Description
Answer only 3 of the 4 questions below; they are each worth 5 points
. These questions ask you to apply your sociological imagination and knowledge to social issues and data presented in linked articles below. You will need to read the linked article fully in order to accurately answer the question.
How to earn full points:
Meet the length requirements
: Each question requires a 250-word response that is organized into 2 substantial paragraphs. 5-7 sentences per paragraph is a good rule of thumb. Each response will be roughly one page long, double-spaced, which means your finished exam should be 3 to 4 double-spaced pages long (about 750 words).
The easiest way to lose points is to ignore the length requirements.
Be sure to
explain the underlined sociological terms
in the question as fully as you can, demonstrating what you have learned from the course materials.
Be direct in your writing and please avoid making sweeping, inaccurate generalizations.
Do not write an introduction or a conclusion for your response, just two full paragraphs.
Remember, your goal for a final exam is to show what you have learned from this course specifically. Show your best sociological thinking in each response.
This is an open book exam:
Consult the readings, lectures and your notes to answer the questions as thoroughly as you can.
That said,
be sure to put everything in your own words
. Do not quote and do not plagiarize from any sources. As always, submissions that contain plagiarism from other sources as detected by Turnitin software will receive 0 points.
All writing must be original; you may not copy and paste your own previously submitted work once again for credit here. This will also be flagged as plagiarism and will result in 0 points on the exam.
Formatting
:
Be sure to number each response.
Upload your finished exam in a Word document if possible.
PROOFREAD before you submit; make sure answers are numbered and formatting is clear. Double-check authors’ names and spelling mistakes; aim to turn in the most professional work you can.
Do NOT use “Pages†software
– I can’t open it.
EXAM QUESTIONS
Questions
are about
this article
by Professor Jennifer Lee. Read the article in FULL before you attempt to start answering your three questions. Be sure to directly explain each sociological term underlined below:
1) Why isn’t high educational attainment for Asian-Americans simply a question of culture, according to Lee? In your first paragraph explain the social structure of culture: its component parts, and how they relate to each other (see Week 4 lecture on structure, institutions and cultures). In your second paragraph, explain how Lee’s argument about hyper-selectivity challenges the model minority myth.
2) Does Lee’s argument about immigrant selectivity reflect a social constructionist, conflict theory or a functionalist view of race? In your first paragraph, explain the theoretical framework(s) you think Lee is employing as fully as you can, noting how this theoretical tradition understands the sociological concept of race. In your second paragraph, provide evidence from the Lee article to support your response to this question.
3) Based on your understanding of sociological research methodology, reconstruct two sociological research questions that seem to have guided Professor Lee’s research based on the data and argument she presents. First, explain what constitutes a sociological research question. Then formulate two questions that you think she has sought to answer through her empirical research. Identify the independent and dependent variables in each question, a possible hypothesis, and the research method Lee used to test the relationship between these variables.
4) What do the findings about educational attainment among the children of Mexican immigrants in LA County suggest about the relationship between ascribed and achieved status in socio-economic mobility? In your first paragraph, explain these forms of status and how they relate to each other. In your second paragraph, apply these concepts to Lee’s argument about mobility.
