Sociology

Sociology 611 Classical Social Theory Final Assignment  In the event that you quote someone, be sure to cite their work and use a generally accepted citation format such as used in the American Sociological Review format: Author Year: Page (e.g., Marx 1867:901). Submit your paper in Microsoft Word. There is a limit of 3500 words. To determine if your answers are clearly written, ask yourself the following question: Would someone unfamiliar with the material understand the theorists after reading my answers?  Part 1 Weber. 45 Points 1.1   Describe why organized religions undergo periodic reformation. (5 points)  1.2   Discuss Weber’s conception of the relationship between ascetic Protestantism and the emergence of industrial capitalism. Include the following concepts in the answer: elective affinity, formal rationality, substantive rationality, value?orientation, irrational, tradition, calling, ascetic lifestyle, the protestant ethic, the spirit of capitalism, capital accumulation. (10 points)  1.3   To aid in the comparative and historical analysis of society, Weber developed three ideal types of authority: traditional, legal-rational, and charismatic. Define these ideal types and discuss how they contribute to a comparative and historical analysis of society. Include the following concepts in the answer: formal rationality, irrational, legitimacy, rational, rationalization process, social change, substantive rationality. (10 points)  1.4   Define Weber’s (1) conception of stratification, (2) discuss the three ideal type dimensions of power that contribute to stratification, and (3) given an illustration of how the three dimensions of power might intersect at the empirical level. (10 points)  1.5 Weber’s commitment to liberalism is closely linked to his concerns with democracy. Define Weber’s conception of liberalism and discuss how it influenced his analysis of politics in modern society. Your answer should include a discussion of the options available as well as the dangers to social actors entering politics as described in ‘Politics as a Vocation’ and his other writings on politics. (10 points)  Part 2 Durkheim. 25 points. 2.1 Discuss Durkheim’s critique of (1) utilitarian and (2) Kantian conceptions of morality (6 points).  2.2 Describe Durkheim’s conception of morality and how social institutions emerge in ways that embody and transmit morality. Your answer should include the following concepts: altruistic behavior, anomie, collective consciousness, egoistic behavior, morality, moral action, mechanical solidarity, organic solidarity, punishment, churinga, church, clan, collective consciousness, collective effervescence, latent functions, manifest functions, totemic species, totemic object, religion, rituals, sacred rituals, social facts, sui generis. (19 points) Part 3 Mead. 30 points. 3.1 According to Mead, what should be the objective/goal of science? What method does Mead propose to achieve this objective/goal? (4 points).  3.2 Describe Mead’s (1) criticism of the prevailing conceptions of human behavior when he developed his theory of symbolic interaction, and (2) how the following intellectual traditions influenced his thinking: utilitarianism, Darwin’s theory of evolution, pragmatism, and behaviorism. (8 points) 3.2 Describe Mead’s theory of symbolic interaction (i.e., how social processes contribute to the development of both the individual and society) and the linkages between the development of individuals and societies. Your answer should include, but is not limited to, the following concepts: Society, Self, Mind, I, Me, conflict, consciousness, covert behavior, dialectic emergence, evolutionary adaptation, flexibility, generalized other, instinct, novelty, overt behavior, predictability, unique, unity, reflexiveness, roles, selection, significant symbols, structure, taking the role of the other. (18 points)

1.    Identify cultural group, Identify presence of this cultural group in the USA2.    Define religiousspirituality practices of the cultural groupinclude image(s) in your work

Case Study Discussion: This week’s project is based on the material in Chapter 9, Understanding Family Needs, Roles, and Responsibilities. Read the case study titled “Mrs. M” and answer the following questions in your initial post. Thank you. Part I: Read the case “Mrs. M”  CaseMrsM.docx  CaseMrsM.docx – Alternative Formats In your initial post, answer the following questions: How might the relationship between Mr. and Mrs. M. be affected by this situation? Should the parents tell their surviving child that he had a twin brother? Why or why not? If you said yes, at what age would it be appropriate to do this?  What roles might the grandparents play in this situation?  What conflicts might result? What services might be required?  Do you think this experience would bring the parents closer together or drive them apart? Support your answer. Do you anticipate the parents would consider having another child?  Why or why not?

What are some problem areas in the provision of services for children? What types of challenges do these problems pose to social workers and others who work with children? What steps might alleviate these problems? Discuss the role of the social worker in this process.

