Social Concepts Report Spring 2019 Background: As this semester rapidly comes to an end, it is important to reflect on what you have learned in this “Introduction to Sociology” course. Part of that reflection, is to assess your knowledge about sociology at the beginning of the course and compare it to now. It is particularly important to reflect on how you will apply what you have learned to your phenomenological world. Phenomenology is the study of experience and how we experience. It studies structures of conscious experience as experienced from a subjective or first-person point of view, along with its "intentionality" (the way an experience is directed toward a certain object in the world). It then leads to analyses of conditions of the possibility of intentionality, conditions involving motor skills and habits, background social practices and, often, language. Experience, in a phenomenological sense, includes not only the relatively passive experiences of sensory perception, but also imagination, thought, emotion, desire, volition and action. In short, it includes everything that we live through or perform. Thus, we may observe and engage with other things in the world, but we do not actually experience them in a first-person manner. What makes an experience conscious is a certain awareness one has of the experience while living through or performing it. For example, a successful person who lived in poverty while growing up will usually view poverty differently than a successful person who never experienced poverty, and a person attempting to be successful while still living in poverty may view poverty different than the former two people. Quite often, we are not explicitly conscious of our habitual patterns of thinking and therefore action and how they are affected by our experiences. Too often, our perspectives are blinded by our experiences in certain areas of life, by our not having experienced those areas, or by a lack of real knowledge about those areas. Understanding our phenomenological experiences impact our thinking and reasoning are critical in understanding our sociological perspective. According to the Stanford Encyclopedia of Philosophy, The discipline of phenomenology may be defined initially as the study of structures of experience, or consciousness. Literally, phenomenology is the study of “phenomena”: appearances of things, or things as they appear in our experience, or the ways we experience things, thus the meanings things have in our experience. Phenomenology studies conscious experience as experienced from the subjective or first-person point of view. This field of philosophy is then to be distinguished from, and related to, the other main fields of philosophy: ontology (the study of being or what is), epistemology (the study of knowledge), logic (the study of valid reasoning), ethics (the study of right and wrong action), etc. (Retrieved from the Internet on 12-18-2017) 1 Phenomenology thus involves our subjective view of objective data. In that regard, it involves communications, empirical and quantitative data, critical thinking and social responsibility. All too often, our attitudes, opinions, knowledge, values, and experiences about issues or concerns in our societies are based on brief or micro exposures to, or what we have been told or heard from others about these issues or concerns rather than our own social responsibility to use empirical and quantitative data to think critically about what we have experienced and what has been communicated to us before we formulate our own perspective and/or take action. A primary goal of this course was to help you utilize the concept of phenomenology to establish and/or enlighten your sociological perspective about the world you live in. In a sense, our sociological perspective is our phenomenological understanding of the world we live in. Hopefully, this course has helped you develop a broader understanding, and knowledge about some of the major social issues impacting the world you live in, and therefore the skills to be a viable, responsible member of society. During this semester, we have examined the three major theoretical perspectives underlying sociology, and their major concepts, and theorists. In doing so, we have very briefly addressed some of the major historical events shaping sociology and American (And to some extent, the societies of other nations.) society. We have also explored the concept of research and used empirical and quantitative data to examine some issues impacting society such as gender differences, sexuality, economic institutions, political institutions, population, urbanization, immigration, deviancy, education, religion, stratification, health, healthcare institutions, terrorism, hate crimes, political crimes, racial and ethnic issues, age issues, groups, organizations, social interactions, growth and development, and the process of socialization. Core Objectives: As part of the college accreditation process, Weatherford College must meet the following Statement of Purpose requirements of the Texas Core Curriculum 2014 (Chapter 4 B p4.284.31): Through the Texas Core Curriculum, students will gain a foundation of knowledge of human cultures and the physical and natural world, develop principles of personal and social responsibility