Question 1

social stratification

Accepted Answer

The existence of structured inequalities between groups in society in terms of their access to material or symbolic rewards.

Question 2

structured inequalities

Accepted Answer

Social inequalities that result from patterns in the social structure.

Question 3

slavery

Accepted Answer

A form of social stratification in which some people are owned by others as their property.

Question 4

caste

Accepted Answer

A social system in which one's social status is held for life.

Question 5

class systems

Accepted Answer

A system of social hierarchy that allows individuals to move among classes: four bases wealth, occupation, income, and education.

Question 6

class

Accepted Answer

Socioeconomic variations among groups of individuals that create variations in their material prosperity and power.

Question 7

income

Accepted Answer

Money received from paid wages and salaries or earned from investments.

Question 8

wealth

Accepted Answer

Money and material possessions held by and individual or group.

Question 9

means of production

Accepted Answer

The means whereby the production of material goods is carried on in a society, including not just technology but also the social relations between producers.

Question 10

capitalists

Accepted Answer

People who own companies, land, or stocks shares and use these to generate economic returns.

Question 11

surplus value

Accepted Answer

In Marxist theory, the value of a worker's labor power left over when an employer has repaid the cost of hiring the worker.

Question 12

status

Accepted Answer

The social honor or prestige a particular group is accorded by other members of a society.

Question 13

pariah groups

Accepted Answer

Groups who suffer from negative status discrimination-they are looked down on by most other members of society.

Question 14

contradictory class locations

Accepted Answer

Positions in the class structure, particularly routine white-collar and lower managerial jobs, that share characteristics with the class positions both above and below them.

Question 15

upper class

Accepted Answer

A social class broadly composed of the more affluent members of society, especially those who have inherited wealth, own businesses, or hold large numbers of stocks.

Question 16

middle class

Accepted Answer

A social class composed broadly of those working in white-collar and lower managerial occupations.

Question 17

working class

Accepted Answer

A social class broadly composed of people working in blue-collar, or manual occupations.

Question 18

lower class

Accepted Answer

A social class comprised of those who work part time or not at all and whose household income is typically lower than $17,000 a year.

Question 19

underclass

Accepted Answer

A class of individuals situated at the bottom of the class system, normally composed of people from ethnic minority backgrounds.

Question 20

social mobility

Accepted Answer

Movement of individuals or groups between different social positions.

Question 21

intergenerational mobility

Accepted Answer

Movement up or down a social stratification hierarchy from one generation to another.

Question 22

intragenerational mobility

Accepted Answer

Movement up or down a social stratification hierarchy within the course of a personal career.

Question 23

structural mobility

Accepted Answer

Mobility resulting from changes in the number and kinds of jobs available in a society.

Question 24

exchange mobility

Accepted Answer

The exchange of positions on the socioeconomic scale such that talented people move up the economic hierarchy while the less talented move down.

Question 25

absolute poverty

Accepted Answer

Not meeting the minimal requirements necessary to sustain a healthy existence.

Question 26

relative poverty

Accepted Answer

Poverty defined according to the living standards of the majority in any given society.

Question 27

poverty line

Accepted Answer

An official government measure to define those living in poverty in the U.S.

Question 28

working poor

Accepted Answer

People who work but whose earnings are not enough to lift them above the poverty line.

Question 29

feminization of poverty

Accepted Answer

An increase in the proportion of the poor who are female.

Question 30

homeless

Accepted Answer

People who have no place to sleep and either stay in free shelters or sleep in public places.

Question 31

Kuznets Curve

Accepted Answer

A formula showing that inequality increases during the early stages of capitalist development, then declines, and eventually stabilizes at a relatively low level.

Question 32

culture of poverty

Accepted Answer

The outcome of a larger social and cultural atmosphere into which successive generations of children are socialized.

Question 33

dependency culture

Accepted Answer

Individuals who rely on state welfare provision rather than entering the labor market.

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