Soc 2
Fall 07
Final Exam Take-home Questions

Each question is worth 7 points. The suggested length for each question is one page double-spaced. As always, extra credit points will be awarded for completeness (thoroughly answering the question), quality of writing and critical thinking.

A. Referring to Bertram, Blachman, Sharpe, Andreas: “Three Fatal Flaws in the War on Drugs,” discuss what Bertram et al. consider to be the three fatal flaws in the war on drugs.

B. Referring to the video seen in class, lectures, and Chapter 11 in Mooney et al., discuss the diversity that exists with respect to gender identity and sexuality.

C. Referring to the video seen in class, lectures, and Chapter 11 in Mooney et al., discuss the biases that exist with respect to GLBT individuals.

D. Referring to Juergensmyer: “The Global Rise of Religious Violence,” Ignatieff: “Democracy in an Age of Terror,” Chapter 16 in Mooney et al., and lecture notes, answer the following two questions: How can religious terrorism be explained? How can religious terrorism be combated?

Midterm 4
Soc 2
Fall 07

Take-home essay questions. In all your answers, make sure you refer to lecture notes when appropriate. Each question is worth seven points. The suggested length for each answer is one page double-spaced. Answer any six.

A. Describe the new racism, including (but not limited to) aversive racism, modern racism, and laissez-faire racism (refer to Mooney et al. chapter 9, Bobo and Smith)

B. How does Anderson describe and explain violence and crime in the inner-city? (refer to Anderson)

C. How can white-collar crime be explained? (refer to Rosoff et al. and Mooney chapter 4)

D. How does Wilson describe and explain the new urban poverty? (refer to Wilson)

E. What are some costs of racism? How can racism be confronted? What kinds of antiracist actions can be taken? (refer to Feagin and Vera and Mooney et al chapter 9)

F. What is the approach to gender socialization that Risman is evaluating? Does it work? (refer to Risman)

G. Describe the problematic nature of motherhood. (refer to Hays)

DRAFT -- the finalized version will be handed out on Wednesday

Possible take-home essay questions

Midterm 3
Soc 2
Fall 07

Take-home essay questions. In all your answers, make sure you refer to lecture notes when appropriate.

Part 1. Answer any three. Each question is worth 12 points. The suggested length for each answer is two pages double-spaced.

A. Discuss inequality in education. (refer to Mooney et al., Traub, and Hart and Risley).

B. Discuss the causes of, consequences of, and solutions to teen pregnancy. (refer to Anderson, Luker, and Mooney et al.)

C. Discuss the causes of, consequences of, and solutions to divorce and problems associated with divorce. How does Stephanie Coontz put divorce in perspective? (refer to Mooney et al. and Coontz)

D. Discuss the changing nature of work. Discuss the problems associated with work today. (refer to Mooney et al. and Schwartz)

Part 2. Answer any three. Each question is worth 5 points. The suggested length for each answer is one-half page.

E. Referring to “The Debasing of Education,” discuss Schwartz’s assessment of education.

F. Referring to “The Social Roots of School Shootings” discuss Metha and Roth’s analysis of school shootings.

G. Describe some problems that welfare mothers have, particularly with aid agencies, in financially supporting their families. (refer to Hays)

H. Describe the causes of family violence. (refer to Mooney et al. and Baca Zinn and Eitzen)

As you know, on Monday (10/1) we will be taking our second midterm. Your take-home portion of the exam will be due then. The scantron portion of the exam will cover Mooney et al. chapter 6 and lecture notes only.

Midterm 2
Soc 2
Fall 07

Take-home essay questions. In all your answers, make sure you refer to lecture notes when appropriate. Please double-space.


Part 1. Answer any four. Each question is worth 3 points. The suggested length for each answer is two paragraphs.

A. Discuss rankism. How prevalent is rankism? How does this perspective help us to understand social problems such as the various forms of bigotry and school violence? How does it impact those that are perceived as of lower rank?

