CH-1-3 Understanding Sociology – Sociology: A Brief Introduction : Chapter Notes

This Document Contains Chapters 1 to 3 1 UNDERSTANDING SOCIOLOGY Contents: ● Learning Objectives • First day activity ideas • Using the text boxes to stimulate discussion • Key points from the text • Additional lecture ideas ● Class discussion topics • Topics for students’ research • Audiovisual materials • Additional readings • Thinking About Movies Learning Objectives: 1.1 Define sociology as a social science and describe the differences between sociology and common sense. 1.2 Discuss the development of sociological theory. 1.3 Identify the major sociological perspectives. 1.4 Compare and contrast functionalism, conflict theory, interactionism, and feminist theories. 1.5 Discuss development of the sociological imagination. 1.6 Discuss the connections between sociology and social policy throughout the world. First Day Activity ideas: Unconventional presentation of self: There are lots and lots of variations of this strategy, which basically involve disrupting taken for granted notions of who the professor is, what you look like, and how you behave. The advantage is that before you even hand out the syllabus, you can use any variation of this exercise to draw students into a discussion about norms, roles, status, social structure, power, authority, definition of the situation, presentation of self and almost anything you can imagine. The simplest version is just to arrive early and take a seat where the rest of the students sit – after the appointed time for the class has passed, you can walk up the front and begin teaching. Or, you can stay where you are and begin the class – after being socialized for 12 years in traditional schools, just this tiny change in behaviour will disrupt students’ taken for granted expectations. Another version, which is a bit tougher to carry out, is to wear clothing that is inappropriate for the setting: you might dress up in an evening gown or tuxedo, you might come in a clown suit, you might dress as a homeless person or someone who works on a construction site – anything that will shatter the normal definition of the situation. More ideas with details can be found in Paul Higgins (1999) “Unconventional First Days: Encouraging Students to Wonder about Social Life and Learning,” Teaching Sociology, 27:258-263. Private Troubles/Public Issues: Ask students to get into small groups and discuss the kinds of problems that they have experienced in school or in starting the semester. Get the students to share with the class the list of problems that they came up with, and write these on the board or an overhead under the heading “Private Troubles.” Talk about Mills’ idea of the sociological imagination, and then start another column, for “Public Issues.” Let them go back into their groups for a few minutes, and think about how each of their private troubles represents a wider, structural problem – i.e., a public issue. Using the text boxes to stimulate discussion: Sociology in the Global Community: Your Morning Cup of Coffee takes a look at how the customs of coffee drinking vary in different parts of the world. Activity: Have students read the text box. Ask them to think about what is said in the box, but also about their own travels, or knowledge of other cultures. Ask them to think about how coffee drinking differs in different cultures. Direct them to the questions at the end of the box (below), and invite them to share their ideas/experiences/answers with a partner, then ask the pairs to share their answers with the class. Applying Theory: 1. Do you enjoy coffee? Would you willingly pay more for a cup of coffee if you knew that the worker who picked the beans would benefit from the high price? 2. The coffee trade has been blamed for perpetuating social inequality and global warming. Can you think of any positive effects of the coffee trade? Who benefits most from this economic activity? Key Points from the text: Sociology as a Field of Study: Sociology is the systematic study of social behaviour and human groups. It focuses primarily on the influence of social relationships on people's attitudes and behaviour and on how societies are established and change. The Sociological Imagination: In attempting to understand social behaviour, sociologists rely on an unusual type of creative thinking. C. Wright Mills (1959) described such thinking as the sociological imagination: an awareness of the relationship between an individual and the wider society. A key element in the sociological imagination is the ability to view our own society as an outsider would, rather than from the perspective of personal experiences and cultural biases. Try to help students to see that their own personal biographies are shaped by the historical period in which they live. Sociology as a Science: The term science refers to the body of knowledge obtained by methods based upon systematic observation. Just like other scientific disciplines, sociology engages in organized, systematic study of phenomena (in this case, human behaviour) in order to enhance understanding. In contrast to other social sciences, sociology emphasizes the influence that society has on people's attitudes and behaviour and the ways in which people shape society. (Explain to students how this differs from common sense understandings of the world, which tend to be inaccurate and unreliable.) Sociological Theory: We can think of theories as attempts to explain events, forces, materials, ideas, or behaviour in a comprehensive manner. Within sociology, a theory is a template containing definitions and relationships used to organize and understand the social world. A theory may have explanatory power, predictive power, or both. That is, it may help us to see the relationships among seemingly isolated phenomena and to understand how one type of change in an environment leads to anther. Example of sociological theory – Émile Durkheim’s Study of Suicide: Émile Durkheim (1858-1917) developed a highly original theory about the relationship between suicide and social factors. Use the video “A Community in Despair” to make links to Durkheim’s theory on suicide. Durkheim was primarily concerned to show that suicide, which is most often viewed as an individual action – can also be understood as an effect of social structure. To do this, he moved the unit of analysis up from individual suicides (mostly of interest to psychologists), and examined suicide rates (define “rate” for students). He looked at the number of reported suicides in France, England, and Denmark in 1869, and calculated suicide rates, based on each country’s population. He found that in England, there were 67 reported suicides per one million people, in France there were 135 per million, and in Denmark there were 227 per million Durkheim asked why the suicide rate was so much higher in Denmark than in the other countries – which is a very different question than asking why an individual commits suicide. He theorized that suicide rates are related to group life, specifically to social solidarity. He found that Protestants had higher rates of suicide than Catholics and that single people had higher rates than married people. Durkheim also found that suicide rates were higher in peace time than during war, and higher in periods of economic instability and recession. Durkheim concluded that suicide rates reflected the extent to which people were or were not integrated into the group life of a society. How Did Sociology Develop?– Early Thinkers: Early European theorists made pioneering contributions to the development of sociological theory. • Auguste Comte (1798-1857) coined the term sociology to apply to the science of human behavior. Comte believed a theoretical science of society and systematic investigations of behavior were needed to improve society. • Harriet Martineau (1802-1876) gave special attention to social class distinctions, such as gender and race. She emphasized the impact of economy, law, trade, and population on social problems. She spoke in favor of the rights of women, the emancipation of slaves, and religious tolerance. • Herbert Spencer (1820-1903) Adapted Charles Darwin’s evolutionary view of the “survival of the fittest” within species, to societies. Spencer suggested that societies are bound to change eventually; therefore no one need criticize present social arrangements or work actively for social change. This appealed to many influential people in Europe and North America who had a vested interest in the status quo. Émile Durkheim: (1858-1917) Durkheim was appointed as one of the first professors of Sociology in France. • Durkheim will be remembered for his insistence that behaviour must be understood within a larger social structural context, not just in individualistic terms. • In Durkheim’s view, the growing division of labour found in industrial societies as workers became much more specialized in their tasks led to what he called anomie. Anomie refers to the loss of direction that a society feels when social control of individual behaviour has become ineffective, and people have lost their sense of purpose or direction, often during a time of profound social change. Max Weber: Max Weber (1864-1920), a German sociologist, told his students that they should employ Verstehen, the German word for “understanding” or “insight,” in their intellectual work. To fully comprehend behaviour, we must learn the subjective meanings people attach to their actions-how they themselves view and explain their behaviour. • We also owe credit to Weber for the key conceptual tool of the ideal type. An ideal type is a construct or a made-up model that serves as a measuring rod against which actual cases can be evaluated. In his own works, Weber identified various characteristics of bureaucracy as an ideal type. It is important to understand that “ideal type” does not mean “good” in an evaluative sense. Karl Marx: According to the analysis of Karl Marx (1818-1883), society is fundamentally divided between classes, which clash in pursuit of heir own class interests. • When Marx examined the industrial societies of his time, he saw the factory as the center of conflict between the exploiters (the bourgeoisie or the owners of the means of production) and the exploited (the workers, or the proletariat). • In The Communist Manifesto, which first appeared in 1848, Marx and Friedrich Engels (1820-1895) argued that factory workers (whom they referred to as proletariat) should unite to fight for the overthrow of capitalist societies. • Marx’s influence on contemporary thinking has been dramatic. He emphasized the group identifications and associations that influence and individual’s place in society, and how membership in a particular gender classification, age group, racial or ethnic group, or economic class affects a person’s attitudes and behaviour. Modern Developments: Sociologists from throughout the world have advanced sociological theory and research. Today, some of the most exciting developments in sociology are taking place outside of the traditional Eurocentric (meaning “centred on European thought”) framework. These perspectives highlight the degree to which Western views – through centuries of colonization – define, shape, and name the world. Charles Horton Cooley: Cooley (1864-1929) preferred to use the sociological perspective to look first at smaller units: intimate, face-to-face groups such as families, gangs, and friendship networks. He saw these groups as the seedbeds of society in the sense that they shape people's ideals, beliefs, values, and social nature. Cooley's work increased our understanding of groups of relatively small size. Jane Addams: co-founded the famous Chicago settlement, Hull House. Addams and other pioneering female sociologists commonly combined intellectual inquiry, social service work, and political activism – all with the goal of assisting the underprivileged and creating a more egalitarian society. Robert Merton: Merton combined theory and research. His theory of deviance is one of the most frequently cited explanations of deviant behaviour. He noted that people may not share the socially agreed-on goal of accumulating material goods or the accepted means of achieving this goal. For example, in Merton’s classification scheme, “innovators” are people who accept the goal of pursuing material wealth but use illegal means to do so, including robbery, burglary, and extortion. Merton’s theory helps to account for the high crime rates among the nation’s poor, who may see no hope of advancing themselves through traditional roads to success. Merton also emphasized that sociology should strive to bring together the “macrolevel” and “microlevel” approaches to the study of society. Macrosociology concentrates on large-scale phenomena or entire civilizations, while microsociology stresses study of small groups and often uses experimental study in laboratories. Harold Adams Innis and S.D. Clark: established a strong foundation for the examination of Canada from a political economy perspective. Innis rejected existing interpretations of Canadian society and theorized about the relationship between the extraction of products, such as fish, timber, wheat, and hydroelectric power, and the development of the Canadian state. S.D. Clark established the sociology department at the University of Toronto. His work depicted the struggle between the hinterlands and the cultural and financial power centres of Canada, which results in regional conflicts, the emergence of new political parties and religions, and social movements. John Porter: wrote The Vertical Mosaic (1965) which provided a formative examination of social inequality as it relates to race, ethnicity, social class, and gender in Canada. Porter’s depiction of Canadian society as a “mosaic” continues to be used in contrast to the U.S. metaphor of the “melting pot.” Using Canadian census data before 1961, Porter revealed the existence of a hierarchy among ethnic groups in which the charter groups – the French and British – occupied the top socioeconomic positions. Jim Curtis: credited with contributing to the founding of an indigenous Canadian sociology, his research spanning an eclectic array of topics such as religion, sport, social inequality, gender, aging, voluntary association activity, social values and voting What Are The Major Theoretical Perspectives?: Functionalist Perspective: In the view of functionalists, society is like a living organism in which each part of the organism contributes to its survival. Therefore, the functionalist perspective emphasizes the way that parts of a society are structured to maintain its stability. Prostitution can be examined from the functionalist perspective. Why is it that a practice so widely condemned continues to display such persistence and vitality? Functionalists suggest that prostitution satisfies needs of patrons that may not be readily met through more socially acceptable forms, such as courtship or marriage. The “buyer” receives sex without any responsibility for procreation or sentimental attachment; at the same time, the “seller” makes a living through this exchange. Such an examination leads us to conclude that prostitution does perform certain functions that society seems to need. For over four decades, Harvard University sociologist Talcott Parsons (1902-1979) dominated sociology in the United States with his advocacy of functionalism. Parsons saw any society as a vast network of connected parts, each of which contributes to the maintenance of the system as a whole. Manifest and Latent Functions: Robert Merton described manifest functions as open, stated, conscious functions which receive intended, recognized consequences. Latent functions are unconscious or unintended functions, which may reflect a hidden purpose. Example: The manifest function of universities is certifying academic competence and excellence. However, latent functions include holding down unemployment and serving as meeting grounds for relationships. Dysfunctions: Refers to an element or process of society that may disrupt a social system or decrease social stability. Dysfunction can be negative or positive in nature. Example: Prison gangs are dysfunctional to the smooth operations in prison, and yet they are sometimes viewed as functional for prison guards because gangs pose a “threat to security,” thus providing more work and increased overtime for prison guards. Conflict Perspective: In contrast to functionalists’ emphasis on stability and consensus, conflict sociologists see the social world in continual struggle. The conflict perspective assumes that social behaviour is best understood in terms of conflict or tension between competing groups. Conflict theorists contend that social institutions and practices persist because powerful groups have the ability to maintain them. Change has crucial significance, because it is needed to correct social injustices and inequalities. The Marxist View: History, according to Marx, proceeds through a series of stages, each of which exploits a class of people. Ancient society exploited slaves; the estate system of feudalism exploited serfs; modern capitalist society exploits the working class. Marx believed that ultimately, through a socialist revolution led by the proletariat, human society will move toward the final stage of development: a classless communist society, or “community of free individuals.” Marx viewed struggle as inevitable, given the exploitation of workers under capitalism. Expanding on Marx’s work, sociologists and other social scientists have come to see conflict not merely as a class phenomenon but as a part of everyday life in all societies. Conflict theorists are interested in how society’s institutions – including the family, government, religion, education, and the media – may help to maintain the privileges of some groups and keep others in a subservient position. Their emphasis on social change and redistribution of resources makes conflict theorists more “radical” and “activist” than functionalists. Feminist Perspectives: Feminist perspectives attempt to explain, understand, and change the ways in which gender socially organizes our public and private lives in such a way as to produce inequality between men and women. There are as many feminist perspectives as there are social and political philosophies; there is no one feminist perspective. Despite their differences, contemporary feminist theories ask the following questions: 1. “And what about women?” 