Социальная мобильность и ее типы

Понятие социальной мобильности было введено П.А. Сорокиным. Человек не остается в одном уровне статуса в течение всей своей жизни; рано или поздно ему предстоит его изменить, перейдя на новую статусную позицию. Такие процессы описываются в социологии понятием социальной мобильности. Социальная мобильность означает перемещение индивидов и групп из одних социальных слоев в другие, что связано с изменением положения индивида или группы в системе социальной стратификации.

Для большинства людей продвинуться вверх по стратификационной лестнице очень трудно. Причина, позволяющая достичь успеха в продвижении вверх по стратификационной лестнице, – социальный статус семьи, уровень образования, национальность, выгодный брак, способности, воспитание, место жительства.

IV Communicative practice

1. Is Russia an open-class society nowadays?
2. Do all people in our country have equall opportunities to get education, to find a well-paid profession?
3. What should a person do to get a higher status? What can help (money, acquaintances, good luck, something else)?
4. Give examples of people who rose or fell in their social status. How and why did they do it?
5. Choosing your spouse, will you take into account the social position of his/her parents?
6. Till recently the word “careerist” has had the negative meaning. But rising in status means making career. What is your opinion about this word?

TestS Units 1, 2

Choose the correct answer

1. The object of sociology:

a) society

b) people

c) social life of society

1. The subject of sociology:

a) society as a whole

b) social life of society

c) people’s world outlook

1. The distinctive intellectual tradition we now call sociology began:

a) in the 20^th century

b) in the 17^th century

c) in the 19^th century

1. The key term of sociology is

a) mutual changing

b) society

c) people

1. The laws of sociology have

a) permanent

b) probable

c) constant

character.

1. What academic discipline focuses on the individual?

a) psychology

b) anthropology

c) sociology

1. To be scientific, the new discipline would have to be based on:

a) traditional theological explanations

b) philosophical explanations

c) the empirical observation of social life

1. The first sociologists tried to explain

a) how societies appear

b) how societies change

c) how societies change and how they stay the same

1. What sociologist was one of the most important contributors to the study of the social origin of knowledge?

a) Karl Marnheim

b) Emile Durkheim

c) Herbert Spencer

1. He is often called the father of modern sociology

a) Karl Marx

b) Auguste Comte

c) Max Weber

1. Emile Durkheim used ideas and metaphors taken from:

a) psychology studies

b) biology

c) economics studies

1. What is studied as indicator of society’s evolution for Durkheim?

a) changes in the type of legal systems

b) methods of governing

c) population density

1. For Durkheim the division of labor his people to each other in what Durkheim called

a) mechanical solidarity

b) organic solidarity

c) social solidarity

1. Herbert Spencer was the most prominent early sociologist writing

a) in English

b) in French

c) in German

1. Herbert Spencer is best known for

a) analyzing “the more advanced human races”

b) applying “survival of the fittest”

c) viewing society from the perspective of the exploited

1. For Spencer acquired characteristics could be

a) inherited

b) changed

c) biologically transmitted to the next generation

1. Karl Marx analyzed society from the vantage point of

a) the poor

b) the rich

c) the workers

1. To Marx the surplus value of workers’ labor was used by

a) their families

b) society

c) capitalists

1. Marx thought that workers could

a) change nothing

b) overthrow their exploiters

c) ask for fair distribution of wealth

1. Marx stressed

a) the economic arena

b) religion

c) politics

1. Weber was interested in studying society at

a) the macro level

b) the micro level

c) at both levels

1. The micro level of sociological analysis is associated with

a) Karl Marx

b) George Herbert Mead

c) Max Weber

Units 3 – 5

Choose the correct answer

1. Culture exists

a) as ideas in people’s mind

b) as material artifacts

c) both as ideas in people’s mind and as material artifacts

1. The major engine of change in modern era is

a) technology

b) culture

c) politics

1. a) Cultural determinism

b) Biological reductionism

c) Phylosophy

insists that culture explains everything.

