There are 3 major paradigms, structural functionalism, conflict theory, and symbolic interactionism. Just by thinking back to how I react or my social behaviors I see that I use a piece from each of them when interacting with the people in my everyday life. However, I don’t always see the world completely through just one. With the structural functionalism, I understand the manifest and latent function. Understanding how something big can also have other reasoning. Like in a relationship with a significant other, the main expectation is to have love for that person. But you also do more than just love that person there is many other smaller actions that are played into that or that you learn. I have never really been a person to just throw someone into a group or label a person by their actions or behavior yet I can relate to gender conflict theory because of how I was raised and I feel like how you are raised has a huge impact on how you see the world. For instance, I was raised that woman are put on earth to be mothers, to cook, to clean, to do the necessary duties to keep a household in an organized functional manner. Men work and they take care of the bills come home and do chores as in yard work and maintenance. Now a day a middle-class household can only function if two people are working. That has to do a lot with the economy also. Woman also have a say and have pride now. They are allowed to express how they feel and have goals when in the past they were not allowed to. So now that my childhood and being an adult (having better understanding of the world plus social expectations) they contradict each other. So therefore, are torn between being old fashioned and doing what I enjoy. Symbolic interactionism is so easy to understand yet complex at the same time. We use different hand signals to say hello, goodbye, or to show we care about someone else yet the signs we see as normal could mean something completely different in another country, to a different society. There is so much to learn about sociology and it is so interesting, but at the same time I feel it is a little overwhelming trying to understand different ways other people judge someone, label them, or put them as a statistic and all of those are done with different kind of mind sets. Like how you were raised, who your friends are, what music you listen to, or what religion you believe in. -Slimjim789
I totally agree with you on the gender conflict. By my up bringing I always believed the man worked and the woman stayed home and ran the household. As a child I had plans to marry and be a stay at home mom, but as I have grown into adulthood this is not reality. You made a good point when you spoke about the economy and the affects it has on a one income household. In today's society it is impossible to survive with only one income, unless you are making millions of dollars. In my current situation our household had two incomes but my husband's health got the best of him. He is unable to work. Today I provide the income source. We struggled and still struggle to provide the necessary essentials for our family. Granny789
In today’s society, it is necessary in most families that both parents work. I was raised in a broken home and my father raised my two brothers and I. He was single for the majority of my childhood and worked many jobs to make sure that we have food and clothing and were taken care of properly. Even when he remarried, my step mother needed to work for them to provide for all of us. We had a blended family which consisted of 6 children who all played sports and had other extracurricular activities that required money. While it would have been nice for my step mother to not have to work and take care of the house and children, I believe there were unintended (latent) functions that taught all of us children to do housework and care a little for ourselves to help out our parents. MommaJ789
This young lady makes a good point when she talks about the two different ways to describe a rubber ball that is bouncing. Is it really all that scientific jargon about all those different kinds of forces being held together at the quantum scale, or is it just some grams of rubber moving through space? I think it is very profound, and something I probably never would have thought about if she had not explained that the way we describe a rubber ball bouncing is definitely going to greatly affect further explanation and questioning about the ball.
She also brings up another good point about interpretation when she said that when most of us see someone wave at us, that is exactly what they are doing, they are just saying hello. But that is only understood because it is an agreed symbol of a greeting. In a few different movies, one person went to shake another person’s hand, and the other person had no clue what they were doing or why. That is such an awesome example of how different people interpret and understand different things in life. So waving your hand at someone is almost surely symbolic interaction, but is it raw fact or interpretation? I almost think that its raw fact either way, but it is interpretation only if both people understand what someone waving their hand at you means. So when she says that raw facts always need some kind of perspective in order to make them useful, that is a very profound point to me, because I never really thought about it before how drastically different something so simple could be looked at because of how it was originally explained. And obviously, this will drastically affect any further explanation about it and any questions raised and answered as well. -Thanos789
Symbolic interactionalism and interpretation were some of my favorite points made as well! Reading a lot of the other entries has gotten me thinking about how all over the world our common gestures don't necessarily mean the same thing, and that, like language, we have evolved a complicated and nuanced non-verbal communication system. We have assigned meaning to a series of movements, and agreed upon its meaning according to our geographical location, or our nationality, in some cases our social status or as you cite, social awkwardness (I've done the handshake thing. It was even more painful in reality than on the silver screen.) Perspective is a funny thing, because everyone's perspective, as you say, is going to be different. One person (me) is going to be going to be going in for a handshake, and someone else (someone sane), is going to have absolutely no clue what they are doing or why. And I think that's how paradigms become connected, actually, because we start out with symbolic interactionalism here, and then we end with a need for conflict resolution. Maybe that's a bit extreme for a hit and a miss handshake, but in a different situation of differing perspectives, the sociology comes together beautifully. -Buwowski222
With waving as a sign as hello or a handshake meant as a greeting in some countries giving a hug or a kiss on the cheek is how they say hello and personally if someone I was meeting tried to kiss me on the cheek or hug me I would be taken back and back away since that is not how society here says is an acceptable way to greet someone you are meeting. Thus for the USA’s society waving your hand at someone could be considered a raw fact but in countries that do not have that as a social norm it would be an interpretation on what that gesture, waving your hand, is supposed to be taken as. With that being said I’m pretty sure if any of us go to another country we would almost be immediately identified as Americans and they would most likely know what we meant by it since most of the world can use English and yet Americans typically do not know another language. Cassiopia789
I thought that was an interesting point too! It reminded me of cultural differences, where different groups of people associate different meanings to social situations. So, what’s normal in America could be rude in Japan, and what’s friendly in some random country, could be a personal boundary crossing here. (Like that kissing cheeks example that is pointed out above me). Different meanings don’t necessarily translate to unacceptable behavior here, but might come across as strange, weird, too friendly, or too cold. I agree that this is very profound, since it shows the complexities of human thoughts and interactions, along with the meanings that seem insignificant but are quite important. Papyrus789
The video taught us about theoretical paradigms and the three major paradigms: structural functionalism, conflict theory, and symbolic interactionalism. Structural functionalism sees society almost as a living being, with smaller parts, or social structures, working toward the health of the whole. When things go awry, however, it is seen as a “deviance” from the norm, which things go wrong all the time so this paradigm has limitations when it comes to dealing with change. It also taught us a little about functions of social structures. Take, for example, a job. Its manifest functions, or obvious ones, are to provide a service or product and more specific skills for workers, whereas its latent, or unrecognized, function is that it teaches professionalism. Like social functions, there are also social dysfunctions, which are disruptions to the societal order. The most important social structure in my life growing up was school. I enjoyed pouring myself into my books and looked up to my teachers. My middle school experience was integral to my success today, being a more challenging school and a lot of the experiences there have shaped who I have become, proving the latent functions of school. Next was conflict theory, which sees society as different groups struggling over scarce resources, such a money, land, or power. Unlike structural functionalism, it sees change as fundamental. For example, it sees democracy as a capitalistic way of controlling society. Fundamental conflict theories mentioned were class conflict, race conflict, and gender conflict. Class conflict looks at inequalities between laborers and higher class. Race conflict theory focuses on the inequality between people of different racial groups. Lastly, gender conflict notices the differences between men and women. Even further than gender conflict, there are feminist sociologists, another form of conflict theory, which observes women in relation to power, which looks at a micro and macro level. Symbolic interactionalism is the only approach out of the three that has the most micro perspective, meaning it focuses mainly on individuals and a narrower focus. This paradigm is the one I mostly “agree” with, in a sense. It sees society as a product of everyday social interactions. Speaking of micro, the opposite is macro which is a broader focus. The two are however, connected. The small influences the big and the big influences the small, which is good to consider. Overall, the video was very informative and the mode of teaching was easily understandable and fun to listen to. Catzfuhdays789
I agreed with you that this video is very fun to listen to and the information is good as teaching. It may too fast for me to understand every sentence but finally, I got them after rewatched several times with the paused button. I learned the same as what you said about 3 types of paradigm, their views and their disadvantages. I like your examples of jobs and school. They are very good to demonstrate the meaning. I like all the examples she gave for each term because they make me understand more and have fun when I think about the subjects. Sociology involved a lot of things and even their research methods also very interested in the ways they look and define the society.
