Free Social Stratification MCQs with Answers
138 Social Stratification MCQs from Sociology, each with the correct answer and a written explanation of why it is correct. Free and unlimited, with no account needed.
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- A. second WorldSearch Public Records
- B. global South
- C. majority world
- D. developing
Explanation: Ghana may be described as part of the developing world, the Global South or the majority world.
Correct answer: second WorldSearch Public Records- A. conflict perspective
- B. functionalist perspective
- C. interactionist perspective
- D. labelling perspectiveAccess Government Careers
Explanation: Functionalists argue that inequality is universal and helps motivate people to train for and perform positions considered important to…
Correct answer: functionalist perspective- A. conformity deviance and social control
- B. class caste and age
- C. class status and power
- D. class prestige and esteem
Explanation: Class, status, and power are analytically distinct dimensions of stratification: class concerns economic resources, status concerns social…
Correct answer: class status and power- A. Hinduism
- B. Islam
- C. Judaism
- D. Buddhism
Explanation: The caste system is most strongly associated with Hindu society, where birth traditionally determines hereditary social rank and permitted…
Correct answer: Hinduism- A. an urban set involved in civic bodies and voluntary associations
- B. all of the aboveTry Prep Courses
- C. often involved in white collar work
- D. too diverse to have a strong sense of class consciousness
Explanation: Nineteenth-century middle classes were commonly urban, active in civic and voluntary organisations, involved in white-collar work, and…
Correct answer: all of the aboveTry Prep Courses- A. shared working conditions in the manufacturing industry
- B. the class consciousness of members of the proletariat
- C. local communities extended kinship networks and shared leisure pursuits
- D. collective aspirations to move into the middle class
Explanation: Traditional working-class identity was often rooted in neighbourhood life, extended kinship, and shared leisure, rather than only in…
Correct answer: local communities extended kinship networks and shared leisure pursuits- A. slavery
- B. caste
- C. status
- D. class
Explanation: A class system is relatively open: social positions may be achieved through education, occupation or income, and movement between classes…
Correct answer: class- 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