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Chapter 10 Social Class in the United States

10.1 True/False Questions

1) Defining social class in America is an objective science because there are clear-cut, agreed-upon definitions of each class.
Answer: FALSE
Diff: 2 Page Ref: 257
Skill Level: Understand the Concepts
LO: 10.1 Explain the three components of social class—property, power, and prestige; distinguish between wealth and income;
explain how property and income are distributed; and describe the democratic façade, the power elite, and status inconsistency.
Topic/A-head: What Determines Social Class?

2) Wealth and income are interchangeable terms, each meaning the same in reference to social class.
Answer: FALSE
Diff: 2 Page Ref: 258
Skill Level: Understand the Concepts
LO: 10.1 Explain the three components of social class—property, power, and prestige; distinguish between wealth and income;
explain how property and income are distributed; and describe the democratic façade, the power elite, and status inconsistency.
Topic/A-head: What Determines Social Class?

3) Since 1970, the richest 20 percent of U.S. families has grown richer, and the poorest 20 percent of U.S. families has grown
poorer.
Answer: TRUE
Diff: 1 Page Ref: 259
Skill Level: Know the Facts
LO: 10.1 Explain the three components of social class—property, power, and prestige; distinguish between wealth and income;
explain how property and income are distributed; and describe the democratic façade, the power elite, and status inconsistency.
Topic/A-head: What Determines Social Class?

4) Conflict theorists would consider voting as being more of a ritualistic process than a demonstration of people exercising
power in a democracy.
Answer: TRUE
Diff: 3 Page Ref: 260-262
Skill Level: Apply What You Know
LO: 10.1 Explain the three components of social class—property, power, and prestige; distinguish between wealth and income;
explain how property and income are distributed; and describe the democratic façade, the power elite, and status inconsistency.
Topic/A-head: What Determines Social Class?

5) Few of the U.S. presidents have come from a class of Americans who qualify as being members of the power elite.
Answer: FALSE
Diff: 1 Page Ref: 262
Skill Level: Know the Facts
LO: 10.1 Explain the three components of social class—property, power, and prestige; distinguish between wealth and income;
explain how property and income are distributed; and describe the democratic façade, the power elite, and status inconsistency.
Topic/A-head: What Determines Social Class?

6) There is a direct relationship between the amount of education an occupation requires and the prestige it holds in society.
Answer: TRUE
Diff: 4 Page Ref: 262
Skill Level: Analyze It
LO: 10.1 Explain the three components of social class—property, power, and prestige; distinguish between wealth and income;
explain how property and income are distributed; and describe the democratic façade, the power elite, and status inconsistency.
Topic/A-head: What Determines Social Class?

7) Individuals with status inconsistency tend to be more politically radical and vote left of center.
Answer: TRUE
Diff: 3 Page Ref: 264
 Skill Level: Apply What You Know
LO: 10.1 Explain the three components of social class—property, power, and prestige; distinguish between wealth and income;
explain how property and income are distributed; and describe the democratic façade, the power elite, and status inconsistency.
Topic/A-head: What Determines Social Class?

8) Status inconsistent women are twice as likely to have heart attacks as status consistent women, while inconsistent men do
not have more heart attacks.
Answer: FALSE
Diff: 2 Page Ref: 264
Skill Level: Understand the Concepts
LO: 10.1 Explain the three components of social class—property, power, and prestige; distinguish between wealth and income;
explain how property and income are distributed; and describe the democratic façade, the power elite, and status inconsistency.
Topic/A-head: What Determines Social Class?

9) Status inconsistency is common for winners of multimillion-dollar lotteries, especially when the status of their new wealth
exceeds the status of their education and occupation.
Answer: TRUE
Diff: 2 Page Ref: 265
Skill Level: Understand the Concepts
LO: 10.1 Explain the three components of social class—property, power, and prestige; distinguish between wealth and income;
explain how property and income are distributed; and describe the democratic façade, the power elite, and status inconsistency.
Topic/A-head: What Determines Social Class?

10) Because of contradicting class locations, Erik Wright modified Marx's simpler two-class model.
Answer: TRUE
Diff: 1 Page Ref: 266
Skill Level: Know the Facts
LO: 10.2 Contrast Marx’s and Weber’s models of social class.
Topic/A-head: Sociological Models of Social Class

11) Based on the model of Gilbert and Kahl, the upper middle class is the class most shaped by education.
Answer: TRUE
Diff: 1 Page Ref: 267
Skill Level: Know the Facts
LO: 10.2 Contrast Marx’s and Weber’s models of social class.
Topic/A-head: Sociological Models of Social Class

12) Bill Gates, Donald Trump, and others who have made fortunes in business, the stock market, entertainment, and sports in
the 20th century are classified as being "blue bloods."
Answer: FALSE
Diff: 1 Page Ref: 266
Skill Level: Know the Facts
LO: 10.2 Contrast Marx’s and Weber’s models of social class.
Topic/A-head: Sociological Models of Social Class

13) Of the six social classes in America, the lower middle class has the highest percentage of members.
Answer: TRUE
Diff: 1 Page Ref: 267
Skill Level: Know the Facts
LO: 10.2 Contrast Marx’s and Weber’s models of social class.
Topic/A-head: Sociological Models of Social Class

14) People in the capitalist class are more likely to experience mental health problems because of the excessive stress
associated with managing high-powered jobs.
Answer: FALSE
Diff: 3 Page Ref: 270
Skill Level: Apply What You Know
LO: 10.3 Summarize the consequences of social class for physical and mental health, family life, education, religion, politics,
and the criminal justice system.
Topic/A-head: Consequences of Social Class
 15) Because members of the capitalist class have the greatest opportunities for travel and to meet people from various walks
of life, their children have a wide field of "eligibles" from which to choose a husband or wife.
Answer: FALSE
Diff: 3 Page Ref: 270
Skill Level: Apply What You Know
LO: 10.3 Summarize the consequences of social class for physical and mental health, family life, education, religion, politics,
and the criminal justice system.
Topic/A-head: Consequences of Social Class

16) Lower class parents encourage their children to be creative as they grow up, while middle class parents focus on having
their children defer to authority.
Answer: FALSE
Diff: 3 Page Ref: 271
Skill Level: Apply What You Know
LO: 10.3 Summarize the consequences of social class for physical and mental health, family life, education, religion, politics,
and the criminal justice system.
Topic/A-head: Consequences of Social Class

17) In exchange mobility, about the same number of people move up and down the social class ladder which results in the
overall social class system showing little change.
Answer: TRUE
Diff: 3 Page Ref: 273
Skill Level: Apply What You Know
LO: 10.4 Contrast the three types of social mobility, and review gender issues in research on social mobility and why social
mobility brings pain.
Topic/A-head: Social Mobility

18) One of the main driving factors in immigration is The American Dream that children can pass their parent on the social
class ladder.
Answer: TRUE
Diff: 1 Page Ref: 274
Skill Level: Know the Facts
LO: 10.4 Contrast the three types of social mobility, and review gender issues in research on social mobility and why social
mobility brings pain.
Topic/A-head: Social Mobility

19) Because of the objectivity and accuracy of the poverty line concept, most sociologists agree that the concept of poverty is
accurately portrayed in America.
Answer: FALSE
Diff: 1 Page Ref: 276-277
Skill Level: Know the Facts
LO: 10.5 Explain the problems in drawing the poverty line, how poverty is related to geography, race-ethnicity, education,
feminization, age, and the culture of poverty; analyze why people are poor; and discuss deferred gratification and the Horatio
Alger myth.
Topic/A-head: Poverty

20) Most of the poor live in urban areas of the cities.

