Sociology 211
Social Problems
Fall 2002
Dr. Scott SchafferMidterm Examination Prep Sheet
Details: The midterm examination for this course will take place on Friday Sep 24/2002 from 2pm to 250pm. Except in the event of a drastic emergency (one mandating your absence and one that can be copiously evinced), no makeup exams will be given.
You will be required to bring the following items to the exam: two blue books, and two blue or black pens. You may also bring one 8 1/2" by 11" (letter-size) sheet of notes to the exam. No other books or materials will be allowed for the examination. At the end of the exam, you will turn in the blue books, the exam sheet, and your notes. No credit will be given for anything that appears on the notes but not in the blue books.
Exam Breakdown: There will be three parts to this exam:
1. Concept identification. You will be presented with a number of concepts from the Social Problems and Social Solutions book and my lectures, and will be asked to define them in your own words, identify the author(s) who utilized them, how the concept is used by the author in the development of their argument, and other related concepts, including how they're related. Your responses to this section do not need to be in paragraph or sentence form; you can respond to them in point form. However, you should make sure that what you write can be understood by me.
2. Analytic essay. You will be presented with a number of essay topics and will choose one for your argument-based response. The topics, listed on the reverse of this sheet, ask you to discuss the readings in particular kinds of ways. Be sure that you respond fully and directly to the topic question, and be sure that your response takes the commonly accepted essay form.
3. Social problem to sociological problem analysis. You will be presented with a number of options for developing a "social problem to sociological problem" analysis, as discussed in class. You need to identify all the required elements of this analysis (as discussed on the handout given in class), as well as what particular aspects of the social problem you're seeing at work in this analysis. The topics for this analysis will refer to specific social problems discussed by specific authors in specific articles in SPSS; you should be sure to include page references to materials you use to support your claims. Your response to this section does not have to be in paragraph or sentence form; however, you do need to make sure that what you write can be understood by me.
Exam Grade Breakdown and Evaluation Criteria:
Concept Identification section (30%) -- Your responses will be evaluated based on how completely you identify the required elements of each concept. Each response will be given a rank score of 0-4 (1 "point" for each section that's full and complete, with partial credit given), and the rank scores will be totaled. A letter grade, based on the highest total rank score and a standard 90/80/70… scale will be assigned to this section.
Analytic Essay section (40%) -- Your response will be evaluated based on how fully and completely you answer the question; how well you utilize evidence from the readings to support your claims; and how logically your response is developed. A letter grade will be assigned to this section.
Social problem… section (40%) -- Your response will be evaluated based on how fully and completely you detail this analysis in each of the required steps. A letter grade will be assigned to this section.
The Topics: The exam will look almost exactly like what appears below. You should feel free to prepare all questions listed below for your notes; the questions on the exam will be drawn from those listed here.
Section I -- Concept Identification -- Eight of these will appear on the exam; you choose five (5).
For each concept, be sure to identify a) the author who discussed it, b) the definition, c) the importance the concept has for the development of the author's argument or for the study of social problems, and d) any concepts you think are related to that concept and how they're related.
Homogenization
Thomas Theorem
Commodity consciousness
"Dominant model" of development
Nostalgia trap
Tension between parenting and working
Globalization
Imperialism and neoimperialism
Relative versus absolute poverty
Rationalization of labor
McDonaldization of society
Welfare for the poor vs. welfare for the rich
Tools for socialization (han, hansei, etc.)
Job availability and welfare reform
Accessibility to "public goods"
Role concordance
Stigmatization
Public vs. private responsibilities
Surplus labor pool
Division of laborSection II -- Analytic Essay -- Three of these will appear on the exam; you choose one (1).
Be sure that you utilize at least three (3) readings in the development of your response to these questions, and that you show how it is you came to the claims you make in your response to these questions.
1. To what extent do you think we should learn from the ways in which other societies solve their social problems, and why?
2. To what extent do tensions between conceptions of public responsibilities and private responsibilities with regard to health care, care for the aged, and assuaging poverty make solving these social problems more difficult, and why?
3. To what extent does the way in which we conceive of individual responsibility hide our role in reproducing social problems, and why?
4. What kinds of criteria would you use to identify a solution to a social problem as being "more beneficial" and "more detrimental" to our society, and why?
5. To what extent does our particular ideological system make the development of solutions to problems with inequality and poverty more difficult, and why?
6. How does the use of the levels of analysis as an analytic tool highlight our responsibility for the reproduction and maintenance of the social problems we face?
7. To what extent do you think we should involve ourselves in the ways that other societies solve their social problems, and why?
Section III -- Sociological Problem Analysis -- Three of these will appear on the exam; you choose one (1).
Be sure that you fully and completely identify all the required elements in each of these analyses, showing the elements from each article that provide you with this insight (including page numbers).
1. Social problem to sociological problem: Cuban health care system
2. Sociological problem to social problem: Division of labor (using McDonalds article)
3. Social problem to sociological problem: "Nostalgia trap" and breakdown of the family
4. Sociological problem to social problem: Allocation of resources (using Garbarino article)
5. Social problem to sociological problem: Homogenization of culture (Barnet and Cavanaugh)
6. Sociological problem to social problem: Allocation of resources (using Parenti article)
7. Social problem to sociological problem to different social problem: Care for the elderly -- start with Scandinavia, end with US
A few notes:
1. Obviously, there's a lot of preparation to do for this exam. Don't wait until the last second to do it. Start now, ask questions when you have them, and come see me if you need to.
2. Just like with every other exam, your success or failure here depends on what you do between now and the day of the exam more than it does on what happens that Friday.
3. Don't short-cut or try to figure out how many of these you have to do. Prepare everything. That way, even if it's not on the exam, you have more experience handling it, and are even more ready for the paper assignments and other work down the road in this course.