CLASSICAL SOCIOLOGICAL THEORY
POSSIBLE QUESTIONS FOR COMPREHENSIVE EXAMS
General Concepts: Enlightenment; counter-Enlightenment; feudalism; laissez-faire; empiricism; organics; Hegelian dialectic; embeddedness, positivism; accumulation; reciprocity; ameliorism; behaviorism; patriarchy; consumption; commodity; sociology of knowledge; leisure class; conspicuous consumption; differentiation; Social Darwinism; nominalism; idiographic; scientific theory; sociological theory; humanism; discourse; social structure.
Concepts important to the understanding of Marx: alienation; bourgeoisie; materialism; proletariat; dialectic; historical materialism; contradiction; exploitation; labor theory of value; surplus value; class conflict; praxis; superstructure; ideology.
Concepts important to the understanding of Durkheim: altruism; anomie; collective conscience; social integration; social solidarity; social facts; animism; societally-induced suicide.
Concepts important to the understanding of Weber: authority; charisma; comparative-historical method; “iron-cage”; bureaucracy; idealism; rationality; Protestant ethic; rational-legal authority; value-free sociology.
Short Answer Questions
- What two intellectual traditions are sustained within the social sciences, and how do they differ in the way they see the world?
- How does sociology “fit” in with the other social sciences? What makes sociology different from the other social sciences?
- How do sociologists “talk” to each other, given the vast theoretical differences within the discipline?
- Identify and elaborate on the social processes common to all social theories.
- Compare and contrast materialism and idealism, giving examples of both.
- What is the “sociology of knowledge,” and what position do adherents of such an approach take regarding the development of social theory.
- Why is criticism of paradigms and theories so important to the discipline of sociology?
- Why are the “old dead masters” so important to the discipline of sociology?
- What role did national traditions play in the development of sociological theory?
- How is theoretical knowledge different from other kinds of knowledge?
- Describe the relationship between empirical and theoretical knowledge?
- How dies the discipline of sociology incorporate theory into its discourse?
- Discuss the role that Hegel’s philosophy played in the development of Marx’s social thought?
- What is the function of having sociologists in academia?
- Compare Marx’s understanding of social life to that of Durkheim. How do they differ? Are they alike in any way?
- How might Durkheim’s study of suicide be useful in providing explanations for the distribution of suicide rates in the U.S.?
- What ideas did Durkheim contribute to the form of thought we know as “functionalism”?
- How does Durkheim’s concept of anomie differ from Marx’s concept of alienation?
- How, for Durkheim, do we distinguish between the “normal” and the “pathological” in social life? How might Marx approach the same problem?
- Provide a structural argument for the emergence of the Women’s Movement (U.S.).
- According to Durkheim’s analysis, we could say that the U.S. is a cult. In what ways could the U.S. be said to be similar to Durkheim’s notion of a cult?
- How might someone utilizing a “sociology of knowledge” perspective explain the emergence and the sustenance of the discipline of sociology?
- Choose one are of modern life and analyze it (or describe how it might be analyzed) from a Weberian perspective
- Who among the classical sociological theorists was the most pessimistic, and who was the most optimistic, concerning the outlook for the future of human societies? Explain your answer.
- Why did the classical theorists, and why do we, engage in the social process sociology? Is it only an incestuous exercise, whereby we “teach the future teachers”? Or does some good really come out of the academic endeavor. Justify your answer (if you can, and if you dare…).
Classical Theory: Essay Questions
- Marx and Weber are often lumped together as “conflict theorists”? What is it about each of these thinkers that justifies calling them “conflict” theorists? If they are both conflict theorists, how do they differ from one another in their understanding of conflict?
- Suppose you had to teach functionalism to introductory sociology students. What would be important for them to know about the intellectual approach, as well as the birth and development of functionalist thought? Explain for them the basic tenets of the functionalist model, and see if you can find ways to make the theory understandable and relevant to them.
- In the United States, suicide rates are the very highest for elderly white males. Drawing on Durkheim’s theory of suicide, explain how each of Durkheim’s forms of “societal-induced” suicide might be applicable to the understanding of the high suicide rates among elderly white males in the U.S.
- The AP carried a story about a family in Register, Georgia who had recently faced an extreme tragedy: the father, aged 52, died unexpectedly. At her husband’s funeral, the 47-year-old widow collapsed and died of a heart attack, leaving two teenagers, aged 18 and 19, parentless. Because the children were both under the age of 21, the insurance company exercised its right to refuse payments on the life insurance policies held by the parents until the children turned 21. And because the children had no money to make the payments, the finance company took away their home, leaving them penniless and homeless. How might Durkheim’s (or Marx’s) theoretical insights aid us in an analysis of such a situation?
- Utilize two of the classical perspectives to discuss one of the following issues or sub- areas within sociology: race/ethnicity; sex/gender; culture; power; the discipline of sociology; the concept of the self; alternative political forms; knowledge; the concept of society.
- Utilizing two of the classical perspectives, analyze two aspects of social life: education, and the role of women in contemporary society.
- What kinds of societal changes took place in Western societies during the time period preceding the emergence of sociology as a scientific endeavor? What aspects of social life changed dramatically during that time period, and how did these changes lead to the development of the discipline of sociology?
- How did the development of the market system in Western societies qualitatively change the “landscape” of social life in Europe?
- How might Durkheim, Marx, and Weber each view the process of taking comprehensive exams in a graduate program of sociology?
- Which of the classical theorists is the most relevant in today’s world, and why?