Sociological concepts, no matter how much they’re disputed, try to explain how or why something happens. Concepts like the nuclear family explain a dominant family dynamic from our past. Other concepts such a cultural relativism and assimilation help to explain how culture shapes our society, how people try to see it, and how people try to fit in and adapt to a new society. Certain sociological concepts have shaped who I am and what I believe today, and these concepts combined with new concepts will continue to shape who I will become in the future. Cultural relativism is one such concept that I strongly believe in. Defined as “The practice of judging a society by its own standards” (Giddens 51), it’s important in the social science of
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One such circumstance was a move to a new and foreign country in a completely different continent, almost a dozen time zones away from my previous home; this new country was Germany. This experience was full of vitality and culture in the end, but at the beginning it was scary. A whole new culture for a seventh grader whose furthest cultural experience were ethnic themed restaurants? That’s the stuff of nightmares. However though, through cultural relativism, I begin to see German culture through how German culture saw itself. It was no longer a boring, clean, and mechanized land full of people who were secretly all Nazis. Germany was exciting, fun, and traditional land full of some of the nicest neighbors one could hope for. Assimilation also played a crucial factor, although I dispute whether it’s an absolute concept. Defined in the text as “The acceptance of a minority group by a majority population, in which the new group takes on the values and norms of the dominant culture”, (Giddens 51) I assimilated into the rich German culture. Although stereotypical, …show more content…
The much referenced child of sociology and economics, socioeconomics are an important way to help categorize large groups of people in studies and results. In being broken up into different categories based on all kinds of factors, socioeconomics can help sociologists review their data easier. In thinking of socioeconomics as an identifier for my background, early in my past my family and I were poor. Both of my parents are veterans, my father was working a night shift at the Post Office for mediocre to low wages while attending school only on less than a dozen hours of sleep to afford being able to live in something slightly larger than less than half a dozen dorm rooms. However, instead of being stuck in cycle of poverty, my father was able to use his education to get work through differing levels and departments of government, and currently, we sit at a middle class income. However, remembering the beginning of life has had a tremendous and important effect on my life and how I continue to live it. I make sure not to take what I have for
One such circumstance was a move to a new and foreign country in a completely different continent, almost a dozen time zones away from my previous home; this new country was Germany. This experience was full of vitality and culture in the end, but at the beginning it was scary. A whole new culture for a seventh grader whose furthest cultural experience were ethnic themed restaurants? That’s the stuff of nightmares. However though, through cultural relativism, I begin to see German culture through how German culture saw itself. It was no longer a boring, clean, and mechanized land full of people who were secretly all Nazis. Germany was exciting, fun, and traditional land full of some of the nicest neighbors one could hope for. Assimilation also played a crucial factor, although I dispute whether it’s an absolute concept. Defined in the text as “The acceptance of a minority group by a majority population, in which the new group takes on the values and norms of the dominant culture”, (Giddens 51) I assimilated into the rich German culture. Although stereotypical, …show more content…
The much referenced child of sociology and economics, socioeconomics are an important way to help categorize large groups of people in studies and results. In being broken up into different categories based on all kinds of factors, socioeconomics can help sociologists review their data easier. In thinking of socioeconomics as an identifier for my background, early in my past my family and I were poor. Both of my parents are veterans, my father was working a night shift at the Post Office for mediocre to low wages while attending school only on less than a dozen hours of sleep to afford being able to live in something slightly larger than less than half a dozen dorm rooms. However, instead of being stuck in cycle of poverty, my father was able to use his education to get work through differing levels and departments of government, and currently, we sit at a middle class income. However, remembering the beginning of life has had a tremendous and important effect on my life and how I continue to live it. I make sure not to take what I have for