Sociology Exam

1. According to Karl Marx, if the proletariat identify with the interests of the ruling class instead of the interests of their own class, the proletariat are experiencing _________________________.

2. A major theme running through most of Weber’s work is _________________________.

3. Marx defined ‘surplus value’ as the: (A) difference between the number of workers and the number of products produced, (B) difference between what workers earn for their labor and the price of goods they produce, (C) difference between the number of workers and the number of consumers in the same market, (D) difference between what workers earn across different competing companies in the same business.

4. One of these statements about Karl Marx is false. Which one and why is it false?

Statement 1 “According to Marx, how rare something is determines its value”

Statement 2 “The proletariat can improve their position only by a violent overthrow of all existing social conditions.”

Statement __________ is False because ________________________________________.

5. Conflict Theory has two traditions. What tradition points out that power is concentrated in one ruling class?  (A) Analytical Conflict Theory, (B) Critical Conflict Theory.  The correct answer is Choice ____________.

6. Conflict Theory has two traditions. What tradition explains insists that sociology must be ‘value free?’  (A) Analytical Conflict Theory, (B) Critical Conflict Theory.  The correct answer is Choice ____________.

7. Conflict Theory has two traditions. What tradition insists that conflict can be eliminated and we can create a ‘classless society?’  (A) Analytical Conflict Theory, (B) Critical Conflict Theory.  The correct answer is Choice ____________.

8. Conflict Theory has two traditions. What tradition says that social inequality comes from class, status, and party?  (A) Analytical Conflict Theory, (B) Critical Conflict Theory.  The correct answer is Choice ____________.

9. Conflict Theory has two traditions. What tradition insists that bureaucracies grow and expand over time?  (A) Analytical Conflict Theory, (B) Critical Conflict Theory.  The correct answer is Choice ____________.

10. According to Max Weber, sociology is the study of __________________________.

11. One of these statements about Max Weber is False. Which one and why is it false?

Statement 1 “Class groups are communities and have a similar life style.”

Statement 2 “People with power want to keep it.  People without power want to seek it.”

Statement _______ is False because ___________________________________________.

12. The Iron Law of Oligarchy says _____________________________________________.

13. Mills insists that the Power Elite is composed of __________________________________.

14. If a worker experiences ‘alienation’ what does that mean? __________________________.

15. Sociologists are interviewing people participating in current protest movements. The sociologists want to know why people are there and what participating in these protests means to each one of them. Weber would call this the _____________________ Approach.

16. According to Simmel, one thing people in a triad can do that a dyad cannot do is ________________________________________________________.

17. An example of the sociological imagination is __________________________.

18. “I was a happily married man. Then I found out that my wife was having an affair.  I was so angry, that I got a gun and shot my wife and her boyfriend.”  Weber would say this is an example of ________________ Social Action.

19. Simmel insists that one of the positive consequences social conflict can have for society is ____________________________________.

20. When Weber writes ”Whenever we introduce our own personal value judgments a full understanding of the facts ceases” he means ____________________________________.

Part II–Essay–Answer carefully the following item.  Be sure to thoroughly answer all parts of this item in detail.  30 points maximum.

In class we pointed out that much of Weber “is arguing with the ghost of Marx.”  What does that mean?  What is the major argument in The Protestant Ethic?  How is Weber arguing with the ghost of Marx in The Protestant Ethic?  Describe Weber’s Class, Status, and Party in detail.  What is Power?  Authority?  Three Types of Authority?  How is Weber arguing with Marx when he discusses all these aspects of social stratification?  Discuss fully.

Part III–Essay– Answer carefully ONE of the following items.  30 points maximum.

1. Examine the table on the bottom of Page 35 of our textbook.  Carefully explain this table.  Marx discusses six stages of history.  What are they?  Describe each in detail. According to Marx, how do we get from one stage to the next?  Why will there never be a Stage Seven?  Discuss fully.

2. According to Weber: What is bureaucracy?  Why did it develop?  What are its characteristics?  Why is it an “ideal type?”  What is one danger of bureaucracies?  How is Weber criticizing Marx when he discusses bureaucracy?  What does Michels add to Weber’s discussion of bureaucracy?  Discuss fully.

3. Simmel discusses the Web of Group Affiliations.  What are the two major changes in the way people interact with each other?  Why might these changes lead to more conflict?  Is conflict always destructive for a society?  Why or why not?  How is Simmel’s Formal Sociology consistent with his analyses of Group Affiliations and Conflict?  Discuss fully.

4. Why is Mills recognized as a leader of Conflict Theory?  What is Mills emphasizing in his White Collar and Power Elite?   How do we know that Mills’ ideas of white collar worker and the Power Elite consistent with Conflict Theory?  Discuss fully.

5. Define Mills’ concept ‘Sociological Imagination.’  Give examples not discussed in the Slides.  Mills writes that Comte, Durkheim, Marx, Veblen, Spencer, and Weber all possessed the sociological imagination.   Choose any three of these sociologists and show in detail several ways in which Mills was correct.