2. “Why is all this as it is?” 3. “How can we make change and improve the social world so as to make it a more just place for all people?” Liberal Feminism advocates that women’s equality can be obtained through legal means: through the extension of the principles of equality of opportunity and freedom. Rather than advocating structural change to the capitalist economy or attempting to eliminate patriarchy, liberal feminist approaches assume that extending women’s opportunities for education and employment, for example, will result in great gender equality. Marxist Feminism places the system of capitalism at fault for the oppression of women. Marxist feminists believe that women are not oppressed by sexism or patriarchy , but rather by a system of economic production that is based on unequal gender relations in the capitalist economy. Socialist Feminism views gender relations as being shaped by both patriarchy and capitalism. This perspective sees patriarchy’s grip in the home as well as in the public sphere. Radical Feminism holds the root of women’s oppression is patriarchy. Some radical feminists have based their views of women’s oppression on reproduction, arguing that women’s freedom from reproduction (i.e. through technological developments) will lead to their overall emancipation. Transnational Feminism recognizes that capitalism and systems of political power have severe consequences and oppress women around the world. This form of feminism embraces the multiplicity of cultures, languages, geographies, and experiences that shape the lives of women and highlights the Western/non-Western hierarchy that continues to exist in thought and practice. Interactionist Perspective: The interactionist perspective generalizes about fundamental or everyday forms of social interaction in order to understand society as a whole. George Herbert Mead (1863-1931) is widely regarded as the founder of the interactionist perspective. In contrast to functionalism and conflict theory, it is a micro perspective. Mead was interested in observing the minutest forms of communication – smiles, frowns, nodding of the head – and in understanding how such individual behaviour was influenced by the larger context of group or society. Mead is best known for his theory of the self, which develops as the newborn baby grows and interacts with others. In early childhood, children can only see the world from their own viewpoint – they are the center of the universe. Mead used the term significant others to refer to those individuals who are the most important in the development of the self. Examples are parents and friends. The generalized other refers to the attitudes, viewpoints, and expectations of society that a child takes into account. This concept suggests that when an individual acts, he or she considers an entire group of people. For example, “courtesy” comes to be seen not just as something that parents expect, but a widespread social value governed by the “generalized other.” Erving Goffman developed the dramaturgical approach, which compares everyday life to the setting of the theatre and the stage. Just as actors project certain images, all of us seek to present particular features of our personalities while we hide other qualities. Example: Projecting a serious image in class, and a party image with friends. The Postmodern Critique: A postmodern society is a technologically sophisticated society that is preoccupied with consumer goods and media images. Such societies consume goods and information on a mass scale. Postmodern theorists take a global perspective and note the ways that aspects of culture cross national boundaries. The emphasis of postmodern theorists is on describing emerging cultural forms and patterns of social interaction. Postmodernism as a sociological approach, for example, focuses on individual action in which reality is socially constructed through a process of negotiated interaction with other individuals. In contrast, sociologists who offer the view that a social structure exists before an individual’s entry into the world proceed from a macro rather than a micro perspective, consequently, they focus on how, for example, social institutions, such as the mass media, the education system, and religious organizations, have an impact on individuals. Additional Lecture Ideas 1. Sociological Imagination: Night as Frontier Sociological imagination can bring new understanding to daily life around us. Sociologist Murray Melbin has likened social life in North American cities during the late nighttime hours to social life on the frontier. In his view, there are many similarities between the social and behavioural patterns of people in cities at night and those of people on the frontier, among them the following: (1) the population tends to be sparse and heterogeneous, (2) there is a welcome solitude with few social constraints, (3) there is more lawlessness and violence, and (4) interest groups emerge that have concerns specific to the night or the frontier. One of Melbin’s most surprising assertions is that both in the city at night and on the frontier, there is more helpfulness and friendliness than in other times and places. He attempted to substantiate this view by conducting four tests of city residents’ helpfulness and friendliness at various times during the 24-hour cycle. Melbin found that between midnight and 7 A.M., compared with other times during the day, people were more likely to give directions, to consent to an interview, and to be sociable with a stranger. Apparently, when aware that they are out in a dangerous environment (the night or the frontier), people identify with the vulnerability of others and become more outgoing. By drawing on the sociological imagination, Melbin’s intriguing study helps us to view nighttime social activity as different from and not necessarily more threatening than activity during “normal hours.” See Murray Melbin, “Night as Frontier,” American Sociological Review 43(February 1978): 3-22. See also Melbin. Night as Frontier: Colonizing the World after Dark. New York: Free Press, 1987. 2. Émile Durkheim’s Analysis of Suicide Émile Durkheim's classic analysis of suicide distinguishes between three major forms of this act: egoistic, anomic, and altruistic, and is a good topic for class discussions. When students are asked to explain the cause of suicide, they focus on depression and stress. However, as Durkheim would note, most people who are depressed or who experience stress do not commit suicide. Only relatively small handfuls of people who experience these symptoms take their lives. There must be some other factor that explains why a few depressed and stressed individuals commit suicide and most do not. At this point, students are ready to be introduced to the classic work of Durkheim. Students rarely have difficulty understanding altruistic suicide, but the distinction between anomic and egoistic suicide is more difficult for them to grasp. Use the following chart, which may be amended with different examples, as the basis for a discussion. The discussion can have two parts. First, ask students, "who is more likely to commit suicide, a Catholic or a Protestant, etc.?” After the chart is completed, explain the difference between the different types of suicide and then ask the students to explain which of the illustrations are examples of anomic suicide and which are examples of egoistic suicide. Note that people in both columns commit suicide, but the people in the left column are "more likely" to commit suicide than people in the center column. Note, also, that women attempt to commit suicide more often than men, but men succeed more often than women. More Likely to Commit Suicide Less Likely to Commit Suicide Type of Suicide Protestant (Reform Jew) Catholic (Orthodox Jew) Egoistic Scandinavian Italian Egoistic Divorced Individual Married Individual Anomic Divorced Individual Never Married Individual Anomic Never Married Individual Married Individual Egoistic Person living in a country at peace Person living in a country at war Egoistic Person living in a suburb Person living in a ghetto Egoistic Men Women Egoistic Army recruit Student at local community college Anomic College freshman away from home Student at local community college Anomic Factory worker College student Egoistic See Émile Durkheim. Suicide. New York: Free Press, 1951. (Originally published in French in 1897.) See also K. D. Breault, "Suicide in America: A Test of Durkheim's Theory of Religion and Family Integration," American Journal of Sociology 92(3) (1986):628-656. See also Bernice A. Pescosolido and Sharon Georgianna, "Durkheim, Suicide, and Religion: Toward a Network Theory of Suicide," American Sociological Review, 54(1) (1989): 33-48. 3. India’s Sacred Cow: A Functionalist View To a North American tourist in India, the Hindu prohibition against slaughtering cows may be difficult to understand. The cattle browse unhindered in street markets, eating oranges and mangoes while people compete for the meager food supplies. Why is there such a devotion to the cow, or zebu, the large-humped species found throughout Asia and Africa? The simple explanation is that it is an integral part of Hinduism. Yet we know that many Indian people are often on the edge of starvation. Why has this practice, which appears to be manifestly dysfunctional, persisted for centuries? Economists, agronomists, and social scientists have found that cow worship is highly functional for Indian society. For example, the zebus perform two essential tasks: plowing the fields and producing milk. If eating zebu meat were permitted, families might be tempted to slaughter their cows for immediate consumption, leaving themselves susceptible to eventual ruin. In addition, zebus produce dung, which is recovered as fertilizer and as a fuel for cooking. (American scientists are attempting to replicate this practice to help our society meet its needs for more energy sources.) Finally, the prohibition against slaughtering cows serves the function of assisting India’s poor. Untouchables (India’s lowest-status group) eat zebu beef in the secrecy of their homes. Thus, the prohibition against eating beef restricts consumption by most of the population while allowing the poorest sections to obtain vitally needed nutrients otherwise missing from their diet. See Marvin Harris. Cows, Pigs, Wars and Witches: The Riddles of Culture. New York: Random House, 1978, pp. 11-32. See also Harris, Human Nature 1(February):28-36. 4. Functionalist and Conflict Views of Popular Music We generally think of the functionalist and conflict perspectives as being applied to “serious” subjects such as the family, health care, and criminal behaviour. Yet even popular music can be analyzed using these sociological approaches. Functionalist View: Although intended primarily to entertain people, popular music serves definite social functions. For example, such music can bring people together and promote unity and stability. While Iran held 53 Americans as hostages during 1979 and 1980, people across the nation remembered them with yellow ribbons, and Tony Orlando’s song “Tie a Yellow Ribbon ‘Round the Old Oak Tree” achieved a new surge of popularity. Yellow ribbons continued to serve as a patriotic symbol when the United States greeted returning Desert Storm soldiers in 1991 and when Canada welcomed home its wounded soldiers from Afghanistan in 2002. Moreover, Bette Midler’s song “From a Distance” expressed solidarity with troops serving in the Persian Gulf. From a functionalist perspective, popular music also promotes basic social values. The long tradition of gospel music suggests that faith in Jesus Christ will lead to salvation. In the 1960s, the Beatles told us that “All You Need is Love.” Then, during the era of the Vietnam War, they asked that we “Give Peace a Chance.” Conflict View: Popular music can reflect the values of a particular age group and therefore intensify the battle between the generations. In the 1960s, folksinger Boy Dylan’s “The Times They Are A-Changin” warned older people to get out of the way of the younger generation if they couldn’t understand it. More recently, much of punk rock and alternative music (and costumes) is designed to shock conventional society and reflect the sense of alienation and outrage that its enthusiasts feel. Popular music can also represent a direct political assault on established institutions. The Sex Pistols’ “Anarchy in the U.K.” and the Smiths’ “The Queen Is Dead” attack the British monarchy. Many of the reggae songs of Bob Marley and the Wailers, such as “Burnin’ and Lootin’,” endorsed a revolution in Jamaica. Similarly, certain rap songs, among them Public Enemy’s “Fight the Power” and Ice-T’s “Cop Killer,” challenge the established social order of the United States. Finally, whereas functionalists emphasize that popular music promotes social values that bring people together, conflict theorists counter that popular music often focuses on injustices and on how certain groups of people are victimized by others. In this regard, Midnight Oil’s “The Dead Heart” laments the mistreatment of Australia’s native Aborigines, while Suzanne Vega’s “Luka” and Garth Brooks’s “The Thunder Rolls” both focus on the ugly reality of domestic violence. Clearly, there is more to popular music than simply entertainment. Most songs have lyrics that carry explicit messages of one sort or another. From the functionalist approach, popular music reinforces societal values, while conflict theorists see popular music as another reflection of the political and social struggles within a society. Sources: B. Lee Cooper, “Popular Songs, Military Conflict, and Public Perceptions of the United States at War,” Social Education 56(March 1992):160-168; R. Serge Denisoff and Rhys H. Williams. An Introduction to Sociology, New York: Macmillan, 1983, pp. 23-26; John Leland, “Rap and Race,” Newsweek 119(June 29, 1992):46-52. 5. Dorothy E. Smith Dorothy Smith was born in Great Britain in 1926. She received a Bachelor’s degree from the University of London in 1955 and a Doctorate in Sociology from the University of California at Berkeley in sociology in 1963. She experienced immigration to Canada, marriage, the birth of children and the departure of her husband during the same period (Smith, 1979). Smith’s early employment record includes a stint as a research sociologist at Berkeley, a lectureship at Berkeley and one at the University of Essex. She returned to Canada to take up first an Associate and then a full Professor appointment at the University of British Columbia. Since 1977, Smith has been a Professor of Sociology at the Ontario Institute for Studies in Education at the University of Toronto. She is currently Professor Emerita in the Department of Sociology and Equity Studies in Education at Toronto. One of the main themes in Smith’s writing has been "bifurcation". She sees this as the separation between the social scientific description of life and actual life experience; between women’s lives and the descriptions of those lives employing ideals imposed by a patriarchal society; between the details of life for women and the social structures which dictate those details; between the lives of the oppressed and the lives of their oppressors. Smith’s contribution to the discipline of sociology has been very significant. She has constructed a sociology that links "neo-Marxism with structures of domination and phenomenological insights into a variety of subjective and micro-interactional worlds" (Ritzer 465). Smith has also been involved in developing "text-based organization and text-mediated social relations" (Ritzer 465) as an alternative to feminist postmodernism. Smith holds several honourary degrees and international awards. She has been cited by her disciplinary colleagues in a recent survey published in the Canadian Journal of Sociology as one of the most influential sociologists in Canada in the twentieth century for her landmark work The Everyday World as Problematic: A Feminist Sociology (1987). Other major works of Smith’s include Text, Facts and Femininity: Exploring the Relations of Ruling (1990), The Conceptual Practices of Power: A Feminist Sociology of Knowledge, and Writing the Social; Critique, Theory and Investigations (1998). Sources: George Ritzer, Sociological Theory (5th ed.) New York, 2000; Dorothy E. Smith, "A Sociology of Women." In J.A. Sherman and E.T. Beck (eds.), The Prism Of Sex: Essays in the Sociology Of Knowledge. Madison: University of Wisconsin Press, 1979. 6. Interactionist View of Sidewalk Etiquette Erving Goffman (1971. Relations in Public. New York: Basic Books, pp. 9-18) offers a new look at sidewalk behaviour, drawing on the interactionist approach. When we sit behind the wheel of a car and begin driving, we are confronted immediately with many rules that govern our behaviour. Society provides us with reminders of these rules- traffic lights, stop signs, speed-limit signs, white lines marking lanes, and, ultimately, police officers. Interestingly, pedestrians also abide by a certain mutual understanding of proper behaviour in traffic. We may not have read a book of “rules of the sidewalk” or been formally taught them, and we do not need to worry about getting a ticket for “walking too fast.” Nevertheless, we have learned certain social standards for pedestrian behaviour that are part of our culture. Traffic on the sidewalk sorts itself into two sides going in opposite directions. The dividing line is near the middle of the sidewalk, yet it can shift quickly when traffic bunches in one direction. As in vehicular traffic in the United States, pedestrian movement tends to stay to the right side of the dividing line. Those who are walking more slowly generally stay nearer the buildings, while those in a hurry are nearer the curb. The workability of such lane rules and of rules for passing is based on two subtle practices, “externalization” and “scanning.” When we externalize, we use body gestures to show people which way we are heading. Scanning involves moving our line of sight to observe people coming in our direction and to confirm the forward progress of pedestrians immediately ahead of us. A person’s scanning range is usually three or four sidewalk squares if the street is crowded and more if few walkers are present. In order to avoid small objects and unpleasant or contaminated spots, we practice “sidestepping.” George Orwell (Shooting an Elephant and Other Essays. New York: Harcourt Brace Jovanovich, 1950, p. 15) observed an interesting example of this practice in Burma. An Indian prisoner was walking between two guards on the way to his execution. He came near a small puddle and sidestepped out of the path for a moment in order to avoid it. This little act points out the often unconscious nature of sidestepping. If a collision with another pedestrian seems imminent, we attempt to create immediate eye contact. The hope is to quickly indicate a new route and avoid a collision. This is a common practice when people are crossing a street at a busy intersection. It can be argued that, given such pedestrian routing customs, the individual effectively becomes a vehicular unit. He or she is expected to conform to many unstated, yet socially agreed upon, standards. 7. Breaching Experiments Understanding and discussing theory can be difficult for many students. A good, educationally sound ice-breaking discussion can be based on norm breaching experiments. Ask students to do a norm-breaking activity outside of class and then report back to the class during a future class meeting on the impact that the norm violation had on social interaction. Norm violating activities might include: taking an item out of someone else's grocery cart in the supermarket, staring at a stranger in an elevator, loudly burping in a public place, interjecting a comment in a discussion that is being held in an adjoining table in a restaurant, stopping in front of someone who says "Hi! How are you?" and answering their question in great length while blocking their escape route, or wearing formal evening attire to a class. 8. Sociologists and Professional Ethics Sociologists who belong to the Canadian Sociology and Anthropology Association (CSAA) are governed by a code of ethics related to the design and implementation of their research, the training of students, and the dialogue with communities they research, their interaction with other professions as well as university and college ethics committees. More specifically, the CSAA policy on professional ethics includes such areas as: 1. Protecting people in the research environment 2. Organizing and initiating of research 3.Dissemination of findings 4. Relations with colleagues 5. Relations with students 6. Harassment and exploitative relations. See the CSAA Statement of Professional Ethics, approved June 1994. 