Can Software Make the Grade?
A computer program, SAGrader, rated these exam answers from students in an introductory sociology course at the University of Missouri at Columbia. The students were asked to write about one distinguished sociologist covered in the class, and focus on key topics identified by the professor. See how your grading skills compare: Read the answers and put a check mark next to each topic the student covered accurately. Then compare your grade to the one given by the computer. The maximum score is nine points.
STUDENT ANSWER 1: MAX WEBER
Max Weber revolutionized in the idea of academic discipline of sociology. He was born in 1864 and, lived in Germany. He died in 1920 in Germany. He argued that religious belief systems such as the protestant ethic could make people more receptive to change such as capitalism. He was associated with rationality, the human action where goals are set and achieved in the most efficient manner. He also argued that societies were becoming rationalized in the sense that rationalization of society is the transition from a society domainated by tradition to one dominated by rationality. Rationalization is most apparent in the changing of character in social organizations. He also argued that tradition organizations were being superseded by bureaucracies. Weber saw this most prominent in European countries where Protestants were becoming business leaders, skilled workers, and capitalists.
STUDENT ANSWER 2: KARL MARX
Karl Marx was a German Sociologist who helped write the Communist Manifesto. Marx was born and educated in Germany. He was expelled for advocating revolution and was forced to live in poverty on the streets of London, England. In London, Marx wrote for radical newspapers and spent his time studying in local libraries.