Answer: FALSE
Diff: 1 Page Ref: 278
Skill Level: Know the Facts
LO: 10.5 Explain the problems in drawing the poverty line, how poverty is related to geography, race-ethnicity, education,
feminization, age, and the culture of poverty; analyze why people are poor; and discuss deferred gratification and the Horatio
Alger myth.
Topic/A-head: Poverty

10.2 Multiple Choice Questions

1) What are the three variables Max Weber identified as defining social class?
A) ethnicity, race, sex
B) wealth, power, prestige
 C) sex, power, education
D) occupation, neighborhood, wealth
Answer: B
Diff: 1 Page Ref: 257
Skill Level: Know the Facts
LO: 10.1 Explain the three components of social class—property, power, and prestige; distinguish between wealth and income;
explain how property and income are distributed; and describe the democratic façade, the power elite, and status inconsistency.
Topic/A-head: What Determines Social Class?

2) Based on the Marxist orientation of conflict sociologists, how many distinct social classes exist?
A) none, as society is classless
B) two
C) four
D) six
Answer: B
Diff: 2 Page Ref: 257
Skill Level: Know the Facts
LO: 10.1 Explain the three components of social class—property, power, and prestige; distinguish between wealth and income;
explain how property and income are distributed; and describe the democratic façade, the power elite, and status inconsistency.
Topic/A-head: What Determines Social Class?

3) When used by sociologists, the term "wealth" refers to ________.

A) the property that a person owns
B) the income made from a person's occupation
C) the property owned and the income acquired minus debts made by the person
D) the income after state and federal taxes have been withheld
Answer: C
Diff: 2 Page Ref: 258
Skill Level: Understand the Concepts
LO: 10.1 Explain the three components of social class—property, power, and prestige; distinguish between wealth and income;
explain how property and income are distributed; and describe the democratic façade, the power elite, and status inconsistency.
Topic/A-head: What Determines Social Class?

4) What is the average per capita annual income in the United States, which includes all Americans, and even children?
A) $18,000
B) $27,500
C) $42,000
D) $50,500
Answer: C
Diff: 1 Page Ref: 259
Skill Level: Know the Facts
LO: 10.1 Explain the three components of social class—property, power, and prestige; distinguish between wealth and income;
explain how property and income are distributed; and describe the democratic façade, the power elite, and status inconsistency.
Topic/A-head: What Determines Social Class?

5) What is the typical annual family income in the United States?

A) $35,000
B) $39,000
C) $48,000
D) $60,000
Answer: D
Diff: 1 Page Ref: 259
Skill Level: Know the Facts
LO: 10.1 Explain the three components of social class—property, power, and prestige; distinguish between wealth and income;
explain how property and income are distributed; and describe the democratic façade, the power elite, and status inconsistency.
Topic/A-head: What Determines Social Class?
 6) Which statement regarding the nation's income is most accurate?
A) Income earnings are just about evenly divided among all Americans.
B) The top two-thirds of Americans earn about two-thirds of the income.
C) The top 20 percent of Americans earn nearly half the income.
D) The bottom 20 percent of Americans earn about 15 percent of the income.
Answer: C
Diff: 6 Page Ref: 259
Skill Level: Apply What You Know
LO: 10.1 Explain the three components of social class—property, power, and prestige; distinguish between wealth and income;
explain how property and income are distributed; and describe the democratic façade, the power elite, and status inconsistency.
Topic/A-head: What Determines Social Class?

7) The belief by many Americans that they actually contribute to major governmental decisions through the power of their
vote is referred to by Hellinger and Judd as ________.
A) false consciousness
B) the power of persuasion
C) constitutional mandate
D) the democratic facade
Answer: D
Diff: 2 Page Ref: 260
Skill Level: Understand the Concepts
LO: 10.1 Explain the three components of social class—property, power, and prestige; distinguish between wealth and income;
explain how property and income are distributed; and describe the democratic façade, the power elite, and status inconsistency.
Topic/A-head: What Determines Social Class?

8) Which sociologist coined the term "the power elite"?

A) C. Wright Mills
B) Emile Durkheim
C) Talcott Parsons
D) Herbert Spencer
Answer: A
Diff: 1 Page Ref: 262
Skill Level: Know the Facts
LO: 10.1 Explain the three components of social class—property, power, and prestige; distinguish between wealth and income;
explain how property and income are distributed; and describe the democratic façade, the power elite, and status inconsistency.
Topic/A-head: What Determines Social Class?

9) Which of the following statements is most accurate with respect to determining social prestige in modern society?
A) Social prestige is based primarily on the wealth one accumulates.
B) One's occupational title is the greatest influence in determining social prestige.
C) Together wealth and power are the determining factors of social prestige.
D) Family lineage is the primary determinant of social prestige.
Answer: B
Diff: 6 Page Ref: 262-263
Skill Level: Apply What You Know
LO: 10.1 Explain the three components of social class—property, power, and prestige; distinguish between wealth and income;
explain how property and income are distributed; and describe the democratic façade, the power elite, and status inconsistency.
Topic/A-head: What Determines Social Class?

10) What was the term C. Wright Mills used to refer to those who make the big decisions in American society?
A) the upper class
B) the national security administration
C) the power elite
D) the capitalists
Answer: C
Diff: 1 Page Ref: 262
Skill Level: Know the Facts
LO: 10.1 Explain the three components of social class—property, power, and prestige; distinguish between wealth and income;
explain how property and income are distributed; and describe the democratic façade, the power elite, and status inconsistency.
Topic/A-head: What Determines Social Class?
11) What is the background profile of most United States presidents?
A) upper-class white men from traditional working families
B) millionaire white men from families with old money
C) individuals from a diverse pool of Americans who love their country
D) politicians from new money families with upper-class backgrounds
Answer: B
Diff: 3 Page Ref: 262
Skill Level: Apply What You Know
LO: 10.1 Explain the three components of social class—property, power, and prestige; distinguish between wealth and income;
explain how property and income are distributed; and describe the democratic façade, the power elite, and status inconsistency.
Topic/A-head: What Determines Social Class?

12) Who was the sociologist who expanded upon the concept of the power elite to note that no major decision of the United
States government was made without its approval?
A) William Domhoff
B) Michael Burawoy
C) Lewis Coser Jr.
D) Robert Merton
Answer: A
Diff: 1 Page Ref: 262
Skill Level: Know the Facts
LO: 10.1 Explain the three components of social class—property, power, and prestige; distinguish between wealth and income;
explain how property and income are distributed; and describe the democratic façade, the power elite, and status inconsistency.
Topic/A-head: What Determines Social Class?

13) Based on the average of 60 nations, what three occupations enjoy the highest prestige ratings?
A) college professor, physician, lawyer
B) airline pilot, architect, clergy
C) college professor, high school teacher, lawyer
D) college president, Supreme Court judge, astronaut
Answer: D
Diff: 1 Page Ref: 263
Skill Level: Know the Facts
LO: 10.1 Explain the three components of social class—property, power, and prestige; distinguish between wealth and income;
explain how property and income are distributed; and describe the democratic façade, the power elite, and status inconsistency.
Topic/A-head: What Determines Social Class?

14) The occupation with the highest prestige in the United States is a ________.
A) college professor
B) physician
C) lawyer
D) professional athlete
Answer: B
Diff: 1 Page Ref: 263
Skill Level: Know the Facts
LO: 10.1 Explain the three components of social class—property, power, and prestige; distinguish between wealth and income;
explain how property and income are distributed; and describe the democratic façade, the power elite, and status inconsistency.
Topic/A-head: What Determines Social Class?