9. Functionalist, Conflict, Interactionist, and Feminist Views of Sports We generally think of the functionalist, conflict, feminist, and interactionist perspectives of sociology as being applied to “serious” subjects such as family, health care, and criminal behaviour. Yet even sports can be analyzed using these theoretical perspectives. Functionalist View: In examining any aspect of society, including sports, functionalists emphasize the contribution it makes to overall social stability. Functionalists regard sports as an almost religious institution that uses ritual and ceremony to reinforce the common values of a society: • Sports provide learning experiences that socialize young people into such values as competition and patriotism. Athletes become role models and are treated with awe and respect. • Sports contribute to the adaptive needs of the social system by helping to maintain people’s physical well-being. • Sports serve as a safety valve for both participants and spectators, who are allowed to shed tension and aggressive energy in a socially acceptable way. • Sports “bring together” members of a community (supporting local athletes and teams) or even a nation (as seen during World Cup matches and the Olympics) and promote an overall feeling of unity and social solidarity. Conflict View: Conflict theorists argue that the social order is based on coercion and exploitation. They emphasize that sports reflect and even exacerbate many of the divisions of society, including those based on gender, race, ethnicity, and social class: • Sports are a form of big business in which profits are more important than the health and safety of the workers (athletes) and in which capitalists attempt to “break” players’ unions (as was evident in the conflicts in professional baseball, ice hockey, and basketball in 1994, 1995, and 1998). • Sports perpetuate the false idea that success can be achieved simply through hard work, while failure should be blamed on the individual alone (rather than on injustices in the larger social system). Sports serve as an “opiate” that encourages people to seek a “fix” or temporary “high” rather than focus on personal problems and social issues. • Sports maintain the subordinate role of ethnic and racial minorities, who toil as athletes but are largely barred from supervisory positions as coaches, managers, and general managers. Interactionist View: In studying the social order, interactionists are especially interested in shared understandings of everyday behaviour. Consequently, interactionists examine sports on the micro level by focusing on how day-to-day social behaviour is shaped by the distinctive norms, values, and demands of the world of sports: • Sports often heighten parent-child involvement: they may lead to parental expectations for participation and (sometimes unrealistically) for success. • Participation in sports contributes to the emergence of friendship networks that can permeate everyday life. • Despite class, racial, and religious differences, teammates may work together harmoniously and may even abandon previous stereotypes and prejudices. • Relationships in the sports world are defined by people’s social positions as players, coaches, and referees-as well as by the high or low status that individuals hold as a result of their performances and reputations. • Sports can reinforce antisocial behaviour when popular athletes use chewing tobacco, drive while under the influence of alcohol, or engage in domestic violence. Feminist Views: The social construction of masculinity and femininity encompasses views of the desirability of physicality and athletic prowess. • Patriarchical cultures assign greater value and, thus, provide greater support, to male sporting activities whether they are a high school football team or a national basketball league team or an Olympic hockey team. • Gender, age, race, and ethnicity intersect to produce diverse patterns of activity and sports participation. • Many sports relegate women to a secondary role as spectators and sexual "prizes" and tend to equate masculinity with brute strength, insensitivity, and domination. • Clearly, there is more to sports than exercise or recreation. From a functionalist perspective, sports reinforce societal traditions, consensus on values, and stability. By contrast, conflict theorists view sports as merely another reflection of the political and social struggles within a society. Interactionists focus on social relationships in sports, as people work together as teammates or compete in athletic contests. Feminist theorists focus on the social constructions of gender and how these intersect with various sports and forms of athleticism and physicality. Sources for this lecture include the following: J. Curtis, P. White and B. McPherson, "Age, Gender and Physical Activity in Canada: Findings from Longitudinal National Survey Data," Journal of Aging and Physical Activity,8(1),1-19,2000; John Sugden and Alan Tomlinson. 2002. Power Games: A Critical Sociology of Sport New York: Routledge; P. White and K. Young (eds.). 1999. Sport and Gender in Canada. Oxford University Press. See also Robert Lipsyte, “Why Sports Don’t Matter Anymore,” New York Times Magazine (April 2, 1995), pp. 51-57; Michael Messner, “Masculinities and Athletic Careers, Gender and Society 3(March, 1989):71-88; Nancy Theberge, “The Construction of Gender in Sport: Women, Coaching, and the Naturalization of Difference,” Social Problems 40(August 1993):301-313; Mariah Burton Nelson. 1995. The Stronger Women Get, the More Men Love Football: Sexism and the American Culture of Sports. New York: Avon Books. Class Discussion Topics 1. Homelessness in British Columbia: For an engaging presentation of homelessness see Sheila Baxter. Under the Viaduct: Homelessness in Beautiful B.C. Vancouver: New Star Books, 1991. 2. Stimulating Classroom Discussions about Homelessness: Questions to ask students might include the following: Is there homelessness in the community surrounding the college or university or in their home communities, and if so, how much homelessness is there in each location? Are they aware of any public or private activities that are aimed at ending homelessness or aiding the homeless in the community surrounding the college or university or in their home community? Have they ever done volunteer work with the homeless or interacted with homeless people? What do students think the causes of homelessness are? How would a sociological view of homelessness differ from the views that they had when they entered the class? 3. First Day of Class: For an unusual first day of class activity, see Paul Higgins, "Unconventional First Days: Encouraging Students to Wonder about Social Life and Social Learning," Teaching Sociology 27 (July 1999):258-263. 4. Sociological Imagination: See John R. Brouillette and Ronny E. Turner, “Creating the Sociological Imagination on the First Day of Class: The Social Construction of Deviance,” Teaching Sociology 20 (October 1992):276-279. See also Kathleen O’Flaherty, “Introducing Students to the Concept of the Sociological Imagination: A Written Assignment,” Teaching Sociology 20 (October 1992): 326-328. 5. Personal Experiences and the Sociological Imagination: The author provides a thought-provoking illustration of how instructors can use their personal experiences to illustrate the sociological imagination and elicit classroom responses. See Walter R. Jacobs, "The Teacher as Text: Using Personal Experience to Stimulate the Sociological Imagination," Teaching Sociology 26 (July 1998):222-228. 6. Founders of Sociology: This activity was developed by Dick Colvard of Southern Oregon State College to help students see that the early masters of sociology were real people. See Technique No. 21 in Reed Geertsen (ed.). Eighty-One Techniques for Teaching Sociological Concepts. Washington, DC: ASA Projects on Teaching Undergraduate Sociology, 1982. 7. Innovative Techniques: As a result of an Exxon grant, a project was undertaken to develop new ways of helping students see that the early masters of sociology were real people. See Technique No. 21 in Reed Geertsen (ed.). Eighty-One Techniques for Teaching Sociological Concepts. Washington, DC: ASA Projects on Teaching Undergraduate Sociology, 1982. 8. Sociologists and Their Advocates: Students may be interested in researching the background of sociologists to find out what else they do besides posit theories and document research findings. The many biographies of outstanding sociologists would be a start. See Irving Louis Horowitz. 1983. C. Wright Mills: An American Utopian. New York: Free Press. For a look at a sociologist who combines several occupations in unusual fashion, see Mark Harris, “Andrew Greeley: Novelist, Journalist, Sociologist, Priest,” The New York Times Magazine (May 6, 1984): 34-37, 94-95, 102-105. 9. Talking with the Experts: Some sociology classes have been successful in arranging telephone hookups with leading thinkers in Canadian sociology. Students find it fascinating to ask these people why they chose to study certain subjects, what problems confront the discipline, and so forth. 10. Talcott Parsons and the FBI: An interesting anecdote about the celebrated theorist is explored in Mark F. Keen, “No One above Suspicion: Talcott Parsons under Surveillance,” The American Sociologist (Fall/Winter 1993):37-44. 11. Revisiting Functionalism: Consult N. J. Demarath III, “Who Now Debates Functionalism? From System, Change, and Conflict to ‘Culture, Choice, and Praxis,’” Sociological Forum 11(2) (1996):333-345. 12. The Perspectives: A Post-Secondary Education: There are never enough examples to illustrate the four sociological perspectives, as students try to learn them. Here is another example that is relevant to post-secondary students because it focuses on colleges and universities. • Functionalist: The manifest function of a post-secondary institution is to educate people and to teach them job skills. A latent function of such an institution is that it is a place to make friends and find dates. A dysfunction of post-secondary institutions is that they are expensive and that you might graduate without learning useful skills. • Conflict: A post-secondary education may be expensive and access may be difficult or impossible for poorer individuals. Schools in wealthy communities may do a better job of preparing individuals for admission to prestigious institutions. Graduation from a prestigious institution more readily opens up prestigious and well-paying career paths than graduation from many less-prestigious colleges and universities. • Interactionism: A professor's teaching style may determine the likelihood of a successful classroom discussion. A professor frequently serves as a role model for students. Student diversity in a classroom may have repercussions for classroom interaction. How do students "tell" a teacher not to call on them when a question has been asked? • Feminist Views: Post-secondary institutions may perpetuate a "chilly climate" towards those who have not been the traditional recipients of higher education--women, visible minorities, ethnic minorities, particular social classes and age groups. What can post-secondary institutions do to become more inclusive of diversity? 13. Taking Sides: Confront the issue of how sociologists “take sides.” Use Howard Becker, “Whose Side Are We On?” Social Problems, 14(Winter 1967):239-248. 14. Evaluating Theories: Have the students form four panels to analyze some topic or social problem using the four sociological perspectives introduced in Chapter 1. After the presentations, have the class evaluate the different insights that emerge from using all four approaches. 15. Writing Skills for Sociology: Nationwide attention to upgrading students’ writing has not missed sociology. See Howard S. Becker, “Freshman English for Graduate Students: A Memoir and Two Theories,” Sociological Quarterly 24 (Autumn 1983):547-588. See also the comments this article drew from Richard L. Hummel and Gary S. Foster. They appeared, with a rejoinder by Howard S. Becker, in Sociological Quarterly,25 (Summer 1984):429-434. 16. Using Humour: David S. Adams has produced a monograph that includes funny examples that could be incorporated in lectures associated with Chapter 1. See Adams, “Methods of Research” in Using Humor in Teaching Sociology: A Handbook. Washington, DC: ASA Teaching Resources Center. See also Joseph E. Faulkner. Sociology Through Humor. New York: West, 1987 Topics For Student Research 1. Interaction in Public Space: See Nicholas H. Wolfinger, “Passing Moments: Some Social Dynamics of Pedestrian Interaction,” Journal of Contemporary Ethnography, 24(October 1995):323-340. 2. Applied Sociology: There is a need for sociology to take advantage of the opportunities that a more applied approach brings to the discipline. See Howard E. Freeman and Peter H. Rossi, “Furthering the Applied Side of Sociology,” American Sociological Review, 49(August 1984):571-580. 3. Most Important Books/Articles in Canadian Sociology in the Twentieth Century: See Harry H. Hiller and Simon Langlois "The Most Important Books/Articles in Canadian Sociology in the Twentieth Century: A Report" Canadian Journal of Sociology 26,3(2001):513-516. 4. Gender and Nonverbal Communication: Gender differences in nonverbal communication are considered in Nancy J. Briton and Judith A. Hall, “Beliefs About Female and Male Nonverbal Communication,” Sex Roles, 32(1/2) (1995):79-90. 5. Making Do: We adjust patterns of behaviour to accommodate what is available or, as Erving Goffman says, to “make do.” See Goffman. 1961. Asylums. New York: Doubleday, pp. 207-209. 6. Identifying Theories: Have students find an example of published social research in the literature specific to sociology. For example, suggest American Journal of Sociology, American Sociological Review, Social Problems, and Social Forces. The student should use these more “difficult” journals both to gain familiarity with the field’s literature and to obtain good results with this project. Have the students locate an article containing a theory. They should describe the theory briefly and then classify it according to whether it is functionalist, interactionist, or conflict. 7. Careers in Sociology: What are the career possibilities in sociology? Refer to the Canadian Sociology and Anthropology Association's publication Opportunities in Sociology. 8. Goffman and a Feminist Perspective: While Erving Goffman did not frequently make explicit reference to gender issues in his scholarship, his perspective contributed to our understanding of women’s experiences. See Candace West, “Goffman in Feminist Perspective,” Sociological Perspectives, 39(3)(1996):353-369. 9. Talcott Parsons: The classic theorist Talcott Parsons has been the subject of some interesting analyses in the 1990s. The December 1996 issue of Sociological Forum contained several articles dealing with Parsons’s role in bringing some alleged Nazi sympathizers to the United States. Whether the celebrated theorist was the subject of FBI investigation is the topic of Mark F. Keen, “No One above Suspicion: Talcott Parsons under Surveillance,” The American Sociologist (Fall/Winter 1993): 37-44. Audiovisual Materials *NOTE: For an interesting discussion of the use of feature films in a sociology class see James J. Dowd, "Waiting for Louis Prima: On the Possibility of a Sociology of Film," Teaching Sociology, 27(4)(1999):324-342). “A Radical Experiment in Empathy” (TED talks 2011, 18m) Sociologist Sam Richards puts forth the view that the basis for sociology is empathy—putting yourself in someone else’s shoes. Karl Marx -The Massive Dissent (1977, 60m). John Kenneth Galbraith explores the life, work, and thought of Karl Marx. He contends that Marx was a brilliant, learned man who excelled in sociology, economics, history, political philosophy, and journalism, and that censorship, police persecution, and political upheavals in 19th century Europe (especially France) gradually changed him from a reformer to a revolutionary. Marxism: The Theory That Split a World (1970, 26m). Through animation and dramatization of people who knew him, Marx’s contributions come to life. “Social experiments to fight poverty” (TED talks, 2010, 18m). Ester Duflo talks about the causes of poverty and ways to address them. “Honoring W.E.B. DuBois” ( YouTube, 2012, 37m). A video with a variety of remarks from a number of intellectuals on the contribution of DuBois’ scholarship to sociology. The Promise of Sociology (1981, 30m). Using as a point of departure C. W. Mills’s concept of “sociological imagination,” this lesson introduces the discipline of sociology as one that examines the many groups and relationships in which individuals participate. Several well-known sociologists define sociology and discuss the areas in which the science applies. The Street: A Film with the homeless (1997). This National Film Board work follows the lives of three homeless men in Montreal, chronicling their hunger, poverty, and alcoholism. “Marx’s Commodity Fetishism and the Theory of Value” ( YouTube, 2011, 5:33m). Rapper Macklemore’s music video for his song “Wings” is a way of introducing Marx’s theory of commodity fetishism. Additional Readings Agger, Ben. Critical Social Theories (3rd ed). New York: Oxford, 2013. A thoughtful analysis of critical sociological theories with current and understandable illustrations. Berger, Peter. Invitation to Sociology: A Humanist Perspective. New York: Doubleday Anchor, 1963. An interactionist approach to sociology that clearly welcomes the student into a new field of learning. Charon, Joel. Ten Questions: A Sociological Perspective. Belmont, CA: Wadsworth, 1995. Charon uses the sociological perspective to examine questions that include these: What does it mean to be human? Why are people unequal in society? Are human beings really free, and Does the individual really make a difference? Collins, Randall. Three Sociological Traditions. New York: Oxford University Press, 1985. A well-reasoned account and presentation of the conflict, functionalist ("Durkheimian"), and interactionist ("microinteractionist") approaches. Coser, Lewis. Masters of Sociological Thought (2nd ed.). New York: Harcourt Brace Jovanovich, 1977. Provides an authoritative look at the works of Comte, Durkheim, Weber, Marx, and others by placing their ideas in an historical context. Crothers, Charles. Robert K. Merton. London: Tavistock, 1987. A detailed examination of the famed contemporary sociologist. Dealey, James Quayle, and Lester Frank Ward. A Textbook of Sociology. New York: Macmillan, 1905. It is a dramatic experience to examine sociology as presented in early textbooks. Dealey and Ward was in widespread use. . Glasser, Barry, Rosanna Hertz, and Herbert J. Gans (eds.). 2003. Our Studies, Our Selves: Sociologists’ Lives and Work. Oxford, UK: Oxford University Press. This is a collection of 22 autobiographical essays by 12 women and 10 men from Canada and the United States, all contributing to the field of sociology. Leenars, Antoon A., Susan Wenckstern, Issac Safinofsky, Ronald J. Dyck, Michael J. Kral, and Roger C. Bland. 1998. Suicide in Canada. Toronto: University of Toronto Press. A comprehensive look at suicide in the Canadian context. McDonald, Lynn. 1994. Women Founders of the Social Sciences. Ottawa: Carlton University Press. The author examines the important but often overlooked contributions of such pioneers as Mary Wollstonecraft, Harriet Martineau, Beatrice Webb, Jane Addams, and many more. Mills, C. Wright. 1999. The Sociological Imagination. London: Oxford University Press, (40th anniversary edition). . Mills warns beginning sociologists to be aware of the political meaning of their work. He is optimistic about the promise that the social sciences in general and sociology in particular hold for society. Red Feather Institute. Dictionary of Socialist Sociology (2nd ed.). Red Feather Institute for Advanced Studies in Sociology, 1978. Provides Marxist definitions for terms from acculturation to yankee-cowboy thesis. Can be obtained from Red Feather Institute, c/o T. R. Young, 8085 Essex, Weidman, MI 48893. Ritzer, George. 2007. Contemporary Sociological Theory and its Classical Roots: The Basics, 2nd ed. New York: McGraw-Hill. This book provides coverage of all the major sociological theorists and theoretical traditions. Ritzer, George (ed.).2007. Blackwell Encyclopedia of Sociology. Malden MA: Wiley-Blackwell. A definitive reference source for students of sociology containing 6384 pages of entries. Smith, Dorothy. 