Exercise 5 Sociology

Select the area in the figure that represents consensus theorists' view of inequality.

People climbing the latter

Identify the main forms of scarcity that single-mother families often face in contrast to two-parent families.

money, time, social capital

Identify the factors that contribute to high-income families spending more hands-on time with their children.

-High-income families are more likely to have one parent who spends fewer hours at work. -High-income families are more likely to have two parents in the home. -High-income families tend to have fewer children than low-income families.

Which statement about family structure and poverty is supported by the following figure?

Individuals living in single-mother families make up a large number, but not a majority, of poor individuals at most time points.

Identify the probable consequences of wealthy family networks like the one represented in this figure.

Probable Consequence(s)-Inequality widens in the United States between families like these and poor families. -Younger members of these families stand to inherit greater wealth than average Americans

Place the following examples of young people in order from those with the highest to lowest life chances, according to Weber's definition.

-Justin Smith is the son of a successful and wealthy businessman and is graduating from harvard this year - Erica Jones is a college student at a large, public university in her state. Her middle-class family helps pay for some of her tuition, while scholarships and grants help pay for the remainder -Peter Lin's family is working class, but he received generous financial aid and is about to graduate froma public university - Katelynn Manor is a recent high school graduate from a working-class family who has been working in retail and hoping to return to school at the local community college

in 2018, a family of two adults and two children was considered poor if their combined income was less than ______. This is the offical poverty line, defined by the ______. This definition is based on a formula that muliplied a family ______ times three

25,465, federal government, "economy food plan"

Identify the statements that are associated with either the consensus or conflict perspective.

Consensus Perspective -Inequality serves an important societal function. -More difficult jobs come with greater rewards, thus creating an incentive for individuals to train and work hard to obtain those rewards. Conflict Perspective -individuals can be sorted into social class categories based on whether or not they own capital -inequality is the result of a process which the workers' labor produces wealth for owners

In an attempt to ensure their children's social mobility, thirty-three parents, including celebrities such as Felicity Hoffman, participated in a bribery scheme. Their goal was to inflate their children's college grades in order to position them for elite graduate schools.

False

Which theorist introduced a concept to help explain the social class position of college students, who may not have an occupation or earnings?

Max Weber

Place the family types in order from highest to lowest poverty rate.

unmarried female-headed families, unrelated individuals, unmarried male headed families, married-couple families

Identify the factors that make it difficult for the poor to advance economically in the United States today.

-the falling minimum wage -increases in the number of single-parent families

The United States has more social mobility than most other wealthy countries.

False

According to Melvin Kohn's classic series of studies, how do both middle- and working-class parents' experiences with work influence their parenting?

Parents teach their children interpersonal skills tht they use at their own job

In this mobility table, numbers above 1.0 (shown in green) indicate that sons are more likely to be in the occupational category listed above if their fathers are in the category listed on the left; numbers below 1.0 (shown in yellow) mean that the outcome is less likely for sons. Place the labels on the figure to complete the mobility table.

under Technical and skilled - 0.8 under self-employed - 2.0 under unskilled and service - 1.6

For a society in which there was greater ____ (marriage across different social classes), this figure would have _____ dotted pink lines.

exogamy, more

Place the following scenarios in order from those that would produce the weakest to the strongest class identity

- a society in which members of different classes live near one another and frequently marry one another. Intergenerational movement between social classes is high - a society in which members of different classes live near one another and occasionally marry one another. Intergenerational movement between social classes is moderate - a society in which social classes rarely mix, but members have some opportunities for intergenerational movement between social classes - a society in which members of different social classes rarely come into contact and almost never change social classes

Identify the examples of social capital.

-Kelly Herrera has been working in finance for five years but feels stuck in her position. She reaches out to an older alumna from her college and after their conversation, the alumna invites her to interview for a better job at her company. -Two neighbors discuss their children's upcoming entry into the first grade. One parent suggests to the other that he lobbies for his daughter to be placed in Ms. Andrews's classroom based on his previous poor experience with the other first-grade teacher

Identify the examples of social mobility

-Patricia earned very little as a waitress in Los Angeles during her early 20s, but she was eventually cast in a film, which led to more roles and high pay. -Calvin grew up poor, attended college on a scholarship, and eventually became a surgeon. -Anita grew up in the middle class but dropped out of high school and worked in a string of low-wage jobs

The poverty line was established in the 1960s to define those in need of government assistance. Identify the problems with the poverty line calculation today.

-The calculation of the poverty line does not take government benefits into account. -The price of food has risen more slowly than the price of other goods and services. -The calculation of the poverty line does not take geographic area into account.

Based on the example and budget provided in the "Working and Poor" Workshop box, identify the reasons why two-parent families are less likely to be poor than single-parent families.

-Two adults in a household can both work, and thus draw more income. -Two adults in a household can elect to have one parent stay home with the children.

Identify each statement as either more likely true of a high-income, high-education family, or of a low-income, low-education family.

-family gained access to the internet early in the 1990s -household has reliable, fast internet connectivity

Based on the author's assessment of inequality trends, identify the policies that might slow the growth of the superrich.

-stricter regulations against lobbying -reductions in tax breaks for alternative income sources -stricter regulations on the finance industry

Matthew Desmond, the author of Evicted, reported that millions of families are evicted from their homes each year. According to Desmond's findings, identify the factors that contributed to this high rate of eviction.

-the high cost of housing -landlords force out tenants they don't want

Select the bold phrases that represent the kinds of scarcity that can make it more difficult for children in single-parent homes to reach the middle and upper classes. John is a single father raising two children. John works two jobs and makes ends meet, but he is unable to afford a house in a high-quality school district. Because he works two jobs, John is pressed for time and thus allows his children more media time than he would prefer. John has been single since his wife passed away, and he wishes he had a stronger social life, including a life partner. John's family network is small, and his children don't receive the support they would in a larger and wealthier extended family.

-unable to afford a house in a high-quality school district -pressed for time -dont receive the support they would in a larger and wealthier extended family

According to Annette Lareau's research on social class and parenting, identify the statements that apply to either accomplishment of natural growth or concerted cultivation.

Accomplishment of natural growth - children may enjoy childhood more and feel less stress - children spend much of their time with family and others in the neighborhood. Concerted Cultivation - children are occupied with numerous activities - children may have greater confidence in solving problems

What would this curve look like in a society that has less inequality than the United States?

The curve would be less steep, with faster growth upwards on the left side of the graph and a shallower slope upwards on the right.

Which conclusion about education level and socioeconomic status (SES) can be drawn from the following figure? Family socioeconomic status (SES) is based on the education, income, and occupation of the parents of high school sophomores in 2002; educational attainment is for those high school students 10 years later.

Young people often replicate the class background of their parents, and this is particularly true among high SES youth

Social mobility describes people's class ____ versus their class ____. Historically, most Americans have believed that we live in a society with a ______ degree of social mobility.

origin, destination, high

What is one possible reason why inequality has increased over time, according to Joseph Stiglitz?

over time, the wealthy gain control of more and more high- status positions and are able to change the rules to benefit themselves

The social process by which individuals are sorted into jobs and how those jobs are ____ is known as the _____. The two major perspectives on social class, consensus, and ______, differ in their explanation of the causes and consequences of this process

rewarded, division of labor, conflict