Review Sheet Draft Link on Syllabus and course schedule

I posted the mid term review sheet.  It is based on last years version, so it is mostly complete but will need some minor updates based on what is new this year.   You will find two links to the document on the syllabus (both under the links section).   It is also linked for this Friday, on the course schedule.

Go to the links section of the syllabus:
https://sites.google.com/site/professorwelser/courses/soc101#TOC-Links

Direct link to the review sheet:
https://docs.google.com/document/d/1vRXxa-QYjkTNWj1wSh5cAR_-TsLlt6t0CFL38mgHCtg/edit

Homework Help for Friday, January 27th

Hello all!

I have posted a helpful video describing the explaining the steps that must be completed to do the homework due this Friday, January 27th.

The link can be found on the OUSociology Reddit page or here:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=VEy-fCGxqlg

Be sure to find your group members on your TA's threads and post your gmails so you can share the document with the appropriate people (and don't forget to share with your TA too).

Don't forget to name your document, which can be done by clicking the "untitled document" at the top left. Give your document the same name as your concept, such as "self" or "identity."

Find your group mates?  Direct link to your TA's thread on OUSociology is linked from the syllabus, here:
https://sites.google.com/site/professorwelser/courses/soc101#TOC-Contacting-us

It's time to get srs with homework!

Additional follow up advice (was also posted in email to your OU address)



2.  Homework #2 advice/reminders.
2a.   Make sure that you have shared access and editing ability to anyone with the link so that all group members can access it. Make sure that the link on the concept list leads to your shared assignment.  This is how you turn it in.  You simply post the correct link to your assignment in the concept list document.
2b.  Share editing ability directly with your TA, so he or she can inspect the edit history of the document.
2c.  Use the comment feature to put a comment in your document that indicates which definition(s) you found and contributed to the assignment.
2d.  Make sure that you are in contact with your group members everyday this weekend to coordinate around writing the collaborative definition.
2e.  Remember that you need to collaboratively edit a new definition that draws on at least 3 academic sources.  You will need to work with your group members on this, this is why the assignment was introduced a week ago, so that you could make the connections that you need to get your work done.  
2f.  IF you don't have those connections yet, it is not too late, but you need to solve that problem right away.

Homework #2

Homework #2 involves working with classmates to construct a new, bettter definition of a sociological concept.

1.  You will start by finding your concept from this list:  (it will have your name next to it)

https://docs.google.com/spreadsheet/ccc?key=0ArdK55LJYgKQdHdEQ29ESHZTclN4dFhlRzM4bGF4VEE

2.  Create a google doc that you share with anyone with the link (for now)  [allow anyone to edit it too]

2.5.   Copy the text from this document:  (see below)

3.   Up-dating you info (name etc.) at the top of the document.

3.5  Getting in email contact with your co-workers.
    3.55   Find them in OUSociology TA threads, see direct links to each TA thread here:
           https://sites.google.com/site/professorwelser/courses/soc101#TOC-Contacting-us
    3.75  Find their OU email by searching at OU for people,
             http://edirectory.ohio.edu/

4.  Finding your concept in at least 3 sociology textbooks.
     4.25:   Cant find?  check soc textbooks on reserve at the library
                NEW:   I added 5 books on reserve:  
                 Handbook of economic sociology
                 Handbook of social psychology (2 volumes)
                 Social research methods
                 Social thought (general social science dictionary)
     4.5:      Can't find?  check Wikipedia, find their sources in library
     4.75:    Can't find?  check related textbooks in econ, pol sci, or social psych
              4.75a   type of textbook depends on general topic of your concept

5. Quoting the definition and other key parts of each textbooks discussion of your concept.
       5a.  Include page numbers so others can find the resource.

6. Typing up the full bibliographic information for the textbooks (so other people know which ones you used).

Steps 1-6 are due on Friday the 27th
Step 7 is due on Monday the 30th

7.  After these steps are done, you will collaborate with your co-workers to write a brand new definition, in your own words, that expresses an even better understanding of the concept than than reported in each individual textbook.

8.  Your TA will then copy your new definition into the study guide.



Copy and paste this into your document:

1.  Fill this out:

Name	Gmail account	OU Email

2.   Find your concept in your book,  type it up, cite the page numbers from the book,

3.  Include the bibliographic information for the book in the format of the example below.

Additional sociology textbooks are available at the reserve desk.



