places. He is referring to

sexuality.

(Q004) Prior to the 1800s, it was believed that both male and female orgasms were required to ensure successful conception. When the female could not achieve orgasm, a midwife was sometimes called to assist the woman in achieving orgasm by use of genital massage with essential oils. The idea that both male and female orgasm was needed challenges our current model of a

binary sex system.

(Q005) Your good friend Judy comes to you in a state of exasperation and tells you that she just left the girl's bathroom and saw what she swears was a man dressed in women's clothing walking in. "Men need to use their own bathroom. There's a reason we have different restrooms for different sexes!" Judy is expressing what many people feel, reflecting ideas about

biological determinism.

(Q009) According to the theory of the bell curve, a theory developed by two academics, genes have a key impact on children's outcomes. This argument is an updated approach to the idea that the dominant factor in the creation and persistence of poverty is

biology.

(Q008) The experiences of the Irish and Muslims in the United States and Jews in Germany illustrate how racialization

can occur for both ethnic and religious groups.

(Q020) In his interview with Dalton Conley, Jeffery Sachs highlights many social, structural, ecological, and historical aspects of global inequality, with a focus on Africa. For many countries, the way out of poverty, disease, and economic stagnation is through development of natural resources. As a result, what issue might be least likely to be embraced by African nations?

climate change

(Q020) A Muslim classmate from your introductory sociology course helps organize a march protesting discrimination against Muslim Americans on campus. Hundreds of students from area colleges participate. What type of action is this?

collective resistance

(Q021) Charles believes that racial equality has already been achieved and therefore there is no need for programs like affirmative action. He argues that the best way to improve the conditions of poor African Americans is to encourage them to change their values regarding work, marriage, and family. Charles's beliefs are an example of

color-blind racism.

(Q003) As discussed in the text, President Barack Obama, the son of a white Kansan mother and black Kenyan father, is widely perceived as a black man despite being biracial. This is illustrative of the

continued significance of the one-drop rule.

(Q005) In his interview with Dalton Conley, Mario Luis Small notes that the culture of poverty argument has been rejected empirically and theoretically due to its flaws. In its place, what does Small suggest as an explanatory tool in research about poverty?

culture

(Q014) Robert Park's model of how immigrants adapted to a new setting was called straight-line assimilation. Milton Gordon refined this theory and suggested that an immigrant population can pass through seven stages of assimilation. Harold Isaacs then observed that, despite what seemed to be full assimilation, ethnic identity persisted. His findings led Clifford Geertz to conclude that because it was not biological, ethnicity must be the result of

culture

(Q003) Illegal work, multigenerational living arrangements, multifamily households, serial relationships in place of marriage, and "swapping" are part of the

culture of poverty.

(Q021) In the book, we are presented with a mobility table (Table 7.2). As you look at this table, you can begin to see what happens to the sons. The rate of occupational change is surprisingly low. The sons largely wind up in the same occupational category as the fathers. One of the conclusions from the mobility table analysis suggests that

despite the American belief that we live in the land of opportunity, mobility rates have declined significantly in the past decades.

(Q008) In What Money Can't Buy, sociologist Susan Mayer challenged the common assumption that poverty directly causes poor health, behavioral problems, and many other problems for children. Mayer's work clearly demonstrates how

documenting an association between two factors is different from showing causation.

(Q022) In the Moving to Opportunity study done as a follow-up on the Gautreaux Assisted Housing Program, what measure showed no improvement?

earnings

(Q014) In responding to surveys asking them to rank various occupations by status, people place more emphasis on the __________ of the position than the position's __________.

educational requirements; income level

(Q016) Consider outgoing president Dwight D. Eisenhower's 1961 farewell address, in which he forewarned of the rise of the "military-industrial complex" which had the potential for a "disastrous rise of misplaced power." Eisenhower's position critiques the __________ system.

elite-mass dichotomy

(Q007) In 2014, the US Supreme Court upheld the state of Michigan's ban on affirmative action. In a passionate dissent, Justice Sonya Sotomayor argued that the law placed an undue burden on racial and ethnic minority students not faced by other applicants. What type of equality was Justice Sotomayor arguing in favor of?