Starting this video when she talks about Science, I never picture Sociology being in the definition of Science. I learned that Sociology deals with the social part of world which she explains Sociology can use a scientific method, relies on data, and graphs. When discussing a positive theory and normative theory, I learned that a positive theory is a objective and fact based while a normative theory is a subjective and value base. Learning about positivist sociology where the study of society based on systematic observations of social behavior. Scientist would have to set aside their beliefs and values so they can look at things as neutral observes and use empirical evidence to answer questions. When it comes to quantitative research the study of observable relationships in the world, you have to use mathematical or statistical methods. You can use descriptive date in quantitative research which describes facts relevant to the research your looking at. When it gets to the part of the mean when looking at graphs that says, the sum is all the information divided by the number of observations. You also have the mode which is the most common observation in all samples. Another type of evidence scientist use is qualitative date, which is information not in numerical form. One thing I learned is that is quoted from the video is that not everything you want to know about society is going to fit into observable or measurable categories. When Elton Mayo did his experiment where he traveled to a job site and made a goal on how to make his worker work more proactively. He split the workers into two groups with group one being the experimental group and group two just the control group where he left them alone and observed the same conditions through out the experiment. In the end, Mayo observed that his group one was only working harder because they knew he was observing him and not because of anything else so him observing that let others know that if others knew about their plan that the people would act differently calling it the Hawthorne effect. Learning the humans and their behavior can be scientifically challenging was put in a form that I would not usually look at. If you look at it from the side of positively sociology is that not all social facts can be applied to all people in different time periods. Her example using a book was a great example because you cant convince someone its the best book every because that would be known as objective vs subjective is an idea that is created on your own feelings. Looking into objective and subjective, can lead you to interpretative sociology which is the study of society that focuses on the meanings that people attach to their social world. Interpretative sociologist will approach their subjects with the aim of seeing the world from their subject's perspective rather than through quantitative data that is presented. When critical sociology which is the study of society that focuses on the need for social change comes into place, the ideas of it stated from Jane Addams developed an organization that provided housing and education in Chicago for low income families. He didn't just come up with the organization but he also study the subject of low income families and their living. unknownzeeha789
Social paradigms allow us to think about things and use concepts and theories that frame our perspective on certain topics. Theoretical paradigms are key in sociology, which is the fundamental assumptions that sociologists have about the social world that guide their thinking and research. Using scientific disciplines to make assumptions about the world with different perspectives depending on the questions asked. However, raw facts do not interpret themselves. They are simple descriptions. That is why we need to look at all levels of society from the high to the low. You cannot have the macro without the micro. There are three types of social paradigms. Social functionalism that originated from Emile Durkheim. Society is seen as a complex system whose parts work together to initiate stability and social order. Within the structural functionalism are social structures that fulfill social functions, manifest and latent. Manifest function is the intended or obvious consequences of a structure. Latent function is unintended or unrecognized consequences. I liked the example she gave with the schooling. Schools provides the education and training children need to prepare for adulthood and the work force, but not knowing the educators are instilling social skills and responsibility as well. When comparing public schooling to home schooling both has the same manifest function of educating and instilling knowledge but the latent function of home schooling I believe children will struggle to socially interact with their peers. Social dysfunction is any social pattern that disrupts the smooth operation of society. Today’s technology is awesome but has its ups and downs. Computers and machines are a great asset for a company, but workers could possibly be replaced by computers or machines leading to the unemployment rate increasing. The structural functionalism focuses on how big the structures fit together. The conflict theory focuses on how society defines sources of inequality and conflict. There is the class conflict theory, race conflict theory, and gender-conflict theory. I would like to speak upon the race conflict theory. Growing up on the south side of Peoria as a Black American I felt we did not have the same opportunities or resources given to Caucasian kids growing up in “rich” neighborhoods. Why is that? Society made us feel that if you were not a certain color or race you were limited to certain things. We were stuck and the only way out is to play basketball, football, etc. That’s the only thing we could do so we remained in our own society and did not see the big picture that we could be more than rappers, or sports players. We can be teachers, doctors, lawyers, nurses, or even the POTUS. Symbolic interactionism makes you think about the small everyday social interactions. She talked about the simple waving hello. It means “hello” because we gave it that meaning. Even though this is a common gesture in America, it is very offensive in Greece. Using the thumbs up gesture which means everything is okay or you agree but in Bangladesh the thumbs up gesture is used as an insult. In certain parts of the Middle East the thumbs up are a highly offensive thumb down. The come here gesture is used in America to have someone step forward but in Asia this is not welcome it’s only used to call dogs and you will be arrested in the Philippines. Granny789
Your post was spot on, literally. Although not mentioned directly, diversity is very important, especially in school aged children. My thoughts are that this particular dynamic will help with the connection of the macro and micro issues affecting our society. Perhaps even bridging/narrowing the gap on racism some day. The latter part of your post was very informative and more of an "good to know" just in case I were to travel to Greece(which is on my bucket list) or the Philippines. I had never given much thought to how "common gestures" used here in America may not be so common in other parts of the world as I would not want too offend anyone nor end up in jail for being what I thought/was taught, as polite.
Having taken this class before in high school, just this one video has opened my eyes so much. The video explained that there are three main sociological paradigms along with how society is seen as a whole. It explains how things in the world can be viewed in different ways based on groups in society. Like the example the video used with the protestors blocking the road. They could disrupting society or trying to get their message through. It all depends on how you look at it. Just like the micro and macro perspectives of sociology. The macro perspective looks at the big picture things and problems around the world, while the micro looks at more individual interactions or interactions within a community. However, both the micro and macro perspectives are both always tied together as one could affect the other. As stated earlier, there are three sociological paradigms. The first one being structural functionalism, which was first created by Emile Durkheim. He looked at society as a whole as a living being. With sociological problems acting like illnesses. The structural functionalists perspective looks at different parts of society called social structures, or patterns of society. Those structures create special social functions, like the example used in the video that a parent's job is to socialize their kids and teach them right from wrong etc. The functions however, come with two different categories. One category is Manifest, which is basically all the intended things about it. And Latent which is the unintended. For example kids in sports, the manifest function would be exercise and having fun. The latent function would be character building and the attention to follow directions. The next paradigm is the conflict theory. The conflict theory basically explains that there are certain sociological groups fighting over scarce resources. The video used money, power and land as examples. Karl Marx explained how the main struggle in society is the division of class. There were the capitalist and the working class or poor. Since then there are many different categories of conflict theory including race, and gender. Finally, the last paradigm is symbolic interactionism. It deals with the sociological problems on the micro side of the spectrum. Like how and why people do what they do in everyday life. It looks at human interactions and why we do what we do. Like why is a handshake with our right hand and why does it mean hello. Or why is our pet our pet and not food. All of these questions have different meanings based on the person and where they are from hence the micro side. Navajo789
I actually learned a lot from this video. She breaks down some pretty complex concepts and makes them very easy to understand, although she does talk really fast. Take for instance the concept of how the scales of sociology work which are macro and micro. The example she used what how macro and micro come into play with healthcare. She used the example of how a doctor talks to a patient differently to patients of different races(micro) but can also help understand the larger picture of racial differences in healthcare. When broken down in examples like that, it’s very easy to understand. The three main social paradigms she talks about are structural functionalism, conflict theory and symbolic interaction. Structural functionalism was pioneered Emile Durkheim, which I briefly studied in psychology. This is where society works together as a complex system that has multiple parts to promote stability and social order. Families play an important role for teaching kids social interaction and how to behave in “normally” in society. Places like schools play a combination role. They can serve to educate our children, helping build valuable skills for later in life and can also serve to assist with the socialization aspect as well. Conflict theories think that people, or groups of people are fighting over different resources. All three of the conflicts she discusses we can see everyday. We see the class conflict by people earning, fighting or manipulating their way to the top of the a specific class. A type of gender conflict we see commonly is the Wage Gap fight. Where men typically earn more money than women. We also see it in our history with women have to essentially fight for their right to vote. Race conflict we hear and see all the time as well. Turn on any news network and you can see countless examples of this. The last type of paradigm she discussed what the symbolic interaction. This one was harder for me to understand until she gave the example of how waving her hand was raw fact because we, as a society, have given that gesture the meaning of hello. But that type of symbol can mean different things to people in different societies. The peace sign is not universally accepted as peace. In another country if could be a symbol of hate or a symbol of hello. I really enjoyed how she applied real life examples to help get the point of each paradigm across. - pmed789
I also felt i learnt a lot from this video. I think she did break it down well, but the pace she used made me have watch parts over. I feel school does have a major part in children, but the main source is family like you stated. A teacher or faculty member can try and help a child interact more and become more social, but if they don't grow up in a social household. They might not be able to pen up or change. Unless they see their family also expect change. Another thing that caught my eye was gender conflict and the wage gap fight I didn't know that was an actually fight. It's hard to see that women can now run for president but they can still not be hired at some places because a woman can't work like a man. Its horrible! I feel no matter how much we would like it we will never fully change the conflicts. Bathrooms are public to all races but racism still exists. Men like our president still think men and women aren't equal. Sadly I believe this will always be an issue. -Gander789
I also agree that I did learn a lot from this video. The micro and macro really help breakdown some of the social issues in the world. Like the gender and racial differences we have. It also helps, as you said, see the way doctors treat different patients. Looking at the big picture and then a more focused picture will always help to understand things better. I also agree with what you said about social interaction. The example I used is the handshake. Even though it means friendship in our country, doesn’t mean it would mean something completely different in another. Navajo789
After watching the video I understood that sociology is a social science that looks for explaining how sociology studies society, big and small groups, for later to explain why society, big and small groups, behave in a specific way. The professor in the video explains that sociologists track different behaviors of the society, and groups following paradigms. Paradigms are the model of thinking of the people of that society or group, and those models of thinking are things that are accepted as true without proof. However, those paradigms are the basic source that sociologists have about the social world to guide their thinking and research to get answers to their questions. Also I realize that the sociology study society looking it as a large-scale structure and also as a small. That means that sociologists ask macro questions like “what caused the racial disparities in healthcare?” or micro questions like “Do doctors talk to patients of different races differently?”, but understanding that the big and the small are always connected. Finally, I also realize that there are three sociological paradigms that sociology use to explain how society influences people and how people influences society: structural functionalism, conflict theory, and symbolic, and interactionism. The_soccer_league789
