Observation & Reflection Paper Sociology

This time, we will put our Sociological Imagination toolkit to the test deploying it while observing cultural dynamics in our immediate social circles. Using your own interactions with family, friends, or other informal social contexts, you will observe and take detailed notes on the prompted cultural elements below & discussion your Sociological reflection to follow.

1) Take detailed observational notes about the following cultural elements / dynamics from a specific interaction you have with your peers, friends, family, or other informal group: language, norms, values, material culture. Be very detailed and specific here. Be sure to identify the setting / interactions you are observing (you don’t need to identify names, but something to give us the context of the interaction occurring). This needs to be an observation of an actual single social context: vague descriptors or made-up interactions will not work (and are, quite honestly, easy to spot). 

2) Using your knowledge of the sociology of culture and the specific tools of the Sociological Imagination (refresh your memory on these if need be), discuss the following: how the informal norms of this particular group/setting emerged, the values represented by this particular group, how language is used in ways that differ from other social circumstances & contexts, how the kinds of material culture used in this context reflect community identity (race, age, gender, religion, etc.), how the dynamics of this group/setting differ from some of your more formal social interactions (with professors, with bosses / coworkers, etc.), and how overall this experience of observing your own social interactions helps you to develop the analytic tools of social observation.

This reflection should be thoughtful, analytical, and critical.  You are building the skills of thinking Sociologically, so work to enhance those as you go: do not rely on your preconceptions or your own biography alone.