...Introduction to Sociology Paper Topic 1 Due: March 6, 2015 Opinion essays require a personal and argumentative approach to the given assignment. Once a personal opinion is stated, it becomes challenging for the writer to defend his/her argument that justifies their opinion. You will want to rely both on your views and external sources to support your opinion(s). Below are popular quotes by famous peoples. You are to write an opinion essay from one of the listed quotes. You will be graded on your ability to follow instructions and write a well-composed 2-3 paper. Winston Churchill 1. “We make a living by what we get but we make a life by what we give.” 2. “A lie gets halfway around the world before the truth has a chance to get its pants on.” 3. “You have enemies? Good. That means you’ve stood up.” John F. Kennedy 1. ”Efforts and courage are not enough without purpose and direction.” 2. “Once you say you're going to settle for second, that's what happens to you in life, I find.” 3. “Anyone who is honestly seeking a job and can't find it, deserves the attention of the United States government, and the people.” Malcolm X 1. “I don’t see an American Dream, I see an American Nightmare.” 2. “The media’s the most powerful entity on earth. They have the power to make the innocent guilty and to make the guilty innocent, and that is power.” 3. “America preaches integration and practices segregation.” Thomas Jefferson 1. “Banking...
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...Rosie Edwards, Sociology essay: Many different sociologists have different interpretations and opinions upon the family, the family is a very sensitive issue to many of the general public, so it’s a subject matter in which needs to be dealt with carefully. Sociologists have different opinions on when and how families developed into the popular family structures that we have today, the dominant roles within those families etc. Here are just a few examples of this: Functionalists believe that the family is the heart of society, it is essential in the world because the family set you up for your future. For example, without the family primary socialisation would not exist, and therefore we would not gain the acquired skills needed to survive in the future. Murdock, a famous Functionalist, claimed that the nuclear family is so useful to society that it is inevitable and universal, appearing everywhere all over the world. Also, Functionalists believe that there are four essential functions to a nuclear family. These being: sexual, this provides stability for the adults of the family. Reproductive, provides the new generation of the family and society. Economic, providing for the family, in nuclear families this is generally done by the male as he is the breadwinner. And finally, educational, the secondary socialisation needed to teach young adults and provide them the skills needed for the working world and the future. But, people have criticised the Functionalist perspective upon...
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...Sociology Essay In the modern family nowadays, there are many arguments as to whether the family is growing more and more equal. However there are also many contrasting arguments against it. In this essay I aim to assess both sides of the argument using many reliable views and collective information recorded by sociologists to show the sides. The march of progress is the view of family life gradually improving for all its members, becoming more equal and democratic. This view on family life was introduced by Young and Willmott in 1973 and they suggest that the modern family is moving away from the segregated conjugal role of the man going to work as the bread winner for the family and the woman to stay a home as the house wife and more towards the joint conjugal role where man and wife share tasks equally and spend leisure time with each other. Wilmott and Young describe this as the family becoming more symmetrical or becoming the symmetrical family. This is due to the fact that women go to work in families now and it is not just the man working to provide for the family. This supports the view suggesting that the family is growing more equal as back in the 1900’s women would have been expected to stay at home and take care of the housework, the children and care for the man also. There would vary rarely have been a working women In a family during the 1900’s. However this is where the women nowadays go to work and earn money to contribute to the family and to keep...
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...Chapter 10: Describe the patterns of gender inequality that currently exist in education. A common pattern still today is to take on the old fashioned role of a housewife. This does not require secondary education, and generally the man takes on the work/education role in this particular instance. The patterns seem to be going more towards equality these days. There are organizations that have implemented policies to ensure to the most fair practices between equalism of genders in education. Chapter 10: Describe the three functionalist theories of disengagement, activity, and continuity. Note how each focuses on the adjustments that occur between elderly people and others in society. There is the disengagement theory which primarily describes passing the roles smoothly from generation to generation, ensuring a continuous process. The activity theory describes elderly keeping busy when they are retired. This could be anything from picking up a new hobby like golf, to volunteering at a place they love to be. Continuity theory discusses how some retirees will tie strings to their past to assist in the adaption to older age. Chapter 11: Using the conflict perspective, explain how the ruling class controls the United States. The conflict perspective describes the "ruling class" as a group that have common interests and are generally wealthy. They have similarites such as attending high end institutions, supporting same political parties, ect. They can utelize their combined...
