The class itself isn't too hard, but Sigmon is super boring and makes the lectures feel twice as long as they actually are. That being said, you don't really need to attend lectures because his exam questions come straight from the slides. He's really approachable though and his office hours are great if you ever need to talk through paper ideas or class material with him!

Structure of the course was Midterm, Paper, Final with both exams being 30% of the grade and Paper and discussion both being 20%.
Midterm and Final were mostly multiple choice, a few short answer questions, and true or false questions where, if false, you had to say what's the correct answer.

It's important to preface this review with that Sigmon's teaching style is not for everyone. As the more negative reviews have said, he does only read off his slides "in a dark room" and the material can be quite challenging. However, I found this class greatly reinforcing why I even love Sociology in the first place. It's completely valid to feel like this stuff is just recalling material since it's all multiple choice, but I found that if you really enjoy the topics he goes over you'll easily learn it. There's so many types of concepts like group dynamics, aggression, interpersonal attraction, etc. that are, to me, really fun to learn and helps you uncover the "facts" of our daily lives.

His lecture style isn't for everyone. Yeah, it can definitely feel like it's dragging on a bit. I've taken his classes multiple times so I'm used to it, but it's totally fair to feel this way. I felt this way myself, but I really grew to enjoy the comments he makes during lecture that helps reinforce the concepts. And if you don't quite get it, he's more than willing to clarify things during office hours so you truly understand the material. He's a great professor, and I'd take this class again any time. Don't let the negative reviews dismiss what I found to be a genuinely wonderful class with a kind and caring professor.

I am a 4th-year student, and I can tell you that you won't learn much in this class because of the way he organized it. He basically reads off his slides, in a dark classroom, so you can already assume that the lectures are not engaging at all. The exams do not test your knowledge in any way, it is simply memorization which is not very rational for a university social psych class. There is a term paper, which you would think is worth a lot since it is a sociology class, but unfortunately, it is worth the same as attendance, which means to have an A and to be an A student you just have to basically have a great memory and memorize the material, not thinking or analyzing concepts-only learn the answers and recall during the test, and based on that you'll know where you stand. Prof is a nice guy, but the class isn't what I imagined

狠狠避雷 铁铁们速逃 very confusing, midterm and final is so hard, lots of notes and very abstract concepts

this is a review for soc 102 with sigmon, but also 101 because i took him for both. i love sigmon!!! the way that he structures his tests makes it that you can literally have a guaranteed a in the class- as long as you put in the work. the questions on his tests are literally verbatim from what he puts on his slides, no more, no less. he will literally ask you to fill in the blank for a random quote that you're unlikely to remember- unless you study the slides. no reading is required either- both classes i did reading the first few weeks but it doesn't help you much on your tests because all you need to know are the words written on his slides. i studied for his tests by combining all of my lecture notes- this being the notes on his slides typed out word for word- put on a complete google doc. i organized each one by their theory and theorist, if there were multiple, and then also added the info that my ta gave us in section. i then made these concept maps that included the theory, theorist, and all the terms with definitions. others in this class may have just reviewed the slides but i have a really hard time memorizing things unless i do it extensively so as long as i did this, i easily recognized each question on the final. the tests are curved by a couple points too, so that should help. i got a 97 on the midterm, and a 91 on the final because i didn't study the slides enough. there is also an essay but its really easy and he gives you the prompt at the start of the quarter, so start soon that way you have more time to study since the essay is due a few days before the final. its five pages double spaced, but he also asks you to pull from outside resources. not only do i love sigmon because of the predictability of his tests- and my grade in the class- but he also makes understanding theory so much easier. he basically just breaks down the reading into digestible content in his lectures, and pulls from his own life for examples. he also recalls other theoriests in soc 102, from soc 101 so it helped me recall the theories i learned last quarter too. he's also just a really nice guy, i never went to his office hours but it was clear that he loved talking to students and wanted them to succeed. also- this class is not podcasts, however i would miss class a couple weeks because he basically reads his slides word for word, and posts them at the end of each week, so id just take all the info from the slides and copy it down in my doc if i had to miss- but i recommend going in person, he loves when students show up and it also just makes it easier to stay on top of all the info you need.

Professor Sigmon is a great professor here at UCLA. He does all of his lectures on lecture slides. They do come in very handy for studying for the midterm and final. His lectures can get a bit boring, but since he does not record them I suggest going to every class even though attendance is not mandatory. One suggestion I make is to go to his office hours. He is so helpful during them and really makes everything a lot clearer. Ultimately, be reminded this is not an easy class. But as long as you put in effort, time, and study, you should relatively well.

I am an international student and I found this class pretty manageable. I agree that some of the course material is challenging and can be hard to digest. Professor Sigmon helped us to make sense of the sophisticated readings in his lectures. I had Jorge as my TA and he is super helpful.

This class can be an easy class if you don't underestimate it. This class was made up of work for discussion sections, a midterm, final exam, and a final paper (the final is not cumulative). The professor gives you all of the necessary tools to pass the exams because he posts all of his slides and he gives you a study guide like a week or so before the exam. The exams are made up of multiple choice, true or false, and open response questions and the majority of the exam is on lecture material with some questions on the readings thrown in there (so make sure you understand the gist of them leading up to the exams).

The study guides pretty much have all of the answers for the exams on them but don't think you can just wing these exams. I made the mistake of underestimating the midterm because the class seemed super easy up until that point. But the exams are made to really test you on the material and guessing won't get you very well. For example, for the true or false questions, if you answered false, you had to fix the statement to make it true. So you really have to know the material to get a good grade.

Overall, the class can be a breeze as long as you keep up with the work in discussion sections and study well for the exams. I will say, the professor is a nice guy but he's not the most engaging of lecturers so his lectures do feel pretty boring. Also, the TA strike kind of messed up the flow of the class and the professor wasn't that accommodating about it but other than that it was a good class.

This professor is a good and funny professor. But this is not an easy class. You need to prepare to read a lot of books if you plan to take his class. His test will require you to take several in-class essays. It was hard to take.
ATTENTION INTERNATIONAL STUDENTS: DO NOT TAKE THIS CLASS IF YOUR MOTHER LANGUAGE IS NOT ENGLISH, IT WILL DESTROY YOUR GPA!!! CHOOSE ANOTHER PROFESSOR IF IT IS POSSIBLE.

I honestly recommend Sigmon's class over the summer. The lectures were extremely clear, and he posted the slides after lecture each day. He posted two discussion posts each week and you only needed to respond to one per week. We had 3 test total (each dedicated to one theorist) and each exam was free response to three questions (10 sentences max). He also gave us the topics that would be covered in the exam questions at the beginning of the week. I think the class structure was clear and not at all demanding. As long as you go to all lectures and pay attention, you will do well.