Everyday Sociology Blog

Traveling Light: Testing the Limits of Consumption

By Karen Sternheimer

Earlier this year I booked a flight using frequent flier miles that ended up costing me about $20 total (a good deal on this route is typically at least $200). Needless to say, I was pretty excited about this. But my luggage would not be so lucky: it would cost $100 to check a suitcase roundtrip, or $130 to carry it on and store in an overhead bin.

Challenge accepted: I would bring only a backpack that could fit under the seat in front of me.

(Another) Sociological Celebration of Baseball

By Karen Sternheimer

Three years ago, Todd Schoepflin wrote about his love of baseball and its sociological significance. As a father of young players, he noted its absence during the pandemic-related shutdown of 2020. Because of its interdependence, the way it helps us understand the roles of others, and how it illustrates how and why rules can be bent, baseball helps us learn a lot about social systems and social interactions.

Using Archival Data in Sociological Research

By Karen Sternheimer

A few years ago I wrote about comparative historical research, a method sociologists use that overlaps with historical research. Doing this type of research often requires us to use some form of archival data, something from the past that has been saved that we can go back to examine.

Archival data can take many forms, from information collected for the purpose of future research (like census data) to publications like newspapers and magazines and even personal journals and diaries that were not initially collected with research in mind.