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...Many sociologists argue that the education system performs key functions in society. Functionalists such as Talcott Parsons say there are a few such as individual achievement, equal opportunity and role allocation. One of the main functions of the education system is role allocation. Role allocation is sorting and evaluating people in terms of talent and capabilities, then giving them appropriate roles in society. For example, in the institution of education, a teacher would be a main role. Their role expectation is to then help their pupils reach their full potential. Teach them right from wrong, stop violence, teach diversity and teach them respect. This tests students to discover talents and then match them talents later in life to jobs suited for them. Some disagree and say that instead of teachers providing knowledge and understanding in society, they may be teaching their own views and rules. This shows that teachers are doing their allocated role by teaching, but only teaching their pupils to a certain extent. A major value in modern industrial society is individual achievement. Young people are encouraged to achieve as individuals in school. This prepares young people to achieve as individuals outside of school and at work as they have earned it though ability. High achievement is rewarded by praise, along with good grades and valuable qualification needed in the world of work. However there is a main criticism to functionalism as it is difficult to see the link between...
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...Examine the ways in which social policies and laws may influence families and households. Some sociologists have suggested that social policy has caused families to become more diverse while others disagree. Social policies are the laws and practices put in place by the government that effect social issues, in this case the family. For example, in the 1930’s the Nazi government in Germany wanted to encourage Aryan families and put in place policies that involved sterilising certain groups to prevent them from having children. More recently in China they have a one child policy, if individuals have more than one child the government have put in place a series of penalties try and control their population. In the UK sociologists are interested in if social policy has caused families to become more diverse or different. One way in which families have become more diverse is an increase in same sex families. This is lesbian and gay couples living with children. Social policies that can be linked to this type of family diversity are laws to do with homosexuality in the UK. For example, in 1967 male homosexuality was legalised in the UK this has made homosexuality more socially accepted; this would allow gay couples to start a recognised family. However, other social policies have made same sex families even more accepted. For example, in 2002 the UK adoption laws were changed to allow gay couples to adopt children and create a family unit. Furthermore, in 2004 the Civil...
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...Examine the effects of social change on the position of children (24 marks) The position of children has undergone significant change, this will be examined alongside with the effects in this essay. There are many reasons why the position of children has changed and I will be examining whether the impact is positive or negative. In modern society it is argued that childhood is a social construct, which is where the individual experiences things which have been created. In pre-industrialisation the child had a similar role to the adults which was economic, this was researched by Aries. He studied paintings which were created in pre-industrialisation, the problem with this is that it has been interpreted by him and the painter and therefore may present bias or inaccurate findings or only give a one sided view. The children were expected to work and therefore had no/little education and their socialisation is very different to the children in modern society. The position of today’s children is to go to school, enjoy being a child and be dependent on the adult’s this was not evident in pre-industrialisation. This is proven in Aries findings, this is because he found that they were like a smaller version of an adult, for example with the clothes they wore and their expectations to work. He concluded that childhood did not exist, however in today’s society childhood is a significant lifestage and is essential in the future of the social actor (person). Industrialisation saw the...
