3.7: In-Class Activities

Suggestions for in-class activities, as well as additional essay and discussion questions are included below. Suggested in-class activities and additional essay and discussion questions can also be downloaded as a document here. This was originally created by Kathy Dolan and Jennie Law from Georgia State University.

Module 1 Foundations of Sociology

Short answers:

1. How would you define sociology to someone who knows nothing about it?
2. What is the sociological imagination? Illustrate your definition with an example.
3. What are the benefits of studying sociology?
4. Describe the differences between micro-level and macro-level theories. Illustrate your point with examples.

Essays:

1. Describe the history of sociology, naming and describing the contributions of three different sociological theorists.
2. Should we raise the minimum wage? Present arguments for and against raising the minimum wage. Identify which of the three sociological theories would best match arguments for and against raising the minimum wage.

Online Discussion Question:

1. Do some online research on locavores and one specific locavore group. Describe the group using the symbolic interactionist perspective. Include web links and other relevant sources.

Class Activities:

1. Create an infographic (using an infographic creator tool or website tool) showcasing the main parts of each of the three major sociological theories, Functionalism, Conflict Theory, and Symbolic Interactionism.
2. Create a simulation of a social media conversation between two different sociological theorists on the nature of society.

Module 2 Sociological Research

Short answers:

1. What are the advantages of using surveys in research?
2. Define reliability and validity.
3. Devise a hypothesis about some aspect of society. Identify your dependent and independent variables.
4. What is interpretive research? Give an example of a research question that would be best answered using an interpretive framework.

Essays:

1. Outline and define the steps of the sociological research process.
2. Describe at least three ethical concerns in sociological research and how the profession addresses those concerns. Make up original examples to illustrate your points.

Online Discussion Question:

1. If you had a million-dollar research grant to study anything about society, what would you study? Why would you choose this topic? Remember to develop a sociological question with sociological reasoning. Try to be value free. Which research method would you use and why?

Class Activity:

1. As a class or in groups, identify a sociological research topic. Ask a question about this topic. Formulate a hypothesis. Create 10 closed-ended survey questions addressing your hypothesis. Use a program like Plickers or an electronic polling tool to have students in class answer the questions. Create infographics, charts, etc. to display the results to the class. Have each group discuss the results for their questions and their conclusions about their hypothesis. Explain to students why these results pertain just to this class and cannot be generalized.

Module 3 Culture

Short answers:

1. Describe at item of material culture that is important to you. What symbolic significance does it hold for you?
2. How is social control functional for society?
3. Describe the difference between folkways and mores. Give an original example for each.
4. Technology does not just meet modern technology. Describe two original examples of technological developments that had an impact on group living.
5. Describe how the media can have a life-changing function. Illustrate with an original example.

Essays:

1. Define ideal and real culture. Explain the concepts with an original example.
2. Describe high culture and popular culture. Provide original examples for each, explaining why they fit the description.
3. What is the digital divide? How is this concept related to social class and inequality? Who suffers from the digital divide?
4. What is media consolidation, and what impact does it have on society?

Online Discussion Question:

1. Have you ever experienced culture shock? Describe a time you experienced culture shock. What was surprising to you? How did you react to the surprise? How did you overcome your culture shock?
2. Have you ever thought about inventing something, or that someone else should invent something to solve a specific problem? What would you invent if you could? Explain how your invention would be functional for society.
3. Imagine knowing nothing about human life in the United States. Pick an aspect of life that seems mundane and normal to you, and explain it to someone who is experiencing culture shock.

Class Activity:

1. The Breaching Experiment, as described on P. 58 of your text, is a classic sociological experiment. For this assignment, students should break a social norm at the folkway level. Be sure students understand that they should not do anything dangerous or illegal or that would put them at risk in any way. Often students will choose to do this assignment with a family member or friend. Have students report to the class on what they did and how people reacted. Discuss sanctions and social control.
2. As individuals, small groups or a whole class, create a new norm for society. Decide what the norm is, how it will be enforced, and what the sanctions will be for following or breaking the norm. Then describe how you would effectively socialize people into this norm. Discuss.

Module 4 Socialization

Short answers:

1. How do sociologists and psychologists view the world differently? Give an original example to illustrate your point.
2. What is resocialization? Illustrate your definition with an original example.