15) Phil, a janitor for an expensive apartment-house complex in Chicago, is a union janitor who makes quite a bit more money
than many of the tenants in the building he maintains. Lenski would note that Phil's high income but low occupational
prestige demonstrates a condition of ________.
A) status insecurity
B) status contradiction
C) status inconsistency
D) status incompatibility
Answer: C
Diff: 3 Page Ref: 263-264
Skill Level: Apply What You Know
LO: 10.1 Explain the three components of social class—property, power, and prestige; distinguish between wealth and income;
 explain how property and income are distributed; and describe the democratic façade, the power elite, and status inconsistency.
Topic/A-head: What Determines Social Class?

16) What does status inconsistency refer to in relation to social stratification?

A) Individuals exhibit insecurity and inferiority when they are ranked low in prestige.
B) Individuals fail to recognize the contradictions of class inequality and democratic values.
C) Individuals are ranked high on one dimension of social class and low on other dimensions.
D) Ranking in power, wealth, and prestige must be consistent for an individual to avoid negative consequences.
Answer: C
Diff: 3 Page Ref: 263
Skill Level: Apply What You Know
LO: 10.1 Explain the three components of social class—property, power, and prestige; distinguish between wealth and income;
explain how property and income are distributed; and describe the democratic façade, the power elite, and status inconsistency.
Topic/A-head: What Determines Social Class?

17) As a full professor of sociology, Jackie ranks high in prestige, but relatively low in income. What can one expect of her
political views?
A) She will be ultra conservative.
B) She will probably become a socialist worker.
C) She will be more politically radical.
D) She will be apathetic towards politics.
Answer: C
Diff: 6 Page Ref: 264
Skill Level: Apply What You Know
LO: 10.1 Explain the three components of social class—property, power, and prestige; distinguish between wealth and income;
explain how property and income are distributed; and describe the democratic façade, the power elite, and status inconsistency.
Topic/A-head: What Determines Social Class?

18) When individuals experience status inconsistency, what is their likely choice of behavior?
A) They will claim the higher status.
B) They will claim the lower status.
C) They will ignore both statuses.
D) They will pick the status that best fits the situation.
Answer: A
Diff: 3 Page Ref: 263
Skill Level: Apply What You Know
LO: 10.1 Explain the three components of social class—property, power, and prestige; distinguish between wealth and income;
explain how property and income are distributed; and describe the democratic façade, the power elite, and status inconsistency.
Topic/A-head: What Determines Social Class?

19) Janelle is a professor in the Department of Business at a state university. She is a full professor in her department and
earns $135,000 a year. According to Lenski's status inconsistency hypothesis, what is Janelle's most likely political
philosophy?
A) conservative
B) liberal
C) very radical
D) inconsistent
Answer: A
Diff: 3 Page Ref: 264
Skill Level: Apply What You Know
LO: 10.1 Explain the three components of social class—property, power, and prestige; distinguish between wealth and income;
explain how property and income are distributed; and describe the democratic façade, the power elite, and status inconsistency.
Topic/A-head: What Determines Social Class?

20) Jim and Jan are working-class Americans making a combined income of $47,000. Today they won a $125 million lottery.
How will this immediately impact their lives?
A) They will experience social paranoia.
B) They will experience anomie.
C) They will have delusions of grandeur.
D) Their lives will be more stable and fulfilling.
Answer: B
 Diff: 3 Page Ref: 265
Skill Level: Apply What You Know
LO: 10.1 Explain the three components of social class—property, power, and prestige; distinguish between wealth and income;
explain how property and income are distributed; and describe the democratic façade, the power elite, and status inconsistency.
Topic/A-head: What Determines Social Class?

21) What is Durkheim's term for a condition in which people become detached from the norms that guide their behavior?
A) compurgation
B) primogeniture
C) negative affective state
D) anomie
Answer: D
Diff: 2 Page Ref: 266
Skill Level: Understand the Concepts
LO: 10.2 Contrast Marx’s and Weber’s models of social class.
Topic/A-head: Sociological Models of Social Class

22) Erik Wright revised Marx's concept of social classes by regarding some people as simultaneously occupying more than
one class. He termed their positions in the class structure ________.
A) status inconsistency
B) contradictory class locations
C) class inconsistency
D) class ambiguity
Answer: B
Diff: 2 Page Ref: 266
Skill Level: Understand the Concepts
LO: 10.2 Contrast Marx’s and Weber’s models of social class.
Topic/A-head: Sociological Models of Social Class

23) Ruth owns the Head 2 Toe Boutique where she employs 15 workers. According to Erik Wright's model of social class,
Ruth would be classified as a(n) ________.
A) petty bourgeoisie
B) capitalist
C) manager
D) entrepreneur
Answer: A
Diff: 3 Page Ref: 266
Skill Level: Apply What You Know
LO: 10.2 Contrast Marx’s and Weber’s models of social class.
Topic/A-head: Sociological Models of Social Class

24) What are the four variables Gilbert and Kahl used to develop a six-class model to reflect the class structure of the United
States and other capitalist countries?
A) family heritage, occupation, wealth, sex
B) race, ethnicity, occupation, sex
C) geographic residence, occupation, wealth, race
D) education, power, property, prestige
Answer: D
Diff: 1 Page Ref: 266-267
Skill Level: Know the Facts
LO: 10.2 Contrast Marx’s and Weber’s models of social class.
Topic/A-head: Sociological Models of Social Class

25) The class recognized by Kahl and Gilbert as being the upper middle-class in America comprises approximately ________
percent of the U.S. population.
A) 8
B) 15
C) 25
D) 33
Answer: B
Diff: 2 Page Ref: 267
 Skill Level: Know the Facts
LO: 10.2 Contrast Marx’s and Weber’s models of social class.
Topic/A-head: Sociological Models of Social Class

26) Which of the following family names is a member of the "nouveau riche"?
A) the DuPont family, who arrived in America in the 18th century
B) the Rockefeller family, who became the oil barons of the 19th century
C) the Gates family, who founded Microsoft
D) the Carnegie family, who built America's steel empire
Answer: C
Diff: 2 Page Ref: 266-267
Skill Level: Understand the Concepts
LO: 10.2 Contrast Marx’s and Weber’s models of social class.
Topic/A-head: Sociological Models of Social Class

27) What group of Americans does the author characterize as being the "fallout" of the postindustrial economy?
A) the nouveau riche
B) the homeless
C) the new millionaires
D) the rising middle class
Answer: B
Diff: 3 Page Ref: 269
Skill Level: Apply What You Know
LO: 10.2 Contrast Marx’s and Weber’s models of social class.
Topic/A-head: Sociological Models of Social Class

28) Which of the following individuals would have the narrowest field of "eligible" marriage partners based on background
expectations?
A) Ruth, a member of the working poor living in Harlem
B) Herbert, a blue-collar machinist living in the city
C) Noelle, the daughter of two high school teachers living in suburbia
D) Christian, the son of a CEO of a major corporation
Answer: D
Diff: 3 Page Ref: 270
Skill Level: Apply What You Know
LO: 10.3 Summarize the consequences of social class for physical and mental health, family life, education, religion, politics,
and the criminal justice system.
Topic/A-head: Consequences of Social Class

29) What did the research by Kohn suggest as being the primary influence upon parents that emphasized how they reared their
children?
A) the net worth of the family
B) the race or ethnicity of the family
C) the location in which the family lived
D) the parents' occupations
Answer: D
Diff: 3 Page Ref: 271
Skill Level: Apply What You Know
LO: 10.3 Summarize the consequences of social class for physical and mental health, family life, education, religion, politics,
and the criminal justice system.
Topic/A-head: Consequences of Social Class