1. The term “social biology” was coined by

a) William F.Ogburn

b) Professor Edward O.Wilson

c) George Murdock

1. Biological differences

a) explain conflicts between groups

b) explain group differences

c) do not explain group differences

1. A phenotype is

a) a person’s nationality

b) an observable or detectable physical characteristics of a person

c) a person’s behavior

1. What changes more rapidly?

a) technological culture

b) material culture

c) technological and material culture

1. It is considered a cultural universal when

a) similar rules occur in almost all societies

b) similar behavior occurs in almost all societies

c) similar laws occur in almost all societies

1. Language is used for

a) the transmission of informatiom

b) keeping the information

c) storing the information

1. During the years between 2 and 5, a child learns approximately

a) 1000 words a day

b) 3000 words a day

c) 10000 words a day

1. A foreign language is learned easier by

a) toddlers

b) students

c) professional linguists

1. The Sapir-Whorf hypothesis proposes that

a) differences in mental processes reflect differences in language

b) differences in language reflect differences in mental processes

c) differences in language don’t reflect anything

1. On formal occasions people use

a) the language’s standard style

b) a familiar style

c) a casual style

1. a) Herbert Spenser

b) Karl Marnheim

c) Emile Durkheim

worked on the sociology of knowledge.

1. Values are

a) the concreate goals of actions

b) the criteria by which goals are chosen

c) desirable actions

1. The most useful way to detect the normative structure of a society is

a) the observation of rewards

b) the observation of its laws

c) the observation of sanctions

1. Value-tension leads to

a) progress

b) political struggle

c) cultural change

units 6 – 8

Choose the correct answer

1. Socialization is the process by which a society passes its norms, values, knowledge and technology to

a) the next generations

b) other societies

c) children

1. Can people have the exact socialization experiences?

a) Yes, if they are twins.

b) Yes, if they were brought up by the same parents.

c) No.

1. The most important years for influencing many of our attitudes are

a) at age 2

b) at age 6

c) at age 17

1. The process of socialization lasts

a) till 17

b) lifelong

c) till 20

1. The central question that influenced Mead’s research was

a) What is the religious origin of the self?

b) What is the psycological origin of the self?

c) What is the social origin of the self?

1. Mead thought that the major forms of symbolic communication were

a) gestures and speech

b) gestures

c) speech

1. The concept of role explaines

a) how people guide their behavior when they are alone

b) how people guide their behaviour in the presence of others

c) how people behave

1. The spontaneous part of the self which influences the world is

a) The I

b) The Me

c) your mind

1. The ability to look at ourselves as a past object is

a) our opinion

b) The Me

c) The I

1. 10.The separation of mind and body is

a) false

b) true

c) not discussed

1. Embarrassment is

a) a private event

b) a social event

c) not important

1. Your master status is

a) your profession

b) your role as a spouse

c) your role as a friend

1. a) Industrial societies

b) All known societies

c) Poor societies

have a system of ranking.

1. Stratification means the ranking of individuals on a scale of

a) superiority-inferiority-equality

b) superiority

c) inferiority

1. There are persons and groups that are valueless

a) by the criteria of “extrinsic” valuation

b) by the criteria of “ intrinsic” valuation

c) according to the religious consept

1. The term “social class” refers to an aggregate of individuals who

a) occupy a different position on the scale of prestige

b) occupy a similar position on the scale of income

c) occupy a similar position on the scale of prestige

1. Birth alone determines the person’s class in

a) a caste society

b) an open-class system

c) a feudal system

1. There is a great deal of rising and falling in the scale

a) in a caste society

b) in an open-class system

c) in a feudal system

1. By “American” ideals position should be based upon

a) wealth

b) prestige

c) personal qualities and achievements

1. The propotion of occupations that are poorly paid and heavy

a) has increased

b) has decreased

c) has not changed

1. Wealth can be used as

a) the symbol of class position

b) the sole criterion of stratification

c) the symbol of personal qualities

1. The important criteria of status are

a) birth and education

b) wealth and occupation

c) education and occupation

1. Law is often adjusted to favour

a) the lower -class

b) The middle-class

c) the upper-class

1. People of different “strata” have

a) differences in beliefs or attitudes

b) the same beliefs or attitudes

c) similar beliefs or attitudes

1. The more “conservative” opinions are held by

a) the lower-class people

b) the upper-class people

c) the middle-class people

1. Class systems that do not offer upward mobility through education often lead to

a) high inflation

b) stability

c) less freedoms

ADDITIONAL READING