Senior High School

Understanding Culture,
Society, and Politics

Quarter 2 – Module 3
Social and Political
Stratification

Department of Education ● Republic of the Philippines

Understanding Culture, Society, and Politics Grade 11/12
Alternative Delivery Mode
Quarter 2 – Module 3: Social and Political Stratification
First Edition, 2020

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Published by the Department of Education – Division of Cagayan de Oro City

Schools Division Superintendent: Dr. Cherry Mae L. Limbaco, CESO V

Development Team of the Module

Authors/s: Honey May O. Colaljo, DM

Reviewer/s: Joel D. Potane, Ph.D. – LRMS Manager
Content Validator/s: Romeo B. Aclo, EPS – Araling Panlipunan , Roy H. Lumban,
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B. Gamayon
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Chairperson: Cherry Mae L. Limbaco, Ph.D., CESO V
Schools Division Superintendent

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Members:
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 Senior High School

Understanding Culture,
Society, and Politics

Quarter 2 – Module 3
Social and Political
Stratification
This instructional material was collaboratively developed and reviewed
by educators from public schools. We encourage teachers and other
education stakeholders to email their feedback, comments, and
recommendations to the Department of Education at
cagayandeoro.city@deped.gov.ph

We value your feedback and recommendations.

Department of Education ● Republic of the Philippines

FAIR USE AND CONTENT DISCLAIMER: This SLM (Self Learning Module) is for educational purposes only.
Borrowed materials (i.e., songs, stories, poems, pictures, photos, brand names, trademarks, etc.) included in
these modules are owned by their respective copyright holders. The publisher and authors do not represent nor
claim ownership over them. Sincerest appreciation to those who have made significant contributions to these
modules.

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 Table of Contents
COVER PAGE...........................................................................................................................i
COPYRIGHT PAGE................................................................................................................ ii
TITLE PAGE............................................................................................................................ iii
TABLE OF CONTENTS.........................................................................................................iv
WHAT THIS MODULE IS ABOUT........................................................................................ v
WHAT I NEED TO KNOW......................................................................................................v
HOW TO LEARN FROM THIS MODULE............................................................................v
ICONS OF THIS MODULE................................................................................................... vi
WHAT I KNOW.......................................................................................................................vii
Lesson 1: Social Desirables/Social Mobility System.................................................. 1
What’s In:.......................................................................................................... 1
What’s New: It’s Me........................................................................................ 2
What is It: Social and Political Stratification ............................................... 2
What’s More: Status........................................................................................4
Jumbled Letters...................................................................... 5
What I Have Learned: Power of Three........................................................ 5
What I Can Do: From Rags to Riches..........................................................6
Summary...................................................................................................................................6
Assessment.............................................................................................................................. 7
Key to Answers........................................................................................................................ 9
References............................................................................................................................. 10

4
What This Module is About
This learning material will help you understand the social categorization of
people in the society based on their characteristics. It describes the layering of these
categories into a higher and lower position. The different social classes and the
moving of people from one social status to another are also discussed in this module.
There are activities provided to help you enhance your learning. Much more, it
is exciting to discover your ascribed and achieved statuses in the social structure.

What I Need to Know

At the end of this module, you should be able to:

 Examine the concept, characteristics and forms of stratification systems using

sociological perspectives (UCSP11/12HSOI--IIc-30)

How to Learn from this Module

The following are your guide for the proper use of this module:

To the Learner:
1. Follow all the instructions in every activity.
2. Answer the pre-test before going over the material to find out what you
already know.
3. Answer all the exercises at the end of every lesson.
4. Review the lesson that you find difficulty to understand. Be resourceful.
5. All answers should be written in the module unless otherwise specified, for
example: a sheet of paper or bond paper.
6. All output should be placed in a folder that will serve as your portfolio. The
output should be arranged in sequential order.
7. Seek assistance from your teacher and parents/guardian.
To the Teacher:
1. Communicate with parents and learners regularly for updates and feedbacks.
2. Make sure that all activities are complied with before accepting the output or
the portfolio.
3. You may contextualize or localize your activity as long as it is still within the
boundary of the learning competency.
To the Parents/Guardian:
1. Closely monitor your child’s progress.
2. Do not answer the activities for your child. Just guide them in doing it.
3. Support your child. Talk to him/her about his/her journey with this module.

v
 Icons of this Module
This part contains learning objectives that
What I Need to Know
are set for you to learn as you go along the
Learning Objectives
module.