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...Examine the view that theoretical issues are the important factor influencing sociologist’s choice of research methods (20 marks) Sociologists’ opinions differ among theoretical factors being the more important against other factors such as practical and ethical in influencing method choice. Positivists believe that sociological research should produce quantitative data e.g. official statistics and social surveys) as they identify and explain variable relationships between variables this is good for offering comparative explanations. They like data that is reliable, objective and representative; data allows the researcher to establish facts over interpretation. An example is the through using official statistics. Quantitative data shows a cause and effect relationship between two variables. An example would be Durkheim’s le suicide. Emile Durkheim created a hypothesis that suicide was related to the extent an individual was integrated into society. The less integrated the more suicidal. Quantitative research is theoretically positive this is because generally is more generaliasable and it’s able to be applied through triangulation. This would influential in choice of research method as this method is only applicable to some research and not in the case of true understanding of the research. Interpretivists however believe the opposite; that society cannot be studied through numerical data and you need verstehen to be able to truly understand cause and effect. Society is...
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...Assess Sociological views of the relationship between Family and Industrialisation Many sociological arguments of family diversity have centred around three questions. Firstly, is the nuclear family universal, secondly; is the nuclear family the only family type which carry out the vital functions of the family and thirdly what is the link between the nuclear family structure and industrial society, did the nuclear family break away from this extended family system as a result of industrialization? The relationship between family structure and industrialisation remains a popular question, as it is linking the family with social change. Functionalists such as Parsons and Murdock would argue that the Family, more precisely the Nuclear Family is beneficial and key for Industrialisation. Murdock sees the family as to having 4 main functions which are sexual, expressing sexuality in a socially accepted manner not incest or adultery; reproductive, providing some sort of stability for reproduction and childrearing. Socialisation, the family is an important unit of primary socialisation where children learn the norms, values and cultural history of their society and finally financial; providing food and shelter for family members. Pre Industrialisation refers back to the society before industrialisation, it was largely agricultural and work was centred at the home, people were given ascribed occupational roles this was known as the domestic industry. Family during the time was extended...
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...Sociology Exam #2 Short Answer: 1. Explain the concepts of status set and role set. Provide examples of each concept. Every person has developed a specific status for themselves, whether it is a voluntary or they have no choice. A status is a person’s position in society, and the statuses are either pursued or involuntarily received. Role sets are behaviors that are specifically attached to a status, each status can have a number of role sets. People have multiple status sets and many more role sets, because each earned status has its specific responsibilities. For instance, an American woman has the potential to be several things in a modern American family. She has the likelihood of being a mother which would be an achieved status because she has the choice of becoming a parent. Several roles would be attached to this status such as, providing for the children, being active in the child’s extracurricular activities and much more. 2. What makes something funny? Explain the foundation of humor and what is involved in “getting” a joke. Playing with reality is our cultures form of humor for now, and it is a reasonable way to discuss topics that are typically avoided in today’s mainstream culture. With today’s outlook on race and sexuality, put down jokes is what is found humorous to the generations now. Overall, humor is derived from violations of the culture’s norms. The foundation of humor is from mixing realities which promote humor. Since humor involves...
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...How can sociology help us think about civility and being civil? In sociology, the topic of race proves to create an issue with civility. In chapter 10 the significance of race as well as different forms of racism are expressed. As we see these inequalities, it can open our eyes on how to fix these issues to become civil. In chapter 10 we see how race can ultimately effect how you are treated and seen in society. In a country like America, we are seen as diverse, although whites are the dominate group. Due to this grouping of society, we can easily see the inequalities in society. You are either in the minority group or dominate group. Since there are differences that separate society this opens the door for discrimination, stereotypes, prejudice,...
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...Outline and assess the view that the role of the education system is to reproduce and transmit culture. This essay will outline and asses the view that the view that the role of the education system is to reproduce and transmit culture. According to Bourdieu, the major of the education system is cultural reproduction. This does involve society as a whole, as Durkheim argued, but, instead, the reproduction of the culture of the ‘dominant classes’. These groups have the power the power to ‘impose meanings and to impose them as legitimate’. They are able to define there own culture as ‘worthy of being sought and possessed’, and to establish is as the basis for knowledge in the educational system. The high value placed on dominant culture in society as a whole simply stems from the ability of the powerful to impose their definition of reality in other. The possession of dominant culture is referred to as cultural capital by Bourdieu. This is because via the education it can be translated into wealth and power. Children of dominant classes acquire skills and knowledge from pre-school which puts them in an advantage because they have the key to understanding what is being transmitted in the classroom. Bourdieu claims that, since the education system presupposes the possession of cultural capital, which few students in fact possess, there is a great deal of inefficiency in teaching. This is because working students simply do not understand what their teachers are trying to...
