SOC 3351 -- SOCIAL CLASS & MOBILITY
Review Questions EXAM 1
What are the four major kinds of explanations used to explain phenomenon? Which types of
explanations are preferred by various academic disciplines? What kind of explanation do most
sociologists use to explain social inequality? (Lecture)
Most quantitative sociologists study social inequality using methods based on the ideas
underlying “logical positivism.” What are the major assumptions of logical positivism?
(Lecture)
Some academic disciplines use many specific explanations to understand a specific event. Other
academic disciplines use a limited number of explanations to account for a general class of
events. Which approach is more often used by sociologists who study social inequality?
(Lecture)
Marger Chapter 1
What do sociologists mean when they say inequality is “structured”?
What did Weber mean by the concept of “life chances”?
What is the difference between “troubles” and “issues”?
How does social differentiation differ from social stratification?
What factors cause stratification systems to remain fairly stable?
What is the conflict between the concepts of equity and liberty?
Marger Chapter 2
What were Marx’s basic views about inequality? For example, what was the major source of
societal change? How did the mode of economic production influence inequality? What was the
“superstructure”? How did capitalism affect inequality? What were the major class divisions in
19th century societies? Why was class consciousness important to Marx? Would inequality ever
disappear? What are the enduring points of Marx’s theory?
What are the ideas of Neo-Marxists?
What were Max Weber’s ideas pertaining to inequality? For example, what were the concepts of
class, status, and party? How were they related to inequality? What were Weber’s views about
power? What was the source of power in industrialized societies? Why were bureaucracies
important to Weber? Why was authority important to Weber? What was the new source of
authority?
How did Weber’s ideas about inequality differ from those of Marx? For example, how did
Weber’s view of class differ from Marx’s view?
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What is Michels’s Iron Law of Oligarchy? How is this concept related to inequality and social
stratification?
How did Ralf Dahrendorf attempt to combine the ideas of both Marx and Weber?
How do Functional theorists attempt to explain social inequality? What are their basic
arguments? What are major shortcomings of the Functional Theory of Stratification?
What are the basic ideas of contemporary conflict theorists pertaining to inequality?
How did Gerhard Lenski attempt to combine both functional and conflict theory? For example,
what is the relationship between technological development and inequality within societies?
Why does inequality decline in more technologically advanced societies?
Marger Chapter 13
How are ideology and legitimation related?
What is the dominant ideology?
How do Marxists, elite theorists, and functional theorists view ideology?
What are the major dimensions of the Dominant American Ideology?
How do various segments of American society view the Dominant American Ideology?
What are Americans’ ancillary beliefs about the US stratification system?
How do citizens of other industrialized nations view issues of inequality and stratification? How
do these views differ from those of US citizens?
How do schools attempt to socialize students’ views about inequality and stratification? What is
the difference between deliberate and incidental socialization? How do colleges and universities
affect beliefs about inequality?
How does the mass media influence the legitimation process? What effects does the mass media
have on the legitimation process?
Marger Chapter 3
Why is the American class system considered to be two-dimensional? What are these
dimensions?
What are the major broad segments of the current American class system? What are the major
characteristics of these classes? Approximately what percentage of the US population would fall
in each of these broad classes? What is the source of wealth and income in these classes? How
much income is typical in each of these classes? What are the occupational and educational
characteristics of individuals in each class? Which class has expanded has expanded at a faster
rate than the other classes? Which class is the most occupationally diverse?
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What is the nature of the American family income distribution? For example, approximately
what share of income goes to the top, middle, and bottom segments of society?
How have the shares of income going to various levels of American families changed over time?
How has median household income changed over the last thirty years?
What factors have been used to explain change or lack of change in family household incomes?
What has been the pattern of overall inequality in the US over the last 30 years?
How does wealth differ from income? How does wealth contribute to the perpetuation of class
hierarchy?
How is wealth distributed within the US? What share of wealth is owned by the richest 1 percent
of society? What percentage of wealth is owned by the top 10 percent of the US society? What
segment of society benefited most from the generation of wealth in the 1990s?
How does the current distribution of wealth in the United States compare with that in Great
Britain? (Lecture)
What have been the trends in the distribution of income and wealth in the United States since the
end of World War II? How have most Americans fared during these time periods?
How has economic growth over the last 30 years in the United States affected the overall
distribution of income and wealth in the US?
How does income inequality in the United States compare with that of other industrialized
nations? What are the major reasons used to explain the similarities or differences between
income inequality in the US and European nations?
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