Midterm 4 study guide for Giddens et al. Chapter 8, Stratification, Class, and Inequality

Know about the following:

social stratification
slavery
the caste system
the estate system
the class system
life chances
Kuznets curve
historical trends in the real income of blue-collar workers in Western societies
racial disparities in wealth and income
the wealthiest 20% of the American population
educational attainment
cultural capital
the new urban poor
William Domhoff
the wealth gap in the income gap between blacks and whites
social mobility
Pierre Bourdieu
Peter Blau and Otis Dudley Duncan
downward mobility
homelessness
Karl Marx
Max Weber
Kingsley Davis and Wilbert Moore
Eric Olin Wright
globalization
the poverty line
the feminization of poverty

Study guide and discussion questions for Code of the Street Chapter 4

Study guide and discussion questions for Code of the Street Chapter 4. Come prepared to discuss the discussion questions next week (for the online class, discuss these questions this week on our discussion board).

According to Elijah Anderson, why is the teen pregnancy rate so high in inner-city Philadelphia? Discuss the following: poverty, the “game” that young men play, the “dream” that young women have, “baby clubs,” and the influence of peers.

Compare the attitudes that exist about teen pregnancy in the middle class world with the attitudes that exist in inner-city Philadelphia.

What kinds of attitudes do you have about teen pregnancy? How is it different from the attitudes that Anderson describes?


Possible midterm essay question:

According to Elijah Anderson, why is the teen pregnancy rate so high in inner-city Philadelphia? In your answer, discuss the following: poverty, the “game” that young men play, the “dream” that young women have, “baby clubs,” and the influence of peers. (This question is worth 12 points.)

Study guide and discussion questions for Code of the Street Chapter 3. Come prepared to discuss the discussion questions next week (for the online class, discuss these questions this week on our discussion board).

In Anderson’s discussion of crime in inner-city Philadelphia, how does he describe the stickup?

According to Anderson, in his discussion of crime in inner-city Philadelphia, why do inner-city community members do little about the drug trade?

According to Anderson, in his discussion of crime in inner-city Philadelphia, what factors explain why young people get involved in the drug trade?

What is your experience with drugs and crime?

How is the drug trade in the middle-class world different from the inner city?

How are crime and criminals different in the middle-class world?

Study guide and discussion questions for "Nickel and Dimed" by Barbara Ehrenreich. Come prepared to discuss the discussion questions next week (for the online class, discuss these questions this week on our discussion board).

Discussion questions:

Have any of you worked at a minimum wage job? Talk about the experience. Was it like Ehrenreich's?

Study guide questions:

1. Why did Barbara Ehrenreich do this study?
2. What did Ehrenreich do in order to write this article?
3. What job did Ehrenreich plan not to do, but ended up doing anyway?
4. What did Ehrenreich find in want ads in the newspaper?
5. What must the employer do, according to the law, if a waitress’s tips and salary fall below the minimum wage?
6. What did Ehrenreich try to do after two weeks “in the field”?
7. What were the two biggest problems Ehrenreich found in the low-wage workforce?
8. What does Ehrenreich conclude from her study?

Study guide and discussion questions for "From When Work Disappears: The World of the New Urban Poor" by WILLIAM JULIUS WILSON. Come prepared to discuss the discussion questions next week (for the online class, discuss these questions this week on our discussion board).

Study guide and discuss questions:

How does Wilson explain poverty in the inner city?

How is poverty in the inner city similar to and different from poverty in SLO county?


Study guide, know about the following:

residential segregation
changes in the labor market
unemployment
urban black poverty
Bronzeville

Study guide for lecture on stratification.

1. According to the lecture, what are the social classes that exist in the United States? Describe them.

2. What is the role of ideology in sustaining the class system?

Midterm 3 study guide for chapter on groups (chapter 6) in Giddens et al.

know about:

social group
social aggregate
in-group
out-group
primary group
reference group
Stanley Milgram study
social networks
organizations
formal organizations
Max Weber
bureaucracies
ideal type
formal relations
informal relations
Peter Blau
John Meyer and Brian Rowan
bureaucratic ritualism
Michel Foucault
surveillance
social capital
Robert Michels, iron law of oligarchy
Judy Wajcman
Japanese corporations
corporate culture
Manuel Castells
networked organizations
women in executive positions
disadvantages of telecommuting
Robert Putnam
television

Midterm 3 study guide for chapter on interaction (chapter 5) in Giddens et al.

