SAMPLE QUESTIONS: FIRST EXAMINATION

Soc 1001 Introduction to Sociology

These questions are provided to help you prepare for the first examination. Eight of the questions that appear on the exam will be chosen from this list. You should be able to answer most with a short paragraph. The answers will be found both in your lecture notes and in the text.

You may want to confer with others in the class in finding the best answer to the question. Please read the questions carefully and give some thought to their answer. If you still do not understand some of the questions, indicate which ones and send me an E-mail before the exam is due so that I can point you in a direction to find the answer.

On the examination you will answer each question with a paragraph or two. You may use these questions as a guide to preparing for the examination. You may also create a 'cheat sheet' from this guide, however, do try to keep everything on a single 8 ½ by 11 sheet (you may use both sides).

The questions:

  1. Briefly distinguish between a sociological and a psychological interpretation of human behavior: say for example, the spate of shootings that have occurred among gangs in the past couple of years.
  2. Describe a group. What makes this group different from an aggregate?
  3. A car salesman greets you as you enter the agency, shakes hands, gets your first name, something about your family, your work and your hobbies. S/he then proceeds to call you by your first name and makes reference to work, family, hobbies as s/he works to sell you the car. Is this a primary or secondary interaction? Why?
  4. What is the difference between society and culture?
  5. Distinguish between an achieved and ascribed status. How might what we consider an ascribed status become an achieved status? Give an example.
  6. Select an activity and briefly describe the role or roles that are a part of that activity.
  7. How does Stark explain the degree of success that Jewish and Italian immigrants experienced in the United States?
  8. Distinguish between the micro and macrosociological approaches to the study of human behavior.
  9. You wish to study the effect of friendship upon allocation of limited rewards. Describe the method you would use. (Hint this is in the realm of microsociology and methodologies appropriate for this approach to understanding human behavior.)
  10. Describe the difference between randomization and a random sample.
  11. Describe an example of a spurious correlation (use an example different from those presented in the textbook).
  12. The self is social. What does this mean in microsociological terms?
  13. What is the significance of Stark's discussion of delinquency and religion in Chapter 4?
  14. Groups and societies have age, sex, or racial structures. Select one of these kinds of structures and discuss how it makes the society or group distinctive. I.e., what is it about the age, sex or racial composition of a society or group that makes it different from another society or group with a different age, sex or racial composition?
  15. Why would we want to have comparative research?
  16. There are several ways to identify 'adulthood' getting a driver's license, serving in the military, marriage, voting age, drinking age, religious confirmation, the socalled 'majority usually 21. Briefly discuss issues that have arisen because of the discrepancy between these social definitions and actual physical maturation.
  17. Stark discusses IQ as a social and as an inherited characteristic. This argument has generated a great deal of heat and little light. We argue about whether behavior is inherited or learned. Why do we concern ourselves with these differences?
  18. How important do you think society and the social group is? What evidence can you cite for this importance? (Consider Harlow's study of monkeys, the discussion of feral children and the discussion of animal societies.)
  19. Socialization is the process by which we acquire our humanity and social characteristics. Describe process of treating children within the family that results in differences between adult men and women.
  20. Germans are often cited as being authoritarian, Italians as vocal, the French as lovers, the English as reserved. This is a form of cultural determinism, discuss the degree of this culture / personality connection.
  21. Policemen are often seen as being generally suspicious of other human beings, of being aggressive. Discuss how this might occur.
  22. Discuss the effect of 'manner' and 'appearance' upon our understanding of another's behavior. (The discussion of Goffman is pertinent here.)
  23. Why do you think a backstage is important to us?
  24. Describe a random sample.
  25. Distinguish between a sample and a population.
  26. Discuss how you might check to see if a sample is representative of the population from which it is drawn.
  27. What is the importance of empirical observation in the testing of a theory?
  28. What is bias and how can it affect our examination of human behavior?
  29. What is a control group?
  30. Describe the limits that our genetic makeup places upon our ability to learn a particular culture.
  31. Briefly describe the importance of language in shaping human experience.
  32. How might we show that a subculture is present in a society?