Sample Sociology Essay
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Nov 24, 2024
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Reflective Sociology Essay
The last six weeks have challenged my preconceived ideas about sociology and the role that it plays
in society in the popular and social media, my values, behaviours and belief system. What I hope to
highlight throughout this reflective essay is what I have learnt and how that has shaped my new
thought process and reinforced old thought patterns. Week one I learnt about the Sociological
imagination where to quote C Wright "The sociological imagination enables us to grasp the
connection between history and biography." (Henslin et al., 2011). Upon further reflection of the
reading material in Sociology a down to earth approach there was one particular story that really
resonated with me. It was the illustration about expecting
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Week three see's the introduction of the fathers of sociology Auguste Comte, Herbert Spenser, Karl
Marx, Emile Durkheim, Max Weber, Georg Simmel. Karl Marx and Durkheim are the two that
really resonate with me, Durkheim due to his theories around the subject of suicide and how that
subject is particularly personal with me and also Karl Marx theory around class inequality.
Karl Marx believed that man's basic needs were food and shelter and the evolution of these basic
needs led to capitalism, after the industrial revolution we see there being two distinct classes of
people the workers and the capitalist and the effect that this ultimately has on social aspect of
society. Marx looked at the unequal power struggle in this theory and how that conflict would lead
to socialism and eventually communism and it was then that he co–wrote with Englels in 1948 "The
Communist Manifesto". I can really see the same picture that Marx was looking at, even in today's
society in Australia we see the rich getting richer and the poor getting poorer, but more evident in
third world countries where there are polar opposites in wealth and power.
This subject has actually spilled out into my conversation at different locations, talking at a bar with
a guy about the possibility that Jesus was a
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What is Sociology? Essays
What is Sociology? After reviewing the article titles given for this first assignment, I believe they
indicate that Sociology, generally speaking, is not only a study of diversity or commonality in traits
among people; it is also a science about factors in a person's life and how these factors culminate
responses. Interestingly enough, its topics of concern seem to be directly determined by current and
common events of the world. Through the invention and expansion of new ideas, popular trends and
fashions through time, Sociology adapts to responsibly to service the very subjects of interest it
studies; for, even the slightest change of a person's daily experience can have an insurmountable
impact on attitude, personal growth, family
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How has Sociology changed? According to the Merriam–Webster Online Dictionary (2010),
Sociology is referred to as ".the systematic study of the development, structure, interaction, and
collective behavior of organized groups of human beings" (para. 1); however, the transformable
qualities of this science are not represented by this definition, as they should be. To best understand
these changes, we must first consider changes within people as study objects; for as previously
stated, Sociology changes in ways which are commensurate to changes in the world around it.
For example, during the 1970's, single parent households did exist, but these arrangements were
considered to be the exception, not the rule. In contrast, today's family structures are as diverse as
the people within them. Given that it has become routine for some parents to live separately, and
couples of same sex marriages are now common place, unique areas of consideration have opened
up and are in need of further scrutiny. Through updated theories and advanced equipment, inventive
techniques have been applied to study people adjoined to the modernized world they live in. Also,
social sciences have fundamentally altered their beliefs of acceptability and acknowledged
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Sociology and Social Norms Essay examples
The first decade of this millennium witnessed a dramatic awakening concerning the role of gender
which had its marked impact on gender roles. As Wharton states, "the study of gender emerged as
one of the most important trends in the discipline of sociology in the twentieth century" (1). This
emergence prompted many theories regarding gender issues, which in turn, "propelled the
sociological study of gender from the margins to become one of the central features of the
discipline" (Wharton 2). Though every group is uniquely structured in a societal set up based on
categories, the colossal development of research on gender issues clearly shows that all social
interactions, and the institutions of human progress, are biased in the case of
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Though the roles are flexible and sometimes interchangeable, dramatic social changes leave the role
boundaries in uncertainty about what the appropriate role behaviour should be. This inability to
frame clear boundaries of gender role forms the basis of gender inequality.
