Quizzes and Practice Midterm

Marx and Weber are both conflict theorists, but Weber's focus was primarily on those who are...

excluded

Conflict theorists differ from functionalists in that they believe stratification...

serves the interests of powerful groups rather than all of society

Karl Marx's theorists emphasized...

social class and class conflict

According to Weber, the mechanism through which individuals and groups work to protect their privilege and prevent others from accessing their advantages is called... A. Social Closure B. elite exclusion C. oligarchy D. wealth protection

social closure

Max Weber noted that privileged, powerful, and prestigious groups often seek...

social closure

Most sociologists consider the dimensions of inequality to be...

social constructions

Viewed sociologically, race and gender can be viewed as special types of...

social status

For Max Weber, social honor within a community determines one's...

status

Jeff Bezos is the CEO of Amazon, and he is the richest person in the world with a net worth of $160 billion. Choosing EITHER a functionalist or conflict theorist perspective, analyze whether this is reasonable or unreasonable.

Example of functionalist response: As a functionalist, I think Jeff Bezos' status as the richest person in the world is reasonable because he has created a huge company that has revolutionized how people shop for and purchase items. He clearly had a smart idea because of how successful Amazon has become, and he should be rewarded for his creativity and entrepreneurship. Since we need people to create cutting edge companies and products, it is reasonable that they should be able to earn large amounts of money Example of a conflict theorist response: As a conflict theorist, I think Jeff Bezos' net worth is way too high. While Amazon is clearly successful, there is no reason that any single person needs to have hundreds of billions of dollars. In particular, this is an issue because Amazon has been criticized for not paying its employees living wages. Having such a stark difference between what the CEO earns and what the people who are actually fill and ship the boxes earn will breed class conflict and resentment.

Pierre Bourdieu believed one could recognize "lowbrow" art because it was always of poor quality

FALSE

An interest in status and lifestyles as part of stratification traces back to which theorist?

Max Weber

Provide one example of a structural explanation and one example of an agentic explanation for social class disparities in college completion rates.

One structural explanation for class disparities in college completion rates is that school funding is tied to local taxes. As a result, these laws create unequal schools which then lead to unequal outcomes in student achievement. An agentic explanation is that some students try harder than others, and so they are able to succeed in college, while others do not work as hard.

Which of the following is an agentic explanation for disparities in education? A. Opting out of going to college in order to get a job B. Schools are funded by neighborhood taxes C. Declining ability of colleges to offer financial aid D. Rising costs of college tuition

Opting out of college in order to get a job

The wealthiest sector of the US population (capitalists) receives most of its money from... A. High-salary occupations such as lawyers and doctors B. Returns on investments and assets C. movie and sports contracts D. the combined salaries of multiple jobs

Returns on investments and assets

Define structure and agency

Structure refers to the set of social institutions, patterns, and laws that enable and constrain individuals' behaviors Agency refers to the ability of individuals to make decisions and act independently

Functionalists have argues that some amount of inequality is necessary for the smooth functioning of economy and society

TRUE

Summarize the functionalist perspective of stratification, exemplified by the ideas of Davis and Moore

The functionalist perspective of stratification is that stratification serves two purposes: to assign people places in the division of labor and to motivate people to work hard in their positions. Since we need all positions to be filled, and we want to make sure the most important positions are rewarded the highest incomes so that people will stay in them, stratification is functional and contributes to a harmonious society.

C. Wright Mills refers to the sociological imagination as...

a quality of mind that helps people place their personal troubles in a broader social and historical context

Marx contends that as industrial capitalism progresses and wealth accumulates, a society's class structure becomes...

more polarized into two classes (rulers and ruled)

Marx believed that socialist revolutions had not yet occurred because industrial workers were...

not yet fully class conscious

The idea that power in the US is controlled by an alliance of military, political, and corporate leaders is associated with...

power elite theory

What are some of the critiques of stratification that a conflict theorist, such as Tumin, would raise?

A conflict theorist would argue that stratification is not functional because not everyone starts out with an equal chance of getting into the best positions. Rather, people who come from privileged backgrounds are more likely to be able to get the education necessary to fill those positions, which means they are going to get the highest incomes. Additionally, inequality doesn't create harmony and social solidarity, but creates divisions.

Marx and Weber both recognize that _______ factors are important in differentiating social classes, but Weber adds the relevance of _______ factors to his definitions. A. Social, power B. Economic, social C. Personal, communal D. Historical, modern

Economic, social

What is the y-axis (labeled low-high) measuring? What do each of the letters on the x-axis represent? (of Kuznet's curve)

The x-axis represents different types of societies, such as hunting and gathering and agrarian. The y-axis represents the extent of inequality, or whether there was low, medium, or high inequality.

What does this graph tell us about stratification?

This graph shows that the extent of inequality varies by societal type, which shows that inequality is not simply a natural social order that has existed in every society. Rather, with each shift from one societal type to another, we see changes in the extent of inequality. Overall, we see this consistent increase in inequality, despite the small dip that occurs following industrialization

Music, art, and clothing preferences that would be considered "lowbrow" or "low status" are those which are... A. completely without artistic merit B. unusual or strange C. associated with low-income groups D. obsolete and out of step with the times

associated with low-income groups

The Kuznets curve implied that as societies fully industrialize, they would...

become more equal

Davis and Moore argue that social stratification is functional for society because it creates...

greater motivation

What does the Kuznet Curve represent?

how the level of inequality varies by societal type

Occupational prestige in the US is highly correlated with...

income and education