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 36 of 63

  • A. a system in which people can change their status with relative ease.
  • B. the ranking or grading of individuals and groups into hierarchical layers
  • C. based entirely on self-classification
  • D. none of the above

Explanation: Stratification ranks individuals and groups in layers of unequal prestige, wealth or power.

Correct answer: the ranking or grading of individuals and groups into hierarchical layers
  • A. it is estimated that women grow half the world's food but they rarely own land.
  • B. all of the above
  • C. Single-parent households headed by women which appear to be on the increase in many nations -are typically found in the poorest section of the population
  • D. Women constitute one-third of the world's paid labor force but are generally found in the lowest paying jobs

Explanation: All three statements describe gender-based economic inequality: women often produce food without owning land, are concentrated in low-paid…

Correct answer: all of the above
  • A. prestige
  • B. status
  • C. esteem
  • D. power

Explanation: Esteem is the reputation or respect attached to a particular person, whereas occupational prestige is the general social standing assigned…

Correct answer: esteem
  • A. slavery
  • B. open class system
  • C. closed caste systems
  • D. caste systems

Explanation: Slavery is the most extreme legally enforced inequality because enslaved people are treated as the property of others and denied basic…

Correct answer: slavery
  • A. those in non-manual occupations exercising authority on behalf of the state
  • B. people working in consultancy firms who were recruited by big businesses
  • C. the young men and women employed in domestic service in the nineteenth century
  • D. those who had worked in the armed services

Explanation: Goldthorpe's service class broadly consists of higher-level non-manual employees, such as administrators, managers and professionals, who…

Correct answer: those in non-manual occupations exercising authority on behalf of the state
  • A. age
  • B. income
  • C. occupation
  • D. verbal fluency

Explanation: Occupation is a standard indicator of social status because it reflects education, income, authority, lifestyle and social prestige…

Correct answer: occupation
  • A. social class and gender
  • B. gender and ethnicity
  • C. ethnicity and sexuality
  • D. all of them

Explanation: Intersectional research examines how multiple social positions combine to shape opportunities and disadvantage.

Correct answer: all of them
  • A. open mobility
  • B. intragenerational mobility
  • C. lateral mobility
  • D. intergenerational mobility

Explanation: Intragenerational mobility refers to movement up or down the social hierarchy during one person's lifetime, often through changes in…

Correct answer: intragenerational mobility
  • A. mobility
  • B. ascription
  • C. intersectionality
  • D. meritocracy

Explanation: Intersectionality explains how identities and social locations, such as gender, ethnicity, class, disability and place, interact rather…

Correct answer: intersectionality
  • A. are not equally pleasant
  • B. are equally important
  • C. offer individuals varying degrees of personal growth
  • D. are usually not defined

Explanation: Functionalists argue that society must motivate people to perform all roles because some status duties are less pleasant, prestigious, or…

Correct answer: are not equally pleasant
  • A. horizontal mobility
  • B. transgenerational mobility
  • C. vertical mobility
  • D. geographic mobility

Explanation: Moving from administrative assistant to lawyer changes Carolyn's occupational position and usually raises her status, so it is upward…

Correct answer: vertical mobility
  • A. the poor simply do not want the same things that other members of society want
  • B. the theory is too cultural and fails to take into account psychological implications
  • C. the poor have had their access to achievement blocked by the social order
  • D. not enough research has been done to come to any meaningful conclusionSocial Sciences

Explanation: Critics of the culture of poverty thesis argue that poverty is produced and maintained by structural barriers, such as unequal education…

Correct answer: the poor have had their access to achievement blocked by the social order
  • A. the magnitude and manner of consumption of goods and services.
  • B. the view that the poor possess self- perpetuating lifeways
  • C. the respect admiration and recognition associated with a social status
  • D. the likelihood that individuals and groups will enjoy desired goods and services experiences and opportunities for living long and healthy lives

Explanation: Life chances are the probabilities people have of obtaining valued goods, services, opportunities, and a long healthy life.

Correct answer: the likelihood that individuals and groups will enjoy desired goods and services experiences and opportunities for living long and healthy lives
  • A. the objective methodPeople & Society
  • B. the reputational method
  • C. the self-placement method
  • D. the combined approach

Explanation: The objective method places people into statistically defined classes using measurable indicators such as income, occupation, and…

Correct answer: the objective methodPeople & Society
  • A. objectified system
  • B. social differentiation
  • C. closed systemJobs
  • D. open system

Explanation: A closed stratification system restricts movement between social positions, often through inherited status or rigid social rules.

Correct answer: closed systemJobs
  • A. new racism
  • B. cultural racism
  • C. ethnocentrism
  • D. institutional racism

Explanation: Institutional racism exists when discriminatory patterns are built into the policies and routine practices of institutions, so inequality…

Correct answer: institutional racism
  • A. a class for itself
  • B. a-class by itself
  • C. a class in itself
  • D. a ruling class

Explanation: A class in itself is a group sharing an economic position without class consciousness, whereas a class for itself recognises its common…

Correct answer: a class for itself
  • A. the exploitation of the working class by their capitalist employers
  • B. a social groups consciousness of their status and life chances
  • C. a person's position in the capital product and labor markets based on their economic resources
  • D. the lifestyle of a social class as defined by patterns of consumption

Explanation: For Weber, a class situation is a person's market position and resulting life chances, determined by resources such as property, skills…

Correct answer: a person's position in the capital product and labor markets based on their economic resources
  • A. Birth
  • B. Money
  • C. Education and occupation
  • D. All of above

Explanation: Social class is shaped by inherited position, wealth or income, education, and occupation, which together influence a person's life…

Correct answer: All of above