1. Describe what C. Wright Mills meant by the term sociological imagination. Why is the sociological imagination important and how might students acquire it?
2. Imagine that you have been asked to conduct a study of racism in Hawaii. Compare and contrast the use of surveys with the use of ethnography as an effective means of getting information about the problem.
3. Select three cultural universals and analyze them from a functionalist perspective. What functions do they serve ?
4. Consider a culture or subculture you belong to or are familiar with. How do the values and norms of this culture/ subculture affect the behavior of its members?
5. Compare and contrast the dominant ideology of Hawai`i with the dominant ideology of the United States.
6. Drawing from Goffman’s dramaturgical approach, discuss how college students engage in impression management at Leeward Community College.
7. Evaluate functionalist and conflict perspectives on the nature and purpose of social institutions.
8. Select three norms or values of the dominant ideology and explain how you were socialized by three of the agents of socialization in regards to these norms or values.
9. Explain what is meant by gender socialization and racial socialization and discuss your own gender and racial socialization.
10. Discuss how a person’s ascribed statuses might influence his or her achieved statuses.