30) Ken belongs to a church in which the worship services are highly expressive with spontaneous "Amens" and "Praise
Jesus" outbursts accompanied by loud, inspirational organ music. Ken is most likely a member of the ________ class.
A) capitalist
B) upper-middle
C) middle
D) lower
Answer: D
Diff: 3 Page Ref: 272
 Skill Level: Apply What You Know
LO: 10.3 Summarize the consequences of social class for physical and mental health, family life, education, religion, politics,
and the criminal justice system.
Topic/A-head: Consequences of Social Class

31) Politically, the class of people who are more likely to feel that the government should intervene in the economy to make
citizens financially secure are the ________.
A) working class
B) working poor
C) lower-middle class
D) underclass
Answer: A
Diff: 2 Page Ref: 272
Skill Level: Understand the Concepts
LO: 10.3 Summarize the consequences of social class for physical and mental health, family life, education, religion, politics,
and the criminal justice system.
Topic/A-head: Consequences of Social Class

32) What political party are members of the upper class more likely to belong?
A) Republican
B) Democrat
C) Green
D) Libertarian
Answer: A
Diff: 1 Page Ref: 272
Skill Level: Know the Facts
LO: 10.3 Summarize the consequences of social class for physical and mental health, family life, education, religion, politics,
and the criminal justice system.
Topic/A-head: Consequences of Social Class

33) What is the relationship between one's social class and one’s chances of being a victim of crime?
A) positive
B) direct
C) inverse
D) null
Answer: C
Diff: 3 Page Ref: 272
Skill Level: Apply What You Know
LO: 10.3 Summarize the consequences of social class for physical and mental health, family life, education, religion, politics,
and the criminal justice system.
Topic/A-head: Consequences of Social Class

34) What is the upward or downward movement in social class by family members from one generation to the next?
A) intergenerational mobility
B) intragenerational mobility
C) structural mobility
D) exchange mobility
Answer: A
Diff: 2 Page Ref: 273
Skill Level: Understand the Concepts
LO: 10.4 Contrast the three types of social mobility, and review gender issues in research on social mobility and why social
mobility brings pain.
Topic/A-head: Social Mobility

35) Changes in society that cause large numbers of people to move up or down the class ladder, which causes one class to
increase while others decrease, is called ________ mobility.
A) exchange
B) automatic
C) structural
D) intragenerational
Answer: C
 Diff: 2 Page Ref: 273
Skill Level: Understand the Concepts
LO: 10.4 Contrast the three types of social mobility, and review gender issues in research on social mobility and why social
mobility brings pain.
Topic/A-head: Social Mobility

36) If 100 working-class people move upward on the class ladder and, at the same time, 100 middle-class people move
downward, sociologists would consider this an example of ________ mobility.
A) structural
B) intergenerational
C) upward
D) exchange
Answer: D
Diff: 2 Page Ref: 273
Skill Level: Understand the Concepts
LO: 10.4 Contrast the three types of social mobility, and review gender issues in research on social mobility and why social
mobility brings pain.
Topic/A-head: Social Mobility

37) What did Higginbotham and Weber discover about women from working-class backgrounds who now occupied
professional, managerial, and administrative positions in Memphis?
A) They were encouraged by their parents to get an education.
B) They were in the top five percent of their graduating class.
C) They were the eldest child in the family.
D) They married into social classes higher than their own.
Answer: A
Diff: 1 Page Ref: 275
Skill Level: Know the Facts
LO: 10.4 Contrast the three types of social mobility, and review gender issues in research on social mobility and why social
mobility brings pain.
Topic/A-head: Social Mobility

38) To determine the poverty line, the U.S. government calculates a low-cost food budget for a family of a specific size, then
subjects that number to which modification?
A) It divides the food budget by five.
B) It multiples the food budget by five.
C) It divides the food budget by three.
D) It multiplies the food budget by three.
Answer: D
Diff: 3 Page Ref: 276
Skill Level: Apply What You Know
LO: 10.5 Explain the problems in drawing the poverty line, how poverty is related to geography, race-ethnicity, education,
feminization, age, and the culture of poverty; analyze why people are poor; and discuss deferred gratification and the Horatio
Alger myth.
Topic/A-head: Poverty

39) What region of the United States has the highest clustering of people in poverty?
A) the North
B) the South
C) the Midwest
D) the West
Answer: B
Diff: 1 Page Ref: 279
Skill Level: Know the Facts
LO: 10.5 Explain the problems in drawing the poverty line, how poverty is related to geography, race-ethnicity, education,
feminization, age, and the culture of poverty; analyze why people are poor; and discuss deferred gratification and the Horatio
Alger myth.
Topic/A-head: Poverty

40) What is the strongest variable in developing correlations to which social groups are in poverty?
A) geographic location
 B) race/ethnicity
C) sex
D) education
Answer: B
Diff: 2 Page Ref: 279
Skill Level: Understand the Concepts
LO: 10.5 Explain the problems in drawing the poverty line, how poverty is related to geography, race-ethnicity, education,
feminization, age, and the culture of poverty; analyze why people are poor; and discuss deferred gratification and the Horatio
Alger myth.
Topic/A-head: Poverty

41) Numerically, what is the race of the majority of the poor in the United States?
A) white
B) African American
C) Latino
D) Native American
Answer: A
Diff: 1 Page Ref: 279-280
Skill Level: Know the Facts
LO: 10.5 Explain the problems in drawing the poverty line, how poverty is related to geography, race-ethnicity, education,
feminization, age, and the culture of poverty; analyze why people are poor; and discuss deferred gratification and the Horatio
Alger myth.
Topic/A-head: Poverty

42) The trend in the United States in which most poor families are headed by women is called ________.
A) the male supremacy
B) the economic genderization
C) the feminization of poverty
D) the culture of poverty
Answer: C
Diff: 1 Page Ref: 280
Skill Level: Know the Facts
LO: 10.5 Explain the problems in drawing the poverty line, how poverty is related to geography, race-ethnicity, education,
feminization, age, and the culture of poverty; analyze why people are poor; and discuss deferred gratification and the Horatio
Alger myth.
Topic/A-head: Poverty

43) ________ are the most likely segment of the population in the United States to experience poverty today.
A) Children
B) The elderly
C) Middle-aged adults
D) Young, single males
Answer: A
Diff: 1 Page Ref: 280
Skill Level: Know the Facts
LO: 10.5 Explain the problems in drawing the poverty line, how poverty is related to geography, race-ethnicity, education,
feminization, age, and the culture of poverty; analyze why people are poor; and discuss deferred gratification and the Horatio
Alger myth.
Topic/A-head: Poverty

44) What is the relationship between births to single women and their level of education?
A) the greater the level of education, the more births to single women
B) the lower the level of education, the fewer births to single women
C) the greater the level of education, the fewer births to single women
D) there is no relationship between the level of education and births to single women
Answer: C
Diff: 3 Page Ref: 281
Skill Level: Apply What You Know
LO: 10.5 Explain the problems in drawing the poverty line, how poverty is related to geography, race-ethnicity, education,
feminization, age, and the culture of poverty; analyze why people are poor; and discuss deferred gratification and the Horatio
 Alger myth.
Topic/A-head: Poverty

45) Jeanann and her two children recently went on welfare. Research indicates that it is likely that Jeanann and her children
will be in poverty ________.
A) for at least five or six years
B) until both children are 18 years of age
C) for a year or less
D) between eight and ten years
Answer: C
Diff: 1 Page Ref: 282
Skill Level: Know the Facts
LO: 10.5 Explain the problems in drawing the poverty line, how poverty is related to geography, race-ethnicity, education,
feminization, age, and the culture of poverty; analyze why people are poor; and discuss deferred gratification and the Horatio
Alger myth.
Topic/A-head: Poverty

