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Chap 9 Question 1) Elise graduated from college with a degree in marine science

Sociology

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Chap 9

Question 1)

Elise graduated from college with a degree in marine science. She was inducted into the Phi Beta Kappa society because of her academic achievement. She was then offered a job at the Monterey Bay Aquarium, working 12 hours a day as a scientist and produced excellent results for the Aquarium. Within two years she had several employees working under her. Elise’s hard work was rewarded with a promotion and a salary increase. This form of promotion is based on the principles of:

  

A caste system

 

  

A democracy

 

  

A meritocracy

 

  

A closed stratification system

 

 

Question 2

Mohit spent his days combing through garbage in Mumbai, India with his brothers and sisters. Sometimes he would find food, or something to sell for money. He never tried to overcome his lower-class status because he had seen his friends try and fail. So, he accepted his fate, and tried to live life as best he could in a closed society. Mohit is an example of someone living under: 

  

A meritocracy

 

  

An oligarchy

 

  

A caste system

 

  

A dictatorship

 

Question 3

It was time for Oli to marry. He had finished school and was starting a job. His parents chose a bride for him whose parents had the same amount of wealth and belonged to the same class as they did. Oli and his bride will have a(n) _________  marriage.

  

Traditional

 

  

Exogamus

 

  

Endogamous

 

  

Unconventional

 

 

Question 4

Which factor is considered when evaluating someone’s standard of living:

  

Social class only

 

  

Income, employment and social class.

 

  

Employment only

 

  

Income only

 

 

Question 5

Clair is desperate for a new designer purse that she saw while shopping at the Vintage Fair mall in Modesto. Clair's mother, Cherish, had given her a credit card to keep on her in case of emergencies earlier in the week. Clair knew every girl at her high school would covet her bag and would wish to be like her. When she walked in, she whipped out her mother's credit card and purchased the $500 bag, reasoning that her mother won't find out about this until the next credit card bill and she will figure a way to pay her mother back by then anyway. This kind of purchasing is an example of:

  

Designer consumerism

 

  

Credit card consumerism

 

  

Conspicuous consumption

 

  

Popular consumerism

 

 

Question 6

Whose work do conflict theorists rely on to help form their arguments surrounding social stratification?

  

René Decartes

 

  

Karl Marx

 

  

Auguste Comte

 

  

Émile Durkheim

 

 

Question 7

Cate is the daughter of a Senator and the former CEO of a Fortune 500 company. Jeff grew up poor on a farm in Turlock. They are planning a June wedding. They will have a(n)___________ marriage.

  

Endogamus

 

  

Traditional

 

  

Exogamous

 

  

Unconventional

 

 

Question 8

Aunt Dee has been watching a lot of news on television. She is concerned about recent events and the things she has been hearing on the news. With the news coverage on the Occupy Wall Street Movement, Aunt Dee keeps hearing about "the top 1%." How much of the United State’s wealth actually rests in the hands of the wealthiest "top 1%" of people?

  

1/3

 

  

1/8

 

  

1/16

 

  

1/4

 

 

Question 9

What seems to be the key (although not the rule) to upward social mobility?

 

How much you spend on your personal appearance.

  

How well off your parents are.

 

  

How much education you have.

 

  

How many jobs you work.

 

 

Question 10

What is particularly unique about the United States middle class?

 

The upper class are as likely to become members of the lower class as members of the lower class are likely to become members of the upper class.

 

The people who are middle class often have little to no education.

  

It is the smallest class in the United States.

 

 

It is broken into two subcategories: upper and lower middle class.

 

Question 11

Which historical event was greatly responsible for global stratification as we see it today?

  

The Industrial Revolution

 

  

The Fall of the British Empire

 

  

World War I

 

  

The French Revolution

 

 

Question 12

What is the most significant threat to the relatively high standard of living people are accustomed to in the United States?

  

The feminization of poverty

 

  

The stagnation of wages for workers

 

  

The decline of the middle class

 

  

The growth of the upper class

 

 

Question 13

GNI PPP, or gross national income divided by purchasing power parity, helps measure:

 

The average level of education per person in a country.

  

The average global interest rates for loans.

 

 

The amount of inflation affecting a country’s currency.

  

The standard of living in a country.

 

 

Question 14

In 2008 the United States, as well as the rest of the world, felt the effects of the recession. After the collapse of the housing market, people lost their jobs and they quit spending money. Many people could not afford their mortgages anymore and their homes went into foreclosure. For many people, it was a time of __________.

  

Social inconsistency

 

  

Downward mobility

 

  

Horizontal mobility

 

  

Social stratification

 

 

Question 15

Since the social classes in the United States do not have any clear boundaries, how is a sociologist supposed to determine whether their subjects are in the upper class or the upper-middle class?

 

Upper class is often defined as having control over one’s life and the lives of people around you, while the upper-middle class is often defined as having control only over one’s own life.

 

In the upper class, everyone knows everyone, but in the upper-middle class, the people do not comingle.

 

All upper class people enjoy opera and have been bred for their stations while the upper-middle class consists mostly of newly wealthy people who may not have had the same kind of upbringing.

 

The upper class is split into “old money” and “new money” people, while the upper-middle class simply struggles to maintain its wealth.

 

Question 16

A person’s position in a country’s social stratification is determined by:

  

Wealth, power, income, race, education

 

 

GNI PPP, GDP, GNI, the PRB, and standards of living

 

Clothes, accessories, hobbies, shoes, and number of credit cards

 

Prestige, family, legal records, occupation, and favorite food

 

Question 17

The Davis-Moore Thesis states:

 

That economic hardship and skyrocketing inflation is the cause for all social stratification in the United States.

 

That people constantly move up and down the social ladder, and this creates an unstable economy which will eventually collapse on itself.

 

That Karl Marx was correct and that stratification can only be solved by converting to a socialist government.

That the more society values a particular profession, the more the people in that profession will make.

 

Question 18

Symbolic interactionists have come to the conclusion that:

  

Only lower class people drink beer.

 

 

Most people only socialize with people in their same social class.

 

Only upper class people can enjoy a good game of polo.

 

Most people do not care about social rank and standing.

 

Question 19

One main issue in studying global social inequality is: 

 

The presence of tourism can make a country look richer than it really is.

 

Most people live beyond their means which gives a false sense of wealth to a society.

 

Social inequality is relative and therefore, difficult to compare across cultures.

 

Most countries keep their economic situations secret.