Example:

“Blah Blah BLajh Blah Blah BLajhBlah Blah BLajhBlah Blah BLajhBlah Blah BLajhBlah Blah BLajhBlah Blah BLajhBlah Blah BLajhBlah Blah BLajhBlah Blah BLajhBlah Blah BLajhBlah Blah BLajhBlah Blah BLajhBlah Blah BLajhBlah Blah BLajhBlah Blah BLajhBlah Blah BLajhBlah Blah BLajhBlah Blah BLajh”    (Stark, 2006: 99)

Stark, Rodney.  2006.  Sociology.  10th Edition.   Cengage Learning:  New York.  


Definition 1:


Definition 2:


Definition 3:

A brief note on Clip of the Day:

Hello everyone,

Dr. Welser asked that I point out some brief organizational things with Clip Of The Day Submissions. Just a few quick bullet points:

• Please submit all COTD videos in the Clip Of The Day thread. This keeps the front page free of clutter. If you've posted a video in the last few weeks outside the thread and can't find it, never fear, I've moved most of them to the thread and credited you with submitting them.
• Keep in mind that the overall point of COTD videos is to illustrate a theme related to sociology in general. While I think most of you submitting links realize this, we still get some videos that are simply a Youtube link. While we are very pleased that you're contributing, please remember to submit a quick comment explaining to your classmates the sociological significance illustrated by your clip. This - as we have seen - helps spur some really deep discussion on the discussion board that anyone can contribute to.
• Finally, not to be a wet blanket, but please refrain from posting videos with blatantly racist / sexist / homophobic humor. This hasn't been an issue so far, but its probably good to have a statement about it before something happens. If you are unsure about your choice of video and think it may be offensive to some, keep in mind there are 270 students in this course representing various backgrounds and experiences and what doesn't offend you may offend them - and vice versa. Just use good judgement: we're all adults, but part of being an adult is recognizing the potential to offend. In some cases, videos such as these are useful in illustrating social issues within society that sociology hopes to address. If you hope to represent this with your choice of video, please indicate this in your explanation of why it's a sociologically relevant video.
• Finally, starting next week or so, we'll be voting on which of your submitted clips of the day we'll be using in class. We'll vote on these using the up-vote system on Reddit. Just click the up-arrow directly to the left of the post containing the video you like. We'll go through this process a bit more later on.

Enough of that boring junk. Post away!

- Aaron

Quiz 1 Intro 2012

NOTE:

1. This is what will happen to you if you cheat on the quiz.    
2. But seriously,  do you own work.  
3. Make sure that you write up your answer to the short answer before you open the link at the bottom.
4. Fill out all parts of the form
5. You are welcome to discuss the questions with others, but you have to write your answers seperately
6. Seriously.    
7. Quiz Opens Friday at Noon.
8. Quiz is due by Saturday 1-14-2012  at 6:00 pm
9. The link for turning in the quiz is at the bottom of this announcement.  

1. The following image is from the baby name visualizer site, that shows the rate of popularity for the top 1000 boy and girl names in the US (rate is: # of people receiving a name per million in the United states). Which of the following reasons can not explain the drop-off in popularity of popular names starting in the 1950’s.

A. people are relying on common biblical names (like John or Mary) less now
B. because of access to popular culture people are aware of a greater variety of names
C. the population of the US has increased
D. people have an increasing preference for distinction







2. The term _______________ provides answers to the question, “Why are these outcomes more likely under these conditions?”
a. Operationalization
b. Analysis
c. Sociological Imagination
d. Explanation






3. Ascribed characteristics are those which people acquire from birth or familial status that they cannot change. They are said to be associated with:
a. Informal social networks
b. Primary groups
c. Secondary groups
d. Formal social networks



4. Unfriendly interaction between groups and competing interests between groups are two types of:
a. Solidarity
b. Group characteristics
c. Social networks
d. Conflict



5. John Snow, without knowing exactly why, helped solved the cholera crisis in the 1850s in London. He did so by collecting and documenting data about who was sick and in what areas the disease was most concentrated. What kind of research was this?
A. ascribed
B. survey
C. descriptive
D. explanatory


6. Ethnographic research, which usually involves participant observation and interviews, is appropriate for what type of study?
A.  A comparison of average family income of 1950s American households versus 2000s American households.
B.  An in-depth study of the social structure of college paintball teams.
C. Researching the affects of personal appearance in social networks by controlling for the profile picture that people see.
D. Administering questions to thousands of people to collect data on how people choose which university to attend.

