Please address the question from the list below which matches the number that your lab instructor has given you.

1. (from chapter one) A friend says, "I hear that you're taking introductory sociology. You know, I've always wondered, What is sociology, anyway? What's the point in studying it?" Answer your friend. In the process, give an example or two of questions, issues or problems that can be usefully approached through sociological analysis. Describe as best you can what the value of sociological analysis could be in such cases, based on your reading of the first textbook chapter.

2. (from chapter one) Elaborate on this statement: "All scientific inquiry is liberating, because it confronts tradition, superstition and common sense with evidence that you can see and hear and touch." Be sure that you include reference to sociological analysis, in particular, as you formulate your response. Use examples from the social sphere of life (as contrasted with the natural and physical sciences) to illustrate your points.

3. (from chapter one) Discuss the statement by Douglass North that institutions are "the constraints that human beings impose on themselves." Think about the discussion of institutions in chapter one, and try to answer these questions, drawing on your own experiences and knowledge that you have acquired about human behavior from various sources: Why do we impose institutional constraints on ourselves? How do we do it? And when do we do it? Give examples to illustrate your conclusions.

4. (from chapter one) In your own words, explain what social structure is and what it does. How is social structure important to the way we live? In what ways do social structures create frameworks for interaction? Use specific examples in your answer. For example, you may want to describe the implications of a society's age structure for the ways that people interact with one another and the different ways that people live, based on their ages and expectations that surround a person's age group.

5. (from chapter one) It is suggested in chapter one that analysis of key structural features in a society can have clear implications for many kinds of business and public policy planning, and even for the pursuit of your own personal objectives. Give a couple of examples to illustrate this point, perhaps discussing a structural characteristic that might be important in the personal sphere, and then identifying one that could be significant for business or public policy planning. Include enough detail in your discussion to make it clear how analysis of these structural features can be worthwhile.

6. (from chapter two) How is analytical inquiry different from "common sense" ways of acquiring knowledge? What are key advantages of the analytical approach? Illustrate with reference to a particular problem, question, or issue that can be (or has been) thoughtfully studied through the analytical approach.

7. (from chapter two) In what notable ways are we influenced by our culture as we attempt to learn more about the world around us? What concrete steps can be taken to help overcome these influences in the interest of more clear-headed analysis? Give an example of a case in which you have been influenced by your culture, even when you were trying to acquire better understanding of some subject.

8. (from chapter two) Why should an analyst do everything possible to discredit the explanation that is being sought after? For example, if you are studying the question of whether cigarette smoking can be a factor in lung cancer, and the information you have makes you think that it can, why should you look as hard as you can to find proof that smoking is not a factor in this disease? Think of an illustration from the social sphere that is worth researching, and explain why a researcher should seek out evidence against the conclusion that seems to be the right one.

9. (from chapter three) Discuss population trends - both current and historical. In your discussion, highlight what is especially important for people to know about population dynamics (changing population patterns and population distributions). This is a hugesubject! You could write a book on it. Instead, write four or five paragraphs . . .

10. (from chapter three) Why are populations mushrooming in many developing countries, while they are leveling off or even declining in most economically affluent countries of the world?

11. (from chapter one) Which perspective do you tend to favor more, the consensus doctrine or the doctrine of private interests? Why? What are clear strengths of the other point of view -- the one that you do not tend to favor? As you think about the relative advantage of each perspective, illustrate how each of these points of view can help inform a particular question or problem.

12. (from chapter two) Explain why correlation does not signify causation, and how the search for causation is tied to multivariate analysis and the attempt to identify sources of spuriousness. Give an example, either real or hypothetical, that will show how the introduction of a third variable can change the interpretation that one would make in simple bivariate analysis.

Second Topical Discussion

There are 12 questions for you to choose from in the second topical discussion. Pick any question you'd like to answer for your initial essay.

1. (from chapter five) How are we to make sense, in social scientific terms, of the environmental debate -- the clashing opinions of environmentalists, on the one hand, and environmental optimists, on the other?