Know about:

Erving Goffman
civil inattention
staring (including gender differences)
facial expressions of infants and adults
nonverbal communication
Paul Ekman
Charles Darwin
ethnomethodology
Harold Garfinkel
Mitchell Duneier and Harvey Molotch
interactional vandalism
response cry
unfocused interaction
focused interaction
an encounter
impression management
social role
social status/social position
front region
back region
disadvantages of electronic communication
Elijah Anderson
social constructionism
globalization and tourism

Midterm 3 study guide for Giddens et al. Chapter 2, "Asking and Answering Sociological Questions"

Have knowledge of the following:

hypothesis
causation
correlation
variable
control
independent variable
dependent variable
ethnography
survey
life history
experiment
historical analysis
fieldwork
pilot study
sample
open-ended questions
representative sample
randon sample
triangulation
reflexivity
measures of central tendency
correlation coefficient
standard deviation
mean
median
mode

Study guide/discussion question for "Telling the Truth about Damned Lies and Statistics" by JOEL BEST. Come prepared to discuss this question during the second part of this week (for the online class, discuss this question this week on our discussion board).

According to Best, what kind of attitude should we have toward statistical research?

midterm 3 reminder

You will need a scantron form for this exam. You do NOT need a bluebook. There IS a take-home portion to this exam. See the syllabus for the link to the take-home questions.

There are no changes to your syllabus, and as indicated on your syllabus, here is the material that will be covered on the exam:

In Giddens et al.:

Chapter 5. Social Interaction and Everyday Life
Chapter 6. Groups, Networks, and Organizations
Chapter 2. Asking and Answering Sociological Questions

On the internet:

“Shame and the Social Bond: A Sociological Theory” by Thomas Scheff (article on the internet: http://www.soc.ucsb.edu/faculty/scheff/2.html)

In the Massey reader:

14. CHRISTINE HORNE, MARY KRIS MCILWAINE, AND KRISTIE A. TAYLOR,
Civility and Order: Adult Social Control of Children in Public Places
25. “‘Getting’ and ‘Making’ a Tip” by Greta Paules
45. “The McDonald’s System” by George Ritzer
5. “The My Lai Massacre” by Herbert C. Kelman and V. Lee Hamilton
34. “Police Accounts of Normal Force” by Jennifer Hunt
6. “Telling the Truth about Damned Lies and Statistics” by Joel Best

In Code of the Street:

Introduction, Chapters 1 and 2

You are responsible for all lecture material since midterm 2.

This is the take-home portion to our third exam. Read the introduction and chapters 1 and 2 in Code of the Street. Answer the following questions. Your answers are due the day of the exam. Do NOT work together on this assignment. These essays should be written completely independently.

Soc 1A
Midterm 3
Take-home Essay Questions

Part 1.

Read the Introduction in Code of the Street. According to Elijah Anderson, what is the “code of the street”? This part is worth two points. The suggested length of your answer is one paragraph (about five sentences).

Part 2.

Read Chapter 1 in Code of the Street. According to Elijah Anderson, who are the “decent” and who are the “street?” How does he describe both groups? This part is worth four points. The suggested length of your answer is one-half page double-spaced.

Part 3.

Read Chapter 2 in Code of the Street. According to Elijah Anderson, how do young people in inner-city Philadelphia campaign for respect? This part is worth four points. The suggested length of your answer is one-half page double-spaced.

Part 4.

Read Chapter 2 in Code of the Street. According to Elijah Anderson, what is “the dilemma of the decent kid?” This part is worth four points. The suggested length of your answer is one-half page double-spaced.

Study guide/discussion questions for three articles for midterm 3. Come prepared to discuss these questions next week (for the online class, discuss these questions this week on our discussion board).

