SOCI 1010 1nd EditionExam # 1 Study Guide Lectures: 1 - 8Lecture 1 (August 29)I. Terms to know:a. Personal trouble: private, attributing a problem to the person (example: unemployment- laziness, not following policies, etc.)b. Public Issue: public, attributing a problem to something outside the person (example: unemployment- budget cuts, etc.)II. Questions/Ideas to ponder:a. What is sociology?i. Sociology is both an academic discipline and a unique perspective through whichto view the world. It’s not about what sociologists study, but how they study it. b. What are the three characteristics of sociology as an academic discipline?i. Human behaviors and interactionsii. Patterns of behavior 1. Once behavior becomes patterns, it shapes societyiii. Focuses on categories of people1. Looking at how experiences vary by categoryc. What is the sociological imagination, according to C. Wright Mills?i. A level of self-consciousness and awareness of the relationship between personal experience and societyd. How are society and the individual connected?i. Society and the individual are inter-connected. There is a reciprocal relationship between the two. Society affects the individual, but individuals contribute to what society is.Lecture 2 (September 2) I. Questions/Ideas to Ponder:a. The Color Line and the Bus LineI. What happened in the film?1. The film recalls a situation in which a young, black teenager was killed ina traffic accident. She was crossing a busy highway around Christmas time in order to get to her place of employment at the mall. She was struck by a truck and was killed. II. What role may race have played?1. Race may have played a role because the transportation system did not allow her bus route (Route 6) to stop at the new mall in town. Route 6 stopped across the highway from the mall. Many argued that it was a race played a part in the decision to not allow Route 6 to stop at the mall.III. Social v. individual level explanations for the incident that occurred1. Social explanations:a. East Buffalo was a very poor city with high unemployment numbersb. Public transportation dropped off on the side of the highwayc. There was no crosswalk or sidewalkd. Holiday traffice. Teen pregnancy rates (pattern)2. Individual explanations:a. Had no access to a carb. Truck didn’t see herc. Needed a job because she was a teen motherd. Dropped out of HSe. She chose not to use the alternate bus optionf. Her crossing strategy (she weaved in and out of cars)Lecture 3 (September 3)I. Terms to know:a. Science: we determine our knowledge from direct, systematic observation (logic)b. Empirical: using your senses: sight, touch, hearing, taste, and smellc. Falsifiable: testable; ability to potentially be wrong and allowing alternative possibilities to be trueII.Questions/Ideas to ponder:a. What makes sociology “threatening,” according to the article Who’s Afraid of Sociology?i. Inconvenient factsii. Sometimes what you find is not the same as what you have always believed to be true or what you want to believeb. Best’s article Telling the Truth about Damned Lies and Statisticsi. What is his primary argument?1. Best argues that we don’t use our mathematical information to think critically about statisticsii. What are problems with social statistics?1. A lot of the time, statistics have a certain agenda (a person may use a statistic in order to persuade someone to feel a certain way or believe a certain thing)2. Statistics are often interpreted wrong3. Statistics can create a life of their own iii. According to Best, what are the best solutions to the statistics “problem?”1. We need to use a critical approach when looking at statistics. Ask questions like:a. Does it mathematically make sense?b. How were variables defined?c. How was information collected?d. Who funded the study?2. Also need to understand and accept that there will always be limitations and no statistic is perfectLecture 4 (September 5)I. Terms to know:a. Race: system of socially created categories based upon superficially biologically transmitted characteristicsi. Example: skin color, hair texture, eye shape, nose shapeb. Ethnicity: Socially created by cultural heritagei. Example: religion, food, traditions (not physical)II. Questions/Ideas to ponder:a. What does it mean to say race is a social construction?i. Race is socially constructed because society gives meaning to differently superficial characteristics. Is it “people made” and can change over timeii. What evidence is there that race is socially constructed?1. In class we talked about evidence of race being socially constructed. Proof of this is that race can vary cross culturally, change over time and the categories are fuzzy. 2. The article Racial Formation discusses race as a social construct as well. The article defines racial formation as the process by which social, economic and political forces determine the context and importance of racial categories, and by which they are in turn shaped by racial meanings. a. Ex. In Brazil, one can be characterized as a completely different race than a siblingb. Race is also socihistorical, meaning racial categories are given concrete expression by the specific social relations and historicalcontext in which they’re embedded. b. What are the five official race categories according to the U.S. Government?i. Pacific Islanderii. Caucasianiii. African Americaniv. Asian Americanv. American IndianLecture 5 (September 8) I. Terms to know:a. Optional ethnicity: being able to hyphenate, or can choose from your repertoire – it is argued that this is only available for White Americansb. Symbolic ethnicity: having an ethnicity that does not affect your daily life, no consequence (Calling yourself Irish just to celebrate St. Patrick’s Day) – Argued that this is only available for White AmericansII. Questions/Ideas to ponder:a. The House We Live Ini. Historical evidence of race and ethnicity as socially constructed categoriesii. Race means nothing unless it is given social meaningiii. Different states had different laws regarding “race” 1. In VA, if you were 1/16 black, you were considered African American2. In FL, if you were 1/8 black, you were considered African American3. In AL, if you had ANY percentage of black ancestry, you were considered African Americaniv. Supreme Court Rulings:1. A Japanese man went to court in hopes of being a naturalized American citizen. He argued that although his skin was not white,