46) Which general explanation of poverty focuses on the discrimination and changes in the job market?
A) social structure explanations
B) social interaction explanations
C) political systems explanations
D) social process explanations
Answer: A
Diff: 3 Page Ref: 282
Skill Level: Apply What You Know
LO: 10.5 Explain the problems in drawing the poverty line, how poverty is related to geography, race-ethnicity, education,
feminization, age, and the culture of poverty; analyze why people are poor; and discuss deferred gratification and the Horatio
Alger myth.
Topic/A-head: Poverty

47) John worked at a steel mill for 25 years. A recessionary economy and competition with foreign steelmakers forced the
closing of the mill. At the age of 45, John is unable to find work in his town, lives in poverty, and must go on welfare.
What is the most likely cause of John's poverty?
A) It is due to his unwillingness to work.
B) He is not intelligent enough to get a better job.
C) Changes in the social structure are the most likely cause.
D) Changes in John's value system are the most likely cause.
Answer: C
Diff: 3 Page Ref: 282
Skill Level: Apply What You Know
LO: 10.5 Explain the problems in drawing the poverty line, how poverty is related to geography, race-ethnicity, education,
feminization, age, and the culture of poverty; analyze why people are poor; and discuss deferred gratification and the Horatio
Alger myth.
Topic/A-head: Poverty

48) Jacob is single, 40 years old and living in government-subsidized housing. He does not want to pursue regular
employment because he feels there are other members of society who need the work more than he does. Jacob's situation
is an example of which of the following explanations of why people are poor?
A) the altruistic provision
B) the characteristics of individuals
C) the structure of society
D) a shortage of high paying jobs
Answer: B
Diff: 3 Page Ref: 282
Skill Level: Apply What You Know
LO: 10.5 Explain the problems in drawing the poverty line, how poverty is related to geography, race-ethnicity, education,
feminization, age, and the culture of poverty; analyze why people are poor; and discuss deferred gratification and the Horatio
Alger myth.
Topic/A-head: Poverty

49) What is the relationship between social class and the likelihood of embracing deferred gratification?
 A) There is no consistent relationship between social class and deferred gratification.
B) The lower one's social class, the more likely they will embrace deferred gratification.
C) The working class and working poor are the most likely to embrace deferred gratification.
D) The higher one's social class, the more likely they will embrace deferred gratification.
Answer: D
Diff: 4 Page Ref: 283
Skill Level: Analyze It
LO: 10.5 Explain the problems in drawing the poverty line, how poverty is related to geography, race-ethnicity, education,
feminization, age, and the culture of poverty; analyze why people are poor; and discuss deferred gratification and the Horatio
Alger myth.
Topic/A-head: Poverty

50) There were much-publicized myths of the late 1800s that centered around the rags-to-riches exploits of fictional boy
heroes. These myths were perpetuated by their author, ________.
A) Horatio Alger
B) Mark Twain
C) Samuel Clemens
D) George Orwell
Answer: A
Diff: 1 Page Ref: 284-285
Skill Level: Know the Facts
LO: 10.5 Explain the problems in drawing the poverty line, how poverty is related to geography, race-ethnicity, education,
feminization, age, and the culture of poverty; analyze why people are poor; and discuss deferred gratification and the Horatio
Alger myth.
Topic/A-head: Poverty

10.3 Short Answer Questions

1) What are the three components Weber identified as being the key elements of determining one's social class?
Answer: (1) wealth;
(2) power;
(3) prestige
Diff: 1 Page Ref: 257
Skill Level: Know the Facts
LO: 10.1 Explain the three components of social class—property, power, and prestige; distinguish between wealth and income;
explain how property and income are distributed; and describe the democratic façade, the power elite, and status inconsistency.
Topic/A-head: What Determines Social Class?

2) What is the formula to determine one's wealth?

Answer: the net worth that is the sum of one's property less one’s personal debts
Diff: 1 Page Ref: 258
Skill Level: Know the Facts
LO: 10.1 Explain the three components of social class—property, power, and prestige; distinguish between wealth and income;
explain how property and income are distributed; and describe the democratic façade, the power elite, and status inconsistency.
Topic/A-head: What Determines Social Class?

3) The median annual compensation package for CEOs is $10,100,000. What does this mean in relation to all CEO
compensation packages?
Answer: It is the one in the middle, with just as many CEOs having compensation packages above $10,100,000 and just
as many below $10,100,000.
Diff: 4 Page Ref: 259
Skill Level: Analyze It
LO: 10.1 Explain the three components of social class—property, power, and prestige; distinguish between wealth and income;
explain how property and income are distributed; and describe the democratic façade, the power elite, and status inconsistency.
Topic/A-head: What Determines Social Class?

4) What is the democratic facade?

Answer: the term coined by Daniel Hellinger and Dennis Judd to refer to the false belief by Americans that they are
participants in the nation's big decisions by virtue of their voting power and contact with elected officials
Diff: 1 Page Ref: 260
 Skill Level: Know the Facts
LO: 10.1 Explain the three components of social class—property, power, and prestige; distinguish between wealth and income;
explain how property and income are distributed; and describe the democratic façade, the power elite, and status inconsistency.
Topic/A-head: What Determines Social Class?

5) What are the four features that jobs with a high prestige all share?
Answer: (1) they pay more;
(2) they require more education;
(3) they entail more abstract thought;
(4) they offer greater autonomy
Diff: 4 Page Ref: 262
Skill Level: Analyze It
LO: 10.1 Explain the three components of social class—property, power, and prestige; distinguish between wealth and income;
explain how property and income are distributed; and describe the democratic façade, the power elite, and status inconsistency.
Topic/A-head: What Determines Social Class?

6) Name at least three of the top five occupations in the United States based on occupational prestige.
Answer: (1) physician;
(2) Supreme Court judge;
(3) college president;
(4) astronaut;
(5) lawyer
Diff: 1 Page Ref: 263
Skill Level: Know the Facts
LO: 10.1 Explain the three components of social class—property, power, and prestige; distinguish between wealth and income;
explain how property and income are distributed; and describe the democratic façade, the power elite, and status inconsistency.
Topic/A-head: What Determines Social Class?

7) Why does sudden wealth, such as that experienced by winning a multimillion-dollar lottery jackpot, create anomie?
Answer: It creates status inconsistency for the recipient, usually due to now being among the wealthy but lacking the
level of education or heritage of wealth that usually accompanies it. In addition, one's social network will still
be composed of the non-wealthy who will be envious, jealous, and looking for assistance from the fortunate
lotto winner.
Diff: 6 Page Ref: 265
Skill Level: Apply What You Know
LO: 10.2 Contrast Marx’s and Weber’s models of social class.
Topic/A-head: Sociological Models of Social Class

8) What were the four social classes identified by Erik Wright?

Answer: (1) capitalists;
(2) petty bourgeoisie;
(3) managers;
(4) workers
Diff: 1 Page Ref: 266
Skill Level: Know the Facts
LO: 10.2 Contrast Marx’s and Weber’s models of social class.
Topic/A-head: Sociological Models of Social Class

9) In Marx's model of social class, what were the major classes?

Answer: (1) capitalists;
(2) workers
Diff: 1 Page Ref: 265-266
Skill Level: Know the Facts
LO: 10.2 Contrast Marx’s and Weber’s models of social class.
Topic/A-head: Sociological Models of Social Class
10) What are the social classes proposed by Joseph Kahl and Dennis Gilbert in their six-class model that revised Weber's
original model?
Answer: (1) the capitalist class;
(2) the upper-middle class;
(3) the lower-middle class;
(4) the working class;
(5) the working poor;
(6) the underclass
Diff: 1 Page Ref: 267
Skill Level: Know the Facts
LO: 10.2 Contrast Marx’s and Weber’s models of social class.
Topic/A-head: Sociological Models of Social Class

11) By definition and example, who are the nouveau riche?

