SOCIOLOGY 401/501 - SOCIAL CLASS AND SOCIAL STRATIFICATION

SEMESTER PROJECT FOR SOCIOLOGY 401
Instructor - Austin

     Your term project should respond to each of the following points.  The
resulting paper (excluding your map and any other charts, pictures, etc.)
should not exceed 7 pages.*

A.   The Map

     1.   Select a city with a population of 5,000 or more.  If you wish to
          study your home town, you may do so.  If that is inconvenient, you
          might choose Murfreesboro, or Smyrna, or some other town close by. 
          But, the population must be 5,000 or more.

     2.   On an official map (you may purchase one from the city
          government, city planning office, etc., for a nominal fee), locate
          the areas where one would most likely find the following:
          a.   Median annual household income of under $10,000.
          b.   Median annual household income between $10,000 and
               $19,999.
          c.   Median annual household income between $20,000 and
               $29,999.
          d.   Median annual household income between $30,000 and
               $49,999.
          e.   Median annual household income of $50,000 or more.
          f.   A predominately black population.
          g.   A predominately white population.
          h.   A relatively mixed racial population.
                  (For "f," "g," and "h," indicate how you
               determined these categories.

NOTE:With colored pencils, shade these areas to correspond with a map legend. 
You may indicate racial composition by using diagonal lines of different
colors.

     3.   Pinpoint on the map where each of the following exists:
          a.   The Episcopal church(s)
          b.   Pentecostal church(s)
          c.   Methodist church(s)
          d.   country club(s)
          e.   Housing project(s)
          f.   Private doctors' offices or private clinics
          g.   Shopping mall(s) or major shopping center(s)
          h.   Industrial parks, manufacturing plants and
               their approximate ages.
          i.   Railroad tracks, if any.
          j.   Homes costing less than $40,000
          k.   Homes costing between $40,000 and $60,000
          l.   Homes costing between $60,000 and $80,000
          m.   Homes costing between $80,000 and $100,000
          n.   Homes costing more than $100,000
          o.   Mobile home parks

B.   Written description of City Areas

     1.   Describe the various shaded areas of your map and pinpoints on 
          your map in terms of income, racial composition and location of
          various industries, services and residential patterns.

     2.   Again by area, describe:
          a.   The condition of educational facilities
          b.   Condition of the medical facilities
          c.   Condition of buildings, streets and other physical
               structures.
          d.   Condition of various types of recreational
               facilities.

     3.   From information gathered from relevant sources
          (including class lectures and your textbook), describe
          the area of the city where:
          a.   the high school drop-out rate is the highest
          b.   the infant mortality rate is high
          c.   mental illness rates tend to be low
          d.   "illegitimacy" rate is high
          e.   illegal drugs are most likely to be sold
          f.   school board members live
          g.   executives and professional live
          h.   steadily employed blue-collar workers live
          i.   unskilled, service and seasonal workers live.

     4.   Now, make sense out of what you have described and shown on your
          map.  Why are you able to find and demonstrate visible
          stratification patterns within the city?  How do you explain those
          patterns?
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*Double spaced, standard type, and standard margins!