1. 1. In several sentences, what is the essential wisdom of sociology?
2. What did Peter Berger mean when he said the sociological perspective is "seeing the general in
the particular"?
3. Why, in individualistic North America, can the sociological perspective be described as "seeing
the strange in the familiar"?
4. Explain why the power of society is evident in the decision to bearing a child or even in the act
of committing suicide.
5. Why is a global approach a logical extension of the sociological perspective?
6. What did C. Wright Mills mean by "the sociological imagination?" How does this point of
view change the way we see personal problems?
7. Explain some of the personal benefits of learning to use the sociological perspective, including
career advantages.
8. What can you say sociologically about why sociology arose when and where it did?
9. In several sentences, explain the focus of the structural-functional approach.
10. Distinguish between the manifest and latent functions of any social pattern.
11. What is social structure? How do the structural-functional and social-conflict approaches
understand social structure differently?
12. In several sentences, explain the focus of the social-conflict approach.
13. Briefly explain the difference between a macro-level and micro-level theoretical orientation.
14. In several sentences, explain the focus of the symbolic-interaction approach.
15. The sociological perspective helps us recognize that the lives of individuals are shaped by the
forces of society. Explain, in a short essay, how the sociological perspective reveals "the
general in the particular." To illustrate, explain how society plays a part in your own decision
to attend college.
16. Point out what the viewpoint of a sociologist who is influenced by the structural-functional
approach (say, Emile Durkheim) has in common with that of a sociologist influenced by the
social-conflict approach (say, Karl Marx). That is, how are they both sociological? At the same
time, how does each represent a different assumption about the nature of the society? How is
the purpose of sociological study different?
17. Develop the differences among the three theoretical approaches by applying each to the family.
In each case, how do we understand a family and its operation?
18. Do you see any dangers in adopting the sociological perspective too intensely? For example, if
we say that society is at work in all our choices about how to live, do we lose any sense of

2. personal responsibility for our actions?
19. Since beginning this course in sociology, how has your view of the world changed? Provide one
specific example of something in your life that you see differently now compared to before you
started this course. Is this change a good thing? Explain.
20. How and why is gender important in research? What are some of the problems in research
that involve gender? How about race and ethnicity? How should a research take account of
race and ethnicity when planning research?
21. Why is it necessary for researchers to understand a good deal about the way of life of the
people they are studying? What problems could arise if, say, a researcher started research on
the Amish, Korean Americans, or some distinctive other category of people and had no
understanding of their way of life?
22. What is the difference between subculture and counterculture? Define your terms carefully.
23. What is ethnocentrism? What is cultural relativism? Identify a problem with each.
24. Identify at least one positive and one negative consequence of declaring English as the
"official" language of the United States. Why do some people strongly support this goal? Why
do others strongly oppose it?