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2.4: Study Guide for Part I

  • Page ID
    9476
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    Study Guide for Part I

    • Be able to define and discuss stratification/inequalityStratification
      • The unequal distribution of the goods of society
        • Wealth, power, status
      • Social inequality
        • A system in which people are denied access to the goods of society based on their group membership
    • Define, discuss, and give examples of master statusReview master statusRace or ethnicity, sex or gender, age, religion, disability, and SESSES
      • Socioeconomic Status= income+education+occupation
    • Define and discuss SES
      • What is SES and how does it impact peoples’ lives?
    • The stratification hierarchy
      • Where someone is placed in terms of access to wealth, power, and status
      • Based on various aspects of their master status
      • How does the stratification hierarchy affect
        • Racial and ethnic minorities?
        • Women?
        • Sexual orientation minorities?
        • Religious minorities?
        • The disabled?
    • Define Thomas’s Theorem and explain how it relates to issues of stratification/inequality
      • How do our concepts of reality affect the way we judge others?
      • Discuss the ways in which the human mind creates social categories
      • Define and discuss stereotypes
        • How many stereotypes about groups other than your own can you list?
          • Are any of these stereotypes true?
          • Why or why not?
        • How many stereotypes about your own group can you list?
          • Are any of these stereotypes true?
          • Why or why not?
    • Define and describe social differentiation
    • Explain and give examples of social positions
      • Rankings of roles and statuses
    • Explain and give examples of social mobility
      • What is the social mobility in your family?
    • Define and discuss the various dimensions of and theories of stratification/inequality
      • Marx
        • Bourgeoisie and Proletariat
        • Based on the economic system
      • Weber
        • The bureaucracy
        • Wealth
          • A person’s total economic access
          • Give an example
        • Power
          • The ability to influence over resistance
          • Give an example
        • Status
          • The esteem that society gives to social statuses and social roles
          • Give an example
      • Models of power
        • C. Wright Mills: The Power Elite
          • Power is held at the top of society by a handful of people
          • Give an example
        • Robert Dahl: Pluralistic model
          • Power is relatively evenly distributed
          • Give an example
        • Which model is correct?
          • Why?
      • The Davis-Moore Debate
        • What are the main points of Davis-Moore’s argument?
        • Why do they say that stratification is functional for society?
        • Do you agree?
          • Why or why not?
      • Melvin Tumin’s response to Davis-Moore
        • What are the main points of Tumin’s argument?
        • Why does he disagree with Davis-Moore?
        • Do you agree with Tumin?
          • Why or why not?
    • Be able to discuss the following dimensions of and theories of stratification/inequality
      • E. Digby Baltzell: WASP
        • Who are the WASPs?
        • Are they still “in charge”
      • Thorstein Veblen
        • Conspicuous Leisure
          • Give three modern examples
          • Look on Forbes
        • Conspicuous Consumption
          • Give three modern examples
          • Look on Forbes
      • Oscar LewisCulture of poverty
        • What are the main characteristics of the culture of poverty?
        • Is the culture of poverty real?
          • Why or why not?
      • Charles MurrayLosing Ground and The Bell Curve
        • What are Murray’s primary arguments?
        • Do you agree or disagree?
          • Why?
      • William Julius Wilson
        • The Truly Disadvantaged
        • When Work Disappears
        • Hyperghettoization
          • What are WJ Wilson’s major arguments?
          • What data sources does he use?
          • Do you agree with his conclusions?
            • Why or why not?
      • Herbert Gans
        • The functionality of poverty
        • The War against the Poor
          • What are Gans’s primary points of argument?
          • What are his data sources?
          • Do you agree with his conclusions?
            • Why or why not?
    • Wealth
      • The billionaire’s club
        • Who are the richest people in the world and how rich are they?
        • What are the most expensive consumer items in the world and who buys them?
          • Use the Internet to look at Forbes Magazine’s lists
          • Use the Internet to find census data
      • What are the richest countries in the world and how does the US compare?Use the Internet to find data
