...assignments to foster critical thinking skills to evaluate how assignments design can be used to both detect and prevent plagiarism. This article also addresses how professors may design their individual assignments to alleviate plagiarism. To perform this study a total of 2,826 participates (1,055 males and 1771 females) from the University of Alabama enrolled in an Introduction to Sociology class were used whom all were taught by the same instructor. The students were provided university handbook which describes the student’s honor pledge for the university and the honor pledge was also highlighted in the course syllabus. The researches obtained permission to use three semesters of archived data to examine the student’s papers to identify and analyze potential plagiarism. Three weekly assignments from the same week were randomly chosen from each semester in this study. The students were instructed to submit three weekly assignments to fulfill requirements for a hybrid Sociology class which consisted of the students writing a one page essay. The first essay assigned was the students were to write in their opinion in relation to the sociological concepts presented in their textbooks, the second assignment was randomized questions within the assignment that were randomly assigned by the computer to prevent the students from receiving the same questions, and the third assignment consisted of assignments requiring application of concepts and personal involvement with the material. The Turnitin...
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...Opie’s Hobo Friend This essay defines, discuss, and applies three sociological key terms. The three applied sociological terms are ethnocentrism, innovation, and informal norms. The three sociological concepts are discussed relative to the video “Opie’s Hobo Friend”. It details parts of the video that relates to everyday survival. It also explains the difference in cultural living. The concept of ethnocentrism in Sociology is defined “the tendency to assume that one’s own culture and way of life represent the norm or are superior to all others”. In the video Officer Barney came in with a person the was at the freight yard that didn’t have any money on him. This shows that Barney feels you have money in your pocket to be anywhere around but...
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...Compare and contrast the major characteristics of two methods of sociological inquiry. Your answer should clarify how: Each method relates to a distinct tradition of social research (e.g., positivism, interpretivism or the critical tradition); Addresses the issue of objectivity and; Account for the relationship between the natural and the social sciences. Research methods are a crucial part to understanding society. Without research methods, scientists and researchers would not be able to understand the why, the how or the what. There are three main traditions in social research; Positivism, Interpretivism and Critical Tradition. In this essay, the writer will examine two of these traditions; positivism and interpretivism. The writer will talk about each of these traditions, the history and the type of research method each are. The writer will discuss examples of each tradition, a qualitative research method and a quantitative research method. The writer will then go on to discuss the contributions of two major sociologists in each; Emile Durkheim for Positivism and Max Weber for Interpretivism. The writer will then go on to compare and contrast each tradition. Positivism was first established by French philosopher Auguste Comte in the early 19th century. Positivism can be defined as ‘’ the tendency to develop the means of our reason either to predict the phenomena of nature or to modify them through our intervention, which is the characteristic feature...
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...Education I’m interested in education aspect of sociology. The literal definition of education is as simple as such; the field of study that deals mainly with methods of teaching and learning in schools. Education is the simplest form of success. The saying that goes as the following, “Knowledge is Power” is the absolute truth. Without knowledge or and education of any type, failure is sure to come. The social issue of education fits into the field of sociology simply because there are so many different opinions on education. Sociology is the science of society, and social relationships. Specifically the systematic study of the development, interaction, structure, and accumulative behavior of organized groups of human beings. Some believe the education regiments of today are way to forthright, and force certain career paths. When in other opinions difference lays, others think education isn’t what it used to be. Most think education has slipped throughout the years to fit the liberal ways of equality. Education in the 21st century has changed drastically compared to the teaching techniques of the ladder years. According to Murphey, “In today’s world, the average student is bombarded with essays, problem sets, tests, quizzes, and any other assignment thinkable. In fact, he staggers so greatly under the heavy pile of papers on his desk to be completed each night, that school becomes a battle, not a place of personal and communal enrichment.” In other words, the education...
