Everyday Sociology Blog

Benefitting from Housing’s Burst Bubble

By Karen Sternheimer

I recently purchased a home in Los Angeles, something I wasn’t sure I’d ever be able to afford. When prices started skyrocketing in the mid-2000s, like many other people I chose not to buy and saved my money instead. I was glad I did, despite some acquaintances insisting that prices would only get higher. In 2005, the median price of a single family home in Los Angeles was about $529,000; by 2008 the median price fell to $340,000. (The median is the point at which half of all homes cost less, and half cost more).

After watching prices and interest rates fall, I began looking in earnest. I got very excited to see I could actually afford to buy in a neighborhood where I would like to live. I began by looking online, and found many places that fit my criteria: in my price range, a reasonable commute to work, nearby places to walk or hike, and safe enough for me to take a walk alone. In fact, there were so many places that I got picky, at first only wanting to see places that had been decorated to my taste. If I didn’t like the flooring or the kitchen countertops, I passed. Most of the listings were short sales, meaning the homeowner owed more on their mortgage than they could expect to sell for. Banks will often agree to accept less money in order to avoid the more expensive and time consuming foreclosure process.

Thinking Sociologically about the Boston Tragedy

By Karen Sternheimer

Since the bombing at the Boston Marathon on April 15, the nation has been trying to figure out how and why someone would do something so horrific. The bombers’ methods and motives are the domain of law enforcement, trying to figure out first who did it, how, and why.

Sociology can be useful to help us to develop hypotheses about why events take place, particularly those events involving large group. Explaining why any particular individual behaves the way they do is harder to understand, and as I write investigators are working diligently to learn more about the suspects to figure out why they would build bombs and hurt innocent people. So it is too soon to specifically use sociological concepts to understand the suspects.

But we can think sociologically about the public’s reaction to the violence.

Thinking Sociologically About Education

By Karen Sternheimer

Ask just about anyone about how to improve public education and they’ll likely give you an answer: Hire better teachers. Fire bad teachers. Instill more discipline. Include more art and music in the curriculum. Go back to the basics. Involve multicultural lesson plans. Allow students to use vouchers to attend private schools. Create more public charter schools.

All of these ideas have been implemented somewhere, each with fans and critics. None has been proven to be a cure-all, but for supporters, they seem like simple solutions that should be put in place as soon as possible.

Education is a great example of the multifaceted nature of social issues. And while single solutions are easy for us to understand and form an opinion about, they are not necessarily helpful in the long run. Applying core concepts can help us understand why and move us towards a more complete understanding of education as a social institution.

The Sociological Imagination and Personal Crises

By Karen Sternheimer

C. Wright Mills famously described how “personal troubles” and “public issues” are related; understanding this relationship is essential for developing a sociological imagination. 

Unfortunately, it’s not uncommon for a handful of students to encounter serious “personal troubles” during the course of a semester. These are not simply excuses to try and get an extension on an assignment, but serious crises that may prevent them from continuing in my class—or with their education entirely. Let’s consider how these “personal troubles” might be linked with “public issues.”

Cheating: A Sociological Perspective

By Karen Sternheimer

Did you know that turning in a class assignment copied directly from your textbook without quotes is a form of plagiarism? A student who did this in one of my classes claimed not to.

Each year I encounter some form of academic dishonesty, the most common being copying from another source, directly or paraphrased, without quotes or attribution. The most egregious example: a student copied directly from a book I wrote. (In this case, imitation is not the sincerest form of flattery).

Why do people cheat? And how can sociology illuminate—and potentially reduce—this behavior, particularly in academia?

Research Questions: Less is More

By Karen Sternheimer

Robin (not her real name) is a student of mine who came to my office to discuss her research paper for my class, due two weeks from the day she came to see me. She is very excited about her topic, which she selected for the assignment. She would like to study how poverty impacts education.

This is a big question, and an important one at that. But it is too big to explore in any sort of depth, especially within two weeks. Scholars can spend their entire careers researching questions like these; the first step to being able to conduct your own research—especially for the first time and within a tight time frame—is to narrow your focus.

Impression Management and Letters of Recommendation

By Karen Sternheimer

Matthew (not his real name) was once a student of mine. He regularly left class early, arrived late, and seemed bored when he was there. His coursework was mediocre at best, and when he got his grade at the end of the semester—which was consistent with his scores throughout the semester—he came to my office to complain. He didn’t do well in the participation part of the course, which he argued “wasn’t fair.”

Imagine my surprise when he then asked me for a letter of recommendation….

Race and Anger Online

By Karen Sternheimer

On January 11, armed assailants entered a Nordstrom Rack store in the Los Angeles area just after closing time. The police were called and surrounded the building, and the assailants held 14 people hostage for about two hours.

Despite the heavy police presence—a SWAT team was at the scene—the assailants escaped. Police later arrested five people, three suspects and two accused as accessories for allegedly aiding the suspects.

This was a shocking event for both the victims and members of the community. The store is located in an upscale shopping area with a state-of-the-art Cineplex and many shops and restaurants in an area with a relatively low crime rate.

The Social Construction of Stuff

By Karen Sternheimer

I am in the process of moving to a new home. The move has been planned for over a year, so I have been preparing to pack and get rid of things for a while. Coincidentally, our department recently moved to a new building and a family member is in the process of moving too, so I have had many chances to pack, unpack, and reflect.

Moving reminds me of the meanings we assign to our stuff. According to sociologists Peter Berger and Thomas Luckmann, we socially construct meaning of reality. We don’t just construct these meanings individually, but socially as well. These meanings become habitual and part of our social institutions, reinforcing the meanings that we collectively create about our social world and ultimately our realities.

Thinking Sociologically About Holidays

By Karen Sternheimer

Did you or anyone you know find this last holiday season stressful? Sociology can help us understand some of the reasons why holiday celebrations might be difficult—and why people keep doing things the same way each year nonetheless.

As you begin to get back in your non-holiday routine, now is a great time to use our sociological imaginations to think about the many sociological concepts that help us understand end-of-the year routines.