soc 102

Define the concept of Sociological Imagination. Provide an example of how you would apply the Sociological Imagination to a current social issue within society such as racial conflict and law enforcement, or education funding. What is your perspective on the issue if you use the Sociological Imagination?

Go to YouT and find the video on the coronation ceremony of Queen Elizabeth. What type of authority is demonstrated by the video? What type of authority does our president have? Which authority would you rather live under, traditional or rational-legal, and why?

How do structural-functionalist, feminists, and symbolic interactionists differ in their analysis of the family? Provide your conclusion as to the perspective that provides the “fullest” understanding of the family.

Name four social negatives and four social positives concerning gentrification. If you or someone you know have experienced gentrification, share their experience and what was the effect of gentrification.

Name four social negatives and four social positives concerning gentrification. If you or someone you know have experienced gentrification, share their experience and what was the effect of gentrification.

Through research, find an example of issues related to two of the three organizing principles of stratification in the United States (class, race, and gender). How are individuals stratified based on each of the two principles you chose? Provide citations for the sources you use. An example of an issue related to gender is the pay gap between men and women.

Select three societal tasks from Chart 6-2 in Our Social World: An Introduction to Sociology – Chapter 6, and explain how the related social institution performs the societal task. Can an argument be made as to the most important task? Share your thoughts with the class.

Merton believed that deviance was the result of tension between the cultural goals or aspirations held out to the larger society, and the approved means of attaining those goals. Do you agree or disagree with this theoretical perspective? Providing examples to back up your statement.

Are we “prisoners” of socialization – yes or no? If you answer “yes,” how do you explain the fact that we think of ourselves as having choices and free will? If you say “no,” how do you explain the fact that in almost every way, we conform to what society expects of us? (We wear clothes, we drive on the right-hand side of the road, we go to college, we don’t – usually – go around stealing things, killing people, or breaking most of the laws of society.) After reading the GCU ...

In Our social world: An introduction to sociology, look up the definition of Sociology. Write at least four keywords that correspond best to the definition of Sociology. Explain the goal of Sociology. Share with the class why you want to study Sociology?