Sociology The Five Sexes Discussion
Payne SOCI 135 Winter 2022 Midterm #1 Due Thursday February 10th 150 points
Please use 12pt. Times New Roman font and please double space responses.
Please insert page numbers and a header with your name and our course information (SOCI 135).
Part One: Identifications. 10 pts x 5 IDs = 50 points
For each of the six concepts below, please provide a brief explanation in your own
words describing what the term means.
Please provide an example from our course materials (readings,
documentaries/clips, lectures, slides) that provide an illustration of each concept.
1.) Social Health Gradient/Social Health Ladder
2.) Dualisms/Binaries
3.) Ideological Loop
4.) Eugenics
5.) Biopower
Part Two: Short Answer. 50 pts x 2 prompts = 100 points
Please respond to both of the following two prompts.
Please aim for approximately 3-4 paragraphs per prompt.
Please include two specific examples from our course materials that help illustrate
or provide evidence for each response. (Total of four examples for short answer
portion of midterm).
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Payne SOCI 135 Winter 2022 Midterm #1 Due Thursday February 10th 150 points
1.) In the first half of our course, we have explored the concept of biological determinism in
relation to a series of social identities, categories, and experiences. We have also explored
the concept of social construction and compared it to biological determinism.
First, please explain what the term biological determinism means – how might we
define this concept? What are the assumptions and the logic/reasoning that guide
biological determinist arguments?
Next, please consider what real or potential consequences might result from applying
a biological determinist approach to the study of race, ethnicity, sex, and gender.
Then, please explain what the term ‘social construction’ means – how might we define
this concept? What are the assumptions and the logic/reasoning that guide social
constructionist arguments?
Finally, please consider what real or potential consequences might result from
applying a social constructionist approach to the study of race, ethnicity, sex, and gender.
Please remember to include two examples in response to Prompt 1 – Thanks!
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Payne SOCI 135 Winter 2022 Midterm #1 Due Thursday February 10th 150 points
2.) We have also been considering what it means to approach medical questions and
concerns from epidemiological and public health perspectives. Such approaches are
related to, but distinct from, individual-centered approaches to health and well-being.
First, please explain what characteristics distinguish epidemiology and public health
approaches to the study and practice of health and well-being from other
understandings and practices of medicine.
Next, please discuss how epidemiological and public health approaches to questions of
risk, prevention, diagnosis, and treatment/cure relate to broader systemic/structural
questions concerning race, ethnicity, gender, sex, and class/SES. What role do social
categories play in epidemiological and public health research and practice?
Finally, what limitations or critiques of epidemiological or public health approaches to
health and medicine have we considered?