Essay:

1. How important are peer groups to socialization? In what ways do they influence individuals throughout the life course?
2. Describe the concept of the social construction of reality. Illustrate your essay with an original example.
3. Describe Erving Goffman’s theory of the presentation of self in everyday life through role performance. Illustrate the theory with original examples.

Online Discussion Question:

1. Have you ever observed someone experiencing a self-fulfilling prophecy? Explain. If you have not personally observed this, use an example from the media, books, movies, or TV.
2. Have you ever experienced role strain or role conflict? Describe the different roles and how they were strained or conflicted. How did you resolve this?
3. Since socialization is often so unconscious, we sometimes take for granted what we know without thinking too much about how we came to know it. For this discussion, think about an aspect of life you take for granted, and describe what you can remember about being socialized or taught specific norms.

Module 5 Society and Groups

Short answers:

1. How did the Industrial Revolution lead to urbanization?
2. Describe Karl Marx’s theory of alienation.
3. What is the difference between social group and institutional agents of socialization? Explain your answer with original examples from both social group and institutional agents.
4. Define the concept of the McDonaldization of society, including the 4 characteristics Ritzer describes in his book.
5. Choose two of the four characteristics of the McDonaldization of Society and show how these concepts can be applied to other aspects of our lives.

Essays:

1. Define and describe two different leadership styles. Give original examples of both from your own life or in society and explain why they are good examples of the style.

Online Discussion Question:

1. What would life be like if the Internet just stopped working? Describe how this event would impact two different social institutions.
2. After reading about George Ritzer’s concept of the McDonaldization of society, think of another example besides fast food where you see this concept being applied. For this discussion you will
   1. Briefly describe the concept of Mcdonaldization.
   2. Describe your example.
   3. Apply the four characteristics of McDonaldization to your example.
   4. Include inserted photos, links, and resources to help illustrate your example.
3. How does advertising play on the ideas of in-groups and out-groups to sell products and services?
4. Are you a part of any voluntary groups? Describe them and why you joined them. What do you get out of them? What do you contribute to them?

Class Activity:

1. How are sociological theorists relevant to today’s world? As individuals or as a class, do a hashtag search for Karl Marx on a social media platform that uses hashtags. Do a brief content analysis of the posts that you find to describe their relevance.
2. You can use this activity in class with magazines and glue sticks, using old file folders as the base, or you can have students create their image boards using online tools and programs. Have students make an image/text board or infographic using images and text that illustrate the McDonaldization of Society. These can be posted online and discussed or discussed in the classroom.

Module 6 Deviance, Crime, and Social Control

Short answers:

1. How can deviance be positive? Explain your answer using an original example.
2. What are the two main ways we get statistics on crime in the United States? Name the reports and describe how their data is collected.
3. Describe 2 of the 4 types of social bonds in control theory. Give original examples of each.

Essays:

1. According to Functionalist theory, deviance can be functional for society. Give 4 specific, original examples of how deviance can be functional for society.
2. Sanctions, or reactions to behavior, can be positive or negative and formal or informal. Define the 4 combinations and give original examples to illustrate your descriptions.

Online Discussion Questions:

1. What do you think about C. Wright Mills’ notion of the Power Elite? Who do you think makes up the power elite? Give two specific original examples, and show how their decisions can impact society as a whole.
2. What is panoptic surveillance? Besides prison, where else do we find this? Why does it exist? Describe two original examples.

Class Activity:

1. Make a list of common law-breaking activities or actions that most people do not consider serious, and the legal penalty in your area for each. Using Plickers or another classroom survey tool in an anonymous way, ask students who has broken each law. Have them tally up how much they would owe in fines and jail time had they been caught and convicted of these offenses. Discuss perceptions of crime and why different law-breaking activities are treated differently.

Module 7 Stratification and Inequality

Short answers:

1. What is meritocracy? To what extent do you think the United States is a meritocracy? Give two original examples to justify your response.
2. Why do most Americans self-identify as middle class?
3. Why are conflict theorists deeply critical of social stratification?
4. Briefly describe Wallerstein’s world systems approach to global inequality.
5. Differentiate between absolute and relative poverty, and give original examples for both.

Essay:

1. Social mobility can take many forms. List and describe three types of social mobility. Give original examples of each to illustrate your answer.
2. Compare and contrast how conspicuous consumption would be explained by a symbolic interactionist theorist and a functionalist theorist.
3. What is meant by the cycle of poverty? How does it operate? How is poverty feminized? How does the feminization of poverty impact the cycle of poverty?

