Which concept refers to the organization of society into hierarchical groups that leads to unequal distribution of resources?

• A. Mobility
• B. Group
• C. Stratification
• D. Function

Answer: (C)

Stratification describes the organized, hierarchical arrangement of people in a society in which access to valued resources—such as money, education, housing, and political power—is unequal. This concept captures how social position determines life chances and how differences are embedded in institutions, often persisting across generations. Mobility would be about moving up or down within that hierarchy, rather than defining the existence of the hierarchy itself. A group is simply a collection of people, which doesn’t specify any systematic inequality, and function refers to the roles and duties that maintain a system rather than the patterned distribution of resources. Because stratification directly addresses the structured differences in resource distribution across social layers, it is the most accurate concept here.