Catalog Description

Hours: 54 lecture
Description: Sociological analysis of social institutions, social interaction and behavior, collective behavior, social change, deviance, conformity, and social stratification. (C-ID SOCI 110) (CSU, UC)

Course Student Learning Outcomes

  • CSLO #1: Apply sociological theory, research and critical analysis to the study of society.
  • CSLO #2: Apply the sociological imagination in evaluating social issues across history and culture.
  • CSLO #3: Evaluate major concepts in the structure and change of society and analyze the impact on social interaction across time and place.

Effective Term

Fall 2024

Course Type

Credit - Degree-applicable

Contact Hours

54

Outside of Class Hours

108

Total Student Learning Hours

162

Course Objectives

The student will be able to, through oral and written work:
1. define sociology and apply sociological models to social phenomena;
2. apply the sociological imagination to their own lives;
3. evaluate personal experiences and current events through a lens of sociological analysis;
4. describe the current paradigms and their relevance for studying the dynamic nature of society;
5. define major concepts of sociology and explain their interrelationships;
6. define and investigate factors that impact the social system;
7. define, describe and analyze the interrelationships between major social groups and institutions, social stratification, inequality, and the manipulation of social power; and
8. analyze the reasons for, and the implications of, collective behavior, social change, and social movements.

General Education Information

  • Approved College Associate Degree GE Applicability
    • AA/AS - Behavioral Sciences
  • CSU GE Applicability (Recommended-requires CSU approval)
    • CSUGE - D7 Interdisciplinary Soc/Behav
    • CSUGE-D0 Sociology/Criminology
  • Cal-GETC Applicability (Recommended - Requires External Approval)
    • IGETC Applicability (Recommended-requires CSU/UC approval)
      • IGETC - 4J Sociology/Criminlgy

    Articulation Information

    • CSU Transferable
    • UC Transferable

    Methods of Evaluation

    • Classroom Discussions
      • Example: Instructor will divide students into small groups and hand out puzzles at various stages in the activity (1st only the inside pieces will be given, then the edges, then the picture box cover). In groups, students will put the puzzle together discussing how the new information at each stage of the activity impacted their strategy for putting the puzzle together. After the puzzles are complete, the instructor will engage students in a discussion on the use of puzzles and the strategies they created as an analogy for sociological theory and macro-and microsociology.
    • Essay Examinations
      • Example: Explain the difference between microsociology and macrosociology. Give an example of each in your response.
    • Objective Examinations
      • Example: Objective Examinations: In the following hypotheses, identify the independent variable and dependent variable. "Retired populations have a higher rate of suicide than employed populations." The Independent Variable is ___________. The Dependent Variable is _____________.
    • Projects
      • Example: Students will explore deviance by practicing deviant elevator ride activities and the analyzing the impact on conformity and social control in small group discussions/discussion board or in a written or digital report.
    • Reports
      • Example: Student will choose a book—nonfiction or fiction—that relates to the study of sociology. Student will write an analysis of the book as it relates to sociology. Student will tie in sociological concepts and theory in their analysis of the book, including a brief overview/summary of the book and focusing on sociological analysis of related, core sociological concepts.

    Repeatable

    No

    Methods of Instruction

    • Lecture/Discussion
    • Distance Learning

    Lecture:

    1. Sociopoly Instructor will put students into groups of seven (six players and one observer) and then hand out monopoly games. Instructor has altered the game, dividing players into various socio-economic groups via envelopes on information, coupons, properties, money, and playing pieces. Each playing piece has resources connected to their socio-economic status. Groups play the game and begin to discover they are in varied statuses. Observers observe response to players. After the duration of the play, observers first lead the discussion about player responses, then class discuss this activity. Instructor facilitates this discussion gathering responses and experiences and leading students into a discussion on the game's relevance to social stratification, life chances, access to valued resources, social interaction, group dynamics, and other sociological concepts (introducing these concepts via lecture content as the class moves through the discussion).