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...Cultural Studies is a discipline that studies society within a sociological interpretation. In sociology, society is not seen as individuals but as a system of principles, activities and exchanges accepted by human beings. This means that social organizations such as family or community are not people, they are organizations, or patterns, of views and actions by people, which are approved by people. (Long 2007) There are three classical sociological perspectives, one very different from the other in order to understand society: Conflict perspective: Analyses the differences between the oligarchy and the working class, stating that society’s changes and interactions are related to numerous conflicts. (Stephen 2007) Functionalist perspective: Looks at behaviours and find their reasons on exterior factors and not on the individual itself, and argues that several features of social conduct add to the living and expanding of society and its organizations. Symbolic Interaction perspective: Positions that to understand society its necessary to understand the connotation of people’s actions and beliefs. At the moment of discussing society and its organizations, despite the sociological perspective used there are interconnected factors to be considered: Technology, politics, economy, values and beliefs. (Ray 2007) In the critical essay The Crisis of Public Values in the Age of the New Media, Henry A. Giroux’s discourse on the control of large corporations over the economy and...
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...Tuesdays 11:00 A.M. – 12:00 P.M. COURSE DESCRIPTION This course is designed to help you learn about the Sociology of Religion, with special attention paid to contemporary issues in religion and society in the United States. This course will set out to explore the various rituals, values, and customs that a society embraces, and through this, find the hidden meaning behind the cultural knowledge that these values, rituals and customs provide. While people use these values, rituals, and customs to interpret the world around them, it will be our job to discuss the implications and unconscious assumptions that these interpretations provide using a number of qualitative and quantitative research methodologies. TEXTS AND READINGS REQUIRED • Sociology of Religion: Contemporary Developments (2nd edition) by Kevin J. Christiano, William H. Swatos Jr., and Peter Kivisto, ISBN 978-0-7425-6111-3 • Additional readings to be posted to Blackboard SUGGESTED • Durkheim, Emile. 1965. Elementary Forms of the Religious Life. New York: Free Press. • Marx, Karl and Frederich Engels. 1978. "The Communist Manifesto" and “the German Ideology,” in The Marx-Engels Reader. Ed. Robert Tucker. New York: W.W. Norton. • Weber, Max. 1958. The Protestant Ethic and the Spirit of Capitalism. New York: Charles Scribner. • Weber, Max. 1978. "Religious Groups (The Sociology of Religion)". Economy and Society. Berkeley: University of California Press. • Geertz, Clifford. 1973. "Religion...
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...The purpose of this essay is to give some examples of the work of sociologists in media analysis. It takes a number of surveys conducted in the past and analyses them from the sociological point of view and determines their significance. The route between sociology and mass communication seems to be a one-way street. This is surprising because the exercise of social power, the mediation of social relations, the reproduction of society and culture, and the organisation of social experience are significant in sociology and media studies. (Sociology has a lot to say about the media and the media very little to say about Sociology.) The sociological study of communication is an attempt to answer the simple question of ‘who says what, in which channel, to whom and with what effect?’ This definition implies overt intention, avowed purpose, and communicative efficiency. However, some sociologists take the view that a greater emphasis on the role of society and external social forces in defining the roles of ‘sender’ and receiver’ is more appropriate. The former view further assumes that messages are as much received as sent and that motives for receiving are as significant as motives for sending. Thirdly, it further assumes the media are not neutral but complex social institutions with motives. Fourthly, messages are sent by media that have encoded purposes with many possible interpretations of origin and function. Developments Of Theory: Directions of change are occurring in media...
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...Inequalities, both domestic and global, illuminate the inevitability and functionality of stratification. Discuss. The title of this essay covers a very wide topic of stratification, and in this essay I will look at the many different forms of stratification that exist both at home here in Ireland and also on a worldwide scale, but to begin with I’m going to describe and define what stratification really means. In short stratification is basically how society ranks in hierarchy, which in detail means the vertical or hierarchical division of society according to rank, class or caste. Caste is defined as “a form of social stratification based on inherited status or ascription.” and this definition goes on to say that “ones social destiny is determined at birth with no chance or opportunity to change this class you have been born into.1”. It remains to be argued whether this statement is true or false, ! ! personally I think it is possible to change class or to move up or down a social class. Yes ones social destiny is determined at birth but it is possible to move up and down the social class ladder, all it takes is determination. Although if one is to begin at the bottom of the ladder, born into a family with harsh surroundings, it will be much harder to move up the ranks, as your success largely depends on your cultural background. If there is no one around you to support you with your studies or with any educational things you may be interested in, then doing any of...
