Question

If we did away with prejudice and nothing else, what would happen to the occupational structure and division of labor in the society?

everyone would become middle class and there would no longer be a working class.

nothing really since the jobs that exist now would still exist then

the upper class would cease to exist

inter-racial marriages would diminish

none of the above

Economist Lester Thurow, cited in Core Concepts with respect to social class, explained that “Once wealth is accumulated, opportunities to make more money multiply, since accumulated wealth tends to lead to income-earning opportunities that are not open to those without wealth.” Sociologists refer to this phenomenon as

the rags to riches effect

the Abraham Lincoln syndrome

the Matthew Effect

the culture of poverty process

None of the above

In Mary Pardo’s “Grassroots Activism: Mothers of East Los Angeles” the subject is primarily about how middle and upper socioeconomic strata are much better at organizing themselves than lower SES are.

		True
		False

Functionalists assume that people are naturally unequal AND that this natural inequality explains why we now have social classes and other forms of social inequality.

True

False

Answer 1

1. The correct answer is Option B. If we did away with prejudice, nothing really would happen and the jobs that exist now would exist then as well.

2. The correct answer is Option C. This phenomenon is referred to as the Matthew effect.

3. False. The subject of the book is not primarily about how middle and upper socioeconomic strata are much better at organising themselves than lower SES are.

4. True. Functionalism makes these assumptions with respect to social inequality.