Sociology 100, Introduction to Sociology
First Exam, Summer, 1995
Professor Milofsky

Part I. Definitions. 30 points. Define ten of the following terms in one or two sentences.

1. latent function
2. micro-level orientation
3. id
4. paradigm
5. ego
6. generalized other
7. socialization
8. scapegoat
9. cohort
10. sensorimotor stage
11. macro-theory

Part II. Short Essays. 30 points. Answer two of the following three questions.

A. According to Durkheim, how can we explain suicide in sociological terms?
B. In the symbolic interactionist framework, what does it mean to say that the self is both subject and object?
C. What, according to Mills, is the sociological imagination?

Part III. Long Essay. 40 points. Answer one of the following questions.

I. In class, I suggested that both the structural functional and the symbolic interactionist paradigm could be criticized in the same way from the standpoint of the conflict paradigm. What is the criticism, and why does the conflict paradigm escape that problem?

II. Macionis discusses three major paradigms in the study of socialization: Freud's personality theory; Piaget's theory of cognitive development; and the social behaviorism of Mead. Consider the circumstances in which Moody grew up and discuss what the socialization theories might say about her chances of having success in the urban industrial world outside of her home community. (Note: I'm thinking here of the concept of "cultural deprivation" which some people have used to explain school failure, and which implies that low income families fail to properly socialize their children to succeed in school. Based on Moody's story, do the socialization theories we have read about seem relevant for explaining why an African American child in the 1960s growing up the rural south might have succeeded or failed in school or in the world of work? You may find all theories relevant; you may find one or two theories most relevant (then tell why the others are not relevant); or you might conclude that Moody's chances of success did not have much to do with socialization at all but rather had to do with the way she was treated by members of the white community. However you choose to answer, explain your reasoning.)