FAST WRITTERS ONLY!!! THIS IS NECESSARY FOR ASSIGNMENT ASA (American Sociological Association) CITATION IS A MUST. __________________________________________________________________________________________ Write an essay that reflects on this video  You have some creative license when it comes to this essay—its organization, structure, and the precise nature of your argument. You will be asked to watch a short video (10 minutes), and write an essay that responds to the video The strongest essays will be chock full of relevant evidence, and will clearly demonstrate an engagement with course concepts, theories, and readings.       Concepts and therioes like and as follows:                       – Consumer culture (concept)                      – Conspicuous Consumption (Veblen theory)                      – McDonaldization                      – Impression management (Goffman developed the concept of to describe the work that goes into managing the self we display for others)                      – Capitalism                      – Globalization                       – Diderot Effect  Avoid rambling and repetition You can write the essay referencing your own personal experiences, but you should use academic language  The goal of the essay test is for you to demonstrate that you can apply your learning in this course to the real problems (and seductions!) of consumer culture. ___________———————————————————————————————–____________ -Don’t plagiarize your essay. Write it in your own words. _________________________________________________________________________________________________ Evaluation criteria Your essay will be evaluated on: a) The depth and originality of your analysis (Ask yourself: Have I understood the question, and can I make connections to course content? How can I use evidence from the course to discuss this topic?) b) Critical thinking and reading skills (Ask yourself: Am I thinking creatively about the issue? Am I regurgitating, or putting the ideas together in an interesting way?) c) The application of key course concepts, readings, and lecture notes to the analysis (Ask yourself: Have I conveyed the knowledge I gained in the course? Do I reference appropriate concepts, authors, readings, and lecture ideas to answer the question?) d) Coherence and organization of argument / clarity of expression (Ask yourself: Does my response make logical sense? Have I organized my thoughts in a coherent way, using smooth transitions and concise expressions? Have I proofread sufficiently? Is the tone of my writing compelling and appropriate for academic writing?)     “we experience consumer society as something natural. But it’s not” – Juliet Schor

Please listen to Trent Shelton’s Podcast #2: How to Find Your Purpose The podcast can also be found on Apple Podcast, Google Podcast and Spotify Once you have listened to the Podcast, please answer the following questions in a Reflection (1 1/2-2 pages) What are the three Ps Trent says we tie our purpose to? Describe each P He also describes three things that help you find the right placement. Describe each thing. Trent states, “We live our life based on what people think we should be”. What do you think of this statement? Do you agree or disagree and why? How are you living your life based on what other people think you should be? What do you think your purpose is?

Required Resources Read/review the following resources for this activity: Textbook: Chapter 1, 15, 16 Minimum of 1 outside scholarly source (in addition to textbook) Initial Post Instructions End-of-course student surveys exist for you to share your anonymous feedback on your courses. The purpose of the survey is to gather data from a specific population (you, the students) to understand your experience in the course, and to determine areas of success and improvement in our courses, including this one (so hopefully you do share your feedback because we always want to improve our courses and teaching). Chapter 1 of the textbook and Week 1 of this course explored the research process. As mentioned in Week 1, research is fundamental in the social sciences, and a survey is a common sociological data collection method. If we look at the course surveys from a sociological perspective, we see that they are used to understand a specific population’s perspective of a social experience/issue. For this discussion, then, you will observe and analyze and evaluate the survey itself, as the budding social scientists you all now are, based on your learning in this course! Now, to come full circle, analyze the end-of-course surveys for their effectiveness as a sociological measurement tool. For the initial post, respond to one of the following options, and label the beginning of your post indicating either Option 1 or Option 2: Option 1:How would you improve the survey itself to create the best snapshot of student impressions of this or any Chamberlain University Online course? Option 2: What specific change or changes would you make in the survey, or in how it is administered, in order to increase the survey’s reliability and/or validity? Remember, as you learned in Week 1, reliability is consistency in results and validity asks the question: “Are you measuring what you intended to measure? Writing Requirements APA format for in-text citations and list of references Include citations from at least the assigned textbook/lesson reading and one additional outside scholarly source to support your response. Link for textbook: https://www.amazon.com/Sociology-Our-Times-Diana-Kendall/dp/1337109657

Select a specific media object, person, icon, or stereotype and address how this area of study relates and interacts within and between more than one category/element (race, class, gender and sexuality). For instance, a study of the film “Captain America” may focus on RACE & GENDER, CLASS & RACE, SEXUALITY & RACE or even all of them (GENDER, CLASS, RACE, and SEXUALITY!).  The categories addressed will depend on your object of study.  Your artifact may involve a complex interaction between/within ALL of the categories, or you may choose to simply focus on the relationship of two of the categories. During your conclusion, you may reflect on the extent that you think it is possible to isolate just one element (race, class, gender or sexuality)—what is lost and what is gained by doing so?  How would your analysis differ if you focused on only one category or element?  As always, paper should center on a critical engagement with critical ideas in the course readings (applied to your object of study) being sure to cite at least SIX course readings, but this time they may be from ANY section.

Select a specific case of labor collective action, historical or contemporary, in the United States or elsewhere in the world. It can be a case in which a group of workers united to try to change something about their society or the world (could be about labor issue in the narrow sense—like wages, hours, benefits, job security, working conditions, etc.—or about some other kind of issue) Or it can be a case in which some group or people (not necessarily only workers, or only the workers directly affected) united to try to affect some aspect of labor conditions. Who were the people involved? What were they trying to accomplish? Why did they think it was important? How did they go about trying to accomplish it? How successful were they in achieving their objectives? Above all, what do you think about what they were trying to do and how they went about it?

Instruction to start this essay: Please write a one-page (250 words) reflection on the recent presidential election.  You are free to write about any topic related to the election.  To help you think about this project, here are some possible topics from which to choose.  Your paper may respond to several of these topics: The merits or demerits of one of the presidential candidates or political parties Your general enthusiasm or indifference to the presidential election The behavior of either presidential candidate before, during, or after the election Your assessment of the impact or lack of impact of the new president on America’s long-standing structural problems (such as poverty, racing, and climate change)