for living in a diverse world, and advance intellectual and practical skills that are essential for all learning. The Statement of Purpose for the Curriculum lists the required Core Objectives for the Foundational Component Areas (i.e., Mathematics; Life and Physical Sciences; Language, Philosophy, and Culture; Creative Arts; History; Government and Political Science; Communication; Social and Behavioral Sciences, and Optional Component) areas of a college’s curriculum. These required Core Objectives include Communication Skills, Critical Thinking Skills, Empirical and Quantitative Skills, Personal Responsibility, Social Responsibility, and Teamwork. The four areas The Curriculum are concerned with and which our department are required to address are: Communications, Critical Thinking, Empirical and Quantitative Skills, and Social Responsibility. 2 1. Communication skills include effective development, interpretation, and expression of ideas through written, oral, and visual communications. It is a selection process that means by which we convey what we know is expected of us. N. Luhmann, (J. Bednarz, Jr. with D. Baecker, Trans, Social Systems, 1995)says it is actually a synthesis of three separate selections: the selection of information, the selection of a form, and the selection of an understanding (N. A. Anderson, Discursive analytical strategies: understanding Foucault, Koselleck, Laclau, Luhmann, 2003) Following C. E. Shannon and W. Weaver’s (theory of information (The mathematical theory of communication, 1949), Luhmann identifies information as a selection from a “repertoire of possibilities” (1995, p. 140). The form of a communication is how the message is communicated. The selection of understanding refers to what should be understood about the message. A critical note here is that understanding does not refer to the message’s reception by a psychic system, but rather the linkage of the message to subsequent communications (Anderson, op.cit.). The result of this selection process is the creation of meaning, which is the medium of communication in social systems (Luhmann, 1995, p. 140). Social (and psychic) systems construct and sustain themselves in this way through communication. Communications can only exist as a product of social (and psychic) systems. Society is then a self-descriptive system that contains its own description, which Luhmann recognized that this definition is recursive and antithetical to classical scientific theory. S. F. Scudder (Universal Communications Law, 1980) clarified the concept of communications when he said: "All of "The Living" communicate through movements, sounds, reactions, physical changes, gestures, languages, breath, color transformations, etc. Communication is a means of survival, existence and being and does not need another to acknowledge its presence. Examples - the cry of a child (communication that it is hungry, hurt, cold, etc.); the browning of a leaf (communication that it is dehydrated, thirsty per se, dying); the cry of an animal (communicating that it is injured, hungry, angry, etc.). Henceforth, everything living communicates." either through one’s experience, direct observation, or experiments. 2. Critical, or higher-level thinking is a hierarchical process that involves creative thinking, innovation, inquiry, and the analysis, evaluation, and synthesis ( the combination of ideas to form a theory or system) of information., It goes from the lower level of identifying or explaining issues, to identifying pertinent data or information about the issue, to an analysis of the data as it pertains to the issue, to a person’s position on the issue, and finally to a person’s conclusion as to the outcomes or issues. Critical thinking involves logical thinking and reasoning including skills such as comparison, classification, sequencing, cause/affect, patterning, webbing, analogies, deductive and indeductive reasoning, forecasting, planning, hypothesizing, and critiquing. 3 Creative thinking is different from critical thinking in that it involves creating something new or original. Creative thinking involves the skills of flexibility, originality, fluency, elaboration, brainstorming, modification, imagery, associative thinking, attribute listing, metaphorical thinking, forced relationships, etc. The aim of creative thinking is to stimulate curiosity and promote divergence. Benjamin Bloom (Taxonomy of Educational Objectives, 1956) developed a classification of levels of intellectual behavior in learning. His taxonomy involved the overlapping domains of cognitive, psychomotor, and affective (emotional) involved in learning. Within the cognitive domain, he identified six ascending levels: knowledge, comprehension, application, analysis, synthesis, and evaluation. A. Knowledge provides dates, events, places, vocabulary, key ideas, parts of diagrams, etc. B. Comprehension provides meaning, transfer, interpretation of facts, inference of cause, examples, consequences, etc. C. Application uses pertinent information to propose or use solutions to solve problems. D. Analysis recognizes and explains patterns, meaning, sees parts and wholes, etc. E. Synthesis discusses “what if” situations, creates new ideas, predicts, draws conclusions, etc. F. Evaluation makes recommendations, assesses