Week 1 Discussion: What Is Sociology
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Please post thoughtful responses and comments to the following questions.
1. Explain what sociologist C. Wright Mills meant by the sociological imagination. Explain how personal troubles turn to public issues using an example (e.g., sexual misconduct, unemployment, domestic violence, etc.) after watching the video, Sociological Imagination, and reading Chapter 1 (OpenStax, 2017) under the Week 1 Content.
2. What is sociology? Explain how it helps you better understand your life and our society after watching the video, The wisdom of sociology: Sam Richards at TEDxLacador, and reading Chapter 1 (OpenStax, 2017) under the Week 1 Content.
3. State the major ideas of functionalism, conflict theory, and symbolic interactionism. Which of the three approaches strikes you as the most useful? Why? How can you apply your favorite perspective to real-life situations?
4. Which sociological perspective would best explain why there seem to be so many poor people in America although we are among the richest countries on earth?
5. The neighborhood (the environment) where you grew up exerts a significant effect on the rest of your life. How did your family, neighbors, and community influence you? Explain it using the sociological perspective.
6. What sort of career are you interested in? How could studying sociology help you in this career?
7. How would a conflict theorist look at the educational system in the United States? How would a functionalist look at the educational system? What is one commonality between these two perspectives? What is one important difference?
Use APA parenthetical citations in your text and include a reference list at the end of your post. When you refer to and/or discuss any resources, you need to include a citation for that source. For more information on APA style, go to:
Original question response posts should be a minimum of 250-300 words, and replies to others should each be a minimum of 75-100 words.