Answer: They are the "new money" families who have made fortunes in business, the stock market, inventions,
entertainment, or sports but are considered as "outsiders" to the upper class because they did not attend the right
schools or have the proper social network. The nouveau riche in America include Bill Gates, Donald Trump,
Oprah Winfrey, LeBron James, Johnny Depp, and others.
Diff: 3 Page Ref: 266-267
Skill Level: Apply What You Know
LO: 10.2 Contrast Marx’s and Weber’s models of social class.
Topic/A-head: Sociological Models of Social Class

12) Why do members of the capitalist class have a narrower field of "eligibles" as marriage partners than any other social
class?
Answer: There is a concern for preserving the "family line" and for maintaining the family's wealth or increasing it
through marriage.
Diff: 1 Page Ref: 270
Skill Level: Know the Facts
LO: 10.3 Summarize the consequences of social class for physical and mental health, family life, education, religion, politics,
and the criminal justice system.
Topic/A-head: Consequences of Social Class

13) How is social class related to the potential to be involved in the criminal justice system as either a defendant or victim?
Answer: The higher one's social class, the less likely one will be either a convicted criminal offender or a victim of
crime. Upper-class people commit many acts that victimize others, but are often tried in administrative courts
when the offense involves white-collar crime. The ability to afford private counsel when accused of a heinous
crime also greatly increases one's potential to be found not guilty.
Diff: 4 Page Ref: 272
Skill Level: Analyze It
LO: 10.3 Summarize the consequences of social class for physical and mental health, family life, education, religion, politics,
and the criminal justice system.
Topic/A-head: Consequences of Social Class

14) What are the three basic types of social mobility?

Answer: (1) intergenerational mobility;
(2) structural mobility;
(3) exchange mobility
Diff: 1 Page Ref: 273
Skill Level: Know the Facts
LO: 10.4 Contrast the three types of social mobility, and review gender issues in research on social mobility and why social
mobility brings pain.
Topic/A-head: Social Mobility

15) What is the likelihood that children will experience an increase in social class in comparison to their parents?
Answer: 84% of children who were reared at the bottom of the income ladder had a higher family income than their
parents at the same age.
Diff: 1 Page Ref: 274
Skill Level: Know the Facts
LO: 10.4 Contrast the three types of social mobility, and review gender issues in research on social mobility and why social
 mobility brings pain.
Topic/A-head: Social Mobility

16) What is the standard used by the U.S. government to determine if a family is in poverty?
Answer: The poverty line is based on what people are believed to spend for a low-cost food budget to feed a family of a
specific number of dependents, multiplied by three.
Diff: 3 Page Ref: 276-277
Skill Level: Apply What You Know
LO: 10.5 Explain the problems in drawing the poverty line, how poverty is related to geography, race-ethnicity, education,
feminization, age, and the culture of poverty; analyze why people are poor; and discuss deferred gratification and the Horatio
Alger myth.
Topic/A-head: Poverty

17) What are the three greatest predictors of poverty in America?

Answer: (1) race-ethnicity: African Americans and Latinos are disproportionately poor;
(2) education: the chances of being poor decrease with each higher level of education;
(3) sex: households headed by women are more likely to be poor than two parent families or families headed by
men
Diff: 1 Page Ref: 279
Skill Level: Know the Facts
LO: 10.5 Explain the problems in drawing the poverty line, how poverty is related to geography, race-ethnicity, education,
feminization, age, and the culture of poverty; analyze why people are poor; and discuss deferred gratification and the Horatio
Alger myth.
Topic/A-head: Poverty

18) What is the relationship between level of education and births to single mothers?
Answer: The relationship is inverse, meaning the higher one's level of education the less likely they will experience a
single mother birth.
Diff: 2 Page Ref: 280
Skill Level: Understand the Concepts
LO: 10.5 Explain the problems in drawing the poverty line, how poverty is related to geography, race-ethnicity, education,
feminization, age, and the culture of poverty; analyze why people are poor; and discuss deferred gratification and the Horatio
Alger myth.
Topic/A-head: Poverty

19) How long does poverty last for most people affected by it?
Answer: The majority of people in poverty (59 percent) are classified as being in poverty for one year or less.
Diff: 1 Page Ref: 282
Skill Level: Know the Facts
LO: 10.5 Explain the problems in drawing the poverty line, how poverty is related to geography, race-ethnicity, education,
feminization, age, and the culture of poverty; analyze why people are poor; and discuss deferred gratification and the Horatio
Alger myth.
Topic/A-head: Poverty

20) Define deferred gratification and explain why it is not experienced by the lower class like it is the middle class.
Answer: Deferred gratification refers to going without something in the present in the hope of achieving greater gains in
the future. The lower class is less likely to experience deferred gratification because a life of deprivation is
plagued with emergencies that keep their focus on the present and limit their ability to plan for the future.
Diff: 2 Page Ref: 283
Skill Level: Apply What You Know
LO: 10.5 Explain the problems in drawing the poverty line, how poverty is related to geography, race-ethnicity, education,
feminization, age, and the culture of poverty; analyze why people are poor; and discuss deferred gratification and the Horatio
Alger myth.
Topic/A-head: Poverty

10.4 Essay Questions

1) Define social class. Identify three criteria used to conceptualize social class placement.
Answer: Social class refers to a large group of people who rank closely to one another in wealth. Wealth, power, and
prestige are the three most common criteria used to measure social class.
 (1) Wealth consists of the property and income that a person or family possesses.
(2) Power is the ability to make others do what you desire, even if they do not want to do it.
(3) Prestige is usually the respect people have for a person because of their occupation.
Diff: 1 Page Ref: 257-263
Skill Level: Know the Facts
LO: 10.1 Explain the three components of social class—property, power, and prestige; distinguish between wealth and income;
explain how property and income are distributed; and describe the democratic façade, the power elite, and status inconsistency.
Topic/A-head: What Determines Social Class?

2) Discuss power, and the ways in which functionalists and conflict theorists would disagree over the concept of power in a
democracy.
Answer: Power is the ability of someone to carry out their will over the resistance of others. Functionalists would
consider everyone's vote as being important and embrace the traditional view of how participating in an election
is an exercise in the distribution of power. Conflict theorists see the individual vote as being a facade, claiming
that the real source of power in the United States is concealed among a select few who make all the major
decisions.
Diff: 2 Page Ref: 260-262
Skill Level: Understand the Concepts
LO: 10.1 Explain the three components of social class—property, power, and prestige; distinguish between wealth and income;
explain how property and income are distributed; and describe the democratic façade, the power elite, and status inconsistency.
Topic/A-head: What Determines Social Class?

3) What did C. Wright Mills mean by the term "power elite"? How do the power elite manage to maintain their influence?
Has the power elite become more or less powerful since Mills introduced the term in the 1950s?
Answer: C. Wright Mills used the term "power elite" to identify those persons in society who hold positions of great
wealth and power and who make the big decisions that affect the life of the nation. The wealthy and powerful
elites have a similar viewpoint of the world and their special place in it because of their shared backgrounds and
vested interests. They use their power and wealth to protect their interests by influencing all major
governmental decisions by working behind the scenes with elected officials. Sociologist William Domhoff
argues that the power elite have become so powerful that no major decision of the U.S. government is made
without their approval.
Diff: 4 Page Ref: 262
Skill Level: Analyze It
LO: 10.1 Explain the three components of social class—property, power, and prestige; distinguish between wealth and income;
explain how property and income are distributed; and describe the democratic façade, the power elite, and status inconsistency.
Topic/A-head: What Determines Social Class?

