Sociology Lesson 5 - Essay Example

SOCIOLOGY CASE STUDY How entrepreneurship affects the economy as a whole It is the generation of profits that makes entrepreneurship a crucial driver of the economy. When profit is realized, this means value is created, by two ways: (1) the push factor, that is, the creation of utility in the form of goods and services, and (2) the pull factor, that is, the increasingly cost-efficient use of available resources through the interplay of technology, competition, and the assumption of calculated risks.

New and expanding enterprises create jobs that reduce unemployment, put money in the hands of more people that spurs demand, and enhances the formation of distributor, supplier, support service and competitor firms that boosts production and supply. Movement of materials down the supply chain to the market encourages transportation and communication, brings development to underdeveloped areas, and thereby spreads the fruits of national prosperity to a broader segment of the population. More productive citizens would contribute more to the coffers of the state by way of taxes and duties, enabling social services and facilities to reach a greater number of the disadvantaged members of society.

How the media had affected public opinion about the war in World War II. Media employed the use of stereotypes in order to build popular sentiment in favor of the nation’s fighting forces and to enhance derision of the enemy forces. Italians were portrayed as bumbling, fun-seeking fools, Germans as automatons, and Japanese as sneaky and dishonest. By playing on the sentiments of the viewing public, propaganda integrated into Hollywood style movies drummed up public support for the war, incited strong animosity towards the enemy, and for a time encouraged viewers to buy war bonds to provide funding for the war effort.

The three distinctive features of religion in our Society. (Bryan Wilson, “Religion in Secular Society,” 1966) There are three aspects or features in the study of religion in sociology. They also correspond to the level and depth of analysis by which one views religion as a social institution:1. Religious practice – This aspect deals with the extent to which people involve themselves in Church membership, attendance at religious services, and so on. It dwells on the cultural traditions and outward manifestations of religion.2. Religious organization – This aspect treats of the level of society as a whole.

It involves the extent to which religious organizations are actively involved in the day-to-day routine. It describes the extent to which religious organizations wield influence and control over the manner society is run and how it functions.3. Religious thought – Describes the level of individual consciousness and the extent to which people believe in ideas like God, sin, good and evil. This may be significant in terms of secularization, considering that religious activity declined in terms of practice and organization, but religious thought may generate powerful influence over people’s lives in terms of their personal beliefs.

The differing perspectives of functionalist sociologists and conflict sociologists concerning the role of education in our society. Functionalism takes the view that society is comprised of interdependent subsystems, each of which plays a role that contributes to the super-system. Functionalists thus view education as an agent in imparting knowledge to students that is necessary to enable them to function in the context of their social roles. Emile Durkheim, generally acknowledged as a forerunner in the functionalist approach in education, argues that education exists to define and clarify social and moral norms, in three areas: social solidarity, social rules, and division of labor.

Social similarities reinforce commonalities among individuals and binds them as a whole. Social rules focus on the shared values and morals of society, and division of labor undertakes the differentiation according to roles each individual plays, and which education prepares them for through specialization. Conflict theory, on the other hand, takes the view that conflict is inevitable in society, and that competition for scarce resources leads to control imposed by the elite over the poor and weak.

It takes the view that education as an institution is an instrument employed by those in power in order to perpetuate the existing state of affairs and power structure. For instance, the elite distance themselves from the masses by establishing private or ivy-league schools, in which they perpetuate their own sub-culture, values and expectation. The powerful also use the public school system to indoctrinate young minds into subservience, compliance and respect for the elite, while discouraging creativity, aggressiveness and independence.