Edgar Degas,
Portrait de M. Durante

Summary - Response & Discussion Topics

Unit 12: Education, Health Care and Medicine

Summary - Response Papers:

You will complete four (4) brief summary-response papers during the semester – due dates are listed on the course calendar. Your paper should be roughly 750-1,000 words – three typed double-spaced pages (12 point font). You may only choose 1 assignment from each "batch/block of units" of the class: one SR paper from units 1 through 3; one SR paper from units 4 through 6; one SR paper from units 7 through 10; one SR paper from units 11 through 14.

These writing assignments are to be submitted through Canvas. Click on "Assignments" located in the left hand panel on the course page. Next, click on the appropriate Unit - i.e., if you are choosing to submit a paper from this unit - click on unit 12 under Assignments. After clicking on Unit 12 you will see a Turnitin Assignment Inbox where you will submit/upload your paper.

Discussion Topics

Taking part in class discussions, though not mandatory, will let you earn "bonus points" that can add up to a full letter grade to your final grade for the course.

To contribute, click on "Discussions" located in the left hand panel on Canvas. Next, choose a discussion topic for this unit, click on it, read the prompt, and click on "Reply." Be sure that you add your name. For more sinformation on how to submit your comments and/or engage in the online class discussion, go to the "Frequently Asked Questions" page.

 

Unit 12: Education, Health Care and Medicine

You may choose one of these options as one of your four required summary-response papers:

A. Theoretical Perspectives on Education

Each of the major theoretical perspectives in sociology – the functionalist, interactionist and conflict – has different things to say about formal educational processes in the United States. Discuss what you think to be the most important contributions that each makes and indicate how each leads to a deepening of your understanding of education in society.

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B. Unequal Education Opportunities

Jonathan Kozal – as well as other analysts – have shown how our primary schools are marked by “savage inequality.” Drawing upon the chapter, summarize the data that supports this bleak assessment. What changes would our society have to make to eliminate school inequality? Would you support such changes? Why or why not?

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C. Problems in Schools

In his chapter, Macionis lists the following five problems in the schools: discipline and violence, student passivity, dropping out, academic standards, and grade inflation. Briefly summarize each of these, rank order them in terms of their importance, and suggest solutions.

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D. Theoretical Perspectives on Health Care

Each of the major theoretical perspectives in sociology – the functionalist, interactionist and conflict – has different things to say about health care in the United States. Discuss what you think to be the most important contributions that each makes and indicate how each leads to a deepening of your understanding of health care in society.

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E. The Cost of Health Care

The cost of medical care in the United States far exceeds that of other industrialized countries. Drawing upon Macionis’ two discussions, “Paying for Medical Care: A Global Survey” and “Paying for Medical Care: The United States,” and Rosenthal’s article “The $2.7 Trillion Medical Bill: Colonoscopies Explain Why U.S. Leads the World in Health Expenditures,” summarize the differences and discuss why they are so large.  Do you think that our health care system should be revamped to cut down costs? Why or why not? If so, what do you suggest?

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F. The Affordable Care Act

Provide a sociologically informed account of the controversy surrounding the “Affordable Care Act.” What are the key issues? How do social factors (i.e., political ideology, race, class, sex, geographical area, etc) affect one's position in this controversy?


 

Discussion Topics
These are posted in the "Discussions" Section in Canvas

1. How important is a college degree today in the United States? In your discussion, draw upon the data presented by Lisa Wade, "Economic Mobility and Education in the U.S. Today," Gwen Sharp, "Education and Earnings Potential," and Richard Fry, “The growing economic clout of the college educated.”

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2. How well educated are you about science? Take this 13 question interactive quiz to test your knowledge of scientific concepts. Then see how you did in comparison with the 1,006 randomly sampled adults asked the same questions in a national poll conducted by the Pew Research Center and Smithsonian magazine. How did you do? What are the implications of the distribution of test scores obtained by Pew? Do we lag behind other countries in science knowledge? What are the implications of the distribution of test scores obtained by Pew?

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3. According to social epidemiological studies, patterns of health for the U.S. population, differ considerably by gender, social class, and race. What are these differences? How do you account for them? How might the extent to which these differences occur be reduced?

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4. Use the case of eating disorders or obesity as the focus of a discussion that explains why health and illness are correctly understood as societal and cultural issues as much as they are medical issues.

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5. Discuss the “right to die” debate. How has modern technology created this debate in the first place? What are the arguments for legal euthanasia? What are the arguments against it? Which side do you find more convincing? Why?

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6. Would you support a "single-payer" health care system? Why or why not?