This part of the module is an assessment

What I Know? as to your level of knowledge to the
Pre-Assessment subject matter at hand meant to gauge
prior understanding.

What’s In? This part connects the previous lesson

Review Activity with that of the current one.

An introduction to the new lesson through

What’s New?
various activities before it will be presented
Motivational Activity
to you.

These are discussions as a way to deepen

What Is It?
your discovery and understanding of the
Lesson Proper
concept.

These are follow-up activities intended for

What’s More?
you to practice further to master the
Performance Task
competencies.

What I Have Learned? These are activities designed to process

Generalization what you have learned from the lesson.

These are tasks designed to showcase

What I Can Do?
your skills and knowledge gained and
Application
applied to real-life concerns and situations.

This part evaluates your level of mastery in

Assessment
achieving the learning objectives of the
Post-Assessment
lesson.

What I Know

vi
PRETEST

Multiple Choice. Choose the letter of the correct answer.

1. It consists the elite or wealthy families.

A. Lower class C. Ascribed status
B. Upper class D. Achieved status

2. It is one in which people are born into their social standing and will remain in it
their whole lives.
A. Caste and closed-class system C. Middle class
B. Open class system D. Lower class

3. The individual’s position in the social structure.

A. Upper class C. Status
B. Middle class D. Statuses

4. A society’s categorization of people into socioeconomic strata/layer, based on

their occupation and income, wealth and social status, or derived power.
A. Vertical mobility C. Political stratification
B. Horizontal mobility D. Social stratification

5. Status earned by the individual.

A. Status C. Ascribed status
B. Achieved status D. Statuses

6. The act of moving from one social status to another.

A. Social mobility C. Social stratification
B. Political stratification D. Differentiation

7. People in the social class who depend merely on their paycheck.

A. Middle class C. Upper class
B. Lower class D. Social class

8. It refers to the evaluation of status.

A. Esteem C. Differentiation
B. Prestige D. Stratification

9. The method of relating people in terms of certain social characteristics

and then classifying them into social categories based on their
characteristics.
A. Social structure C. Differentiation
B. Social mobility D. Political stratification

10. These are mostly professional people like lawyers, doctors, managers,
owners of small businesses, executives, etc.
A. Upper class C. Lower class

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 B. Social class D. Middle class

11. The movement of a person within a social class level.

A. Horizontal mobility C. Statuses
B. Vertical mobility D. Status

12. This status is assigned by the society based on some fixed category.
A. Status C. Ascribed status
B. Achieved status D. Statuses

13. The movement of a person between social class levels or another class
A. Horizontal mobility C. Vertical mobility
B. Upper class D. Middle class

14. Individuals can change their social class in the society.

A. Caste and closed-class system C. Social status
B. Social class D. Open class system

15. It refers to the assessment of our role behavior.

A. Class C. Prestige
B. Esteem D. Status

viii
 Lesson Social Desirables/Social Mobility
System

1
Learning Competency: Examine the concept, characteristics and
forms of stratification systems using sociological perspectives.
(UCSP11/12HSOI-IIc-30)

What’s In

Welcome back! How are you?

Despite of the uncertainties brought by COVID-19 pandemic; we believe that

education must continue. Many questions are yet to be answered; many fears are to
be faced, but we firmly hold on to our hope of a better future through education.
Amidst these challenges, here we are taking baby steps at a time onwards in
reaching your dreams.

Before we move on to the main topic of this module, please share your
learnings from the module about education by completing the statement below.

I learned that
___________________________________________________________________
___________________________________________________________________
___________________________________________________________________
___________________________________________________________________
___________________________________________________________________
___________________________________________________________________
___________________________________________________________________.

What’s New

1
Activity 1: IT’S ME.

Direction: Identify five (5) traits/characteristics/qualities that you possess and state
which of these you inherited from your parents and which of these you want to
change as you grow up.

Inherited from You want to change

Traits/Characteristics/Qualities parents? when you grow up
(Yes or No) (put a check √ )
1
2
3
4
5

What Is It
Social and Political Stratification

Differentiation is the method of relating

people in terms of a particular social
characteristics and then classifying them into
social categories based on their characteristics;
it does not involve ranking. For example, we
may differentiate people according, to sex, age,
occupation, education, etc. We then place
them in a particular social category.

