Purchase Solution

Sociological Imagination and Social Phenomena

Not what you're looking for?

Ask Custom Question

Schaefer defines the sociological imagination as "an awareness of the relationship between an individual in the wider society, both today and in the past". Let's begin our discussion this week by considering a particular scenario. You are walking down a street in your city or town and observe that more than half the people you see are overweight. Use the sociological imagination to explain your observation, noting how the sociological imagination helps us consider the causes and consequences of the things we observe in the world around us. What perspective do we gain by using the sociological imagination to explain social phenomena, like increasing obesity rates in American society?

Purchase this Solution
Solution Summary

This solution discusses the sociological imagination and social phenomena.

Solution Preview

In order to answer this, we have to be able to see the impact that social forces will have on obese individuals and how these forces will shape the individual's personal experience.

(Cause) First, it has to be understood that people become obese for a number of reasons. Some make bad eating choices due to influences around them in the media, peer pressure, and society overall; some have a genetic disorder (such as a thyroid condition) which they cannot get control of; and others just lack the money to buy whole, healthy foods so they are forced to resort to cheap, fattening foods to eat meal after meal (believe it or not this is the case with all too many people who are in poverty). Having these factors under consideration, we can now apply the sociological imagination to examine these closer.

(Consequence) The perspective that can be gained from this is realizing that there is not one specific reason why people become overweight; however, everyone who is ...

Purchase this Solution
Free BrainMass Quizzes
Sociology: Socialization & Social Groups

A refresher quiz on socialization.

Research Methods for Data Collection

This quiz is designed for students to help them gain a better understanding of the different types of research and when to appropriately use them.

View More Free Quizzes
Related BrainMass Solutions

  • Sociological Imagination Example

    Using sociological imagination, both personal and social forces can be implemented explaining any phenomenon.

  • Mills' Sociological Perspective or Imagination

    All in all, experts surmise that the sociological imagination "can be used as a way of viewing the world in social terms, specifically, how social phenomena may interact and influence each other.

  • An Overview of Sociology and the Sociological Perspectives

    654247 An Overview of Sociology and the Sociological Perspectives The solution provides a concise overview of sociology, the 3 primary sociological perspectives and important concepts like socialization, sociological imagination and social change.

  • Origins of Sociology and the Importance of Culture

    This distinction is an essential tool of the sociological imagination and a feature of all classic work in social science, including global tensions, conflicts, even war. Sociological imagination.

  • Sociological Imagination

    116464 Sociological Imagination Use your Sociological Imagination to discuss the unbreakable connection between individual experiences and the social impact of the following issue: 1.

  • Sociology Explained

    There are varied sociological theories that a sociologist uses to make sense of the social world hand in hand with sociological imagination (the skill of relating social events to one another).

  • Exploring the Sociological Imagination

    This is the relevance of sociological imagination as it puts into perspective a social event, an action, an individual and an element under investigation.

  • Stereotypes of Gender: Changing Images of Women

    Sociological theories - are a set of theoretical framework social scientists use to observe & in return explain the phenomena that is the social world.

  • Sociological Perspective & Criminology

    In a larger scale, a sociological perspective is a platform from which to view social phenomenon and to understand this, we can draw from the work of C. Wright Mills on Sociological Imagination.

View More Related Solutions