4) An electrician can earn more money than a college professor. Based on the features that contribute to occupational
prestige, why do electricians rank in the lower half of the occupational prestige table and professors rank near the top?
Answer: Income is only one feature of occupational prestige. The length of education required for the job, the abstract
thought it entails, and the autonomy of the position are other features. An electrician can be certified after
completing on-the-job training or taking a technical school course for a few months. Electrical wiring is a step-
by-step process done "by the numbers." It does not require creativity. Finally, an electrician works for someone
else either for wages or for clients who expect them to follow reasonably strict schedules of accountability.
Professors require years of formal education and life experience. They are able to analyze situations, especially
in social sciences such as sociology, and present multiple approaches to problem solving. Although there are
expectations made of professors by the chair, dean, and others in the chain of academic command, there is a
great deal of independence afforded the professor on how he or she accomplishes the goals presented. An
electrician's higher income is due to high hourly wages and longer hours of work.
Diff: 4 Page Ref: 262
Skill Level: Analyze It
LO: 10.1 Explain the three components of social class—property, power, and prestige; distinguish between wealth and income;
explain how property and income are distributed; and describe the democratic façade, the power elite, and status inconsistency.
Topic/A-head: What Determines Social Class?

5) What is meant by the term "status inconsistency"? What consequences have been linked to being status inconsistent?
Answer: While most persons hold positions of similar wealth, prestige and power, sometimes a person might be ranked
very high or low on one dimension in comparison to the others. The result is described as status inconsistency.
Because of the frustrations of status inconsistency that people experience, they tend to be politically radical.
Sudden wealth can also cause anomie, or a sense of normlessness, for those from the lower classes that win a
 large cash lottery. Another consequence leaves status inconsistent men twice as likely to have a heart attack as
status consistent, while status inconsistent women do not have more heart attacks.
Diff: 2 Page Ref: 263-264
Skill Level: Understand the Concepts
LO: 10.1 Explain the three components of social class—property, power, and prestige; distinguish between wealth and income;
explain how property and income are distributed; and describe the democratic façade, the power elite, and status inconsistency.
Topic/A-head: What Determines Social Class?

6) Professors of English are usually paid much less than professors of business. Apply your understanding of status
inconsistency to predict the politics of English professors and the themes of books they prefer.
Answer: Since English professors experience greater status inconsistency than do business professors, English professors
would be more radical (or less conservative). They might tend to assign books that challenge existing power
relations or treat poor and powerless people sympathetically.
Diff: 3 Page Ref: 263-264
Skill Level: Apply What You Know
LO: 10.1 Explain the three components of social class—property, power, and prestige; distinguish between wealth and income;
explain how property and income are distributed; and describe the democratic façade, the power elite, and status inconsistency.
Topic/A-head: What Determines Social Class?

7) Describe Erik Wright's modification of Marx's model of social class.

Answer: Wright concluded that not everyone could be easily placed into the worker-capitalist categories that Marx
defined. Rather, some people fell into what Wright termed as contradictory class locations because they were
simultaneously members of more than one class. Their resulting position could generate contradictory interests.
Because of contradictory class locations, Wright modified Marx's model and identified four classes:
(1) capitalists, owners who employ many workers;
(2) petty bourgeoisie, owners of small businesses;
(3) managers who sell their labor but also exercise authority over others; and,
(4) workers who simply sell their labor to others.
Diff: 2 Page Ref: 265-266
Skill Level: Understand the Concepts
LO: 10.2 Contrast Marx’s and Weber’s models of social class.
Topic/A-head: Sociological Models of Social Class

8) Summarize the U.S. social class ladder as proposed by Joseph Kahl and Dennis Gilbert.
Answer: Kahl and Gilbert base their model on one's access to power, property, prestige, and education. At the top of the
class ladder is the capitalist class. Members of this class comprise one percent of the population, attend
prestigious universities, and include investors, heirs, and some top executives earning $1,000,000 or more. The
upper middle class are usually college educated and possess advanced degrees. They work as professionals and
upper class managers, earning $125,000 or more a year and comprise 15 percent of the population. The lower
middle class includes high school graduates and college graduates who work in semi-professional, lower
managerial, and craft positions. They comprise 34 percent of the population and earn about $60,000 a year.
Those in the working class are high school graduates employed as factory and clerical workers, low paying
retail sales, and crafts earning about $35,000 a year comprising about 30 percent of the population. The
working poor are high school graduates with attendance certificates and high school dropouts. They are
laborers, service workers, and low-paid sales people, making about $17,000 a year comprising 16 percent of the
population. Those in the underclass have similar education achievement as the working poor but are
unemployed, are part-time employees, or are on welfare. They earn less than $10,000 a year and comprise four
percent of the population.
Diff: 2 Page Ref: 266-269
Skill Level: Understand the Concepts
LO: 10.2 Contrast Marx’s and Weber’s models of social class.
Topic/A-head: Sociological Models of Social Class

9) Compare and contrast the working poor and underclass noting similarities and differences.
Answer: Together the working poor and underclass comprise 20 percent of Americans, ranking next to each other at the
bottom of the class ladder. They both qualify as being in poverty, have limited opportunities, are poorly trained
for the job market, often are high school dropouts, may be illiterate, are unlikely to be able to resist deferred
gratification if they happen upon a wind fall of wealth, and engage in unhealthy practices such as smoking,
drinking, and other risk-taking behaviors. The difference in the two classes is the working poor have part-time
and even full-time jobs but because of the poverty index, still qualify as being in poverty. For example, a
traditional family of five with the father working full-time earning $8 an hour earns about $16,640, well below
 the poverty line for a family of that size. The working poor create more life opportunities for themselves, are
more likely to contribute to the community by being members of community organizations, and may have
aspirations that reduce the culture of poverty that traps the underclass in poverty. Those considered working
poor are often found among the rural poor and the underclass in urban settings. The working poor are three
times greater in size than the underclass.
Diff: 6 Page Ref: 268-269
Skill Level: Apply What You Know
LO: 10.2 Contrast Marx’s and Weber’s models of social class.
Topic/A-head: Sociological Models of Social Class

10) Discuss the three reasons social class has such an impact on one's health.
Answer: (1) First, medical care is expensive. The insurance to guarantee medical care is expensive. Social class opens
and closes the doors to medical care by making insurance either affordable or provided as a part of
employment.
(2) Second, lifestyles are shaped by social class. Generally speaking, the higher one's social class, the healthier
one’s lifestyle. People in the lower social classes are more likely to smoke, eat foods with high fat content, be
overweight, abuse drugs and alcohol, avoid exercise, and practice unsafe sex. People in the upper classes are
more "body conscious," want to make good impressions in social settings, and enjoy the benefits their wealth
has provided.
(3) Third, life is harder on the poor, more stressful, provides fewer alternatives to solve problems, and creates
greater wear and tear on their bodies.
Diff: 2 Page Ref: 270
Skill Level: Understand the Concepts
LO: 10.3 Summarize the consequences of social class for physical and mental health, family life, education, religion, politics,
and the criminal justice system.
Topic/A-head: Consequences of Social Class

11) In child rearing, what is the difference between punishment and supervision of children as it relates to social class?
Answer: Lower-class parents focus on getting their children to follow rules and obey authority while middle-class
parents focus on developing their child's creativity and leadership skills. Lower-class families are also likely to
use physical punishment to discipline their children while middle-class families will rely more on verbal
persuasion.
Diff: 4 Page Ref: 271
Skill Level: Analyze It
LO: 10.3 Summarize the consequences of social class for physical and mental health, family life, education, religion, politics,
and the criminal justice system.
Topic/A-head: Consequences of Social Class