The layering of these categories into the

higher and lower position of prestige or respect
is called social stratification.
Image: https://bit.ly/2Mz7b0Q

Social stratification is a society’s

categorization of people into socioeconomic
strata/layer, based on their occupation and income, wealth and social status, or
derived power (social and political).

Three Social Classes

2
 1. The upper class – consists of the elite or wealthy families who are the most
prolific (productive) in their respective areas. They value heritage most over
wealth.
2. The middle class – these are mostly professional people like lawyers,
doctors, managers, owners of small businesses, executives, etc. They value
education most since education to them is the most vital measure of social
status.
3. The lower class – these are the office and clerical workers, skilled and
unskilled craftsman, farm employees, underemployed, indigent families, etc.
They depend on their paycheck.

Status is the individual’s spot in the social structure. The higher or lower
positions that come about through social stratification are called statuses. For
example, some people are prominent government officials while others are salesmen,
utility workers, etc. This does not relate to the individual themselves, but rather in the
position into which they have been placed.

Social Desirables

Any rational individual will always aspire for things that give wealth, power,
and prestige. The ability of an individual to realize such aspiration is forced by
situations where one is born into.

Ascribed statuses are assigned or given by the society or group based on

some fixed category. Examples are sex, family background, ethnicity, etc.

Achieved statuses are earned by the individual. Examples are honors

received in school, good job, award for winning a competition, etc.

Prestige and Esteem

Prestige refers to the evaluation of status. You gain respect according to your
status. For example, being a senior student, you have the prestige of a senior
student at your school. It does not apply directly to you as a person, but rather to the
social category to which you belong (senior class).

Esteem refers to the assessment of our role behavior. The measure of

esteem we have depends on how well we carry out our role. If you perform well, get
an outstanding rating, you get and have a high regard.

Political Stratification

Political stratification is the extent to which inequalities are encapsulated in, or

influenced by political structures and, processes regarding influence, power and
authority.

Social Mobility System/Structure

3
 Social mobility is the act of moving from one social status to another.

Open class system means that individuals can change their social class in
the society. People are free to gain a different level of education or employment than
their parents. They can also socialize with members of another group, which allow
people to move from one class to another.

Caste and closed-class system, people can do little or nothing to change

their social standing. People are born into it and will remain in it. People are
assigned occupations regardless of their talents, interests, or potential.

Types of Social Mobility

Horizontal mobility is the movement of a person within a social class level.

For example, a factory worker who finds a new job as a construction worker.

Vertical mobility is the movement of a person between social class levels or

another class. For example, a factory worker who enrolls in college and becomes a
businessman.

What’s More

Activity 2: STATUS

Direction: Based on the concepts in this lesson, list down your ascribed and,
achieved status. List down your answers in the column below.

No. Ascribed Status No. Achieved Status

1 1

2 2

3 3

4 4

5 5

Activity 3: JUMBLED LETTERS

4
Direction: Answer the questions by arranging the jumbled letters. Place your
answers on the last column.

No. Question Jumbled Letters Answer

1 The individual’s position in the social TTSASU
structure.
2 The movement of a person between social LARETVIC
class levels or another class. TLOBMIIY
3 Status earned by the individual. EDHCAIVE
USTTAS
4 People can do little or nothing to change ETSAC
their social standing. YSETMS
5 Individuals can change their social class in PENO LCSSA
the society TEMYSS

What I Have Learned

Activity 4: POWER OF THREE

Direction: Briefly explain what you have learned about the three (3) social classes
mentioned in the concept page.

1. ______________________________________________________________
______________________________________________________________
______________________________________________________________
2. ______________________________________________________________
______________________________________________________________
______________________________________________________________
3. ______________________________________________________________
______________________________________________________________
______________________________________________________________

Rubric for the Activity

Criteria Rating
The answer relates entirely to the assigned topic. 5 4 3 2 1
The answer conveys a genuine personal view regarding the 5 4 3 2 1
topic.
The work is original and does not contain plagiarized 5 4 3 2 1
content.
Total points (15)

5
 What I Can Do?
Activity 5: FROM RAGS TO RICHES (Performance Task)

Direction: Research one (1) male or female Filipino who has a “rags to riches” life
story. Include in your research his/her ascribed and achieved status in life. And if
possible, attached picture/s of this person. Use a long bond paper for your answer.

Rubric for the Activity

Criteria Rating
The answer relates entirely to the assigned topic. 5 4 3 2 1
The content is organized in a clear, logical manner. 5 4 3 2 1
The story provides adequate background information. 5 4 3 2 1
Total points (15)

SUMMARY
 Differentiation is the method of relating people in terms of a particular social
characteristics and then classifying them into social categories based on their
characteristics; it does not involve ranking.

