Take this Exam: A-Level Sociology: stratification and inequality | Zestly

Question 1

Household A and Household B both earn three thousand pounds a month. Household A has no savings and rents their home, while Household B owns a home and has significant investments. Why is an income-only measure insufficient here?

Accepted Answer

It fails to account for the security and long-term resources provided by wealth.

Answer

It fails to measure the social prestige of the occupations held by the households.

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It ignores the fact that Household A is likely to be more satisfied with their life.

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It assumes that all income is spent on luxury goods rather than necessities.

Question 2

In a large firm, nearly all the administrators and receptionists are women and nearly all the senior managers are men. Among employees with children, the women do most of the unpaid care at home, and are far more likely to have taken years out or to be working part-time. A manager says the pattern simply reflects what people choose. What does the case actually support?

Accepted Answer

That the choices are being made under unequal constraints: senior careers are built in exactly the years when the care falls mostly to women, and part-time or interrupted work rarely leads to a senior post, so what looks like a preference is also a structure.

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That the firm must be operating a deliberate policy of keeping women out of management.

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That nothing can be said about the pattern until the firm publishes what every employee is paid.

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That women prefer administrative work and men prefer management, which explains the whole pattern.

Question 3

A national figure shows one ethnic group earning less per hour on average than another. One newspaper reports this as proof that employers discriminate. A second reports it as proof that they do not, because the gap narrows a great deal once only graduates of the same age working in the same region are compared. What can the aggregate figure establish on its own?

Accepted Answer

That there is a real difference in what the two groups are paid, and nothing about why: the groups differ in age structure, region, sector and qualification, and any of those can carry part of the gap.

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That employers do not discriminate, since the gap shrinks once other things are held constant.

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Nothing whatever, since official pay statistics are social constructions and cannot describe anything real.

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That employers discriminate, since a difference in average pay between two groups has no other possible source.

Question 4

On one estate a third of working-age adults have been out of work for more than a year. Councillor A argues that benefits at their present level make the low-paid work available barely worth taking, and that households adapt over time to living without a job. Councillor B argues that the estate lost its two largest employers a decade ago and no comparable work has arrived since. If benefits were cut, what does each position predict?

Answer

Both predict a fall in unemployment, since both locate the problem in a lack of incentive.

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A predicts more hardship and no change in employment; B predicts a rise in the number working.

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Neither predicts anything, since both are political opinions rather than sociological arguments.

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A predicts more people taking the work that is available, because the calculation changes; B predicts more hardship and little change in employment, because the jobs the cut is meant to push people towards are not there.

Question 5

A firm moves its manufacturing to a country with lower wages. What is the likely effect on inequality?

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It will only increase inequality in the country where the firm was originally based.

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It may increase inequality within the original country while potentially creating new jobs in the new country.

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It will have no impact on inequality as global trade is inherently fair.

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It will automatically reduce inequality in both countries.

Question 6

In a competition where everyone follows the same rules, the outcomes are highly unequal. What should a sociologist examine next to determine if the process is truly meritocratic?

Answer

Whether the rules were written by the people who won the competition.

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Whether the losers are satisfied with the outcome of the competition.

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Whether the starting positions and access to resources were equal for all participants.

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Whether the winners were simply more intelligent than the losers.