equality of condition

(Q006) What standard of equality was key to the arguments of civil rights leaders in the 1960s?

equality of opportunity

(Q003) Sociologists are skeptical of ____ arguments that explain social phenomena in terms of natural ones and often rely on biological determinism.

essentialist

(Q009) At the outset of US history, eligible voters were white property owners or very wealthy. The gradual inclusion of African Americans, women, and other groups took a long time. More recently, voter ID laws have become popular. Many would argue that such laws restricting who can vote are an extension of this long history, which is largely what kind of stratification system?

estate

(Q012) In the United States, the poverty line is established by

estimating food costs based on meeting minimum nutritional requirements and assuming that the average family spends about one-third of their budget on food.

(Q005) You're traveling with a group in a foreign country. After a homestay with a local family, a member of your group remarks that the meal he had last night was horrifying: roasted dog! "No one eats dog!" he exclaims. "It's barbaric!" This person is speaking from a perspective of

ethnocentrism

(Q007) Between 1924 and 1979, the state of Virginia performed sterilizations on individuals deemed "unfit." This included people with epilepsy, which today is recognized and treated as a medical condition. These cases represent a manifestation of

eugenics

(Q011) In his interview with Dalton Conley, Matthew Desmond talks about the "Aspen effect," wherein people who work in fashionable places such as Aspen, Colorado, are forced to commute long distances. But Desmond notes another factor that has a major impact: eviction. Families that cannot pay their rent must move and find a new place to live. The major challenge faced by those being evicted is that

eviction is time-consuming and forces people to miss work.

(Q012) Native Americans have been the target of racial and ethnic abuses since Europeans arrived. In Indian Bureau boarding schools and schools provided on reservations, English was mandatory and children were severely punished if they spoke or wrote their native language, resulting in the gradual erosion of culture. This policy was an attempt at

forced assimilation.

(Q015) Following the attack on Pearl Harbor in 1941, the US government decreed that all people of Japanese descent living in the United States, whether or not they were citizens, were subject to internment in concentration camps. At the time, enclaves of Japanese Americans thrived in several American cities. The fear and rejection of anyone with Japanese ancestry following the attacks reflected a decline in

pluralism

(Q017) The level of income inequality in the United States is

higher than that of all other advanced democracies.

(Q017) The American Psychological Association's classification of homosexuality as a deviant personality type, which was only changed in 1973, as well as the US Supreme Court ruling in 2003 decriminalizing homosexual sex both reflect Michel Foucault's assertion that

homosexuality appears as the result of the state and the medical profession's interest in asserting their power.

(Q019) Which job could be described as a "pink-collar" job in the United States?

hotel maid

(Q011) Suppose you have a good friend who has done well after college. His work in telecommunications helped him land him a job with a six-figure salary last year. He lives in a tiny apartment in the suburbs and keeps his money in a checking account. In addition, he lives off a credit card, and he still has $50,000 in college loans. Your friend is in the category of people considered to have high

income

(Q001) Feminists argue that gender matters because

it structures social relations between people.

(Q011) The model family in the 1950s in America was a happy, simple one. Mom stayed home and raised the kids. Dad went to work and made a good living. Even the dog was happy. In this Father Knows Best model, we can clearly see the structure of

sex role theory.

(Q009) In 2011, a Toronto police officer, during a crime prevention talk, said "women should avoid dressing like sluts in order not to be victimized." The remark prompted formation of a protest movement dubbed SlutWalk, whose stated objective was to stop oppression by slut-shaming and "of being judged by our sexuality and feeling unsafe." Although controversial in many respects, the effort sparked a larger debate on rape culture, socially acceptable dress and appearance, and the idea of slut shaming. The idea that women are supposed to dress within a particular set of largely unspoken social boundaries, and thereby avoid being called sluts, speaks to the

maintenance of a gender order.

