Study Guide: Final Exam Sociology 2111 Instructor: Bruce Mork

I. Multiple choice. Be able to define, identify, and/or use the following.

a. cultural system, social system, personality system, biological organism
b. talented tenth
c. Hull House
d. symbolic interactionism.
e.functionalism
f. middle range theory
g. grand theory
h. macro theory
i. micro theory
j. rational choice theory
k. feminist theory
l. taking the role of the other
m. looking glass self
n. primary group
o. the "I"
p. the "me"
q. pattern variables
r. sociological canon
s. total institutions
t. secondary adjustments
u. latent function
v. manifest function
w. dysfunction
x. ethnomethodology
y. standpoint theory
z. Talcott Parsons
aa. Robert Merton
bb. W.E.B. DuBois
cc. George Herbert Mead
dd. Dorothy Smith
ee. Charles Horton Cooley
ff. Herbert Blumer
gg. Jane Addams
hh. . Erving Goffman
ii. George Homans

Videos:"W.E.B. DuBois: A Biography in Four Voices," "Slim Hopes," "Inside the Jury Room," "Who Will Teach for America?"

II. Essay questions. Be prepared to answer the following questions.

1. How did Robert Park come to play such a major role in defining the canon in American sociology. What are some of the likely reasons for his excluding DuBois and Addams, and how might American sociology have been different if they had been included?

2. How and why has the sociological canon changed since the 1950's, when functionalism was the dominant theoretical perspective? Consider the rise of social movement theory (especially political process and resource mobilization perspectives); consider the influence of modern conflict theoriests, including C. Wright Mills and Immanuel Wallerstein; consider the influence of feminist sociology.

3. A persistent issue in social theory has been the issue of whether the sociologist functions best as a neutral observer or as a socially engaged activist? Which theorists have taken each perspective, what has been the rationale for their positions, and who do you think is right? For this question, draw on the course as a whole.

4. All of the theories we have examined in this course have implications for the relationship between society and the individual. Compare and contrast three of the theories we have covered in this final third of the course (symbolic interactionism, functionalism, rational choice theory, and feminist theory) in their treatment of this issue. Name names and give examples, wherever possible.

5. Show how the work of Jackson Katz ("Tough Guise ") and Judith Lorber and Patricia Martin ("The Socially Constructed Body")combine insights from conflict theory and symbolic interactionism to show ways in which the social construction of gender reflects and perpetuates gender inequality.

6. How can sociological theory be used to analyze the U.S. relationship with other countries, including the periphery in general and the Moslem countries in particular? How can sociological theory illuminate some of the major issues involved in the American War on Terrorism?