value, makes choices, critiques ideas, etc. 3. Empirical and Quantitative Skills Research involves the manipulation and analysis of numerical data or observable facts that result in informed conclusions. It is done through one’s experience, direct observation, or experiments. Research can be classified as quantitative or qualitative. This means that the data collected from the observation or experiment may be interpreted with a quantitative or qualitative property. A. Qualitative research uses data that does not indicate ordinal values, that is the defining criterion is the type of data generated and/or used (P. Nkwi, I. Nyamongo, and G. Ryan, “Field Research Into Socio-Cultural Issues: Methodological Guidelines”, International Center for Applied Social Sciences, Research, and Training/UNFPA, 2001, p. 1). Qualitative research involves collecting and/or working with text, images, or sounds. It allows for the inclusion of many kinds of data collection and analysis techniques, as well as the diversity of theoretical and epistemological frameworks that are associated with qualitative research. 4 B. Quantitative research emphasizes objective measurements and the statistical, mathematical, or numerical analysis of data collected through polls, questionnaires, and surveys, or by manipulating pre-existing statistical data using computational techniques (Earl L. Babbie, The Practice of Social Research, 12th ed. Belmont, CA: Wadsworth Cengage, 2010) and Daniel Muijs (Doing Quantitative Research in Education with SPSS. 2nd edition. London: SAGE Publications, 2010). Quantitative research focuses on gathering numerical data and generalizing it across groups of people or to explain a particular phenomenon. A major goal in conducting quantitative research study is to determine the relationship between one thing (an independent variable) and another (a dependent or outcome variable] within a population. Quantitative research designs are either descriptive (subjects usually measured once) or experimental (subjects measured before and after a treatment). A descriptive study establishes only associations between variables; an experimental study establishes causality. Quantitative research deals in numbers, logic, and an objective stance. Quantitative research focuses on numeric and unchanging data and detailed, convergent reasoning rather than divergent reasoning (i.e., the generation of a variety of ideas about a research problem in a spontaneous, freeflowing manner). The main characteristics of quantitative research are: • • • • • • The data is usually gathered using structured research instruments. The results are based on larger sample sizes that are representative of the population. Researcher has a clearly defined research question to which objective answers are sought. The research study can usually be replicated or repeated, given its high reliability. All aspects of the study are carefully designed before data is collected. Data are in the form of numbers and statistics, often arranged in tables, charts, figures, or other non-textual forms. Project can be used to generalize concepts more widely, predict future results, or investigate causal relationships. Researcher uses tools, such as questionnaires or computer software, to collect numerical data. • • The main differences between qualitative and quantitative research methods can be summarized in the following points: • • • The concepts in quantitative research methods are usually expressed in the forms of variables, while the concepts in qualitative research methods are expressed in motives and generalizations. Quantitative research methods and measures are usually universal, like formulas for finding mean, median and mode for a set of data, whereas, in qualitative research each research is approached individually, and individual measures are developed to interpret the primary data considering the unique characteristics of the research. Data in quantitative research appears in the forms of numbers and specific measurements and in qualitative research data can be in forms of words, images, transcripts, etc. 5 • The findings in quantitative research can be illustrated in the forms of tables, graphs and pie-charts, whereas, research findings in qualitative studies is usually presented in analysis by only using words. The overarching aim of a quantitative research study is to classify features, count them, and construct statistical models to explain what is observed. When doing quantitative research, bear in mind the following things: (1) Explain the data collected and their statistical treatment as well as all relevant results in relation to the research problem you are investigating. Interpretation of results is not appropriate in this section. (2) Report unanticipated events that occurred during your data collection. Explain how the actual analysis differs from the planned analysis. Explain your handling of missing data and why any missing data does not undermine the validity of your analysis. (3) Explain the techniques you used to "clean" your data set. (4) Choose a minimally sufficient statistical procedure; provide a rationale for its use and a reference for it. Specify any computer programs used. (5) Describe the assumptions for each procedure and the steps you took to ensure that