{"id":1309,"date":"2016-05-15T02:29:42","date_gmt":"2016-05-15T02:29:42","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/courses.lumenlearning.com\/introductiontosociology-waymaker\/?post_type=chapter&#038;p=1309"},"modified":"2024-04-25T15:27:33","modified_gmt":"2024-04-25T15:27:33","slug":"introduction-to-theoretical-perspectives-on-stratification","status":"publish","type":"chapter","link":"https:\/\/courses.lumenlearning.com\/wm-introductiontosociology\/chapter\/introduction-to-theoretical-perspectives-on-stratification\/","title":{"raw":"Introduction to Theoretical Perspectives on Stratification","rendered":"Introduction to Theoretical Perspectives on Stratification"},"content":{"raw":"<h2>What you'll learn to do: describe theoretical perspectives on\u00a0stratification<\/h2>\r\n[caption id=\"attachment_5926\" align=\"aligncenter\" width=\"567\"]<img class=\"wp-image-5926\" src=\"https:\/\/s3-us-west-2.amazonaws.com\/courses-images\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/2034\/2016\/05\/26214105\/33140701266_1c6da2873a_o.jpg\" alt=\"In the foreground there are two basketball players. Stephen Curry is on the left and jumping into the air with the basketball in his hands. Marcin Gortat is on the right, facing away from the camera and his arms are in the air as he runs towards Stephen.\" width=\"567\" height=\"343\" \/> <strong>Figure 1<\/strong>. Stephen Curry and Marcin Gortat playing basketball. (Photo courtesy of Keith Allison\/flickr)[\/caption]\r\n\r\n<div>While basketball is one of the highest-paying professional sports, there is stratification among teams and especially among players. For example, the Sacramento Kings hand out the lowest annual payroll, while the Golden State Warriors reportedly pay the highest. In 2018, Stephen Curry, a Golden State Warriors point guard, was the highest paid athlete in the NBA, earning around $34.7 million a year[footnote]Cork Gaines. (Jun. 5, 2018).\"The 27 highest-paid players in the NBA for the 2017-18 season.\" Business Insider <a href=\"https:\/\/www.businessinsider.com\/nba-highest-paid-players-2017-10\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\">https:\/\/www.businessinsider.com\/nba-highest-paid-players-2017-10<\/a>\u00a0and \"NBA Team Salaries.\" Basketball Insiders. <a href=\"http:\/\/www.basketballinsiders.com\/nba-team-salaries-at-a-glance\/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\">http:\/\/www.basketballinsiders.com\/nba-team-salaries-at-a-glance\/<\/a>[\/footnote]. Within specific fields from all walks of life, layers are stratified and members are ranked.<\/div>\r\n<div><\/div>\r\n<div>Sociological theories can help us explain social phenomena such as different salaries within the same high status profession.\u00a0Functionalists would examine the purpose of such high salaries, while conflict theorists would study the exorbitant salaries as an unfair distribution of money, and might also explore the role of economic pressures arising from corporate-sponsored arenas, network ratings, owners, and managers.\u00a0Interactionist theorists might examine how name-recognition is symbolic and important for particular teams and cities, such as LeBron James' move from his hometown of Cleveland to Los Angeles.\u00a0Social stratification takes on new meanings when it is examined from these different sociological perspectives.