Gender inequality is displayed in many countries around the globe. In India, the society begins
gendering as soon as a child is born. In most cases, the birth of a daughter is unwelcome but that of
a son is celebrated. The boys are brought up bold and outgoing while the girls are expected to be at
home and do chores. While the other discriminations like economic or social discriminations are
present outside the home, but gender discrimination is present outside and inside households. In a
familial setup, the father is the head of the family and decision maker. The mother generally
performs the 'home making'. Even if the woman is employed, she is expected to do the domestic
chores, in addition to her job. Even though she earns, she does not have the freedom to plan her
salary or decide anything.
Traditionally, the family property, irrespective of who is being the family head, is transferred to the
male. As a result, the male enjoys power and he becomes the authority. The oldest among
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Sociology: The Study of Culture Essay
Many times I have attempted to comprehend the actions of other people. I always wanted to know
why people of different genders, descents, and colors had certain cultural, societal, and religious
beliefs. It became apparent to me that all persons are a direct reflection of their environment. In
other words, all persons unconsciously, and sometimes consciously, reflect and imitate their
environment and the things that they see. Every culture has their own individual stereotypes and
belief systems. The reason for this is that people place arbitrary meanings on life's occurrences
based upon those of the individuals which preceded them. Thought patterns of an individual are all
dependent upon the teachings of others. We perceive and
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They also study the way the members of a group respond to one another and to other groups. The
sociological perspective is based on the assumption that for a given collectively there is a collective
reality that can be studied in it's own right. Various cultures develop their own cultural practices
based on the traditions of their predecessors. In these societies, standards of behavior are passed on
from one generation to the next. Because of this, these various cultures all carry and practice unique
ideologies. The ideologies are developed by socialization. Socialization is the complex process by
which individuals come to learn and perform behavior expected of them by society. Socialization
teaches habits, ideas, attitudes, and values. This is one of the principle ways by which society
preserve themselves. Learning plays an important part in socialization. A person must acquire a wide
range of information and skills to participate in the activities of a family, a play group, a school
group, a business, or a political system. From the family, children learn such basic functions as
proper etiquette, hygiene, and association with other peer groups. They also learn the basic values,
beliefs, and goals of the family. For example, they learn what it is to be male or female, what to
believe as truth and falsehood, and what to value in human relations. This process varies with
different cultural and ethnic
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Sociology Major Essay
It has been a long dream of mines to go back to school and earn a college. degree, Even though there
were many obstacles in my way I never gave up. I was determined to find my way and purpose in
this life.
A degree in sociology will be relevant for helping to achieve future personal and professional goals
because it helps us to understand our social systems and understand the institutions. It also explores
humanity's diverse ways of interacting and study our human social behavior.
A Sociology degree will further help to achieve professional goals because it develops
communication skills and critical thinking, enhance awareness of diversity and evaluate social
phenomena, It also improve the capacity to understand and analyze professional
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content...
The orientation is the introduction and it equipped me the resources that are valuable to me. In turn,
Academic one and two taught me about student benefits and responsibilities, Professional
development and most important academic expectations.
The introduction of Sociology was another opportunity to rely on positivism, which is to rely on the
philosophy of science by observation and examination of the effects of groups and individuals,
cultural phenomena and human interactions. Another important advantage was learning about "The
Sociological Imagination written by C. Wright Mills" because it allowed me to take the larger social
issues and personal experiences and make a connection between the both.