Paradigms aren't just found in sci-fi novels, who knew? In fact, they seem to play a major role in sociology, both on a macro and micro level. Structural functionalism for example, effects all of us, seeing as we're all part of the system. We are students, and students are part of one of the social institutions that structural functionalism tries to decode. College. Government, education, law, all of these would fall under the sociological reign of structural functionalism, and all of these unavoidably effect anyone who doesn't live in a shed in the woods. Another macro paradigm is conflict theory. We all deal with conflicts, and though I'm sure symbolic interactionism would make us feel like those conflicts were very important and socially relevant, conflict theory is on a whole other level. Karl Marx, famous for his fiery propaganda, hatred of the bourgeoisie, and love of the color red, was the father of class based conflict theory. Rich vs. poor. The one percent vs. the ninety nine. But there's more to the world than money- said everyone with money. There's race inequality, gender inequality, bias against sexuality, bias against religion. Conflict resolution seeks to find an amicable ending for those in dispute. And though within both these paradigms there are many micro questions and hypotheses we can put forth, such as the in video example of 'Why do Doctors talk to different races differently?' as a micro question in conflict resolution context, compared to the macro question of 'What are the racial disparities in medicine?" Among the three paradigms in the video, there is only one that is mainly micro. Symbolic interactionism. This may be my favorite, because it is individual and person focused. It allows us to think that what we do, and what others do to us truly matters and has a lasting effect on society and ourselves. The way that people communicate, interpret each others words and actions, and act themselves, can truly shape society, in my opinion. These paradigms, both micro and macro are just reflections of human life, as all sociology is. Buwowski222
Your view on symbolic interactionism coincides with mine! It is nice to know that a fellow classmate agrees with the importance of this paradigm. It truly is a reflection of human life. Thank you for sharing your view on conflict theory and resolution. I find that paradigm to be the most challenging to find resolutions to. When it comes to social conflicts there is always two sides to the story and finding a middle ground takes some work. Especially when everyone has a different perspective of reality. It's interesting to think that everyone perceives good and bad differently. With some of the things you mentioned like race inequality and bias against sexuality I can only hope that we are progressing in a way to put an end to these conflicts. I look forward to discussing these things in class to see what some other classmates think. -QuinkThick789
In the video I found what basically is a paradigms is that is basically multiple forms a paradigms like structural functionalism , conflict theory and symbolic interactionism. And the video shows a break down on what is sociology . now I understand on what is sociology that is studied pretty much everything. The video has very good example of each topic . I could understood the information in the video .The diagrams the video really help In understanding on what the video trying to say. The difference what is macro which is something big like how the economy changes. Or micro which is something small like a doctor treats a patients of different races. It also talk each paradigms about who expire in the making like structural functionalism was expire by max weber which like to look at like religions or politics. structural functionalism has two parts which is social structures and social function . social structures is like the division of labor. There is two types social function that is manifest and latent . conflict theory was expire carl marx who look more economical way by looking at the people who has like land. symbolic interactionism was expire by W.E.B dubois is like an action that can change how it veiw ,that there are two different types of conflict theory that is race- conflict theory and gender – conflict theory. structural functionalism is how everything tie together. conflict theory is something that cause like waving your hand. I was surprised that paradigms has a lot information and description. That is good at the end that it gave an over view on the topic of the video. And a brief overview on what is sociology. That theoretical paradigms involve the theory of a topic in sociology. And compare it a bouncy ball for a physicist. Gamer789
Paradigms are patterns of how things are and how things are done within a society or a group. Those paradigms are different according to the culture, for instance in a country men wear trousers and in others they wear skirts as in Scotland, in the western world a woman is considered elegant wearing a beautiful dress in other countries can be covering the whole body and the face. Paradigms are models of people's thoughts of a society or group created and validated by themselves. I think the video tries to explain how the three models of sociology paradigms (structural functionalism, conflict theory and symbolic interactionism) that sociology uses are basically methodologies that sociologists use to investigate and find answers to why a society or group thinks and acts in a specific way. The_soccer_league789
Nicole Sweeney does a good job at explaining and giving great examples. She uses a good tone and for me I was kept engaged the entire time of this video however I did have to rewind a lot to figure out what she was saying since she was talking so fast. This did cause some issues for me but she still covered the points she wanted to and even went and discussed the sociologist that helped shape theoretical paradigms, Macro/Micro and the Major paradigms. Sweeney also does a good job at explaining the complexity of sociology and how massive the subject really is since it covers any and all interaction between people in every circumstance and of any variables that could be put into that situation. She brings in images and clip art in her video that kept me engaged in not only what she was saying. But it gave an image to associate it with and thus made it easier to connect the dots from sociologist to their theories and discussions. Personally I found her video to be really interesting and fun to watch all though it was difficult to retain all of the information in just one watch of the short 9min video, after re-watching it about two times it helped to drill in the information she was discussing and trying to get us to remember. With that being said, her video seemed more like a discussion between you and her rather than just sitting in the back of the room in a lecture hall being talked at then talked to. She keeps “eye contact” by looking at the camera almost the whole time making it seem like she genuinely is trying to talk to you and help you learn the information she is discussing. Cassiopia789
I also had to rewind and even replay the video a couple of times because it was hard for me to understand what she was saying sometimes because of how fast she was talking. I thought she did good at giving examples of what each thing was but it was overwhelming with how much information we got in such a short amount of time. I never realized how huge the subject is either, until this class. The pictures she posted helped me understand a little bit better as well. I think I would have been able to retain more information from this video if all the information had not been squeezed in to a nine-minute video. EPIC789
This video was interesting to say the least but it did not grab my attention right away. Giving real life examples throughout the video definitely helped bring everything she said together. The connection was there as such as the one between macro and micro as described when explaining the three different types of paradigms. The first being structural functionalism, where stability and social order are important. Secondly, conflict theory looks at different GROUPS of people based on domination, power, and competition for limited resources. Class conflict and gender conflict are two sub-categories of this theory. An example of gender conflict would when both a man and a woman have the same credentials, working within the same job position, yet the man is paid more. What are your thoughts on this matter, if any? And last but not least is symbolic interactionism, the only paradigm of the three that focuses on micro issues and interactions of everyday INDIVIDUALS. Here is an example: How I perceive all bugs as pest and bothersome, may not be your view of bugs at all. Yet me catching a butterfly one lovely summer day may shift my thought process from one of dislike too a much more comfortable state depending on my experience(s) as life goes on.
I do believe that the way in which you are brought up plays a huge role in how you socialize and/or view the world along with the people and things within it. For instance various cultures see direct contact as a sign of disrespect, for others eating together or having family gatherings are a way to maintain a strong bond and/or socialize(catch up) on past life events, otherwise missed.
And because of the big and small things in life, whatever your norm is, and the fact that our activities of daily living fits one of the many tiers of sociology, don't be afraid to expand your horizons or think outside the box of sorts. My hope is that you all have learned something from this video just as I did. I now have a better understanding of sociology and the paradigms within the discipline.
This video did a great job explaining sociological paradigms. It’s very interesting to think about these ways of thought and how they all tie together to make up society as we know it. These assumptions made about the social world is what makes up sociology. It is important to view things in different perspectives and realize that there are two sides to all social conflicts. To know that all scientific disciplines make assumptions about the world, it is easier to understand the process of understanding society. It all depends on which scope you choose to look at things. For example, a high unemployment rate could be looked at on the level of single individuals, or could be looked at on a statewide scale and the effect on the economy. Essentially, viewing things on a macro and micro scale is vital in understanding social structures. I think in most cases, viewing both thoroughly can give us good insight to the issue at large.
I have an issue with the structural functionalist point of view. Maybe it’s because I typically view the mold of society as backwards and not liberating. I think we need to focus less on this paradigm and more on symbolic interactionism. “If you want to change the world, go home and love your family.” This quote means more to me than big political revolutions or changes on the bigger scale. Not to say that big changes aren’t necessary for a progressive society, but these changes don’t happen unless individuals are making them happen. Before a revolution can happen in the streets, it first has to happen in the mind. We do in fact create our own reality, through language and interactions with others. Nothing would be “real” without us saying it was “real.” Therefore, we have the power to manifest these social changes. -QuinkThick789
As the lady in the video started talking and bringing up examples it made me think about how sociology is literally everything that we do. In the video, she talked about the three different types of paradigms. Paradigms explain how society influences people, and how people influence society. The three types were structural functionalism, conflict theory, and symbolic interactionalism. Structural functionalism is seeing society as stable and fundamentally functional. Conflict theories put society in to different groups based on what the struggle of resources is. The example she used was power, money, land, and food. She talked about how under capitalism there were to classes the bourgeoise or the proletariat. The bourgeoise were the people who won the production and the proletariat had to sell all their labor to live. Symbolic interaction is focusing on one individual person’s social situation. Honestly for me the video was a little bit overwhelming and hard for me to follow along at times. I think there was just so much information thrown at you at once and she was talking fast it was hard to even focus on her main points of the video. I watched the video three times and had to keep stopping it to fully understand some of the things she was saying. The examples she gave were good though because it did help me understand some things a little bit better. The example about school was interesting, I never thought of it being anything else than going to school to learn when really it is helping socialize children. Another interesting example she gave was about poverty. This could be bad because like she said it ensures that there are people that want to work when really it is a much bigger issue than people wanting to work. EPIC789
To be honest, I can only understand half of the video and be confusing when she talks about three paradigms at the first time I watched. Like other crash course videos, the video was actually very good in teaching us information about paradigms but she is speaking too fast. I can't pick up all good ideas or examples in second, I need time to digest the information. So, for the second time watching, I paused the video and open the caption when she talking and try to understand every word she said. That when I actually understand what is society perspective and how we use paradigm theories to look at our society. And there are 3 types of paradigms, which sociologists can use to research in sociology, are structural functionalisms, conflict theory, and symbolic interactionism.