<\/div>","rendered":"<h2>What you&#8217;ll learn to do: describe theoretical perspectives on\u00a0stratification<\/h2>\n<div id=\"attachment_5926\" style=\"width: 577px\" class=\"wp-caption aligncenter\"><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" aria-describedby=\"caption-attachment-5926\" class=\"wp-image-5926\" src=\"https:\/\/s3-us-west-2.amazonaws.com\/courses-images\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/2034\/2016\/05\/26214105\/33140701266_1c6da2873a_o.jpg\" alt=\"In the foreground there are two basketball players. Stephen Curry is on the left and jumping into the air with the basketball in his hands. Marcin Gortat is on the right, facing away from the camera and his arms are in the air as he runs towards Stephen.\" width=\"567\" height=\"343\" \/><\/p>\n<p id=\"caption-attachment-5926\" class=\"wp-caption-text\"><strong>Figure 1<\/strong>. Stephen Curry and Marcin Gortat playing basketball. (Photo courtesy of Keith Allison\/flickr)<\/p>\n<\/div>\n<div>While basketball is one of the highest-paying professional sports, there is stratification among teams and especially among players. For example, the Sacramento Kings hand out the lowest annual payroll, while the Golden State Warriors reportedly pay the highest. In 2018, Stephen Curry, a Golden State Warriors point guard, was the highest paid athlete in the NBA, earning around $34.7 million a year<a class=\"footnote\" title=\"Cork Gaines. (Jun. 5, 2018).&quot;The 27 highest-paid players in the NBA for the 2017-18 season.&quot; Business Insider https:\/\/www.businessinsider.com\/nba-highest-paid-players-2017-10\u00a0and &quot;NBA Team Salaries.&quot; Basketball Insiders. http:\/\/www.basketballinsiders.com\/nba-team-salaries-at-a-glance\/\" id=\"return-footnote-1309-1\" href=\"#footnote-1309-1\" aria-label=\"Footnote 1\"><sup class=\"footnote\">[1]<\/sup><\/a>. Within specific fields from all walks of life, layers are stratified and members are ranked.<\/div>\n<div><\/div>\n<div>Sociological theories can help us explain social phenomena such as different salaries within the same high status profession.\u00a0Functionalists would examine the purpose of such high salaries, while conflict theorists would study the exorbitant salaries as an unfair distribution of money, and might also explore the role of economic pressures arising from corporate-sponsored arenas, network ratings, owners, and managers.\u00a0Interactionist theorists might examine how name-recognition is symbolic and important for particular teams and cities, such as LeBron James&#8217; move from his hometown of Cleveland to Los Angeles.\u00a0Social stratification takes on new meanings when it is examined from these different sociological perspectives.<\/div>\n\n\t\t\t <section class=\"citations-section\" role=\"contentinfo\">\n\t\t\t <h3>Candela Citations<\/h3>\n\t\t\t\t\t <div>\n\t\t\t\t\t\t <div id=\"citation-list-1309\">\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\t <div class=\"licensing\"><div class=\"license-attribution-dropdown-subheading\">CC licensed content, Original<\/div><ul class=\"citation-list\"><li>Introduction to Theoretical Perspectives on Stratification. <strong>Authored by<\/strong>: Sarah Hoiland for Lumen Learning. <strong>Provided by<\/strong>: Lumen Learning. <strong>License<\/strong>: <em><a target=\"_blank\" rel=\"license\" href=\"https:\/\/creativecommons.org\/licenses\/by\/4.0\/\">CC BY: Attribution<\/a><\/em><\/li><\/ul><div class=\"license-attribution-dropdown-subheading\">CC licensed content, Shared