Essay Question 1

1. Explain the problem of drug abuse from a structural-functional, social-conflict, and symbolic-interaction approach.

2. Explain the historical roots of sociology in the areas of social change, science, gender, and race.

3. Explain the relationship between sociology and stereotypes.

4. What do different forms of the media teach us about race, class and gender?

5. What do stereotypes tell us about the world we live in? How do sociologists deal with stereotyping?

6. Explain the Thomas theorem and how it relates to the social construction of reality.

7. List and discuss the key points of the dramaturgical view of everyday life and ethnomethodology.

8. Explain the concepts of touching and personal space and how they vary from culture to culture.

9. Describe the importance of social interaction to individuals in our society.

10. Why is it important for international corporations and businesses to understand the way that other cultures interact? Do you think this will become an increased necessity in the future? Why or why not?

11. Why is it important to choose your words carefully when you are interacting socially? What type of an impact does it have when people use terminology or inappropriate words to describe people with different backgrounds? What affect can it have when someone works in a highly visible job in the public eye?

12. How many messages do you hear a day about gender? Are all of the messages you hear the same? What messages do you hear from family members? From friends? From the media? From school teachers? What does this tell us about the social construction of gender through language and social interaction?

13. What do web sites like this tell us about teaching honesty to children? Do you think parents spend less time speaking to professionals face-to-face about advice for parenting now that the Internet is so accessible?