SOCL 2001 LSU - Final Exam Thomas
Ch. 10 & 12 And Ch. 13 and 15
Questions All Answered Correct.
what are life chances? - Answer likelihood of success is shaped by access to material, social,
and cultural resources; place matters
what does structured ranking of groups of people do? - Answer it perpetuates unequal
rewards - economics / power
what was slavery in ancient greece like? - Answer anyone could be a slave, depending on
circumstances
what was slavery like in places like the United States and Latin America? - Answer they are
ascribed by racial / legal barriers
what are castes? - Answer boundaries btwn strata are clear, relations between levels are
regulated, and social status is ascribed (born into and remains forever)
what does a caste system determine? - Answer your opportunities throughout life, including
who your friends are, and what occupations you will pursue and who you will marry
are caste based systems rigid or loose? - Answer rigid
what is the most familiar caste-based system? - Answer it is in India, associated with
Hinduism with 4 major varnas (castes) that include priests, warriors, merchants, and artisans /
farmers and a 5th category referred to as the untouchables
what is the estate system? - Answer it divides power in society into 3 primary sectors: the
church, the nobility, and the commoners
where was the estate system most used? - Answer Medieval Europe
what is NOBILITY in the estate system? - Answer inheriting titles and property (knights, lords
and ladies, dukes and duchesses, and others of noble birth)
,what is the CHURCH in the estate system? - Answer a little nobility (bishops, monks, priests,
and nuns)
what are the COMMONERS in the estate system? - Answer required to work land that is
assigned to them in exchange for protection (peasants and serfs)
what is social class? - Answer stratification based on socioeconomic / status that is real and
perceived
how can social class be obtained? - Answer by objectively and subjectively
what are objective indicators? - Answer education, occupation, and income
what are subjective indicators? - Answer identification (the role they identify with)
Social Classes: - Answer Upper: 1-2% (inherited large sum of money)
Upper-Middle: 15% (doctors and lawyers)
Middle: 30-35%
Working Class: 30-35% (manual labor; mechanics)
Under class: 15-20% (jobs but scraping or unemployed)
what is social mobility? - Answer movement within or between society's strata; sociologists
investigate the degree to which a society is open vs. closed
what is an open system? - Answer social mobility is possible and it incentives hard work
what is a closed system? - Answer no allowance for social mobility; your social status is
ascribed and you are stuck the way you are in the system (caste system)
what are the 4 types of open social mobility? - Answer horizontal and vertical,
intergenerational mobility and intragenerational
what is HORIZONTAL social mobility? - Answer a bus clerk moves from one social position to
another of approximately the same rank
what is VERTICAL social mobility? - Answer the bus driver aspiring to become a lawyer,
moving up or down from social positions
, what is INTERGENERATIONAL mobility? - Answer involves change in their social positions of
children related to their parents (plumber whos father was a physician provides an example of
downward intergenerational mobility)
what is INTRAGENERATIONAL mobility? - Answer change during lifetime
ex. teacher's aid --> superintendent (upward)
ex. a man becomes a cab driver after his accounting job and goes bankrupt (downward)
what are the 3 categories of social class in the United States? - Answer material ($$),
social (who you know, how important you are in your network),
cultural (taste, habits, your language; how professional you are)
what do income and wealth do for social class? - Answer they serve as the material
foundation of social class
what is INCOME? - Answer wages / salary in a certain period annual / hourly
what is WEALTH? - Answer assets (what you own) minus debts (what you owe) at a given
time
what is income inequality? - Answer a basic characteristic of a class system; the median of
the US income in 2013 $51,939 and half of the household in the US had higher income and half
had lower
is wealth equally or unequally distributed? - Answer more unequally distributed than income
what is poverty like in the United States? - Answer 45.3 million people are in poverty (14.5%
of the population)
what is absolute poverty? - Answer refers to a minimum level of subsistence that no family
should be expected to live below; common measure if the federal governments poverty line
what is relative poverty? - Answer floating standard of deprivation by which people at the
bottom of a society are judged as being disadvantaged in comparison with the nation as a whole
T/F all poor people are able to work and just choose not to - Answer FALSE ; most poor
people are under the age of 18 or over the age of 65 and are unable to work
Ch. 10 & 12 And Ch. 13 and 15
Questions All Answered Correct.