Upon successful completion of my major, I am working towards being promoted in retail
management. I am already in a leadership position. Some of my key roles are to also identify and
develop potential future leaders. With my sociology major, helped me to be a good mentor to others
at work and in my personal life too. I learned a lot about the paper we had to write on Nature or
nurture and that is one of my takeaway from the sociology program because it taught me that
ambition and personality are important combinations of skills that are rare and to exhibit being a
true leader that appreciate and recognize employees and others is one of the best reward ever! These
are some of the leadership styles that will enable me to acquire leadership success and future
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Essay on Sociology Interview
In my interview I chose my girlfriend's neighbor. Hector is of Mexican decent and he is here
because in Meigs county the produce fields hire Mexican laborers on worker permits. Hector started
out doing this then he became the boss about five years ago and received his green card and now is
an American and can speak very good English. He explained to me that in Mexico there is no age
when you can start working so there are young boys working at six to ten years old to help support
his needy family. He also stated that women do not usually work they are only aloud to go to the
village markets and get goods for their family's and raise there many children. I asked about
minimum wage and he kinda laughed and said some teens and men who work
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He said that female children usually do not work they go with there mothers to market and get the
bare essentials they need. I asked what do they do with the rest of there time and he said a trip to the
market could take all day because they bargain shop. The second topic that we both actually wanted
to talk about was the wages of workers. He was sure to let me know that Americans have it great
with the minimum wage law, because in Mexico they have no such law. I asked him when he
worked in Mexico how much he got paid and he said "I worked at the same job for the same
company for 10 years and my maximum pay was $6.50, but when I started I got $.50 an hour". He
also said that when he was chose to come work in the fields all over America that he was getting
paid on commission because since he was not an actual American resident he could not get
minimum wage. "I work as hard as I could and went as fast as I could to pick all I could to send the
money back home where it was needed" Hector said. The third thing that we talked about was the
usage of labor unions in Mexico in association with American labor unions. He said there is no way
that they could do that in Mexico because there are to many people and not enough jobs and he also
said that "Mexico is not
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Sociological Theories Essay
Sociological theory creates ways to understand the social world by having different theories to
explain understand social life. It aids to make sense of this social world. It draws together a wide
range of perspectives to help provide the fullest picture. (Macionis & Plummer p.36) It shows that
one theory can explain something that another cannot. My aim is to answer this question with
reference to both functionalism and conflict theory. This will be done by comparing and contrasting
both theories in relation to their perspectives on both suicide and gender discrimination as social
issues relevant to this day and age. Functionalism and conflict perspectives are both macro theories.
This means that they focus on the big picture, for
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(Turner, p.112) Functional analysis established itself as a way of 'bringing to light the significance of
the institutional order and connecting it with the unintentional consequences of social action.
(Turner, p.121) On page 35 of Back et al. it states that Durkheim's argument is that classification is a
process of 'marking–off', of showing things that are related, but have distinct points of difference to
another. Functionalism assumes that society's social institutions perform important functions to help
ensure social stability. Rapid social change threatens social order, but slow social change is
desirable. Durkheim believed that the individual has no way of limiting passions, so the moral
authority of society must do this. Individual aspirations are limited two ways, by socialisation and
social integration. Socialisation helps us learn the rules of society and the need to cooperate. Social
integration allows us to integrate into society and reinforce our respect for its rules. These both, as
stated by Durkheim create a strong collective conscience. Suicide, as an example of a social issue, is
explained with the functionalism perspective by not focusing on the individual unhappiness, but
instead on the group rates of suicide resulting form external forces. This may be caused by
normlessness, which may result from periods of rapid social change, and people find it hard and
unclear about how to deal with problems in their life. This frustration
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Sociology in Everyday Life Essay
Sociology in Every Life
One central and important study of sociology is the study of everyday social life. Everyday life and
sociology are definitely two distinct terms and situations, but they hold a close relationship. While
sociology studies human interaction, everyday life consists of everyday human interaction.
Everyday life is filled by human beings interacting with one another, institutions, ideas, and
emotions. Sociology studies the interactions with all of these and shows how mere interaction
resulted in things like ideas and institutions.
Everyday that you wake up and come into contact with what you do and the people you speak to is
sociological. You wake up and interact with objects. Some of these objects you
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content...
The Structural–Functional theory argues that in order for race and ethnic relations to be functional
and contribute to the conduct and stability of society, racial and ethnic minorities must assimilate
into that society. Assimilation is a process by which minorities gradually adopt patterns of a
dominant culture.
It is believed that deviance encourages social change. A good example of this would be how race
and ethnicity are strongly linked to crime rates. The amount of African Americans that were
involved in crimes was a higher proportion than any other race. African Americans makes up 13
percent of the population but were accounted for 28.9 percent of the arrest. There are several reasons
why arrest for African American could be this high but the main cause would probably be because
of social standing.
Some disadvantages to the African American population are that white people have an overall higher
occupational standing and they also receive schooling beyond high school. Many people of this race
are brought into single parent homes which lead to a huge gap in wealth and these children receive
less supervision which puts them in a greater risk of living in poverty. Over 40 percent of African
American children grow up in poor families leaving the high crime rates to not be a surprise.