1987. The Everyday World as Problematic: A Feminist Sociology. Toronto: University of Toronto Press. Dorothy Smith provides an approach to the study of sociology from the standpoint of women and a corrective to malestream theorizing. This book is far too advanced for introductory students, but a good resource for instructors who are conversant with social theory. Thompson, Anthony. 2010. The Making of Social Theory – Order, Reason, and Desire (2nd edition) . Don Mills, ON: Oxford University Press. The introduction to social thought is organized thematically and places intellectual history in a social, political, and economic context. Tong, Rosemary Putman, 2013. Feminist Thought; A More Comprehensive Introduction (4th ed.). Boulder Colorado: Westview Press. A comprehensive survey of feminist theory including ecofeminism, multicultural feminism and global feminism. Wallace, Ruth A., and Alison Wolf. 2005. Contemporary Sociological Theory: Continuing the Classical Tradition (6th ed). Englewood Cliffs, NJ: Prentice Hall. This text provides a comprehensive analysis of sociology's three major perspectives: conflict theory, functionalism, and interactionism. Other perspectives are presented and recent modifications in these theories are indicated. Thinking About Movies___________________________________ Under the Same Moon (Patricia Riggen, 2008) Rosario Reyes (Kate del Castillo) works in the United States illegally to earn money for her family in Mexico, leaving behind her son in the care of his grandmother. When the grandmother dies the boy sets out to find his mother, attempting to cross the American-Mexican border. This film offers a blend of macro- and micro- level approaches to the issue of illegal immigration, shedding light on macrosociological concepts such as social inequality and globalization. For class discussion, have students consider the following: 1. How does Billy Costigan present his “ self” in different social situations? 2. Give three examples of impression management by the two undercover agents, and explain why they used the strategy to support a particular social identity. 2 SOCIOLOGICAL RESEARCH Contents: • Learning Objectives • Using Text Boxes to stimulate discussion • Classroom activities • Video suggestions • Key points from the text • Additional lecture ideas • Class discussion topics • Topics for students research • Audiovisual suggestions • Additional readings • Thinking About Movies Learning Objectives 2.1 Define the scientific method and discuss formulating the hypothesis. 2.2 Describe the processes of collecting and analyzing research data and define validity and reliability in research. Describe the various research methods used in performing research. 2.3 Discuss the ethics of social research. 2.4 Describe the impact of technology on research. Discuss sociological efforts to understand sexual behaviour. Using the text boxes to stimulate discussion: Research Today: Surveying Cell Phone Users. The text asks students to “apply theory” by answering two questions: 1) What problems might result from excluding cell phone-only users from survey research? 2) Which of the problems that arise during telephone surveys might also arise during Internet surveys? Might Internet surveys involve some unique problems? • Suggestions for in-class activities: • Blind spots/perception. To illustrate how easily we can have “blind spots” in our perceptions, try this exercise from Reed Geertsen (1993) “Simulating the Blind Spots of Everyday Experience.” Teaching Sociology 21: 392-396. You will write several words on the board, and tell students which words are “in” the pattern, and which ones are not. For example, in the first round, the words “in” the pattern might be words double letters: good, better, tree, etc. Mix these in with words that do not fit the pattern. As you write the words, tell students which ones are “in’ and cross off the ones that are not. In the next round, change the pattern – included words might be three letter words, or words that begin with a vowel. Start out each round by telling students which words are “in” and which are not. Ask them for suggestions for words that fit the pattern. In the last round (usually two are enough, but you might go three rounds) – switch the pattern for inclusion to where you are standing when you write the words. For example, write three words while standing on the left side, and tell them all these words are “in.” Ask for suggestions for words, write whatever they offer, and tell them they are doing really well at getting the pattern. Then switch to the other side of the board, and ask for more suggestions – none of these words will fit the pattern (because your physical position has changed). Switch back to the left, and their suggestions are correct. Keep subtly switching from side to side until someone stops attending to the words and starts attending to what you are doing. You might have to exaggerate your movements for them to “get it” – but it is a powerful (and easy) demonstration of how once we decide we “know” what to look for, we can only see that, and stop perceiving other information. • Conceptualization and operationalization. To demonstrate the concepts and difficulties involved with operationalizing variables, ask students (either individually or in groups) to create conceptual and operational definitions of a concept such as “love,” “intelligence,” “poverty,” or “anxiety.” They will soon realize that even seemingly simple concepts are hard to define, that they have many dimensions, and that it is very difficult to “measure” many concepts. Video Suggestions Obedience. Closed captioned, VHS, c 1965 , renewed 1993. This film documents Stanley Milgram’s research on obedience to authority, using black and white film shot at Yale University in 1961 and 1962. Subjects thought that they were administering electric shocks of increasing severity to another person, who was supposed to be learning a list of random word pairs. Milgram was surprised that over 65% of the subjects administered what they believed to be lethal electrical shocks, simply because an experimenter told them it was “necessary” for them to continue. The film shows both obedient and defiant reactions, and subjects explain their actions after the experiment. Application: The video can be used to raise many issues central to research methods, particularly ethics (it is a “classic” example of an unethical experiment), research design, independent and dependent variables, operationalization, and control variables. For more information, see http://www.stanleymilgram.com/milgram.php . For the CSAA code of ethics, see http://www.csaa.ca/structure/Code.htm . Ask a Silly Question. 1997, CBC, 48 minutes. This is a funny, lighthearted video with serious content. It can be used to illustrate many concepts related to research methods, especially opinion polling. It shows how people are eager to give answers, even to questions that make no sense at all. Students will learn that if poor questions are asked, you still get data – but it is very, very “bad” data. The video is a good choice to get students talking about validity and reliability, sampling, and survey methodology. It is also useful to pair the video with actual examples of opinion polls, especially if you have students find examples in the newspapers or on websites. Key Points from the text: Ethics of Research: In 1994, The Canadian Sociology and Anthropology Association, the professional society of the discipline, published its Code of Ethics. It includes the following basic principles: protect vulnerable or subordinate populations from harm incurred, respect the subject’s right to privacy and dignity, protect subjects from personal harm, preserve confidentiality, seek informed consent from research participants, and non-deception of subjects. Neutrality and Politics in Research: Max Weber believed that sociologists must practice value neutrality in their research. In his view, researchers cannot allow their personal feelings to influence the interpretation of data. Investigators have an obligation to accept research findings even when the data run contrary to their own personal views, to theoretically based explanations, or to widely accepted beliefs. The issue of value neutrality does not mean you can't have opinions, but it does mean you must work to overcome any biases, however unintentional, that you may bring to the research. The Scientific Method: The scientific method is a systematic, organized series of steps that ensures maximum objectivity and consistency in researching a problem. There are eight basic steps in the scientific method: defining the problem, reviewing the literature, formulating the hypothesis or research question , selecting the research method (design), selecting the sample, measuring the variables, collecting and analyzing data, and developing the conclusion. Defining the Problem: The first step in any research project is to state as clearly as possible what you hope to investigate. An operational definition is an explanation of an abstract concept that is specific enough to allow a researcher to assess the concept. A review of the literature, concerning the problem under study, helps to refine the problem and reduce avoidable mistakes. (Try to help students to understand the difference between scholarly literature, magazines, and newspapers.) Formulating the Hypothesis: After reviewing earlier research and drawing on the contributions of sociological theorists, the researchers formulate the hypothesis, a speculative statement about the relationship between two or more factors known as variables. A variable is a measurable trait or characteristic that is subject to change under different conditions. If one variable is hypothesized to cause or influence another one, social scientists call the first variable the independent variable. The second is termed the dependent variable because it is believed to be influenced by the independent variable. A good way to remember the difference is to think of the independent variable as the “cause” and the dependent variable as “the effect.” Use the textbook: Have students look at Figure 2-2 on Causal Logic. Ask them to identify two or three variables that might “depend” on the independent variable “Number of alcoholic drinks consumed.” Collecting and Analyzing Data: In most studies, social scientists must carefully select what is known as a sample. The most frequently used representative sample is a random sample in which every member of the entire population has the same chance of being selected. Validity and Reliability: The scientific method requires that research results be both valid and reliable. Validity refers to the degree to which a measure or scale truly reflects the phenomenon under study. Reliability refers to the extent to which a measure provides consistent results. Research design - Surveys: A survey is a study, generally in the form of an interview or questionnaire, which provides sociologists with information concerning how people think and act. Among Canada’s best-known surveys of opinion are those by Ipsos-Reid and Environics. Surveys can be indispensable sources of information, but only if the sampling is done properly and the questions are worded correctly and without bias. The survey is an example of quantitative research, which collects and reports data primarily in numerical form. Research Design – Field Research: Qualitative research relies on what is seen in the field and naturalistic settings and often focuses on small groups and communities rather than on large groups and whole nations. Investigators who collect information through direct participation in and/or observation of a group or community under study are engaged in observation. This method allows sociologists to examine certain behaviours and communities that could not be investigated through other research techniques. Ethnography refers to efforts to describe an entire social setting through extended, systematic observation. Typically, this description emphasizes how the subjects themselves view their social setting. In some cases, the sociologist actually "joins" a group for a period of time to gain an accurate sense of how it operates. This is called participant observation. Research Design - Experiments: When sociologists want to study a possible cause-and-effect relationship, they may conduct experiments. An experiment is an artificially created situation that allows the researcher to manipulate variables. In the classic method of conducting an experiment, two groups of people are selected and matched for similar characteristics such as age or education. The experimental group is exposed to an independent variable; the control group is not. Use of Existing Sources: Sociologists do not necessarily have to collect new data in order to conduct research and test hypotheses. The term secondary analysis refers to a variety of research techniques that make use of publicly accessible information and data. Many social scientists find it useful to study cultural, economic, and political documents, including newspapers, periodicals, radio and television tapes, the Internet, scripts, diaries, songs, folklore, and legal papers, to name a few examples. In examining these sources, researchers employ a technique known as content analysis, which is the systematic coding and objective recording of data, guided by some rationale. Technology and Sociological Research: The increased speed and capacity of computers have enabled sociologists to handle much larger sets of data, and anyone with a desktop computer and a modem can access information to learn more about social behaviour. The Internet is an inexpensive way to reach large numbers of potential respondents and get a quick return of responses. However, the ease of access to information has led to new research problems: How do you protect a respondent’s anonymity and how do you define the potential audience? Social Policy and Sociological Research: Studying Human Sexuality: Sometimes the process behind sociological inquiry is just as revealing as the research itself. Differing attitudes towards the study of human sexuality on the two sides of the 49th parallel can be seen as a reflection of some of the cultural differences between the United States and Canada. While the Americans prefer to leave this area of research to be funded privately by corporations, the Canadian government through Statistics Canada provides support directly. This reluctance to use public funds to study the intimate lives of Americans might be interpreted as representing conservative attitudes, or as a product of their preference for free market endeavors. On this side of the border, the apparently opposite policy is possibly evidence of our liberal nature or our status as a social democracy. Additional Lecture Ideas 1: Useful Statistics In their effort to better understand social behaviour, sociologists rely heavily on numbers and statistics. How large is the typical household today compared with the typical household of 1970? If a community were to introduce drug education into its elementary schools, what would be the cost per pupil? What proportion of Muslims, compared with Roman Catholics, contribute to their local mosques or churches? Such questions, and many others, are most easily answered in numerical terms that summarize the actions or attitudes of many persons. The most common summary measures used by sociologists are percentages, means, modes, and medians. A percentage shows the portion of 100. Use of percentages allows us to compare groups of different sizes. For example, if we were comparing contributors to a town’s Muslim mosque and Roman Catholic churches, the absolute numbers of contributors from each group could be misleading if there were many more Muslims than Catholics living in the town. However, percentages would give us a more meaningful comparison, showing the proportion of persons in each group who contribute to churches. The mean, or average, is a number calculated by adding a series of values and then dividing by the number of values. For example, to find the mean of the numbers 5, 19, and 27, we add them together for a total of 51. We then divide by the number of values (3), and discover that the mean is 17. The mode is the single most common value in a series of scores. Suppose we are looking at the following scores on a 10-point quiz: 10 10 9 9 8 8 7 7 7 6 6 The mode—the most frequent score on the quiz—is 7; While the mode is easier to identify than other summary measures, it tells sociologists little about all the other values. Therefore, we use it much less frequently in this book than we do the mean and median. The median is the midpoint or number that divides a series of values into two groups of equal numbers of values. For the quiz discussed above, the median, or central value, is 8. The mean would be 86 (the sum of all scores) divided by 11 (the total number of scores), or 7.8. In Canada in 1999, the average male working full time full year, earned $45 800. In that same year, a female with the same work history earned an average of $32 026. The average difference between the two indicates that in 1999, Canadian women earned over $13 000 less than men. But, of course, not all women earned less than their male counterparts. Many women made much more than the average man. The picture painted by statistics cannot always be taken at face value. Some of these statistics may seem confusing at first. But think about how difficult it is to study an endless list of numbers in order to identify a pattern or central tendency. Percentages, means, modes, and medians are essentially time-savers in sociological research and analysis. 2: How Would You Obtain a Representative Sample? Students (and their instructors) have typically been saturated with telephone and shopping mall surveys, but do students know why they have been selected and whether their selection is part of a representative sample? Suggest to the class that they have been given the responsibility for developing a representative sample in their school's county that will be asked questions about a controversial subject . How would they go about selecting a representative sample of county residents for this study? Student responses will tend to gravitate toward the following: shopping malls, telephone interviews, birth certificates, tax reports, grocery stores, bus depots, their college or university, and other suggestions that will not generate a representative sample. Each response should be met with an explanation of why the suggestion is not representative. Students will generally suggest that members of the sample population should be selected based upon their characteristics, which is a good place to introduce a discussion of variables and quota samples and the weaknesses of this type of sample. Finally, the students should be asked, "If I were trying to select a random sample of this class, a sample in which every member of the class has the same chance of being selected, how could I do this?" Almost immediately students will suggest placing names into a hat and pulling out one or more names at random. At that point, students can be led through a discussion of how can the "hat selection" process be used for a large population in order that everyone in the county has a chance to have their names "pulled out of a hat"? See Earl Babbie. The Practice of Social Research (5th ed.). Belmont, CA: Wadsworth, 1989. See also Peter Rossi et al. Handbook of Survey Research. New York: Basic Books, 1983, and Morton M. Hunt. Profiles of Social Research: The Scientific Study of Human Interactions. New York: Russell Sage, 1986. 