Sociology 250

Second Midterm Examination

November 21, 1995

Time: 50 minutes

Answer each of the following four questions. Within each question you have choices. The points associated with each question are given at the start of the question.

1. Definition or Explanation. (3 x 3 = 9 points). Select three (3) of the following concepts, state which sociologist is associated with the term and in a sentence or two define or explain the meaning of the concept.

affective neutrality formal rationality social order

social control latency collective representation

pragmatism dysfunction expressive

2. Differences among Concepts. (2 x 8 = 16 points). Select two (2) of the following and in a few sentences explain the concept or the difference between the concepts listed. In each case state which sociologist is associated with the conc epts.

a. repressive and restitutive law

b. motivate, recruit and perform

c. status-role bundle

d. objective and subjective spirit

3. Short Answer. (15 points). Select one (1) of the following and write a paragraph on the topic or question.

a. What does Simmel mean by saying society is an association of free individuals?

b. What does Mead mean by saying that intelligence is the ability to delay reaction?

c. What does Durkheim mean by saying that marriage is better for women than for men?

4. Quotes. (15 points). Choose one (1) of the following quotes, state which sociologist wrote it, and write a short paragraph explaining the meaning and importance of the quote.

If voluntary deaths increase from January to July, it is not because heat disturbs the organism, but because social life is more intense. To be sure, this greater intensity derives from the greater ease of development of social life in the Summer than in the Winter, owing to the sun's position ..., the state of the atmosphere, etc. But the physical environment does not stimulate it directly; above all, it has no effect on the progression of suicide. The latter depends on social conditions.

 

 

... rationalized bureaucracies ... have become the key players in the power struggle.

... this is a shorthand way of talking and referring to complex patterns of action and relation among individuals. Such patterns are so complex and complicated that we obviously cannot describe the activities of each individual who makes them up , but can only talk about typical patterns of action. However, it is about the actions of typical individuals that we are talking. Thus, in talking about 'the state' we are using a shorthand expression to speak of the things that the typical functionaries of the state do, about how certain kinds of individuals act.

The deepest problems of modern life derive from the claim of the individual to preserve the autonomy and individuality of his existence in the face of overwhelming social forces, of external culture, and of the technique of life.

...the main functional necessity of explaining the universal presence of stratification is precisely the requirement faced by any society of placing and motivating individuals in the social structure. As a functioning mechanism soc iety must somehow distribute its members in social positions and induce them to perform the duties of these positions.

Go sit in the lounges of the luxury hotels and on the doorsteps of the flophouses; sit on the Gold Coast settees and on the slum shakedowns; sit in the Orchestra Hall and in the Star and Garter Burlesk.

 

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