Chapter 8

Question 1

The existence of structured inequalities between groups in society in terms of their access to material or symbolic rewards. The most distinctive form in modern societies is class divisions

Answer 1

Social stratification

Question 2

A sociological perspective that holds that our multiple group memberships affect our lives in ways that are distinct from single group memberships (black female vs. white female)

Answer 2

Intersectionality

Question 3

Social inequalities that result from patterns in the social structure

Answer 3

Structured inequalities

Question 4

A form of social stratification in which some people are owned by others as their property

Answer 4

Slavery

Question 5

A social system in which one’s social status is held for life

Answer 5

Caste

Question 6

A system of social hierarchy that allows individuals to move among classes. The four chief bases of class are ownership of wealth, occupation, income, and education

Answer 6

Class systems

Question 7

Most sociologists use the term to refer to socioeconomic variations among groups of individuals that create variations in their material prosperity and power

Answer 7

Class

Question 8

A term introduced by Max Weber to signify a person’s opportunities for achieving economic prosperity

Answer 8

Life chances

Question 9

Money received from paid wages and salaries or earned from investments

Answer 9

Income

Question 10

Money and material possessions held by an individual or group

Answer 10

Wealth

Question 11

The means whereby the production of material goods is carried on in a society, including not just technology but also the social relations between producers

Answer 11

Means of production

Question 12

People who own companies, land, or stocks and use these to generate economic returns

Answer 12

Bourgeoisie

Question 13

People who sell their labor for wages

Answer 13

Proletariat

Question 14

The value of a worker’s labor power left over when an employer has repaid the cost of hiring the worker

Answer 14

Surplus value

Question 15

A social system based on everyone owning the means of production and sharing in the wealth it produces

Answer 15

Communism

Question 16

The social honor or prestige a particular group is accorded by other members of a society

Answer 16

Status

Question 17

Groups who suffer from negative status discrimination - they are looked down on by most other members of society

Answer 17

Pariah groups

Question 18

Positions in the class structure, particularly routine white-collar and lower managerial jobs, that share characteristics with the class positions both above and below them

Answer 18

Contradictory class locations

Question 19

A social class broadly composed of the more affluent members of a society, especially those who have inherited wealth, own businesses, or hold large numbers of stocks

Answer 19

Upper class

Question 20

A social class composed broadly of those working in white-collar and lower managerial occupations

Answer 20

Middle class

Question 21

A social class broadly composed of people working in blue-collar, or manual, occupations

Answer 21

Working class

Question 22

A social class comprised of those who work part-time or not at all and whose household income is typically lower than $20K a year

Answer 22

Lower class

Question 23

A class of individuals situated at the bottom of the class system, normally composed of people from ethnic minority backgrounds

Answer 23

Underclass

Question 24

Movement of individuals or groups between different social positions

Answer 24

Social mobility

Question 25

Movement up or down a social stratification hierarchy from one generation to another

Answer 25

Intergenerational mobility

Question 26

Movement up or down a social stratification hierarchy within the course of a personal career

Answer 26

Intragenerational mobility

Question 27

Mobility resulting from changes in the number and kinds of jobs available in a society

Answer 27

Structural mobility

Question 28

The exchange of positions on the socioeconomic scale such that talented people move up the economic hierarchy while the less talented move down

Answer 28

Exchange mobility

Question 29

Noneconomic or cultural resources that parents pass down to their children, such as language or knowledge

Answer 29

Cultural capital

Question 30

Not meeting the minimal requirements necessary to sustain a healthy existence

Answer 30

Absolute poverty

Question 31

Poverty defined according to the living standards of the majority in any given society

Answer 31

Relative poverty

Question 32

An official government measure to define those living in poverty in the U.S.

Answer 32

Poverty line

Question 33

People who work but whose earnings are not enough to lift them above the poverty line

Answer 33

Working poor

Question 34

An increase in the proportion of the poor who are female

Answer 34

Feminization of poverty

Question 35

People who have no place to sleep and either stay in free shelters or sleep in public places not meant for habitation

Answer 35

Homeless

Question 36

A formula showing that inequality increases during the early stages of capitalist development, then declines, and eventually stabilizes at a relatively low level

Answer 36

Kuznets curve

Question 37

The thesis, popularized by Oscar Lewis, that poverty is not a result of individual inadequacies but is instead the outcome of a larger social and cultural atmosphere into which successive generations of children are socialized

Answer 37

Culture of poverty

Question 38

A term popularized by Charles Murray to describe individuals who rely on state welfare provision rather than entering the labor market

Answer 38

Dependency culture