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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138 questions · page 6 of 14
51. The most extreme form of legalized social inequality for individuals or groups is ________________?
- 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 freedom and rights. Caste systems impose inherited status, but they do not ordinarily reduce people to legally owned property.
Correct answer: slavery52. Goldthorpe identified the Service class as______________?
- 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 exercise authority or provide specialised expertise. Option a is the closest description, although service-class positions exist in both state and private organisations, not only on behalf of the state.
Correct answer: those in non-manual occupations exercising authority on behalf of the state53. In modern societies social status is typically measured by a person_______________?
- A. age
- B. income
- C. verbal fluency
- D. occupation
Explanation: Occupation is a standard indicator of social status because it reflects education, income, authority, lifestyle and social prestige together. Income is important, but by itself does not capture the full status attached to a person's occupational position.
Correct answer: occupation54. Which of these research projects would count as intersectional? A comparative study of employment based on______________?
- 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. Class with gender, gender with ethnicity, and ethnicity with sexuality can all reveal such interacting effects, so all the listed studies qualify.
Correct answer: all of them55. What term is used to describe the movement of individuals up or down the social scale during the course of their working lives ?
- A. open mobility
- B. lateral mobility
- C. intragenerational 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 occupation. Intergenerational mobility instead compares a person's position with that of their parents.
Correct answer: intragenerational mobility56. What term is used to describe the way that the varied aspects of an individual's identity-such as class ethnicity gender disability and location -interact to produce complex patterns of inequality poverty and discrimination ?
- A. intersectionality
- B. ascription
- C. mobility
- D. meritocracy
Explanation: Intersectionality explains how identities and social locations, such as gender, ethnicity, class, disability and place, interact rather than operate separately. Ascription concerns an assigned status, while mobility concerns movement between social positions.
Correct answer: intersectionality57. Martha and Susan work at the local factory ten hours a day five days a week They make the minimum wage with no overtime pay insurance or benefits One day they discuss their situations over lunch and express frustration over the fact that they never seem to make enough money to "get ahead "By the end of the conversation they have motivated each other to volunteer to work on Sundays They figure that if they work just a little harder they will make enough money to increase their social status Marx would say these women are demonstrating ?
- A. the dedication necessary to get ahead in life
- B. class consciousness
- C. capitalist enthusiasm
- D. false consciousness
Explanation: Marx would call this false consciousness because the women blame their limited advancement on insufficient effort rather than recognising the exploitation and low wages built into their class position. Class consciousness would mean recognising shared class interests and challenging that structure.
Correct answer: false consciousness58. According to functionalist's society must be concerned with motivation because the duties associated with various statuses ?
- 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 rewarding than others. Unequal rewards help encourage people to accept and perform these necessary roles.
Correct answer: are not equally pleasant59. Carolyn supported her family by working as an administrative assistant She also attended law school and passed the bar she took a job with a small firm specializing in family law Carolyn experienced______________?
- 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 vertical mobility. Horizontal mobility would involve a move to a different position at roughly the same status level.
Correct answer: vertical mobility60. Critics of the culture of poverty thesis point out that________________?
- A. the poor simply do not want the same things that other members of society want
- B. the poor have had their access to achievement blocked by the social order
- C. the theory is too cultural and fails to take into account psychological implications
- 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, discrimination, and limited opportunities. Thus, the poor may value achievement but lack fair access to it.
Correct answer: the poor have had their access to achievement blocked by the social order