Step 1 (Post) due at 11:59pm on Th. Feb. 15 || Step 2 (Responses) due at 11:59pm

Step 1 (Post) due at 11:59pm on Th. Feb. 15 || Step 2 (Responses) due at 11:59pm on Sun. Feb. 18)

On the discussion board you engage in a discussion with your classmates about an article on a current social phenomenon and how at least one of the classical theoretical paradigms can hep us understand that social phenomenon.

Step 1: Your Post

You will choose one of the listed articles to read, then choose one of the classical sociological theoretical paradigms to explain how we can understand the social phenomenon described in the article you chose.

First, select one of the following articles to read and focus on in your answers (click on the title to access the article):

• Good Time to Not Have ChildrenActions (access online hereLinks to an external site.)
• Behind the Scenes of the Financial CrisisActions (access online hereLinks to an external site.)
• Intensive Motherwork: Racism and Black Women’s MotheringActions (access online hereLinks to an external site.)
• Racism and its impacts on the Black homeless population are real Actions(access online hereLinks to an external site.)

Then, answer the following questions:

1. Start your post telling us the title and author of the article you selected. Put the title in quotation marks and be sure to include at least the last name of the author (for example, “A Good Time to Not Have Children” by Holly Hummer).
2. In at least 3 sentences summarize the main points of the article you read.
3. Select one of the following theoretical paradigms that you will use to help us understand the social phenomena described in the article. Tell us theoretical paradigm you will focus on:
   • functionalism (Durkheim)
   • conflict theory (Marx)
   • race conflict theory (Du Bois)
   • symbolic interactionism (Weber)
4. Now tell us how the theoretical paradigm helps us understand the social phenomenon described in the article. In your explanation, be sure to clearly:
   1. tell us what the theoretical paradigm emphasizes when understanding and explaining the social world, and what the theoretical paradigm would emphasize in explaining the particular social phenomenon in the article. To do this, I suggest you first explain what the theoretical paradigm emphasizes more generally when understanding and explaining the social world. Then, identify portions or main points of the article and frame them in terms of the theoretical paradigm.
   2. explain how at least one of the theoretical paradigms central concepts is relevant to the social phenomenon described in the article. To do this, I suggest you first identify and define (in your own words) at least one of the theoretical paradigm’s central concepts. The central concepts are those that are bolded in the textbook’s Introductory chapter that you’ve read or those that I italicized in my questions introducing each theoretical paradigm in the Canvas pages Videos about Theoretical Paradigms, Part 1 and Videos about Theoretical Paradigms, Part 2.
   3. rely only on and incorporate class material (i.e., the textbook and videos/additional content I post on Canvas) in your explanation and application of the theoretical paradigm.
   4. write information you get from the textbook or additional content I post on Canvas in your own words. If you are using the exact wording of a long phrase, a sentence, or a passage from the textbook or content I post, put the exact wording in quotation marks.
   5. indicate in parentheses the sources from which you get the information or quotations that you use about the theoretical paradigm. Why do you do this? The reason is to help you get used to citing or indicating your sources, which is a main requirement in college classes. How do you do this? Whenever you write information about the theoretical paradigm, tell us where you got that information from by putting information about the source in parentheses. If you got the information from the textbook, you will put the last name of the author(s) and page number that the information comes from.
      • Following is an example of how to cite information gotten from the PDF Introductory chapter of A Sociology Experiment. Note that there are 3 authors of that chapter so I include all of their names. Note also that the sentence’s period goes after the last parenthesis:
        Karl Marx sees society as made up of social conflict between social classes (Khan, Sharkey and Sharp, pg. 9).
      • To cite content I posted on Canvas, such as from a video or something I wrote, you can write my last name and the title of the Canvas page it comes from. Here is an example of a sentence relying on information from content I posted, followed by the appropriate citation:
        Conflict theorists view society as made up of social classes that can be understood as the “haves” and “have-nots” (Jacob-Almeida, Videos about Theoretical Paradigms, Part 1).