Everyday Sociology Blog

Meet Four “Lazy” Millennials

By Peter Kaufman

Millennials are not getting much love these days. If you do a Google search for the phrase “millennials are” the top five autofill suggestions are: lazy, having less sex, dumb, poor, and stupid. In all fairness, if you do a similar search for baby boomers or generation X you get similar disparaging suggestions. Still, it seems as if millennials, more than their predecessors, have been branded as being the laziest of generations.

Most of the news reports and assertions that criticize the work ethic of millennials are based on anecdotal and unscientific data. For example, I recently did a search with the prompt, “millennials are lazy,” and one of the first links that appeared was based on statements from lifestyle businesswoman Martha Stewart. Although some might seek Martha Stewart’s advice on recipes and home décor, her social scientific insight is not what she is known for.

What’s the Difference Between Growth and Local Development?

By Teresa Irene Gonzales

In my Community (Economic) Development course, students are often confused by the differences between economic growth, local economic development, and community economic development. Because these terms help to explain similar process of development, they can seem like the same thing. As with most things, these terms are in flux and scholars often disagree about the definitions, adding to the confusion. Understanding the differences between these terms helps us analyze the impact of various economic development plans on residents and the environment.

Early definitions of economic development focus on growth as the standard. According to Malizia & Feser, and Wolman & Spitzley, we can understand growth as an increase to outputs (per capita income, jobs, a country’s gross domestic product, et cetera). This form of economic development focuses on increasing national wealth through improvements to the local business climate. Some examples of this approach include tax subsidies to keep or attract businesses to a certain locale. The idea is that a friendly business climate will lead to more jobs, increase competition, attract more businesses, and in turn yield greater wealth for the area. Some examples include the Boeing deal in Chicago, and the more recent Carrier deal in Indiana.

When Words Lose Meaning

By Karen Sternheimer

We use a number of expressions with one another that serve as shortcuts. Some are as basic as “hello” and “how are you?” Others are seasonal or situational, like, “Happy New Year,” “have a good weekend,” or “I’m sorry for your loss.” These phrases are like ready-made greeting cards that we employ in social situations, often when we don’t know what else to say. Sometimes, like holiday greetings, they are a way of sending good wishes to people that we may or may not know.

But sometimes these words take on different meanings than the speakers intended, and might be received far differently that we might imagine. Conflicts around saying “happy holidays” rather than “Merry Christmas” are one example. A stranger actually answering the “how are you question” is another—we’re not really being asked to disclose personal information, particularly if it is simply meant as a casual greeting.

Sociology, Science, and Fake News

By Jonathan Wynn

Little gets me more riled up than the proliferation of fake news in an age where we can get quality information with ease. It just gets my goat.

My nearly perfect mother-in-law forwarded an email to me recently. Just looking at it caused trepidation. It was forwarded multiple times as evidenced by the four vertical lines along the left side of the email. The big font text was bright blue and red with a lot of CAPITAL AND BOLDED AND UNDERLINED LETTERS. These are markers for concern. It cites the reputable Mayo Clinic, and a Dr. Virend Somers. It starts with a provocative title “MAYO CLINIC - DRINKING WATER.” Then it follows: “A cardiologist determined that heart attacks can be triggered by dehydration. Good Thing To Know. From The Mayo Clinic. How many folks do you know…” It ends with a plea: “Do forward this message. It may save lives! "Life is a one time gift" (Let's forward and hope this will help save some!!!)”

A quick Google search took me to the Mayo Clinic’s website which, unsurprisingly to me, issued a statement discounting the circulated email, noting that it was “inaccurate and potentially harmful.”

Cyber Crime

By Sally Raskoff

We’ve been hearing a lot about “cyber” crime lately. Are cyber crimes increasing? What is the impact of cyber crime on society?

If we have a phone, most of us get those annoying phone calls, most of which are hang-ups, but some of which inform us that the IRS wants our money or there’s a deal that we “must” take advantage of. Individuals have the freedom to react to calls like these as we prefer, but this personal nuisance is certainly part of a societal issue.

Sociology and the Culture of Sex on Campus

By Lisa Wade

Associate Professor of Sociology, Occidental College

When new students move into their residence halls to start their first year of college, they become a part of an institution. In many ways, it is a “total institution” in the tradition of the sociologist Erving Goffman: an organization that collects large numbers of like individuals, cuts them off from the wider society, and provides for all their needs. Prisons, mental hospitals, army barracks, and nursing homes are total institutions. So are cruise ships, cults, convents, and summer camps. Behemoths of order, they swallow up their constituents and structure their lives.

Many colleges are total institutions, too. Being a part of the institution means that students’ educational options are dictated, of course, but colleges also have a substantial amount of control over when students eat, where they sleep, how they exercise, with whom they socialize and, pertinent to our topic today, whether and under what conditions they have sex.