Possible final exam essay question

The following question concerns “Democracy, Capitalism, and Transformation” by Immanuel Wallerstein. How does Wallerstein interpret the history of democracy? What is the relationship between capitalism and democracy? What does he see as the future of the present world system? This question is worth 12 points.

Study guide for lecture on consumption:

Know about:

American consumer society
culture of consumption
downside to consumption
William Thompson, the financial trap
Karl Marx
Jean Baudrillard
Max Weber
George Ritzer
Thorstein Veblen
Colin Campbell

Study guide for lecture notes on culture.

Given cultural variation with respect to attitudes toward sexuality and sexual desire, what can we say about the socially constructed nature of sexuality in our society?

Discuss how culture can be seen as ideology. Use culture-specific beliefs about sexual desire as examples.

What is the difference between real and ideal culture? Why should we not conflate the two?

How do the various elements of culture (material goods, values, beliefs, and norms) influence the ways in which people live?

How might an ethnocentric perspective bias our sense of what is reasonable, appropriate, or morally right? Give examples.

Discuss Ann Swidler’s concept of culture as a “tool kit.” Use the two versions of love as an example.

Suggestions for studying for the first midterm:

1. Make sure you check this blog site for study guides.
2. There is a study guide section at the end of each chapter in your Giddens et al. textbook.
3. You may also go to the W. W. Norton website and try their practice quizzes. Here is the link: http://www2.wwnorton.com/college/soc/giddens6/index.asp. Make sure you double check their answers. One student several semesters ago noticed an inaccuracy.

study guide for lecture on race, summer 07

Study guide for lecture on race

Know something about:

early racial classification schemes
how many Hispanics understand race
race as a biological construct
race as a social construct

How has the category of white transformed throughout the history of the United States?
How has the category of black transformed throughout the history of the United States?

study guide for lecture on consumption, summer 07

Study guide for lecture on consumption:

Know about:

American consumer society
culture of consumption
downside to consumption
William Thompson, the financial trap
Karl Marx
Jean Baudrillard
Max Weber
George Ritzer
Thorstein Veblen
Colin Campbell

Midterm 4 study guide for Giddens lecture on the family

Midterm 4 study guide for Giddens lecture on the family.

Part 1.

Discuss the key changes affecting the family.

Part 2.

Discuss the democratic family.

midterm 3 study guide for lecture notes

Study guide for lecture notes

I. social interaction

Know about:

social structure
social position
social role
Erving Goffman
dramaturgy
the importance of style
the cynical and sincere
Arlie Hochschild
emotion labor
surface acting
deep acting

II. conformity

Solomon Asch
the various kinds of sanctions using examples from “Police Accounts of Normal Force.”
Authority
Stanley Milgram
The social conditions that help to explain the My Lai massacre .

Study guide for lecture notes on culture.

Study guide for lecture notes on culture.

Given cultural variation with respect to attitudes toward sexuality and sexual desire, what can we say about the socially constructed nature of sexuality in our society?

Discuss how culture can be seen as ideology. Use culture-specific beliefs about sexual desire as examples.

What is the difference between real and ideal culture? Why should we not conflate the two?

How do the various elements of culture (material goods, values, beliefs, and norms) influence the ways in which people live?

How might an ethnocentric perspective bias our sense of what is reasonable, appropriate, or morally right? Give examples.

Discuss Ann Swidler’s concept of culture as a “tool kit.” Use the two versions of love as an example.

summer 07 midterm 1 lecture notes study guide

Here are some study guide questions for the lecture notes for midterm 1.

Compare the sociological perspective with other ways of knowing, such a religious ways of knowing, common sense, the physical sciences, other perspectives in the social sciences, and the biological perspective.

What is the sociological imagination? How might one’s understanding of the cause of a problem influence one’s plan for solving the problem?

What is the Davis-Moore thesis? What are some criticisms of it?

Understand the importance of the symbolic interactionist claim that we create the world that we live in.

According to Howard Becker how does a person become a marijuana user?