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...genres of movies, video games, and TV shows combined, into a fraction of what books have to offer. In that legion of many genres, one in particular is starting to make strides (and catch cynical flak) in our modern social-media defined culture: Pop Sociology. Pop sociology is a relatively new genre, at least in the popular zeitgeist, that aims to take the otherwise formal, scientific, and somewhat closed off genre of sociology journals, and cast them out in the popular light. As “The Sociologist” page on Tumblr put it, “There are many sociologists who see it as an important part of their professional work to make their ideas and findings accessible to a wider social audience…” and unlike other more peer reviewed scientific journals, “…anybody, it seems, can call themselves a sociologist–even without formal professional training.” (Marshall) This can be both a good ting and a bad thing, as it gets more messages out there to the public eye, but they sometimes lack the stringent level of quality demanded by top peer reviewed journals. Jon Ronson, author of the Pop Sociology book “So You’ve Been Publicly Shamed” isn’t a world renowned university taught sociologist, he has no letters next to his name, but in the genre of Pop Sociology, that really isn’t necessary. The most important thing to consider here is that word “Pop”, as it determines so much about who Ronson’s target...
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...Writing on such topic as motivation can be very interesting and rewarding. This topic is especially good and effective for admission essays, argumentative essays, descriptive essays, personal statements, research papers in sociology, opinion papers, and other academic papers. Motivation is an interesting subject which is strictly linked to success in life, academic achievements, achieving goals and making dreams come true. This, writing an academic essay on motivation can be exciting. Motivation, known as a strong and irrespective force which helps people to achieve what they want and aspire to, which can help overcome all possible obstacles and find the shortest way to the goal. This is an amazing factor that helped millions of people to get what they wanted and needed. Motivation goes hand in hand with such two essential concepts as inspiration and determination, which can help us pursue our personal and professional goals, reach financial independence and professional career success, achieve personal harmony and peace of mind, as well as other moral heights. Properly supported with strength of mind and courage of the spirit, motivation can become an unbeatable weapon in the hands of any one on the way to all sorts of success and much better life. However, in our times of technical progress, innovations and nano-technologies, such factors as laziness, procrastination, ignorance, depression, and negligence can get together and create a great opposition to motivation and...
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...Capella University | Social Theory Essay – SOC1000 | SOC1000 – Introduction to Human Society– Professor Worley | | Zachary Skidmore | 7/11/2012 | | Living in the American society of today there are not many times we all come together to sit down and listen. We are busy, we have careers, we have kids, and our free time is expensive. However, there are times that we as nation collectively take the time to stop and listen, when the President speaks. Recently President Obama sat down with a white house reporter to discuss his newly evolved views toward gay marriage. His interview was candid, it was spontaneous, and it set off all kinds of alarms across the societal landscape of America. An article that was recently published The New York Times details this interview, during which our President came out said that he thinks that gay people should have the right to marry. The topic of gay marriage is a massive social marker, one to surely start a discussion no matter which way you see it. The nation is seemingly divided on the topic, an opinion which will seem to sway a few percentage points here and there depending on the temperature of the society at that particular time (Calimes, 2012). By the President coming out with these statements he was he was not only literally making a statement but figuratively as well. One of the best ways to analyze this event from a sociologist’s point of view is to observe the symbolic interaction theory. Although this theory...
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...There is an important debate in sociology about how research should be conducted and what the aim of the subject should be. Positivists are those sociologists who argue it is important to make the subject as scientific as possible. They aim to produce research which is objective and factual and can be easily repeated by others. They are opposed by interpretivists who say sociology should not attempt to use scientific methods but needs a more subjective approach with a greater concern for understanding the real life experiences of ordinary people. Sociology started in the 19th century at a time when science was being seen as the answer to all the questions posed by people. Because of this Comte and Durkheim believed that sociology should also be as scientific as possible so that it could have the same status as other subjects like physics and chemistry. For that reason Durkheim chose official statistics to study suicide because he saw them as objective facts which could allow him to develop law like statements about human behaviour. Later sociologists argued official statistics are not social facts they are social constructions. What this means is that people have been involved in producing them and so they may not have the validity that positivists often claim. A good example would be crime statistics. Some sociologists think these accurately measure the level of crime and can tell us which groups are more likely to commit crimes e.g. the working class. But others...
