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Blog #1: Sociological Frameworks & Theories

For this first blog post assignment, you will introduce your topic and describe how at least one sociological theory or framework can be used to understand your topic. You will also read your group’s blog posts and provide feedback as well as a self-assessment. To do so, please do the following steps.

Note that in addition to assigned readings and content I’ve posted onto Canvas until now, the following assignments lead up to (and thus help you write) this Blog Post #1:

THREE Steps for your Blog Post #1 Assignment

Step 1: Your Blog Post #1

This portion is worth 30 points.

For this first step, you will be writing up your Blog Post #1 according to the following criteria.

In order to share your Blog Post #1 on this discussion board, click the “Reply” button.

Criteria

Your blog post should be 3-4 paragraphs and at least 200 words. Please include in your blog post the following components:

1. Introductory paragraph, which tells us what sociological topic you selected and explains why this sociological topic is important. To do so, you could provide a brief anecdote from your life or describe an example from the news or social media. You could also (or instead) explain how or why this sociological topic is important to you and/or to your peers. The point is that you want your introductory paragraph to engage your readers in a thoughtful way. This paragraph should be at least 50 words.
2. Paragraphs 2-3 (you may do the following in 1 or 2 paragraphs), in which you will select one of the following theories/frameworks and reflect on how it helps us understand your topic. In other words, tell us how a sociologist would think about your topic from whichever theoretical paradigm/framework you choose from the list below. To do this, be sure to do the following in these paragraph(s):
   • The total of these 1-2 paragraphs should be at least 100 words.
   • Tell us which of the following theoretical paradigm or framework you will be using and underline, bold, or WRITE IN CAPITAL LETTERS the name of that theoretical paradigm/framework the first time you use it.
     • sociological imagination
     • structural functionalism
     • conflict theory
     • race conflict theory
     • symbolic interactionism
   • Tell us what the theoretical paradigm emphasizes when understanding and explaining the social world, and what the theoretical paradigm would emphasize in explaining the particular social phenomenon/topic you have chosen for your project. To do this, I suggest you first explain what the theoretical paradigm emphasizes more generally when understanding and explaining the social world and then connect that explanation specifically to relevant details of your topic.
   • In your explanation, include at least two of the central concepts of the theoretical paradigm and explain how it is relevant to your topic. To do this, I suggest you first identify and define (in your own words) at least two of the theoretical paradigm’s central concepts and then connect those to your topic. The central concepts are those that are bolded in the textbook’s that you’ve read or those that I italicized in my questions introducing each theoretical paradigm in the Canvas pages and .
   • Rely only on and incorporate class material (i.e., the textbook and videos/additional content I post on Canvas) in your explanation and application of the theoretical paradigm.
   • Write information you get from the textbook or additional content I post on Canvas in your own words. If you are using the exact wording of a long phrase, a sentence, or a passage from the textbook or content I post, put the exact wording in quotation marks.
   • Indicate in parentheses the sources from which you get the information or quotations that you use about the theoretical paradigm. Why do you do this? The reason is to help you get used to citing or indicating your sources, which is a main requirement in college classes. How do you do this? Whenever you write information about the theoretical paradigm, tell us where you got that information from by putting information about the source in parentheses. If you got the information from the textbook, you will put the last name of the author(s) and page number that the information comes from.
     • Following is an example of how to cite information gotten from the of A Sociology Experiment. Note that there are 3 authors of that chapter so I include all of their names. Note also that the sentence’s period goes after the last parenthesis:
       Karl Marx sees society as made up of social conflict between social classes (Khan, Sharkey and Sharp, pg. 9).
     • To cite content I posted on Canvas, such as from a video or something I wrote, you can write my last name and the title of the Canvas page it comes from. Here is an example of a sentence relying on information from content I posted, followed by the appropriate citation:
       Conflict theorists view society as made up of social classes that can be understood as the “haves” and “have-nots” (Jacob-Almeida, Videos about Theoretical Paradigms, Part 1).
3. Concluding paragraph, in which you briefly describe what in particular you would like to know more about the sociological topic you selected and explain why. Please be thoughtful in your explanation as to why you are interested in knowing that about your chosen topic — for example, how does it relate to your experiences and/or observations of the social world? What do you hope to do or accomplish by learning that about your topic? How might learning that about your topic change your outlook of the world or the topic? This paragraph should be at least 50 words.

Step 2: Your Feedback (Reply) to Classmates’ Blog Posts

This portion is worth 5 points.

For this portion of the assignment, you are to read all of your group mate’s blog posts and reply to at least 5 of them.

For instructions on how to respond to a classmate’s reply, and scroll down to “Thread a Discussion Reply.”

Your responses should do more than just say “good job” or “I agree.” To do so, please do the following:

1. Connect the blog posts to course material.
2. Ask at least one question.
3. Inform your group mate if you know more about the topic that may help them.

Step 3: Moderate Your Blog Post

This portion is worth 5 points.

You are responsible for moderating the discussion (thread of responses) on your blog post. To do so, read your classmates’ responses to your blog post and reply to each of them at least one time. You can do so by answering your classmates’ questions and, if you like, asking follow up questions. Please seek out additional information if it is necessary to answer your classmates’ questions.

Grading

To access the rubric for this Blog Post assignment, select the “more” icon (the vertical line of 3 dots) in the upper right hand corner of this page. If you are accessing this course by using the Canvas Student App, you will not see the icon. Instead, please use the menu to locate the rubric.

If you need more help locating the rubric, .

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