Answers and Explanations

Discrete Practice Questions

1. D
   Social stratification based on direct efforts, such as merit, is a form of achieved socioeconomic status. Ascribed socioeconomic status, (A), is based on identifiable external characteristics. Achieved status may be due to meritocratic competition, (B), but other individual efforts can also be associated with achieved status. Anomic conditions, (C), are those that cause a breakdown between the individual and society and erode social solidarity.
2. C
   Low social class may lead to low social capital. Members of the lower class often have smaller numbers of weak ties in social networks, and therefore have less opportunity to invest in society and reap its benefits.
3. D
   Globalization does not typically lead to global equality; rather, globalization tends to create further global inequalities. In regard to environmental justice, higher numbers of hazardous waste facilities tend to be found in low-income neighborhoods, (A). Poor living conditions tend to be associated with greater health problems, including tuberculosis, (B). Finally, environmental pollution is more prevalent in areas with minority populations, especially low-income minority populations, (C).
4. B
   High-income groups tend to have increased life expectancy rates, not decreased. Low-income racial and ethnic minorities have higher mortality rates than high-income groups, (A). Low-income women tend to have children with lower birth weights, (C). Finally, rates of various diseases, including lung cancer, are increased among low-income groups, (D).
5. D
   Prevalence is defined as the total number of cases divided by the total population during a period of time. Here, the period of time is defined as one point: the end of the year. At the end of the year, there are 30 total cases in a population of 1000 individuals, meaning the prevalence is 30 ÷ 1000.
6. A
   Incidence is defined as the total number of new cases divided by the at-risk population during a period of time. Here, the period of time is one year. There were 10 new cases in this year, and the at-risk population will be only the males who do not already have prostate cancer; the 20 men already diagnosed and the 500 women should not be included in the at-risk population. Therefore, the incidence in this population is 10 ÷ 480.
7. D
   In this scenario, the children remain in the same socioeconomic class as their mother, indicating a lack of social mobility, (A) and (B). Rather, this is an example of social reproduction, in which social inequality, especially poverty, is passed from one generation to the next.
8. C
   Relative poverty is a comparative term: it describes being poorer than those in the surrounding population. Members of the upper class can live in relative poverty compared to others in their neighborhood if they are not as well-off as their neighbors. Relative poverty is not directly associated with upward or downward social mobility, eliminating (B) and (D); individuals living in relative poverty could exhibit mobility in either direction or no social mobility at all.
9. C
   Suburbs tend to have larger upper- and middle-class populations than urban centers; urban centers tend to have larger low-socioeconomic status populations than suburbs. This is due, in part, to the increased mobility seen in upper- and middle-class populations, which permits their migration into the suburbs.
10. A
    Morbidity refers to the burden of illness, or the severity or degree of illness. Mortality, (B), refers to deaths caused by a given illness. Second sickness, (C), is a term used to describe the exacerbation of health outcomes due to social injustice. Chronicity, (D), refers to the duration of a disease, not its severity or significance for the patient.
11. B
    In comparison to white Americans, Asian Americans tend to have better overall health profiles. African Americans, (A), tend to have worse overall health profiles. Hispanic Americans and Native Americans, (C) and (D), both have mixed health profiles in comparison to white Americans: they are better off in some categories and worse off in others. However, Hispanic and Native Americans do not have better overall health profiles than white Americans.
12. C
    Medicare covers patients over the age of 65 (older age groups), those with end-stage renal disease, and those with amyotrophic lateral sclerosis (ALS). Medicaid covers patients below a certain socioeconomic level.
13. C
    Morbidity refers to the burden or severity of disease. All of the factors listed are true with regard to low-socioeconomic status populations; however, high homicide rates cause increases in mortality, not morbidity.
14. A
    If the threshold for hypertension (high blood pressure) were lowered, more individuals would be fit the criteria for the disease. If the number of individuals with the disease increases and the population stays the same overall, there will be an increased prevalence of the disease.
15. B
    In comparison to females, males visit primary care doctors less frequently. All of the other trends listed here have been documented.