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...Introduction This essay intends to explicitly compare Karl Marx and Emile David Durkheim ideas on religion from a sociological and functionalist perspective. Functionalists’ belief that religion is beneficial for both the community and its members e.g. it unifies the society which in turn gives each individual member a source of support when they need it. It will begin with their brief historical backgrounds, definition of religion as well as their similarities and differences in studying it. Karl Marx Marx was born in Prussia on May 5, 1818. He began exploring sociopolitical theories at university among the Young Hegelians. He became a journalist, and his socialist writings would get him expelled from Germany and France. In 1848, he published The Communist Manifesto with Friedrich Engels and was exiled to London, where he wrote the first volume of Das Kapital and lived the remainder of his life (Engels, 1869). Marx is considered as one of the founders of economic history and sociology. Emile Durkheim According to Jones (1986) “David Emile Durkheim was born in France, on April 15, 1857 and raised in a Jewish family with his father as a rabbi. Emile was, thus destined for the rabbinate, and a part of his early education was spent in a rabbinical school” (p.12). Durkheim is considered the father of modern sociology and well known for his work on Division of Labour in 1912. Definition of Religion Both Marx and Durkheim have rather contrasting definitions of what religion...
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...When I was first told to find a topic for my academic research essay, I was perplexed since there were a large number of topics to consider. At first, I decided to think about global warming which had always been a popular topic. However, without much academic background on it, I found it quite difficult for me to write. Therefore, I made a decision to search for something in sociology, in which I’ve been always interested. Suddenly, a hotly debated issue came into my mind: Should death penalty be abolished in China? Then I determined to take a look at this. To begin with, I typed in “death penalty” on Google and a plenty of results appeared. Unfortunately there was too much information to read, so I tried to look for “death penalty” under One Search which is a web page of PolyU’s library at http://onesearch.lib.polyu.edu.hk. Also, all kinds of materials including videos and books, which I do not require, were displayed, so I returned to the search bar and clicked on Articles to narrow down the range and searched again. All articles related to death penalty were shown on the screen. I clicked on the first article which was released in 2014. Nevertheless, this article was not really good as it was filled with personal opinions. As a result, I had to go back to the former page. I noticed an article marked with Peer Reviewed Journal, so I clicked on it. After reading, I found that it was indeed a suitable essay with good structure. Then, when I tried to save that one as my...
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...FACULTY: Faculty of Education DEPARTMENT: Department of Primary Education PROGRAMME: Bachelor of Education Primary COURSE: Sociology of Religion COURSE CODE: TRS 315 Assignment: identify either Karl Marxx or Max Weber and compare his ideas with any other theorist who expressed his/her views on religion. Names: Oabona Moses Sello ID #: 201204434 Due date: April 15 2014 Introduction This essay intends to explicitly compare Karl Marx and Emile David Durkheim ideas on religion from a sociological and functionalist perspective. Functionalists’ belief that religion is beneficial for both the community and its members e.g. it unifies the society which in turn gives each individual member a source of support when they need it. It will begin with their brief historical backgrounds, definition of religion as well as their similarities and differences in studying it. Karl Marx Marx was born in Prussia on May 5, 1818. He began exploring sociopolitical theories at university among the Young Hegelians. He became a journalist, and his socialist writings would get him expelled from Germany and France. In 1848, he published The Communist Manifesto with Friedrich Engels and was exiled to London, where he wrote the first volume of Das Kapital and lived the remainder of his life (Engels, 1869). Marx is considered as one of the founders of economic history and sociology. Emile Durkheim According to Jones (1986) “David Emile Durkheim was born in France, on April 15, 1857 and raised in a...
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