3: Asking the Correct Questions Sociologists try to phrase questions carefully so that there will be no misunderstanding on the part of the respondents. If a question is improperly worded (or biased), the results are useless for the researchers. POOR QUESTION PROBLEM BETTER QUESTION Do you favor urban homesteading? People may not understand the question. Do you favor a government program that encourages families to improve inner city housing? Did your mother ever work? Misleading. Did your mother ever work for pay outside the home? Should it be possible for a woman to obtain a legal abortion? Too general. Should it be possible for a woman to obtain a legal abortion if there is a strong chance of serious defect in her baby? If she became pregnant as a result of rape? Do you favor making it legal for 18-year-olds to drink liquor and smoke marijuana? Double-barreled (two questions in one). Do you favor making it legal for 18-year-olds to drink liquor? Do you favor making it legal for 18-year-olds to smoke marijuana? Don’t you think that the press is slanted and that we should distrust whatever it says? Biased question; leads people toward a particular response. Would you say that you have a great deal of confidence, some confidence, or very little confidence in the press? 4: Observation Research As part of Human Resources and Development Canada’s National Longitudinal Study of Children and Youth. Dr. Richard Tremblay of the Université de Montréal, used observational methods to examine the behaviours of girls and boys in school playgrounds. He discovered that both sexes used intimidation as a weapon in their dealings with others, and that contrary to common perception, girls were as likely as their male counterparts to bully. The distinction between the two groups was found in the style of intimidation. Dr. Tremblay observed that boys used real or threatened physical violence as their primary weapon, girls were more circumspect, choosing less blatant, psychological methods of harming their targets. Tremblay’s research has some important implications for programs designed to increase awareness of bullying in schools: 1. The programs should be aimed at both genders 2. The programs should provide a clear definition of what constitutes bullying, emphasizing that it is not necessarily limited to physical intimidation. 3. The programs should include examples of non-physical bullying demonstrating the very real potential for harm that they represent. See : Richard E. Tremblay. “When Children's Social Development Fails” Human Resources Development Canada, HDWP-27, Revised:October,1998. 5: Unobtrusive Measures: Monitoring of CB Prostitutes John Luxenburg found that the citizens’ band, or CB, radio has been known to assist automobile and truck drivers in many respects, including sexual solicitation. At Buddy Park, truckers’ slang for an interstate rest area in Oklahoma notorious for prostitution, the airwaves carry conversations between prostitutes and prospective customers. On one busy evening, the following conversation was monitored. The “handles” (air names) have been changed to protect the anonymity of the unknowing participants in this use of unobtrusive measures. BABY DOLL (PROSTITUTE): “What’s happening out in Buddy Park?” RIVER RAT(DRIVER): “Oh, there ain’t much goin’ on there. Ah, how you be doin’?” BABY DOLL: “I be doin’ fine.” RIVER RAT: “I be sittin’ down in the rest stop, if you ain’t got nothin’ to do.” BABY DOLL: “Come again?” RIVER RAT: “I’m sittin’ down at the rest area, if you ain’t got nothin’ to do.” BABY DOLL: “What truck are you in?” RIVER RAT: “Look for the green trailer.” BABY DOLL: “I hope it’s not a waste of my time.” From this conversation, it is apparent that the prostitute is able to be selective. For more specific directions and signaling, the prostitutes usually get an exact location within the test area and ask the driver to blink his lights. The prostitute then approaches the cab of the truck and discusses price. Clearly Luxenburg used nonreactive measures in her research. Would your class consider them ethical or not? See Luxenburg and Klein, “CB Radio Prostitution: Technology and the Displacement of Deviance.” Journal of Offender Counseling, Service, and Rehabilitation, 9(Fall/Winter 1984):71–87. 6: Content Analysis of the Coverage of the War on Terrorism Writer Robert Hackett, in the Canadian Association of Journalists’ Fall 2001 edition of Media, commented on the frenzy of reporting that had followed the terrorist attacks on the World Trade Center and the Pentagon on 9-11 : “Two weekends after the September 11 atrocity, I watched with appreciation the respected American journalist and media critic James Fallows. He was warning his colleagues in the attack's emotional aftermath that independent journalism was at risk of being swallowed by patriotism. Just one problem: Fallows was speaking not on an American network, but on Canada's national public broadcaster, the CBC.” See Robert Hackett. “Covering Up the War on Terrorism: The master frame and the media chill.” Media. Fall 2001. Hackett’s analysis focuses on the influence that patriotic sentiment played in defining the editorial agenda in the United States after September 11. He bemoans the lack of objective debate within the American media over the fundamental issues surrounding the attacks. In his analysis, Hackett discusses a number of relevant areas that his research determined had received little or no coverage in the U.S. These include: • The links between September 11 and other global events. • Policy options beyond military response. • A clear articulation of who comprises the enemy. The level to which Islam could be held responsible for the attacks By contrast, Hackett points to the broad and inclusive coverage provided by the Canadian media, particularly the CBC; which incorporated the historical context of American involvement in Middle East affairs as part of the examination of events. 7: Content Analysis: Children’s Books and Television Studies of children’s books of the 1940s, 1950s, and 1960s found that females were greatly underrepresented in titles, central roles, and the illustrations in picture books. Books that were awarded the celebrated Caldecott Medal similarly stereotyped girls and women. Has the situation improved? There was a trend of decreasing sexism in children’s books through the 1980s. The results are a bit more complex in terms of roles. Prior to 1970, virtually all females were shown as helpless, passive, incompetent, and in need of a male helper. Now females are sometimes shown to be active, but boys are engaged in active play three times as often as girls are. Susan Brinson conducted a content analysis of prime-time television dramas (like LA Law) to see how the storylines handled an act of rape. She found that rape myths, she “asked for it,” “wanted it,” or “wasn't really hurt,” were presented 132 times in the 26 incidents of rape. Such portrayals may cause the many rape victims watching television to question their own responsibility for the attack. Specific rejoinders to such myths occurred much less often. See Susan L. Brinson, “The Use and Opposition of Rape Myths in Prime-Time Television Dramas,” Sex Roles, 27(7/8)(1992):359–375; Carol M. Kortenhous and Jack Demarest. “Gender Role Stereotyping in Children’s Literature: An Update,” Sex Roles, 28 (3/4)(1993):219–232. Class Discussion Topics 1. Stimulating Classroom Discussions about Observation Research: Questions for stimulating a classroom discussion about Elijah Anderson's study of "eye work" include these: Which sociological perspective is reflected in Anderson's work? Are there problems maintaining objectivity when using the types of research methods employed by Anderson? Can the results of a small community study have significance beyond the community in which the study was conducted? Does Anderson's race and the race of his subjects have any significance for the research findings? Does the social class background of the researcher and the social class background of the subjects have any significance for the research findings? Can studies of this type be reproduced (are they reliable)? 2. Scientific Method: Sociologist Raymond W. Mack assesses the role of the scientific method in “Science as a Frame of Reference,” Transaction 2(1)(1964):24–25. 3. Social Science Fiction: Are Shere Hite (The Hite Report on Male Sexuality), Vance Packard, and Gail Sheehy (Passages) writers of sociology or “social science fiction”? Robert Asahina discusses this issue in the New York Times Book Review (August 3, 1981), p. 35. 4. Theory and Research: The important tie between theory and research is reinforced by this classroom exercise. See Technique No. 73 in Edward L. Kain and Robin Neas (eds.). Innovative Techniques for Teaching Sociological Concepts (3rd ed.). Washington, D.C.: American Sociological Association, 1993, pp. 121–122. 5. Surveys: Surveys, despite often being criticized, are very useful to both the general public and policymakers. See Survey Research. 1976 Social Science and Humanities Research Council of Canada. Ottawa. The Canada Council. 6. Coding: Have members of the class ask people on campus a question of contemporary interest ,for example, “What do you like or dislike about the Prime Minister?” or “What causes crime?” Then have the students (individually or as a class) classify the responses and assign codes to them. The emphasis in this project would be on data manipulation rather than on the accuracy of the sampling techniques. 7. Interviewing: This exercise has been designed by Theodore C. Wagenar at Miami University (Ohio) to develop an awareness of the problems that may arise in interviewing. See Technique No. 28 in Reed Geertsen (ed.). Eight-One Techniques for Teaching Sociological Concepts. Washington, D.C.: ASA Projects on Teaching Undergraduate Sociology, 1982. 8. Ethnographies: The author explains the use of motion pictures as the basis for teaching ethnographic research methods. See Lauraine LeBlanc. "Observing Reel Life: Using Feature Films to Teach Ethnographic Methods," Teaching Sociology, 25(January 1997): 6268. 9. Role Conflict and Observation Research: Two sociologists describe their dilemma of role definition: the pressure to go “native,” and the public pressure to take a stand while doing participant observation in the Unification Church. See Arson D. Shupe, Jr., and David G. Bromley, “Walking a Tightrope,” Qualitative Sociology, 2 (1980). 10. Content Analysis of Greeting Cards: Using the technique of content analysis, sociologist Silberman-Federman examined 56 Hanukkah cards and used a panel of six judges to evaluate them. See Nancy Jo Silberman-Federman. “Jewish Humor, Self-Hatred, or Anti-Semitism: The Sociology of Hanukkah Cards in America,” Journal of Popular Culture, 28(Spring 1995):211–229. 11. Content Analysis and Magazines: See Techniques Nos. 4 and 5 in Edward L. Kain and Robin Neas (eds.). Innovative Techniques for Teaching Sociological Concepts (3rd ed.). Washington, DC: American Sociological Association, 1993, pp. 6–8. 12. Ethical Standards: A survey found that most sociologists feel that their colleagues are not familiar with the ASA code, but at the same time they feel that the ASA should apply sanctions. What form should these sanctions take? Is violation widespread? See Janet Bokemeier and Keith Carter, “Ethics in Sociological Practice: A Survey of Sociologists,” Sociological Practice, 3(Spring 1980):129–151. 13. Using the Web for Research: The web has become an ever increasingly popular source of social science research data. See McKie, Craig. Using the Web for Social Research. McGraw-Hill Ryerson. Toronto. 14. Using Humour: Several sociologists have used humor to illustrate material presented in this chapter. See David Adams, “Methods of Research.” In Using Humor in Teaching Sociology: A Handbook. Washington: D.C.: ASA Teaching Resources Center. See also Joseph E. Faulkner "Studying Society." In Sociology through Humor. New York: West, 1987. Topics For Student Research 1. Feminist Methodology: See Marjorie L. DeVault, “Talking Back to Sociology: Distinctive Contributions of Feminist Methodology.” In John Hagan (ed.). Annual Review of Sociology 1996. Palo Alto, CA.: Annual Reviews, 1996, pp. 29–50. 2. Hazards in Social Research: Can scientific research come to the “wrong” conclusions? Jenne K. Britell (executive director of the Educational Testing Service) reviews the Westinghouse Learning Corporation and Ohio University study that jeopardized Project Head Start. See Britell, New York Times (September 1980): Educational Section, p. 18. 3. Interviewing: What are some of the problems and strategies of sociological interviewing? See Norman K. Denzin (ed.). Sociological Methods: A Sourcebook. New York: McGraw-Hill, 1978, pp. 171–202. 4. Participant Observation and Ethical Issues: See the special issue of Social Problems, 27(February, 1980). 5. Content Analysis: Comic Superheroes: See Thomas Young, “Are Comic Book Superheroes Sexist?” Sociology and Social Research, 75(July 1991):218. 6. Content Analysis: Newspapers: See Ben M. Crouch and Kelly R. Damphouse, “Newspapers and the Antisatanism Movement: A Content Analysis,” Sociological Spectrum, 12(1)(1992):120. 7. Social Theory: See Robert K. Merton, “The Bearing of Empirical Research upon the Development of Social Theory,” American Sociological Review, 12(5)(1969):505–515. 8. Social Science and Research Council of Canada: The Social Science and Research Council of Canada’s web site is a great place to start your examination of social research in Canada. See http://www.sshrc.ca/ Audiovisual Materials Ethnographic Filmmaking and the Social Life of a Sidewalk (2010, 60 m) This documentary directed by Barry Alexander is based on the ethnographic fieldwork of Mitchell Duneier in his 1999 book Sidewalk. Sidewalk chronicled the lives of homeless book vendors and magazine scavengers in New York City. Scientific Method and Values (1993, 34m). Examines the development of scientific methods, looking at the contributions of Newton, Darwin, and Curie. Thick Description: Contextualizing Social Interaction ( YOUTUBE 2013, 5m). This video demonstrates the various meanings of gang signs and is useful in underscoring Clifford Geertz’s discussion of the ethnographic technique “thick description.” This video highlights the importance of social context in gaining an understanding of the meaning of social behaviour. Sociological Thinking and Research (1991, 31m). The program describes how to structure a research study by defining the problem to be studied, reviewing the relevant literature, formulating a hypothesis, and selecting a research design. Sociologist William Kornblum explains his methods for studying the effects of planned renewal on the neighborhood around Times Square. The importance of going beyond common sense in developing sociological theory is emphasized. Ben Goldacre: Battling Bad Science ( TEDGlobal 2011, 18 m ). Doctor and epidemiologist, Ben Goldacre, discusses how evidence can be distorted and how dodgy scientific claims can be made. Johanna Blakley: Social Media and the end of gender (TEDWomen 2010, 18 m). Media and entertainment researcher Johanna Blakley examines the role of social media, changing research strategies, and the relationship to gender. Chimamanda Ngozi Adichie: The Danger Of A Single Story ( TED TALK 2011, 18 m). This TED TALK focuses on the importance of hearing and researching different perspectives and voices and the value that these varied perspectives and voices bring to any research question Additional Readings Alford, Robert R. The Craft of Inquiry: Theories, Methods, Evidence. New York: Oxford University, 1998. Alford, who won the 1997 Distinguished Contributions to Teaching Award from the American Sociological Association, has written a book to help students transform their ideas into research questions that integrate theory, methods, and evidence. Babbie, Earl. The Practice of Social Research (13th ed.). Belmont, CA: Wadsworth, 2012. Covers inquiry and social research, the structuring of inquiry, types of observation, and analysis of data in qualitative and quantitative research methods. Blumer, Martin (ed.). Social Research Ethics. New York: Macmillan, 1982. Describes four research projects open to criticism on ethical grounds; concludes with a series of papers by various sociologists on the philosophy of ethics in research. Brown, Leslie and Susan Strega. Toronto: CSPI/WP, 2005. Research as Resistance: Critical, Indigenous and Anti-Oppressive Approaches. This book brings together the theory and practice of critical, Indigenous, and anti-oppressive approaches to social science research. Canadian Sociological and Anthropology Association. Canadian Review of Sociology and Anthropology. Montreal: CSAA. Since its inception in 1964, the Review has provided peer-reviewed articles and critiques on topics of sociology and anthropology. This journal provides an excellent scholarly source for research about social issues in Canada. Eichler, Margrit. Nonsexist Research Methods: A Practical Guide. Winchester, MA: Unwin Hyman, 1988. A book that complements the material presented in the text concerning the impact of gender and sexism on the research process. Floyd, Richard. Success in the Social Sciences: Writing and Research for Canadian Students. 1995. Toronto: Harcourt Brace Canada. An excellent, step-by-step guide to the research process. Suitable for first year students in particular. Hammersley, Martyn. The Dilemma of Qualitative Method: Herbert Blumer and the Chicago Tradition. New York, Routledge, 1990. Hammersley examines the strengths and weakness of the qualitative approach for sociological investigation. Liebow, Elliot. Tally's Corner. Boston: Little, Brown, 1967. This classic participant observation study has a lengthy and valuable methodological introduction that explains the participant observation process. Palys, Ted and Chris Atchinson. 2007. Research Decisions: Quantitative and Qualitative Perspectives ( 4th editon). Harcourt Brace Jovanovich Canada. A clear and comprehensive introduction to the role of decision making. Savin-Baden, M. and C. Major. 2013. Qualitative Research: The Essential Guide to Theory and Practice. New York: Routledge. Steinmetz, George (ed.) 2005. The Politics of Method in the Human Sciences . A group of essays that explore the alternatives to positivism in a number of disciplines. Stoddart, Kenneth. (ed.). Qualitative Methods: Syllabi and Instructional Materials. Washington, DC: The American Sociological Association Teaching Resource Center, 1995. This volume contains various instructional materials that sociologists have used in their classes to teach topics such as epistemological issues, styles of inquiry, the rationale and theoretical underpinnings of qualitative methods, and data analysis techniques. Thinking About Movies________________________________________ Kinsey ( Bill Condon, 2004) In this film, based on the real-life researcher Alfred Kinsey (Liam Neeson) conducts the first wide-scale investigation of human sexuality in the U.S. We see Kinsey and his team interviewing subjects about their sexual practices, work that culminates in the publication of his controversial Kinsey Report. We see him struggle for funding and public acceptance of his work in the 1940’s and 1950’s, when candid talk about sex violated social norms. One of only a few mainstream movies that show research in process, Kinsey illustrates the ethical challenges involved in researching human behaviour. Watch for scenes in which Kinsey’s team strives to be value neutral by standardizing their interviewing method. For class discussion, have students consider the following questions: 1. How did Kinsey’s research team attempt to adhere to the code of ethics? How successful do you think they were? 2. How does the movie illustrate the attempt to establish validity and reliability in the research design? 3 CULTURE Contents: • Learning Objectives • Using Text Boxes to stimulate discussion • In-class activities • Video suggestions • Key points from the text • Additional lecture ideas • Class discussion topics • Topics for student research • Audiovisual suggestions • Additional readings • Thinking About Movies Learning Objectives: 3.1 Define the term culture and describe the various cultural universals. 3.2 Define and discuss globalization. 