Chapter 9 Revel

Which of the following statements most accurately reflects the symbolic-interaction approach to social stratification?

Social position is a matter of meanings, which in our society often reflects the quantity and quality of products that we consume.

What key argument did Kingsley Davis and Wilbert Moore present to support their claim that social inequality has beneficial consequences for the operation of society?

Some form of social stratification has been found in every known society.

According to Kingsley Davis and Wilbert Moore, what benefits come from social stratification?

Linking rewards to the functional importance of positions promotes a society's productivity and efficiency.

What makes defining classes in U.S. society so difficult?

U.S. society has a relatively low level of status consistency so the boundaries between class levels are not very clear.

What share of all wealth is owned by the richest 20 percent of all U.S. families?

89 percent

Which of the following statements about social stratification is correct?

All human societies have been socially stratified although in variable ways.

Which of the following is the most important reason that Canada has less income inequality than the nations of Colombia, Chile, and Zambia?

Canada is a high-income nation; high-income nations typically have less income inequality than lower-income countries.

__________ make up the fastest-growing category of homeless people.

Children

As presented in the text, the Kuznets curve analysis uses the model of sociocultural evolution developed by __________.

Gerhard Lenski

Which of the following statements challenges Karl Marx's claims that workers will inevitably overthrow a capitalist economic system?

No advanced capitalist society has ever experienced a class revolution by the workers.

Which of the following statements most accurately reflects the symbolic-interaction approach to social stratification?

Social position is a matter of meanings, which in our society largely reflect the quantity and quality of products that we consume.

How would the Davis-Moore thesis explain the fact that physicians earn far more money than do bus drivers?

The occupation of physician is more highly valued than that of bus driver and requires much more ability and sacrifice in terms of education and training. Providing physicians with greater rewards draws talent to that position and ensures that some people will be willing to make the sacrifices needed to become physicians.

In what important way does the "caste" part of Britain's social structure remain evident in that country's life today?

The queen, a traditional monarch, is the head of state.

According to Karl Marx, what are the two basic relationships that people have to the means of production?

They either own productive property or labor for others.

Which type of stratification system is typically found in agrarian societies?

a caste system

According to Max Weber's analysis of social stratification, the single most important dimension of social inequality in industrial societies is __________ inequality.

class or economic

In which type of social stratification is social standing based on both birth and individual achievement?

class system

How do sociologists define the concept of wealth?

the value of income and all other assets, minus the value of all outstanding debts

Research suggests that social mobility is relatively greater for people born at what levels of the class system?

generally, in the middle levels

Which of the following factors is especially likely to result in downward social mobility for women?

getting divorced

Which of the following would most likely be characteristic of a society with a more open system of social stratification?

greater emphasis on meritocracy

Marcine is highly educated, holds an important job, makes a lot of money, and enjoys the respect of almost everyone who knows her. Sociologists would describe her social position as __________.

having high status consistency

In the United States, a person moving from one job to a comparable job is engaged in what sociologists call __________ mobility.

horizontal

At which level of technological development do societies display the least amount of social stratification?

hunting-and-gathering societies

Callahan, who was born to working-class parents, just graduated from medical school and passed his medical board exams. He would be considered to have experienced __________ mobility.

upward

About two-thirds of the people living in poverty in the United States today are __________.

white

Which of the following sets of traits could best be used to develop a portrait of someone who is likely to be poor in the United States?

young; African American; female; central city dweller

Over the past several decades, what has happened to the level of economic inequality in the United States?

It has increased dramatically.

Which of the following situations provides the best example of horizontal social mobility?

Melinda Chavez, a tax attorney living in Phoenix, Arizona, has been working in her law firm for six years but would like to relocate to her hometown of San Francisco. After interviewing at a number of firms there, she chooses the one that offers a slightly higher salary, gives notice to her current employer, and leaves to begin work at her new law firm.

The poorest 20 percent of families in the United States make up the lower class. According to data provided by the U.S. Census Bureau, what percentage of all U.S. income is earned by the 20 percent of families with the lowest income?

about 4 percent

Single-parent families that are poor are __________ to be headed by a woman than a man.

about five times as likely

Based on an understanding of the Kuznets curve, we can conclude that __________.

agrarian societies typically display the greatest intensity of social inequality

Amanda teaches high school chemistry and earns about $60,000 a year. She is building up her retirement account and is paying off a mortgage on her home. Into which category of the U.S. class system would Amanda most likely fall?

average-middle class

A change in social position that occurs during a person's lifetime is known as __________.

intragenerational social mobility

Compared to high-income people, working-class people tend to be __________ controversial patterns of behavior in others.

less tolerant of

In the United States, more than half of all young people between the ages of eighteen and twenty-four are __________.

living at home with their parents

A system of social inequality by which people are ranked entirely according to their personal abilities and performance would be a(n) __________.

meritocracy

The richest 20 percent of U.S. families receive __________ of all income earned in the United States.

nearly one-half

According to Karl Marx, the defining trait of the bourgeoisie is __________.

ownership of productive property

All systems of social inequality create __________, the lack of resources of some people in relation to those who have more.

relative poverty

Manufacturing jobs lost in the United States since 1960 have largely been replaced by __________ jobs.

service

Taking a sociological survey of inequality around the world, __________.

social stratification is found everywhere, but exactly what is unequal and the degree of inequality differ from society to society

Karl Marx believed that a __________ system would replace __________ and provide for the needs of all people rather than just the needs of an elite few.

socialist; capitalism

Social stratification, a system in which society ranks categories of people in a hierarchy, is __________.

supported by widely held values and beliefs about what is fair

Among the following high-income nations, __________ generally stands out as having greater income inequality.

the United States