SOCY 1101

Readings 4-7
Mary McKenzie
UNC Charlotte
Reading 4: “Men as Success Objects and
Women as Sex Objects” – Simon Davis
 What do men and women really want in
potential mates?
 Davis suggests that using unobtrusive
research methods can help us get beyond
the “politically correct” to find the real
answers.
 What does Davis mean by “sex objects”
and “success objects”?
 According to Davis’ findings, what are the
major differences between the personal ads
placed by men and those placed by
women?
 
 
 According to Simon Davis, the men and
women who purchase personal
advertisements have pretty much
abandoned traditional sex-role stereotypes.

True

False
 According to Simon Davis, at the top of
men’s lists of what they want in a woman is
financial security.

True

False
 Surprisingly, according to Simon Davis, men
who placed personal ads tended to
emphasize their desire for a woman who
would be an intellectual challenge as
opposed to merely attractive in the physical
sense.

True

False
 Simon Davis concluded that men who place
personal advertisements have little in
common with men who use more traditional
means to meet women.

True

False
Reading 5: “Skipping Class” – Gary
Wyatt
 Is skipping class really just a “personal
trouble”?
 Variables: class interesting, time spent
studying, living arrangements, time spent
working jobs, alcohol consumption, gender,
age, parental income, previous semester’s
grade point average
 Method: survey questionnaire
 In his study of student absenteeism, Wyatt
found that faculty who taught small classes
were more likely to be demoralized by
absenteeism that faculty who taught large
classes.

 True

 False
 In his study of student absenteeism, Wyatt
found that students were more likely to
attend classes if the instructor seemed to be
well prepared for the class.

 True

 False
 In his study of student absenteeism, Wyatt
found that students from lower-income
families were less likely to attend class than
students from higher-income families.

 True

 False
 In his study of student absenteeism, Wyatt
found that absenteeism was fairly rare.

 True

 False
 In his study of student absenteeism, Wyatt
found that there is an association between
students’ grade point averages and
attendance.

 True

 False
Reading 6: “Doing the Right Thing” – Lisa J.
McIntyre
 Ethics in Research
 Do not subject the people we study to
unnecessary risk of harm
 Ethics and morals are different, though there
may be an overlap between ethical and
moral behavior.
 Professional is a special king of occupational
group (lawyers, physicians, clergy
 Nuremberg Code
 When their code of ethics conflicts with
moral rules, professionals are professionally
bound to follow moral rules.

 True

 False 
 Sociologically speaking, the main difference
between professionals and nonprofessionals
is that professionals are paid more for their
work.

 True

 False
 Sociologists are bound by their ethical code
to obtain informed consent from research
subjects only when life and death issues are
involved.

 True

 False
Reading 7: “If Hitler Asked You to
Electrocute a Stranger…” – Philip Meyer
 Recounts Stanley Milgram’s research on
obedience
 Was it worth the emotional price paid by
subjects?
 Milgram randomly divided his subjects into
teachers and learners so as to avoid bias.
 

 True

 False
 One problem with Milgram’s research was
that he relied too heavily on college students
as subjects; college students are not typical
of people in the general population.

 True

 False
 Milgram found that women are more
obedient than men.

 True

 False
 The people who obeyed the researcher
clearly enjoyed their experiences as a
“teacher” more than did those who
disobeyed the researcher.

 True

 False
 Prior to beginning his research, Milgram
assumed that in the United States he would
have trouble getting people to obey the
researcher.

 True

 False