All flashcards
Flashcard 1: What is social capital in sociology?
Answer: Resources and benefits gained through social networks and relationships. Networks provide access to opportunities and information.
Flashcard 2: What is meritocracy as a model of social stratification?
Answer: Status and rewards are allocated based on individual merit and achievement. Assumes equal opportunity and rewards based on ability/effort.
Flashcard 3: What is cultural capital in sociology (Bourdieu)?
Answer: Nonfinancial cultural knowledge and skills that confer social advantage. Includes tastes, manners, and knowledge that signal class position.
Flashcard 4: Identify the concept: unequal school resources produce unequal outcomes across classes.
Answer: Structural inequality (institutionalized inequality). Systemic barriers create persistent disparities between groups.
Flashcard 5: Which belief most directly supports meritocracy as an explanation for inequality?
Answer: Success primarily reflects individual effort and talent. Ignores structural barriers and assumes equal starting conditions.
Flashcard 6: What is social reproduction in the context of capital and stratification?
Answer: Intergenerational transmission of social advantage and disadvantage. Class advantages persist across generations through capital transfer.
Flashcard 7: What is habitus in Bourdieu's theory of social reproduction?
Answer: Internalized dispositions and norms shaped by one’s social environment. Unconscious patterns of behavior learned from one's class position.
Flashcard 8: Which term describes cultural capital as credentials such as degrees or titles?
Answer: Institutionalized cultural capital. Formal recognition that legitimizes cultural competence.
Flashcard 9: Which term describes cultural capital in objects like books, art, or instruments?
Answer: Objectified cultural capital. Physical possessions that signal cultural knowledge and status.
Flashcard 10: Which term describes cultural capital embodied as manners, accent, and tastes?
Answer: Embodied cultural capital. Internalized through socialization as habits and dispositions.
Flashcard 11: Which type of social capital connects people within a similar group identity?
Answer: Bonding social capital. Strong ties within homogeneous groups provide emotional support.
Flashcard 12: What is the hidden curriculum in schooling?
Answer: Implicit norms and behaviors schools teach beyond formal academics. Teaches conformity, punctuality, and deference to authority.
Flashcard 13: Which type of social capital links people across different social groups?
Answer: Bridging social capital. Weak ties across diverse groups expand opportunities.
Flashcard 14: Which type of social capital connects individuals to institutions and authority?
Answer: Linking social capital. Vertical connections to power structures enable resource access.
Flashcard 15: What is the Matthew effect as it relates to capital accumulation?
Answer: Initial advantage compounds, producing increasing inequality over time. "Rich get richer" phenomenon where advantages accumulate exponentially.
Flashcard 16: Which option best describes how elite internships often function in stratification?
Answer: They convert social connections into career opportunities and status. Networks matter more than merit in accessing elite positions.
Flashcard 17: Identify the best label: a student learns debate norms that match elite universities.
Answer: Cultural capital (embodied). Speech patterns and argumentation styles match dominant class norms.
Flashcard 18: Identify the best label: a parent’s alumni network helps a student get an interview.
Answer: Social capital. Network connections provide privileged access to opportunities.
Flashcard 19: Identify the concept: blaming poverty on laziness rather than unequal opportunity.
Answer: Fundamental attribution error (dispositional attribution). Overemphasizes personal traits while ignoring situational factors.
Flashcard 20: Which statement best describes how cultural capital can affect teacher expectations?
Answer: Shared norms with teachers can be misread as higher ability and motivation. Class-based behaviors are interpreted as intelligence or effort.
Flashcard 21: What is the hidden curriculum in schools?
Answer: Implicit norms and values taught indirectly (for example, obedience, punctuality). Schools socialize students into dominant cultural values beyond academics.
Flashcard 22: What is credentialism in the context of cultural capital and education?
Answer: Overreliance on degrees as signals of ability, regardless of actual skills. Inflated importance of credentials creates barriers to mobility.
Flashcard 23: Identify the concept: parents teach interview etiquette and “professional” speech patterns.
Answer: Cultural capital. Parents transmit class-based behaviors and communication styles.
Flashcard 24: Identify the concept: a job offer comes from a friend’s referral rather than an open posting.
Answer: Social capital. Network connections provide job access beyond formal channels.
Flashcard 25: Identify the concept: a hiring manager favors applicants from elite universities.
Answer: Institutionalized cultural capital. Elite credentials function as cultural capital in hiring decisions.
Flashcard 26: What is social reproduction in relation to cultural capital?
Answer: Intergenerational transmission of advantage that maintains class stratification. Cultural capital passes from parents to children, preserving inequality.
Flashcard 27: What is the main critique of meritocracy in stratified societies?
Answer: It obscures structural inequality by attributing outcomes to individual merit. Meritocracy ideology masks how privilege shapes outcomes.
Flashcard 28: What is the “myth of meritocracy” most directly used to explain?
Answer: Persistence of inequality despite claims that success is purely earned. Structural advantages contradict claims of purely merit-based success.
Flashcard 29: What is a strong tie in social network theory?
Answer: Close, frequent, emotionally intense relationship (for example, family, best friends). Deep bonds provide emotional support but limited new information.
Flashcard 30: What is a weak tie in social network theory?
Answer: Acquaintance-level connection that often provides novel information or opportunities. Distant connections bridge social circles and offer diverse resources.