The McDonald’s System (from The McDonaldization of Society) by GEORGE RITZER

Describe the McDonald’s system. What does Ritzer think is some of its disadvantages?

Where do you see McDonaldization occurring? How is Cuesta College McDonaldized?

The My Lai Massacre: A Crime of Obedience? (from Crimes of Obedience: Toward a Social Psychology of Authority and Responsibility) by HERBERT C. KELMAN and V. LEE HAMILTON

Summarize Kelman and Hamilton’s analysis of the My Lai massacre. In their formulation, what were the social processes that explain the massacre?

Have any of you served in the military? Can any of you speak to the processes that Kelman and Hamilton argue are features of the military?

Police Accounts of Normal Force JENNIFER HUNT

Discuss how police officers are socialized to create an interpretation of questionable behavior that makes it appear to be a natural and acceptable response to particular situations.

What is the difference between legally permissible, normal, and excessive force? Discuss normal force.

According to police officers, should they ever lose control of their emotions?

Using examples from “Police Accounts of Normal Force,” discuss how sanctions can be used to make individuals conform (this question concern lecture material).

Have any of you been involved in law enforcement? Is the situation that Hunt describes the situation that you have observed?

Study guide/discussion questions for “Shame and the Social Bond.” Come prepared to discuss these questions next week (for the online class, discuss these questions this week on our discussion board).

Discuss the criticisms that Scheff has of the various works of sociologists and psychologists in his essay.

What were Scheff's criticisms of Freud?

Explain Cooley’s concept of the “looking glass self.”

According to Norbert Elias, what kind of transformation occurs in the last five centuries in the Western world with respect to shame?

According to Richard Sennett what are two injuries that the working class suffer?

According to Helen Lewis, what is the difference between overt, undifferentiated shame and bypassed shame?

What is a “feeling trap”?

According to Helen Lewis, what is the relationship between shame and the social bond?

What is your assessment of Scheff’s arguments?

Code of the Street, Intro., Ch. 1 and 2

Discussion/study guide questions concerning Code of the Street

Read the Introduction in Code of the Street. According to Elijah Anderson, what is the “code of the street”? Compare the code of the street to norms about interpersonal behavior that exist in the middle-class world.

Read Chapter 1 in Code of the Street. According to Elijah Anderson, who are the “decent” and who are the “street?” How does he describe both groups? Do you find that there are decent and street in San Louis Obispo County?

Read Chapter 2 in Code of the Street. According to Elijah Anderson, how do young people in inner-city Philadelphia campaign for respect? How do young people in SLO county campaign for respect?

According to Elijah Anderson, what is “the dilemma of the decent kid?” Do you ever experience the dilemma of the decent kid?

Study guide/discussion questions for "Getting and Making a Tip." Be prepared to discuss the following questions next week (or on the discussion board for this week for the online class).

According to Greta Foff Paule, how do waitresses often see the customer?

What do waitresses do to maximize the size of the tips they receive?

In Greta Foff Paules’ discussion of waitressing, to what does she attribute their success in getting tips?

What is the relationship among waitresses?

How do waitresses interpret low tips or the failure to be tipped?

According to Greta Foff Paules, how do most waitresses seem themselves?

Many of you have probably worked as a waiter or waitress. What has been your experience?

Discussion questions for next week’s (this week for the online class) lecture on interaction (for the online class, post your comments to our discussion board this week):

How can understanding the social structure, the social positions, and the social roles that are relevant to an interaction help us to understand the behavior of individuals? Do you have any examples?

Do people put on performances in everyday interaction? In what ways? Give examples.

Do you think that style is important in conveying validity? That is, do you think that people with better style are more believable? Do you have any examples of this?

According to Goffman, we can have a cynical or sincere attitude toward our own performance. Are people that are cynical (in Goffman’s sense of the word) bad people? Why? Give examples from your own observations.

Have you yourself manipulated your own emotions? Have you seen other people manipulate their emotions? Again, Hochschild argues that there are legitimate reasons for doing this.