Online Discussion Question:

1. How would you describe your standard of living? What factors are you basing your description on? Has your standard of living changed over time or by circumstances? What are some indicators of that change?
2. Discuss conspicuous consumption. Insert photos from the Internet or original photos of your own of 3 examples of conspicuous consumption. What are these items supposed to signify? What are some other social meanings that might be assigned to these items if viewed from a different perspective?
3. Do you think you purchase goods made in sweat shops? Look up where some of your clothes and goods are made. Look up the records on working conditions of the workers in companies that make your products. Who actually made them? If they were made in sweatshops, does that matter? Why or why not?
4. Create a discussion OR have a class discussion surrounding the interactive found at the bottom of this page: https://courses.lumenlearning.com/wm...tratification/.
   1. Are there any forms of cultural capital that can be acquired without economic capital? That is, can one cultivate habits of speech and appearance that suggest higher social status but which do not cost money? (or at least very much money?) What symbolic values are at work here?
   2. If prestigious brand-name products, such as the Louis Vuitton handbag we started with, confer some sort of high status on those who possess and display them, then how does the “branding” of the self function in our 21st-Century economy? When individuals brand themselves through social media and other public platforms, whether as employees or “influencers” and such, what status or characteristics are they trying to claim? What do they hope to gain?
   3. The sociologist Charles Horton Cooley introduced the concept of the “looking glass self,” which says we develop our sense of self according to how we believe others perceive us. Can this idea help us understand how social status and economic class are related? To what extent are status and class a matter of self-conscious performance for the benefit of an imagined audience?

Class Activity:

1. Have students go to Playspent.org and play through the game at least twice. Or, you can do this in the classroom and make choices as a group. Each choice opens up the conversation to discussions of inequality and structural and personal factors that impact those living in poverty. Discuss how poverty is linked to so many other social problems.
2. As individuals, groups, or a class, list several indicators of global stratification. Choose three countries you think will rank differently on these indicators and find data on the chosen indicators for each country. Compare and discuss results and how stratification manifests in your examples.

Module 8 Race and Ethnicity

Short answers:

1. How are stereotypes both functional and dysfunctional for society?
2. What is racial steering? In what ways do things like this exist today?

Essay:

1. What is intersection theory? How can we use it to help understand the experiences of those around us? Illustrate your answer with an original example.

Online Discussion Question:

1. What do you do when you hear someone tell a racist joke? What social responsibility do you think we have to speak up or stand up when we see or hear racist behavior or talk?
2. Have you ever been incorrectly stereotyped? Describe the situation and why you think you were stereotyped. Why was the stereotype wrong?

Class Activity:

1. Have students go to Implicit Association Test Website and take an Implicit Association Test related to race and ethnicity. In advance, explain to them how the test works and what the results will and will not mean. The website has a great explanation and answers to questions. Discuss results and why students think they got the results they did (go beyond the mechanics of the test).

Module 9 Gender, Sex, and Sexuality

Short answers:

1. What is gender identity? How does society contribute to our understanding of what it means to identify ourselves and others by gender categories?
2. How did the work of Alfred Kinsey impact the field of sexuality studies?

Essay:

1. How does the concept of heteronormativity manifest in society? Describe three original examples.
2. How does inequality based on gender impact society? Compare and contrast the functionalist and conflict views on gender inequality.

Online Discussion Question:

1. It is easier to see examples of gender role socialization in children than it is in adults. Think of some examples of how adults are socialized into gender roles over the life course. What does society expect of people based on gender at different ages?

Class Activity:

1. In small groups, create Public Service Announcements (PSAs) targeted at teaching boys and men not to sexually assault girls and women. Use some class time to prepare, and the rest for the students to act out or demonstrate their PSAs. As a class, discuss the perceived pros and cons of the PSAs.

Module 10 Marriage and Family

Short answers:

1. How does the U.S. Census definition of family compare to the sociological definition of family?
2. How do changes in one social institution or structure impact another? Give an original example using the institution of the family.

Essay:

1. How does symbolic interactionism describe how we develop an understanding of what constitutes a family? How does this differ from a functionalist explanation?
2. Describe intimate partner violence in the United States using an intersectional approach.

Online Discussion Question:

1. Who do you consider to be family? Do you consider only relatives, or do other people or creatures fit that description for you? How do you decide who you consider family?

