Sociology Question

Description

Please make sure to use the files provided to answer the essay- follow all of the directions given and write it MLA format- Please be very specific and read all of the requirements- Very strict teacher and it is important to do very well.

Introduction to Ethnomethodology

MID-TERM EXAMINATION

Write a short essay (4 pages but no more than 1250 words) on one of the following topics:

1. In his early writings (especially The Structure of Social Action) Parsons develops a “voluntaristic” theory of action. What issues led Parsons to this theory? What are its fundamental claims? And how did Parsons use the theory to address the “Hobbesian problem of order”?
2. Outline and discuss Parsons’ conception of the “double contingency of interaction” and “the two-fold binding-in process of interaction.” Explain how these processes are involved in the processes of institutionalization and socialization.
3. Parsons believed that sociology should adopt a scientific stance towards the explanation of social action and his explanation centered on the role of norms and values as determinants of human action. What are the main difficulties that Wrong and Wilson raise with his approach?
4. Alfred Schutz made basic contributions to our understanding of the social nature of knowledge. Describe the contributions he made and the use that Harold Garfinkel made of any TWO of these contributions.
5. Describe Garfinkel’s “tic tac toe” experiment and any ONE of the other breaching experiments discussed in the lectures or readings. Explain and discuss the conclusions that can be drawn from them.

REQUIREMENTS:

• It is essential that you answer the question. You should definitely avoid giving your essay some alternative title and writing about that instead.
• Style Requirements: Your essay should be typed using a 12-point font, double-spaced and with 1″ margins. You are REQUIRED to use appropriate citation practices for materials from the readings and lectures. Please include a bibliography listing the sources you have cited.
• If you cannot submit your essay by the deadline, you can submit it up to 3 days late without penalty. You do not need to ask for an extension or give any reasons for using it. Please note, however, that no further extensions can be given.

Some notes on writing essays for Sociology

0. Prepare:
Before beginning your essay, be sure to read the requirements for the assignment. Read all of them, even if you think you may be familiar with them already.

1. Write carefully:
A. Plan your essay: What claims will you make? What evidence will you use to support those claims? What conclusions will be reached with each claim and its supporting evidence? Which point should you make first, second, or third? You may need to rearrange your essay if a different order makes more sense than the one you first decided upon. In planning the overall organization of your essay, you should be able to articulate: How does each paragraph lead to the next? How does each paragraph follow from the one prior? If you find yourself listing points or connecting paragraphs with “another,” etc., you are missing opportunities for analysis and wasting sentences.

B. Know what you are saying! Each sentence should make sense to you. If a sentence does not make sense to you, it will not make sense to anyone else.

C. Make each sentence count. Each sentence should do a “job” for the paragraph to which it contributes; each paragraph, in turn, should contribute to the section of which it is a part. Each section should address one element of the overarching question answered by the essay.

2. Avoid summaries of lectures or readings. Instead, organize your essay analytically.

A. For example, if you claim that Parsons rejected biological and economic reductionism, you might begin by stating his main objections and then show how his theory specifically avoids these pitfalls. Be sure to show how his theory addressed these matters, e.g., the unit act focused on the subjective viewpoint of the actor and established norms and values as guides to action. Alternatively, show how Parsons used his analysis of roles and two-fold binding in process, etc., to argue that action could be guided by self-interest while also ensuring that this self-interest would always be channeled in socially beneficial ways. Simply repeating these points is insufficient; you must show how his theory explains or addresses these matters. Can you describe the logic or reasoning he uses?

B. Developing an analytic orientation in your essay will require focusing on a limited range of issues. It’s okay not to cover every possible point related to the matter you are discussing. In picking a few key issues, focusing carefully on them, and justifying their selection, you will have already engaged in an analysis of sorts. (You can also include a sentence that lists the range of things you would discuss if you had more time/space, and then note that you have limited your discussion to a subset of these due to space considerations.) If you then supply reasons for your selections (e.g., their import, centrality, etc.), this will also serve as a kind of analysis. It shows me that you have thought about what is most important or relevant to answering the question.

C. Use quotations to support your claims. Quotes from the assigned and suggested texts are the primary evidence for your claims about the theories you will discuss. When you make a claim, back it up with a quote from the reading, then make the quote ‘work’ for you by showing how it supports what you have just claimed and linking it to the broader argument you are making. Thus, instead of adding a quotation and moving on, explain how that quote contributes to your argument in a sentence or two following the quoted material. What does it mean? How does it support your argument? You should definitely avoid stringing quotes together.

D. You can be confident that your observations are on target if you carefully tie each of your claims to a quotation (more or less directly) and base your analysis on that quote. Shaping your claims to reflect the materials you gather (e.g., quotations from the reading) and following what you quote with a close analysis in the next few sentences will force you to engage with the course material in a detailed way and thereby encourage a deeper understanding of that material, its basic claims, and their import for understanding social life. It also helps you to see where you still have work to do!

E. Use concepts carefully. The concepts we have introduced are not interchangeable with common-sense terms, though they can be explicated using such terms. Make sure you understand a concept or term before using it. Doing so will save you grief and disappointment later.

3. Review and edit your essay
Putting words on a page is only the first step of writing. Most writing entails revising and editing what you have written (for example, this sentence has already been revised four times.) Once you have a completed draft, read your essay aloud. Edit and revise any part that is vague or unclear, difficult to read, or not smooth in some way. Consider cutting any part that seems boring or slow because it doesn’t advance the essay. Then, re-read your essay and continue to edit it. Repeat until the essay is either perfect or due, whichever comes first.