3.3 Discuss the various elements of culture. 3.4 Discuss the various cultural variations. Define ethnocentrism. Define and discuss cultural relativism. 3.5 Discuss the debates surrounding multiculturalism in Canada. Using the text boxes to stimulate discussion: Social Policy and Culture: Multiculturalism. (The text box defines and discusses multiculturalism. Ask students to read the text box, and then use the questions to apply theory: 1) What functions do you think the policy of multiculturalism serves? Do you think these functions are manifest or latent? 2) According to the assumptions of conflict thinking, how might the ideology of multiculturalism differ from the reality of living in a multicultural country? Suggestions for in-class activities: • Dominant Ideology and Poverty. You could begin or end this exercise with the text’s material on “How Does Culture Relate to the Dominant Ideology?” (see below). The box gives an argument that there is a dominant ideology in Canada that draws its strength from the more powerful segments of society. In class: Divide the class into groups and ask them to answer the question “Why are there people in Canada who live in need?” (You will get the bests results and the most “on task time” with any size class if each group has to hand in a sheet of paper to you with their answers to the question on the paper, as well as the names of each group member.) Many Canadian students are likely to come up with reasons that reflect individual characteristics (“laziness”), while some may identify structural characteristics such as societal injustice. Make two columns on the board or overhead, and as each group presents their reasons, sort them into “individual” versus “structural.” Culture and the Dominant Ideology: The Major Theoretical Perspectives. Functionalists maintain that stability requires a consensus and the support of society’s members; consequently, there are strong central values and common norms. From a functionalist perspective, a cultural trait or practice will persist if it performs functions that society seems to need or it contributes to overall social stability and consensus. This view helps explain why widely condemned social practices, such as prostitution, continue to survive. Conflict theorists agree that a common culture may exist, but they argue that is serves to maintain the privileges of certain groups. Moreover, while protecting their own self-interests, powerful groups may keep others in a subservient position. The term dominant ideology describes the set of cultural beliefs and practices that helps to maintain powerful social, economic, and political interests. From the conflict perspective, the most powerful groups control the means of production, but they also control the means of producing beliefs about reality through religion, education, and the media. Interactionist: Using the example of consumerism as a dominant ideology found in Canadian culture, an analysis by interactionist thinkers of the topic would examine shopping, or consumer practices from a micro perspective, in order to understand the larger macro phenomenon of consumerism. Interactionists might probe consumers to discover what meaning shopping has for them, or what value they attach to the activity. Feminist: Some feminist thinkers would argue that the mass media, acting as a mouthpiece for the dominant ideology, contributes to the control and marginalization of women. The mass media communicates to its readers, viewers and listeners the message that women’s value is based on their sexual attractiveness, their domestic abilities, their roles as mothers and wives, their abilities to stay fit and appear youthful, and their abilities to provide support and comfort to others. • One easy class exercise is to ask students to pair up, or put them into groups, to identify symbols and meanings that are unique to North American culture. If you have any international students in the class, one way to get a discussion started is to ask them “what was the strangest/oddest thing in Canadian culture when you came here?” Another question could be to ask them how Canadian culture differs from their own. This also works well with students who have traveled a lot, and often have colorful examples of social gaffs they have (or have not) made, because of their lack of knowledge of another culture. This kind of exercise ties in particularly well with symbolic interactionism, but can also be used to illustrate many concepts in the chapter. When all else fails… ask them how they deal with a “wedgie.” This alone can stimulate discussion, as women employ very different strategies than do men, and different cultures deal differently with underwear “problems.” Video Suggestions Where the Spirit Lives (Director: Bruce Pittman, 2000). This film is a fictionalized representation of the treatment of Aboriginal children placed in residential schools in Canada. Governments in both Canada and the United States forcibly removed at least seven generations of Aboriginal children from their homes, sending them to schools where they were not allowed to speak their own language, practice their own religion, or be with their siblings. Many experienced emotional, physical and sexual abuse. The first 40 minutes or so of the film show very clearly a conflict perspective on culture, demonstrating just how a dominant ideology can be forced on people through language, food, education, religion, and everyday life. Merchants of Cool (PBS Frontline documentary, produced by Barak Goodman and Rachel Dretzin). Focuses on the media moguls that market popular culture to teenagers, who are the “hottest demographic in America (http://www.pbs.org/wgbh/pages/frontline/shows/cool/etc/synopsis.html). Dogtown and Z Boys (Documentary, 2002, Sony Pictures, Classics) – the true story of a group of poor urban surfers from an area of Venice, California, known as Dogtown. These kids broke into the backyards of rich urbanites to skateboard in their empty swimming pools – beginning the cultural phenomena of extreme sports. Lords of Dogtown (2004, Sony Pictures) is the fictionalized version. Witness (1985, Paramount). A young Amish boy witnesses the murder of a policeman, and falls under the protection of a detective. When the detective (played by Harrison Ford) realizes that the murderer is a cop, he takes the young boy and his mother back to Amish country to hide. The film is excellent for illustrating many concepts relevant to culture by juxtaposing western culture with Amish culture, as Harrison Ford’s character goes into hiding, pretending to be an Amish farmer. There’s a love story too. Devil’s Playground (Wellspring, Director: Lucy Walker, 2002, Documentary). This documentary follows three Amish teenagers as they engage in the Amish coming of age rite of passage known as Rumspringa. One of the young people falls into drug addiction and drug dealing. The “Devil’s Playground” refers to the “English” world, or the world that most of our students are familiar with. By showing how the Amish teenagers react to the “English” world, it shows the elements of culture that are often hard to see because they are taken for granted. Key Points from the text: Culture and Society: Culture is the totality of learned, socially transmitted behaviour. It includes the ideas, values, customs, and artifacts (for example, CDs, comic books, and birth control devices) of groups of people. A fairly large number of people are said to constitute a society when they live in the same territory, are relatively independent of people outside their area, and participate in a culture. Members of a society generally share a common language, which facilitates day-to-day exchanges with others. Cultural Universals: Despite their differences, all societies have developed certain common practices and beliefs known as cultural universals. Anthropologist George Murdock compiled a list of cultural universals, including athletic sports, cooking, funeral ceremonies, medicine, and sexual restrictions. The cultural practices listed by Murdock may be universal, but the manner in which they are expressed varies from culture to culture. Innovation: The process of introducing an idea or object that is new to a culture is known as innovation. There are two forms of innovation: Discovery involves making known or sharing the existence of an aspect of reality. The finding of the DNA molecule and the identification of a new moon of Saturn are both acts of discovery. An invention results when existing cultural items are combined into a form that did not exist before. Diffusion and Technology: The term diffusion refers to the process by which a cultural item is spread from group to group or society to society. Diffusion can occur through exploration, military conquest, missionary work, the influence of mass media, tourism, and the Internet. The globalization of cultural expressions and practices are crossing national borders through a process known as diffusion. This process results in the melding of cultural traditions (McDonaldization). Globalization is not universally welcomed in all nations. Technology accelerates the diffusion process and transmission of culture. For example, the Internet being dominated by the English language. Gerhard Lenski has defined technology as “information about how to use the material resources of the environment to satisfy human needs and desires” (Nolan and Lenski 1999:41). Material and Nonmaterial Culture: Sociologists William F. Ogburn made a useful distinction between the elements of material and nonmaterial culture. Material culture refers to the physical or technological aspects of our daily lives, including food items, houses, factories, and raw materials. Nonmaterial culture refers to ways of using material objects and to customs, beliefs, philosophies, governments, and patterns of communication. Generally, the nonmaterial culture is more resistant to change than the material culture is. Culture lag refers to the period of mal-adjustment when the nonmaterial culture is still adapting to new material conditions. For example, the ethics of using the Internet, particularly privacy and censorship issues, have not yet caught up with the explosion in Internet use and technology. George Ritzer’s McDonaldization thesis is associated with the melding of cultures. Using the sociological imagination: Ask students how their daily life would differ if they had grown up without computers, e-mail, the Internet, text-messaging and cell phones. Language: Language is an abstract system of word meanings and symbols for all aspects of culture. It includes speech, written characters, numerals, symbols, and gestures and expressions of nonverbal communication. Unlike some other elements of culture, language permeates all parts of society. While language is a cultural universal, striking differences in the use of language are evident around the world. Language not only describes reality, it also serves to shape the reality of a culture. The Sapir-Whorf hypothesis holds that language is culturally determined and leads to different interpretations of reality by focusing our attention on certain phenomena. Communication can also be nonverbal, such as gestures, facial expressions, and other visual images used to communicate thought. Norms: Norms are established standards of behaviour maintained by a society. Norms are classified as either formal or informal. Formal norms generally are written down and specify certain behaviors through laws and regulations. By contrast, informal norms are generally understood, but not precisely recorded. Norms are classified into mores and folkways. Mores are norms deemed necessary to the welfare of society, and demand obedience. Folkways play a role in shaping behavior, without the strict sanctions of obedience attached. Acceptance of norms is subject to change as the political, economic, and social conditions of a culture are transformed. Society is less likely to formalize folkways than mores, and their violation raises comparatively little concern. Sanctions: Sanctions are rewards and penalties for conduct concerning a social norm. Conformity to a norm can lead to positive sanctions such as a pay raise, a medal, a word of gratitude, or a pat on the back. Negative sanctions include fines, threats, imprisonment, and stares of contempt. Values: Values are collective conceptions of what is considered good, desirable, and proper, or what is considered bad, undesirable, and improper in a culture. Values may be specific or they may be more general. Values influence people’s behaviour and serve as criteria for evaluating the actions of others. There is often a direct relationship among the values, norms, and sanctions of a culture. People’s values may differ according to such factors as their age, gender, region, ethnic background, and language. Culture and the Dominant Ideology: Functionalists maintain that stability requires a consensus and the support of society’s members; consequently, there are strong central values and common norms. Conflict theorists agree that a common culture may exist, but they argue that it serves to maintain the privileges of certain groups. The term dominant ideology describes the set of cultural beliefs and practices that helps to maintain powerful social, economic, and political interests. From a conflict perspective, the dominant ideology has major social significance. Not only do a society’s most powerful groups and institutions control wealth and property, but they also control the means of producing beliefs about reality through religion, education, and the media. Subcultures: A subculture is a segment of society that shares a distinctive pattern of mores, folkways, and values that differs from the pattern of the larger society. The existence of many subcultures is characteristic of complex and diverse societies such as Canada. Members of a subculture participate in the dominant culture, while at the same time engaging in unique and distinctive forms of behaviour. Frequently, a subculture will develop an argot, or specialized language, that distinguishes it from the wider society. When a subculture conspicuously and deliberately opposes certain aspects of the larger culture, it is known as a counterculture. Countercultures typically thrive among the young, who have the least investment in the existing culture. Culture shock: Anyone who feels disoriented, uncertain, out of place, even fearful, when immersed in an unfamiliar culture may be experiencing culture shock. All of us, to some extent, take for granted the cultural practices of our society. As a result, it can be surprising and even disturbing to realize that other cultures do not follow our way of life. Multiculturalism: Multiculturalism is a policy that promotes cultural and racial diversity and full and equal participation of individuals and communities of all origins as a fundamental characteristic of Canadian identity. The federal Multiculturalism Program of 1997 set three primary goals: identity, civic participation, and social justice. In addition to multiculturalism as a program, it can also take the form of an ideology-- a set of beliefs, goals, attitudes, and ideals about what multiculturalism should be. As an ideology, Canadians often compare their way of expressing cultural diversity to the way in which our American neighbours express it. Multiculturalism is not without its critics. Some argue that it is a divisive rather than unifying force in Canada, while others claim that it is only “window dressing”, diverting attention from real problems of ethnic and racial prejudice and discrimination. Eurocentrism is the domination of European cultural patterns in Canada which contributes to discrimination and prejudice toward those seen as non-European and, thus, the “other”. Cultural imperialism: The Americanization of Canada (as well as of many other countries) has lead to cultural imperialism – the influence or imposition of the material or nonmaterial elements of a culture on another culture or cultures. This phenomenon is particularly relevant in the context of the global export of U.S. culture through various forms of American mass media. Ethnocentrism: Sociologist William Graham Sumner coined the term ethnocentrism to refer to the tendency to assume that one’s own culture and way of life constitute the norm or are superior to all others. The ethnocentric person sees his or her own group as the center or defining point of culture and views all other cultures as deviations from what is “normal.” Conflict theorists point out that ethnocentric value judgments serve to devalue groups and to deny equal opportunities. Functionalists note that ethnocentrism serves to maintain a sense of solidarity by promoting group pride. Cultural Relativism: While ethnocentrism evaluates foreign cultures using the familiar culture of the observer as a standard of correct behaviour, cultural relativism views people’s behaviour from the perspective of their own culture. It places a priority on understanding other cultures, rather than dismissing them as “strange” or “exotic.” Unlike ethnocentrism, cultural relativism employs the kind of value neutrality in scientific study that Max Weber saw as so important. Additional Lecture Ideas 1. Cultural Diffusion: Baseball in Japan Baseball was first introduced to Japan in 1867. The popularity of the sport skyrocketed in 1896 after newspapers reported an unprecedented event: the First Higher School in Tokyo defeated a team of Americans living in Yokohama by a score of 29 to 4. In two subsequent rematches, the Japanese again beat Westerners at their own game. In the view of one Japanese historian, “Foreigners could not hope to understand the emotional aspect of this victory, but it helped Japan, struggling toward modernization after centuries of isolation, overcome a tremendous inferiority complex it felt toward the West” (Whiting, pp. 109-110). Japanese culture was receptive to baseball. The Japanese found the one-on-one battle between pitcher and batter psychologically similar to sumo and martial arts. Today, baseball (or, as the Japanese call it, besuboru) is the country’s dominant spectator sport. Surveys indicate that one out of every two Japanese is a baseball fan, including the Emperor. Each year, professional baseball attracts 12 million spectators and huge television audiences. Japan’s oldest and most successful team, the Tokyo Yomiuri Giants, draws standing-room-only crowds throughout its 130-game season. Japanese baseball is an excellent example of cultural diffusion. While the structure of the game is similar to that of baseball played in the West, the climate and texture of Japanese baseball have been deeply influenced by Japanese cultural values, such as self-discipline, self-sacrifice, politeness, and respect for authority. After a solid defensive effort, such as a double play, a pitcher will turn and bow respectfully to his infielders. A pitcher who hits a batter accidentally will tip his cap. Great emphasis is placed on wa (“unity” or “team harmony”). The Japanese are fond of the saying, “The nail that sticks up will be hammered down.” Consequently, any behaviour viewed as overly individualistic or egotistical-violations of training rules, temper tantrums, moodiness, complaints to the media, attacks on umpires, salary disputes-is strongly discouraged. Team aspects of the game are valued highly: the home-run hitter is expected to make sacrifice bunts, the star pitcher to work as both a starter and a reliever. The argot of baseball changes a bit when it crosses the Pacific Ocean. “Hit by pitch” becomes “dead ball”; the “game-winning home run” is a “sayonara home run.” Also, since umpires reverse the call of balls and strikes, a full count is “2-3” (two strikes, three balls) in Japan, not 3-2 as in North America. One of Japan’s most famous baseball players, Hiromitsu Ochiai, stands out as an exception to the collective orientation of Japanese baseball. Ochiai-who led his leagues in home runs, runs batted in, and batting average in both 1985 and 1986-is the highest-paid player in the history of Japanese baseball. Yet many Japanese refer to him scornfully as a goketsu, or “individual hero,” and dislike him. Ochiai has skipped practices, has held-out for what is seen as an outrageously high salary, and has brashly predicted that he will lead the league in home runs and batting average. Unlike previous stars such as Sadaharu Oh (who hit 868 home runs in his career), Ochiai does not fit the expected Japanese mold of the polite, deferential “team man.” Baseball followers may be interested in some of the following aspects of baseball in Japan, some of which reflect the collective orientation of that culture: Players are not introduced before games individually but as a team, players often make less than their managers, and foul balls hit into the stands are quietly returned to the ushers by the fans. Japan’s emphasis on team harmony, however, has not led to full acceptance of foreign players. Two foreign athletes (known as gaijin) are allowed on each professional team. Some Western players have had highly successful careers in Japan, yet almost all gaijin complain that they are treated as nothing more than outsiders. One Western team member recalls that if a gaijin pitched and the team lost, “it was our fault. We didn’t do anything. But if they won, it was that they (Japanese) did it. No, no, no-we (gaijin) didn’t do it. The Japanese did it” (Muskat, p. 22). In 1986, the executive committee of Japanese baseball voted unanimously to phase out all gaijin eventually, arguing that they are overpaid and unproductive-and that Japanese baseball should be played only by Japanese. However, in 1987, a Westerner signed with a Japanese team and enjoyed spectacular success and great popularity. Nevertheless, the future of gaijin in Japanese baseball remains uncertain. Sources: Carrie Muskat, “Fielder’s Fire Stoked by a Japanese Season,” USA Today Baseball Weekly, 2(February 9, 1986):25; Michael Shapiro, “A Place in the Sun, on Japanese Terms,” New York Times (June 18):D27-D28; Shapiro, “A Japanese Hero Doing Things His Way,” New York Times (February 11):D27-D29; Eldon E. Snyder and Elmer A. Spreitzer. Social Aspects of Sport (2nd ed.). Englewood Cliffs, NJ: Prentice-Hall, 1983; Tom Verducci, “Away Games,” Sports Illustrated, 81(October 31, 1994):30-31, 36-37; Robert Whiting, “East Meets West in the Japanese Game of Besuboru,” Smithsonian, 17(September, 1986):108-109; Whiting, You Gotta Have Wa. New York: Macmillan, 1993; USA Today Baseball Weekly, “Cover Report on Baseball in Japan,” 2 (February 9, 1991):6, 18-24. 