they were not violated. (6) When using inferential statistics, provide the descriptive statistics, confidence intervals, and sample sizes for each variable as well as the value of the test statistic, its direction, the degrees of freedom, and the significance level [report the actual p value]. (7) Avoid inferring causality, particularly in nonrandomized designs or without further experimentation. (8) Use tables to provide exact values; use figures to convey global effects. Keep figures small; include graphic representations of confidence intervals whenever possible. (9) Always tell the reader what to look for in tables and figure. When using pre-existing statistical data gathered and made available by anyone other than yourself, you still must report on the methods that were used to gather the data and describe any missing data that exists and, if there is any, provide a clear explanation why the missing data does not undermine the validity of your final analysis. 6 4. Social Responsibility includes intercultural competence, knowledge of civic responsibility, and the ability to engage effectively in local, regional, national, and global communities. It is an ethical framework and suggests that an entity, be it an organization or individual, has an obligation to act for the benefit of society at large. Thus, the saying “to whom much is given, much is expected” that is profound, but is rarely put into action. It is a term that entails concepts such as civic learning; altruism; civic action; social justice attitudes; moral responsibility; civic responsibility; and social responsibility. Social issues (problems) arise when dysfunctional social arrangements (environments) limit the choices available to individuals into either a subset of primarily bad, or no good choices. Some researchers say that sociologists should deliberately teach social responsibility as a means of fulfilling the promise that C. Wright Mills envisioned (R. J. Hironimus-Wendt, J. Robert, and L. E. Wallace, Sociological Imagination and Social Responsibility, 2009). A key aspect of the sociological imagination includes a sense of social responsibility, but that aspect is best learned through a combination of experience and academic knowledge. Students gain the fullest sense of the sociological imagination, one that includes social responsibility, when they are able to have encounters and experiences that challenge their pre-existing world-views and allow them to see first-hand the sociological concepts they learn in the classroom. Teaching social responsibility is appropriate because it has deep roots in the discipline. C. Wright Mills’ (The Sociological Imagination”, 1959) message for sociologists was poignant about social responsibility: “The educational and political role of social science in a democracy is to help cultivate and sustain publics and individuals that are able to develop, live with, and to act upon adequate definitions of personal and social realities (p. 192)”. Throughout this semester, conflict, functionalist, and symbolic interactionist theories have been a focal point in examining social issues such as poverty, gender inequalities, age inequalities, social stratification, religion, social structure, education, social change, terrorism, political and hate crimes, deviancy, population and urbanization, families, human interactions and sexuality, political institutions, economic institutions, health and healthcare, environment, collective behaviors and social movements, culture, human development and growth, groups and organizations, mass media, and socialization. The Texas Higher Education Coordinating Board (THECB) requires colleges to meet certain Core Curriculum Objectives each semester. For the Spring 2019 semester, the THECB is requiring the Behavioral Sciences Department to meet objectives for Critical Thinking and Social Responsibility objectives. In addition, the Southern Association of Colleges and Schools (SAC) is requiring each discipline within the Behavioral Science Department to assess Discipline Specific Criteria. To meet these requirements, For the Spring 2019 semester, Sociology Instructors must assess students’ competency for Critical Thinking, Social Responsibility, and Discipline Specific criteria. That is the purpose of the Social Concepts Report. 7 The Social Concepts Report Guidelines The Social Concepts Report is to consist of a cover sheet; four, double-spaced pages; and a bibliography page. That is a total of six pages. The report should follow the APA (American Psychological Association) format as follows: • • • • • Double spacing in the essay with 1 inch margins on all sides on a standard 8 ½ inch x 11 inch paper. The fonts should be New Times Roman using 12 point font. Every page will have the title on the left hand top corner. Titles should be no more than 12 words. The page numbers have to be on the top right corner of every page. The title page will have the title of the essay in the center of the page in one or two lines followed by the authors’ name. The authors name should not be prefixed or suffixed with any titles or degrees. The use of information from other sources, must be documented using APA style. Be sure to document and give credit to others for information from them that you use in your report (e.g., Stokes, 