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The following essay questions are intended to help you prepare for your first test which covers Chapters 1 through 4; and 14 in addition to lecture material and The Mismeasure of Man. You will note that in some places I've borrowed shamelessly from the text itself—The study questions at the end of each chapter are often helpful.If you review the materials I have provided you should be well-prepared to take the test. I suggest that you pay special attention to important terms and concepts covered both in lecture and the text.

Chapter 1: Sociological Framework

1. Why is it helpful to understand the phenomenon of the "stranger" when studying minorities? How is the concept of the stranger the "rules of influence" (Cialdini) mentioned in class? (What is the role of the stranger as analyzed by Simmel and Schutz?)

2. Describe Bogardus' social distance scale. Bogardus' research was conducted over 5 decades using college students (90 percent of whom were white). How do minorities' responses differ to the majority? What has happened to social distance scores over the years?

3. What is "categoric knowing"? How would it apply to a dominant group's perception of minorities? (Give an example).

4. Define and relate these terms to each other: ethnocentrism; ingroup; outgroup; reference group.

5. Discuss the basic sociological perspectives: functionalism; conflict theory; and interactionism as they apply to race and ethnic relations. (In class, we also discussed a fourth perspective, exchange theory).

6. What is meant by the social construction of reality? What are reciprocal typifications (p. 20) and reifications? (This latter term, reification, you will also find in Gould. We will also address it in class).

7. Discuss the evolution of the term, minority in the sociological literature. How is it used today? (What are the five minority group characteristics mentioned in the text?)

8. What is "race"? Do you think that there is agreement among scholars as to how many races exist in humankind? Discuss.

9. Distinguish racial from ethnic groups.

10. Why is the objective study of racial and ethnic minorities a difficult matter?

Chapter 2: Culture and Social Structure

1. Distinguish between the concepts of culture and social structure. Define the term, acculturation as it relates to minority groups in society. Explain what sociologists mean by culture and norms.

2. What are values? Why are they so important in society-- (discuss their relationship to norms). Discuss the basic Anglo-American values that tend to promote racial and ethnic equality. Describe those that hinder equality.

3. What is "linguistic relativity"? How does it relate to the study of minority relations? Explain how knowledge of language and cultural symbols shape our perception of reality.

4. Discuss the Thomas Theorem as it relates to race and ethnic relations. What is the vicious circle phenomenon?

5. How does cultural transmission explain the existence of racism, ethnism, or sexism in society?

6. What is cultural diffusion? (Contrast it with the other forms of cultural change—discovery and invention—discussed in class. What is meant by culture shock?

7. Discuss how the following terms relate to immigrants to the United States: chain migration; parallel social institutions; ethnogenesis; convergent and persistent subcultures. (What characteristics do convergent and persistent subcultures have in common?

8. Contrast the reputational method of measuring social class discussed in class with the other methods discussed in class—self-reported and objective. Under what conditions is the reputational method useful?

9. What did Lloyd Warner, in his study of social stratification of "Yankee City", discover about the social status of immigrants to that town?

9. Discuss both sides of the culture of poverty controversy. What position do most sociologists take?

10. Discuss the interrelationships between ethnicity and social class.

11. Discuss the concept of assimilation, including its various aspects or subprocesses.

12. Why is the melting pot theory considered an idealistic myth?

13. Explain what is meant by the triple melting pot.

14. How realistic a concept is pluralism for a stable society? Explain your answer in terms of the American experience.

Chapter 3: Prejudice and Discrimination

1. Define prejudice, explaining and illustrating the various levels cited in the text.

2. Discuss stereotypes, their persistence, and their impact upon intergroup relations.

3. What are ethnophaulisms and what role do they play in intergroup relations.

4. What's wrong with ethnic (or racial) jokes? What's good about them? Explain.

5. Discuss the importance of television in helping or hindering intergroup relations.

6. Discuss why each suggested cause of prejudice is inadequate by itself as an explanation.

7. Can we reduce prejudice through increased interaction and education? Explain your answer.

8. Define discrimination, explaining and illustrating its several levels. (Tie this in to what we've discussed in class concerning the "equation of racism and ethnism."

9. Using Merton's fourfold typology, explain the interrelationships between prejudice and discrimination.

10. Discuss both sides of the philosophical and realistic issues in the reverse discrimination controversy.

Chapter 4: Dominant-Minority Relations

1. Compare and contrast the minority response patterns of avoidance and acceptance.

2. Compare and contrast the minority response patterns of defiance and deviance.

3. Discuss how the subjective nature of the criminal justice system impacts on minority groups.

4. What causes negative self-image, how does it manifest itself, and what may prevent its occurrence?

5. Explain what is meant by the vicious circle (cumulative causation).

6. Discuss fully the concept of marginality, including factors that can reduce its negative effects.

7. Explain and illustrate what is meant by middleman minorities.

8. Describe the dominant response patterns to minority groups.

9. Discuss and compare the following conflict perspectives on minority/dominant group relations: the power differential theory; the internal colonialism theory; and the split labor market theory. Overall, what are the limitations of these theories?

Chapter 14: The American Mosaic (We'll focus on just the first part of this chapter).

1. What are some of the explanations for ethnic consciousness? What seems most plausible? Why?

2. Discuss ethnicity as a social process, applying your discussion to the concepts of assimilation and pluralism.
 

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