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Sociology: A Brief Introduction, 4/e
Richard T. Schaefer, DePaul University
Population And Health

Internet Exercises

  1. Zero-Population Growth (ZPG) offers a cyber examination of the issues raised in your chapter. To learn more about the consequences and issues surrounding continued population growth, visit their website (http://www.zpg.org/). When you first log on, be sure to take note of the estimated "World Population" and "U.S. Population" figures and track how much time you spend on the site. Imagine that you have to present a report to your class on this organization by examining the following questions.
    1. What are the goals of ZPG?
    2. What kinds of activities or events does ZPG sponsor? How do these events help the organization achieve its goals?
    3. How does the organization's perspectives compare to those offered by Reverend Thomas Robert Malthus as detailed in your text (see pages 381-82)?
    4. What new legislation or current technological advances are having an impact on population growth?
    5. Examine the statistics and "Reports & Publications" offered on the site. Which statistics or information do you feel is important to feature in your report to the class?
    6. Can you identify any nations or parts of the world as being in either the pretransition stage, the transition stage, or the posttransition stage?
    7. Return to the homepage for the site and click on your browser's "refresh" or "reload" button to bring up the page anew. During the time that you were on the site, how much of an increase was there to the "World Population" and "U.S. Population" figures? What is your reaction to this increase considering what you have learned on the site and in this chapter?
  2. Formal socialization into the medical profession begins at medical school. Pretend that you are a future doctor and that you are choosing which medical school to attend. Log onto The Lycos® Network's links to schools. Select two schools and answer the following questions for each where appropriate:
    1. What are the admission requirements of the school?
    2. How much does it cost to attend the school? How might the cost of medical school affect a future doctor's career decisions?
    3. If offered, what is the demographic make-up of the faculty and the students? Does this make-up reflect patterns found in the wider society?
    4. What values drive the school's philosophy or mission?
    5. What values and ethical considerations does the school stress to students?
    6. What areas of specialization does the school offer?
    7. How large a part does technology play a part in the educational process?
    8. Does the school appear to embrace alternative medicine techniques, such as holistic or herbal medicines?
    9. After your "visits," which school would you choose if you wanted to be a doctor? Why?
  3. Political cartoons use humor, satire, and art to present opinions about social issues and current events. Daryl Cagle's Professional Cartoonist Index! (on MSN Slate®) offers computer users a chance to view this form of commentary online. Visit the site (http://cagle.slate.msn.com/news/health/) and examine five cartoons regarding "Health Care Issues." Use your interactionist imagination to discuss how the images are being used in each of the art works.
    1. What problems regarding health and health care do the five cartoons address?
    2. What is the overall point of view expressed by the cartoonists through their work? For each artist, would you classify his or her perspective on this health issue as being more representative of the conflict perspective or the functionalist perspective? Why?
    3. What is your perspective on this health care problem? What can be done to alleviate it? Do you find your view to be more representative of the conflict or the functionalist perspective?
    4. Do the cartoons connect with an idea or discussion from this chapter? If so, how?
    5. How do the five cartoons you examined compare? On which points do they appear to agree? On which points do they not?








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