2. Sexism in Languages — English and Japanese Nancy Henley, Mykol Hamilton, and Barrie Thorne suggest that the sexist bias of the English language takes three principal forms: “It ignores, it defines, it deprecates.” Ignoring: English ignores females by favouring the masculine form for all generic uses, as in the sentence: “Each entrant in the competition should do his best.” According to the rules of English grammar, it is incorrect to use “their best” as the singular form in the previous sentence. Moreover, usage of the “he or she” form (“Each entrant in the competition should do his or her best”) is often attacked as being clumsy. Nevertheless, feminists insist that common use of male forms as generic makes women and girls invisible and implicitly suggests that maleness and masculine values are the standard for humanity and normality. For this reason, there has been resistance to the use of terms like mailman, policeman, and fireman to represent the men and women who perform these occupations. Defining: In the view of Henley and her colleagues, “language both reflects and helps maintain women’s secondary status in our society, by defining her and her ‘place’ “The power to define through naming is especially significant in this process. Married women traditionally lose their own names and take their husbands’, while children generally take the names of their fathers and not their mothers. These traditions of naming reflect western legal traditions under which children were viewed as the property of their fathers and married women as the property of their husbands. The view of females as possessions is also evident in the practice of using female names and pronouns to refer to material possessions such as cars, machines, and ships. Deprecating: There are clear differences in the words that are applied to male and female things that reflect men’s dominant position in English-speaking societies. For example, women’s work may be patronized as “pretty” or “nice,” whereas men’s work is more often honored as “masterful” or “brilliant.” In many instances, a woman’s occupation or profession is trivialized with the feminine ending -ess or -ette; thus, even a distinguished writer may be given a second-class status as a poetess or an authoress. In a clear manifestation of sexism, terms of sexual insult in the English language are applied overwhelmingly to women. One researcher found 220 terms for a sexually promiscuous woman but only 22 for a sexually promiscuous man. While the English language ignores, defines, and deprecates females, the same is true of languages around the world. Indeed, in mid-1993, Japan’s labor minister challenged the society’s traditional practice of depicting women in government documents as always carrying brooms. The official term for women, fujin, is represented by two characters that literally mean “female person carrying broom” (Rafferty, 1993). The expressions commonly used by girls and boys in Japan underscore gender differences. A boy can refer to himself by using the word boku, which means “I.” But a girl cannot assert her existence and identity that boldly and easily; she must instead refer to herself with the pronoun watashi. This term is viewed as more polite and can be used by either sex. Similarly, a boy can end a sentence assertively by stating “Samui yo” (“It’s cold, I say!”). But a girl is expected to say “Sumui wa” (“It’s cold, don’t you think?”). For girls, proper usage dictates ending with a gentle question rather than a strong declaration. Ellen Rudolph, a photographer from the United States who lives in Tokyo, reports that Japanese parents and teachers serve as “vigilant linguistic police” who remind children to use only those forms of speech deemed appropriate for their sex. Girls who violate these gender codes are told “Onnanoko na no ni,” which means, “You’re a girl, don’t forget.” Sources: Nancy Henley, Mykol Hamilton, and Barrie Thorne. “Womanspeak and Manspeak: Sex Differences and Sexism in Communication, Verbal and Nonverbal.” In Alan G. Sargent (ed.), Beyond Sex Roles (2nd ed.). St. Paul, MN: West, 1995, pp. 168-185; Kevin Rafferty, “Sexism Charge Brushed Aside,” The Guardian (London)(May 26, 1993), p. 20; Ellen Rudolph, “Women’s Talk,” New York Times Magazine (September 1, 1991), p. 8; J. P. Stanley, “Paradigmatic Woman: The Prostitute.” In B. Shores and C. P. Hines (eds.), Papers in Language Variation. University: University of Alabama Press, 1977, pp. 303-321. 3. Conversational Distance According to anthropologist Edward Hall, North Americans and northern Europeans have invisible “bubbles” surrounding themselves. These bubbles are actually cultural standards for appropriate distances between us and those with whom we communicate. Using a framework employed by sociologists associated with the interactionist perspective, Hall suggests that we operate in four distance zones: • Intimate distance: up to 18 inches. That is the distance for making love, wrestling, comforting, or protecting. It can also be an area of confrontation, as in “Get your face out of mine!” This distance is not considered proper in public situations unless people are in a crowded environment, such as an elevator. • Personal distance: 18 inches to 4 feet. This is the conventional distance generally used with friends and acquaintances. • Social distance: 4 feet to 7 feet. Within this distance, we conduct impersonal business, such as purchasing products or interviewing strangers. • Public distance: 12 feet or more. This is viewed as the proper distance for public occasions. It will be used to separate a speaker from an audience or a famous person from admiring fans. It is important to note that these distances, while considered appropriate in North American and northern European cultures, are not universal. Southern Europeans, Arabs, and Latin Americans stand closer together when conversing and are more likely to touch one another and maintain eye contact. These differences underscore the extent to which folkways (like mores) represent culturally learned patterns of behaviour. If you were visiting another country and someone asked the correct time while standing only 15 inches away, you would be vividly reminded that all peoples do not share the same folkways. See Edward T. Hall. The Hidden Dimension. New York: Doubleday, 1966. 4. Socially Approved Cannibalism Cannibalism is not unknown in modern societies. Under extreme circumstances, people may be willing to violate mores against the consumption of human flesh and the disfigurement of corpses. During World War II, the people of besieged Leningrad faced starvation because the city was unable to obtain food. At first, toothpaste, bacon fat, and library paste were eaten. As time passed, corpses were buried with pieces missing, usually the fat thighs or arms and shoulders. Most recently, another group of people faced the choice between cannibalism and starvation. In 1973, a plane carrying a rugby team from Uruguay crashed in the Andes Mountains, near the Chilean border. Eventually, 16 survivors were recovered in this uninhabited area. They had lived in below-freezing weather for 60 days and had subsisted by eating melted snow, food from the plane, and (as the police later revealed) the decomposed remains of their dead companions. This incident was the subject of a 1993 motion picture, Alive. Despite such instances of cannibalism, mores against the practice remain strongly enforced. In Leningrad, for example, people totally despised anyone who appeared to enjoy the taste of human flesh. The revulsion felt by norm violators toward cannibalism reinforces the power of this particular norm. See Piers Paul Read. Alive: The Story of the Andes Survivors. Philadelphia: Lippincott, 1974. See also Harrison E. Salisbury. The 900 Days. New York: Harper and Row, 1969, pp. 479-481. 5. Conflicting Cultures There has been a lack of total consensus on certain values in Canada, but the increased immigration from non-European nations during the 1990s has brought new attention to conflicting values and cultural practices. One such cultural practice that has gained national and well as international attention is that of Female Genital Mutilation (FGM). FGM encompasses various levels of severity in terms of the total or partial removal of the female genitals. The removal of the clitoris and the custom of infibulation, the stitching together of the labia to largely cover the vagina, is practiced in 28 African nations as well as by immigrant populations in Canada, Europe, Australia, and the United States; according to UNICEF, an estimated 132 million girls and women have been subjected to the procedure. In these countries, the practice varies widely in its prevalence and the severity of the incisions. It is largely done as a way to control women’s sexual behaviour before marriage. The age at which FGM is performed varies, depending on geographical region and ethnic group. It can be performed on babies, as well as adolescents, or at the time of marriage or first pregnancy, but is most often carried out on young girls between the ages of 4 and 10 years. Countries outside Africa vary in their handling of the situation. France has criminally prosecuted parents, while Canada has granted asylum to women seeking to avoid these procedures. Health agencies have been ordered to reach out to the immigrant communities and educate them about the harm of genital cutting. In 1998, the United Nations established an international campaign to eradicate female genital mutilation. FGM is a form of social control through which women's sexuality is kept in check. It is also a form of gender-based violence. This situation raises two questions of cultural relativism: Where do we freely allow a different cultural practice to take place and when do we invoke sanctions to discourage, prohibit, or even punish the practice of norms different from our own? Sources for this lecture include the following: Peter Annin and Kendall Hamilton, “Marriage Or Rape?" Newsweek, 128(December 16, 1996):78; Stephen Chapman, “Are Immigrants Destroying the ‘Common Culture'?” Chicago Tribune (December 29,1996):19; Paul Dean, “Cultures at the Crossroads,” Los Angeles Times (December 13, 1996):E1, E4; Celia W. Dugger, “New Law Bans Genital Cutting in United States,” New York Times (October 12, 1996):1, 6; and Celia W. Dugger, “Tug of Taboos: African Genital Rite vs. U.S. Law,” New York Times (December 28, 1996):1, 8; Female genital mutilation: joint WHO/UNICEF/UNFPA statement. Geneva: World Health Organization,1997:1-6; N. Grisaru and S. Lezer, and RH Belmaker, "Ritual female genital surgery among Ethioipian Jews” Archives of Sexual Behaviour, 1997,26:211-5; N. Toubia." Two million girls a year mutilated, "In The Progress of Nations. New York:UNICEF,1996. 6. Value Diversity A popular international perception of Canada , as well as a popular national self-perception, is one of a tolerant, peaceful, diversity-accommodating nation. The "Citizen's Forum on Canada's Future" identified key values which were associated with "Canadian values." These values included a belief that all Canadians should be treated fairly and equally; that Canadians were able to resolve their differences through peaceful means such as negotiation, discussion, and debate; that accommodation of differences--ethnic, religious, racial, linguistic, regional--is a value that Canadians hold; that diversity is valued and supported as an integral part of what identifies us as "Canadian"; that compassion and generosity towards those less fortunate as well as our willingness to act to make our society more humane, is part of our “Canadian" value system. Research by Canadian pollster Michael Adams, in his book Sex in the Snow: Canadian Social Values at the End of the Millennium (1998), shows, however, that value consensus in Canada is not to be assumed. Snow uses the example of Canadians who previously had a stereotype of a "typical" Canadian; now consensus on the stereotype is more difficult to find. For example, is the "typical" Albertan Preston Manning or k.d. lang?( Adams ,1998). Adams divides Canadians into groups according to their “social values" which are linked to those over 50, baby-boomers, and those under 30. The fact that more social value groups exist among the under 30 groups reflects, according to Adams, the trend towards greater diversity of Canadian values. Sources: Michael Adams, Sex in the Snow: Social Values at the End of the Millennium. Toronto: Penguin,1998; "Citizen's Forum on Canada's Future: Report to the People and Government of Canada." Ottawa: Privy Council Office, 1991. 7. Reading Culture in National Geographic National Geographic has introduced many students and adults to cultures dramatically different from those prevalent in North America. Anthropologist Catherine A. Lutz and sociologist Jane L. Collins did a content analysis of about 600 photographs of non-Western peoples appearing in this monthly from 1950 to 1986, examining them for race, gender, privilege, progress, and modernity. The researchers found an ethnocentric view of other societies. In more than half the pictures analyzed, non-Westerners are shown in indigenous dress, and nearly one-fifth of the photographs of non-Westerners featured people engaged in ritual. The subjects of the photographs often acknowledge and turn to the camera, and many of them are shown smiling. Until the late 1970s photographs virtually eliminated the ill, the poor, the pockmarked, the deformed, or the hungry. By contrast, few pictures show violent encounters. When the subject is violence-the Korean War, for example-photographs treat the country as an interesting backdrop and the Koreans as people needing American help. In general, Lutz and Collins write that the National Geographic image tells us that the Third World is a safe place, that there is neither much poverty nor greater wealth, that the people who are hungry and oppressed have meaningful lives, and that the violence we hear of in the news occurs in a broader context of enduring values and everyday activities. Lutz and Collins argue that photographs of naked black women-what they say is the center of the magazine’s photography of the non-Western world-conform to Western myths about black women’s sexuality; namely, that a lack of modesty places black women closer to nature. With some recent exceptions, none of the hundreds of women whose breasts were photographed was white-skinned, they say. In summary, the researchers found the people of the developing world portrayed as exotic and idealized. For example, the Indian woman is often dressed not in an everyday sari, but in a gold-embroidered one festooned with jewelry. Readers of the National Geographic are not introduced to typical members of the developing world. See Catherine A. Lutz and Jane L. Collins. Reading National Geographic. Chicago: University of Chicago Press, 1993. See also Liz McMillen, “A New Book Examines How National Geographic Shaped Americans’ Views of the World,” Chronicle of Higher Education (October 6, 1993):A10, A13; Jack Nusan Porter, “America’s Explorer,” The Boston Review (January-February 1996), Book Review section, p. 8. 8. Professional Football Players as a Subculture Big salaries, motion picture contracts, commercial endorsements, screaming fans-this is the world of professional football that most people see. Not all players enjoy this wealth and fame, but all share the same subculture because of their common occupation. Professional football players have an unusual work schedule. Their year is divided into very distinct segments: training, exhibition games, the “regular season,” playoffs, and the “off-season.” Members of a team not only work together; they also live together during training and when on the road. The extensive travel demands of professional football place obvious pressure on the players’ personal lives. Another source of strain is the insecurity inherent in this occupation. At any moment, an injury can end a player’s career as an athlete. In addition, there is the ever-present danger of a trade. A worker on a General Motors assembly line does not have to worry about receiving a phone call saying that he or she has been “sold” to Chrysler. A sociologist at Kwantlen University College cannot be “traded” to the University of Manitoba. Yet a professional football player who has spent years living and working in Regina, and whose family has strong ties to the community, can abruptly learn on a Friday that he is now the “property” of the B.C. Lions and should report for work in Vancouver on Sunday. Football games have often been likened to infantry warfare in which each side attempts to push back the opposition and capture territory. As in warfare, each individual must accept a hierarchical chain of command. John McMurty, a former Canadian professional football linebacker, has stated: “The one unforgivable sin of a player is to question someone above him. If he does that, he’s finished.” See Paul Hock. Rip Off the Big Game: The Exploitation of Sports by the Power Elite. Garden City, NY: Anchor, 1972, pp. 9-89. The male subculture of professional football players has many dramatic parallels to that of soldiers involved in infantry warfare. Both the soldier and the professional football player must cope with insecure and even dangerous working conditions. In each case, survival may depend on being aggressive, disciplined, and tough. One must accept a fixed chain of command and rely on the actions of colleagues. Of course, these parallels should not be overstated. The professional football player is more likely to earn glory and riches; the soldier in warfare may return home in a coffin. 