I understand that structural functionalism belief that social structures fulfilling social functions or social dysfunctions and any change to social structure view as damage the society. In contrast, the conflict theory view conflict between different classes as fundamental of society and caused the change to happen over time. While both structural functionalism and conflict theory works on macro or big scale of social structure, symbolic interactionism works on micro or small scale instead which focused on the interactions between individuals to their social situation. Like what she said, paradigms just like we used the different lens to see different parts of society on different scales.
She has tried to deliver those complex information as simple as she can by giving us many good examples, pictures, and metaphors which I very appreciated. Those examples help me a lot to understand the terms meaning such as the poverty example to show disadvantage of structural functionalism, the doctor example to show connect of micro and macro, and "dog is food or friend'. In Dr. Loki video about sociology, she has said about paradigm too but I still don’t quite understand them until my second time of watching this video. And besides, crash course videos always have more fun than because it has animation. I thought animation or pictures can help us to be more understand and remembering the information.
Wow. I honestly was a little overwhelmed by all of the material she crammed in 9 minute video. I watched it twice and was still hard to keep it all straight. I can tell that it has been many years since going to school and it will hopefully not take very long to adjust. I am hoping that my own model of thinking will change and that my perspective about going back to school at age 40 will not only change but help others see that this is still an option that is doable for adults of non-traditional college age. Thinking of Structural Functionalism and having all parts working together makes me think of myself and going back to school. There are so many parts that have to work together for me to be successful in completely my goals. I still have to work, so I have to manage my time effectively to complete not only all of my own work tasks, but household chores, taking care of my children and their needs, as well as my own. I am trying to overcome the gender conflict theory in my family of previous generations where only men have college degrees. I will, after this class, not only be the only women to complete a college degree, but the only person back to my great grandfather to complete a Bachelor’s Degree. It makes be very proud to say that hard work does pay off and there are many theories in society that I like to prove when it comes to women and equality in the home and workforce. MommaJ789
I agree with you that the material in this video was overwhelming. I had a hard time keeping it straight too! I love how you are overcoming the gender conflict to gain your degree! It can be very difficult to overcome those chasms in how people see us when we decide to do something for our own benefit, especially in education, if they see our end goal (be it a degree or a job) as something traditionally masculine that we as women aren't encouraged to engage in. All the more power to you for taking this final step towards your degree!
Sociological paradigms aren’t something I had ever thought about prior to watching this video. Indeed, it took me several times watching the video to take notes and understand exactly what was going on. The video goes quite fast-paced and feels like a set of cliff notes on extreme amounts of caffeine, but I enjoyed the challenge it presented me. I liked how it touched on all of the major parts of the three main social paradigms as well as giving us a quick look into what these theoretical paradigms are and very practical applications of them in our lives.
The three main sociological paradigms are Structural functionalism, conflict theory, and symbolic interactionism. Structural functionalism is the theory that everything in life is like a well-oiled clock, with all parts working smoothly together for stability and social order with the greater good in mind. Emile Durkheim thought that any deviation from this was caused by a malfunction, illness, or other negative cause. The social structures, such as families, are there to show young humans the socially acceptable way to act and behave.
Conflict Theory is the theory that society is comprised of groups that are in direct competition for resources such as food, fuel, or shelter. Carl Marx saw it as class-conflict between the Capitalists, those who owned the factories and manufacturing facilities, and the Proletariat, those whose labor powered and fueled those same factories and facilities. This view states that conflict is what drives society on toward accomplishments and goals.
Both the theories of Structural functionalism and conflict are considered macro theories, because they look at society as a large organism moving and changing. Symbolic interactionism, however, is built to deal with questions on a micro level. It first appeared in the research of Max Weber, who focused on finding a greater understanding. He believed that Sociology needed to focus more on the individual and how they handled conflict and assigned personal meaning to the things they experienced. Symbolic interactionism functions on the understanding that society is really just made up of all the small little details of life.
These paradigms took quite some time for me to wrap my mind around, and I look forward to learning more about how they work in my own life and the world in which we all live in.
This video really helped me to see Sociology in a different way and she helped to explain that in sociology you do come in with fundamental assumptions and you have to in order for you to be able to study and answer the questions that are being asked of you. If you don't then you wont be able to really answer it because you will have no bases to go off of and you wont have a starting point. That's how I think of them as starting points to help you get started but then they might change as you go on or they might not it depends on what you find when you do the study and see the data. But you have to have them in order to even start to even think of the question or ideal. And she also taught me that sometimes there may be no exact right answer because there can be many different perspectives in sociology and they can all be right but of course it depends on the question that is being asked and the data. But perspective does in fact play a huge role in sociology and that often times in society we can overlook each others perspective and often times assume that our answer is the only one when if fact the person next to us could be right to. And so she taught me that when you study sociology you have to do it from many different perspectives to really see it clearly and to answer the question as accurately as you possibly can. Paradigms did take me a while to get but know that I do I think that I can start to look from them within society and see if I have any and how they can affect my study of sociology. She also bought to my attention that when studying sociology you have to have a very open mind and ask deeper questions then just surface level ones because you want to get to the root of why society works the way it does and how it does. But if you only ask surface level questions then you can never get to a deeper understanding of society and how it operates on a day to day bases. But I really do like how she broke down the big words and concepts throughout the video and really explained it to a level I could understand. And once I got it I actually could think of examples on my own of what she was talking about and I could see that sociology really isn't a hard concept because I do it every single day and that it's just the fundamentals of society and that studying it is really something that I do every day weather I know it or not. But she really offered a general perspective on the it and I like that she used real world examples things that are relevant to me and that I could actually picture in my mind and I could make sense of what she was talking about based off of that as well it helped me to visualize it and then also to remember the subject because I'll remember the examples. Buttercup789
Crash course is a free educational web series on YouTube that gives you the quickest and easiest breakdown of different topics in their own playlists. In this episode, they introduce major sociological paradigms. They simply explain how sociologists question different things in a very big perspective, or a very small, focused one. Straightforwardly, the speaker informs us that there are three main paradigms: structural functionalism, conflict theory, and symbolic interactionism. At around this time, the first things I notice is that Crash course moves at a fast pace, obviously suited toward giving out information that can be repeated through rewinding on YouTube, and that they go straight to the point to tell their audience (who could be a curious child or a sociology Professor) what these paradigms are so that anyone can understand. Crash course also uses colorful imagery and effects to keep the viewers’ attention, and to help them understand difficult concepts. They explain that these paradigms are different perspectives of society, and use analogies to make it easier to understand. They list the advantages and disadvantages of each paradigm, but finish the crash course saying that they are all important for the investigation of sociological questions that sociologists ask. This video taught me what the structural functionalism paradigm is, which is seeing society as a system that work together much like a body system. It strikes me as an idealistic view of what society is, with just malfunctions. Manifest and latent functions consequences intrigue me because of how our expectations go along with latent consequences that are seen in many places, like how you are raised, who you’re friends with, and so on. This explanation leads to conflict theories in the video, where it imagines society as fighting groups that want resources. The gender conflict theory is something many people think about, since it’s about the social inequalities between men and women. Both have unrealistic expectations, with high standards like “don’t be feminine as a man” and “don’t be masculine as a woman” since for a long time, not going along with traditional gender roles made you strange and unlovable. It’s tough what both genders go through, with society’s expectations of being strong, or super skinny, and being flawless everywhere while shutting away your emotions. Symbolic interactionism focuses on the meaning we attach to social situations, which reminds me of cultural differences, where looking someone in the eye is disrespectful in one culture, but respectful in another (which leads to misunderstandings). All in all, all three paradigms seem to just look at society in different perspectives, like crash course mentioned at the end. Papyrus789
really like her introduction of the video where she ask “what is society exactly” and she start describing it as a well functioning whole or several competing groups struggling for control or maybe just people doing their very own thing without being able to come with the right answer about the nature of society out of the three models that she has provided. Society as well oiled machine, as group of competing interests, and people interacting with each other. The three models provided in the video are all important to observe and try to understand a little bit more about social behavior based on different perspectives essentially leading to pattern of discipline. Sociological Theoretical Paradigms which are based on fundamental assumptions of sociologists about the world of sociology being these assumptions the ones who lead their research and thinking about sociology. These types of behavior leads to many assumptions provided these paradigms in instead of just empirical reality. However the logical assumptions are going to be made to understand the way society works in a macro or a micro level. Social structures has the assumption of well organized functioning society created by behavior and interactions with other individuals while going to schools and other types social dysfunctions to understand the meaning of social behavior like a waving hand by itself is just a movement but the sociological inference is taken as a waving hand just to say hello or at least assumed that this is the meaning of the waving hand because we recognize this as being the meaning of waving hand. I personally find these video very interesting because it has opened up my perception of social interaction in a different level by a little bit more understand of constructive paradigms and behaviors that can create a norm or behavioral pattern with in society. Koi789
There are 3 major paradigms, structural functionalism, conflict theory, and symbolic interactionism. Just by thinking back to how I react or my social behaviors I see that I use a piece from each of them when interacting with the people in my everyday life. However, I don’t always see the world completely through just one. With the structural functionalism, I understand the manifest and latent function. Understanding how something big can also have other reasoning. Like in a relationship with a significant other, the main expectation is to have love for that person. But you also do more than just love that person there is many other smaller actions that are played into that or that you learn. I have never really been a person to just throw someone into a group or label a person by their actions or behavior yet I can relate to gender conflict theory because of how I was raised and I feel like how you are raised has a huge impact on how you see the world. For instance, I was raised that woman are put on earth to be mothers, to cook, to clean, to do the necessary duties to keep a household in an organized functional manner. Men work and they take care of the bills come home and do chores as in yard work and maintenance. Now a day a middle-class household can only function if two people are working. That has to do a lot with the economy also. Woman also have a say and have pride now. They are allowed to express how they feel and have goals when in the past they were not allowed to. So now that my childhood and being an adult (having better understanding of the world plus social expectations) they contradict each other. So therefore, are torn between being old fashioned and doing what I enjoy. Symbolic interactionism is so easy to understand yet complex at the same time. We use different hand signals to say hello, goodbye, or to show we care about someone else yet the signs we see as normal could mean something completely different in another country, to a different society. There is so much to learn about sociology and it is so interesting, but at the same time I feel it is a little overwhelming trying to understand different ways other people judge someone, label them, or put them as a statistic and all of those are done with different kind of mind sets. Like how you were raised, who your friends are, what music you listen to, or what religion you believe in.
