Evidence collecting day!

Today we will gather evidence of your mastery of the course.  Don't worry, it's not a test!

IF YOU ARE ABSENT TODAY - You have 1 week to make up the assessment in the Assessment Center, (or is the Evidence Center?)

REMINDERS:

• Do not look around the room. (No Shifty eyes)
• Please write on test - put your name on it.
• REMEMBER: You are more than your assessment score. :-)

WHEN FINISHED:

• Turn in Unit 2 notes packet
• Take a self assessment.
• Take a new reading packet and student note packet for unit 2.
• If you have time, complete the self assessment.

Review for Unit 2: Sociological Research

Review for Unit 2: Sociological Research

secondary v. primary sources

longitudinal research

cross-sectional research

cross-cultural

parts of an academic research journal

            Abstract

            Introduction

            Literature Review

            Methods

            Data

            Conclusion

Sudhir Venkatesh’s "Gang Leader for a Day"

Methods of sociological research - identify using a primary source

            ethnography

            surveys and interviews

            existing data

            audit study

            experiment

qualitative v. quantitative

Important considerations in research:

            a likert scale

            rapport

            field notes

            a survey

Macro v. micro

Groups

            primary v. secondary

Statuses v. roles

            master status

            ascribed status

            achieved statuses

            status inconsistency

            role strain

            role conflict

           

ingroups v. outgroups

stereotypes v. generalizations

Joel Charon’s “Should We Generalize about People?”

Damned Lies and Statistics

As students enter, please look over the reading by Joel Best called The Truth about...."


Be ready to answer questions about the reading.

Watch this humorous take on science and stats from John Oliver.



Class Discussion of reading.

• What's the problem with the statistic about children killed by guns?
• What are the 2 harmful ways that people view statistics?
• How should we view statistics?

Sociological literacy: What are important considerations about statistics?

Answer the questions on the last page of the notes packet.


Apply Best's reading to your own research.

Categories and Stereotypes Continued...

HW:  Read Joel Best's "The Truth about Damned Lies and Statistics."

Other examples of stereotypes and lessons we can learn from them:
 Muslims, poor, differently-abled 
The video called I am an American that shows the dangerous power that extreme stereotypes can lead to.
In this case, Muslim is the category, but it could be a different religion, ethnicity or any other category of people.  United States' history is littered with examples of groups that have been scapegoated and vilified. This is how Muslims have been treated in many cases in post 9/11 America. But I have had so many Muslim students who prove that this is just a stereotype. And that is what this video is showing. There are caring, loving, neighborly Muslims all around us but extreme stereotypes lead us to only see the stereotype and ignore the reality.  Here is a page from Indiana University called Muslim Voices which is trying to correct the stereotyping.

Lesson: Don't give in to outgroup homogeneity.  Even if you do not know the complex dynamics within an outgroup, be cognizant that those variations probably exist. 
Differently-abled individuals
Here is an article in the Daily Herald about a motivational speaker who was born with no arms and no legs. We might categorize him as disabled, but we should be careful about the assumptions and stereotypes that go along with that category.

 

Another powerful differently-abled speaker is Nick Vujicic. He is a motivational speaker who also has no limbs.   Here is a video of him on youtube.

Here is a video about Aaron Fotheringham, an "extreme sitter." Aaron has been in a wheel chair his whole life, but he sees it as an opportunity. Again, we should be careful of our stereotypes. Aaron is way more rad than I will ever be, but he is in a wheel chair and I am not. If you search youtube, you can see Aaron doing a double back flip! But there are also lots of videoes of him crashing over and over again and again. It takes hard work and lots of effort to become good at what you do.  Hard work was a theme in all of the above videoes.  And if you read the rest of Outliers, Gladwell makes the case that the most successful people spend ten thousand hours developing their skills.  The other theme that comes out in all of these videoes from Brett Eastburn to Aaron Fotheringham is that in order to find meaning in your life you must find a way to serve others.  Find a way to help other people.  You have talents.  Develop them and find a way to use them to help others.  That is your purpose.  And here is Aaron "wheels" Fotheringham at the 2016 Paralympics.


 

Here is the latest update from Wheelz on the BBC.