 Social stratification is a society’s categorization of people into socioeconomic

strata/layer, based on their occupation and income, wealth and social status,
or derived power (social and political).

 The three social classes are the upper class, middle class, lower class.

 Status is the individual’s position in the social structure.

 Ascribed statuses are assigned or given by the society or group based on

some fixed category.

 Achieved statuses are earned by the individual.

 Prestige refers to the evaluation of status.

 Esteem refers to the assessment of our role behavior.

 Political stratification is the extent to which inequalities are influenced by

political structures and processes regarding influence, power and authority.

 Social mobility is the act of moving from one social status to another.

6
  Open class system means that individuals can change their social class in the
society.

 Caste and closed-class system, people can do little or nothing to change their
social standing.

 Horizontal mobility is the movement of a person within a social class level.

 Vertical mobility is the movement of a person between social class levels or

another class

ASSESSMENT

POSTTEST

Multiple Choice. Choose the letter of the correct answer.

1. This category is composed of the rich families.

A. Achieved status C. Upper class
B. Ascribed status D. Lower class
2. People are born into this social standing and will remain in it throughout their
lives.
A. Caste and closed-class system C. Middle class
B. Open class system D. Lower class
3. One’s position in the social structure.
A. Upper class C. Middle class
B. Status D. Statuses
4. A society’s categorization of people into socioeconomic strata/layer, based on
their occupation and income, wealth and social status, or derived power.
A. Vertical mobility C. Political stratification
B. Horizontal mobility D. Social stratification
5. Karen is recognized as one of the smartest learners in class. During the
recognition day, she received the highest award in her class. This is an
example of
A. Status C. Ascribed status
B. Achieved status D. Statuses
6. It is the act of moving from one social status to another.
A. Social mobility C. Social stratification
B. Political stratification D. Differentiation

7. People who belong in this social class depend merely on their day to day
paycheck.
A. Lower class C. Social class
B. Middle class D. Upper class

7
8. It refers to the evaluation of status.
A. Esteem C. Differentiation
B. Prestige D. Stratification

9. The method of relating people in terms of certain social characteristics

and then classifying them into social categories based on their
characteristics.
A. Social structure C. Differentiation
B. Social mobility D. Political stratification

10. Professional people mostly belong to this class.

A. Lower class C. Upper class
B. Middle class D. Social class

11. The movement of a person within a social class level.

A. Horizontal mobility C. Statuses
B. Vertical mobility D. Status

12. Family background, gender, sex, race, ethnicity, etc. are examples of this
social desirable.
A. Status C. Ascribed status
B. Achieved status D. Statuses

13. The movement of a person between social class levels or another class
A. Horizontal mobility C. Vertical mobility
B. Upward mobility D. Downward mobility

14. Individuals are free to gain a different level of education or employment

than their parents. They can also socialize with other members of the
group.
A. Caste and closed-class system C. Social status
B. Social class D. Open class system

15. It refers to the assessment of our role behavior.

A. class c. Prestige
B. Esteem d. Status

8
9
REFERENCE
Baleña, Ederlina D., Lucero, Dolores M., Peralta, Arnel M. Understanding Culture,
Society, and Politics for Senior High School. Quezon City: Educational
Resources Corporation, 2016.

Contreras, Antonio P., Dela Cruz, Arleigh Ross D., Erasga, Dennis S., Fadrigon,
Cecile C. Understanding Culture, Society, and Politics. Quezon City:
Phoenix Publishing House, Inc., 2016.

"Chapter 9. Social Stratification in Canada – Introduction to Sociology – 1st

Canadian Edition." BC Open Textbooks – Open Textbooks Adapted and
Created by BC Faculty. Last modified November 6, 2014.
https://opentextbc.ca/introductiontosociology/chapter/chapter9-social-
stratification-in-the-united-states/

"8.1 Systems of Stratification – Sociology." Open Textbooks · University of

Minnesota Libraries. Last modified April 8, 2016.
https://open.lib.umn.edu/sociology/chapter/8-1-systems-of-stratification

"Social Mobility | Boundless Sociology." Lumen Learning – Simple Book Production.

Accessed June 14, 2020. https://courses.lumenlearning.com/boundless-
sociology/chapter/social-mobility/

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