7. “self contained, self sufficient population united by social relationships; bounded from other populations by geographical/social barrier” describes:
A.) Social Network
B.) Society
C.) Structural Concept
D.) Cultural Concept



8. A social structure is a persistent pattern in the distribution of all the following, except:
a.) relationships
b.) attributes
c.) holdings
d.) meaning






9. _______ are socially determined rules that govern behavior of some people, under certain conditions. There are two general types, pre-scriptive and pro-scriptive. Pro-scriptive define what people ________ and arise largely because other people experience __________ and act to sanction the subjects of those rules.

A. Norms; should not do; negative externalities
B. Values; should not do; competition
C. Norms; should do; competition
D. Values; should do; negative externalities



10. The term ___________ refers to dimensions of society based on meaning, while the term ___________ refers to distinctive, bounded cultural objects transmitted through communication.

A. structure; viral marketing
B. symbol; meme
C. culture; viral marketing
D. culture; meme




11. Short answer: (5pts) Provide your best definition of the sociological imagination. Explain in your own words what that definition means, and describe two ways that people can use the sociological imagination.
Turn in your quiz by clicking this link:
https://docs.google.com/spreadsheet/viewform?formkey=dFc2bGFEYVhCUThrTnRuU18zOFBiY1E6MQ

Post review items from Week 1 In OU Sociology thread

Post comments, answers, questions and terms from W1 Day3 review session in this thread:
http://www.reddit.com/r/OUSociology/comments/o5pf1/w1_day3_review_thread_post_your_questions_and/

Homework #1

Homework #1:

Start working on HW1 this weekend.   HW1 is due on Friday the 13th!   If you have questions, make sure that you view #4 first, then read #1, then go to #3 and ask questions in the OUSociology thread.

1. Detailed assignment description
2. Example of what your assignment should look like when done.
3. OUSociology question and answer thread on HW 1
4. Google provided intro to google docs

You can turn in your homework here:
https://docs.google.com/spreadsheet/viewform?formkey=dDJtSzVxeE1pSFdCRnFWaWRUUTFwZEE6MQ

You can actually work on it after you turn it in because you are just sharing the link.   Pretty cool, eh?

Lecture slides

Several people might have missed the first day, so I posted the slides from Tues and Thurs online.  Go to the course schedule and find the word "Slides" under Tues and Thursday from Week 1.

Which book are you getting for class?

There are a bunch that you can choose from. It would be great to have a good variety.

The photo above includes the 9th edition of Sociology by Rodney Stark;  Our Social World by Jeanne Ballantine and Keith Robertsand Sociology, a down to earth approach by James Henslin.

W1, Lecture 1 Welser: That's not my name!

Today we talked about how the names parents give to their children is influenced by social factors.  This ends up being a good example of how sociologists explain social outcomes.  The name visualization did not work perfectly in class-   so check it out on your own.

Here is the plot on social explanation that I promised.

Help with creating new account for OUSociology online community

1.  You need to create an account for online participation, and it is easiest to use something related to your ou login like the example.  Go here and click register after reading the rest of the instructions.
    1a.  Those boxes with the funny backgrounds and the letters can be tricky to read sometimes.  These ones are all capitals.  So make sure you use all cap letters.  If you miss you can try it again. It will give you a new captcha to read.
2.  After you complete the form, you need to let me know what your username is [by filling out the survey thing linked on the syllabus].  Where is the survey?  Here is the link!
3. I check the survey results every couple hours.  When I find new entries I take your username, and add it to the list of people who can read, comment on, and post to OUSociology.
5.  Once I do that, you can go there and login.   Read and comment on any of the links.
6.  Please read and post a comment to the Welcome thread.   How do you do that? The screen will look kind of like this:

Each post to reddit basically has 4 parts:

1. A title.  The word "Welcome!" for instance.  Or "Cool list of free places to learn online"
2. The thing being linked to (where you go when you click the title)
3. A comment thread [click # comments link]
1. (where you can read other peoples comments and post your own)
2. The "Welcome" thread is a special case (a self post) the title link and the comment link go to the same place.   It does not link to an external resource, like the other two of the first threads.
4. Vote count.   The little arrows are for voting up things that you think are good or deserve more attention.  The down arrows are for things that are bad or deserve less attention.  

When you get the OUSociology,  please take the time to read and post to the Welcome thread.  

Hope that helps.