what are life chances? - Answer likelihood of success is shaped by access to material, social,
and cultural resources; place matters
what does structured ranking of groups of people do? - Answer it perpetuates unequal
rewards - economics / power
what was slavery in ancient greece like? - Answer anyone could be a slave, depending on
circumstances
what was slavery like in places like the United States and Latin America? - Answer they are
ascribed by racial / legal barriers
what are castes? - Answer boundaries btwn strata are clear, relations between levels are
regulated, and social status is ascribed (born into and remains forever)
what does a caste system determine? - Answer your opportunities throughout life, including
who your friends are, and what occupations you will pursue and who you will marry
are caste based systems rigid or loose? - Answer rigid
what is the most familiar caste-based system? - Answer it is in India, associated with
Hinduism with 4 major varnas (castes) that include priests, warriors, merchants, and artisans /
farmers and a 5th category referred to as the untouchables
what is the estate system? - Answer it divides power in society into 3 primary sectors: the
church, the nobility, and the commoners
where was the estate system most used? - Answer Medieval Europe
what is NOBILITY in the estate system? - Answer inheriting titles and property (knights, lords
and ladies, dukes and duchesses, and others of noble birth)
,what is the CHURCH in the estate system? - Answer a little nobility (bishops, monks, priests,
and nuns)
what are the COMMONERS in the estate system? - Answer required to work land that is
assigned to them in exchange for protection (peasants and serfs)
what is social class? - Answer stratification based on socioeconomic / status that is real and
perceived
how can social class be obtained? - Answer by objectively and subjectively
what are objective indicators? - Answer education, occupation, and income
what are subjective indicators? - Answer identification (the role they identify with)
Social Classes: - Answer Upper: 1-2% (inherited large sum of money)
Upper-Middle: 15% (doctors and lawyers)
Middle: 30-35%
Working Class: 30-35% (manual labor; mechanics)
Under class: 15-20% (jobs but scraping or unemployed)
what is social mobility? - Answer movement within or between society's strata; sociologists
investigate the degree to which a society is open vs. closed
what is an open system? - Answer social mobility is possible and it incentives hard work
what is a closed system? - Answer no allowance for social mobility; your social status is
ascribed and you are stuck the way you are in the system (caste system)
what are the 4 types of open social mobility? - Answer horizontal and vertical,
intergenerational mobility and intragenerational
what is HORIZONTAL social mobility? - Answer a bus clerk moves from one social position to
another of approximately the same rank
what is VERTICAL social mobility? - Answer the bus driver aspiring to become a lawyer,
moving up or down from social positions
, what is INTERGENERATIONAL mobility? - Answer involves change in their social positions of
children related to their parents (plumber whos father was a physician provides an example of
downward intergenerational mobility)
what is INTRAGENERATIONAL mobility? - Answer change during lifetime
ex. teacher's aid --> superintendent (upward)
ex. a man becomes a cab driver after his accounting job and goes bankrupt (downward)
what are the 3 categories of social class in the United States? - Answer material ($$),
social (who you know, how important you are in your network),
cultural (taste, habits, your language; how professional you are)
what do income and wealth do for social class? - Answer they serve as the material
foundation of social class
what is INCOME? - Answer wages / salary in a certain period annual / hourly
what is WEALTH? - Answer assets (what you own) minus debts (what you owe) at a given
time
what is income inequality? - Answer a basic characteristic of a class system; the median of
the US income in 2013 $51,939 and half of the household in the US had higher income and half
had lower
is wealth equally or unequally distributed? - Answer more unequally distributed than income
what is poverty like in the United States? - Answer 45.3 million people are in poverty (14.5%
of the population)
what is absolute poverty? - Answer refers to a minimum level of subsistence that no family
should be expected to live below; common measure if the federal governments poverty line
what is relative poverty? - Answer floating standard of deprivation by which people at the
bottom of a society are judged as being disadvantaged in comparison with the nation as a whole
T/F all poor people are able to work and just choose not to - Answer FALSE ; most poor
people are under the age of 18 or over the age of 65 and are unable to work
