STUDY GUIDE – THIRD EXAM

INTRODUCTION TO SOCIOLOGY

Spring 2008 - Kessler

 

The exam format will be definition and short essay.  The exam will cover

 

  1. All assigned readings (chapters 10, 11, 13, & 14 [I won’t include anything from chapter 12 on the exam]) and accompanying lecture material/class discussion since the last exam

 

  1. Documentaries: Anderson High Segment from People Like Us; Why Can’t We Live Together? (these documentaries are on reserve in the library)

 

Keep in mind that an example is not synonymous with a definition. Examples lend support to, but do not replace, definitions.

 

Chapter 10 – Social Stratification:

 

Be able to identify/explain and discuss:

 

Social stratification and its four basic principles

The difference between open and closed systems

What is meant by status consistency (high and low)

The functional (as represented by the Davis-Moore thesis) and social conflict perspectives on social stratification, and Weber’s tri-dimensional model of inequality

 

Chapter 11- Social Class in the United States

 

Be able to identify and discuss:

 

The dimensions of social inequality that determine class (occupation, education, income, and wealth)

The factors, including and in addition to occupation, education, income, and wealth, that determine our social position in life

Social class division in the United States

The impact of recent trends in the US economy on stratification and mobility

How today’s US workforce is different the US workforce of 25 years ago

The categories of people at highest risk for poverty, for homelessness, and why

The two explanations for poverty presented in your text

 

Chapter 13 – Gender Stratification

 

Be able to explain:

 

The relationship between gender and culture

How, as children, we are socialized into our respective gender roles, including the agents of gender socialization

Patterns of gender stratification in the institutions of our society

The basic tenets of feminism

 

Chapter 14 – Race & Ethnicity

 

Be able to explain:

 

Why the concept of race is both “myth” and “reality”

The origins and development of the concept of race as we understand it today

Shared characteristics of minority groups

The difference between prejudice and discrimination, and individual and institutional discrimination

Theories of prejudice

The six basic patterns that characterize the relationship between dominant groups and minorities

 

Be able to define the following terms/concepts:

 

Income & Wealth

Intragenerational Social Mobility & Intergenerational Social Mobility

Relative Poverty & Absolute Poverty

The feminization of Poverty

Social Stratification

Gender Stratification

Caste System & Class System

Meritocracy

Status Consistency

Patriarchy

Sexism

Feminism

Minority group & Dominant group

Race

Racism

Ethnicity

Prejudice

Discrimination, Institutional Discrimination, Individual Discrimination

Genocide

Stereotype

Scapegoat