HSB4U EXAM FORMAT

3 Hours, 120 marks = 1.5 minutes per mark. Use your time wisely!
Part 1: Multiple Choice [50 marks]
50 multiple choice questions on terminology, 1 mark each. You should know all of the
following potential topics:
Possible Exam Topics
Agents of Change (Charismatic Leaders,
Modernizing Elites, Readiness for Change)
Agents of Socialization (Media, Families, Religion,
Schools, Peers)
Alienation
Anthropology, Psychology and Sociology
Baby Boomers (Dr. Spock, Echo Boomers,
Retirement)
Barriers to Change (Conformity, Time, Cost)
Capitalism
Cognitive Dissonance
Collectivist and Individualistic Societies
Conflict Theory
Control Groups vs Experimental Groups
Counterculture
Cultural Lag
Democratic Racism
Demography
Dependency Load
Dependent vs Independent Variables
Deviance and Labelling (Primary vs Secondary
Deviance)
Deviance Typology (Merton: Conformity,
Ritualism, Innovation, Retreatism, Rebellion)
Deviant behaviours (Consensus Crime, Conflict
Crime, Social Deviance, Social Diversion)
Fecundity vs Fertility
Functionalism
Globalization theories (World-System Theory,
Modernization Theory, Dependency Theory)
Hierarchy of Needs (Maslow)
Hypothesis (vs Research Question)
Inequality (the Gini Coefficient, Absolute
Inequality, Relative Inequality)
Inequality Theories (Functionalism, Conflict
Theory, Symbolic Interactionism)
Labelling Theory (Becker)
Longitudinal vs Cross-Sectional Studies
Looking Glass Theory (Cooley)

Material vs Nonmaterial Culture

Moral Entrepreneurs and Moral Panic
Normalization (Bandura)
One Child Policy and Gendercide
Origins of Social Movements (due to inequality)
Paradigm Shift
Proximity
Pyramid of Hate
Research Methods (Observation, Experiment,
Case Study, Meta-Analysis)
Sample (vs Population)
Sampling Methods (Self-Selection, Random
Sample, Stratified Sample)
Social Comparison Theory (upwards and
downwards comparison)
Social Control (Internal, External, Formal and
Informal sanctions)
Social Justice and the Difference Principle (Rawls)
Social Learning Theory
Social Mobility (Horizontal, Vertical,
Intergenerational and Intragenerational)
Social Movements (Revolutionary, Reformative,
Redemptive, Alternative)
Social Stratification (Open and Closed Systems)
Socialization and Resocialization
Statistics on Hate Crime (Types of victims,
Likelihood of Charges)
Structural Functionalism
Symbolic Interactionism
Technological Determinism
the 'Bridge to Adulthood' (Rites of Passage)
The effects of the Media (Cultural Transmission,
Transculturation)
Theories of Change (Evolutionary, Cyclical,
Challenge and Response, Functionalist, Conflict)
Writing Questionnaires (Double-Barrelled
Questions, Exhaustive Questions, Overlapping
Questions)

Part 2: Theory Analysis [20 marks]

Read a one-page article about a common activity, then analyze it through the lens of two
theoretical perspectives chosen from the big 6 we learned in class:
Conflict Theory

Rational Theory

Symbolic Interactionism

Functionalism

Social Learning Theory

Systems Theory

10 marks

9 marks

8 marks

7 marks

6 marks

5 marks

You are able to

connect at least three
points about this issue
with the theoretical
perspective. Your
explanations are
persuasively written
and use course
concepts to enhance
understanding.

You are able to

connect at least two
points about this issue
with the theoretical
perspective. Your
explanations are
persuasively written
and use course
concepts to enhance
understanding.

You are able to

connect at least two
points about this issue
with the theoretical
perspective. Your
explanations are
clearly written and use
at least one course
concept to enhance
understanding.

You are able to

connect at least two
points about this issue
with the theoretical
perspective. Your
explanations are
clearly written.

You are able to

connect at least one
point about this issue
with the theoretical
perspective. Your
explanations are
clearly written.

You are able to

connect at least one
point about this issue
with the theoretical
perspective.

Part 3: Sight Passage [20 marks]

Read a two-page article and answer questions about it using the article and your understanding
of course facts and concepts.

Part 4: Extended Response [30 marks]

Pick one of the following four big questions and write a short (two page) essay in
response to it.
1) Canada faces new challenges as the Baby Boomer generation continues to age.
What effects is this generation having on Canadian society? Be sure to consider both
social and economic factors in your response.
2) Technology is one of the greatest sources of change in the world today. How has
changing technology had an effect on society? Choose at least two technological
changes (at least one of which must be from before the 20th century) and use them to
illustrate the effects of technological change on society.
3) Families are an important but not unchanging institution. What is happening to the
worlds fertility rate? What pressures exist in our society that encourage people to
have children?

Format Argument Evidence

4) Racism and hatred are nearly universally condemned, yet they continue to thrive in
Canadian society. In what ways do we see these problems in Canadian society, and
what is the key to eradicating them?
10 marks

9 marks

8 marks

7 marks

6 marks

5 marks

Your answer
uses a large
number of highly
significant
concepts and
facts
Your answer ties
together the
evidence
seamlessly into a
persuasive
argument on
Your answer is
divided into
topical
paragraphs,
connected fluidly
and capped with

Your answer
uses a moderate
number of highly
significant
concepts and
facts
Your answer ties
together the
evidence neatly
into a persuasive
argument on
multiple levels.
Your answer is
divided into
topical
paragraphs,
connected fluidly
and capped with

Your answer
uses a number of
highly significant
concepts and
facts

Your answer
uses a large
number of
concepts and
facts

Your answer
uses a moderate
number of
concepts and
facts

Your answer
uses a number of
concepts and
facts

Your answer ties

together the
evidence neatly
into a clear
argument for at
least two major
Your answer is
divided into
topical
paragraphs,
connected to
each other and

Your answer
makes a clear
argument for at
least two major
points.

Your answer
makes a
debatable
argument.

Your answer
makes a weak or
unclear
argument.

Your answer is
divided into
topical
paragraphs,
connected to
each other and

Your answer is
divided into
topical
paragraphs.

Your answer is
understandable.