Differently-abled Street PerformerHere is a video about a different type of street performer that also challenges your assumptions about the category "disabled".








I love how these "disabled" people see their opportunity to teach others.  Their lessons seem to be similar:  The world doesn't owe you anything.  You owe yourself hard work and dedication to become what you want.  Find a way to help others/teach others.  Don't stereotype and keep an open mind.

Lessons from differently-abled individuals:

• Accept yourself as a part of creation; your existence is the universe's confirmation to you that you matter.
• Develop your talents/desires.  Whatever you want takes hard work. It takes failure, discomfort and effort.
• Find ways to serve others.  Whenever you don't know what to do or when your life feels directionless or meaningless, find a way to serve others.  We all have talents that can help others.

The Cookie Thief, an example of judging
There is a poem I like that illustrates Charon's point. The poem called "The Cookie Thief" by Valerie Cox. We are all cookie thieves sometimes in how we erroneously use the categories that Charon talks about. 

Lesson: 
We have all been both the victim of stereotyping and the perpetrator of it.  Try not to be the cookie thief.

Dealing with stereotypes

Finally, when you feel like you have been stereotyped, how do you react? What do you do? Anis Mojgani suggests that you shake the dust. Checkout his slam poem.  Here is a link to his poem in writing.






Lesson from Mojgani:When you have been stereotyped, shake the dust.  Move on and don't let the dust settle on you.  Don't let it define you.

This American Life, radio episode about stereotypes Another great source about stereotypes is episode 362 from This American Life. Click here to listen to the episode where 5 people tell stories about stereotyping. Listen to the prologue about people with disabilities, and Act One about NY cops stereotyping people coming from Brooklyn.

A Stereotype Or Just A Category?

HW:  Read Joel Best's "The Truth about Damned Lies and Statistics."

Review the reading from Joel Charon called "Should We Generalize About People?"

Answer the questions below about the reading in your packet.

Sociological Literacy:  Categories and Stereotypes

What is the difference between a generalization and a stereotype?

                        generalization:

                         stereotype:

          Is it okay to generalize? 

After reading Joel Charon's "Should We Generalize..." hopefully, you realize that yes we must generalize because it is what makes us intelligent human beings. But our great strength as humans can also be a horrible flaw. If we do not generalize and categorize accurately then we run the risk of stereotyping. We must realize that although individuals can be categorized into certain groups, it doesn't mean that all individuals fit that group's generalization. Toward the end of the reading, Charon says,

"If we are open-minded and reflective, we can even evaluate how good or how poor our generalizations are, and we can alter what we know as we move from situation to situation."

This is both the task and the promise of sociology. Sociology challenges us to think about our generalizations and assumptions about what we know and it promises us that with proper thought and care we can understand people better. 


Applying categories and stereotypes to your research:

What are the categories that your research article covers?

Are these ingroups or outgroups for you?
What are the generalizations in your research article?
Are there stereotypes that your research article dispels?


Other examples of stereotypes and lessons we can learn from them:
 Muslims, poor, differently-abled 
The video called I am an American that shows the dangerous power that extreme stereotypes can lead to.
In this case, Muslim is the category, but it could be a different religion, ethnicity or any other category of people.  United States' history is littered with examples of groups that have been scapegoated and vilified. This is how Muslims have been treated in many cases in post 9/11 America. But I have had so many Muslim students who prove that this is just a stereotype. And that is what this video is showing. There are caring, loving, neighborly Muslims all around us but extreme stereotypes lead us to only see the stereotype and ignore the reality.  Here is a page from Indiana University called Muslim Voices which is trying to correct the stereotyping.

Lesson: Don't give in to outgroup homogeneity.  Even if you do not know the complex dynamics within an outgroup, be cognizant that those variations probably exist.
Differently-abled individuals
Here is an article in the Daily Herald about a motivational speaker who was born with no arms and no legs. We might categorize him as disabled, but we should be careful about the assumptions and stereotypes that go along with that category.



Another powerful differently-abled speaker is Nick Vujicic. He is a motivational speaker who also has no limbs.   Here is a video of him on youtube.