ReplyDelete-Slimjim789
I totally agree with you on the gender conflict. By my up bringing I always believed the man worked and the woman stayed home and ran the household. As a child I had plans to marry and be a stay at home mom, but as I have grown into adulthood this is not reality. You made a good point when you spoke about the economy and the affects it has on a one income household. In today's society it is impossible to survive with only one income, unless you are making millions of dollars. In my current situation our household had two incomes but my husband's health got the best of him. He is unable to work. Today I provide the income source. We struggled and still struggle to provide the necessary essentials for our family.
DeleteGranny789
In today’s society, it is necessary in most families that both parents work. I was raised in a broken home and my father raised my two brothers and I. He was single for the majority of my childhood and worked many jobs to make sure that we have food and clothing and were taken care of properly. Even when he remarried, my step mother needed to work for them to provide for all of us. We had a blended family which consisted of 6 children who all played sports and had other extracurricular activities that required money. While it would have been nice for my step mother to not have to work and take care of the house and children, I believe there were unintended (latent) functions that taught all of us children to do housework and care a little for ourselves to help out our parents. MommaJ789
DeleteThis young lady makes a good point when she talks about the two different ways to describe a rubber ball that is bouncing. Is it really all that scientific jargon about all those different kinds of forces being held together at the quantum scale, or is it just some grams of rubber moving through space? I think it is very profound, and something I probably never would have thought about if she had not explained that the way we describe a rubber ball bouncing is definitely going to greatly affect further explanation and questioning about the ball.
ReplyDeleteShe also brings up another good point about interpretation when she said that when most of us see someone wave at us, that is exactly what they are doing, they are just saying hello. But that is only understood because it is an agreed symbol of a greeting. In a few different movies, one person went to shake another person’s hand, and the other person had no clue what they were doing or why. That is such an awesome example of how different people interpret and understand different things in life. So waving your hand at someone is almost surely symbolic interaction, but is it raw fact or interpretation? I almost think that its raw fact either way, but it is interpretation only if both people understand what someone waving their hand at you means. So when she says that raw facts always need some kind of perspective in order to make them useful, that is a very profound point to me, because I never really thought about it before how drastically different something so simple could be looked at because of how it was originally explained. And obviously, this will drastically affect any further explanation about it and any questions raised and answered as well. -Thanos789
Symbolic interactionalism and interpretation were some of my favorite points made as well! Reading a lot of the other entries has gotten me thinking about how all over the world our common gestures don't necessarily mean the same thing, and that, like language, we have evolved a complicated and nuanced non-verbal communication system. We have assigned meaning to a series of movements, and agreed upon its meaning according to our geographical location, or our nationality, in some cases our social status or as you cite, social awkwardness (I've done the handshake thing. It was even more painful in reality than on the silver screen.) Perspective is a funny thing, because everyone's perspective, as you say, is going to be different. One person (me) is going to be going to be going in for a handshake, and someone else (someone sane), is going to have absolutely no clue what they are doing or why. And I think that's how paradigms become connected, actually, because we start out with symbolic interactionalism here, and then we end with a need for conflict resolution. Maybe that's a bit extreme for a hit and a miss handshake, but in a different situation of differing perspectives, the sociology comes together beautifully.
Delete-Buwowski222
With waving as a sign as hello or a handshake meant as a greeting in some countries giving a hug or a kiss on the cheek is how they say hello and personally if someone I was meeting tried to kiss me on the cheek or hug me I would be taken back and back away since that is not how society here says is an acceptable way to greet someone you are meeting. Thus for the USA’s society waving your hand at someone could be considered a raw fact but in countries that do not have that as a social norm it would be an interpretation on what that gesture, waving your hand, is supposed to be taken as. With that being said I’m pretty sure if any of us go to another country we would almost be immediately identified as Americans and they would most likely know what we meant by it since most of the world can use English and yet Americans typically do not know another language. Cassiopia789
DeleteI thought that was an interesting point too! It reminded me of cultural differences, where different groups of people associate different meanings to social situations. So, what’s normal in America could be rude in Japan, and what’s friendly in some random country, could be a personal boundary crossing here. (Like that kissing cheeks example that is pointed out above me). Different meanings don’t necessarily translate to unacceptable behavior here, but might come across as strange, weird, too friendly, or too cold. I agree that this is very profound, since it shows the complexities of human thoughts and interactions, along with the meanings that seem insignificant but are quite important. Papyrus789
DeleteThe video taught us about theoretical paradigms and the three major paradigms: structural functionalism, conflict theory, and symbolic interactionalism. Structural functionalism sees society almost as a living being, with smaller parts, or social structures, working toward the health of the whole. When things go awry, however, it is seen as a “deviance” from the norm, which things go wrong all the time so this paradigm has limitations when it comes to dealing with change. It also taught us a little about functions of social structures. Take, for example, a job. Its manifest functions, or obvious ones, are to provide a service or product and more specific skills for workers, whereas its latent, or unrecognized, function is that it teaches professionalism. Like social functions, there are also social dysfunctions, which are disruptions to the societal order. The most important social structure in my life growing up was school. I enjoyed pouring myself into my books and looked up to my teachers. My middle school experience was integral to my success today, being a more challenging school and a lot of the experiences there have shaped who I have become, proving the latent functions of school.
ReplyDeleteNext was conflict theory, which sees society as different groups struggling over scarce resources, such a money, land, or power. Unlike structural functionalism, it sees change as fundamental. For example, it sees democracy as a capitalistic way of controlling society. Fundamental conflict theories mentioned were class conflict, race conflict, and gender conflict. Class conflict looks at inequalities between laborers and higher class. Race conflict theory focuses on the inequality between people of different racial groups. Lastly, gender conflict notices the differences between men and women. Even further than gender conflict, there are feminist sociologists, another form of conflict theory, which observes women in relation to power, which looks at a micro and macro level.
Symbolic interactionalism is the only approach out of the three that has the most micro perspective, meaning it focuses mainly on individuals and a narrower focus. This paradigm is the one I mostly “agree” with, in a sense. It sees society as a product of everyday social interactions. Speaking of micro, the opposite is macro which is a broader focus. The two are however, connected. The small influences the big and the big influences the small, which is good to consider.
Overall, the video was very informative and the mode of teaching was easily understandable and fun to listen to.
Catzfuhdays789
I agreed with you that this video is very fun to listen to and the information is good as teaching. It may too fast for me to understand every sentence but finally, I got them after rewatched several times with the paused button. I learned the same as what you said about 3 types of paradigm, their views and their disadvantages. I like your examples of jobs and school. They are very good to demonstrate the meaning. I like all the examples she gave for each term because they make me understand more and have fun when I think about the subjects. Sociology involved a lot of things and even their research methods also very interested in the ways they look and define the society.
DeleteZero789
Starting this video when she talks about Science, I never picture Sociology being in the definition of Science. I learned that Sociology deals with the social part of world which she explains Sociology can use a scientific method, relies on data, and graphs. When discussing a positive theory and normative theory, I learned that a positive theory is a objective and fact based while a normative theory is a subjective and value base. Learning about positivist sociology where the study of society based on systematic observations of social behavior. Scientist would have to set aside their beliefs and values so they can look at things as neutral observes and use empirical evidence to answer questions. When it comes to quantitative research the study of observable relationships in the world, you have to use mathematical or statistical methods. You can use descriptive date in quantitative research which describes facts relevant to the research your looking at. When it gets to the part of the mean when looking at graphs that says, the sum is all the information divided by the number of observations. You also have the mode which is the most common observation in all samples. Another type of evidence scientist use is qualitative date, which is information not in numerical form. One thing I learned is that is quoted from the video is that not everything you want to know about society is going to fit into observable or measurable categories.
