All Free Sociology MCQs with Answers
Every Sociology question in the bank, across all chapters, each with the correct answer and a written explanation. Free and unlimited, with no account needed.
1,258 questions · page 35 of 63
- A. women's pay is often essential to the family's economic position
- B. class inequalities govern gender stratification
- C. women's paid work is not as significant as that of men
- D. women should be seen as being the same class as their husbands/partners
Explanation: Conventional class analysis has often treated women's paid work as secondary or less significant than men's, although feminist analysis…
Correct answer: women's pay is often essential to the family's economic position- A. economic capital
- B. political
- C. social capital
- D. cultural capitalAccess Government Careers
Explanation: Bourdieu identified economic, social and cultural capital, along with symbolic forms of capital in his broader framework.
Correct answer: political- A. students
- B. the unemployed
- C. manual working class
- D. retired people
Explanation: Occupational class schemes classify people through their jobs, so they readily place manual workers in a working-class category.
Correct answer: manual working class- A. class position is entirely subjective
- B. class systems are relatively fluid
- C. class is economically based
- D. class positions are in part achievedGet Study Guides
Explanation: Class position is not entirely subjective because it is linked to objective economic factors such as occupation, income and ownership.
Correct answer: class position is entirely subjective- A. Conflict theory is better at explaining inequality
- B. Some sociologists have tried to synthesize the conflict and functionalist perspectives to argue that stratification systems are institutions that have evolved in order to reduce conflict
- C. Only functionalist theory has merit when discussing social structure
- D. none of the above
Explanation: Functionalist and conflict approaches emphasise different causes of stratification, but some sociologists combine them by viewing…
Correct answer: Some sociologists have tried to synthesize the conflict and functionalist perspectives to argue that stratification systems are institutions that have evolved in order to reduce conflict- A. the capitalist drive to distribute wealth equitably is the foundation of modern society
- B. privilege prestige and power are equally distributed in society
- C. its benefits individuals and groups who have the power to dominate and exploit others
- D. capitalists and workers are class consciousTrace Family History
Explanation: Conflict theory sees stratification as serving the interests of powerful groups, who use unequal resources and institutions to dominate or…
Correct answer: its benefits individuals and groups who have the power to dominate and exploit others- A. intergenerational mobility
- B. none of the above
- C. vertical mobility
- D. socioeconomic life cycle
Explanation: The socioeconomic life cycle refers to status changes across a person's life, including birth into a family position and later formation…
Correct answer: socioeconomic life cycle- A. Social mobility occurs only when shifts occur in the availability of different types of talent in the work force
- B. Social mobility can occur when societies change altering the division of labor
- C. Social mobility is controlled by those in the higher strata through control of opportunities for training and education
- D. none of above
Explanation: Social change can reorganise the division of labour by creating or reducing occupations, thereby changing opportunities for movement…
Correct answer: Social mobility can occur when societies change altering the division of labor- A. the poor who are concentrated in isolated rural areas
- B. individuals who experience occasional poverty but who move back into the "mainstream" of economic life within 12 months
- C. the persistently poor who exist mainly because of a sharp climb in joblessness due to a redistribution of jobs in the inner city
- D. both b and c
Explanation: The underclass refers to people trapped in persistent poverty, often because deindustrialisation and job redistribution have produced…
Correct answer: the persistently poor who exist mainly because of a sharp climb in joblessness due to a redistribution of jobs in the inner city- A. large densely populated areas
- B. none of the above
- C. highly transient communities
- D. small groups
Explanation: The reputational method identifies class position by asking people who is considered higher or lower in status within a community.
Correct answer: small groups- A. inequalities are passed from generation to generation
- B. inequality occurs in a random fashion
- C. inequality is regulated by the government
- D. none of the above is true
Explanation: A structured inequality is patterned rather than random, and its advantages and disadvantages are often reproduced across generations…
Correct answer: inequalities are passed from generation to generation- A. Cultural groups
- B. Ethnic groups
- C. Social and economic classes
- D. None of theseAccess Government Careers
Explanation: Peter Saunders explains modern stratification primarily through social and economic classes, especially differences in resources and…
Correct answer: Social and economic classes- A. Max Weber
- B. John Goldthorpe
- C. Karl Marx
- D. Pierre Bourdieu
Explanation: Pierre Bourdieu argued that class advantage is shaped not only by economic capital but also by cultural capital, such as education, tastes…
Correct answer: Pierre Bourdieu- A. senior executives
- B. industrial entrepreneurs
- C. finance capitalists
- D. none of the aboveTrace Family History
Explanation: In John Scott’s classification, senior executives belong to the middle class because they exercise authority and hold advantageous…
Correct answer: senior executives- A. capitalists are being replaced by salaried managers with bureaucratic authority
- B. the affluent working class is adopting middle class values and ways of life
- C. white collar occupations are being deskilled by the introduction of new technologies into the workplace
- D. the class structure has fragmented and there are no longer any distinct social classesAccess Government Careers
Explanation: The embourgeoisement thesis argues that an affluent or increasingly prosperous working class adopts middle-class values, lifestyles and…
Correct answer: the affluent working class is adopting middle class values and ways of life- A. the division of each social class into the more or less privileged.
- B. the tendency for the working class to live in very could places
- C. the growth of intermediate strata in the middle classes
- D. a growing gap between rich and poor resulting in class consciousness
Explanation: Marx’s class polarization predicts an increasingly wide gap between the bourgeoisie and proletariat as intermediate groups decline…
Correct answer: a growing gap between rich and poor resulting in class consciousness- A. a symbol of status used to differentiate between social classes
- B. a methodological tool used to identify a person's social class
- C. the boundary between two levels of the social hierarchy
- D. a level in the social hierarchy comprising people with shared life chances
Explanation: A social stratum is a layer in the system of social stratification whose members share broadly similar life chances, such as access to…
Correct answer: a level in the social hierarchy comprising people with shared life chances- A. culture of poverty
- B. Culture of lower class
- C. Mere poverty
- D. None of these
Explanation: The culture-of-poverty concept describes a pattern of values, behaviour and expectations associated with persistent deprivation, not…
Correct answer: culture of poverty- A. Behavior
- B. All of above
- C. Way of life
- D. Set of values
Explanation: A social class functions as a subculture because its members tend to share characteristic behaviour, values and ways of life.
Correct answer: All of above- A. Same income level
- B. Way of life values
- C. Both of the values
- D. None of these
Explanation: Class membership commonly involves similarities in income or economic position as well as shared values and lifestyle.
Correct answer: Both of the values