Here is a video about Aaron Fotheringham, an "extreme sitter." Aaron has been in a wheel chair his whole life, but he sees it as an opportunity. Again, we should be careful of our stereotypes. Aaron is way more rad than I will ever be, but he is in a wheel chair and I am not. If you search youtube, you can see Aaron doing a double back flip! But there are also lots of videoes of him crashing over and over again and again. It takes hard work and lots of effort to become good at what you do.  Hard work was a theme in all of the above videoes.  And if you read the rest of Outliers, Gladwell makes the case that the most successful people spend ten thousand hours developing their skills.  The other theme that comes out in all of these videoes from Brett Eastburn to Aaron Fotheringham is that in order to find meaning in your life you must find a way to serve others.  Find a way to help other people.  You have talents.  Develop them and find a way to use them to help others.  That is your purpose.  And here is Aaron "wheels" Fotheringham at the 2016 Paralympics.




Here is the latest update from Wheelz on the BBC.
Here is a video about a different type of street performer that also challenges your assumptions about the category "disabled".








I love how these "disabled" people see their opportunity to teach others.  Their lessons seem to be similar:  The world doesn't owe you anything.  You owe yourself hard work and dedication to become what you want.  Find a way to help others/teach others.  Don't stereotype and keep an open mind.

Lessons from differently-abled individuals:

• Accept yourself as a part of creation; your existence is the universe's confirmation to you that you matter.
• Develop your talents/desires.  Whatever you want takes hard work. It takes failure, discomfort and effort.
• Find ways to serve others.  Whenever you don't know what to do or when your life feels directionless or meaningless, find a way to serve others.  We all have talents that can help others.

The Cookie Thief, an example of judging
There is a poem I like that illustrates Charon's point. The poem called "The Cookie Thief" by Valerie Cox. We are all cookie thieves sometimes in how we erroneously use the categories that Charon talks about. 

Lesson: 
We have all been both the victim of stereotyping and the perpetrator of it.  Try not to be the cookie thief.

Dealing with stereotypes

Finally, when you feel like you have been stereotyped, how do you react? What do you do? Anis Mojgani suggests that you shake the dust. Checkout his slam poem. Here is a link to his poem in writing.

Lesson from Mojgani:When you have been stereotyped, shake the dust.  Move on and don't let the dust settle on you.  Don't let it define you.


This American Life, radio episode about stereotypes Another great source about stereotypes is episode 362 from This American Life. Click here to listen to the episode where 5 people tell stories about stereotyping. Listen to the prologue about people with disabilities, and Act One about NY cops stereotyping people coming from Brooklyn.

In-n-out groups

In and out is not just for burgers, it is also for groups! Sociologists use the terms ingroup and outgroup to refer to groups that you are either a member of (ingroup) or not a member of (outgroup).

To illustrate this, today I separated the class into two different groups.   To put it another way, I created an ingroup and an outgroup for each student.  Each group made a list of reasons why the other group was wearing what they were wearing. Every time I do this lesson, the reasons break down into judgments against the other group.

For example:

In just a few minutes, I created an in-group and out-group.  Some years I divide students by who is wearing jeans, or who is wearing green and gold or who is wearing gym shoes.  Regardless, a similar result happens.   Students generalize about the other group and pass judgments.   This is a small example of what happens with ingroups and outgroups.  Imagine how much we are affected by the ingroups and outgroups that we experience from the time we are young.

In discussing the different groups that make up society, we see that there are in-groups and out-groups. Here are the important concepts you should understand about ingroups and outgroups:

Ingroups are groups that an individual is in. You have membership in it, and because of that, you feel aligned to the group and you have ownership in it.  It is easier for individuals to recognize the diversity within their ingroups.

Out-groups, by contrast, are the groups that one is not a part of.  People tend to not trust outgroups and judge them more.  This can result in people unnecessarily fearing outgroups and scapegoating problems on them.  They also tend to see outgroups as being less diverse and having less individuality/differences than those of an ingroup.  This is known as outgroup homogeneity.

As this semester goes on, be mindful of the groups that we talk about that you are not a part of. You must make a conscious effort to understand these groups. Try to become conscious of your unconscious judgments so that you can work against fears and judgments that are unfounded.  And be conscious of how you might view outgroups as inaccurately homogeneous.