Class Activity:

1. As a class, list the functions of the family. Divide the class into small groups and have them imagine a society where the institution of the family does not exist. In their society, how would the functions the class listed be filled? Groups should be creative and inventive. After about half of the class period is over, ask groups to describe their societies and how the functions that would be met by the institution of the family are met in their imagined society. Students should be thinking in terms of social structure.

Module 11 Religion

Short answers:

1. How does a religious movement move from being a sect to a denomination?
2. Explain 3 functions of religion that are positive for society.
3. What is liberation theology? Give an original example from current events.

Essay:

1. How does the social structure of religion impact other institutions in a society? Illustrate your description with two original examples.
2. How is the Protestant Work Ethic related to capitalism? How might it be used to justify inequality?

Online Discussion Question:

1. Megachurches are a relatively recent phenomenon described in your text. What is a megachurch? Find an example of a megachurch and do some research on it. Using functionalist theory, explain how the megachurch meets various needs for its members and for society. Give concrete examples.

Class Activity:

1. Individually or in small groups, have students investigate death rituals from a culture other than mainstream U.S. culture. What are the functions of the death rituals for the group? As a class, discuss similarities and differences in death rituals across cultures.

Module 12 Education

Short answers:

1. How is education related to life expectancy?
2. In what ways is the U.S. education system unequal?
3. What is social promotion? How can it be both functional and dysfunctional?

Essay:

1. How does cultural transmission work through the institution of education? Give three original examples.
2. How is the importance of credentialism in today’s society explained by labeling theory? Illustrate your explanation with original examples.

Online Discussion Question:

1. You read about grade inflation in this chapter. What do you think about it? How do you think grades in your college classes should be calculated and distributed? Give some examples related to grades that you have experienced that you thought were either helpful or harmful and discuss why you feel the way you do.

Class Activity:

1. In small groups, have students design a sex ed curriculum for 5th, 8th, and 11th grade public school students. What topics would they cover at each grade level and why? What topics would they exclude and why? What is the overall goal of their curriculum? Discuss as a class, and have each student group add to a written chart on the board.

Module 13 Health and Medicine

Short answers:

1. Define and describe the stigmatization of illness. Illustrate your description with an original example.
2. How does socioeconomic status influence health?

Essay:

1. How does health and wellness differ between high and low income nations? Give at least 3 examples.
2. What is socialized medicine? Describe 2 benefits and 2 drawbacks.

Online Discussion Question:

1. What are your thoughts on the medicalization of deviance? How might this view be beneficial for society? For the deviant individual? How might it be detrimental? Do a little online research and describe an example of a deviant behavior being medicalized.

Class Activity:

1. Look up and examine historical changes in the Diagnostic and Statistical Manual. You may want to assign topics to small groups in class. Discuss how the changes in the conceptions of mental illness are related to other things happening in society. Discuss how social views and the social construction of reality impact the definition of mental illness.

Module 14 Aging and the Elderly

Short answers:

1. Why do we distinguish between three different stages of seniors? What is the basis of the distinction between stages?
2. How is ageism institutionalized? Illustrate your explanation with an original example.

Essays:

1. What makes the Baby Boomers an important generation? Describe three ways they are impacting how society deals with aging.
2. Compare disengagement theory with modernization theory. Which theory do you think better applies to today’s seniors? Explain and give an original example.

Online Discussion Question:

1. How much do you think we value the elderly in American society? How are our ideas about what and who is considered “old” changing? What is driving the change in our conceptions of age?

Class Activity:

1. Have students ask elder members of their family to describe their impressions of their own grandparents, great-grandparents or other family elders when they were a child. Ask how their own senior years are comparing to those of their ancestors. Discuss these changes as a class, and connect them to historical and social structural factors in society.

Module 15 Government and Politics

Short answers:

1. Describe the three types of authority, and give original examples for each.
2. How would a symbolic interactionist theorist study government? Illustrate with an example.
3. Describe two social factors that impact voter participation in the United States.

Essay:

1. Compare and contrast two different forms of government.
2. How is voting impacted by race, class, and gender issues?
3. Using functionalist theory, describe the four main functions of the government. Give an original example for each function.

Online Discussion Question:

1. Why do you think some Americans have such a fascination with royal families and monarchies? How do you think views on royalty have changed since an American actress recently married into the British royal family?

