For academic and activist Casey Walden, the interest in sociology developed as a kind of gradual awakening. Casey prefers pronouns she/her/hers or they/them/theirs, however, in this paper I will be utilizing only she/her/hers. Casey is a twenty-year-old student at Simmons College, pursuing the study of sociology amongst other concentrations. An interview session with her allowed me to delve into the intricacies of the interview process by analyzing how the conversation progressed, and to explore more about why she is majoring in sociology. In this paper, I will aim to discuss salient points that were mentioned throughout the interview, as well as reflect on the experience of conducting one. Throughout the fluid process of directing the interview, I was able to gage Casey's demographic background, motives, and aspirations regarding her major in sociology. Casey grew up in the small city of Chattanooga, Tennessee. She believes she had an adequate and thorough education growing up, but not relative to an education she could've received elsewhere. Sociology was not distinctly on her mind as a young academic, but it slowly came to take form as she progressed through high school. Her first encounter was when she took an Introduction to Sociology class at her local university as a dual-enrollment course, since the psychology class …show more content…
was already full. She enjoyed the sociology course, but there were in total eighty students, none of whom really seemed like they wanted to be there. Although she liked the material, she wouldn't say she had a passion for it at the time. Currently, Casey has completed some college. She first began her academic career at Simmons College as an international relations major. She switched to political science at the end of her first semester, and then thought about pursuing sociology. After majoring in both political science and sociology for about a year, she decided to drop political science to a minor. Despite this change, she still considers political science and sociology as "two sides of the same coin". There are a number of factors that influenced Casey in pursuing the study of sociology.
During the interview, I mentioned to Casey how sociology is a living, breathing study. She agreed and said that she definitely appreciates that about sociology- it is dynamic and can constantly be analyzed from different perspectives. Casey became increasingly intrigued by what she heard her friends were studying and doing in their sociology classes. As she began to explore more of sociology herself by taking classes in the department, she decided to switch over, as she felt it spoke more to her than international relations or political science ever
did. I had initially intended for my interview to be focused on Casey's study of sociology, but throughout the discussion Casey began to emphasize how even though she switched from a political science major to a sociology major, she believes that both topics are greatly intertwined: "You cannot have a discussion about political science without integrating sociological concepts," she explains. She can already see that in her political science classes, she comes from a different place than her peers that are just political science majors. Political science acknowledges the impact that sociology and systems have, but it does not delve into the topics as much as Casey feels they should. Despite considering herself to be more of a sociological thinker, Casey doesn't feel like she can study only sociology, without taking some classes in political science, and vice versa. Casey is very enthusiastic about social justice. It goes hand-in-hand with sociology for her, and in some ways, they are the same thing. Often, when Casey reads material pertaining to social justice, it will give her an idea of what she wants to do in the future. Systems of oppression are driving forces for her pursuing sociology. Currently, the Trump administration is the strongest driving force, but everything has been culminating for a long time. The election of Trump wasn't the tipping point per say, but he signifies a change in where the U.S. is going policy-wise, and that will greatly affect society, as Casey explained. This topic transitioned well into broaching the topic of future aspirations regarding Casey's education in sociology. There seems to be an endless world of opportunity in the world of sociology, which is why I had a difficult time tailoring my questions to make them more specific, because I had no idea what to expect in terms of responses. As an interviewer, I was a bit uncomfortable with this spontaneity, but as the interview progressed, I came to realize that this room for broad answers helped move the interview along on its own. Casey discussed how she wants to get a job immediately in nonprofit or policy-making. She may want to eventually run for a local office, and make change on a local level. She feels there are a plethora of pathways, and there is no way to truly know which one she will take. Ideally, Casey wants to put an end to capitalism and all of the other structures in place (they are all intertwined). She is confident that whatever she winds up doing will be heavily informed by her sociology degree. Ultimately, as I concluded the interview and analyzed its content, I came to understand that the interview process is analogous to a puzzle, in which the pieces sequentially come together to allow for a clearer view. I mainly focused on probing Casey's demographic background, motives, and aspirations regarding her major in sociology. These all helped to move the interview process along smoothly and contribute to the overall goal I had in mind as an interviewer. As aforementioned, I had initially intended for my interview to be focused on Casey's study of sociology. However, a large part of the discussion became about how Casey considers political science and sociology to be closely related. I had attempted to structure this interview to my liking with very specific questions, but I ended up realizing that the interview was able to guide itself, as long as I kept sight of my aim and purpose of study. Altogether, the interview was successful due to all the supporting details and insight I was able to gather, and piece together in a format that furthered my goal as an interviewer. The experience was enjoyable, as I felt confident I was developing my skills as a professional communicator, writer, and critical thinker.
