Sociology 1

Sociology

According to Peter Berger, there are four motifs of sociological consciousness. These are: 1) the debunking motif, 2) the unrespectability motif, 3) the relativization motif, and 4) the cosmopolitan motif. These four things allow sociologists to sort concepts and understand human psychology slightly better than would be possible without this understanding. Sociologists are human and thus equally subject to the same psychological pitfalls as the cultures and populations that they are studying.

The debunking motif is the idea that sociologists will want to ignore or debunk the rules of the social system that he or she sees. Indeed, there may be occasions where the sociologist in question will be faced with the need to eradicate the mythology of the social system as well. What is most commonly meant by "debunking" is the process of looking beyond or through what is most obvious. The culture or population being investigated will try to present to the observer a certain aesthetic or characteristic which may or not have any bearing on the true identity of that culture. This puts the sociologist into the position of being something of a detective wherein what is obvious is suspect and what is beyond the surface understanding is what is appreciated and best served.

The unrespectability motif is where the sociologist understands that people are not always respectable and that their behavior can be improper. There is also the understanding that the standards and morals of the society do not mean that everyone confirms to those ideals. Sociologists must understand how classes are identified and divided in the population they are investigating and whether or not that class structure allows for upper or lower class mobility. Are class differences attributed to wealth or are they based on genealogy and heritage, or are the divisions made on some other criteria.

The third motif that sociologists must be aware of is what is called the relativization motif. This term refers to the concept of relativity and that a given set of rules and divisions may be attributable to one culture but are not necessarily universal. Sociologists must look at each population individually. This is one of the foundations for the entire science of sociological inquiry. The standards that are derived for one culture are not equally attributable to all other populations. Each culture must be judged by their own set of moral and ethical standards in order to best understand that population. Relationships must be understood not only in terms of the culture of the geography but also of the political climate of the region. A culture's standards can fluctuate within a region. The ideas of a given population may change over time and sociologists must be aware of that.

The final motif of sociology is the cosmopolitan motif. One of the main things to consider when approaching the investigation of another population is to be aware of any prejudices that the individual may have, even if he or she is not initially aware to be in possession of them. The sociologist must be open-minded and willing to perceive and analyze the given population without judging. The sociologist must have the same open-mindedness and openness to new ideas and new cultures with any population under investigation. According to Berger, anything that is human should be under the parameters of the sociologist and that the sociologist should never approach a culture with fear or apprehension of any kind.

Part 2:

1. List the four principles listed in the executive summary.

a. Consider not living together at all before marriage.

b. Do not make a habit of cohabiting.

c. Limit cohabitation to the shortest possible period of time.

d. Do not cohabitat if children are involved.

2. Why did the authors do the study?

a. The researchers wanted to determine what the sociological impact was of cohabitation and whether it was positive or negative overall.

3. What is the main research question?

a. Should we all live together?

4. Which research method was used to test the hypothesis?

a. The researchers got a lot of past research together an analyzed them for patterns rather than conducting additional tests.

5. List five characteristics of those who chose cohabitations.

a. Unmarried

b. Those who are not financially independent

c. Engaging in premarital sex

d. Companionship

e. Distrustful of marriage

6. Give me your opinion of the methods and outcome of the study? Is the information useful?

a. I think the information is useful in that they joined together a lot of past research and that makes it so the present researcher does not have to read through the same materials to reach their own conclusions. This can also be dangerous however because you might think differently.

Part 3:

1. I think the government should try to help. This reflects the conflict paradigm. With the economy in such a disastrous atmosphere, the government should do all they could to assist its citizens.

2. One example of the Thomas Theorem used in daily life is the idea of superstitions such as a black cat crossing your path or Friday the 13th being bad luck. Often people who are superstitious will create situations for themselves where bad things happen and they will blame it on these ominous things that have come their way.

3. I absolutely do not believe that children should be given unlimited access to the internet. One of the reasons for this is that although the children may not intend to see anything objectionable, there are occasions where something as innocent as a Google search can bring up links to very adult content. There are also predators in the world that will prey on children. The internet and chat rooms or instant messaging gives these people instant and ready access to impressionable potential victims.

4. I do not believe that rich people are necessarily happier than poor people. I do believe that rich people have less reason to have stress than their poorer counterparts. Perhaps it is fair to say that rich people are not as unhappy as poor people. Happiness is relative to the amount of satisfaction one has for their achievements and the content of their life which can happen for anyone no matter how much they do or do not have.