B. According to Jennifer Hochschild, what are the four tenets of the American dream? What is her assessment of these four tenets? How much social mobility is there in the United States?

C. How stratified is the United States? How much poverty is there in the United States? Compare with other nations. (refer to Iceland and Mooney et al.)

D. Discuss the importance of wealth in transmitting social class. (refer to Shapiro)

E. Discuss the role of the state in explaining poverty in the United States. (refer to Iceland)

F. According to Arlie Hochschild, why did many working class men vote for George W. Bush?


Part 2. Answer any three. Each question is worth 7 points. The suggested length for each answer is one page.

A. How can ghetto poverty be explained? (refer to Iceland)

B. Referring to “A Public Sociology for Human Rights” by Michael Burawoy, discuss the three wave of marketization and the related counter movements.

C. What does Charles Reich mean when he refers to the corporation as invisible government?

D. Referring to “Resurrecting a Civil Society” by Charles Derber, what suggestions does Derber make for resurrecting a civil society? What does Derber mean by the term social market? In your answer, discuss individualism, communism, the free market, and compare the United States with other countries.

E. Referring to “The Global Economy, the Privileged Class, and the Working Class” by Perrucci and Wysong, “The Vanishing Middle Class” by Witte, “Globalization and The Race to the Bottom” by Brecher and Costello, Chapter 6 in Mooney et al., discuss the relationship between globalization, the state, corporations, and inequality in the U.S. and the world.

Read "A Public Sociology For Human Rights" by Michael Burawoy

Be prepared to discuss these questions next week.

What is public sociology?

Discuss Burawoy's analysis of why the U.S. is not more involved in stopping the genocide in Darfur.

What does Burawoy mean when he writes that human rights are an ideology of domination deployed by the U.S. Give examples.

Discuss Burawoy's comparison of the battered wife and suicide bombers. What do you think?

Discuss the three waves of marketization and counter movements.

Read "Let Them Eat War" by Arlie Hochschild.

How does Hochschild explain the popularity of George Bush among blue-collar workers?

Let's discuss this article next week.

Discussion/study guide question for “The vanishing middle-class” by Griff Witte. Be prepared to discuss this article next week.

What is happening to the middle class in America?

Discussion/study guide question for “The global economy, the privileged class, and the working class” by Robert Perrucci and Earl Wysong (2003). Be prepared to discuss this article next week.

How do Perrucci and Wysong understand the moving of factories and jobs from the U.S. by corporations to other countries?

Study guide/discussion questions. Be prepared to discuss these questions next week.

19. Reich: The Corporation as Invisible Government (8)

What is the managerial system? Describe it.

22. Derber: Resurrecting Civil Society (8) Possible

What does Derber mean by the term social market?

Study guide/discussion questions for Brecher and Costello: "Globalization and The Race to the Bottom." Be prepared to discuss these questions next week.

How does Brecher and Costello describe global capitalism?

What are some negative consequences of this economic system?

Read "Poverty in the United States" for Monday.

What are the four common theories that explain the transfer of poverty? Which model makes the most sense to you?

How might the geographical concentration of poverty be explained?

How might global poverty be explained?

Compare poverty in the US to other developed countries. Why do you think that the poverty rate in the US is so high?

Read "Inheritance and Privilege" for Monday.

What is the relationship between parental support, including inheritance, and socioeconomic status?

Think about your life and the lives of people that you know. How has financial support from others, or the lack of it, affected your life?

Be prepared to discuss "What's wrong with the American Dream?" on Monday.

What are the four tenets of the American dream? Discuss the flaws.

How is the ideology of the American dream related to stratification and poverty in the United States?

Do you believe in the American dream? Do you agree or disagree with Hochschild's assessment of the American dream?

Be prepared to discuss "Somebodies and Nobodies" on Monday.

What is rankism?

How can Fuller's discussion of rankism help us to understand social problems?