ReplyDeleteWhen Elton Mayo did his experiment where he traveled to a job site and made a goal on how to make his worker work more proactively. He split the workers into two groups with group one being the experimental group and group two just the control group where he left them alone and observed the same conditions through out the experiment. In the end, Mayo observed that his group one was only working harder because they knew he was observing him and not because of anything else so him observing that let others know that if others knew about their plan that the people would act differently calling it the Hawthorne effect. Learning the humans and their behavior can be scientifically challenging was put in a form that I would not usually look at. If you look at it from the side of positively sociology is that not all social facts can be applied to all people in different time periods. Her example using a book was a great example because you cant convince someone its the best book every because that would be known as objective vs subjective is an idea that is created on your own feelings. Looking into objective and subjective, can lead you to interpretative sociology which is the study of society that focuses on the meanings that people attach to their social world. Interpretative sociologist will approach their subjects with the aim of seeing the world from their subject's perspective rather than through quantitative data that is presented. When critical sociology which is the study of society that focuses on the need for social change comes into place, the ideas of it stated from Jane Addams developed an organization that provided housing and education in Chicago for low income families. He didn't just come up with the organization but he also study the subject of low income families and their living.
unknownzeeha789
Social paradigms allow us to think about things and use concepts and theories that frame our perspective on certain topics. Theoretical paradigms are key in sociology, which is the fundamental assumptions that sociologists have about the social world that guide their thinking and research. Using scientific disciplines to make assumptions about the world with different perspectives depending on the questions asked. However, raw facts do not interpret themselves. They are simple descriptions. That is why we need to look at all levels of society from the high to the low. You cannot have the macro without the micro.
ReplyDeleteThere are three types of social paradigms. Social functionalism that originated from Emile Durkheim. Society is seen as a complex system whose parts work together to initiate stability and social order. Within the structural functionalism are social structures that fulfill social functions, manifest and latent. Manifest function is the intended or obvious consequences of a structure. Latent function is unintended or unrecognized consequences. I liked the example she gave with the schooling. Schools provides the education and training children need to prepare for adulthood and the work force, but not knowing the educators are instilling social skills and responsibility as well. When comparing public schooling to home schooling both has the same manifest function of educating and instilling knowledge but the latent function of home schooling I believe children will struggle to socially interact with their peers.
Social dysfunction is any social pattern that disrupts the smooth operation of society. Today’s technology is awesome but has its ups and downs. Computers and machines are a great asset for a company, but workers could possibly be replaced by computers or machines leading to the unemployment rate increasing.
The structural functionalism focuses on how big the structures fit together. The conflict theory focuses on how society defines sources of inequality and conflict. There is the class conflict theory, race conflict theory, and gender-conflict theory. I would like to speak upon the race conflict theory. Growing up on the south side of Peoria as a Black American I felt we did not have the same opportunities or resources given to Caucasian kids growing up in “rich” neighborhoods. Why is that? Society made us feel that if you were not a certain color or race you were limited to certain things. We were stuck and the only way out is to play basketball, football, etc. That’s the only thing we could do so we remained in our own society and did not see the big picture that we could be more than rappers, or sports players. We can be teachers, doctors, lawyers, nurses, or even the POTUS.
Symbolic interactionism makes you think about the small everyday social interactions. She talked about the simple waving hello. It means “hello” because we gave it that meaning. Even though this is a common gesture in America, it is very offensive in Greece. Using the thumbs up gesture which means everything is okay or you agree but in Bangladesh the thumbs up gesture is used as an insult. In certain parts of the Middle East the thumbs up are a highly offensive thumb down. The come here gesture is used in America to have someone step forward but in Asia this is not welcome it’s only used to call dogs and you will be arrested in the Philippines.
Granny789
Your post was spot on, literally. Although not mentioned directly, diversity is very important, especially in school aged children. My thoughts are that this particular dynamic will help with the connection of the macro and micro issues affecting our society. Perhaps even bridging/narrowing the gap on racism some day. The latter part of your post was very informative and more of an "good to know" just in case I were to travel to Greece(which is on my bucket list) or the Philippines. I had never given much thought to how "common gestures" used here in America may not be so common in other parts of the world as I would not want too offend anyone nor end up in jail for being what I thought/was taught, as polite.
Deletemommyoftwo789
Having taken this class before in high school, just this one video has opened my eyes so much. The video explained that there are three main sociological paradigms along with how society is seen as a whole. It explains how things in the world can be viewed in different ways based on groups in society. Like the example the video used with the protestors blocking the road. They could disrupting society or trying to get their message through. It all depends on how you look at it. Just like the micro and macro perspectives of sociology. The macro perspective looks at the big picture things and problems around the world, while the micro looks at more individual interactions or interactions within a community. However, both the micro and macro perspectives are both always tied together as one could affect the other. As stated earlier, there are three sociological paradigms. The first one being structural functionalism, which was first created by Emile Durkheim. He looked at society as a whole as a living being. With sociological problems acting like illnesses. The structural functionalists perspective looks at different parts of society called social structures, or patterns of society. Those structures create special social functions, like the example used in the video that a parent's job is to socialize their kids and teach them right from wrong etc. The functions however, come with two different categories. One category is Manifest, which is basically all the intended things about it. And Latent which is the unintended. For example kids in sports, the manifest function would be exercise and having fun. The latent function would be character building and the attention to follow directions.
ReplyDeleteThe next paradigm is the conflict theory. The conflict theory basically explains that there are certain sociological groups fighting over scarce resources. The video used money, power and land as examples. Karl Marx explained how the main struggle in society is the division of class. There were the capitalist and the working class or poor. Since then there are many different categories of conflict theory including race, and gender.
Finally, the last paradigm is symbolic interactionism. It deals with the sociological problems on the micro side of the spectrum. Like how and why people do what they do in everyday life. It looks at human interactions and why we do what we do. Like why is a handshake with our right hand and why does it mean hello. Or why is our pet our pet and not food. All of these questions have different meanings based on the person and where they are from hence the micro side. Navajo789
I actually learned a lot from this video. She breaks down some pretty complex concepts and makes them very easy to understand, although she does talk really fast. Take for instance the concept of how the scales of sociology work which are macro and micro. The example she used what how macro and micro come into play with healthcare. She used the example of how a doctor talks to a patient differently to patients of different races(micro) but can also help understand the larger picture of racial differences in healthcare. When broken down in examples like that, it’s very easy to understand. The three main social paradigms she talks about are structural functionalism, conflict theory and symbolic interaction. Structural functionalism was pioneered Emile Durkheim, which I briefly studied in psychology. This is where society works together as a complex system that has multiple parts to promote stability and social order. Families play an important role for teaching kids social interaction and how to behave in “normally” in society. Places like schools play a combination role. They can serve to educate our children, helping build valuable skills for later in life and can also serve to assist with the socialization aspect as well. Conflict theories think that people, or groups of people are fighting over different resources. All three of the conflicts she discusses we can see everyday. We see the class conflict by people earning, fighting or manipulating their way to the top of the a specific class. A type of gender conflict we see commonly is the Wage Gap fight. Where men typically earn more money than women. We also see it in our history with women have to essentially fight for their right to vote. Race conflict we hear and see all the time as well. Turn on any news network and you can see countless examples of this. The last type of paradigm she discussed what the symbolic interaction. This one was harder for me to understand until she gave the example of how waving her hand was raw fact because we, as a society, have given that gesture the meaning of hello. But that type of symbol can mean different things to people in different societies. The peace sign is not universally accepted as peace. In another country if could be a symbol of hate or a symbol of hello. I really enjoyed how she applied real life examples to help get the point of each paradigm across. - pmed789
ReplyDeleteI also felt i learnt a lot from this video. I think she did break it down well, but the pace she used made me have watch parts over. I feel school does have a major part in children, but the main source is family like you stated. A teacher or faculty member can try and help a child interact more and become more social, but if they don't grow up in a social household. They might not be able to pen up or change. Unless they see their family also expect change. Another thing that caught my eye was gender conflict and the wage gap fight I didn't know that was an actually fight. It's hard to see that women can now run for president but they can still not be hired at some places because a woman can't work like a man. Its horrible! I feel no matter how much we would like it we will never fully change the conflicts. Bathrooms are public to all races but racism still exists. Men like our president still think men and women aren't equal. Sadly I believe this will always be an issue. -Gander789
DeleteI also agree that I did learn a lot from this video. The micro and macro really help breakdown some of the social issues in the world. Like the gender and racial differences we have. It also helps, as you said, see the way doctors treat different patients. Looking at the big picture and then a more focused picture will always help to understand things better. I also agree with what you said about social interaction. The example I used is the handshake. Even though it means friendship in our country, doesn’t mean it would mean something completely different in another. Navajo789
DeleteAfter watching the video I understood that sociology is a social science that looks for explaining how sociology studies society, big and small groups, for later to explain why society, big and small groups, behave in a specific way. The professor in the video explains that sociologists track different behaviors of the society, and groups following paradigms. Paradigms are the model of thinking of the people of that society or group, and those models of thinking are things that are accepted as true without proof. However, those paradigms are the basic source that sociologists have about the social world to guide their thinking and research to get answers to their questions. Also I realize that the sociology study society looking it as a large-scale structure and also as a small. That means that sociologists ask macro questions like “what caused the racial disparities in healthcare?” or micro questions like “Do doctors talk to patients of different races differently?”, but understanding that the big and the small are always connected. Finally, I also realize that there are three sociological paradigms that sociology use to explain how society influences people and how people influences society: structural functionalism, conflict theory, and symbolic, and interactionism.
