PART 1. Choose three (3) of the following sets of concepts, questions (a) through (l). Define each concept in the set and provide a relevant example. Discuss how the concepts, in the set, are connected and the possible implications of these connections. Try to limit each answer for each set to 193 words or so.
Here’s the break down of marks for this part. You may earn up to two (2) marks for each definition and relevant example in each set of three concepts. You may earn up to four (4) marks for your identification and discussion of the most important connections or links among the concepts and the implications of these links among the concepts. (Concepts, in each set, are connected. “No connection” is not an acceptable answer.) Each pair is thus worth ten (10) marks. This part of the examination is worth thirty (30) marks. Double Space! Think! Think!! Think!!! Choose one (l) of the following, (m) through (q). Define all terms used. Try to limit your discussion to 642 words. Double Space. This part of the exam is worth thirty (30) marks. (m) Briefly outline the forms of social conflict discussed by Vilfredo Pareto and Karl Marx. What similarities and differences do you see in their ideas? (10 marks) How might the ideas, expressed by Pareto and Marx, exist, today, and influence 21st century social life and social relations? (10 marks) Whose ideas of social conflict do you prefer: Marx or Pareto and why? (10) Define all terms used. Use examples.
(n) Emile Durkheim asserted the authority of social facts is coercion by reason. Please explain and discuss (15 marks) using three (3) examples from daily life, today (15 marks).
(o) Marvin Harris argued some seemingly inscrutable social practices are functions of definite and identifiable causes. Briefly, explain what Harris means, using the example of the sacred cow in India. (10 marks) Do you find the evidence, as used by Harris, convincing; briefly, explain why or why not. (10 marks) Why do you think elaborate social constructions emerge to protect these practices? (10 marks)
(p) What observations, of social, life led Mosca to decide stratification was inevitable? (5 marks) What observation, of social life, led Davis and Moore to develop the Functional Theory of Stratification? (5 marks) Do these ideas, offered by Mosca as well as Davis and Moore, justify stratification, as it exists in Canada, today; explain why or why not, using examples. (10 marks) What criticism of Mosca as well as Davis and Moore do you think appropriate; explain, using examples. (10 marks)
(q) One core assertion John Porter makes, in the Vertical Mosaic (1965), is that Canadians believe they live in a classless society. Do you agree or disagree with this claim: why or why not? (10 marks) Do recent data support the general premise, of the Vertical Mosaic, when considering education and ethnicity: why or why not? (10 marks) Do you believe the inevitable social class system benefits the upper class and penalizes the working and lower classes in Canada; explain why or why not using two (2) examples. (10 marks)
PART 3. Choose one (1) of the following, (r) through (u). Try to limit your answer to 1294 words. The question is worth forty (40) marks. Note the distribution of marks for each question. Focus your response. Be sure to define and explain all concepts you use; explicitly state any assumptions you make regarding your response. Think! Think!! Think!!! Be thorough. Double Space your answers. Define all ideas, themes or theories used.
(r) Explain the benefits and liabilities of a sociological perspective, as argued by C Wright Mills. (10 marks) Briefly, explain the notion of “power elite” offered by Mills. (10 marks) Do you believe Mills applied his notion of a sociological perspective to analyse the power elite in the USA. Please explain how and why or why. Use examples. (20 marks)
(s) Comte, Spencer, Marx and Durkheim each discussed social progress. For someone that is intelligent and interested, briefly explain and discuss how Comte, Spencer, Marx and Durkheim thought of social progress. (20 marks) Which of these ways of thinking of social progress you believe to be most effective and why? (20 marks) Be thorough and think! Use examples.
(t) To paraphrase John Scott, in the Oxford Dictionary of Sociology (2009: 15-17), the Marxist notion of alienation refers to the disaffection or distancing of individuals (1) from their humanness, (2) from other humans, (3) from the goods they make or services they perform and (4) from the act of making goods or providing services. Explain and discuss this statement, including active consideration of each form of alienation and using relevant examples (20 marks) Do you believe the Marxist notion of alienation is valid, today? If so, when, where, how and why is it valid, today, and with what effect? If not, why not? Use examples. (20 marks) (u) Given the word limit, explain, as thoroughly as you can, for someone that is intelligent and interested, your understanding of SOCI 1001A, for May-June 2019, and its usefulness or uselessness. Use five examples from the course in your answer. Define all concepts used; explain every point you make, fully. (40 marks) Be as thorough. You don’t lose marks for not liking the course or its instructor; marks come for how well you develop your answer.