End of Unit 1

As we approach the end of unit 1, our focus switched to research, groups and identity, and categories and stereotypes.

We talked for a few days about the different kinds of sociological research, qualitative and quantitative. Qualitative focuses more on experiencing what you're studying for yourself or having an in depth conversation with your subject, while quantitative relies more on multiple choice type surveys. An ideal research pool would contain a mix of both types.

In class we read a selection from Sudhir Venkatesh's Gang Leader for a Day where the author, who wanted to find out for a research project in graduate school what it's like to be black and poor. So he went to the projects in downtown Chicago and interviewed some young men. First he tried surveys-which only got him laughed at, and eventually he realized that they had no interest in answering surveys like a school kid. He realized the only way to find out what it's like to experience it for himself. So he temporarily joined a gang called "the Black Kings" run by a young man, a college graduate, named J.T. who showed him around and protected him. The author realized that they had their own little economy going, and they weren't the heartless gang-bangers society portrays them as. But it took him joining the gang to find out what their lives are like. The experience is qualitative data, while the surveys are quantitative.

Qualitative and quantitative data can be compared to an FRQ or a multiple choice test respectively. An FRQ, like qualitative data, forces you to prove what you know, while a multiple choice test is just a test that people usually don't take seriously because it's easy to guess the right answer.

Groups and identity were next. We learned that the groups a person identifies with shape their beliefs and influences the decisions they make on a daily basis.

We're currently watching a movie called "A Bronx Tale" about a young Italian-American growing up in the Bronx, New York. Early in the movie as a young child he's influenced by his father, a bus driver, the Yankees, and a local mafia leader called Sonny who he thinks is really cool. After an incident involving the mafia where he chooses not to turn Sonny in, Sonny becomes close with him. As he grows up, we see him become more like Sonny, but he's also influenced by his delinquent racist childhood friends. Because he's an Italian-American, he's very religious, as Italians tend to be religious, and slightly racist because his friends are racist, his parents are racist, and he's growing up in the 60's. But when he falls in love with a black girl, his morals are suddenly and abruptly changed.

One of the groups I identify with is band. Band at Stevenson is VERY time consuming and demanding, but also very rewarding. Most of my closest friends are people I met in band, from middle school all the way to high school. We sweat and suffer through band camp together, share funny stories about band things, tell instrument jokes, and enjoy Mrs. Durham's hilarious stories. And in this huge group, most of my very closest friends are clarinets and flutes. We're lumped together during sectionals before football games during marching season, we have similar music, we're in the back of the field together, we're instruments that are designed to be quieter. Because we spend so much time together, we bond and grow together. We influence each other.

There's a book series called Maximum Ride by James Patterson about human-bird mixes that struggle to survive in a world obsessed with capturing them and experimenting on them. The main character goes by Max, and she lives with 5 other bird kids. She's the oldest and the leader. The five of them don't trust humans because they grew up in crates being experimented on. They make all their decisions together and treat each other as family. Because they identify as human-bird mixes, they're very suspicious of all humans.

Lastly, we talked about categories and stereotypes. A category is like a filing cabinet. It's how we understand what a word means. And with language, categories are unavoidable. If we see or hear the word stove, we understand it's a place to cook. A stereotype is taking what would otherwise be a harmless classification and applying it in a harmful way to a person.

In class we watched a short video (http://www.dailyherald.com/article/20110128/news/701289790/#) about a disabled man who does motivational speakings about what it's like to live with no arms or legs. If someone saw him on the street they would think he's helpless and would think he must be so discouraged and upset, but he thrives in spite of his disability. He's capable of things nobody ever expected him to do. He's very athletic and can dress and feed himself. And he says that it's given him a whole new lease on life. He doesn't take much for granted, and he never gives up.

In an anime called "Darker than BLACK," there are humans born with amazing powers called Contractors, but they are a minority of the human race. Other humans without these powers fear them and few them as unnatural and inhumane monsters. As a result, most of them are emotionless, uncaring, and violent. They gave up on trying to change the stereotype. But one Contractor, a Chinese young man named Hei, is different. He starts off as the same uncaring "monster" the humans think he is, but he discovers along the way that not only is he not a monster, but his powers can be used for good, and he can work alongside humans stopping crime. This teaches him to care and opens his eyes.