Chapter 8
______ refers to the loss of high-paying manufacturing jobs, resulting in the decline of the middle class who end up in low-paying service jobs.
A. Deindustrialization
Which of these arguments about stratification is a structural-functional theory?
A. Stratification is needed because it ensures that people with the right abilities end up in the right positions.
How are wealth and income linked?
A. Wealth produces sources of income.
Many people consider themselves to be middle class, but the text defines the middle class by the following criteria: ______.
A. a family of four that makes between $35,000 and $100,000 per year
Single-parent households headed by women are more likely to live in poverty compared to single-parent households headed by men. This is an example of the ______.
A. feminization of poverty
The income gap between the top 1% of earners in the United States and the bottom 20% of the population has ______ since 1979.
A. increased
Poverty rates by family type in the United States over time show that ______ have the lowest poverty.
A. married-couple families
In the United States, and in much of the contemporary world, which of the following is the basis of stratification?
A. the money economy
______ theorists advocate for narrowing the income gap between the very rich and the very poor.
B. Conflict/critical
The caste system, found among the Hindus of India, is primarily based on ______ characteristics.
B. ascribed
Which of these is the most statistically likely to result in being wealthy?
B. being born to wealthy people
The largest occupational category, from 1930 to today, has changed from ______.
B. blue-collar to white-collar
Many actors and actresses earn millions each year and display their wealth by living in upscale mansions and driving expensive vehicles. This is an example of ______.
B. conspicuous consumption
Julia is a highly paid actress who likes expensive clothing and inexpensive jewelry and reads comic books as well as best-selling books. From this example, it could be said that Julia is a ______.
B. cultural omnivore
Bill Gates, CEO of Microsoft, is estimated to be worth $48 billion. Today, it is estimated that there are 14 million Americans who are homeless. This disparity between social classes is an example of ______.
B. social stratification
Joe is the CEO of a major corporation and earns a salary of $500,000. He has earned a great deal of respect in his position and he is an active member of the community in which he resides. Joe is an example of ______.
B. status consistency
The poverty line in the United States is measured by the federal government using the following formula: ______.
B. the cost of a nutritionally adequate food plan multiplied by three.
According to Thomas Piketty's book Capital in the Twenty-First Century, which is more important, income or wealth?
B. wealth
According to one estimate, ______ of the women in the United States are below the poverty line.
C. 15%
According to the text, how many Americans were considered to be living in poverty in 2013?
C. 18.6%
The top 10% of the United States owns ______% of the nation's wealth, while the bottom 50% own ______% of the nation's wealth.
C. 75; 2
Which of these is listed in the text as one of the biggest disadvantages associated with being in the lower class in the United States?
C. A shorter life expectancy.
Income inequality in the United States looks different depending on how it is divided. Which of these comparisons has the largest disparity?
C. Comparing the bottom 90% to the top 0.1%.
Fred has been homeless for over 10 years. He barely makes enough panhandling to eat every day. Which of these best describes the type of poverty Fred is experiencing?
C. absolute poverty
The components of social stratification are ______.
C. class, status, and power
Many celebrities purchase large mansions and expensive vehicles. In addition, they also often purchase designer clothing and wear lavish jewelry. According to Pierre Bourdieu, this is an example of ______.
C. distinction
John, 31, earns $10,000 a year as a seasonal worker at Macy's. His parents earn a combined income of $200,000 as lawyers. This is an example of ______.
C. downward intergenerational mobility
Theorists from the ______ perspective focus on what people do within a stratified structure, such as how they present their authority or lack of authority in their body language.
C. ethnomethodologist
Sue is a part-time teacher at a local preschool. She decides to go to school and get her teaching certificate. Eventually, she becomes a full-time math teacher. This is an example of ______.
C. occupational mobility
John and Sue are both factory workers who earn a combined income of $30,000 a year. They also have four children. They rarely go out to eat, and they rely on family and friends for help with day care and other needs. Their family would be considered to live in ______.
C. relative poverty
Bill has been working at Walmart as a cashier for 5 years and makes $28,000 a year. Jane has been working at Target in customer service for 4 years and makes $32,000. According to this data, we can conclude Bill and Jane are in the same ______.
C. social class
The ability, or inability, to change one's place within the social classes in a society is called ______.
