Chapter 12 Practice Quizzes
To make a statement about their social position
What is the main reason that some people engage in conspicuous consumption?
Class system
A high level of mobility is what we would expect to be typical of a(n) _____
5 percent
About what percent of families make up the entire upper class in the United States?
The median income of African American families is slightly more than half that of non-Hispanic white families
According to recent data from the US Census Bureau, _________
Average-middle class
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 US class system would Amanda most likely fall?
Dentist
Based on national survey data, which of the following occupations is ranked highest in relative social prestige?
The shared declined considerably
Between 2001 and 2016, what change took place in the share of people who said that they believe their family can achieve the American dream?
Upward
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
Much bigger
Compared to 1980, today's gab in income between high- and low-income families in the US is _______
Less tolerant of
Compared to high-income people, working-class people tend to be ______ controversial patterns of behavior in others.
Obedience and respect for authority figures
Compared to middle-class parents, working-class parents are more likely to encourage _______ in their children.
Share common interests
Compared to working-class couples, middle-class couples are more likely to ________
A person's standing on one dimension may differ from other dimensions within a class system, making class boundaries unclear.
Defining boundaries between social categories in fluid class systems is much more difficult than defining the boundaries of categories within a rigid caste system. Why is this so?
Married couples; a single parent
Families that include ______ earn more than families with _________
The value of income and all other assets, minus the value of all outstanding debts
How do sociologists define the concept of wealth?
Living at home with their parents
In the United States, more than half of all young people between the ages of eighteen and twenty-four are _______
Being born into a particular family
In the Us class system, which of the following is typically the single most important factor that affects social position?
The inner cities
In which of the following places would we be most likely to find high concentrations of lower-income families?
The United States has social inequality but it never had a titled nobility
In which of the following ways does the United States differ from most European nations and Japan?
Service
Manufacturing jobs lost in the US since 1960 have largely been replaced by ______ jobs
English
People of ________ ancestry have always enjoyed the most wealth and the greatest power in US society.
Generally, in the middle levels
Research suggests that social mobility is relatively greater for people born at what levels of the class system?
About 5 times as liekly
Single-parent families that are poor are ____ to be headed by a woman than a man.
A class system, which combines meritocracy with elements of a caste system
Social stratification in the Unites States is ______
The opportunities, values, and attitudes that families provide to their children
The concept "cultural capital" refers to which of the following?
About 4 percent
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 social class?
Nearly one-half
The richest 20 percent of U.S. families received __________ of all income earned in the United States
US society has a relatively low level of status consistency so the boundaries between class levels are not very clear
What makes defining classes in US society so difficult?
89 percent
What share of all wealth is owned by the richest 20 percent of all US families?
Getting divorced
Which of the following factors is especially likely to result in downward social mobility for women?
Melinda Chavez, a tax attorney living in Phoenix, Arizona, has been working in her law firm for 6 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
Which of the following situation proved the best example of horizontal social mobility?
The middle class
Which of the following social classes accounts for the largest percentage of the US population?
Individuals change their social positions during their own lifetimes
Which of the following statements correctly describes intragenerational social mobility?
Poor parents are more likely than rich parents to encourage obedience to authority figures in their children
Which of the following statements of social class on personal traits is correct?
People of high social standing tend to favor lower taxes than people of low social standing because high-income people have more wealth to protect
Which of the following statements provides the most accurate example of a difference between people of high social standing and people of low social standing?
In general, women earn less income and have less wealth than men
Which of the following statements regarding gender and social class is correct?
Being a single mother
Which of the following traits increases the risk of being poor?
He obtains a college degree
Which of the following traits would make you think that someone was at least in the middle class in the United States?
Richer people live healthier and longer because they eat more nutritious food and receive better medical care
Why is health closely related to social standing?
intragenerational social mobility
a change in social position occurring during a person's lifetime is known as