StudentShare
Contact Us
Sign In / Sign Up for FREE
Search
Go to advanced search...
Free

Issues in Practical Sociology - Essay Example

Cite this document
Summary
The essay "Issues in Practical Sociology" focuses on the critical analysis of the major issues in practical sociology. Religion is a cultural universal; religious practices are evident in all societies. At present, an estimated 4 billion people belong to the world’s many religious beliefs…
Download full paper File format: .doc, available for editing
GRAB THE BEST PAPER97.2% of users find it useful
Issues in Practical Sociology
Read Text Preview

Extract of sample "Issues in Practical Sociology"

Religion is clearly a cultural universal; religious practices are evident in all societies. At present, an estimated 4 billion people belong to the world's many religious beliefs. In contemporary industrial societies, scientific and technological aspects of life including the social institution of religion. The term secularization refers to the process through which religion's influence on other social institutions diminishes. When this process occurs, religion will survive in the private sphere of individual and family life; indeed, it may thrive on a personal level. At the same time other social institutions - such as the economy, politics and education - maintain their own sets of norms independent of religious guidance. Like religion, education is a cultural universal. In a sense, education is an important aspect of socialization - the lifelong process of learning the attitudes, values and behavior appropriate to individuals as members of a particular culture. However, socialization may also take place through interactions with parents, friends, and even strangers. Socialization result as well from exposure to books, films, television and other forms of communications. When such learning is explicit and formalized- when people consciously teach others to adopt the social role of the learner - this process is called education. The research focuses on religion and education as they have emerged in modern industrial society. The approaches that Emile Durkheim first introduced are being used by later sociologists in studying religion. The basic function of religion as a source of societal integration and social control and as means of providing social support has also been explored through other researches. In the past, particular attention was given to the insights of Karl Marx and Max Weber regarding the relationship between religion and social change. Functionalists stress the importance of education in transmitting culture, promoting social and political integration, maintaining social control and promoting social change. To conflict theorists, however, education preserves distinctions based on social class, race, ethnicity and gender, instead of promoting equality. Interactionists generally focus on micro-level classroom dynamics such as how teachers' expectations about students affect the students' actual achievements. Since religion like Protestantism and Catholicism is considered a cultural universal, it not surprising that it fulfills several basic functions within human societies. In sociological terms, these include both manifest and latent functions. Among the manifest functions of religion are defining the spiritual world and giving meaning to the divine. Because of its beliefs concerning people's relationship to a beyond, religion provides an explanation for events that seemed difficult to understand. By contrast, latent functions of religion are unintended, covert, or hidden. Church services provide a manifest function by offering a forum for religious worship; at the same time, they fulfill a latent function as a meeting ground for unattached members. In viewing religion as a social institution, functionalists evaluate its impact on human societies. The first two functions of religion that were previously discussed in researches are integration and social control which are oriented toward the larger society. Thus they are best understood from a macro level viewpoint in terms of the relationship between religion and society as a whole. The third function - providing social support - is more oriented toward the individual can be more understood more effectively from a micro level viewpoint. The fourth function, promoting social change, is illustrated using Max Weber's macro level concept of the Protestant ethic. Summary The research article is entitled "Attitude toward Christianity among secondary school pupils in Northern Ireland: shifts in denominational differences" written by Leslie Francis, Mandy Robbins, Christopher Lewis and Philip Barnes. The research can be considered as a continuation of a series of studies conducted for the past several decades in connection to the attitude toward Christianity among males and females educated in Protestant and Catholic schools. The research methodology involved the use of questionnaires involving the use of Francis scale of attitude toward Christianity. Random sampling was utilized to collect sample data. A sample is the smaller group, or subset of the group, of interest that is studied in the research study. Describing the sample is important for understanding the results of quantitative study such as the research article being critiqued. This is a focused summary of what has already been published regarding the question or problem for which there is a gap in knowledge. The literature of the research article gives the readers' a picture of what is already known or has already been studied in relation to the problem and identifies where the gaps in knowledge may be. (Pineault, 2007) The literature review should reflect the current state of knowledge relevant to the study and identify any gaps or conflicts. It should include key or classic studies on the topic as well as up to date literature. There should be a balance of primary and secondary sources Related studies, on the other hand, are studies, inquiries, or investigations already conducted to which the present proposed study is related or has some bearing or similarity. They are usually unpublished materials such as