Applying ingroup/outgroup dynamics to your research:

Think back to the research article that you found for this unit.  Was the research focused on an ingroup or outgroup for you?   How might your research shed light on this group to avoid viewing the group with outgroup homogeneity?

Here is a 2017 news article that explains how outgroup homogeneity and fear have a real impact 

http://www.nbcnews.com/news/us-news/psychology-hate-groups-what-drives-someone-join-one-n792941

Much of hate is based in fear, said Dr. A.J. Marsden, an assistant professor of psychology at Beacon College in Leesburg, Florida — "basically, fear of the unknown, fear of what might happen and fear of anything that's different than you or falls outside your definition of what's supposed to be normal."
"We establish ourselves as a tribe, and we say this is the group for which I have a love for, for which I identify with" Marsden cited Islamophobia as an example."There's a lot of hatred in the United States toward Muslims," she said. "One of the reasons is they don't understand the religion. ... There's a lot that they don't know, and that scares them, because there is a small part of Muslims who are violent, and that is what is driving the hate."
That concept is known as the "in-group/out-group theory" — the idea that people tend to define themselves in social groupings and are quick to degrade those who don't fit into those groups."

Outgroup homogeneity and terrorism in 2017 media coverage

http://www.wbur.org/npr/532963059/when-is-it-terrorism-how-the-media-covers-attacks-by-muslim-perpetrators

"New research from Erin Kearns and colleagues at Georgia State University shows that the president is right — sort of. There is a systematic bias in the way terrorism is covered — just not in the way the president thinks.
Kearns says the "terrorism" label is often only applied to cases where the perpetrator is Muslim. And, those cases also receive significantly more news coverage.
"When the perpetrator is Muslim, you can expect that attack to receive about four and a half times more media coverage than if the perpetrator was not Muslim," Kearns says. Put another way, "a perpetrator who is not Muslim would have to kill on average about seven more people to receive the same amount of coverage as a perpetrator who's Muslim."
Perhaps these findings are not all that surprising to you. But there are disturbing implications for the way Americans perceive Muslims, and the way Muslims perceive themselves."

Ingroups and transforming a white supremacist

And this episode of On Being demonstrates how creating an ingroup can also create empathy.

"We'd heard Derek Black, the former white power heir apparent, interviewed before about his past. But never about the friendships, with other people in their twenties, that changed him. After his ideology was outed at college, one of the only orthodox Jews on campus invited Derek to Shabbat dinner. What happened over the next two years is like a roadmap for transforming some of the hardest territory of our time."

Connecting research, ingroups-outgroups, mindfulness and the fear of guns v. terrorism

https://qz.com/898207/the-psychology-of-why-americans-are-more-scared-of-terrorism-than-guns-though-guns-are-3210-times-likelier-to-kill-them/

According to the New America Foundation, jihadists killed 94 people inside the United States between 2005 and 2015. During that same time period, 301,797 people in the US were shot dead, Politifact reports.  But... Americans are more afraid of terrorism than they are of guns, despite the fact that guns are 3,210 times more likely to kill them.
Chapman University has conducted a Survey of American Fears for more than three years. It asks 1,500 adults what they fear the most. It organizes the fears into categories that include personal fears, conspiracy theories, terrorism, natural disasters, paranormal fears, and more recently, fear of Muslims.
In 2016, Americans’ number-one fear was “corruption of government officials”—the same top fear as in 2015.  Terrorist attacks came second.  In fact, of the top five fears, two are terror-related.  And number five is not fear of guns but fear of government restrictions on guns.  Fear of a loved one dying—whether by gun violence or anything else—came next.
... after the terror attacks of Sept. 11, 2001, people began flying less and driving more. The result, estimated Gerd Gigerenzer, a German risk specialist, was that 1,595 more Americans died in road accidents during the 12 months after 9/11 than would have otherwise.  Michael Rothschild, then an emeritus professor at the University of Wisconsin, calculated some of the risks we face:
One in 6 million: Risk of dying in a plane hijacking, assuming you fly four times a month and hijackers destroy one plane every year. (Just to be clear, since 9/11, hijackers have not destroyed any flights in the US.)
One in 7,000: the risk of dying in a car accident in any given year
One in 600: the risk of dying from cancer in any given year
According to data compiled from the Centers for Disease Control, over 2005-2014, an average of 11,737 Americans a year were shot dead by another American (21 of them by toddlers), 737 were killed by falling out of bed, and nine were killed by Islamic jihadists—who in most cases were US citizens, not immigrants (Nearly twice as many Americans kill themselves with guns as kill each other).