1971) and then provide the full source in the bibliography (e.g., Stokes, John H., “Lead Poisoning in Paint”, Congressional Record, Washington, D.C., 1971) . You should follow the Grading Rubric for guidelines in writing your report. The report should provide the following information: A. A synopsis of how your sociological perspective has been affected by this course this semester. This will require you to discuss your own knowledge and opinions about sociology at the beginning of the semester and compare it to your knowledge and opinions at the end of the semester. This segment will provide examples of some of the criteria under the Critical Thinking category. B. An examination of at least one of the major issues (e.g., social stratification, healthcare, gender inequalities, etc.) explored this semester. This should include your knowledge about the issue, empirical data about the issue, and others’ opinions, including those who might agree with you and those who might disagree with you. This examination will assess your Critical Thinking and Sociology Discipline skills. C. In exploring a social issue, you should identify and discuss at least one major sociological theory discussed in this course, discuss its major concepts (i.e. .wealth, power, symbols, etc.) its , identify Expresses Sociological constructs, opinions, theories, or conclusions, and provides a scientific source to support the argument. In discussing the social issue and the theoretical framework you choose to explain the issue, you should obtain and use empirical data such as a table or chart to highlight your discussion of the issue. In doing so, be sure to explain the data contained in the table or chart provided in your report, and to take into consideration your own and others’ opinions about the social issue. This will assess some of the criteria under the Critical Thinking, Social Responsibility, and Sociology Discipline Specific skills categories. 8 D. Finally, you should reach your own conclusions about the issue based on the data, and your own and others’ opinions. This section will entail providing a scientific source to support your discussion. It will reveal your use of empirical investigation involved in the scientific process as you express in your own words, facts, opinions, and conclusions about a sociological issue. This segment will address some of the criteria under the Sociology Discipline Specific skills category. Be sure to give reference (e.g., Stokes, 2017) to any data you use and provide the full reference source (e.g., Stokes, John H., Bullying in Schools, Sycamore Press, Worldworth, Texas, 2017) in the bibliography. E. Ways that you will use what you have learned in this course in your future, and how you will use it to explain the world around you and how you will use that phenomenological knowledge to make your life and the lives of those around you better. This segment addresses some of the criteria under the social responsibility and critical thinking categories. F. Any other information you care to share about this course and its impact on your sociological perspective. 9 Grading Rubric for Social Concepts Report Student: ___________________________________________________ I will use the rubric given on the next two pages to grade your paper, so be sure to address each of the criteria under each category in the rubric when writing your paper. Listed on the rubric are six categories: APA Style, Length, Grammar, Critical Thinking, Social Responsibility, and Sociology Discipline Skills. Underneath each category are criteria that students are to address.to meet the expectations established by the college for that category. Each of the categories has specific grading criteria that are listed on the Grading Rubric on the following page. The categories and the number of their grading criteria and points are as follows: Category: Report Used APA Style Length Grammar Critical Thinking Social Responsibility Sociology Discipline Specific Totals: Number of Meets Expectation Criteria: 1 1 1 5 4 4 16 Total Points for Each Criteria if Report: Meets Does Not Expectations: Meet Expectations: 50 50 50 26 30 25 NA 0 10 to 40 20 16 20 15 NA The total points a student can earn if meeting the expectations for all the criteria under all the categories is 500. In scoring the paper, the Instructor will place a check mark in the appropriate criteria under the “Meets Expectations” or “Does Not Meet Expectation” criteria box for each of the categories. Since this is an important assignment, I give students up to 100 EXTRA CREDIT POINTS as follows: 100 Extra Credit Points if the student met all 16 Meets Expectation Criteria 70 Extra Credit Points if the student met at least 13 Meets Expectation criteria 50 Extra Credit Points if the student met at least 10 Meets Expectation criteria 30 Extra Credit Points if the student met at least 7 Meets Expectation criteria 20 Extra Credit Points if the student met at least 4 Meets Expectation criteria 0 Extra Credit Points if the student did not meet any expectation or submit a report 10 Social Concepts Report Grading Rubric Student: ____________________________________ Date Due: April 16, 2019 Date Received: ________________ Report Received in APA Style, and on time with Cover Sheet and Bibliography = 50 points Length