SCC Stratification 2 — Questions and Answers
Question 1: Which sociologist introduced the concept of 'cultural capital' to explain how social class is reproduced across generations?
- Max Weber
- Pierre Bourdieu (Correct answer)
- Émile Durkheim
- Talcott Parsons
Correct answer: Pierre Bourdieu
Pierre Bourdieu argued that cultural capital — tastes, knowledge, and credentials — helps upper classes maintain advantages and pass them to children.
Question 2: A society in which individuals can move between social strata based on achievement is best described as having which type of stratification system?
- Caste system
- Estate system
- Class system (Correct answer)
- Slavery system
Correct answer: Class system
Class systems allow vertical social mobility based on individual achievement, distinguishing them from ascriptive systems like caste.
Question 3: The 'feminization of poverty' refers to which trend?
- Women earning more than men in professional fields
- A disproportionate increase of women among those living in poverty (Correct answer)
- Women's reduced participation in the workforce
- Equal distribution of poverty across genders
Correct answer: A disproportionate increase of women among those living in poverty
The feminization of poverty describes the trend in which women, especially single mothers, make up a growing share of those living below the poverty line.
Question 4: In functionalist theory, Davis and Moore argued that social stratification exists because:
- Ruling classes use force to maintain power
- Society needs to motivate talented people to fill important positions (Correct answer)
- Historical exploitation created permanent class divisions
- Cultural values determine who deserves higher status
Correct answer: Society needs to motivate talented people to fill important positions
Davis and Moore's functional theory holds that unequal rewards are necessary to attract qualified individuals to the most socially important roles.
Question 5: Which term describes the boundary between classes that is particularly difficult to cross, often between the working class and middle class?
- Glass ceiling (Correct answer)
- Social floor
- Status inconsistency
- Class boundary rigidity
Correct answer: Glass ceiling
The glass ceiling is an invisible barrier limiting upward mobility, most commonly discussed in the context of gender but also applicable to class boundaries.
Question 6: Intergenerational mobility refers to:
- Movement between jobs within one's lifetime
- Change in social position across generations within a family (Correct answer)
- Geographic relocation driven by economic opportunity
- Shifting class definitions over historical periods
Correct answer: Change in social position across generations within a family
Intergenerational mobility measures whether children end up in a different social class than their parents.
Question 7: The concept of 'status inconsistency' describes a situation in which an individual:
- Refuses to accept their ascribed status
- Ranks high on some dimensions of stratification but low on others (Correct answer)
- Moves rapidly between multiple social classes
- Adopts the values of a class different from their own
Correct answer: Ranks high on some dimensions of stratification but low on others
Status inconsistency occurs when a person's rankings across different stratification dimensions — wealth, prestige, power — do not align, such as a wealthy immigrant with low social prestige.
SCC Stratification 2
Which sociologist introduced the concept of 'cultural capital' to explain how social class is reproduced across generations?