previously<\/div><ul class=\"citation-list\"><li>Stratification Introduction from Introduction to Sociology 2e. <strong>Authored by<\/strong>: OpenStax CNX. <strong>Located at<\/strong>: <a target=\"_blank\" href=\"http:\/\/cnx.org\/contents\/02040312-72c8-441e-a685-20e9333f3e1d\/Introduction_to_Sociology_2e\">http:\/\/cnx.org\/contents\/02040312-72c8-441e-a685-20e9333f3e1d\/Introduction_to_Sociology_2e<\/a>. <strong>License<\/strong>: <em><a target=\"_blank\" rel=\"license\" href=\"https:\/\/creativecommons.org\/licenses\/by\/4.0\/\">CC BY: Attribution<\/a><\/em>. <strong>License Terms<\/strong>: Download for free at http:\/\/cnx.org\/contents\/02040312-72c8-441e-a685-20e9333f3e1d@3.49<\/li><li><strong>License<\/strong>: <em><a target=\"_blank\" rel=\"license\" href=\"https:\/\/creativecommons.org\/about\/pdm\">Public Domain: No Known Copyright<\/a><\/em><\/li><li>Warriors at Wizards 2\/28\/17. <strong>Authored by<\/strong>: Keith Allison. <strong>Provided by<\/strong>: Flickr. <strong>Located at<\/strong>: <a target=\"_blank\" href=\"https:\/\/www.flickr.com\/photos\/keithallison\/33140701266\/in\/photolist-9npYbV-9nsxF7-9nq6QK-DBJ6Rb-CQK9De-SuwKT9-qS9e2a-dZYZKh-F6s2kr-dZTffi-CQAArA-cQ8Kto-dZTo1t-9npr1r-6T1pDw-sufi14-DBJpgm-dTAv4n-edHvxR-DkYEd1-8Lh3J2-dTG4SE-DeDcbi-CQBmKA-f1HRLU-ujKMzd-bgdCbg-ZmgKx6-8Xy8yJ-6Bxx8t-jscSpt-e1Pizg-qurz6a-dnFb3Z-dymvbt-dnEWt3-dL4UC7-5rd4FS-dKYpup-quxSiA-dymv74-JaWCVD-nnXRkR-dTApMR-dTG51j-auRiQ2-4T5Tei-dTAqpc-buWvMB-224H3B6\/\">https:\/\/www.flickr.com\/photos\/keithallison\/33140701266\/in\/photolist-9npYbV-9nsxF7-9nq6QK-DBJ6Rb-CQK9De-SuwKT9-qS9e2a-dZYZKh-F6s2kr-dZTffi-CQAArA-cQ8Kto-dZTo1t-9npr1r-6T1pDw-sufi14-DBJpgm-dTAv4n-edHvxR-DkYEd1-8Lh3J2-dTG4SE-DeDcbi-CQBmKA-f1HRLU-ujKMzd-bgdCbg-ZmgKx6-8Xy8yJ-6Bxx8t-jscSpt-e1Pizg-qurz6a-dnFb3Z-dymvbt-dnEWt3-dL4UC7-5rd4FS-dKYpup-quxSiA-dymv74-JaWCVD-nnXRkR-dTApMR-dTG51j-auRiQ2-4T5Tei-dTAqpc-buWvMB-224H3B6\/<\/a>. <strong>License<\/strong>: <em><a target=\"_blank\" rel=\"license\" href=\"https:\/\/creativecommons.org\/licenses\/by-sa\/4.0\/\">CC BY-SA: Attribution-ShareAlike<\/a><\/em><\/li><\/ul><\/div>\n\t\t\t\t\t\t <\/div>\n\t\t\t\t\t <\/div>\n\t\t\t <\/section><hr class=\"before-footnotes clear\" \/><div class=\"footnotes\"><ol><li id=\"footnote-1309-1\">Cork Gaines. (Jun. 5, 2018).\"The 27 highest-paid players in the NBA for the 2017-18 season.\" Business Insider <a href=\"https:\/\/www.businessinsider.com\/nba-highest-paid-players-2017-10\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\">https:\/\/www.businessinsider.com\/nba-highest-paid-players-2017-10<\/a>\u00a0and \"NBA Team Salaries.\" Basketball Insiders. <a href=\"http:\/\/www.basketballinsiders.com\/nba-team-salaries-at-a-glance\/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\">http:\/\/www.basketballinsiders.com\/nba-team-salaries-at-a-glance\/<\/a> <a href=\"#return-footnote-1309-1\" class=\"return-footnote\" aria-label=\"Return to footnote 1\">&crarr;<\/a><\/li><\/ol><\/div>","protected":false},"author":29,"menu_order":11,"template":"","meta":{"_candela_citation":"[{\"type\":\"original\",\"description\":\"Introduction to Theoretical Perspectives on Stratification\",\"author\":\"Sarah Hoiland for Lumen Learning\",\"organization\":\"Lumen Learning\",\"url\":\"\",\"project\":\"\",\"license\":\"cc-by\",\"license_terms\":\"\"},{\"type\":\"cc\",\"description\":\"Stratification Introduction from Introduction to Sociology 2e\",\"author\":\"OpenStax