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This essay will reflect on the key concepts I have learnt to date through Explorations in Sociology. My learning will be demonstrated by defining the key concepts and linking them firstly to personal experience and then to recent media articles. I will reveal how my thinking has altered as I look at the world through my “sociological glasses” by highlighting questions I have asked and how I have attempted to answer them through sociological concepts and theories. I will follow the learning as covered chronologically: social structures & social interaction focusing on roles and status, culture and socialisation and class and social stratification. The media articles I have chosen to assist my learning include; an inquiry into child abuse by the Catholic Clergy, a documentary called Miss Representation and one social researcher’s take on class in Australia. By examining each topic this essay will demonstrate my understanding of key sociological concepts and how they have affected my point of view when confronted with issues through media articles.
Week two covered the two levels of analysis typically used in sociology; macrosociology which explores the social structures of society and microsociology which investigates social interactions and how people behave towards each other (Henslin, Possamai & Possamai-Inesedy 2011). It was through this week’s reading that my thoughts about how society affects individuals was challenged as I became aware of the impact social structures such as culture, roles and social institutions have on identity. The concept of roles and status from a sociological view took my interest and I began thinking how my own identity has been shaped by the many statuses I hold and the subsequent roles I pl...

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...ss isn't based on cultural pursuits or educational background. These questions would have gone unasked only a few short weeks ago, now I have the ability to assess social issues and draw my own conclusions based on my understanding of concepts learnt to date from this unit.

Throughout this essay, I have reflected on three key sociological concepts of social structures and social interaction - focusing on roles and status, culture and socialisation and class and social stratification. By defining each concept I have showcased my understanding of these key sociological components. In addition to this I have further demonstrated my learning by linking these key concepts to personal experience and recent media articles. I have also offered some opinions on the concepts and identified changes in my thinking as a result of my newly acquired sociological knowledge.

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