Project Assignment

Instructions

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By the end of this activity, you will have:

• List and describe the basic steps for conducting scientific research and know and discuss the research methods that sociologists use and the strengths and limitations of each.

• Summarize the core concepts of sociology and recognize and explain the "sociological imagination" when viewing social phenomena and your own life..

In this module, you will have an opportunity to put into action what you've learned about sociological research, social norms, socialization and/or deviance.

Step 1: Review the research methodology chapter in our textbook (Chap. 5) in order to familiarize yourself with sociological experiments.

Assignment: Socialization Observation

Using participant observation, choose two specific learning situations that can be observed during your daily activities, such as a parent teaching a child, a person watching TV, store or restaurant interactions, or on-the-job training. You must pick two different types of learning situations, and you must observe these during the assigned week - you may not use a memory of something from weeks or months before.

Write up a detailed description of what you observed, and identify the components of culture being taught and/or learned. You should also detail the agent(s) and stage(s) of socialization and how these incidents support one of the theories of socialization developed by Jean Piaget, Carol Gilligan, George H. Mead, Lawrence Kohlberg, or Erik Erikson.

Please note: Please know that for either project option, your completed assignment should be an essay.