Hi please read the description carefully , and let me know if you need any clarification. There are 3 steps please read them thoroughly and ask if you don’t know anything. this is like a final paper and worth lots of points, so please be careful.

The purpose of this critical thinking paper is to help you relate Sociology to your own experiences, and to see how Sociology is part of our everyday lives. In this paper, we’ll explore how a sociological lens can help us better understand current events. In addition to exploring four key terms from the textbook, you’ll also be asked to do two additional tasks– make a cross-cultural comparison, and propose how you might study the differences or similarities you’d expect to find. Keep reading for more details on how to accomplish this task!

Assignment: Read one of the following short articles. These articles are all semi-current events (within the last several years). As you’re reading, think about some topics we’ve discussed since this semester: culture and media, social control and deviance, stratification, gender inequality, racial and ethnic inequalities, poverty, health and healthcare, family, education, culture and media, etc. Choose one of these cases and form your paper.

Step 1:

Based on the article, do you see any connection with terms from class? For example, did race, class, gender, education level, prestige or status, occupation or wealth influence the outcome of these stories? Was the media coverage fair and accurate– did you notice any biases or examples of inequity in the way the story was reported? Do these stories represent deviance or are inequalities the norm for our society? These are only examples of how you can address this part of the reaction paper– but you should use four key terms to describe the story you’re reacting to. For this step, you should define it (as stated in the book or in your own words) and apply it to the article.

Step 2:

This step will require a little additional research on your part. Be careful not to make assumptions about how things are in other parts of the country or in other parts of the world. Don’t use “common sense” to describe how “things are over there” or “how people are in those places.” (This is the basis for maintaining stereotypes, and we don’t want to do that. Also, be careful not to rely only on your own personal experiences to address this part of the paper– your experiences may be unique, and we don’t want to generalize. So avoid the temptation to say “when I visited France” or “since I grew up in the UK” or “my aunt is from Scotland.”) Instead, check out some World News outlets to read a couple of articles about how stories are being portrayed by media outlets. The question you are answering here is: do these inequalities exist cross-culturally? Use global media sources to determine if you see evidence of the same issues happening in other places, or is this issue specific to the United States? Here are a few examples of global news outlets:

Link (Links to an external site.) BBC

Link (Links to an external site.) Telegraph

Link (Links to an external site.) NPR

Step 3:

You’re a sociologist now… you need to be able to do sociological research! While you won’t actually have to complete a research project for this paper, I’d like you to think about how you might do one. As a sociologist, you might want to understand more about the inequality that you wrote about. Use Chapter 2 (Methods) to address this step. Think about the topic and what you might want to know more about. Explain what method you will use and why. For example, if you are interested in large-scale trends of global inequalities, you may choose to use a survey design to learn about the population at large based on a sample. Be creative!

To earn full points: These papers will be graded on content, clarity, and relevance to the course. This paper can be based on your opinion but they should provide some insight into something that you learned. (Thus, you should use key concepts from class to make your case—see below for more information.) You can agree or disagree with the topic– it is not your opinion, but how you back it up with sociological insight that will count for points. These papers will be typed, double-spaced, 12-pt. Times New Roman font, 1” margins, and at least 750 words in length. It is not likely that you will need more than 4 pages to adequately answer this prompt, but these is no penalty to a paper that is “too long.” Please include FOUR key concepts from either the culture and media, social control and deviance, stratification, gender inequality, racial and ethnic inequalities, poverty, health and healthcare, family, education, culture and media (or the corresponding text chapters), or a combination of any of these. Please include (and underline) the terms or concepts of your choice, provide a definition for the key words you use, and a clear example of how each applies. No additional references are necessary to complete this paper, HOWEVER please include at least links to your articles you chose (this will be included in paper requirements for your grade!).

Equation for earning a perfect score:

Meet length requirement + well written (check spelling and grammar) + pick 4 key terms + states term (underlined), defines term (with correct definition), gives example of application of term (that fits the definition) and apply to article + provide cross-cultural comparison + provide and describe research question and research method + work cited page with links to articles = 100%

Articles to Choose From:

Class:

• Link (Links to an external site.) “The Americans Who Can’t Read”
• Link (Links to an external site.) “The hidden crisis on college campuses: many students don’t have enough to eat”
• Link (Links to an external site.) “Tax Cuts, sold as fuel for growth, widen gap between rich and poor”
• Link (Links to an external site.) “How Silicon Valley can lose the embarrassing frat boy image and get its act together”
• Link (Links to an external site.) “The hidden driver of high US child-poverty rates”
• Link (Links to an external site.) “The unhappiness of the US working class”

Sex/Gender/Sexuality:

• Link (Links to an external site.) “Comeback by Bill Cosby unravels as rape claims re-emerge”
• Link (Links to an external site.) “In Ray Rice case, NFL chose not to ask too many questions”
• Link (Links to an external site.) “Women sue Uber for racial, gender discrimination”
• Link (Links to an external site.) “Harvey Weinstein fired from his own company”
• Link (Links to an external site.) “Former Louisiana teachers accused in sex case with 16-year-old student formally charged year later”
• Link (Links to an external site.) “Sessions says civil rights law doesn’t protect transgender workers”

Race/Ethnicity:

• Link (Links to an external site.) “Anthem kneeling isn’t aimed at veterans and other protest misconceptions”
• Link (Links to an external site.) “No federal civil rights charges in Trayvon Martin case”
• Link (Links to an external site.) “Trump moves to end DACA and calls on Congress to act”
• Link (Links to an external site.) “Women sue Uber for racial, gender discrimination”
• Link (Links to an external site.) “Shooting of unarmed black man by Sacramento police sparks 5th consecutive day of protests”
• Link (Links to an external site.) “Campbell Park principle’s email to staff: ‘white students should be in the same class’

Religion/Ethnicity:

• Link (Links to an external site.) “Native Americans are the second front in Mahwah’s religious battles”
• Link (Links to an external site.) “Teen indicted for anti-Semitic vandalism of New York Jewish cemetery”
• Link (Links to an external site.) “The rise of Halal cuisine in an age of Islamophobia”

Ageism/Health/Disability:

• Link (Links to an external site.) “Girl with cerebral palsy detained by immigration agents after surgery”
• Link (Links to an external site.) “Abuse and neglect were pervasive at special needs center”
• Link (Links to an external site.) “Are you encouraging your son to be more active than your daughter?”
• Link (Links to an external site.) “Understanding the rise in ADHD diagnoses”
• Link (Links to an external site.) “Ten years after Terri Schiavo, death debates still divide us: bioethicist”

Othering:

• Link (Links to an external site.) “Transabled: a neurological issue or a mental disorder?”
• Link (Links to an external site.) “Learning how bullying happens in order to prevent it”