12) Identify the three types of social mobility and distinguish the differences between them.
Answer: Basically, there are three types of social mobility: structural, intergenerational, and exchange mobility.
(1) Structural mobility refers to a change in the structure of society that affects the social class of a number of
people.
(2) Intergenerational mobility is the change that family members make in their social class from one generation
to another.
(3) Exchange mobility occurs when large numbers of people move upward or downward on the social class
ladder, but the result is that the class systems remain basically unchanged because the upward and downward
movement of people is more or less balanced out.
Diff: 2 Page Ref: 273
Skill Level: Understand the Concepts
LO: 10.4 Contrast the three types of social mobility, and review gender issues in research on social mobility and why social
mobility brings pain.
Topic/A-head: Social Mobility
13) Develop a profile that answers the question, "Who are the poor?"
Answer: Although there is no definitive profile of the poor that is universally applicable, the poor are overrepresented in
several areas. The poor are unevenly distributed among the states, clustering in the South. There is also a higher
rate of poverty among rural America than in the inner city. One of the strongest predictors of poverty is race
and ethnicity with African Americans and Latinos being over represented (22 and 21 percent, respectively).
Whites and Asians only account for 10 percent of the poor, but because the numerical majority of the
population is white, there are more whites in poverty than any other racial or ethnic group. Those in poverty are
likely to be poorly educated, lacking a high school diploma or GED. As one's educational achievement
increases, their chance of being in poverty decreases. Statistics show that only 3 out of 100 people who finish
college end up in poverty. Women who are heads of households have a much higher rate of poverty than two
parent families and men who are heads of households. Although being old was once synonymous with poverty,
this is no longer the case and the elderly are less likely to be poor compared to the general population.
Diff: 5 Page Ref: 279-280
Skill Level: Analyze It
LO: 10.5 Explain the problems in drawing the poverty line, how poverty is related to geography, race-ethnicity, education,
feminization, age, and the culture of poverty; analyze why people are poor; and discuss deferred gratification and the Horatio
Alger myth.
Topic/A-head: Poverty

14) Distinguish between the individual and structural explanations of poverty.

Answer: Some social analysts focus on the characteristics of individuals that they assume contribute to poverty. These
include dropping out of school, having children at a younger age, averaging more children than women in the
other social classes, and their desire for immediate gratification. Other social analysts focus on the social
structure to explain why some people are poor. They stress that some features of society deny some people
equal access to opportunities based on their ascribed statuses and changes in the labor market.
Diff: 2 Page Ref: 282
Skill Level: Understand the Concepts
LO: 10.5 Explain the problems in drawing the poverty line, how poverty is related to geography, race-ethnicity, education,
feminization, age, and the culture of poverty; analyze why people are poor; and discuss deferred gratification and the Horatio
Alger myth.
Topic/A-head: Poverty
10.5 Matching Questions
Skill Level: Know the Facts
Match the term with the definition.
 1) property A) money received, usually from a job, business, or assets
Diff: 1 Page Ref: 258
LO: 10.1 Explain the three components of social class—property, power, and prestige; distinguish between wealth
and income; explain how property and income are distributed; and describe the democratic façade, the power elite, B) material possessions
and status inconsistency.
Topic/A-head: What Determines Social Class?
C) Gilbert and Kahl's social class category most shaped by advanced
degrees
2) wealth
Diff: 1 Page Ref: 258 D) about the same number of people moving up and down the social class
LO: 10.1 Explain the three components of social class—property, power, and prestige; distinguish between wealth ladder, such that, on balance, the social class system shows little change
and income; explain how property and income are distributed; and describe the democratic façade, the power elite,
and status inconsistency.
Topic/A-head: What Determines Social Class? E) the official measure of poverty calculated to include incomes less than
three times a low-cost food budget
3) income
Diff: 1 Page Ref: 258 F) C. Wright Mills' term for the people in the U.S. corporations, military,
LO: 10.1 Explain the three components of social class—property, power, and prestige; distinguish between wealth and politics that make the nation's major decisions
and income; explain how property and income are distributed; and describe the democratic façade, the power elite,
and status inconsistency.
Topic/A-head: What Determines Social Class? G) forgoing something in the present in the hope of achieving greater gains
in the future

4) power elite
Diff: 1 Page Ref: 262 H) the change that family members make in social class from one
LO: 10.1 Explain the three components of social class—property, power, and prestige; distinguish between wealth generation to the next
and income; explain how property and income are distributed; and describe the democratic façade, the power elite,
and status inconsistency.
Topic/A-head: What Determines Social Class? I) the total value of everything someone owns minus the debts

5) status J) ranking high or low on all three dimensions of social class

Diff: 1 Page Ref: 263
LO: 10.1 Explain the three components of social class—property, power, and prestige; distinguish between wealth
and income; explain how property and income are distributed; and describe the democratic façade, the power elite, K) Gilbert and Kahl's largest social class that includes members who hold
and status inconsistency. technical and lower level management positions
Topic/A-head: What Determines Social Class?
L) the position that someone occupies in society or a social group
6) status consistency
Diff: 1 Page Ref: 263 M) movement up or down the social class ladder that is due to changes in
LO: 10.1 Explain the three components of social class—property, power, and prestige; distinguish between wealth the structure of society
and income; explain how property and income are distributed; and describe the democratic façade, the power elite,
and status inconsistency.
Topic/A-head: What Determines Social Class? N) a group of people for whom poverty persists year after year and across
generations
7) status inconsistency
Diff: 1 Page Ref: 263 O) ranking high on some dimensions of social class and low on others
LO: 10.1 Explain the three components of social class—property, power, and prestige; distinguish between wealth
and income; explain how property and income are distributed; and describe the democratic façade, the power elite,
and status inconsistency.
Topic/A-head: What Determines Social Class?

8) upper middle class

Diff: 1 Page Ref: 267
LO: 10.2 Contrast Marx’s and Weber’s models of social class.
Topic/A-head: Sociological Models of Social Class

9) lower middle class

Diff: 1 Page Ref: 268
LO: 10.2 Contrast Marx’s and Weber’s models of social class.
Topic/A-head: Sociological Models of Social Class

10) underclass
Diff: 1 Page Ref: 269
LO: 10.2 Contrast Marx’s and Weber’s models of social class.
Topic/A-head: Sociological Models of Social Class

11) intergenerational mobility

Diff: 1 Page Ref: 273
LO: 10.4 Contrast the three types of social mobility, and review gender issues in research on social mobility and why
social mobility brings pain.
Topic/A-head: Social Mobility

12) structural mobility

Diff: 1 Page Ref: 273
LO: 10.4 Contrast the three types of social mobility, and review gender issues in research on social mobility and why
social mobility brings pain.
Topic/A-head: Social Mobility

13) exchange mobility

Diff: 1 Page Ref: 273
LO: 10.4 Contrast the three types of social mobility, and review gender issues in research on social mobility and why
social mobility brings pain.
Topic/A-head: Social Mobility

14) poverty line

Diff: 1 Page Ref: 276
LO: 10.5 Explain the problems in drawing the poverty line, how poverty is related to geography, race-ethnicity,
education, feminization, age, and the culture of poverty; analyze why people are poor; and discuss deferred
gratification and the Horatio Alger myth.
Topic/A-head: Poverty

15) deferred gratification

Diff: 1 Page Ref: 283
LO: 10.5 Explain the problems in drawing the poverty line, how poverty is related to geography, race-ethnicity,
education, feminization, age, and the culture of poverty; analyze why people are poor; and discuss deferred
gratification and the Horatio Alger myth.
Topic/A-head: Poverty

1) B; 2) I; 3) A; 4) F; 5) L; 6) J; 7) O; 8) C; 9) K; 10) N; 11) H; 12) M; 13) D; 14) E; 15) G

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