    Distance Learning

    1. After watching a film on culture, instructor will facilitate small groups (via discussion board or voice recording app) in which students share a photo they took representing culture and engage in a discussion of key concepts from the film as they apply to their experiences with culture, culture shock, ethnocentrism, and cultural relativity.

    Typical Out of Class Assignments

    Reading Assignments

    Students will have weekly reading assignments in college-level texts. Sample Assignment: 1. Read chapter 1 in your textbook and be prepared to discuss the impact of the Industrial Revolution on the creation of the field and study of sociology. 2. Read the chapter on Deviance and Conformity and apply concepts to your experience during the Elevator Ride experiment.

    Writing, Problem Solving or Performance

    Students will regularly write formal, college level, essays on Sociological issues. Examples: 1. Following the guidelines for field research, conduct a social observation in a highly populated area for 45 minutes. Upon completion of your observation, write a reaction paper detailing your observations including your discussion and analysis on social stratification, deviance, conformity, and any additional sociological concepts you observe 'in action.' 2. Following the instructions for the Un-TV assignment, write a summary of your experiment. Summarize your observations, impressions, and reactions. Be sure to include an analysis of how your observations relate to the social construction of reality. For example: What did you observe about television, the role it plays in your life, our social lives, how does TV impact the social construction of reality?

    Other (Term projects, research papers, portfolios, etc.)

    Example: Elevator Ride Experiment "Like all aspects of interaction in day-to-day life, normal appearances have to be managed with immense care, even though the seeming absence of such care is precisely a key feature of them."—Anthony Giddens This experience is designed to give you the opportunity to explore the concepts of norms and deviance—by conducting your own little sociological experience and altering a simple, seemingly insignificant piece of behavior—the way you ride the elevator. Follow these steps: 1. Enter the elevator as usual. (NOTE: the elevator should be populated) 2. Go to the rear and DO NOT turn around and look up at the floor numbers. 3. Do this as a daily practice for 3 days (every elevator you ride in for 3 days — if you don't have much occasion to ride elevators, make a point of it for the 3 days of your observation) 4. Observe what went on within you and what went on in the environment. In 2-3 pages, summarize your experience. What were the challenges to altering your behavior? How did it feel to go against the norm? What concerns, if any, entered your mind? What were the reactions of others entering, leaving and/or sharing the elevator with you? How did your own experiences serve to reinforce social control? Consider the key concepts of deviance, social control, norms, socialization, etc. Make sure to note the location of each of your elevator rides and how the location impacted your experience/impressions. Be sure to include an analysis of how your elevator ride experience(s) relate to the concepts of deviance and social control.

    Required Materials

    • The Real World: An Introduction to Sociology
      • Author: Kerry Ferris and Jill Stein
      • Publisher: WW Norton
      • Publication Date: 2024
      • Text Edition: 9th
      • Classic Textbook?: No
      • OER Link:
      • OER:
    • SOC
      • Author: Jon Witt
      • Publisher: McGraw Hill
      • Publication Date: 2020
      • Text Edition: 6th
      • Classic Textbook?: No
      • OER Link:
      • OER:
    • Sociology
      • Author: John J. Macionis
      • Publisher: Pearson
      • Publication Date: 2024
      • Text Edition: 18
      • Classic Textbook?: No
      • OER Link:
      • OER:
    • Intro to Sociology
      • Author:
      • Publisher: Lumen Learning
      • Publication Date:
      • Text Edition:
      • Classic Textbook?:
      • OER Link:
      • OER: https://courses.lumenlearning.com/suny-intro-to-sociology/
    • Introduction to Sociology
      • Author: Conerly, Tonya R., Holmes, Kathleeen, Tamang, Asha Lal, et al.
      • Publisher: OpenStax
      • Publication Date: Jun 27, 2023
      • Text Edition: 3e
      • Classic Textbook?:
      • OER Link:
      • OER: https://openstax.org/details/books/introduction-sociology-3e

    Other materials and-or supplies required of students that contribute to the cost of the course.