Click on the following links. Please note these will open in a new window.

Video Links:

1. Video 3.1: The Persuaders
Description: Influencing opinions is big business and a great deal of money is spent on attempts to shape consumers’ attitudes. Elaborate and sophisticated marketing campaigns are not limited to brands and products; they are increasingly part of American politics. This program examines how the techniques of the advertising and marketing industries are used in the political arena.

2. Video 3.2: Revisiting the ‘Crack Babies’ Epidemic That Was Not
Description: This video is part of a New York Times series that revisits old news stories. In the 1980s there were numerous reports about the ways in which a woman’s use of crack cocaine during pregnancy would damage the developing fetus. The research on which these claims were based was seriously flawed. This video updates the news story and highlights not only the importance of conducting good research but the ways in which scientists and journalists shape our understanding of reality.

3. Video 3.3: Khan Academy: Social Constructionism
Description: This brief video explores the myriad of ways humans create and recreate their social worlds making things real.

4. Video 3.4: The Language of Politics
Description: This brief video from Stephen Frye’s BBC Planet World series, explores the use of language by politicians and the role of euphemism in political spin.

Audio Link:

1. Audio 3.1: This American Life 88: Numbers
Description: Numbers lie. Numbers cover over complicated feelings and ambiguous situations. This program is about quantifying data that is hard to quantify. Several people presented in this episode, including Andrea, Alex, Jerry, and Will, attempt to quantify things such as love and productivity in private and family relationships.

Web Links:

1. Web 3.1: ASA’s Code of Ethics
Description: The American Sociological Association’s (ASA’s) Code of Ethics sets forth the principles and ethical standards that underlie sociologists’ professional responsibilities and conduct. These principles and standards should be used as guidelines when examining everyday professional activities. They constitute normative statements for sociologists and provide guidance on issues that sociologists may encounter in their professional work [self-characterization].

2. Web 3.2: ICPSR
Description: The Inter-university Consortium for Political and Social Research (ICPSR) is a repository for many of the most important data sets used by sociologists in their research. The ICPSR website has a search utility that can help you locate a data set that meets your needs.

3. Web 3.3: NORC
Description: Perhaps the single most used source of data for sociological analysis is the General Social Survey (GSS), an annual survey of a representative sample of Americans conducted by the National Opinion Research Center (NORC) at the University of Chicago.

4. Web 3.4: The Society Pages: The Social Construction of the Body
Description: This resource explores the social construction of the body, specifically the female nipple and illustrates the varied ways seemingly personal issues are the products of social interactions. This resource explores the how and why we view the female, but not male, nipple as sexualized.