2. (from chapter six) The fifteenth century saw the beginnings of European empire building, and with the rise of industrial capitalism, the relationship of domination and dependency was strengthened that has survived the end of the colonial era. Nezar AlSayyad contends that

Under [the] colonial paradigm, the world became divided into two kinds of people and two types of societies: powerful, administratively advanced, racially Caucasoid, nominally Christian, and principally European dominant nations; and powerless, organizationally backward, traditionally rooted, and mainly nonwhite dominated societies (1996: 110).

David Landes, while noting that "five hundred years of domination" is "a long time," adds,

And yet, for all of colonialism's enormous effects, it was a passing phenomenon in the larger sweep of world history. Pomp and pride on the one side, humiliations on the other -- all are gone. Not forgotten; the memories remain. Yet the losses are reparable; the gains are savable; the tasks and opportunities lie ahead (1998, p. 422).

Is Landes correct in his conclusion, or is AlSayyad's cautionary vision, quoted below, more on the mark?

Globalization is the third phase in the relationship between the dominant and the dominated (1996, p. 116).

3. (from chapter six) Is dependency Africa's most prominent current problem? Why or why not?

4. (from chapter six) What are both promising and troubling signs as we consider the prospects for Third World development?

5. (from chapter seven) A friend says, "I hear that you're taking a sociology course. You should be able to help me understand why some people make so much more money than others. Is it skill? Is it their home life? Is it education? What is it, exactly?" Addresss your friend's uncertainty, drawing on what you have learned about the dynamics of social stratification.

6. (from chapter seven) It is pointed out in the chapter that this is an era of widespread displacement, downsizing, and transfer of work activities from one region to another, and even from one country to another. Is this process a good thing or a bad thing? Why? Should anything be done to change it? If so, what?

7. (from chapter eight) Why does Samuel Huntington anticipate "a clash of civilizations"? What might they clash over?

8. (from chapter eight) A friend says, "You're taking a sociology class. Tell me, what is so important about culture?" Respond to your friend.

9. (from chapter nine) What are strengths and weaknesses of each of the three political ideologies that were discussed toward the end of the chapter: liberalism, socialism and social democracy?

10. (from chapter nine) Is it likely, or is it not, that typical American attitudes about the welfare system would be different if institutional arrangements in the U.S. were different -- if they followed more closely the approach in Scandinavia of "productive social expenditures"?

11. (from chapter ten) What is the appropriate role of the state in economic life? Should the state play a large role, as advocated by those on the "left" such as John Kenneth Galbraith, or should its role be more restricted, as advocated by those on the "right" such as Milton Friedman? Why?

12. (from chapter ten) What are advantages and disadvantages to having governments guide economic development? Answer the same question about markets. What are the advantages and disadvantages to having markets guide economic development?

Third Topical Discussion

There are 11 questions for you to choose from in the third topical discussion. Pick any question you'd like to answer for your initial essay.

1. (from chapter fourteen) The theme of this question is secularization, from chapter fourteen. Present the strongest argument that you can develop in support of the position that secularization will continue to spread in Western societies.

2. (from chapter fourteen) The theme of this question is secularization, from chapter fourteen. Present the strongest argument that you can develop in support of the position that secularization will not continue to spread in Western societies, but that current secularization trends will be reversed.

3. (from chapter thirteen) A friend says, "You're studying sociology. Tell me, why is there so much hostility between some ethnic groups?" Discuss this point, drawing on your sociological insight.

4. (from chapter eleven) How have rules of divorce affected marriage and the meaning of marriage in today's world? Was the institution of no-fault divorce a good thing or a bad thing? Why?

5. (from chapter thirteen) In your view, what can be done to help overcome racial and ethnic hostility in such places as the United States and the former Yugoslavia?

6. (from chapter twelve) What are the goals of feminism? Do you agree with those goals? Why or why not? What good points can be made against your point of view?

7. (from chapter twelve) How much difference has feminism made in the major institutions of U.S. society? Explain your interpretation.

8. (from chapter eleven) You have been asked to make a presentation about "the future of the family." What will you say? Does the family have a future? If so, what kind? If not, why?

9. (from chapter eleven) What evidence is there that the importance of families is on the decline? What evidence can be found to oppose that position? Which position do you find the more believable among these two? Why?

10. (from chapter twelve) What are some important implications of changing relations between women and men?

11. (from chapter ten) Do you agree with Peter Drucker that both the nation state and society are losing their hold over individuals? Why or why not?

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