Carefully read and answer all of the following questions. Do not go off on tangents, answer only what is asked of you. For questions that have multiple parts, do not answer these in outline form. Your response to each question should be a single, coherent, well-organized essay. Illustrate your points by providing examples from the readings. There are no page limits, use your judgment. Begin each question on a separate page. Exams will be collected at the beginning of class on Monday, October 11^th. Good luck.

1. Briefly explain what sociologists mean by the statement "health and well-being are not biologically dictated but are socially produced and experienced". What are some of the sources of health beliefs and practices? (Consider at least two different sources) Briefly discuss two ways in which either the social environment or symbolic meanings of health can physically affect us.

2. Compare and contrast standpoint theory and situated knowledge in regards to power and its social construction. Briefly discuss how each theory would explain why nursing offers a more gendered conception of health care. Be specific and provide examples from the readings.

3. Briefly explain the four meaning levels of illness (Kleinman) and the significance they hold for the interpretation of illness. Why do patients engage in the illness narrative? What does the narrative offer the physician?

4. Briefly discuss the difference between the Zola’s conception of ‘compliance/non-compliance’ and Conrad’s ‘self-regulation’. Which author would have us believe that social distance, information control, and micro-politics matter in the doctor-patient relationship? (Briefly explain terms and then explain why). What reasons does Conrad provide us with as to why epileptic patients stop, or alter, their daily medications?

5. Emile Durkheim and Talcott Parsons claim that illness is better understood as deviance from established norms of social groups. Briefly explain how each theorist differs in their approach to illness. How do their conceptions differ from the traditional medical model of disease? According to Parsons, how is morality (or moral authority) encompassed by the sick role?

6. Compare and contrast Bourdieu’s notion of taste and Gidden’s notion of self-identity. How does each theorist come to understand the development of lifestyle?

7. What is the association between alternative health and clinical reality? How does the ideology of alternative medicine compare to that of the traditional western biomedical model? (Consider what constitutes ‘being healed’ for each perspective)

8. Studies have long shown that while women live longer than men, men feel healthier than women. According to Ross and Bird, what components of class explain this difference in perceived health? What do the authors state would lessen this gap? Do the conclusions of this study support Weber or Bourdieu’s notion of lifestyle? (Hint: which is more important chance or choice?)