9. The Skinhead Counterculture Beginning in about 1968, a new counterculture surfaced in Great Britain. The Skinheads were young people with shaved heads who often sported suspenders, tattoos, and steel-toed shoes. In part, Skinhead groups emerged as vocal and sometimes violent supporters of certain British soccer teams. These young people generally came from working-class backgrounds and had little expectation of “making it” in mainstream society. They listened to music that extolled violence and even racism, performed by such groups as Britain’s Skrewdriver, France’s Brutal Combat, and the United States’s Tulsa Boot Boys. Most seriously, some Skinhead groups championed racist and anti-Semitic ideologies and engaged in vandalism, violence, and even murder. Immigrants from India, Pakistan, and the West Indies became a common target of Skinhead attacks. (There were, however, other Skinhead groups that were explicitly antiracist). Throughout the 1970s, the Skinhead counterculture gradually spread from Britain to Europe, North America, and Australia. It is difficult to measure precisely the size of this counterculture, since Skinheads do not belong to a national or international organization. In Canada, Skinheads belong to groups such as the Ku Klux Klan, the Western Guard, and The Canadian National Socialist Party and have been responsible for a number of assaults and murders. In 1993, three Tamil refugees were beaten in Toronto; one died and another was left paralyzed. While some Skinheads around the world adopt only the distinctive dress and music associated with this counterculture, most seem to espouse White supremacy and racial hatred. In almost all the countries where Skinhead groups exist, they have committed acts of reckless violence against racial and ethnic minorities, including Jews. In the 1990s, lesbians, gay men, the homeless, and people with disabilities have also become targets of Skinhead attacks. It appears that Skinheads attack those viewed as “weaker” to bolster their own feelings of superiority. Skinheads constitute a youthful counterculture that challenges the values of larger societies. While they claim an allegiance to history and to their (White) cultural heritage, their dress and music represent a symbolic rejection of the traditions of previous generations. Although Skinhead groups tolerate certain older adults, generally members of White supremacist and neo-Nazi organizations, young males who project a tough, macho image nevertheless dominate this counterculture. Sources: Anti-Defamation League of B’nai B’rith. Young Nazi Killers: The Rising Skinhead Danger. New York: Anti-Defamation League,1993; Barry Came, “A Growing Menace,” Maclean’s, 102(January 23, 1989):43-44; The Economist, “Thick Skins,” 314(February 24, 1990):26; Mark S. Hamm. American Skinheads: The Criminology and Control of Hate Crime. Westport, CT.: Greenwood,1993; Frances Henry, Carol Tator, Winston Mattis and Tim Rees, The Colour of Democracy: Racism in Canadian Society. Toronto: Harcourt Brace and Company,1995;Tom Post, “Teaching Sensitivity to Skinheads,” Newsweek, 119(April 27, 1992):34. 10. Hostages to Tourism In developing nations, culture sometimes functions as a commodity; it is exhibited as a source of income in a way that can be exploitative. The revenue generated hardly offsets the country’s economic woes and is rarely received by the people most affected by (and displayed for) tourism. This is certainly true of the Paduang women of Burma. The Paduang are a tribe of about 7,000 members who live on the high plateaus of eastern Burma. Their appearance is remarkable to outsiders and tourists. Beginning at about five years of age, Paduang girls have coils of brass put around their necks by tribal spiritual doctors. These spirals are added sporadically, until each woman has 21 to 25 coils around her neck by the age of marriage. The spiral of coils may cumulatively reach one foot in height and weigh 20 pounds. It appears that the Paduang women have stretched necks, but the actual effect of the coils is to push down the collarbones and rib cage, distort the chest, and slope the shoulders. Over time, the Paduang custom of brass coils has faded, but it has not disappeared entirely. It certainly never fully disappeared from Burmese government tourist agency advertisements, which frequently featured photographs of Paduang women. Nevertheless, few tourists actually saw these women, since they live in a rather remote area of Burma. The case of the Paduang is far from unique. Closer to home, one can question the practice of tourism on First Nations reservations in Canada. For example, the growth of casino gambling on or near reservations does not necessarily benefit band members. Not all tourists are comfortable with what some regard as exploitation of local cultures. A modest growth industry has begun, known as ecotourism, through which travelers pursue adventure in a way intended to be sensitive to the local culture without being harmful to the environment. However, skeptics insist that, in most instances, ecotourism “is little more than a buzzword used to market the same old trips under the veneer of green” (Frank and Bowermaster, 1994:136). Sources: Peter Frank and Jon Bowermaster, “Can Ecotourism Save the Planet?” Condé Nast Traveler (December1994), 134-137; Edith T. Mirante, “Hostages to Tourism,” Cultural Survival Quarterly, 14 (No. 1, 1990):35-38. For pictorial examples see National Geographic (June 1979 and July 1995). Class Discussion Topics 1. Stimulating Classroom Discussion about ethnocentrism and cultural relativity: Can we observe other cultures objectively? How? Can we examine our own culture objectively? How? For a class exercise using Miner's classic 1956 essay, see Technique No. 18 in Edward L. Kain and Robin Neas (eds.). Innovative Techniques for Teaching Sociological Concepts (3rd ed.). Washington, DC: American Sociological Association, 1993, p. 31. 2. Culture and Its Pervasiveness: This exercise was developed by William C. Martin at Rice University to show how culture (in this case, our idea of the “proper” colour of food) affects behaviour. See Technique No. 12 in Reed Geersten (ed.). Eighty-One Techniques for Teaching Sociological Concepts. Washington, DC: ASA Projects on Teaching Undergraduate Sociology, 1982. 3. Desexing English: As noted in the text, language is a powerful force in shaping our image of the world about us. Ask the class to come up with examples of words that could be considered sexist. Note some relatively harmless changes (using bellhop instead of bellboy, designating hurricanes by both male and female names). See Sol Steinmetz, “The Desexing of English,” New York Times Magazine (August, 1982):6, 8. 4. Graffiti: The graffiti on a college or university campus or a community can provide insight into the different subcultures in an area. Have students analyze graffiti from both an interactionist and a functionalist perspective. Note how graffiti serves as a nonverbal form of urban communication, an art form that frequently demands a high skill level, and a symbol of group pride and identity. See the guidelines for a class exercise on p. 74 of Jerry M. Lewis. Tips for Teaching Introductory Sociology. Minneapolis, MN: West, 1995. Norman A. Dolch provides another exercise on the social analysis of graffiti. In Teodora O. Amoloza and James Sikora (eds.). Introductory Sociology Resource Manual (4th ed.). Washington, DC: American Sociological Association, 1996, pp. 191-193. 5. Smoking: Note the changes in norms and values concerning cigarette and other types of smoking. Note the change in attitudes about smoking during the last century from a culturally appropriate behaviour to an activity that has been outlawed in most buildings and many public places as well. Discuss the changes in advertising from the days of the Marlboro man to the warning labels that now appear on cigarette packages. 6. Value Conflict in the Classroom: Samuel Stouffer provides a useful approach to understanding value conflicts, using an issue that some instructors might consider almost too explosive: cheating on an examination. Stouffer provides sufficient details so that you could replicate the study (conducted over 40 years ago) and compare your results with his. See Stouffer, “An Analysis of Conflicting Social Norms,” American Sociological Review, 14(December 1949):707-717. 7. Youthful Values: Have the class observe children at a nursery school, kindergarten, or day care centre. What norms and sanctions can be found among the children, among the staff members, and between the children and the staff members? 8. Subcultures: A lecture outline about understanding subcultures is provided on pp. 45-47 of Jerry M. Lewis. Tips for Teaching Introductory Sociology. Minneapolis, MN: West, 1995. 9. Food and Culture: Have the students discuss the intersection of food and culture. See Marvin Harris, Good to Eat: Riddles of Food and Culture. New York: Simon and Schuster,1986 and Ester Reiter, Making fast Food; From the Frying Pan into the Fryer.(2nd ed.). Montreal: McGill-Queen's University Press. 10. Teaching Ethnocentrism and Cultural Relativity: Suggested ideas for teaching these concepts are offered in Kim D. Schopmeyer and Bradley J. Fisher. Teaching Sociology, 21(April 1993):148-153. 11. Multiculturalism: Has there been debate about multiculturalism and diversity on your campus? To what degree has this debate been incorporated into the curricula of your program of study? 12. Using Humour: David S. Adams has produced a monograph that includes funny examples that could be incorporated into lectures associated with this chapter. See Adams, “Culture” in Using Humor in Teaching Sociology: A Handbook. Washington: DC: ASA Teaching Resources Center, 1982. See also Joseph E. Faulkner, "Self in Society" in Sociology through Humor. New York: West, 1987. Topics For Student Research 1. Multiculturalism: Have a student report on a local school district’s policies on multiculturalism and multicultural education. 2. Cultural Diversity: Have a student assess the cultural diversity of his/her community. See Thomas Freidman,” The Global Neighbourhood," Winnipeg Free Press(July 20,1998):A10. 3. Social Value Groups: See Michael Adams Sex in the Snow. Montreal: McGill-Queen's University Press,1998. 4. Cultural Change and Brazil’s Tribal People: The Amazon Kayapo traded the wealth of their land for cars, planes, and money. Now Brazil has shut off the financial flow, leaving them with an undermined culture and devastated homeland. See William R. Long, “How Gold Led Tribe Astray,” Los Angeles Times (August 29, 1995):A1, A6-A8. 5. DNA and Culture: Can we reconstruct human history by tracing back DNA samples? Is this some new form of sociobiology or merely good biological research? See Boyce Rensberger, “The Melting Pot Under a Microscope,” Washington Post National Weekly Edition (March 15, 1993):38. 6. Political Correctness under Fire: To learn about those who speak critically of “political correctness,” contact the National Association of Scholars, 575 Ewing Street, Princeton, NJ, 08540. 7. English as a Second Language: Investigate your college or university policies concerning English as a second language. Are students graded in your sociology class based on their knowledge of sociology, the English language, or both? Audiovisual Materials Beaverman (2002, 51 m). The story of writer David May who travels the world writing about the beaver's cultural, social, and natural history. David meets Russell Williard, a traditional First Nations medicine man, who guides him on a spiritual quest and, eventually, to a new understanding of the beaver. Cultural Influences and Choice in the Devil Wears Prada (YouTube 2006, 2:50m). Short clip from The Devil Wears Prada illustrates the impact of cultural influences on decisions what to wear ( and not to wear). God Respects Us When We Work But Loves Us When We Dance (20m). An original rock music score accentuates this film of Los Angeles’s Easter Sunday “Love-In” in 1967. Earmarks of the counterculture, such as open use of drugs, meditation, and free expression of love and affection, are revealed in this film. Obachan's Garden (2001, 94 m). The story of Japanese -Canadian history as revealed through the life of a British Columbian woman (now over one hundred years old), whose family was interned during the Second World War. Okanagan Dreams (2001, 46m). As young Quebecers migrate to the Okanagan Valley in British Columbia to work as fruit pickers, their views on Canada change as they become exposed to various cultural and regional differences. Raisin' Kane: A Rapumentary (2001:72m). Features the hip-hop group Citizen Cane at the peak of the group's success in the world of independent hip-hop artists. Also features a look at the success of a young black enterprising entrepreneur. Understanding Hookup Culture (Youtube, 2011, 30m). Dr. Paula England explores hookup culture on university campuses as “ a new social form of relationship.” What is a Fa’afafine?”( YouTube 2010, 6:35m). Segment from the New Zealand television show Pacific Beat Street introduces the concept of the “fa’afafine,” the third gendered people of Samoa. Windows on Asia-Pacific: Asian Television Commercials (49m, colour, McGraw-Hill). Media visionary Marshall McLuhan once observed that advertising provides the richest and most faithful reflection of a society's culture. What, then, do television commercials reveal about the non-Western world? This documentary examines how sensibilities differ between East and West as seen through the lens of advertising imagery. Additional Readings Abercrombie, Nicholas, Stephen Hill, and Bryan S. Turner (eds.). Dominant Ideologies. Cambridge, MA.: Unwin Hyman, 1990. A critique of the view that common cultures emerge as ideological systems. Adams, Michael. Sex in the Snow: Canadian Social Values and the End of the Millennium. Toronto:Penguin,1998. Anderssen, Erin, Micheal Valpy, et al. Toronto: Globe and Mail/McClelland & Stewart Ltd, 2004. The New Canada: A Globe and Mail Report on the Next Generation. A portrait of a “new” Canada that is urban, ethnically diverse, secular, and media-savvy, focusing on Canadians between 20 and 29 years of age. Angus, Ian. A Border Within: National Identity, Cultural Plurality, and Wilderness. Montreal: McGill-Queen's University Press, 1997. Focusing on multiculturalism and environmentalism, and examination of English Canadian identity and the plurality of discourses within it. Berman, Paul (ed.). Debating P.C.: The Controversy over Political Correctness on College Campuses. New York: Dell, 1992. This timely anthology explores many aspects of the debate over multiculturalism and includes selections by Henry Louis Gates, Jr., Edward Said, Catharine Stimpson, George Will, Dinesh D'Souza, Molefi Kete Asante, Irving Howe, and Diane Ravitch. Cohen, David. The Circle of Life: Rituals from the Human Family Album. San Francisco: Harper, 1991. This attractive "coffee table" book illustrates in colour the diverse cultures worldwide, focusing specifically on birth, initiation, adolescence, marriage, and death. Corse, Sarah. Nationalism and Literature: The Politics of Culture in Canada and the United States. Cambridge: Cambridge University Press,1997. An historical and cultural analysis of national literature and the role of elites in the identification and promotion of canonical national literature. Danesi, Marcel. Geeks, Goths, and Gangstas: Youth Culture and the Evolution of Modern Society .Toronto: Canadian Scholars’ Press Inc., 2010. A study of a number of youth cultures and their impact on society and culture. Dunk, Thomas W. Montreal: McGill-Queen’s University Press, 2003. It’s a Working Man’s Town, 2nd ed. An examination of leisure activities of working-class males in Thunder Bay, Ontario, illustrating the importance of these activities for understanding the link between culture and consciousness. Fjellman, Stephen M. Vinyl Leaves. Boulder, CO: Westview Press, 1992. An anthropologist analyzes culture in all its forms as presented at Walt Disney World. Fleras, Augie. Media Gaze:Representations of Diversities in Canada. Vancouver: UBC Press, 2011. Fleras analyzes and assesses the representations of minority groups in the mass media. Hall, Edward T. The Dance of Life: The Other Dimension of Time. New York: Anchor, 1984. Hall discusses how societies define time differently and how this is often a barrier to understanding between peoples. Hall, Edward T., and Elizabeth Hall. "How Cultures Collide," Psychology Today, 10(July 1976):66, 68-74. A fascinating look at how culture influences language and at how languages can serve as a barrier to communication between people from different cultures. Hall, Edward T., and Mildred Reed Hall. Understanding Cultural Differences. Yarmouth, ME: Intercultural Press, 1990. Two anthropologists review their lifelong work on cultural differences and focus on specific applications of how corporations operate in France, Germany, and the United States. Hampton, Wayne. Guerilla Minstrels: John Lennon, Joe Hill, Woody Guthrie, Bob Dylan. Knoxville, TN: University of Tennessee, 1986. Ethnomusicology studies the culture of people through the songs they write and sing and pass on from generation to generation. A fascinating way to examine culture! Issawi, Charles P. Cross-Cultural Encounters and Conflicts. Oxford University, 1998. An analysis of cross-cultural interaction that focuses on the difficulties of bridging the cultural divide between Westerners and Middle Easterners. Nathanson, Paul and Katherine K. Young. Spreading Misandry: The Teaching of Contempt for Men in Popular Culture. Montreal: McGill-Queen's University Press, 2001. An examination of how men are portrayed in popular culture using case studies from movies, novels, comic strips and greeting cards. O’Brien, Susie, and Imre Szeman. Toronto: Thomson Nelson Educational Publishing, 2004. Popular Culture: A User’s Perspective. This book introduces students to the concept of popular culture and covers such topics as the history of popular culture, identity and the body, and globalization and popular culture. McGuigan, Jim. Modernity and Postmodern Culture. New York: McGraw-Hill International, 2006.. The author explores the interplay between the modern and the postmodern in an increasingly globalized world. Reiter, Ester. Making Fast Food: From the Frying Pan into the Fryer. ( 2nd ed.) Montreal: McGill-Queen's University Press, 2000. An examination of how fast food has become a symbol of life in contemporary society. Tyyska, Vappa. Youth and Society: the Long and Winding Road (3rd edition).Toronto: Canadian Scholars’ Press Inc., 2013. An exploration of stereotypes and realities of Canadian youth, including marginalized youth. Thinking About Movies___________________________________ The Namesake (Mira Nair, 2007) An Indian couple emigrates from Calcutta to New York City to start a new life and a new family. Their first-born son Ganguli ( Kal Penn), grows up rejecting his parents’ Bengali culture. Then the sudden death of his father makes him rethink his relationship with his cultural roots. This movie is rife with examples of culture seen from a sociological point of view. Look for scenes in which Gogol’s parents suffer culture shock after moving to New York City. Watch for examples of bilingualism as Gogol speaks to his family, switching back and forth from English to Bengali. For Your Consideration 1. What are some of the differences between Gogol’s parents’ values and those of his non-Bengali girlfriend? 2. How is language used in the film to reinforce feelings of a shared culture? Instructor Manual for Sociology: A Brief Introduction, Richard T. Schaefer, Jana Grekul 9781260065800