        • The CIA World Factbook
        • The G8
      • What are the richest companies in the world and how do they compare to the economies of countries?
        • Forbes Magazine’s lists
        • Use the Internet to find data
    • Find and explain data about the demographics of poverty in the US
      • Poverty thresholds
    • Find and explain data about the feminization of poverty
      • The Statistical Abstract of the United States
      • Use the Internet to find data about women and poverty
    • Find information about and explain public policies and poverty programs
      • Find and explain data about poverty legislation
        • Georgetown Law Library
        • The Congressional Record
      • Use these sites (The Statistical Abstract of the United States; ACORN Housing) to find and explain data about inequality in:
        • Housing
        • Health care
        • Home ownership
        • Business ownership
        • Educational attainment
        • Labor force participation
    • Find data about the minimum wage vs. the living wage
      • What is the minimum wage?
      • What are the criteria used to determine what the minimum wage will be?
      • Find information about the history of the minimum wage and explain how it relates to the cost of living
        • Minimum wage historical chart
        • Minimum wages by state
        • US Department of Labor Minimum Wage Page
      • Find information about the living wage; explain what it is and its ramifications for society
        • The Living Wage Resource Center
        • The Economic Policy Institute
        • Living Wage Calculator
        • What is a living wage?
        • How would a living wage impact the US economy?
    • Look at the World Demographic “Clock” and explain what it shows
      • What did you learn from this that you did not know before?
    • Explain the US and World Population “Clocks”
    • Find data that break down world demographics into percentages.“If the World Were a Village of 100 People.”
      • If the World Were a Village of 100 People
      • If the World Were a Village of 100 People (2)
      • If the World Were a Village of 100 People (YouTube video)
    • Define, discuss, and give examples of Infant Mortality Rates, Literacy Rates, Life Expectancy, and GDP/GNP in the richest and poorest nations in the world
      • The World Health Organization
      • The United Nations
    • How do most people perceive World Inequality?
      • Why?
      • What information is available about world inequality to most people?
    • Identify the levels into which the world is stratified and what those levels mean in terms of life chances
      • United Nations Summit on World Poverty
      • First, Second, Third, and Fourth Worlds
    • Define and give examples of:
      • First World countries
      • Second World countries
      • Third World countries
      • Fourth World countries
    • Find data about and discuss carrying capacity and world hunger
      • Define carrying capacity
      • In the late spring of 2008, there have been food riots in some parts of the world and food prices in some parts of the world have reached an all-time high
        • Find data that explain this
      • United Nations Summit on World Hunger
    • Discuss the health concerns of First, Second, and Third World countries
      • What are their health concerns?
      • Who does and does not have access to health care?
      • Where does the US rank in terms of access to and quality of health care in the world?
      • United Nations: Economic and Social Development
      • The World Health Organization
    • Find and explain data about the HIV/AIDS epidemic and how it impacts world poverty
      • UNAIDS: Joint United Programme on HIV/AIDS
      • Human Rights Watch: AIDS
      • World Health Organization: AIDS Day Message
      • The World Bank: HIV/AIDS in Africa
    • Identify and differentiate among the various theories of inequality in the world
      • Conquest
      • Migration
      • Colonialism and Empire
      • Neo-Colonialism
      • World Systems Theory
      • Modernization Theory
      • Globalization and Glocalization
        • George Ritzer’s McDonaldization theory.
        • Thomas Friedman’s “Flat World” theory.
    • Find and explain statistical information concerning world stratification/inequality including such statistical referents as Infant Mortality Rates, Literacy Rates, Life Expectancy, and GDP or GNP.
      • The CIA World Factbook
    • Find and explain data about the World Bank and the International Monetary Fund and the ways in which their policies impact global inequality.
      • The World Bank
      • The International Monetary Fund

    This page titled 2.4: Study Guide for Part I is shared under a CC BY 3.0 license and was authored, remixed, and/or curated by Ruth Dunn (OpenStax) via source content that was edited to the style and standards of the LibreTexts platform; a detailed edit history is available upon request.