Study Questions

  1. Now that you know a bit more about Karl Marx’s theories and the social context he lived in, why do you think he is still so controversial today?
     
  2. Why are theories important to science? How are they applied in the real world?
     
  3. With the recent economic downturn, there was much talk of a reduction in conspicuous consumption. Have you seen a reduction in the conspicuous consumption of others? Have you reduced your conspicuous consumption? Why or why not?
     
  4. Compare and contrast the way theft would be explained by a structural-functionalist, a conflict theorist, and a symbolic interactionist. What would each say about why someone steals? What would each say about how the crime is punished? What would each say about the impact on the community when theft happens?
     
  5. Which theory do you think best explains the recent economic downturn? Why?
     
  6. Are Marx’s views still relevant today? Did Marx predict the current stratification in America? If so, how?
     
  7. In what ways did Marx’s views of religion differ from Weber’s?
     
  8. How has rationalization affected society since the Industrial Revolution? Does it still affect us today? How?
     
  9. Why was Durkheim’s book “Suicide” important to the field of sociology? How was his study of suicide different than how psychologists might study suicide?
     
  10. How does each of the three major sociological theories view the individual in society?
     
  11. Structural/functional theories and conflict/critical theories are both macro theories. Explain in what ways they are similar and how they are different.
     
  12. Describe and explain the differences between symbolic interactionism and ethnomethodology.