Soc 1300: Intro to Sociology
Section 10526
Fall 2000

Instructor: Professor Nestor Rodriguez
Office: 474 PGH; Tel. 713.743.3946
E-mail: nrodriguez@uh.edu
Office Hours: 11am-12pm on Mondays, Wednesdays, and Fridays (and by appointment)


Purpose of the Course

This course is designed to introduce students to the sociological perspective. The course will review and discuss sociological concepts, theories, and research. First, the course will describe the place and role of sociology among other disciplines of the social sciences . Secondly, the course will introduce major theorists, perspectives, and research methods in sociology. Thirdly, the course will describe perspectives in microsociology, e.g., symbolic interactionism, interpersonal interaction, and the development of the self-concept. Finally, the course will review major perspectives in macrosociology, e.g., social stratification and racial/ethnic relations.

Course Requirements

  1. Read the assigned readings and come to class prepared to discuss them.
  2. Take three exams scheduled for the course. Exams must be taken on the dates specified. Students may take a make-up exam only in exceptional cases. The make-up exam must be taken within one week of the exam scheduled date. Exams not made up within this one week period will be given a grade of zero. All make-up exams will consist of essay questions.
  3. Write a short report on a research article published in a social science journal indicated by the instructor. Students will be given guidelines for writing this report, which is due on November 3.

Course Grade

The course grade will be based on exam and paper grades. Exams will be worth 100 points each, and the paper will be worth 50 points. Final course grades will be determined by dividing the total exam points by 350.

Letter grades will be assigned according to the following conventional scale:
93%-100%=A, 90%-92%=A-, 87%-89%=B+, etc.The course grade will be based on the exam and report grades. Exams will be worth 100 points each, and the research report will be worth 40 points. Final course grades will be calculated by dividing the sum of the exam and report scores by 340, and affixing a letter grade based on the calculated percentage of total points: A (93%-100%), A- (90%-92%), B+ (87%-89%), B (83%-86%), B- (80%-82%), etc.

Extra credit can be obtained by writing a second research article report. This will add 3-5 additional points to your final grade average. The report for extra credit must be turned in no later than Nov 17.

Texts

  • R. J. Gelles and A. Levine. Sociology, 6th edition. Boston: McGraw Hill, 1999.
  • S. J. Ferguson. Mapping the Social Landscape, 2nd edition. Mountain View, CA: Mayfield, 1999.


Course reading and exam schedule (dates subject to change by instructor)

Section 1: Introduction to Sociology and Social Research

Aug 21-Sep1--G/L: chaps 1-2; F: selections 1-6

Section 2: Culture and Socialization

Sep 4-13--G/L: chaps 3-4; F: selections 7-14

Sept 15--Exam 1

Section 3: Social Structure and Interaction

Sep 18-29--G/L: chaps 5-6; F: 11-14 and 15-18

Section 4: Social Deviance and Control

Oct 2-13--G/L: chap 7; F: 19-22

Section 5: Social Stratification

Oct 16-18-- G/L: chap 8; F: 23-26

Oct 20--Exam 2 (chaps 5,6,7 only)

Section 6: Social Inequality

Oct 23-Nov 3--G/L: chaps 9-10; F: 27-30 and 31-34

Nov 3—Report due

Section 7: The Family, Global Ecology, and Collective Behavior

Nov 6-29--G/L: chaps 11, 16 & 17; F: 50-52 and 53-56

Nov 23-25--Thanksgiving holidays

Dec 1--Exam 3


Dr. Rodriguez

Introduction to Sociology


Contact Information

Syllabus

Lecture Notes

Study Guides and Sample Tests

Paper Guidelines

Paper Format

Soc 3326 Only

Pictures