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Using sociological imagination to understand families.

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1) What is meant by the term "Sociological Imagination"?

In his book, Introduction to Sociology, Anthony Gidden defines sociological imagination as "the application of imaginative thought to the asking and answering of sociological questions." In a specific sense it means imagining and understanding the relationships between the overarching themes of sociology and the individual decisions made by individuals and vice versa. If I see a dysfunctional family in the supermarket I can witness that behavior and extrapolate how that behavior multiplied by thousands or hundreds of thousands of families across the country can impact society in general.

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This solution discusses the concept of sociological imagination. What is sociological imagination and how can it be used to better understand families? Over 600 words of original text with references cited according to APA guidelines.

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1) What is meant by the term "Sociological Imagination"?

In his book, Introduction to Sociology, Anthony Gidden defines sociological imagination as "the application of imaginative thought to the asking and answering of sociological questions." In a specific sense it means imagining and understanding the relationships between the overarching themes of sociology and the individual decisions made by individuals and vice versa. If I see a dysfunctional family in the supermarket I can witness that behavior and extrapolate how that behavior multiplied by thousands or hundreds of thousands of families across the country can impact society in general.

2) How can the Sociological Imagination be used to help understand families?

As families are studied by sociologists, sociological imagination can be used to determine several things. First of all sociologists can imagine how behaviors of individual families will impact society at large. For example unwise ...

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