Your answer to these quizzes must not exceed two pages. They must be typed and turned in at the beginning of the next class period after I assigned them. See your syllabus for further details and explanations.

Quiz #1

Most sociologists can readily identify the social forces that impede people in poverty from experiencing a great deal of intra-generational social mobility (discrimination, poverty itself, inadequate schools, etc.). Your first assignment is to examine whether there are also social forces that are impeding you from achieving a great deal of intra-generational mobility. In two typed pages, analyze what social forces--structural barriers--you have or may encounter that could prevent you from experiencing substantial social mobility.

Quiz #2

Read this article on the web.  Based on this reading and your textbook define, in your own words,  "social facts."  Distinguish between social facts and social currents.  Give examples of each.  Are these phenomena distinct from their individual manifestations?   What must we do as sociologists to assure that we are scientifically studying social facts?  What does Durkheim mean when he argues that we can use sociological definitions to understand the organization of social life?

Quiz #3

Read this article on the web (it is a pdf file). Use direct quotes from it to define each type of suicide and describe their particular causes. Explain why Durkheim argues that excessive individualism is related to suicide rates.  How would joining voluntary organizations on campus such as fraternities and sororities potentially insulate an individual from committing suicide?   Also, identify the psychological state of mind that is associated with each of type of suicide.  Hypothesize why the following happens, the mass suicides of Heaven's Gate or Jonestown, and the fact that people with large social support systems apparently are less likely to commit suicide than those who are relatively socially isolated. Finally, does Durkheim argue that each type of suicide is mutually exclusive or can different types of suicide overlap?  If so, give examples.

Quiz #4

Quiz #3 is based on the article "Some principles of stratification" and the web page "The Functional Theory of Social Stratification."

According to Davis and Moore, why is a "classless" society, as proposed by Karl Marx, a theoretical and practical impossibility? In addition, why do computer technicians receive a relatively large income but never receive extremely large amounts of status, power, or money? Classify the United States according to the criteria established by Davis and Moore. For example, categorically assess whether the United States is an open or closed class system? Does the fact that people inherit wealth undermine their argument of the functional necessity of social stratification?

Quiz #5

Read this article by Weber. Give an example, within the context of the United States, of a "class," "status group" and "party." What relevance do these concepts have for us as sociologists and for the possibility of a class conscious revolution as suggested by Marx?

Quiz #6

Use the information in the article above by Weber to understand the following article. Read this article including the footnotes.  From this author's perspective, why has the left failed to organize and present a unified front against capitalism?  More specifically, why didn't the agrarian reform movement unite with the urban proletariat?   Evaluate whether the author's argument about who supports right wing movements is an applicable analysis for why right wing groups have proliferated throughout the 1990s.   Would the author be surprised by the diversity of opinions expressed on the bulletin board regarding whether the capitalist class is an "enemy?" Define status "instability" and "inconsistency." Using this author's theoretical framework, explain why the current civil rights movement is less organized and less of a political force than the "Negro Protest Movement" of the 1960s.

Quiz #7

Read this article and use it to outline Blumer's theory of symbolic interactionism.

Quiz #8

Take three concepts from your textbook (Chapter 5) and precisely define them. Illustrate your understanding of them by using direct quotes from the Communist Manifesto. Use examples to further illustrate your understanding of these three concepts.

Quiz #9

Read this article and explain why the Marxist concept of surplus value is central to his overall analysis. Include the definition of surplus value and the general law of capital accumulation that is included in your textbook.  How is the concept of surplus value related to the Marxist's argument that the proletariat is a slave to the production process and the capitalist?  List the advantages capitalists have over their workers.

Quiz #10

Read this article and describe the contours of the American class structure according to Marxists. What is a contradictory class position? Can a Marxist analysis of class be reduced to a classification of occupations? Are people who have low-status white collar positions members of the working class? What gender occupies the majority of the working class? In which Marxist category are women most disproportionately underrepresented? Which race*gender category is most proletarianized? How could you organize the American working force so it would engage in a class struggle?