Sociology Unit 4 Review

The rankings of people based on wealth and other resources a society values is referred to as _____. 

• division of labor
• economic specialization
•  social stratification
• power structure

is the degree to which people succeed in such areas as education, income, 

• Economic output
• Standard of living
• Life chance
• Status class

In so-called closed societies, 

• there is only downward mobility.
• you have virtually no chance of moving up or down.
•  there is more vertical mobility than open societies.
• many people can move up or even down.

The most closed system of stratification is the _____.

• estate
• class
• caste
•  slavery 

Estate systems _____.

• were rare in China and Japan
• became common in Europe and Asia after the French revolution
• slowly gave way to caste systems of stratification in Europe
• are characterized by control of land

In a(n) _____ system, people are born into unequal groups based on their parents’ status and remain in these groups for the rest of their lives.

• caste
• estate
• class
•  slavery

Which of the following is true about class systems?

• In this system, a person is born into a social ranking and cannot move up from it.
• Class systems have the least vertical mobility.
• It is a system based on rigid placement at birth into unequal groups based on one’s parents’ status.
• A person’s own effort, knowledge, and skills or lack of them often do enable upward movement in class societies.

According to sociologist Max Weber, 

• class systems are based on three dimensions of stratification: class, power, and prestige
• our ranking in society depends on whether we own the means of production 
• the proletariat would overthrow the bourgeoisie and create a society in which everyone had the same amount of wealth, power, and prestige
• societies have no social stratification

According to Karl Marx, what was the primary dimension of stratification in class systems?  

• Religious
• Economic 
• Power
• Prestige

Which of the following is true?

• The United States is an example of a classless society because it has much upward mobility
• As envisioned by Marx, a communist society is classless. 
• Overall, the communist experiments in Russia, China, and Cuba failed to achieve Marx’s vision of a totalitarian society
• The United States typically ranks much higher than most Western European nations on various social and economic indicators.