of Paper (4 double-spaced pages with 12-point font and correct margins) = 50 Points. This report contained _________ pages Meets Expectation = 50 points Does Not Meet Expectation = 0 points NA .NA Comments: Meets Expectation. Report is 4 or more pages in length = 50 points Does Not Meet expectations. Report is to be 4 pages in length = - 15 points for each page the report is short NA NA Comments: Grammar: Capitalization, Paragraph Structure, Spelling; Punctuation, and Sentence Structure = 50 Points Meets Expectations: Report contains no more than 6 errors = 50 Points Does Not Meet expectations: Report contains 7 or more errors = 20 Points NA NA Comments: Social Responsibility Criteria: Social Connections Civic Communications: Cultural Self-Awareness: Knowledge of Cultural Frameworks: Meets Expectations = Total of 120 Points (30 points for each criterion that is checked) Shows understanding of how the course connects to the broader social, cultural, and/or political world Shows the ability to express, listen, and adapt ideas based on others’ social/cultural perspectives Identifies own cultural rules and biases and shows an understanding of own biases Does Not Meet Expectations = Total of 80 Points (20 points for each criterion that is checked) Does not identify knowledge from the course that connects to the broader social, cultural, and/or political world. Does not demonstrate ability to express, listen, or adapt ideas and messages based on others’ social or cultural perspectives. Does not demonstrate cultural self-awareness and shows little awareness of own cultural rules and biases Reveals an understanding of other cultures, history, values, politics, beliefs, economies, practices, and communication styles. Does not demonstrate an understanding of other cultures, including own history, values, politics, communication styles, economy, beliefs, or practices. Critical Thinking Criteria Meets Expectations = Total of 130 Points (26 points for each criterion that is checked) Identifies and explains issues: Issue is clearly stated, described and clarified so that understanding is not impeded Identifies Pertinent data/information: Information shows the ability to determine relevance and credibility, and others’ viewpoints are questioned Analysis: Position on the issue: Conclusion: Provides coherent analysis including evaluation of others’ analyses Takes into account the issue’s complexity and critically assesses others’ viewpoints. Conclusion is tied to range of information, and others’ viewpoints and consequences and implications are clearly identified Does Not Meet Expectations = Total of 80 Points (16 points for each criterion that is checked) Issue is stated but description leaves some terms undefined, ambiguous, unexplored, undetermined boundaries, and/or unknown backgrounds. Insufficient or irrelevant gathering of information and questing of others’ viewpoints is insufficient. Analysis is incomplete, and/or ideas are not insufficiently developed. Specific position is stated but is too simplistic and obvious. Conclusion is tied to information, and some outcomes are identified, but are limited 11 Sociology Specific Criteria: Identifies or Applies a Sociological concept: Scientific Support of Sociological concept Scientific Analysis of Sociological concept Attribution of Source: Meets Expectations= Total of 100 points (25 points for each criteria that is checked) Identifies or Practically Applies a Sociological concept, theory, or investigation Reviews Relevant and Accurate Literature (i.e., theoretical, historical, or empirical sources). Observations are logically or quantitatively scrutinized. Draws reasonable and appropriate conclusions from the analysis. Explicitly describes assumptions and provides compelling rationale for why assumptions are appropriate. OR Uses quantitative analysis of data as the basis for competent judgments. Draws reasonable and appropriate conclusions from the analysis. Basic number of sense is used to check conclusions. Expresses Sociological constructs, opinions, theories, or conclusions, and provides a scientific source to support the argument. Does Not Meet expectations = Total of 60 points (15 points for each category that is checked). Demonstrates difficulty in identifying or applying a Sociological concept, theory, problem, or investigation Literature review is inadequate or contains major inaccuracies. Observations are not fully scrutinized, or conclusions are unreasonable. Insufficiently describes rationale behind assumptions. OR Uses the quantitative analysis of data as the basis for tentative, basic judgments, although is hesitant or uncertain about drawing conclusions from this work. Does not provide a scientific source to support the argument. And has difficulty in expressing Sociological constructs, opinions, theories, or conclusions. Total Meets Expectations Categories = _____ for Total Points of _________ Total Does Not Meet Expectations Categories = _____ for Total Points of _________ Total Points for the Social Concepts Report = Total Extra Credit Points for Meets Expectations Criterion = _________ * • See Page 10 for scoring of Extra Credit Points. • Extra Credit Points are entered into Canvas at the end of the semester. 12 ________
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