CNX\",\"organization\":\"\",\"url\":\"http:\/\/cnx.org\/contents\/02040312-72c8-441e-a685-20e9333f3e1d\/Introduction_to_Sociology_2e\",\"project\":\"\",\"license\":\"cc-by\",\"license_terms\":\"Download for free at http:\/\/cnx.org\/contents\/02040312-72c8-441e-a685-20e9333f3e1d@3.49\"},{\"type\":\"cc\",\"description\":\"\",\"author\":\"\",\"organization\":\"\",\"url\":\"\",\"project\":\"\",\"license\":\"pd\",\"license_terms\":\"\"},{\"type\":\"cc\",\"description\":\"Warriors at Wizards 2\/28\/17\",\"author\":\"Keith Allison\",\"organization\":\"Flickr\",\"url\":\"https:\/\/www.flickr.com\/photos\/keithallison\/33140701266\/in\/photolist-9npYbV-9nsxF7-9nq6QK-DBJ6Rb-CQK9De-SuwKT9-qS9e2a-dZYZKh-F6s2kr-dZTffi-CQAArA-cQ8Kto-dZTo1t-9npr1r-6T1pDw-sufi14-DBJpgm-dTAv4n-edHvxR-DkYEd1-8Lh3J2-dTG4SE-DeDcbi-CQBmKA-f1HRLU-ujKMzd-bgdCbg-ZmgKx6-8Xy8yJ-6Bxx8t-jscSpt-e1Pizg-qurz6a-dnFb3Z-dymvbt-dnEWt3-dL4UC7-5rd4FS-dKYpup-quxSiA-dymv74-JaWCVD-nnXRkR-dTApMR-dTG51j-auRiQ2-4T5Tei-dTAqpc-buWvMB-224H3B6\/\",\"project\":\"\",\"license\":\"cc-by-sa\",\"license_terms\":\"\"}]","CANDELA_OUTCOMES_GUID":"4f26340e-b8a2-4424-aca3-78cfa5cda40f","pb_show_title":"on","pb_short_title":"","pb_subtitle":"","pb_authors":[],"pb_section_license":""},"chapter-type":[],"contributor":[],"license":[],"class_list":["post-1309","chapter","type-chapter","status-publish","hentry"],"part":148,"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/courses.lumenlearning.com\/wm-introductiontosociology\/wp-json\/pressbooks\/v2\/chapters\/1309","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/courses.lumenlearning.com\/wm-introductiontosociology\/wp-json\/pressbooks\/v2\/chapters"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/courses.lumenlearning.com\/wm-introductiontosociology\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/chapter"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/courses.lumenlearning.com\/wm-introductiontosociology\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/29"}],"version-history":[{"count":23,"href":"https:\/\/courses.lumenlearning.com\/wm-introductiontosociology\/wp-json\/pressbooks\/v2\/chapters\/1309\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":9479,"href":"https:\/\/courses.lumenlearning.com\/wm-introductiontosociology\/wp-json\/pressbooks\/v2\/chapters\/1309\/revisions\/9479"}],"part":[{"href":"https:\/\/courses.lumenlearning.com\/wm-introductiontosociology\/wp-json\/pressbooks\/v2\/parts\/148"}],"metadata":[{"href":"https:\/\/courses.lumenlearning.com\/wm-introductiontosociology\/wp-json\/pressbooks\/v2\/chapters\/1309\/metadata\/"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/courses.lumenlearning.com\/wm-introductiontosociology\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=1309"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"chapter-type","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/courses.lumenlearning.com\/wm-introductiontosociology\/wp-json\/pressbooks\/v2\/chapter-type?post=1309"},{"taxonomy":"contributor","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/courses.lumenlearning.com\/wm-introductiontosociology\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/contributor?post=1309"},{"taxonomy":"license","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/courses.lumenlearning.com\/wm-introductiontosociology\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/license?post=1309"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}