An Introduction to the Introduction to Sociology
Short Answer Review Exercises
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| 1. Some people accuse sociologists of observing conditions that are obvious. How does looking at sociology as “making the familiar strange” help counter this claim? How does sociology differ from simple common-sense reasoning? |
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| 2. What is the sociological imagination and how do history and personal biography affect it? If a sociologist studies the challenges experienced by students earning a college degree, how could the lessons gained be described as “terrible” as well as “magnificent”? |
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| 3. How does the exchange from Pulp Fiction featured in this chapter shed light on the nature of sociology? What does humor have in common with the sociological imagination? |
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| 4. What is a social institution and how does it relate to social identity? Choose a sports team or another social institution to illustrate your answer. |
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| 5. A sociologist studies the way a group of fast-food restaurant employees do their work. From what you read in this chapter, how would Weber and Durkheim differ in their study of these workers? |
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| 6. Compare functionalism and conflict theory. How would the two differ in their understanding of inequality? |
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| 7. What is feminist theory? Why might some of Harriet Martineau’s work be described as feminist? |
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| 8. You tell a friend that you're taking a class in sociology. There's a chance your friend knows about sociology and is quite jealous. There's also a chance your friend is confusing sociology with the other social sciences. How would you describe sociology? How does sociology differ from history and psychology? |
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| 9. Sociology, like any discipline, features some divisions. What are some of the cleavages in the field and why might these be described as false dichotomies? |
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| 10. Why do people go to college and how does Randall Collins’s book Credential Society make the familiar reality of college education seem strange? |
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