In this example, the media and most Americans see terrorists as an outgroup and because some terrorists claimed to act in the name of Islam, Americans stereotype the category of Muslims into terrorist.  The fear, mistrust and stereotype result from most Americans seeing them as an outgroup.

For Student Discussion:

How does this article illustrate that sociology is more than common sense?
What types of research does the article use?
How might ingroup-outgroup mentality play a role in the article's conclusions?
How can we be mindful about our fears?

Outgroups, Stereotypes and Islam

Here is a link to a video called I am an American that shows the dangerous stereotypes that outgroup homogeneity can lead to.

In this case, Islam is the example, but it could be any religion, ethnicity or group. United States' history is littered with examples of groups that have been scapegoated and vilified. This is how  Muslims have been treated in many cases in post-911 America. But I have had so many Muslim students who prove that this is just a stereotype. And that is what this video is showing. There are caring, loving, neighborly Muslims all around us but extreme stereotypes lead us to only see the stereotype and ignore the reality.  Here is a link to a page hoping to end stereotypes about Muslims.

In fact, in the wake of 9/11, many Muslims were stereotyped as terrorists and some were victims of vengeful hate crimes.  But because of outgroup homogeneity, the first person murdered as a hateful vengeance for 9/11 was not even Muslim or Arab - he was Sikh.  His name is Balbir Singh Sodhi   Here is his story on NPR's Story Corps.   And 15 years later, Sikhs are still being victimized.  But Sodhi's brother has made it his mission to preach forgiveness.





Here is a Muslim former student of mine, Amina Amdeen on NPR's Story Corps who makes me so proud.

Here is NPR's coverage of the story.

The Creation of Ingroups and Empathy

http://www.pbs.org/program/american-creed/

Cubs Joe Maddon's "Hazelton Integration Project is a great example of how creating ingroups can help people bridge outgroups like race, immigration status and social class.  Essentially Coach Maddon did what I did in class: He created ingroups.  Except, he did it to create bonds between the group members so that they would no longer see each other through the outgroup lens creating mistrust, hate and stereotypes.

Ingroups and Middle School Cliques

Here is an ethnography by Patricia and Peter Adler about adolescent cliques and how they create ingroups/outgroups and stereotypes.

Ingroups and Jane Elliot's Brown Eyes/Blue Eyes

 Jane Elliot, a teacher in the 1960s conducted an experiment in her third grade classroom to show the power of ingroups and outgroups.  

You can watch the whole video on Frontline's website.

And there is an updated version of this. Jane Elliot returns to do the experiment with college kids. It is called Angry Eye. Here is the link to watch it on mediacast.

I think that the point of sociological mindfulness is becoming more aware of others and part of that awareness is an understanding of how we may have portrayed that group in our own minds. So understanding the idea of in-group/out-group dynamics is easy but applying it to ourselves is the challenging part. In this TED talk by Sam Richards, he explains how understanding outgroups might lead to a radical experiment in empathy. Check it out:



Now think about your own life.  What are your in groups?  What are the outgroups that you could become more aware of, more empathetic to?

And the Oscar goes to...SOCIOLOGY, sort of.

Bong Joon Ho made history with his film Parasite which took home the Best Picture Award.  It was the first time a movie that was not in English has taken home that award.  Other acclaims include (from Wikipedia):

...the first South Korean film to receive an Academy Award nomination in any category, receiving a total of six nominations and winning Best International Feature Film, Best Picture, Best Director, and Best Original Screenplay. Parasite won for Best Original Screenplay, Best Foreign Film, Best Director and Best Picture. 

Ho was also a sociology major! Bong enrolled in Yonsei University in 1988, as a sociology major.  He then developed his sociological mindfulness to promote democracy. College campuses such as Yonsei's were then hotbeds for the South Korean democracy movement, and Bong was an active participant of student demonstrations, frequently subjected to tear gas early in his college years.