Prejudice is also another factor to the high crime rates because white police tend to arrest black
people
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Sociology In Sociology
Sociology is the study of groups of people and how society interacts with them. There are many
people out there that have done research or contributed in some way to sociology. Not just on
people, but things like religions, countries, genders, race, and many more. Many things play in the
role to form us and our society. Here in America, we have Trump as our president and we eat
burgers and french fries, but over in japan they grow lots of their own food and eat it like potatoes
with vegetables and chicken. Different things happen around the world and we just can't seem to
think there is other things out there than what we just do or what we call ourselves and so forth. We
don't think about how our society affects us and how we affect society. Society can affect us in a
positive way or even a negative way. A positive way society can influence us is if the president said
all schools in the United States have to have extra curricular activities and the government will fund
it. This could be great for a poor boy in San Joaquin, California who really wanted to be on the track
and field team, but his school did not have it because they couldn't afford it. This would have kept
him out of trouble in the past, but when it finally was available by the government, he joined and it
kept him out of trouble and he worked much harder in school. A negative way society can impact us
is Obama's health care act. Now that they are trying to get rid of it, many people will have to go
without
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Sociology and Religion Essay example
This paper is from a catholic feminist's perceptive that the church, as an institution, is structured as a
pyramid modeled on the patriarchal family with the custom of father–right. The patriarchal
decision–maker has the power to shape, form and control the "poor of the world" (McCormick, pg.
240) mirroring the aspect of the conflict theory
. The poor of the world are the people who work for
the institution of the Church controlled by the patriarchal power elite. These established masses of
people feel no control, which cause anxiety and they continue to perform their means of production
as a formed unit. The power elite's fear of being overthrown by the poor of the world is fueled with
sheer determination and consistency to stay on top.
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In turn, religion started to desacralize as the patriarchal family modeled for business firms, industry,
government, educational systems and other organization because the un–represented people were
learning that the people who make decisions for others make them against nonmembers. Religion
and science affirmed the sacredness of hierarchy and theocracy but today the amount of exploitation
by elite in government and industries question these affirmations and instead of father–right it is
human right with the inferior groups claiming what is theirs. Human rights create equal opportunity
available for all races. The more inferior groups realize and recognize the presuppositions of
superiority through social conditioning then the more they can do to demand changes for their civil
rights.
The human rights cause in the rise of desacralization of religion relies also on women's roles and
significance in religious sacralization, which was developed out of fear of human extinction while
serving the elite. Women were encouraged to bear children for existence and the church reinforced
sexuality as the common ethic of Western society. Now, since there is an immense population base
with advances in science proving to propagate the race through methods such as cloning, there is no
longer the fear of human population dying out and women are no
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Social Conflict Theory Essay
The social conflict paradigm is a theory based on society being a complex system characterized by
inequality and conflict that generate social change. Personal life experiences dictate me to believe
this theory is true. Discussion of the theory in question and how it pertains to myself will be covered
in the paper. Social conflict can be seen all over the world we live in: in sports, politics and normal
social engagements. The main point I have experienced with this theory would be the fact that I
don't come from a rich, powerful, and prestigious family, which in turn limits my chances of being
successful. Karl Marx studied social conflict His entire life and wanted to reduce social inequality.
Wheatley–2 The social conflict theory can be
...show more content...
The same can be said of a person of color and a white person. The typical African–American family
earns about 54% of the income of the average white family. Why is this? African–Americans are
offered the same public schooling as whites, but are looked at in a different way. The majority of
blacks are not given the same Wheatley–4 opportunities as whites partially due to the fact that they
are fighting an uphill battle. Just like coming from a poor family a colored person would lose out in
a battle over a job to a white person more often than not. Thus the social conflict theory is proven by
the way society runs. Social conflict has affected myself in the way that since I do not come from a
rich family background I need to work much harder to achieve my goals than I would if I did come
from a rich background. My eyes see social conflict when I hear about people from rich
backgrounds that don't have to work while in school, which frees up more time and makes it easier
to concentrate on grades. This can lead to a more prestigious college, which then leads to a more
prestigious job. I don't have this advantage so I have to work my way thorough school. This
disadvantage leads to less time to put into work, which means lower grades. My situation of
managing to work forty hours a Wheatley–5 week and taking full time classes is tough; whereas if I
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