Audio Resources

Audio 2.1: The Kindness of Strangers
Description: Stories of the kindness of strangers and where it leads. Also, the unkindness of strangers and where that can lead. All of today’s stories take place in the city most people think of as the least kind city in America: New York.
Learning Objective: 2.1: Outline the development of sociology.

Audio 2.2: Facebook’s Newsfeed Study
Description: NPR discussion of the ethics and research procedures of Facebook’s experiment on clients’ reaction to positive and negative news updates.
Learning Objective: 2.3: Explain the scientific approach.

Video Resources

Video 2.1: Family Traditions: A 1950s Dinner
Description: This video highlights a typical dinner that took place during the 1950s. Think about how this type of dinner differs from dinners that might take place in American households today.
Learning Objective: 2.2: Describe key theoretical perspectives.

Video 2.2: Private War Contractors
Description: As the Army struggles to meet recruitment numbers, Frontline takes a hard look at private contractors servicing U.S. military supply lines, running U.S. military bases, and protecting U.S. diplomats and generals. Between the logistics giant Halliburton and a myriad of armed security companies, private military contractors comprise the second largest “force” in Iraq, far outnumbering all non-U.S. forces combined. There are as many as 100,000 civilian contractors and approximately 20,000 private security forces.
Learning Objective: 2.2: Describe key theoretical perspectives.

Video 2.3: Occupy Wall Street and Karl Marx
Description: Noam Chomsky discusses the Occupy Wall Street Movement. In his interview, he hints to several of Marx’s ideas about the owners of the means of production and the importance of social movement. He also discusses class tensions and class struggles.
Learning Objective: 2.2: Describe key theoretical perspectives.

Video 2.4: Who Is Max Weber?
Description: Max Weber explained that modern capitalism was born not because of new technology or new financial instruments. What started it all off was religion.
Learning Objective: 2.2: Describe key theoretical perspectives.

Video 2.5: Kanye’s Surprising Revelation
Description: In this clip, Kanye West makes a bold statement after the devastation of Hurricane Katrina. In this clip, Kanye breaks the flow of symbolic interaction and says something that no one is expecting. The clip shows how people react when something out of the ordinary happens. Symbolic interactions are interested in everyday interactions such as this, and what happens when interactions do not go smoothly.
Learning Objective: 2.2: Describe key theoretical perspectives.

Web Resources

Web 2.1: Survey Versus Public Opinion
Description: Discussion of a difference of opinion between the general public and the scientific community regarding evidence for the findings and advancement of scientific research.
Learning Objective: 2.3: Explain the scientific approach.

Web 2.2: Pets and Sociological Inquiries
Description: This article from Pacific Standard Magazine discusses the lack of research regarding pet ownership in sociological studies and how including this type of research can be useful in understanding human behavior.
Learning Objective: 2.3: Explain the scientific approach.

Web 2.3: Recent Findings on Race and the Criminal Justice System
Description: This article from Contexts focuses on peer literature review studies regarding race and the criminal justice system. This highlights the results of Sociological research on a particular topic.
Learning Objective: 2.3: Explain the scientific approach.

Web 2.4: Breast Cancer Research Data
Description: This web resource explains how to interpret and read a research table. This is important information for sociologists as they often use research tables for background information in sociological studies.
Learning Objective: 2.4: Outline the basic steps of the scientific research process.