manuscripts, theses, and dissertations. The research design of the article is both exploratory and descriptive. (Pineault, 2007)The research made use of quantitative methods which focus on the understanding and breaking down on the different parts of a phenomenon to see how they do or do not connect. Therefore, quantitative methods involve collecting information that is specific and limited to a particular parts or events of the research subject being studied. Methods sections of research reports usually include information about three aspects of the research method: sample, data collection procedure and the data analysis methods. Knowledge gaps that involve a concrete response or action lend themselves to a quantitative approach, in which each factor that might contribute to a problem is identified, defined, and measured. The sampling subsection in the methods section of the research report describes how people were chosen for the study, what was done to find them, and what, if any, limits or restrictions were placed on who could participate in the study. Understanding samples and sampling is important part of making intelligent decisions about the use of research in practices therefore, samples and samplings should be discussed properly. Almost any research report, even those that are mostly reporting results of interviews in the form of words, includes descriptive results. Descriptive results summarize information without comparing it to other information. The authors do not compare these findings to any other group; they simply describe what they found using language that summarizes the information such as percentages or averages. Statistical significance is important because of the need to be sure what was found in the small group of patients studied is not something that happened by chance rather than because of some factor that the research is studying. The Four-Cornered Relationship Model can be used to discuss the article further. We can express the relationship between various practical and theoretical research considerations in the following, diagrammatic form. Choice of Topic Theoretical Preference Research Methods Practical Preference The above model suggests that whenever we approach the study of social phenomena, the particular method (or methods) we choose to adopt will be will be conditioned by various practical and theoretical considerations. Additionally, since most sociological research is commissioned by interested groups such as Government agencies, the people who provide the funds for our research may demand a considerable say in how we spend those funds (a condition of doing the research, for example, might be that we must produce statistical, rather than qualitative, data). However, while practical considerations are clearly important in the "real world" of sociological research, it's important that we recognise there is a further dimension to the question of why different sociologists choose to use different methods of data collection - one that comes under the general heading of "Methodology". In basic terms, questions of methodology are concerned with the reliability and validity of the data we collect: For example, the question of whether or not interviews are a valid method of data collection, (given the argument of various Interactionists that they involve inherent problems of bias - the "interview effect"). The argument here is that each method of data collection available to us can only do certain things well and, therefore, we must recognise that certain methods can only discover certain things. Again, this looks like simple commonsense - we have something we want to study, certain methods do certain things well and other things badly, therefore, we need to select the method that does the job we require in the best possible way. However, theoretical considerations are just as significant in this respect as they are in the other respect noted above. In this instance, the assumption is made that the choice of research method is simply and exclusively a practical problem, divorced from wider considerations such as: - The reliability and validity of different methods. - The beliefs that researchers, hold about what constitutes "knowledge", "evidence" and so forth. - The way the relationship between the researcher and the researched may affect the data we collect. To relate this model to the research article, the research methods aspect of the article made use of questionnaires which have advantages and disadvantages. Questionnaires have the advantage of being cheaper especially when large samples are being used similar to the number of participants in this research. Ader H, Mellenbergh G, eds. (1999) Research Methodology in the Social, Behavioural and Life Sciences. London: Sage Publications. Babbie, E. (2004). Survey Research Methods. 2nd Edition CA: Wadsworth Publishing Co Brman A. (2003) Quantity and Quality in Social Research. London, New York: Routledge. Fawcett J, Downs FS. (2004) The Relationship of Theory and Research, 3rd ed. Philadelphia, F.A. Davis. Fowler F. (2004) Survey Research Methods, 3rd ed. Thousand Oaks CA: Sage Publications. Kerlinger FN. (2004) Foundations of Behavioral Research, 4th ed. New York, NY, Holt, Rinehart, and Winston. Seligman, M.E.P. (1990). Learned Optimism. New York: Knopf. (Reissue edition, 1998, Free Press. Read More
Cite this document
  • APA
  • MLA
  • CHICAGO
(“Socilology : practical Sociology Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 1500 words”, n.d.)
Socilology : practical Sociology Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 1500 words. Retrieved from https://studentshare.org/miscellaneous/1529397-socilology-practical-sociology
(Socilology : Practical Sociology Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 1500 Words)
Socilology : Practical Sociology Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 1500 Words. https://studentshare.org/miscellaneous/1529397-socilology-practical-sociology.
“Socilology : Practical Sociology Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 1500 Words”, n.d. https://studentshare.org/miscellaneous/1529397-socilology-practical-sociology.
  • Cited: 0 times

