Sociology 101 – Principles of Sociology
This class covered the basic concepts of sociology. This class helped me to get a better understanding of the relationship between individual and social structure. We studied the theories of functionalism, conflict, symbolic interactionism, and socialization. This class also discussed the concepts of normative culture, technology, demography, ethnocentrism, values, norms, institutions, status, role, bureaucracy, and stratification. Specific institutions that we covered included the formal organization, courtship, marriage and family, religion, health care service delivery, media, politics, military, and criminal justice.
My final class project was writing a research paper on the sociological topic of my choosing. A fellow classmate and I decided to write about factors that predict whether or not people support paying college athletes. We researched the topic extensively, conducted our own study, and made conclusions based on our results.