ESSAY REVIEW QUESTIONS FOR FIRST EXAM
The following are just EXAMPLES of the type of essay questions you
will see on the final exam. I will put up a few more a few days before
the exam. You may or may not see some of these, and there will, of course,
probably be some related questions.
For this exam, you will answer two essays (but I will give you a choice
of about four, and you will select the two you want to answer).
Answers must be complete, reflect class material, and demonstrate that
you know what you're talking about. BS and "snow" will be downgraded.
Better to say nothing than to expose ignorance.
You may discuss these on WebBoard.
1) Assume that you are going on a national tv talk show to explain
why professors might plagiarize their articles. Here are two examples
from a university president and from a US Vice-President.
You are asked to give a SOCIOLOGICAL explanation for why high-ranking
people might plagiarize. Response by explaining it with any
of the following theories:
a) Matza - Neutralization theory
b) Sutherland - Differential Association theory
c) Merton - Anomie theory
d) Cloward & Ohlin - Differential Opportunity theory
2) You have been asked to explain how socialization contributes to
racism. Using symbolic interactionist theory, explain how this
might occur. Be specific, and give an example.
3) Select any major crime story from current events that appeared in the
news in past 7 days and apply any of these theories to help explain or
understand it:
--conflict theory
--Interactionist theory
--anomie theory
--Drift theory
--Neutralization theory
--Differential Association
--Differential Opportunity
--Culture conflict theory
4. NOTE: You must lay out the theory and summarize key points of the theory
and logically tie those points to your application. Remember: SOME
THEORIES ARE BETTER THAN OTHERS FOR THE TOPIC!
Select any major theory we've discussed and explain why it's ok for
a commedian to use the N-word or C-word, but not political candidates.
5) Some say that female professors, more than male professors, encourage
that they be called by their title of "doctor" or "professor." Some people
say this is petty and trivial, others say it's not. Compare and contrast
conflict theory and dramaturgy and apply each to both sides of this
issue.
6. What are some of the major socialization phases the you will go
through in your life and what social factors shape them?
7. Drawing from our discussions of scientific method, to this:
You have been asked to study why college students "drink to excess."
How would you test it?
--Consider some possible explanations, and then formulate these
explanations as a hypothesis.
--Identify your dependent and independent variables
--Operationalize (that is, precisely define) your variables
--Would you use a quantitative or qualitative method?
--How would you gather your date to test your hypotheses?
(MORE COMING IN THE NEXT FEW DAYS)