(Q013) Joan is a white, straight, middle-aged, working-class woman who lives in suburban New Mexico. Zia is a black lesbian woman who recently came to the United States from South Africa to attend Harvard University. Patricia Hill Collins would point out that these two women each face a different

matrix of domination.

(Q018) In her interview with Dalton Conley, Paula England highlights the changing gender dynamics of relationships for college students. England's research found that students hook up rather than date, and that when they did, "something sexual happens" (which may or may not be intercourse). Furthermore, the whole idea of a relationship is very tenuous. Dating has a very different meaning, with an expectation that it might mean a relationship, and that it is

monogamous.

(Q005) Georg Wilhelm Friedrich Hegel's concept of the master-slave dialectic highlighted the fact that there is a(n) _______ between master and slave.

mutual dependency

(Q009) In her interview with Dalton Conley, Jen'nan Read discusses the meaning of the terms "Arab" and "Muslim." Prior to the terrorist attacks of 9/11, Arab Americans were mostly unnoticed in the United States. Since then, however, Arab Americans have been the targets of racism and discrimination, and they have now been effectively racialized because

of the tendency to conflate the terms "Arab" and "Muslim."

(Q014) Winona is picking up her children from day care. Her nine-hour minimum-wage shift as a temp leaves her exhausted. As she piles her two kids into the car, she loses her temper after one of them refuses to sit still for her to fasten the seatbelt. Winona's solution is to yell at the child until he does what she asks. A sociologist might say that Winona's situation is an example of the

parenting stress hypothesis.

(Q019) Tyrone is frustrated by having submitted dozens of resumes to tech companies around the Pacific Northwest, resulting in zero job interviews. He decides to try submitting three resumes as "Tyler," and receives two calls from prospective employers. What is this an example of?

passing

(Q002) In the text, we read about Marlin, who was fed by food stamps, housed by the Department of Housing and Urban Development (HUD), and moved through the education system into prison. Marlin's life is a case study of the puzzle of whether

poverty is the cause or the result of social problems.

(Q002) Having to wait after checking in for an appointment to see a doctor is evidence of the

power and prestige of doctors in our society.

(Q022) Avi is disappointed that his daughter is marrying a Latino immigrant because he thinks Latinos oppose women having successful careers. This is an example of

prejudice

(Q001) The text discusses the plight of Irish immigrants in the United States in the late 1800s, when vicious, racially motivated attacks were directed toward them. In 2014, there was a series of angry demonstrations in Waterford, a town in Ireland, directed against the Roma (formerly referred to as gypsies). The irony of the attacks on the Roma in Waterford is that, like the anti-Irish attacks in the United States, they are an example of

racism

(Q016) In some urban neighborhoods, buying food staples requires a lengthy journey to another (more white) part of the city. "Food deserts" are a significant problem for people whose resources are limited. According to the text, a food desert is a possible marker of

segregation

(Q026) The brief review of Peggy McIntosh's essay on white privilege lists just a few of the 50 privileges that McIntosh identified in her original work, which included not being asked to represent your entire race and not having to educate children to be aware of systematic racism for their own protection. Which of the following could also be considered white privilege?

shopping in a store without fear that security guards will scrutinize your behavior

(Q001) Jean-Jacques Rousseau argued that if we stripped away all elements of society that result from the institution of private property, only _____ would remain.

social equality

(Q024) Suppose that the following information is known about Asa: He earns $126,000 in annual income, has a net worth of $324,000, has a master's degree, and works as a civil engineer. A sociologist could use this information to classify Asa in terms of his ____.

socioeconomic status

(Q013) One of your closest friends works as a repair technician for an elevator company, and she earns a six-figure salary. While at a social event together, you overhear a conversation in which your friend is jokingly dismissed as a "common laborer" and a "member of the proletariat." The people making these remarks are rudely evaluating your friend based on what?

status hierarchy

(Q012) Your introductory sociology professor believes that gender roles serve a purpose in society to fulfill certain functions. What type of theoretical background is your professor espousing?

structural functionalism

(Q022) Johnnie's father worked his entire career in the automotive manufacturing industry in Michigan. When Johnnie entered the workforce, the auto industry was in decline, so he instead found a professional career in the booming information technology sector, an industry that did not exist when his father began his career. This is an example of

structural mobility.

