Artifact 1: Institutions Analysis

 

 

 

 

 

 

Refection:

 

Honestly, I think this assignment helped me get more comfortable with using Power Point. I’ve used it only a couple of times in the past and kind of took it for granted. It’s fairly simple, so I assumed I knew how to use it properly, but soon discovered that I wasn’t sure how to add video to my slides.  I like when I’m working on a project and become inspired to add a feature that I’ve never used before, such as adding video to Power Point slide. I enjoy this because It forces me to Google the instructions on executing the desired function and I end up expanding my “software how to” knowledge. Even though Power Point is something I list on my resume under software skills, I still found it necessary to search for online instructions from time to time. So now that I now a little bit more about the program, I’m a little bit less of a fraud regarding my resume.

 

Although creating a website or blog is probably considered the more popular route, when making a statement, Power Point proves to be quick, efficient, and to the point.  I can see myself using the program again in the future when the layer in me wants to get out and make a case about something.

 

In regards to my assignments content I learned some facts while discovering more about my own research habits. Our nations over populated prisons have been getting some media attention lately, mainly coming from left wing news outlets. Much of the controversy stems from the criminal justice system. So when I saw the US. Criminal Justice System suggested as a topic, I took the opportunity to satisfy my curiosity about the unsettling facts I’ve heard. I found that there is an abundance of information and opinions on the U.S Criminal Justice System, from how it began to how it started to fail.  If I were to do this project again I would probably choose to focus on a more narrow aspect of the U.S. Criminal Justice System instead of spending so much time trying to crunch down a broad overview of this institution. However, with regards to demonstrating a conflict perspective of the U.S. Criminal Justice System I was able to focus on a specific problem instead of attempting to cover many conflict paradigms.

 

 

 

 

 

Artifact 2: Social Structure Interaction

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Relection:

 

Reaserching these quiestions about social structure gave me a good incite on certain social roles. Such as the difference between ascribed statuses and achieved statuses. These are concepts that I've noticed just through life experience. However seeing that sociology covers these therories is kind of amazing.

 

I wasn't really sure what sociology was going to cover when I registered for the class, but I've found that it has been helpful in aiding my perceptions of social interaciton. This lesson has affected my social perception on both a professional level and casual level. By which, I mean I know analyze my work status and realationships differenclty than I did before. The same goes for my personal life outside of work. I can clearly see who is im my priamary group and who is my reference group.

 

 

 

 

Artifact 3: Socialoligal Paradigm - White Privilage

 

 

 

 

 

 

Reflection:

 

For my final paper we had to choose a sociological paradigm and dicuss the topic in terms of what we learned during the course. The sociological paradigm I chose was the concept of white privlage. The assignment helped me make connections between theories of fuctionalism and conflict regarding the topic of white privliage. 

 

Once again I found that the internet is flooded with information on this topic, so narrowing down my findings was a bit of a challenge. I learned to foucus in on only a few aspects that supported my thesis as opposed to filling my paper with endless facts about white privilage. 

 

I also finally learned how to format a paper without having a header on the cover page. This had been a major source of frustration when writing previous papers, but I was finally able to find a solution. I also got a good amount of practice learning how to cite various types of web sources.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Final Course Refleciton

 

After evaluating my initial goals from the beginning of this course, I found that my outcomes were pretty good. I was able to manage my time better. I found myself dedicating a scheduled time to complete assignments, which was usually after work. Unfortunately I found that this plan resulted in getting less sleep, but that’s the price you pay for working almost full time and going to school full time.

 

I found that pre-writing my ideas before posting in discussions further helped to inspire critical thinking. Instead of immediately posting, I had the time and focus to think about my response and then narrow in on the relevant points I wanted to make.

 

Learning about sociological paradigms was actually really helpful in understanding how we navigate trough our society. Some concepts were not entirely foreign to me, but hearing them contextualized helped provide history to why we act the way we do. I’m also taking psychology right now, so the combo of the two are constantly inspiring “ah ha” moments.

 

Time management and critical thinking skills are pretty important in real word work situations. These assignments are a good way of exercising our brains to think critically when coming up with creative solutions or to simply create content. It’s a given, but time management will always be important.  The phrase “time is money” is not the only reason time management is important. It’s also important because  life is limited.