One of the sociological theories is conflict theory. The conflict theory deals with people's level on wealth, or class. The conflict theory says that social change is beneficial, contrary to focuses on social order. In the story of the woman and her children, the conflict theory plays a big role on the situation. Police of higher class are threatening the homeless woman. The conflict theory is a constant struggle of people of higher class over powering people of lower class, or the weaker. The police are trying to over power the woman by telling her to leave. Even though the woman and her children were doing nothing wrong, the police used their power to tell her to leave. Also the people of the area showed their conflict theory by telling the police officers to come. They must have felt embarrassed to have a woman of such lower class to be around them. They used their power of class to have the woman removed from their community. The woman wants to be there because she has no home and it is a good community to be in, but the people look at it as an embarrassment to them because it makes their area look bad for someone of such lower class to be around them. The conflict theory is unique to all other theories because it separates people into categories determined by their wealth and standards. Their status is the element that categorizes them, weather it is class, race, or gender. The conflict theory do not always use class, race, and gender all at once. In this situation race and gender is not a main issue, although gender could be a reason, but it would fall under the feminist theory. This story is mainly dealing with class. Through all this conflict the woman feels over powered and domina...
Sociology is the study of social relationships and how one interacts in a society. It is a way of seeing and making sense of the world around us. Sociological Imagination means to think and ask questions as a sociologist would. It means to look at the world with a sociological point of view by asking how individual actions relate to societal forces. There are four different ways Donna Gaines uses C. Wright Mill's concepts of the Sociological Imagination in her study of the Suburbia's Dead-End Kids. Gaines emphasizes the fact that when one teenager commits suicide it is a personal matter, but when a group of teenagers commit suicide it becomes a matter of public concern which needs everyone's attention. To find the answer to why these teenagers
Berger, Peter L. Invitation to Sociology; a Humanistic Perspective. Garden City, NY: Doubleday, 1963. Print.
Brinkerhoff, David B., Rose Weitz, Suzanne T. Ortega. Essentials of Sociology Ninth Edition. Belmont: Wadsworth Cengage Learning, 2013. Print.
The Japanese society can be portrayed as essentially having no classes since there is a small group of elite and underclass that encompass the numerous middle class. Social differences exist between rural folks and urban residents in terms of family composition, education and participation in the labor force. The social difference in urban setting exists between white collar middle class and blue collar industrial workers and the self-employed artisans (Japan social influence 2014:6).
Kendall, Diana. 2012. Sociology in Our Times: The Essentials, Edited by M. Kerr. Belmont, CA: Wadsworth.
...requent use of these appeals and strategies evokes a true response of sympathy and urgency to get a start on the revolution to gain women’s rights and equality. Steinem’s goal of her commencement speech to the graduating class of Vassar is not to relay stereotypical “entering the world with high hopes and dreams” advice, but to advocate social and political changes in America’s young, new future. She promotes social reform and helps to redefine what the feminist movement stands for. If society does not learn to unlearn the “traditionalist” ways, it will not move foreword in its attempt to exonerate women, men, and minorities from their preconceived and stereotypical roles. This argument is not only about the growth of women’s rights and power, but about the idea of humanism and that we all need to be liberated in order to initiate advancement of changes in society.
Scott, Barbara Marlene, and Mary Ann Schwartz. 2000. Sociology: Making Sense of the Social World. Boston: Allyn and Bacon.
Observation allows researchers to experience a specific aspect of social life and get a firsthand look at a trend, institution or behaviour. It promotes good communication skills, improves decision making and enhances awareness.
Social psychology is a scientific study that studies how people think, feel, and how they behave under the influence of other people (Aronson, Wilson & Akert, 2013, p. 2). Thinking about what social influence really means, we tend to think of a person who tries to persuade another person to acting a certain way. It can be a form of peer pressure, like taking that first puff of a cigarette, or it can be conforming to popular societal views, such as obeying the law of the land. Fiction is a great way to learn about social psychological perspectives. Watching popular theatrical films is the perfect way to learn because it illustrates the application of many perceptions within the subject of social psychology.
Lie, J., & Brym, R. J. (2006). Sociology: your compass for a new world, p. 318-325. New York, N.Y.: Wadsworth.
Murray, Jane Lothian, Linden, Rick and Kendall, Diane. (2011). SOCIOLOGY IN OUR TIMES, Fifth Canadian Edition by Nelson Education Limited, Published by Thomson Wadsworth, USA.
Sarah McLanahan earned her bachelor’s in sociology in 1974 and her doctorate in 1979 (Gilbert). This is clearly her calling, because she has a passion for this. “She is currently the William S. Tod Professor of Sociology and Public Affairs at Princeton University, where she directs the Bendheim-Thoman Center for Research on Child Wellbeing” (Sara S. McLanahan, 2005). Sh...
The sociological imagination is a term given by Charles W Mills used to describe the ability to grasp the connections between personal troubles and public issues within society (Mills 1959). Mills also identifies that the ability to have awareness of social structures with clarity is to be able to trace the connections within a variety of different environments (Mills, 1959). These connections can be made when analysing one’s family tree and the variances between different generations.
In the booklet “Let Your Life Speak”, Parker J. Palmer (2000) explained his despair involving teaching sociology at Georgetown to the community at PendleHill. Palmer did not feel the career path he decided upon was meant for him; Palmer stated “ Despite the American myth, I cannot be or do whatever I desire... There are some roles and relationships in which we thrive and others in which we wither and die.” (p.44)