ReplyDeleteThe_soccer_league789
Paradigms aren't just found in sci-fi novels, who knew? In fact, they seem to play a major role in sociology, both on a macro and micro level. Structural functionalism for example, effects all of us, seeing as we're all part of the system. We are students, and students are part of one of the social institutions that structural functionalism tries to decode. College. Government, education, law, all of these would fall under the sociological reign of structural functionalism, and all of these unavoidably effect anyone who doesn't live in a shed in the woods. Another macro paradigm is conflict theory. We all deal with conflicts, and though I'm sure symbolic interactionism would make us feel like those conflicts were very important and socially relevant, conflict theory is on a whole other level. Karl Marx, famous for his fiery propaganda, hatred of the bourgeoisie, and love of the color red, was the father of class based conflict theory. Rich vs. poor. The one percent vs. the ninety nine. But there's more to the world than money- said everyone with money. There's race inequality, gender inequality, bias against sexuality, bias against religion. Conflict resolution seeks to find an amicable ending for those in dispute. And though within both these paradigms there are many micro questions and hypotheses we can put forth, such as the in video example of 'Why do Doctors talk to different races differently?' as a micro question in conflict resolution context, compared to the macro question of 'What are the racial disparities in medicine?" Among the three paradigms in the video, there is only one that is mainly micro. Symbolic interactionism. This may be my favorite, because it is individual and person focused. It allows us to think that what we do, and what others do to us truly matters and has a lasting effect on society and ourselves. The way that people communicate, interpret each others words and actions, and act themselves, can truly shape society, in my opinion. These paradigms, both micro and macro are just reflections of human life, as all sociology is.
ReplyDeleteBuwowski222
Your view on symbolic interactionism coincides with mine! It is nice to know that a fellow classmate agrees with the importance of this paradigm. It truly is a reflection of human life. Thank you for sharing your view on conflict theory and resolution. I find that paradigm to be the most challenging to find resolutions to. When it comes to social conflicts there is always two sides to the story and finding a middle ground takes some work. Especially when everyone has a different perspective of reality. It's interesting to think that everyone perceives good and bad differently. With some of the things you mentioned like race inequality and bias against sexuality I can only hope that we are progressing in a way to put an end to these conflicts. I look forward to discussing these things in class to see what some other classmates think. -QuinkThick789
DeleteIn the video I found what basically is a paradigms is that is basically multiple forms a paradigms like structural functionalism , conflict theory and symbolic interactionism. And the video shows a break down on what is sociology . now I understand on what is sociology that is studied pretty much everything. The video has very good example of each topic . I could understood the information in the video .The diagrams the video really help In understanding on what the video trying to say. The difference what is macro which is something big like how the economy changes. Or micro which is something small like a doctor treats a patients of different races. It also talk each paradigms about who expire in the making like structural functionalism was expire by max weber which like to look at like religions or politics. structural functionalism has two parts which is social structures and social function . social structures is like the division of labor. There is two types social function that is manifest and latent . conflict theory was expire carl marx who look more economical way by looking at the people who has like land. symbolic interactionism was expire by W.E.B dubois is like an action that can change how it veiw ,that there are two different types of conflict theory that is race- conflict theory and gender – conflict theory. structural functionalism is how everything tie together. conflict theory is something that cause like waving your hand. I was surprised that paradigms has a lot information and description. That is good at the end that it gave an over view on the topic of the video. And a brief overview on what is sociology. That theoretical paradigms involve the theory of a topic in sociology. And compare it a bouncy ball for a physicist. Gamer789
ReplyDeleteParadigms are patterns of how things are and how things are done within a society or a group. Those paradigms are different according to the culture, for instance in a country men wear trousers and in others they wear skirts as in Scotland, in the western world a woman is considered elegant wearing a beautiful dress in other countries can be covering the whole body and the face. Paradigms are models of people's thoughts of a society or group created and validated by themselves. I think the video tries to explain how the three models of sociology paradigms (structural functionalism, conflict theory and symbolic interactionism) that sociology uses are basically methodologies that sociologists use to investigate and find answers to why a society or group thinks and acts in a specific way.
DeleteThe_soccer_league789
Nicole Sweeney does a good job at explaining and giving great examples. She uses a good tone and for me I was kept engaged the entire time of this video however I did have to rewind a lot to figure out what she was saying since she was talking so fast. This did cause some issues for me but she still covered the points she wanted to and even went and discussed the sociologist that helped shape theoretical paradigms, Macro/Micro and the Major paradigms. Sweeney also does a good job at explaining the complexity of sociology and how massive the subject really is since it covers any and all interaction between people in every circumstance and of any variables that could be put into that situation. She brings in images and clip art in her video that kept me engaged in not only what she was saying. But it gave an image to associate it with and thus made it easier to connect the dots from sociologist to their theories and discussions. Personally I found her video to be really interesting and fun to watch all though it was difficult to retain all of the information in just one watch of the short 9min video, after re-watching it about two times it helped to drill in the information she was discussing and trying to get us to remember. With that being said, her video seemed more like a discussion between you and her rather than just sitting in the back of the room in a lecture hall being talked at then talked to. She keeps “eye contact” by looking at the camera almost the whole time making it seem like she genuinely is trying to talk to you and help you learn the information she is discussing. Cassiopia789
ReplyDeleteI also had to rewind and even replay the video a couple of times because it was hard for me to understand what she was saying sometimes because of how fast she was talking. I thought she did good at giving examples of what each thing was but it was overwhelming with how much information we got in such a short amount of time. I never realized how huge the subject is either, until this class. The pictures she posted helped me understand a little bit better as well. I think I would have been able to retain more information from this video if all the information had not been squeezed in to a nine-minute video. EPIC789
DeleteThis video was interesting to say the least but it did not grab my attention right away. Giving real life examples throughout the video definitely helped bring everything she said together. The connection was there as such as the one between macro and micro as described when explaining the three different types of paradigms. The first being structural functionalism, where stability and social order are important. Secondly, conflict theory looks at different GROUPS of people based on domination, power, and competition for limited resources. Class conflict and gender conflict are two sub-categories of this theory. An example of gender conflict would when both a man and a woman have the same credentials, working within the same job position, yet the man is paid more. What are your thoughts on this matter, if any? And last but not least is symbolic interactionism, the only paradigm of the three that focuses on micro issues and interactions of everyday INDIVIDUALS. Here is an example: How I perceive all bugs as pest and bothersome, may not be your view of bugs at all. Yet me catching a butterfly one lovely summer day may shift my thought process from one of dislike too a much more comfortable state depending on my experience(s) as life goes on.
ReplyDeleteI do believe that the way in which you are brought up plays a huge role in how you socialize and/or view the world along with the people and things within it. For instance various cultures see direct contact as a sign of disrespect, for others eating together or having family gatherings are a way to maintain a strong bond and/or socialize(catch up) on past life events, otherwise missed.
And because of the big and small things in life, whatever your norm is, and the fact that our activities of daily living fits one of the many tiers of sociology, don't be afraid to expand your horizons or think outside the box of sorts. My hope is that you all have learned something from this video just as I did. I now have a better understanding of sociology and the paradigms within the discipline.
mommyoftwo789
This video did a great job explaining sociological paradigms. It’s very interesting to think about these ways of thought and how they all tie together to make up society as we know it. These assumptions made about the social world is what makes up sociology. It is important to view things in different perspectives and realize that there are two sides to all social conflicts. To know that all scientific disciplines make assumptions about the world, it is easier to understand the process of understanding society. It all depends on which scope you choose to look at things. For example, a high unemployment rate could be looked at on the level of single individuals, or could be looked at on a statewide scale and the effect on the economy. Essentially, viewing things on a macro and micro scale is vital in understanding social structures. I think in most cases, viewing both thoroughly can give us good insight to the issue at large.
ReplyDeleteI have an issue with the structural functionalist point of view. Maybe it’s because I typically view the mold of society as backwards and not liberating. I think we need to focus less on this paradigm and more on symbolic interactionism. “If you want to change the world, go home and love your family.” This quote means more to me than big political revolutions or changes on the bigger scale. Not to say that big changes aren’t necessary for a progressive society, but these changes don’t happen unless individuals are making them happen. Before a revolution can happen in the streets, it first has to happen in the mind. We do in fact create our own reality, through language and interactions with others. Nothing would be “real” without us saying it was “real.” Therefore, we have the power to manifest these social changes. -QuinkThick789
As the lady in the video started talking and bringing up examples it made me think about how sociology is literally everything that we do. In the video, she talked about the three different types of paradigms. Paradigms explain how society influences people, and how people influence society. The three types were structural functionalism, conflict theory, and symbolic interactionalism. Structural functionalism is seeing society as stable and fundamentally functional. Conflict theories put society in to different groups based on what the struggle of resources is. The example she used was power, money, land, and food. She talked about how under capitalism there were to classes the bourgeoise or the proletariat. The bourgeoise were the people who won the production and the proletariat had to sell all their labor to live. Symbolic interaction is focusing on one individual person’s social situation. Honestly for me the video was a little bit overwhelming and hard for me to follow along at times. I think there was just so much information thrown at you at once and she was talking fast it was hard to even focus on her main points of the video. I watched the video three times and had to keep stopping it to fully understand some of the things she was saying. The examples she gave were good though because it did help me understand some things a little bit better. The example about school was interesting, I never thought of it being anything else than going to school to learn when really it is helping socialize children. Another interesting example she gave was about poverty. This could be bad because like she said it ensures that there are people that want to work when really it is a much bigger issue than people wanting to work. EPIC789
ReplyDeleteTo be honest, I can only understand half of the video and be confusing when she talks about three paradigms at the first time I watched. Like other crash course videos, the video was actually very good in teaching us information about paradigms but she is speaking too fast. I can't pick up all good ideas or examples in second, I need time to digest the information. So, for the second time watching, I paused the video and open the caption when she talking and try to understand every word she said. That when I actually understand what is society perspective and how we use paradigm theories to look at our society. And there are 3 types of paradigms, which sociologists can use to research in sociology, are structural functionalisms, conflict theory, and symbolic interactionism.
