Questions and Answers of Introductory Sociology

• What public sociology project could you imagined pursuing?
• What are the relations among public sociology and critical, policy, and professional sociologies? Give an example of each.
• What is public sociology, and does it differ from political activism?
• How can you, working with others, have an impact on one or more of the global social issues examined in this chapter? What technologies might you use in these efforts?
• How do the dynamics of a global society impact the kinds of jobs that you anticipate having over the course of your life? How do you think these might change over time?
• How does the breakfast you ate this morning reflect the globalization of the economy? What labor and environmental issues can you connect to the food you ate?
• How do you view social change? Do you agree with the evolutionary model, the dialectical model, or both? Who do you see as influencing social change the most: the state, corporations, social
• Why are so many young American adults not politically active or involved in social movements? What is necessary to get more people involved in social issues and social change?
• Think about your life. Consider your social location: class, race, eth- nicity, religion, gender, and sexuality. Think about the things you use: technology, clothes, food, and transportation. Ask
• Why do feminist and queer sociologists argue for an intersectional ap- proach to understanding gender and sexuality?
• What is the difference between a biologically determinist approach to gender and sexual differences and a social constructionist approach? What is the difference between a social learning
• What are some of the messages given to boys and girls that contribute to gender differences? How do these messages contribute to compul- sory heterosexuality?
• Should we be concerned about the rising levels of inequality in the United States? If so, why should we care, and what should be done about it?
• In what ways do your tastes and habits reflect your class status? Do you think that your preferences in music and food, your hobbies, and other aspects of your lifestyle result from your economic
• What are the most important factors in determining whether people will be wealthy or poor? Are opportunities for upward social mobility equally available to all? If not, what policies could
• What does the chapter suggest about the burden of race in American society? Are we all held accountable and do we all suffer-albeit in drastically different ways-from this burden? Since the
• Think about when, if at any point, you have attempted to transcend or reject your racial socialization. What did you do? If you have never done it, then reflect on why you never have. Be sure to
• Briefly describe and recount how and when you began noticing or realizing your race or ethnicity. In other words, what were the mes- sages you received about your "place" in society as compared
• Legal definitions of the family in the United States don't recognize many of the relationships that increasingly sustain our lives as tra- ditional family forms decline. Think about the people
• This chapter has given a few examples of ways that corporations are becoming increasingly involved in areas that used to be the respon- sibility of government. Do you think profit is a valuable
• Describe the physical characteristics of the neighborhood you live in: Are there grocery stores? Parks? Usable sidewalks? Does it feel safe or dangerous to walk (and for whom)? How do the
• List the different seating arrangements you have seen in classrooms and describe how your expectations for classroom interaction varied with each. What other things do you look for or pay
• Describe advertising that uses health claims as a marketing tool and discuss how you responded to those ads. Think about the interaction between fitness and attractiveness and health as both
• To what extent do you experience the benefits of the liquid or mutable self in a globalized society? To what extent do you experience the nega- tive side of such a self?
• What are some examples of major resocialization experiences in your life?
• Do you remember experiencing Mead's play phase as a child? If so, who or what did you pretend to be? Why?
• How might you gather data to address your questions? What patterns do you think you'd find? What causal relationships? Can you anticipate any ethical issues?
• Building on the research questions you raised in question 1, consider hypothetical responses based on what you know about the founders.
• Think about some of the social issues that affect your life: for instance, student debt, globalization of the economy, and the role of technology in relationships. Use your sociological
• List a few personal troubles that you or people close to you have had. Can you connect those personal troubles to public issues? Are there ways in which public policies affected the way people
• Wright Mills argues that the life of an individual can only be under- stood in relation to the history of a society. In what ways has the history of your society shaped you as an individual? What
• In what ways have social structures and social institutions shaped the choices that you have made? How have they shaped the big choices, such as your decision to attend college? How have they