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...Chapter 1 What is sociology? * Seeks to explain, describe, and predict human behavior * Not concerned with individual human beings * Concerned with human beings in reaction to other human beings * Puts emphasis on group behavior (two or more people) (small group/large groups) * Looks at group social interaction, social behavior an influence of social structures on people How old is sociology? 200 years Why did sociology (as social science develop)? Who was the founding father of sociology? Main contributions of Sociology Early Auguste compte: Founding father of sociology, coined the word sociology How is Sociology different from other social sciences? Emile Durkheim: influenced development of functionalism 4 types of suicide by Durkheim: Egoistic: Mentally ill, lonely, social outcast, depression Altruistic: Kamikaze pilots, suicide bombers, cult members, obligation to the group, Fatalistic: Inmates, elderly, terminally ill, hopelessness Anomic: Anyone who cant deal with chaos, such as stock market crash or 1929-Insecurity Anomie: When society’s norms are questions, much social change, Society is rapidly changing Institutions are weakened, family, religion. Gender norms are questioned; values and belief systems are questioned Theory of structural functionalism 1 If a structure exists in society its because its functional, the social structure exists because it works Social structures: anything...
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...Alan McKee lists five related themes common to popular and academic concerns about the media sphere; that it’s too trivialised, too commercialised, too fragmented, that it relies too much on spectacle, and has caused citizens to become passive/apathetic. Focusing on the concept of audience, discuss one or more of McKee’s themes using an example from new and traditional media. As social groups and fragments naturally transform themselves parallel to the stages of the development of modern technology, the concept of audience will always in turn be the product of this environment. In the modern day world, one cannot help but question if the evolution of society has been accelerated in such a way partially due to the influence of the media sphere. Audiences are now more interactive in the media and public sphere in partnership with the Web 2.0 movement as a form of new media. Even though the new age media revolution has taken over the bigger part of our lives, the means of traditional media outlets such as television are more open to all the different societies that now exist. As the quality of media outbreaks dwindles and quantity is dangerously on the rise, the idea of commercialized and fragmented elements in our society is what we are subjected to within today’s media realm. Allan Mckee in his text The Public Sphere: An Introduction discusses these topics in depth as well as others in relation to the concept of audience and how the transformation of media has affected social...
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...Using material from Item A and elsewhere, assess the claim that gender differences in educational achievement are primarily ‘the result of changes in wider society’ (30 marks) Girls have rapidly improved, compared to boys, in terms of educational achievement, as Item A states, since the 1980’s. In Key Stages 1-3, girls consistently do better than boys in writing subjects such as English; at GCSE, girls are 10 percentage more likely than boys to achieve five or more A*-C grades; at AS/A-level, girls are more likely to get higher grades. Additionally, at each stage of a pupil’s education, the gap gets narrower. Therefore, more girls go into higher education. However, this is not the case for boys as there are in changes in the both the education system and wider society. As item A suggests, there are many external factors resulting in gender differences in educational achievement. One factor is the impact of Feminism. Since the 1960’s, feminists have challenged patriarchy by creating the ‘Feminist Movement’. This has help to improve the rights of women, as well as raise expectations and the self-esteem of women. Although many would agree that true equality with males has not yet been achieved, women have now started to reject the traditional stereotypes of women such as the ‘mother and housewife role’. For example, in McRobbie’s study of girls’ magazines shows how girls view of themselves have changed. She found that in the 1970’s, girls emphasised the importance of getting married...
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