ReplyDeleteI understand that structural functionalism belief that social structures fulfilling social functions or social dysfunctions and any change to social structure view as damage the society. In contrast, the conflict theory view conflict between different classes as fundamental of society and caused the change to happen over time. While both structural functionalism and conflict theory works on macro or big scale of social structure, symbolic interactionism works on micro or small scale instead which focused on the interactions between individuals to their social situation. Like what she said, paradigms just like we used the different lens to see different parts of society on different scales.
She has tried to deliver those complex information as simple as she can by giving us many good examples, pictures, and metaphors which I very appreciated. Those examples help me a lot to understand the terms meaning such as the poverty example to show disadvantage of structural functionalism, the doctor example to show connect of micro and macro, and "dog is food or friend'. In Dr. Loki video about sociology, she has said about paradigm too but I still don’t quite understand them until my second time of watching this video. And besides, crash course videos always have more fun than because it has animation. I thought animation or pictures can help us to be more understand and remembering the information.
Zero789
Wow. I honestly was a little overwhelmed by all of the material she crammed in 9 minute video. I watched it twice and was still hard to keep it all straight. I can tell that it has been many years since going to school and it will hopefully not take very long to adjust. I am hoping that my own model of thinking will change and that my perspective about going back to school at age 40 will not only change but help others see that this is still an option that is doable for adults of non-traditional college age. Thinking of Structural Functionalism and having all parts working together makes me think of myself and going back to school. There are so many parts that have to work together for me to be successful in completely my goals. I still have to work, so I have to manage my time effectively to complete not only all of my own work tasks, but household chores, taking care of my children and their needs, as well as my own. I am trying to overcome the gender conflict theory in my family of previous generations where only men have college degrees. I will, after this class, not only be the only women to complete a college degree, but the only person back to my great grandfather to complete a Bachelor’s Degree. It makes be very proud to say that hard work does pay off and there are many theories in society that I like to prove when it comes to women and equality in the home and workforce. MommaJ789
ReplyDeleteI agree with you that the material in this video was overwhelming. I had a hard time keeping it straight too! I love how you are overcoming the gender conflict to gain your degree! It can be very difficult to overcome those chasms in how people see us when we decide to do something for our own benefit, especially in education, if they see our end goal (be it a degree or a job) as something traditionally masculine that we as women aren't encouraged to engage in. All the more power to you for taking this final step towards your degree!
Delete-Minty789
Sociological paradigms aren’t something I had ever thought about prior to watching this video. Indeed, it took me several times watching the video to take notes and understand exactly what was going on. The video goes quite fast-paced and feels like a set of cliff notes on extreme amounts of caffeine, but I enjoyed the challenge it presented me. I liked how it touched on all of the major parts of the three main social paradigms as well as giving us a quick look into what these theoretical paradigms are and very practical applications of them in our lives.
ReplyDeleteThe three main sociological paradigms are Structural functionalism, conflict theory, and symbolic interactionism. Structural functionalism is the theory that everything in life is like a well-oiled clock, with all parts working smoothly together for stability and social order with the greater good in mind. Emile Durkheim thought that any deviation from this was caused by a malfunction, illness, or other negative cause. The social structures, such as families, are there to show young humans the socially acceptable way to act and behave.
Conflict Theory is the theory that society is comprised of groups that are in direct competition for resources such as food, fuel, or shelter. Carl Marx saw it as class-conflict between the Capitalists, those who owned the factories and manufacturing facilities, and the Proletariat, those whose labor powered and fueled those same factories and facilities. This view states that conflict is what drives society on toward accomplishments and goals.
Both the theories of Structural functionalism and conflict are considered macro theories, because they look at society as a large organism moving and changing. Symbolic interactionism, however, is built to deal with questions on a micro level. It first appeared in the research of Max Weber, who focused on finding a greater understanding. He believed that Sociology needed to focus more on the individual and how they handled conflict and assigned personal meaning to the things they experienced. Symbolic interactionism functions on the understanding that society is really just made up of all the small little details of life.
These paradigms took quite some time for me to wrap my mind around, and I look forward to learning more about how they work in my own life and the world in which we all live in.
-Minty789
This video really helped me to see Sociology in a different way and she helped to explain that in sociology you do come in with fundamental assumptions and you have to in order for you to be able to study and answer the questions that are being asked of you. If you don't then you wont be able to really answer it because you will have no bases to go off of and you wont have a starting point. That's how I think of them as starting points to help you get started but then they might change as you go on or they might not it depends on what you find when you do the study and see the data. But you have to have them in order to even start to even think of the question or ideal. And she also taught me that sometimes there may be no exact right answer because there can be many different perspectives in sociology and they can all be right but of course it depends on the question that is being asked and the data. But perspective does in fact play a huge role in sociology and that often times in society we can overlook each others perspective and often times assume that our answer is the only one when if fact the person next to us could be right to. And so she taught me that when you study sociology you have to do it from many different perspectives to really see it clearly and to answer the question as accurately as you possibly can. Paradigms did take me a while to get but know that I do I think that I can start to look from them within society and see if I have any and how they can affect my study of sociology. She also bought to my attention that when studying sociology you have to have a very open mind and ask deeper questions then just surface level ones because you want to get to the root of why society works the way it does and how it does. But if you only ask surface level questions then you can never get to a deeper understanding of society and how it operates on a day to day bases. But I really do like how she broke down the big words and concepts throughout the video and really explained it to a level I could understand. And once I got it I actually could think of examples on my own of what she was talking about and I could see that sociology really isn't a hard concept because I do it every single day and that it's just the fundamentals of society and that studying it is really something that I do every day weather I know it or not. But she really offered a general perspective on the it and I like that she used real world examples things that are relevant to me and that I could actually picture in my mind and I could make sense of what she was talking about based off of that as well it helped me to visualize it and then also to remember the subject because I'll remember the examples. Buttercup789
ReplyDeleteCrash course is a free educational web series on YouTube that gives you the quickest and easiest breakdown of different topics in their own playlists. In this episode, they introduce major sociological paradigms. They simply explain how sociologists question different things in a very big perspective, or a very small, focused one. Straightforwardly, the speaker informs us that there are three main paradigms: structural functionalism, conflict theory, and symbolic interactionism. At around this time, the first things I notice is that Crash course moves at a fast pace, obviously suited toward giving out information that can be repeated through rewinding on YouTube, and that they go straight to the point to tell their audience (who could be a curious child or a sociology Professor) what these paradigms are so that anyone can understand. Crash course also uses colorful imagery and effects to keep the viewers’ attention, and to help them understand difficult concepts. They explain that these paradigms are different perspectives of society, and use analogies to make it easier to understand. They list the advantages and disadvantages of each paradigm, but finish the crash course saying that they are all important for the investigation of sociological questions that sociologists ask. This video taught me what the structural functionalism paradigm is, which is seeing society as a system that work together much like a body system. It strikes me as an idealistic view of what society is, with just malfunctions. Manifest and latent functions consequences intrigue me because of how our expectations go along with latent consequences that are seen in many places, like how you are raised, who you’re friends with, and so on. This explanation leads to conflict theories in the video, where it imagines society as fighting groups that want resources. The gender conflict theory is something many people think about, since it’s about the social inequalities between men and women. Both have unrealistic expectations, with high standards like “don’t be feminine as a man” and “don’t be masculine as a woman” since for a long time, not going along with traditional gender roles made you strange and unlovable. It’s tough what both genders go through, with society’s expectations of being strong, or super skinny, and being flawless everywhere while shutting away your emotions. Symbolic interactionism focuses on the meaning we attach to social situations, which reminds me of cultural differences, where looking someone in the eye is disrespectful in one culture, but respectful in another (which leads to misunderstandings). All in all, all three paradigms seem to just look at society in different perspectives, like crash course mentioned at the end.
ReplyDeletePapyrus789
really like her introduction of the video where she ask “what is society exactly” and she start describing it as a well functioning whole or several competing groups struggling for control or maybe just people doing their very own thing without being able to come with the right answer about the nature of society out of the three models that she has provided. Society as well oiled machine, as group of competing interests, and people interacting with each other. The three models provided in the video are all important to observe and try to understand a little bit more about social behavior based on different perspectives essentially leading to pattern of discipline. Sociological Theoretical Paradigms which are based on fundamental assumptions of sociologists about the world of sociology being these assumptions the ones who lead their research and thinking about sociology. These types of behavior leads to many assumptions provided these paradigms in instead of just empirical reality. However the logical assumptions are going to be made to understand the way society works in a macro or a micro level. Social structures has the assumption of well organized functioning society created by behavior and interactions with other individuals while going to schools and other types social dysfunctions to understand the meaning of social behavior like a waving hand by itself is just a movement but the sociological inference is taken as a waving hand just to say hello or at least assumed that this is the meaning of the waving hand because we recognize this as being the meaning of waving hand. I personally find these video very interesting because it has opened up my perception of social interaction in a different level by a little bit more understand of constructive paradigms and behaviors that can create a norm or behavioral pattern with in society. Koi789
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