Principles of Sociology

Principles of Sociology Order Description Write a detailed sociological observation of a public space (not SFC campus) of your choosing. Do not choose a place that you routinely frequent such as your train ride home, your job, or your gym. Instead, choose a place where you have been only a few times or where you are a newcomer. Also note to what extent you are passively observing or acting as a “participant observer” as your textbook describes. Write your objective observations (not opinions) of: Culture, including norms, language, gestures, subcultures, etc. Social structure, including roles, groups (in-group, out-group, etc.) and stratification Socialization (i.e., how is it that people have learned the norms and roles of the setting and when/why they should follow them?) Deviance and attempts to control deviance Gender and sexuality, including how people understand and act out masculinity and femininity and transgender behavior (as defined by Lorber) Race and ethnicity, as discussed in your textbook Age and ageism, as discussed in the textbook and the lecture Work and occupations, including the micro and macro aspects of work In an essay of no more than 3 pages, discuss each of these variables and how they inform people’s actions and their perceptions of others’ actions. Also discuss “intersectionality” and how these variables mix together in informing people’s actions. Finally, take 2 or more of the 3 major theoretical perspectives (functionalism, conflict, or symbolic interactionist) on your observations. Maximum points will go to papers that connect objective observations to the required readings, including the textbook and the supplemental readings and make clear citations.