Early Morning Students: Student Information Form for So 11C  --  3H class schedule: Tues & Fri 9:30 to 10:20; Wed 9:00 to 9:50

Late Morning  Students: Student Information Form for So 11D  -- 3I class schedule:  Tues, Wed, Fri 11:00 to 11:50

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Find out your grades in the course (your "class password" is the first letter of your last name and the last 3 numbers of your student id):  So 11C Grades      So 11D Grade

Society: The Basics, 10th edition, John J. Macionis

Down to Earth Sociology, 14th edition, edited by James M. Henslin

Grades will be determined on the following basis:

QUIZZES -- There will be eight quizzes covering the readings and class discussions. Most Friday classes will end with a 15 minute quiz consisting of multiple choice and true/false questions. Seven quiz grades will constitute 45% of the final grade. One "unavoidable absence" from a quiz is provided for. If all eight quizzes are taken, then the lowest quiz grade will be dropped. There will be no make-ups given for quizzes.

You will have an opportunity to earn extra credit on a quiz by volunteering to be a "reviewer" for one of the readings.  This entails presenting a 5 minute summary of the main points of a particular chapter or reading.  Ideally, reviewers will not read their summaries, but simply refer to note cards containing reading highlights.  Reviewers will make their presentations on quiz days right before the quiz.  Student assessments will determine whether the reviewer earns up to 10 extra points on that quiz grade.

MID-TERM -- An essay exam covering all class material will be given on October 20th. It will constitute 20% of the final grade.

FINAL -- An essay Final Exam covering material since the Mid-Term will constitute 25% of the final grade.

PROJECT -- You have the option of undertaking your own sociological investigation and submitting a report of your findings in place of the final exam. If you wish to exercise this option you must have your project topic accepted by November 4th. Project reports must be submitted by the last day of class.

ATTENDANCE -- Your attendance will count as 10% of your final grade.  At the beginning of each class an attendance sheet will circulate for your signature.

N.B. Attendance on exam days is required. Only confirmed medical excuses will be accepted. Please schedule your Christmas break so that you can attend your final exam on the day on which it is scheduled.

This course's web page's address is:  http://www.faculty.fairfield.edu/faculty/hodgson/courses/so11/so11syl.htm.  You can type this line directly into the "location" box on your web browser and hit enter.  You can also get to this page by following this trail from Fairfield University's web site (http://www.fairfield.edu):  go to "Academics," "Undergraduate Programs," "Majors," "Sociology and Anthropology," "Faculty" (it is on the menu on the left, down "Sociology and Anthropology"), "Hodgson," "So 11 General Sociology."

All the materials used in class are accessible to you on the web -- just click on the highlighted phrases.   These materials will be available several days before the topic is discussed in class.  Ideally, you might like to view/print these materials before class.  During class you can then make clarifying notes right on the printed topic pages you have in your hands  -- rather than attempting to take notes on all the material presented in class.  These topic pages will also be invaluable when studying for the essay mid-term and final exams, as well as being a help when reviewing for the class component portion of the quizzes.

The materials marked "Extra Material" are not required reading for this course.  They are there solely for your interest.  I would not print them out without first looking at them since they can be many pages long.

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September 1, 2, 4:    What is Sociology?

• Thinking About Suicide  (Data from the Youth Risk Behavior Survey, 1991-2007)  (Printable  Version with full charts)
  
• Youth Suicide Rates  (Data from Death Certificates, 1981-2005)  (Printable  Version with full charts)
• Extra Material:  "Cause of Death: Suicide, Age 8" (from the Sept. 15, 2003 People Magazine)
• Extra Material:  "New Orleans & Katrina:  Race and Class and Topography 
• Extra Material:  "Update on New Orleans and Katrina (NYT, Aug. 7, 2007)

September 8, 9, 11:      History of Sociology

Below are some actual works by Comte, Spencer, Marx, and Durkheim.
They are not required reading.

Extra Material:  August Comte:  Positive Philosophy

Extra Material:  Karl Marx:  The Communist Manifesto

Extra Material:  Herbert Spencer:  Excerpts from Principles of Sociology

Extra Material:  Emile Durkheim:  Excerpts from The Rules of the Sociological Method

• Project Ideas: ?
• The 2009 Smoking Survery Findings
• 2008 Winners:  Amy's Major & Partying Study;   Chloe's Birth Order & Academic Achievement Study
  
• Past Winners:   Amy's Major & Partying Study;   Chloe's Birth Order & Academic Achievement Study;  Kristin's Sleep & GPA Study;  Michael's HS Drinking Study ; Rob's Study;  Jill's Study; Liz's Strictness Study.
• Extra Material: Learn the Basics of SPSS (look at lessons 1 & 2 to get started using SPSS with your project data.). 
  For those who want more on-line training see SPSS Training.

October 7, 14   Ascriptive and Achievement Strategies of Filling Status Positions

October 16, 20: Stratification

• Theories of Stratification:  Conflict & Structural-Functional
• US Income Distribution: 1967-2005
• US Distribution of Income & Wealth:  1983-2004
• Extra Material:  Paul Krugman's article on "The Rich" (NYT, Oct. 20, 2002

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Good Sociology Links:

Major Areas of Sociology -- Links to subareas of the discipline.

Famous Sociologists Index  --  Links to classic theoretical works of sociologists.  Also has great background and biographies of these sociologists.

The General Social Survey -- Gives you access to every General Social Survey, from 1972 to 2004. This site will generate any crosstabulation or frequency table you want from these excellent surveys of general US attitudes and behaviors.

National Election Studies -- Gives you access to every National Election Survey, from 1952 to 2006, in addition to a variety of other surveys of interest.

American Religion Data Archive --  The American Religion Data Archive collects quantitative data sets for the study of American religion.  Some datasets are of national surveys, some denomination specific.  All can be downloaded in SPSS format for detailed analysis; online analysis software allows easy construction of frequency tables and basic crosstabulations.

American Sociological Association -- This is the professional organization of US sociologists. Find out about meetings of the association, newsletters, etc.

Census Reports: A to Z -- A link to the US Bureau of the Census and its reports on numerous topics.

Sociology Department Homepages -- great place to look if you are thinking about graduate school.