Applying a theoretical perspective
Sociological theory creates ways to understand the social world by having different theories to explain understand social life. It aids to make sense of this social world. It draws together a wide range of perspectives to help provide the fullest picture. (Macionis & Plummer p.36) It shows that one theory can explain something that another cannot or not in the same way with the same intentions. The best way to show your understanding of social theory is to take a theoretical perspective and apply it to some real-world example. This could be anythinghow smart phones are changing interpersonal communication or identity formation; why people often vote against their own self-interests; whether higher education is becoming more McDonaldized; how women choose their life mates; what is the determinant factor of academic achievement for first-generation college students.
For this semester, we will have used the global pandemic as our template for exploring theory. We have we taken a closer view of ways in which the pandemic affects our lives, our interactions, the institutions on which we depend, etc. There are many ways we can do thatwe could look at how social isolation affects interaction, affects use of phone apps like Face Time, affects employment (including your own work), affects family or household interaction, trips to the grocery store, your own online education. The key is not your subject so much as your ability to demonstrate how a social theory helps shed light and insight on your subject, perhaps even helps predict where things might be headed in the future.
ONCE YOU SELECT YOUR ISSUE LET ME KNOW FOR ACCEPTANCE!!
How youll be evaluated on your paper:
State the Social Issue to Theorize: You must select an issue prevalent in this pandemic such as racial discrimination in healthcare, political climate in the United States, impact of COVID-19 on education, small businesses, marriages, mental health, economic viability of the Black community, social protests and police brutality.
Describe the theory: Describe and explain the theory youve chosen to explain/predict some real-world phenomenon. Also discuss the theorist or theorists youre using in your paper, with some biographical background as well. Make the theorists come alive like we almost hearing from Durkheim, DuBois, Weber, Adams, Marx, Engel, etc. during today (at such as time as this). Provide a justification and a sense of some other possibly competing theoretical perspectives you considered (in other wordsyoull have to do some research). Also keep in mind some of those important concepts that help to define and describe theory. Develop a clearly stated research question to study. Example: To what extent has CV-19 impacted the level of life satisfaction of single mothers of children attending virtual school from home?
Apply the Theory: Demonstrate an ability to apply the theory to the situation or topic youve chosen. While you described the setting or real-world situation (social issue) youve chosen, in this section you will show how the theory youve chosen helps understand or explain what is happening. This is how you will show that you understand the theoryby laying out the key variables, how they might even be measured or tested, what kinds of outcomes you would expect to see if the theory made predictions, etc. How would you utilize the theoretical framework to study? How is it relevant and fit to view the issue?
Testing the theory. Select any type of media source to better understand the context of your selected topic – social issue. Examples of media source analysis includes but not limited to graphs, interviews, speeches, debates, song lyrics, news clippings, social media postings. You should view three to five pieces of work so in essence, you will utilize a content analysis or secondary analysis, or even a survey as possible methodological approaches (depending on your theoretical framework.
Theorizing your way. As you have dived deeper into understanding sociological theory, you have been exposed to various ways on studying social phenomena. In this section, treat it like a conclusion. Restate (not reexplain) the social issue; the theory; the methodology used and provide recommendations. You should offer ways to expand your study to make it more theoretically sound and/or significant. What would you add to the theoretical framework to gain even more insight about your issue/topic? Develop a theory by explaining what its general premise is and concepts are. Yes, you are coining a new theory. For instance, if you use critical race theory, you can expand it may be by pulling central concepts from womanist theory to developing a theory of women taking care of their communities by any means necessary. It could be called momma bearing. You can play on various sayings, crabs in a bucket, pay to play, fake it to make it, say my name, losing to win, count your blessings, etc. Have fun. Study various macro and micro theories. Read various articles that have used your selected theory and pull from them to build beyond expand it.
Writing and organization. Your writing should be mercilessly proofread, and your thoughts organized coherently. All source youve used should be of good quality, citations consistent (again, when in doubt, use ASA), sources cited in the text of your paper and at the end in your reference list. You should go well beyond readings in assigned textbook. At least ten sources of good quality, and you should use credible sources in your description of the real-world setting/situations/issue also.