(Q003) Following a friend's biopsy, which was benign, the doctor and the staff scheduled a few future appointments for her. Your friend tells you how difficult it was to try to stop what she called "auto-bookings." Within the medical profession, this approach to health care is common and refers to

supplier-induced demand.

(Q011) A woman whose maternal grandparents came to the United States from Norway participates in a Norwegian folk dance group and bakes Norwegian pastries for special occasions. This is an example of

symbolic ethnicity.

(Q006) When a child is born, doctors make a decision about what sex they are. Usually, this is very straightforward. However, when a baby is born with atypical or ambiguous genitalia, most doctors recommend sex-reassignment surgery during infancy to make them conform to typical male or female genitalia. While this decision may or may not be a good choice, a sociologist might view the doctor's rationale as resulting from

the belief in a binary sex system.

(Q010) The Gautreaux Assisted Living Program in Chicago and the Moving to Opportunity study provided opportunities to explore

the effects on families of living in a low-poverty versus a high-poverty neighborhood.

(Q010) The gender wage gap generates considerable discussion. As defined by the Organisation for Economic Co-operation and Development (OECD), this gap is the "difference between male and female earnings expressed as a percentage of male earnings." Critics of the pay gap note that women do not work as many hours as men, that children necessitate women as primary caregivers (as the sole persons able to bear children), and that the entire problem "can be explained away by simply taking account of college majors." All of this debate underscores what basic idea?

the extent of male dominance in society

(Q022) In 2014, the top 10 models in the fashion industry all had earnings well over $1 million, with a few - Kate Moss and Heidi Klum - earning over $10 million. In her interview with Dalton Conley, Ashley Mears points out that top male fashion models quickly hit a limit as to how far they can go in modeling work, whereas a small number of women can continue on to be top, obviously well-paid, models. According to Mears, this particular career is an example of what in reverse?

the glass escalator

(Q023) Average household net worth is much higher for white families than for black and Latino families. This "equity inequality" is BEST explained as a result of

the historical disadvantage of minority groups.

(Q001) What is a professional norm for doctors?

the intimate but objective nature of their conversations with patients

(Q006) The Nazi regime's belief that it had to protect a superior race from contamination by inferior races stemmed in part from

the notion of social Darwinism.

(Q002) The first naturalization law in the United States in 1790 limited citizenship to "free white persons," which set up a relatively broad and inclusive definition of "whiteness." However, the definition of whiteness narrowed such that it applied only to Anglos by the early twentieth century. What social change led to this increasingly exclusive definition of whiteness?

the surge in immigration of non-Anglo Europeans to the United States

(Q001) In the United States, poverty is usually thought of as severe economic deprivation that prevents people from living with dignity. Despite decades of effort and billions of dollars, poverty in the United States continues unabated. Recent research suggests that poverty is a kind of proxy, or stand-in, for the

underlying social disease of inequality and economic segregation.

(Q023) Siying's mother and father both lacked any formal education and supported their family by working as shoe shiners in a New York City subway station. Siying got a scholarship to attend an Ivy League university, went to medical school, and is now a neurosurgeon at a hospital in Boston. This is an example of

vertical social mobility.

(Q024) In her interview with Dalton Conley, Jennifer Lee observes that the black-white divide is now the black-nonblack divide. Her argument is based on the experiences of first- and second-generation Asians and Latinos, a group in which each successive generation's outcomes improve. Among black Americans this is not the case, however. Disparities are apparent between blacks and all other groups in

wealth and educational attainment.

(Q023) In recent years it has become harder to fully participate socially and economically in American society without having a smartphone. Some might even consider them a requirement for being able to live with dignity in our society. This would be an example of how

what is considered a necessity is socially defined and can change over time.

(Q017) After facing persecution by the Nazis in Poland, many Jews left the country for good. Which group response to domination is this an example of?

withdrawal