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 7

  • A. conceptual abstraction
  • B. passive consumption
  • C. cultural reproduction
  • D. formal communication

Explanation: Cultural reproduction is the process by which schools pass on dominant cultural advantages and help preserve class inequalities across…

Correct answer: cultural reproduction
  • A. lobbying campaign financing and corruption
  • B. socialization outside the capitalist class to enforce discriminatory norms
  • C. class warfare economic cycles and intercorporate conflict
  • D. corporate corruption through interlocking directorates

Explanation: Conflict theorists identify lobbying, campaign finance and corruption as channels through which capitalist interests influence state…

Correct answer: lobbying campaign financing and corruption
  • A. relatively open class systems
  • B. extensive social mobility
  • C. a much more rigid division of labor by gender
  • D. all of the above

Explanation: Preindustrial cities generally had more rigid social hierarchies and less mobility, but they especially differed in their strongly…

Correct answer: a much more rigid division of labor by gender
  • A. Segregation in always an involuntary process
  • B. Segregation is the encroachment by one group on an area occupied by another group
  • C. Segregation is the process by which natural areas are formed by the clustering of individuals or groups on the basis of common traits or activities
  • D. Segregation can be prevented by the practice of redlining

Explanation: Segregation is the spatial clustering or separation of people according to shared traits, activities or group membership.

Correct answer: Segregation is the process by which natural areas are formed by the clustering of individuals or groups on the basis of common traits or activities
  • A. assimilation
  • B. ethnic cleansing
  • C. multiculturalism
  • D. apartheid

Explanation: Apartheid was South Africa’s legally enforced system of racial separation and unequal rights.

Correct answer: apartheid
  • A. the critical deconstruction of poverty by feminist theorists
  • B. women's increased chances of being in poverty due to low pay and greater welfare dependency
  • C. the way in which managing a budget and avoiding poverty tends to be a women's responsibility within the home
  • D. the disproportionate number of female sociologists who do research on poverty

Explanation: Feminization of poverty refers to women's disproportionate exposure to poverty, often linked to lower pay, insecure work, unpaid care…

Correct answer: women's increased chances of being in poverty due to low pay and greater welfare dependency
  • A. the most extreme level of poverty that is found in a society
  • B. households that are poor relative to the norms and values of their culture
  • C. the estimated minimum level of income needed for subsistence
  • D. the areas of a city in which poverty is concentrated

Explanation: An absolute poverty line estimates the minimum income or resources required to meet basic subsistence needs such as food, shelter and…

Correct answer: the estimated minimum level of income needed for subsistence
  • A. Class factor
  • B. Cultural Cause
  • C. Mathew effect
  • D. None of these

Explanation: The Matthew effect describes the tendency for advantages, including welfare benefits and public services, to flow disproportionately to…

Correct answer: Mathew effect
  • A. 1000-1500 calories
  • B. 1500-2000
  • C. None of thesePoverty & Hunger
  • D. 2000-2500

Explanation: The commonly cited general daily energy requirement for an adult man is roughly 2,000 to 2,500 calories, although actual needs vary with…

Correct answer: 2000-2500
  • A. Whites
  • B. Pakistan /Bangladeshis
  • C. Black Caribbean
  • D. Indians

Explanation: In the usual UK poverty statistics used in sociology texts, Pakistani and Bangladeshi households have the highest representation in the…

Correct answer: Pakistan /Bangladeshis
  • A. the culturally valued commodities and standards of living that make the poor feel relatively deprived
  • B. the flow of money a person receives from their salary or wage
  • C. a stock of economic resources including land shares and bank deposits
  • D. the slices of the population who own differing amounts of wealth

Explanation: Assets are accumulated stocks of wealth, such as land, shares, savings and bank deposits.

Correct answer: a stock of economic resources including land shares and bank deposits
  • A. Absolute poverty
  • B. None of these
  • C. both a and b
  • D. Relative poverty

Explanation: Developed countries generally measure poverty relatively, comparing resources with the prevailing living standards of the society.

Correct answer: Relative poverty
  • A. between countries
  • B. in a county
  • C. for a decade
  • D. None of these

Explanation: Absolute poverty uses a fixed deprivation threshold intended to remain comparable over time and across countries.

Correct answer: between countries
  • A. resource allocation
  • B. ethnocentrism
  • C. discrimination
  • D. group closureAccess Government Careers

Explanation: Group closure occurs when a group maintains boundaries by restricting marriage, physical proximity or social contact with outsiders.

Correct answer: group closureAccess Government Careers
  • A. minority groups are always non-white
  • B. the minority group is disadvantaged compared to the more powerful and dominant group
  • C. the minority group has a strong sense of group solidarity
  • D. the minority group often experiences prejudice and discrimination

Explanation: Minority status is sociological rather than numerical or racial: a minority group is typically disadvantaged, marked by solidarity and…

Correct answer: minority groups are always non-white
  • A. functionalist perspective
  • B. conflict perspective
  • C. interactionist perspective
  • D. labeling theoryTrace Family History

Explanation: The conflict perspective examines race at the macro level and links minority exploitation to unequal economic power and ownership.

Correct answer: conflict perspective
  • A. racist practices found in newly emerging areas of social life such as cyberspace
  • B. a post-modern deconstruction of racist ideas to reveal their lack of depth
  • C. a subtler form of prejudice masked by nationalist pride
  • D. an anti-fascist movement which challenges nationalist politics

Explanation: New racism is often expressed indirectly through claims about national identity, culture or immigration rather than openly biological…

Correct answer: a subtler form of prejudice masked by nationalist pride
  • A. conflicts will be particularly likely and severe if class and ethnic cleavages coincide
  • B. ethnic stratification will persist as long as it is in the best interests of those in power
  • C. if ethnic stratification continues in a society conflict will decrease as people are socialized into the stratification system
  • D. none of the above

Explanation: Both perspectives recognise that ethnic and class inequalities can reinforce one another, making conflict especially likely when the same…

Correct answer: conflicts will be particularly likely and severe if class and ethnic cleavages coincide
  • A. results in more well-defined norms and roles
  • B. Underlies the development of ethnic tensions
  • C. divides managerial and line workers
  • D. none of the above

Explanation: A split labor market places ethnic or racial groups in competition under unequal wage and employment conditions, creating divisions that…

Correct answer: Underlies the development of ethnic tensions
  • A. Conflict promotes group formation and cohesion
  • B. Conflict may function as a safety valve for society by enabling hostilities to be channelled toward permissible targets known as permissible targets known as scapegoats
  • C. Conflict attributable to ethnic stratification problems may reach an unacceptable frequency and intensity
  • D. A multiplicity of conflicts between large numbers of differing groups within a society may be conducive to a democratic as opposed to a totalitarian society

Explanation: The first three describe possible integrative or stabilising functions of conflict, including cohesion, scapegoating and support for…

Correct answer: Conflict attributable to ethnic stratification problems may reach an unacceptable frequency and intensity