Sociology 110 Richland Community College March 15, 2010

Name: ______________________________________________ Chapter 8

Which statement regarding the distribution of wealth in the United States is least true?
a. Wealth and income are relatively equally divided among the top three social classes.
b. Americans as a whole are worth approximately $25 trillion.
c. The top 20% of the population receives almost half of all income.
d. The richest Americans have grown richer and the poor have grown poorer.

2. The top 10 percent of the wealthiest families in America:

a. own 36 percent of all the wealth in America.
b. own 40 percent of all the wealth in America.
c. own 25 percent of all the wealth in America.
d. own 70 percent of all the wealth in America.

3. The ability to carry out one’s will despite resistance from others is referred to as:
a. prestige. b. power. c. privilege. d. honor.

4. The term coined by C. Wright Mills that refers to those who make the big decisions in U.S.
society is:
a. moral entrepreneurs. c. the power elite.
b. the Joint Chiefs. d. the national congress.

5. Respect or regard bestowed upon someone as a result of a position they hold in life, such as their
occupation, is referred to as:
a. honor. b. power. c. master status. d. prestige.

6. When a person has a similar ranking in all three dimensions of his or her social class, it is referred
to as:
a. Status Inconsistency. c. Master Status.
b. Status Consistency. d. Status Alignment.

7. Joseph Kahl and Dennis Gilbert developed a model to portray social class in America based on
_________ distinct classes.
a. two b. four c. six d. eight

8. One quality that shapes the upper middle class more than other classes is the:
a. level of education among its members.
b. number of minorities represented by it.
c. pride members of this class have for doing “real work”.
d. middle class value system that it embraces.

9. The social class that has the highest percentage of membership is the:
a. lower middle class. c. working class.
b. upper middle class. d. underclass.

10. The characteristic that most applies to the working poor is that:
a. they are the lowest class with little hope of climbing higher.
b. they are concentrated in the inner city.
c. most are high school dropouts and functionally illiterate.

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 d. they include blue-collar and white-collar workers.

11. Which statement best describes the prevalence of divorce?

a. Divorce is most common among the upper classes.
b. Divorce is equally distributed among all classes.
c. There is no relationship to the rate of divorce and social class.
d. Divorce is most common among the lower social classes.

12. In religion, Baptists draw heavily from the ___________ classes while Episcopalians are more
likely to be from the _____________ class.
a. lower/upper c. middle/lower
b. middle/upper d. lower/lower

13. The higher one’s social class, the more likely they will vote ______________ while most
members of the working class will vote ________________.
a. Democrat/Libertarian c. Democrat/Socialist Worker
b. Republican/Democrat d. Republican/Independent

14. The lower a person’s social class, the _________ that individual is to die before the expected age.
a. less likely c. lower the chance
b. more likely d. none of the above

15. Children who grow up in one social class, but end up in a different social class show:
a. intergenerational mobility. c. horizontal mobility.
b. intragenerational mobility. d. downward social mobility.

16. The official measure of poverty that is based on the amount of income that a family must pay for
food is called the:
a. relative definition of poverty. c. feminization of poverty.
b. culture of poverty. d. poverty line.

17. Which of the following is not a myth about poverty?

a. Most of the poor are African Americans and Latinos.
b. Most of the poor are single mothers and their children.
c. Most of the poor live in suburban communities and rural areas.
d. The poor live on welfare.

18. The total number of people living in poverty is highest for:

a. African-Americans and Latinos. c. Native Americans.
b. males. d. whites.

19. Which region of the U.S. has had the highest rate of poverty for the last 100 years?
a. the north c. the Midwest
b. the south d. the west

20. Only __________ people who finish college end up in poverty.

a. 3 out of 100 c. 23 out of 100
b. 10 out of 100 d. 38 out of 100