This part of the book discusses sociological research. When conducting an experiment you have to think a lot before starting. You need a topic, a problem/what you want to learn, gather currently existing information, hypothesis, research, and then analyze the data gathered. For example, if I want to do a study I would pick a topic. Let’s say I picked alcohol use by delta students. I would decide on learning how much people drink on a school day. After that, I would go and gather any pre-existing data that could help me. Once I have any data I can find, I form a hypothesis. I take that hypothesis and test with a study. There are multiple studies, let’s say I picked a survey. Some may lie on the survey, but I get my results. The last step is to go over all the data collected and form a theory.

2/13/2019

This section in the book is generally about research. It talks about the components all the way to the methods of research. The components of research are the types of data and/or components that makes a social phenomenon. The two types of data are quantitative and qualitative data. For example, quantitative data would be how many people called my phone today. Well qualitative is personal accounts or interviews. The components that make up a social phenomenon are attributed and variables. Attributes are the characteristics/qualities of a person or an inanimate object like a table. Variables are just groupings of attributes. There is also operationalization; which is choosing the topic being studied. For example, you might pick the effect advertisement has on children between 5-10. Next is how to conduct an experiment. There are multiple ways to conduct a study. The ways are Ethnography, survey, interview, and focus group. Ethnography is observing and documenting your surroundings. Surveys/questionnaires is a list of questions specified towards the study. With surveys/questionnaires you must be careful with the questions. You need to make sure that the question is easy to understand, and for there to be only one direct answer. Interview is similar to a survey/questionnaire. You go face to face or over the phone and question someone. I had to do interview studies for my human development class. I had to interview two children and two adult, variating in age. The focus group is a group of people who answer questions as a collective. One of the benefits to this is people willing to be more open/truthful. Since it can be seen as a group decision, people tend to tell the truth more.

2/11/2019

Normally someone would think that having a good teacher means they will have a good education. That is wrong, because the teachings can be good but not the student. For example, when I was in 8th grade I would refused to do the homework. The teachings weren’t bad, I was just being a bad student. There’s also the fact of the student not being able to grasp the material. At time there are student who simply don’t understand. The teacher can explain it in the simplest way, but they still don’t get it. Since there’s multiple ways to that can affect an education, it needs specification. Whoever is conducting the study needs to ask specifically “Is the teacher explaining the material right?”, “Is the student doing the work and trying their hardest?”, etc. In the end good teacher could lead to good education but it depends on multiple variables that could completely change the outcome.

This section talks about sympathy. With sympathy there are certain questions like “when is the right time to give sympathy”, “do they deserve sympathy”, etc. when giving someone sympathy you need to give it at the right times. Sometimes they just need some space, and others might need that sympathy. There is also the possibility of being rejected. Sympathy is normally earned through giving sympathy and/or going through a terrible time/event. There are also sympathy etiquette (rules) that must be followed. I have an aunt who breaks at least one of the four etiquette (rules). The first rule is to not lie about the event/disaster. Lying to gain someone’s sympathy can shrink their sympathy margin. A sympathy margin is someone’s sympathetic patients. The more that person gets used, doesn’t get gratitude for their sympathy, or even rejected the more it shrinks. The second rule, which my aunt breaks, is do not daunt on it too much or too long. What happens is that person’s sympathy margin shrinks and may lead to isolation. For example, some people might see you as a burden or someone who seeks attention. The third rule is to rely on sympathy abut occasionally. When someone relies on sympathy very rarely, they may not have someone to give sympathy or won’t get a lot. The fourth rule is to repay sympathy with gratitude. It doesn’t have to be in material things like money or jewelry. You can repay someone by giving sympathy when they need it. This does change depending on the person’s position. Normally not giving gratitude makes the person feel unappreciated. All in all its best for you to rely a little bit on sympathy, not draw it out for long, and repay someone for their sympathy.

2/3/2019

This chapter discusses the different way we communicate nonverbally. The list goes from the movements you make, all the way to how you look at someone. These ways change depending on ethnicity,nationality, generation, gender, and social setting. One of the ways we communicate nonverbally is body language. When you are talking and the listener starts fidgeting that means they want to end it. Another way we communicate nonverbally is through eye contact. Some cultures people will examine your entire body, others will glance at you and immediately look away if you are a stranger. Further more, the space that surrounds us can send someone a message. The distance you keep someone you like will normally be very short. That’s you telling them how you feel without saying a word to them. The problem with nonverbal communication is the cultural/ethnic differences. For example, a Italian man might be very affectionate to his British wife. The wife might seem annoyed from this since she is used to distance. Understanding this form of communication can be difficult, but gets better as you observe.

