Observation project

In a thorough and thoughtfully written paper, each student will utilize critical thinking skills as they practice being a sociologist. Students will communicate a clear understanding of the various sociological theories and concepts studied in this course. Students will illustrate their ability to distinctly evaluate what they have observed and synthesize that information using sociological tools such as:
The sociological perspective and sociological imagination;
Culture/subculture and their “components”;
Socialization (and how it is linked to the components of culture);
The four main sociological theories: Functionalism, Conflict Theory, Symbolic Interaction, and Postmodernism.
The objective of this assignment is for students to convey their ability to understand and evaluate messages; produce sociological arguments; acquire knowledge and evaluate the social world without bias; communicate reasoned conclusions based on sociological observation; exemplify intercultural understanding and competence; examine unfamiliar value systems employing sociological theories and skills.
Procedure: Choose a venue (place, location or situation) to observe and analyze as a sociologist would (standing outside and using the sociological perspective). When choosing a venue, consider how evidence of the sociological theories and concepts will be derived and analyzed in relation to the observations. Choice of venue MUST be an UNFAMILIAR setting.

Observe and reflect on observations. Stay at the venue for a minimum of one hour. One strategy to ensure understanding of all of the observed messages is to take notes while at the venue. In doing so, consider how sociological concepts will be evaluated and applied to the observations. When writing the paper, argue what a sociologist from each of the 4 sociological schools of thought would say about the listed observations. Additionally, describe how the sociological concepts relate to the real-world observations as outlined below. Moreover, offer conclusions regarding how the theories and concepts relate to the observations. Explain how the conclusions were reasoned.
Project ideas: Remember choice of location must be something out of your norm or comfort zone. In the introduction, a thorough discussion about why the location was chosen and how it is unfamiliar territory to you is required.
The following list of locations are merely ideas that past students have chosen because they had never participated in these activities:
District or Magistrate Court proceedings
Church service of a religion different from your own
Concert or professional sporting event that is different from your norm
Senior citizen center
Cultural event such as a fair, rodeo, powwow
Emergency room of a hospital
A store or restaurant that you have never patronized

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