Project
Overview
The final project for this course is the creation of a concept map and paper.
Sociology is the scientific study of human behavior. Professionals in the field apply a sociological lens to examine various influences on society in order to better understand current and historical behaviors. This perspective assists professionals in examining various social structures and institutions, which are systems in society that influence human behavior, to inform their understanding of groups as well as daily interactions with diverse viewpoints.
For this project, you will examine a contemporary social issue using your sociological lens. You will create a concept map, breaking the social issue that you have chosen into smaller pieces related to certain sociological concepts, describe the relationship of the concepts and smaller pieces to the social issue, and explain how the sociological concepts help you better understand the social issue.
The project is divided into three milestones, which will be submitted at various points throughout the course to scaffold learning and ensure quality final submissions. These milestones will be submitted in Modules Two, Four, and Five. The final concept map and paper will be submitted in Module Seven.
In this assignment you will demonstrate your mastery of the following course outcomes:
Prompt
You will begin by selecting your own contemporary social issue to use as the base of your project. You may use an issue from the list provided below or choose an issue of interest to you that you find in the news or media, or perhaps one you encounter in your daily life.
You will then create a concept map to break down your selected issue into supporting sociological concepts. These sociological concepts will include:
You will also explain the relationship between the sociological concepts and the social issue, describing how the concept is present in the social issue. In paper format, you will explain how the connections you made in the map between the sociological concepts and the social issue helped you better understand the social issue. This is where you will demonstrate the importance of using a sociological view when examining social issues.
Specifically the following critical elements must be addressed:
I. Topic Selection: To begin this project, you will identify and summarize the contemporary social issue you selected, citing resources to strengthen your summary. Explain what is happening in the issue, and provide a brief history of how the issue began.
II. Mapping the Issue: Now that you have selected your social issue, you will break the issue into smaller pieces. You will break the issue down into the following sociological concepts: cultural beliefs and biases, social roles, social inequalities, and the existing social conditions. These concepts will serve as categories through which you examine the issue, as you will identify how each is present in the issue. To represent this process, you will create a concept map connecting the sociological concepts and their smaller pieces to the social issue.
A. Identify in the map the cultural beliefs and biases present in the social issue. For example, there may be prejudice or discrimination at play.
B. Identify in the map the social roles played by the main individuals or groups in the social issue. For example, an individual may be a mother and/or teacher.
C. Identify in the map the social inequalities present in this social issue. For example, there may be racism or sexism at play.
D. Identify in the map the existing state or conditions that the social issue is challenging. For example, if your issue is that recycling is bad, the existing condition may be that recycling is good.
III. Creating Connections: Now that you have broken the social issue down into smaller pieces in the concept map, you will explain the connections you made and how these connections will help you better understand the issue, using your knowledge from the course. You will describe the connections between the sociological concepts and the social issue and demonstrate the value of using a sociological view when examining social issues.
A. Cultural
1. Describe the relationship between the cultural beliefs and biases identified in the map and the social issue, and provide specific examples to support your description. For example, you might describe how the relationship is positive, negative, or strained.
2. Explain how the cultural beliefs and biases identified in the map help you better understand the social issue.
B. Social Roles
1. Describe the relationship between the social roles identified in the map and the social issue, and provide specific examples to support your description. For example, you might describe how the relationship is positive, negative, or strained. In your response, you might consider what expectations are in place because of the social roles.
2. Explain how the social roles identified in the map help you better understand the social issue.
C. Social Inequalities
1. Describe the relationship between the social inequalities identified in the map and the social issue. How are the social inequalities present in the issue?
2. Explain how the social inequalities identified in the map help you better understand the social issue.
D. Impact of Social Change
1. Describe how the social issue is challenging the existing state or conditions, providing specific examples.
2. How might the social issue facilitate change for the existing state or conditions? Provide specific examples.