C. social mobility
John and Mary are on a first date, and Mary tells John she is an airplane pilot. John is very impressed by this as he considers airplane pilots to have a great deal of ______.
C. status
Jennifer Lopez is a very wealthy television star, singer, and dancer, yet she has very little power in the political world. This is an example of ______.
C. status inconsistency
According to the ______ perspective, certain occupations, such as airplane pilots and Supreme Court judges, require a great deal of education and must be rewarded with higher salaries and extensive benefit packages.
C. structural/functional
10. What is the difference between income and wealth?
D. Income is measured year by year; wealth is a cumulative total.
______ defined social class as a division between the capitalists, who owned the means of production, and the proletariat, who lacked the means of production, thus creating a hierarchical stratification system.
D. Karl Marx
Which theorist argued that elite members of society want their social class membership to be obvious to others, and they accomplish this through conspicuous consumption?
D. Thorstein Veblen
______ coined the term conspicuous consumption, which refers to those of the upper class who use their wealth to demonstrate their status in society.
D. Thorstein Veblen
As of 2012, the mean income of a man who earns a bachelor's degree in the United States is ______.
D. around $82,000
Prince William and Prince Harry, sons of Prince Charles, were born into royalty and thus gained instant notoriety. This is an example of which characteristic?
D. ascription
In the time period since 1959, poverty in the United States ______.
D. has varied from year to year between 10% and 25% of the population
Sue is a cashier at a grocery store and has been at her position for 5 years, making $20,000 a year. When the store goes out of business, she takes a job at a department store making $21,000 a year. This would be an example of ______.
D. horizontal mobility
When a lower class person buys an imitation item of the upper class to imitate the upper class position, this is known as ______.
D. stratified consumption
The cost of college is not a concern for brilliant students who earn scholarships or for wealthy students, but students from middle- and lower-class families face big issues with student loans. The student loan problem highlights ______.
D. the high stratification in the United States
A cashier at Walmart who eventually becomes the district regional manager would be an example of horizontal mobility.
F
A hospital pays higher salaries to doctors who specialize in multiple areas. This is an example of the conflict theory as it relates to social stratification.
F
Cindi is a bus driver who eventually becomes a special education teacher. This is an example of structural mobility.
F
The key difference between Georg Simmel and Thorstein Veblen's theories of stratified consumption is that Simmel thinks the lower classes invent their own fashionable styles, while Veblen thinks they simply mimic the taste of the upper class.
F
The three dimensions of social stratification are social class, income, and power.
F
Those who see poverty as a moral problem believe that poverty hurts the economy because the poor are unable to consume very much.
F
Wealth refers to money earned from wages and rents, whereas income refers to assets.
F
A second-grade teacher who fills in as a fourth-grade teacher the following year is an example of horizontal mobility.
T
A woman helps her elderly neighbor by running weekly errands for her. The neighbor helps her by keeping an eye on her house while she is at work. This is an example of symbolic exchange.
T
According to structural-functional theory, brain surgeons should earn higher salaries and more lucrative stock options than doctors who work in family practices.
T
According to the conflict perspective, waiters and waitresses are just as valuable as the restaurant manager, as each position has value and performs necessary functions.
T
Actresses who wear expensive diamonds and pearl necklaces to award shows exemplify stratified consumption.
T
Cultural omnivores are people in the elite class who enjoy culture and consumption from across a wide range of available offerings.
T
Deindustrialization is related to the increase in income inequality in the United States.
T
John's father is unemployed and living on welfare, whereas John is the president of his company, an auto parts warehouse. This is an example of intergenerational mobility.
T
Mike owns a collection business and is very strict with his employees. He sees his employees in a very subservient way and expects them to adhere to all of his rules. This would be an example of an inter/actionist theory as it pertains to social stratification.
T
New York trash collectors sometimes earn a higher income than local business owners. This would be an example of status inconsistency.
T
Recent research suggests that people on both the low and the high levels of the stratification system greatly overestimate the amount of upward mobility experienced by people in the United States.
T
The major reason for the decline of the middle class is the decline of middle-income jobs, often as a result of technological change.
T
Wealth helps people buy or otherwise acquire high status and power.
T
Mary is a real estate agent who makes $100,000 a year. The economy takes a downturn and she loses her job, then her home, and her vehicle. She becomes homeless. This is an example of ______.
d. downward mobility