This chapter discusses the different way we communicate nonverbally. The list goes from the movements you make, all the way to how you look at someone. These ways change depending on ethnicity,nationality, generation, gender, and social setting. One of the ways we communicate nonverbally is body language. When you are talking and the listener starts fidgeting that means they want to end it. Another way we communicate nonverbally is through eye contact. Some cultures people will examine your entire body, others will glance at you and immediately look away if you are a stranger. Further more, the space that surrounds us can send someone a message. The distance you keep someone you like will normally be very short. That’s you telling them how you feel without saying a word to them. The problem with nonverbal communication is the cultural/ethnic differences. For example, a Italian man might be very affectionate to his British wife. The wife might seem annoyed from this since she is used to distance. Understanding this form of communication can be difficult, but gets better as you observe.

There is a brief discussion on this page about contrasting Durkheimian and Marxist perspectives. The Durkheimian perspective labels food as a totem. The meaning behind food can very different for everybody, for me it’s enjoyment. I believe that the food you eat should be something that you like. Pizza has no other meaning for me then that I like the taste. To my knowledge it doesn’t tie me to any social group, and I don’t feel like I belong because of it.

The Marxist perspective discusses how the food was made/got to the table. It looks over the human or inhuman practices used and the impact they have on the ecosystems. For example, where did that meat for that taco you just ate came from? Normally animals are industrially farmed, and then sold to make food. Industrial farming is coping the animals in small spaces and using them as resources. At times their manure can run off, causing a negative impact on the neighboring ecosystems. Another example is how chocolate is farmed. Most of the chocolate that we get is from slave/child labor. The countries that are the main exporters of coco products like chocolate don’t have strict labor laws. A lot of the labor is done by children using deadly pesticides without any protective gear. Again, Marxism looks at how the food was made/farmed and how it got to the table for you to enjoy.

2/2/2019

The first thing I bought was a Superman toy. The experience of buying something was awesome until I got home. The toy which was a flying Superman toy never worked. I remember getting home and rushing to open the box. I think I had someone assemble it, or it might have came prebuilt. I tried using it, but it never took flight. I was really sad to find out that I wasted my money on that stupid toy. The reason I even wanted it was because of it being SuperMan. I loved SuperMan because I loved the possibility of flying and being invincible. I got the money that I used to buy it in a Toys “R” Us gift card for my birthday. If it wasn’t for it being a SuperMan toy I would have never bought it. To this day I regret buying that item; I was so crushed by it. It ruined my entire day when it just fell out of the sky every time I tried.

2/2/2019

Chapter two discussions the sociological impact food has. There are three sociological perspectives that are explained through food. The first one is how it was produced. This means how it was made, who made it, did it have any impacts on anything like the environment. For example, I love pizza and that might make me look like a slob. Pizza is seen by some as a greasy fattening food that is sold cheaply. The cost of the pepperoni pizza I had for dinner was more than just 7 dollars. The pepperoni was made out of pigs that were industrially farmed. That style of farming leads to manure run off that worsens our ecological situation. The second perspective is it’s totem value. A totem in this cause is a materialistic object that brings friends and/or friends together. For example, a turkey dinner is a totem because its related to thanksgiving. Thanks giving is a North American holiday that brings people together. The third perspective is food labor divided among the genders. Normally women would stay at home and prepare all the males ate by the family. Even today most women are the cooks in the family. In a social norm aspect, cooking as been signed to feminist instead of masculinity. Some women even find it best if they cook because its easy or they are good at it. Even with that, some people are upset with the imbalance of food labor. That social norm surrounding food is slowly dying, but won’t be died for decades to come.

2/1/2019

The Ricanamera tribe is an ancient tribe that was visited by aliens. Since the alien encounter, this tribe become more advanced. The tribe was originally located in England, moved to the North American continent. One of the tools used by the Ricanamera is a strange box like device that shows moving pictures, and among other things. The younger generation don’t go by the gender labels that their elders do;even labeling themselves as non-binary. They also go to a strange building constructed by the aliens to acquire knowledge about the world around them. On their strange boxes they access a weird plane of existence called the TenretI. Their tribe is still going strong, you might have even seen one of their descendants.

1/31/2019

(Contemporary post)