How have you experienced rankism in your life, both as victim and perpretator?

Soc 2
Fall 07
midterm 1, take-home essay questions

Take-home essay questions for midterm 1. Must be typed and double-spaced. Must be turned in on the day of the midterm before the start of the exam. Answer all four parts.

Part 1. Referring to our discussions in class, chapter 1 in Mooney et al., “An Introduction to the Study of Social Problems” by Charon, and “How do we Decide what are Social Problems?” by Gusfield, answer the following questions: What is a social problem? Discuss functionalism, the conflict theories (Marxism, the varieties of feminism, the anti-racist perspective) and symbolic interactionism in understanding social problems. (This part is worth 15 points.)

Part 2. Referring to our discussion in class and “Comparative Perspectives and Competing Explanations: Taking on the Newly Configured Reductionist Challenge to Sociology" by Troy Duster, compare the sociological perspective to biological ways of knowing in studying social problems. (This part is worth 8 points.)

Part 3. Referring to our discussion in class and from your reading of “Seeing the Population Issue Whole” by Meadows, answer the following questions: Discuss the sociological imagination and its application in understanding social problems. Discuss how each perspective mentioned in the article demonstrates the sociological imagination and/or lacks the sociological imagination. (This part is worth 8 points.)

Part 4. How is the sociological imagination demonstrated in “A Climate Culprit In Darfur” by Ban Ki Moon? (This part is worth 4 points.)

Discussion questions for "Comparative Perspectives and Competing Explanations" by Troy Duster:

What is Duster's criticism of research into genetic explanations for alcoholism among Native Americans, violence, and prostrate cancer and hypertension among African Americans?

Explain Duster's skepticism of DNA markers related to various characteristics such as race and behaviors such a crime.

How is the procedure know as "cleared by arrest" related to the belief that a small number of people commit a large number of crimes? How is this point related to DNA research?

How does the assumption that a few people commit a large proportion of crime lead to the focus on explanations inside the body?


Be prepared to discuss this article on Wednesday.

Read “A Climate Culprit In Darfur” by Ban Ki Moon on the internet for our class meeting on Monday (8/27).

Discussion question:

According to Ban, what is the relationship between global warming and the conflict in Darfur? What do you think?

discussion questions for "Seeing the Population Issue Whole"

Read "Seeing the Population Issue Whole" in your reader for our class meeting on Monday (8/27).

Discussion question for "Seeing the Population Issue Whole":

Think about how each perspective (Blues, Reds, Greens, and Whites) demonstrates the sociological imagination or the lack of it.

DRAFT version of a possible midterm question

This is a DRAFT version of a possible midterm question.

Take-home essay question for midterm 1. Must be typed and double-spaced. Must be turned in on the day of the midterm before the start of the exam.

Referring to our discussions in class, Chapter One in Mooney et al., “An Introduction to the Study of Social Problems” by Charon, “How do we Decide what are Social Problems?” by Gusfield, “Seeing the Population Issue Whole” by Meadows, “A Climate Culprit In Darfur” by Ban Ki Moon, and “Comparative Perspectives and Competing Explanations: Taking on the Newly Configured Reductionist Challenge to Sociology" by Troy Duster, answer the following questions: What is a social problem? Discuss the sociological perspective(s) in understanding social problems. (This question is worth 25 points.)

Discussion questions for our next class meeting

Discussion questions for our next class meeting:

Mooney et al.:
Chapter 1. Thinking about Social Problems (pp. 2 -9)
What are the objective and subjective elements to social problems?
How do definitions of social problems vary?
How do beliefs and values influence social problems?

Charon:
1. Charon: An Introduction to the Study of Social Problems (8)
According to Charon, what is a social problem? What characteristics does a social problem have?

2. Gusfield: How do we Decide what are Social Problems? (6)
According to Gusfield, what are social problems? What characteristics do social problems have?