Sociologists Research

Completing it cannot hurt your grade. It will replace your lowest Activity or Reflection Memo grade with 50 points. It will be graded pass/fail. If you meet the standards of the assignment, you will receive 50 points in place of your lowest Activity or Reflection Memo. If you submit something that does not meet those standards, you will not receive the extra credit. The prompt for the assignment is below. Your response should be between 550 and 750 words.  Because this is extra credit, it is a non-negotiable grade. If you plagiarize, fail to meet the word count, and/or fail to thoughtfully address all portions of the prompt you choose below, you will not receive the points associated with this assignment. You will not be graded on the stance you take, but on how well you engage your sociological imagination to explain your thoughts over the course of this term. In your submission, make sure to specify which prompt you have chosen. Sociologists research a wide variety of issues that many people have strong beliefs about. Often, our research produces results that aren’t consistent with people’s beliefs about society or understanding of the way the world works. For this extra credit assignment, I’d like for you to choose one of the following prompts.  Prompt 1:  Think of a way that S101 this semester has changed your beliefs about the world of sports. This could be information about the way that sports function in society/socialize us, structures of inequality, or ways that macro-level sports structures operate or affect people’s lives. Describe the issue you’ve chosen. Explain what your belief was prior to taking this course. Explain what your belief is now. What specific information from the course led you to change your beliefs/understanding of this issue? What about that information changed your perspective? or Prompt 2: Think of an issue we covered in S101 this semester that, after readings, lecture, and discussion, you still disagree with sociologists’ conclusions about. This could be information about the way that sports function in society/socialize us, structures of inequality, or ways that macro-level sports structures operate or affect people’s lives. Describe the issue you’ve chosen. Explain what your belief was prior to taking this course. Explain the sociological perspective on this issue (note: providing a “straw man” argument here is not satisfactory (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Straw_man). It’s fine for you to disagree with the conclusions drawn by sociologists, but providing an intentionally weak version of an argument you disagree with is not acceptable.) What evidence leads you to reject the sociological perspective on this issue? (note: again, it’s fine if you don’t “buy” the sociological argument, but if that’s the case, then you need to support your argument with contrasting evidence from a valid source, rather than just disagreeing for abstract reasons) What sort of evidence would be necessary for you to change your perspective? If no degree of evidence would convince you that your perspective is incorrect, then why is that?