Religion and Sociology

Explain the ‘self’ as a key concept in interaction and socialization
Identify social psychological sources of and consequences of structural inequality
Compare and contrast key social psychological theories including Symbolic Interactionism, Exchange Theory, and Micro-structural Sociology as tools for analysis in varied areas of social life
Analyze interpersonal interaction from a variety of social psychological frameworks including dramaturgy, ethnomethodology and exchange approach
Critically evaluate sociological research and theories on how larger structural conditions impact the individual, emphasizing issues of race, class, and gender.
Apply concepts and theories to analysis of field observations, interviews, and archives

HW1: FIELD OBSERVATION ASSIGNMENT PART I (100 points):

PURPOSE: The purpose of this two-step exercise  is for you to conduct inductive and deductive research using qualitative methods.

Note: it is important that you conduct the observations for HW1 and HW2 as two distinct events during this class; ‘recalling’ past observations is not the same as purposefully observing your surroundings from a sociological perspective, and applying two different types of reasoning to one observation will not be ‘truthful’ or successful.

GENERAL INSTRUCTIONS:

The purpose of this exercise if for you to observe ONE social setting to begin to detect patterns in human behavior – observance of norms and potentially behaviors that deviate from the norm.

For HW1: Without any prep work, you will need to go to ONE public place and observe the people for 1 hour. Note people’s behavior, their demeanor, their reactions/interactions to/with each other.

For HW2: You will develop a research design with research problem, hypothesis and operational definitions for variables; then you will conduct another 1 hour of observations.

HW1-FIELD OBSERVATION I ASSIGNMENT (INDUCTIVE RESEARCH) INSTRUCTIONS:

For HW1: Without any prep work, you will need to go to ONE public place and observe the people for 1 hour in a particular social setting. Note people’s behavior, their demeanor, their reactions/interactions to/with each other. NOTE: For additional information on hypotheses, operational definitions, and other research methodology concepts, see Lessons.

Here are the steps:

• Choose the social setting in which will be conducting non-participant observation. This should be a public place such as a park, mall, restaurant, church, coffee shop, etc.

• For your inductive approach, you will simply choose a time and location where you are going to conduct your observations

• Go to the specified location and proceed with your observations. You must be a keen social observer; a ‘peeping Tom’ in the sociological sense. Take handwritten (recommended) and/or mental notes of:

-details about your chosen location (time of day, lighting, furniture, plants, sounds, temperature, smell, vibe/energy, etc)

-the people around you, not only their behavior but general information about their sociodemographic characteristics (age, race/ethnicity, gender, SES, etc);

-your thoughts and feelings while making observations.

• When you have returned from you observation, type up your notes. Review your notes for patterns in behavior, socio-demographic characteristics, etc.

• Write-up your observations using ‘thick description’ of the location (i.e. building you were in (what is the architecture like), descriptions of people there (in terms of socio-demographic characteristics: age, race/ethnicity, gender, socio-economic status), sounds, smells, temperature, time of day and week, etc);

• Discuss trends and patterns of behavior that you noticed in your observation. What is a possible sociological/theoretical explanation for the trends you observed? Analyze your observations using a minimum of 4 sociological concepts and one theory from the textbook.

4 pages

You will submit a research paper on one of the topics: the status of women’s sports today, how self esteem and sports are connected, women and sports internationally, or any topic you connected with in the textbook that you would like to explore further. You will be expected to show evidence of critical thought, and that you have done further reading and research in addition to the class readings. Use the class readings as a starting point.
The minimum length of the Research Paper is 5 pages, double-spaced, Times New Roman 12pt font. The paper should include a title and reference page. A minimum of 4 references is required and at least one must be from a peer reviewed source.  Papers are to be in APA style.

6 pages Research

APA – 7 References

This site offers an assessment of recent Japanese history against the background of late modern world history. The author suggests that historical trends that are assumed to move in similar directions everywhere (e.g., democratic reforms lead to greater human equality) merely on the basis of how they moved in the West can be misleading.
Top 10 Things to Know about Japan in the late 1990s (see upload)
Answer the following questions in a Word document, approximately 300-400 words in length. Questions for exploration: Discuss how assumptions that social reforms and equality would flourish in post-war Japan have or have not been realized. Who was assumed to benefit in Japan from the worldwide trend of “social empowerment?” Who or what has benefited thus far?

Additional materials:

top_ten_things_to_know_about_japan_in_the_late_1990s.htm

1 page

APA 1 Reference