CHECK THESE SAMPLES OF Issues in Practical Sociology

Burrawoys Model of Public Sociology

The paper "Burrawoy's Model of Public sociology" highlights that Mathieu Deflem of the University of South Carolina argued that public sociology 'is neither public nor sociology'.... Public sociology is not a plea to make sociology more relevant to the many publics in society.... To the extent that it succeeds in shifting attention away from 'professional sociology,' it will reduce the achievements and authenticity of the field rather than increase its influence....
7 Pages (1750 words) Essay

Critically Discuss the Issues of Applying Sociological Knowledge to Public Issues

The issues of practical sociology application can be traced back to the works of Albion Small (Bruhn and Rebach 1996; Small 1916).... For many years, “practical sociology has been presented as if it were, by its nature, unscientific.... Some have also incorrectly treated practical sociology as if it were only an interest of the earliest sociologists, or the students – and an.... sociology is one of the most human-oriented disciplines focused on the study of human problems and developing solutions....
6 Pages (1500 words) Essay

The Practical Sociology Model for Fees, and Funding

This essay "The practical sociology Model for Fees, and Funding" talks that sociology tackles the society at large in terms of various issues to be able to solve and make the community of people progressive.... This paper explores that truly practical sociology considers how reality goes on in the world where people move and think about.... The information that practical sociology can give is easily used to liberate each individual in his life to make it a better one....
8 Pages (2000 words) Essay

Pursuing Sociology

The paper "Pursuing sociology " states that to consider it to provide a strong grounding for a clear understanding of the society and the problems facing individuals, especially in the contemporary world characterized with revolutionary changes facilitated by globalization.... Most importantly, my strong problem-solving skills makes me suited for the field of sociology as it would help me to effectively find solutions to people's problems whenever they are distressed and need help, a service which is perfectly rendered with only individuals with extensive knowledge of sociology....
4 Pages (1000 words) Personal Statement

Virtual Explorations in Sociology

In the paper 'Virtual Explorations in sociology' the author looks at the study of sociology and its applications, which is a very interesting feat for an individual who wants to explore the world and look at a quite different perspective from an ordinary human being.... Recognizing his deep passion for business, he is most interested in how the concepts of sociology are applied in order to benefits business organizations and their stakeholders....
3 Pages (750 words) Personal Statement

Reflection paper 2

sociology issues vary, ranging from social class, family to race, and from radical change to social stability in the entire society.... sociology lets us appreciate obstacles and.... Therefore, how do social providers deal with social issues that emerge in the sociology's issue is varied, ranging from religion to crime, from the state to the family, from the divisions of social class to race to mutual beliefs of a common culture, and from radical change to social stability in the entire societies....
5 Pages (1250 words) Essay

Is an Understanding of Sociology Important for the Practice of Social Work

This paper "Is an Understanding of sociology Important for the Practice of Social Work?... focuses on the aspect of sociology which is the scientific study of human social life, groups, and societies.... 'sociology is about our lives and studying ourselves is the most complex and difficult endeavour we can undertake.... The term 'sociology' was actually coined by the French author Auguste Comte (1789-1857) but he originally used the phrase 'social physics' to refer to the field of studies....
13 Pages (3250 words) Essay

Problems of Applying Sociological Knowledge to Public Issues

he issues of practical sociology application can be traced back to the works of Albion Small (Bruhn and Rebach 1996; Small 1916).... It is through this societal orientation that sociology does have the potential to be successfully applied in the public issues domain.... Unfortunately, the current state of sociology application in public issues is far from desired.... The complexity of social life (internal) and the variety of sociological perspectives (external) are, probably, the most significant barriers to the use of sociology to solve public issues....
6 Pages (1500 words) Essay
sponsored ads
We use cookies to create the best experience for you. Keep on browsing if you are OK with that, or find out how to manage cookies.
Contact Us