Parasite is a visual masterpiece, but it also contains strong sociological themes especially about social class.


Here is the Parasite trailer:





 Here is Flick Fanatic explaining why Parasite is so good:

Groups, Statuses, Roles

HW: Read Joel Charon's Should We Generalize?

Reviewing yesterday
Yesterday, we discussed the Abandon Ship simulation.  We examined how the simulation can be an example of both macrosociology and microsociology.
1.  Can you explain how each of these apply to the simulation?
2.  How do they apply to your research?

The simulation can also be analyzed using the theories of sociological imagination and social construction of reality.
3. Can you explain how each of these can be used to analyze the simulation?


Sociological Literacy: Groups and Social Structure

Groups
Yesterday's simulation can also be an example of groups.  The group was the people on the boat.  That group was an aggregate, which is just a random group of people like a crowd or people waiting in line at a store.  A group can be as few as two or as many as millions of people.  On your notes page titled "Social Network", put yourself in the center and then around the outside,  list the most important groups that you are a part of.  What are the groups that influence you?  Remember that groups can be as small as two or as large as millions.  Some groups interact with you and others simply shape your perception of who you are.  One way to think about this is who do you spend your days with?  You are not alone.  Think about who you are with in the morning, daytime, afternoon,  and evening.  And then who are you with during the week, on weekends, and in different seasons?

Status
Status is our position within each group.  For example, in the boat simulation, the descriptions of each person was made up of statuses: father, captain, student, elderly, etc... Next to each group list your status within it.  Note that in some groups, like family, you might have multiple statuses such as son, brother, uncle.

Master Status
After you list all of your statuses, choose your master status.  A master status is an individual's most important, most defining status.  It is a status that he/she takes with them everywhere they go.  It might be a status that is always present in his/her mind, or it might be a status that everyone else sees her/him with.   Put a star next to your master status.

I am always interested by all of the groups that students are influenced by and especially the unexpected groups that surprise me along the way. Sometimes it is someone who I never thought to be religious and they list a religion or sometimes it is someone who I never realized was black who lists her race as an important influence on her. All of these groups we belong to are the complex way we as individuals are made up and that is the way sociologists understand individuals; through their groups.  For example, I am part of a family, a school, a group of friends and a neighborhood. In each of these groups I have a status (dad, teacher, friend) and each of these statuses comes with a role that is expected of me (make dinner, show up prepared for class, return a phone call, etc...).

These groups shape my life. Each group creates expectations for your actions.  These expectations are called roles.  For example after becoming a dad I will never be the same. I can't help looking at kids through the eyes of a parent; I think about music lyrics differently; I am overly critical and cognizant of my own behavior and manners etc... These groups can also come into conflict in an individual's daily life.  For example, if I have to go home and cook dinner and my daughter demands attention, it is very difficult to get grading and lessons prepared for the next day, and if a friend calls to socialize or to get together, that becomes a third conflict.  My roles as a parent, teacher and friend are all conflicting. This is called role conflict.  There are also times when I experience what sociologists call role strain.  That is when I am having difficulty meeting the expectations of one role.  An example of this might be parenting. I have never been a parent before and so when my daughter is challenging me, I am not always certain how to react; do I give in, ignore or punish her?  Some statuses we choose (achieved statuses) like those I already mentioned, but sometimes we are not given a choice (ascribed statuses) like that of being bald, or white, or a son.


I hope this exercise helps students see that our class might seem homogeneous but really it is quite diverse. The unique diversity comes from each person's membership in different groups. I hope this is another way we can become sociologically mindful of each other in the class; that is, we can appreciate each person's unique membership in different groups.  This way we can be more understanding of each other and more compassionate for each other.

Abandon Ship Day 2 (debrief).

Individual Reflection: 

1.  I have been doing this activity at SHS since 1999, which means students have done this more than 70 times.  Who do you think has never been kicked off the boat ever?  Why?

2.  Who do you think has been kicked off the boat the most?  Why?

3.  Were your individual choices (from part 3 of the activity) different than who you answered in questions 1 and 2 above?  If so, how and why? What criteria did you use to make the choices that were different?