Class Activity:

1. Have students create and administer a short interview guide concerning voter participation and attitudes toward voting. They should interview 3 people and discuss their findings with the class.

Module 16 Work and the Economy

Short answers:

1. What are the main differences between capitalism and socialism?
2. What impact have women had on the modern workforce?
3. How do developed countries protect their citizens from absolute poverty?

Essay:

1. How is the information age changing the institution of work?
2. How has globalization impacted the nature of work? Include discussion of global assembly lines and global commodity chains.

Online Discussion Question:

1. You read in your text about the woman who lives without money. Find another example of a group that lives without money. Describe the group’s philosophy on money and how they replace money in their economic system. Provide links to sources where possible, and insert relevant pictures and video clips into your post.

Class Activity:

1. Have students write their description of their ideal job. What would it be? What would the working conditions be like? Responsibilities? Compensation? Then have them search Indeed.com for the job they have described. Students should report back to the class how their ideal job compared to the actual jobs available.

Module 17 Population, Urbanization, and the Environment

Short answers:

1. What is fertility rate and mortality rate? What do these measures tell us about a population?
2. How does the Cornucopia theory address the idea that the human population may become unsustainable?

Essay:

1. Compare and contrast two demographic theories with regard to how societies develop.
2. What is gentrification? What are some functions and dysfunctions of gentrification? How does it impact different groups?

Online Discussion Question:

1. Investigate an organization that is working to ease some aspect of the trash problem somewhere in the world. Check the discussion board before you post to be sure you are posting about an organization that has not already been discussed. Describe the specific trash problem the organization is addressing, the mission of the organization and the impact of their work on the trash problem. Include links, pictures, and video clips when you can.

Class Activity:

1. As individuals or in small groups, think of some items that are generally considered trash and easily thrown away, and come up with a reasonable way to reuse the item. Be inventive and creative as well as practical. Leave time for each group to describe their ideas to the class and for the class to discuss the merits of each idea.

Module 18 Social Movements and Social Change

Short answers:

1. Give an example of each of the three types of framing using frame analysis.
2. The Internet serves many positive functions for society. What are three ways it has been dysfunctional?

Essay:

1. Describe the four different types of crowds, and give original examples for each.
2. There are 5 types of social movements, each with different goals. Define and describe them, and give an original example for each.

Online Discussion Question:

1. Fads are a type of collective behavior. Investigate a fad, from now or the past, and describe what the fad is, how it became popular and how it declined. Which groups were the first to adopt the fad? Who was influential in the spread of the fad? Was the fad related to other things happening in society? Include links, pictures and video clips where you can.

Class Activity:

1. In small groups, have students develop a plan to start a social movement. What social problem are they addressing? Have students restate the claim using three different framing techniques. As a class, discuss each group’s ideas and which of the three framing techniques might be most successful in attaining attention and resources for their social movement.
2. There has been years of debate over the question of whether violence in media and video games causes young people to be violent. Discuss arguments on both side.
3. Advertisers have had to become more innovative and clever in order to get their message to a public that may not watch traditional TV ads or see them in print magazines. Discuss two original examples of how advertisers are getting their message to consumers in new ways. Try to give examples classmates have not already given. Include links when you can.
4. Have students keep notes on everything they see in one day that is advertising a brand, product, or service. A lot of these things fly under our radar and we often do not pay close attention to things like company logos on someone’s tee shirt, product placement in movies, or an ad on a social media page. Ask students to jot down notes throughout the day because it will be harder to remember them all later. Discuss their examples and the pervasive nature of advertising

CC licensed content, Original

• In-Class Activities modification, adaptation, and original content. Authored by: Lumen Learning. License: CC BY: Attribution

CC licensed content, Shared previously

• Classroom. Authored by: Prosymbols. Provided by: Noun Project. Located at: https://thenounproject.com/term/classroom/520781/. License: CC BY: Attribution
• Resources for Instructors, Openstax Sociology 2E. Authored by: Kathy Dolan and Jennie Law. Provided by: Georgia State University. Located at: https://oer.galileo.usg.edu/psychology-ancillary/11/?fbclid=IwAR0w1n8jecFiy49h_hKpaZ5bqd43keKhxGxKtpYUs6_eNatlYVhpYadleIA. Project: Affordable Learning Georgia Grant. License: CC BY: Attribution