Everyday Sociology Blog

Ideologies in the News: How Powerful Ideas Become Common Sense

By Wayne Mellinger

Instructor, Antioch University

A “dominant ideology”  is a way of looking at and understanding the social world that reflects the perspectives of the rich and powerful.  British sociologist John B. Thompson  aptly describes ideology as “meaning in the service of power.”

Because dominant ideologies are meaning-laden events, social scientists have developed approaches to studying them that are highly attuned to the details of discourse and the interpretation of texts—that is, how ordinary people make sense of these symbolic events in everyday life.

The Myth of the Self-Made Person

By Peter Kaufman

What do the alleged Boston Marathon bombers Tamerlan and Dzhokhar Tsarnaev have in common with Oprah Winfrey, Bill Gates, J.K. Rowling, Jimi Hendrix, and Ben Franklin?

The answer: All of these individuals are said to have become who they are by their own individual means.

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.

Asking Sociological Questions

By Peter Kaufman

I often tell students that I hope they leave my classes with more questions than answers. This statement may seem counterintuitive. Our typical model of education is based on the idea that students’ heads should be filled with knowledge such as definitions, dates, and all sorts of data. The idea that students would finish their coursework with more question marks than periods goes against the conventional wisdom of schooling.

By making this statement I am suggesting that if students want to take what they’ve learned in class and extend it into their social worlds then they will need to know how to ask questions. If they are merely satisfied with the knowledge that has been instilled in them then they have probably not been challenged intellectually. More important, or more troubling, leaving a class without any lingering questions is likely to inhibit their ability to be life-long learners.

Everyday Sociology Talk: Education and Ending Poverty

 

Dalton Conley and David Grusky discuss ending poverty in the United States.

For more video, see www.youtube.com/nortonsoc

Sociology and Your Grades

By Karen Sternheimer

My office hours have been getting busy as students get the results from midterms and term papers. People who seldom come to class suddenly appear at my door, as do highly motivated students who want to make sure they can get an A. Several sociological concepts can help us understand why grades matter on a number of levels.

Overrated

By Peter Kaufman

Have you noticed that almost everything these days is reviewed and rated? No matter what goods or services you use it is likely that it will be judged by other consumers on some 4 or 5 star rating system or with a simple thumbs up and thumbs down.

For example, this morning at the sound of my watch alarm I took my head off my pillow, pushed my body off my mattress, stepped onto the bedroom carpet, and opened the blinds to let in the morning sunlight. I walked into the bathroom to shower using my daily facial wash, soap, and shampoo. I dried off with a towel while the ceiling fan in the bathroom pulled the moisture out of the air. I got dressed in my typical fashion: underwear (don’t worry, that’s not a picture of me wearing them), socks, pants, shirt, and shoes. For breakfast I used a small pot to cook my oatmeal, poured a glass of orange juice, and got some filtered water for tea.  After breakfast I cleaned my teeth using my toothbrush, toothpaste, and mouthwash, I put my books in my backpack, grabbed my water bottle and went off to work. You get the idea!

The Sociology of Busyness

By Karen Sternheimer

If you are a student, and even if you are not, chances are this time of year means you are very busy. Whether it’s the upcoming holidays, exams, term papers, or other obligations, for some reason the end of the year can mean a lot of busyness.

I recently had a student come to my office hours to talk about his progress, and the student admitted that he was overcommitted to many campus activities and that it had affected his coursework. I’m sure he is not alone; students regularly struggle with their workload and find that it is virtually impossible to devote the amount of time to each of their classes as they would like to.

I can relate, as I have been busy grading and juggling my own deadlines and workload. What can sociology add to our understanding of busyness?

Group Projects and Sociology

By Karen Sternheimer

Are you now, or have you ever, participated in a group project for a class? If so, you have been learning more about sociology, even if you weren’t taking a sociology class.

Group projects are also a good way to learn about the process of conducting research. Many large-scale projects involve collaboration and teamwork. For researchers who work with surveys, writing the survey, distributing it to respondents, and analyzing data is something frequently done with others. The large data sets that sociologists often use, like census data or the FBI’s Uniform Crime Reports are create by large teams of researchers who must work together to discover major social trends.

Why Sociology?

By Karen Sternheimer

Now and then, a student will come into my office and ask why I chose to become a sociologist. Like many people new to sociology, they often wonder what my process was in deciding to study sociology.

They are often surprised to learn that I came to sociology accidentally, due to a bureaucratic dilemma most college students can relate to: the class I had wanted to take was full, and a sociology course was open and fit my schedule.

I came to my first sociology class, Sex and Gender in Society, a week or two into the drop/add period, so I started off a bit behind and the class was already engaging in lively conversation. It was as if I had entered into a new world, surprised to find that issues pertaining to my everyday life could actually be part of the college curriculum.