Out of 71 times, here are the totals:

1.Able-Bodied Sailor Jones:                                    22

2.Ship’s Officer O’Maley:  Mr./Ms. O’Malley:         2

3.Quarter Master MacDonald:                                 56

4.Self-Made Millionaire Douglas:                           54

5.College Student Mr/Ms Parsons:                          60

6.Nobel Prize Winner in Literature, Dr. Lightfoot   35

7.Nobel Prize Winner in Physics, Dr. Singleton        0

8.Football Player Mr. Small:                                    15

9.Cheerleader Mrs. Small:                                         6

10.Army Captain Thomas:                                       15

11.Draft Evader Samuels:                                        59

12.Peace Corps Volunteer Mr./Ms. Davidson:          5

13.Med Student Mr./Ms. Ryan:                                 0

14.Elderly man Mr. Eldridge:                                  65

15.Elderly woman Mrs. Eldridge:                            62

16.Travelling Poet Mr/Ms Carpenter:                     41

Sociological Literacy:  macrosociology and microsociology.

The activity helps to understand the different levels of study that sociologists examine:  macrosociology and microsociology.

Macrosociological perspective

On the macro level, sociologists look for the influences of large scale forces on groups or individuals.   So, for the simulation, let's examine the similarities for who your class kicked off the boat compared to the other classes that I have taught.
Our class is made up of different people than my other classes.  In fact, so different that students are from a different generation!  For example, I have been doing this activity long enough that two of my students married!  They met in my class as the football player and cheerleader, and then after continuing to date during college, they asked me to marry them!  Even though they are old enough to be a different generation than my current class, patterns still emerge.

Class Discussion:  Despite the differences, what does our class share in common with all of the other classes that I have done this with?


Students in our class are Americans, teenagers, high-schoolers, from an upper-middle class suburb. All of these groups have an effect on an individual so that even when an individual makes choices alone, he/she is still being influenced by these groups.

Students consistently save the characters who they believe are useful, especially the medical student and the Nobel prize winner in Physics.  And, students consistently reject the elderly and the sick (quartermaster, college student) and the draft evader.  There are macro-sociological forces that shape these decisions. All of those participating in this simulation are Americans and teens.  I believe they are shaped by cultural values.   Other cultures might save the elderly or save the more educated or save the sick and the weak, etc...



Microsociology
On the microsociological level, sociologists study how groups interact in face-to-face conversation. That is, who makes eye contact, how loud people speak, where they sit, who is the leader, etc... So, each class that does this activity is different based on how the group interacts.

This activity is a metaphor for any group that you are a part of; all of the groups that shape you are governed by both macro-sociological forces and micro-sociological forces.  For example, apply this to high school.  If we examined these two levels in high school, there are certain macro-sociological values that one would expect to find no matter where the school is located: grades, expectations learning, homework, rules etc... So as you move from one class to the next, you will see these macro-sociological values present. On the other hand, every class is different because of the micro-sociological dynamics present in that class: some teachers are more casual, some teachers use rows vs. a horseshoe shape, some classes have a few loud boisterous individuals and other classes might be mostly girls or mostly guys etc...


Sociological Literacy:  Macro and Micro Sociology and Statuses
4.  What does macro-sociology focus on?


Small Group Discussion (don't write this down, yet)
5. How would a sociologist examine this activity using macro-sociology?


6.  What does micro-sociology focus on?



7. How would a sociologist examine this activity using micro-sociology?

8.  Individually Applying Sociology:

Apply this to the primary research article that you found.  Is the research that you found,  macro or micro? Why?

Can you see these two levels at play in your own life? Perhaps in your family, your classes or with a group of friends, or at your job? Think about that lifeboat activity and how it is a metaphor for any of the groups that you are a part of. There are macro forces like culture and social class that affect your group but there are also micro forces at play too such as the dynamic of how the group interacts.

Sociological Literacy Review:

Social Construction of RealityHow can you examine this activity using the idea of social construction of reality? 

Sociological ImaginationHow can you examine this activity using a sociological imagination? 

DataWhat data in this simulation is an example of quantitative data?
What data is qualitative?

Sociological Literacy (preview): Status

11.  What are statuses?