SOC 100 Online: Principles of Sociology

Elizabeth Olah
Assignment #8
For each of the following questions, use examples from each of the readings and/or videos
whenever possible to support your answers. Whenever you are asked to give an example, you
need to provide your own example; examples discussed in the book will not be accepted.

Question 1 is from Sociology 2e, & the assigned video: Demography

1. (a) What are some of the reasons to explain low fertility rates in many high-income countries
(such as Italy)? (b) What stage of the demographic transition are these countries currently in?
Answers should be approximately a paragraph (3 points)

Women are afraid to raise a child in the non-affordable conditions they are surrounded by. There
are no paid school meals, no after school daycare, or any type of free help available. The scarcity
of worked in these stalled economies forces women to work to become financially stable.
Unfortunately, their stability does not occur until they are at the age of 40 in which having
more than one kid is physically risky for the woman.

Question 2 is from Sociology 2e, & the assigned video: Collective Behavior
2. (a) What is the difference between a crowd and a group? (b) Why do people in crowds act
differently than they do in groups? Apply some of the theories on collective behavior to explain
these differences.
Answers should be approximately 1-2 paragraphs (4 points)

Crowds are large numbers of people in close proximity to one another. Groups are two or more
people who interact with each other, identify with one another, and share a similar culture or
subculture. Crowds are people who happen to be at the same place and the same time they are
not a cohesive unit as a group is. People in crowds are more likely to act invincible and lose their
individuality for self-awareness. It all comes back to the social expectations of the group or
crowd you are in. If you deviate from those expectations; there might be sanctions in response.

3. Why does social change occur? Discuss the four key factors that lead to social change (that are
listed in your book) and explain how each of these factors can cause social change.
Answers should be approximately 2 paragraphs (4 points)

There are numerous and varied causes of social change. Four common causes are
technology, social institutions, population, and the environment. All four of these areas can
impact when and how society changes. And they are all interrelated: a change in one area can
lead to changes throughout. Modernization is a typical result of social change. Modernization
refers to the process of increased differentiation and specialization within a society, particularly
around its industry and infrastructure.
Technology is heavily linked to social change in a variety of ways. Advances in medical
technology allow otherwise infertile women to bear children, which indirectly leads to an
increase in population. Advances in agricultural technology have allowed us to genetically alter
and patent food products, which changes our environment in innumerable ways. From the way
we educate children in the classroom to the way we grow the food we eat, technology has
impacted all aspects of modern life. Secondly, each change in a single social institution leads to
changes in all social institutions. For example, the industrialization of society meant that there
was no longer a need for large families to produce enough manual labor to run a farm. Further,
new job opportunities were in close proximity to urban centers where living space was at a
premium. The result is that the average family size shrunk significantly. Thirdly, population
composition is changing at every level of society. Population changes can be due to random
external forces, like an epidemic, or shifts in other social institutions, as described above. But
regardless of why and how it happens, population trends have a tremendous interrelated impact
on all other aspects of society. Lastly, the environment responds to how the humans treat the
planet. As human populations move into more vulnerable areas, we see an increase in the
number of people affected by natural disasters, and we see that human interaction with the
environment increases the impact of those disasters. Part of this is simply the numbers: the more
people there are on the planet, the more likely it is that some will be affected by a natural
disaster.

4. Various people (including some college presidents) have argued that the drinking age should
be lowered from 21 to 18 in order to reduce the problem of binge drinking. Imagine that you are
strongly in support of lowering the drinking age, and want to organize a social movement to
change the legal drinking age to 18 in the United States. (a) Given your knowledge of social
movements and their stages, what actions will be necessary in order for your social movement to
succeed? Be as specific as possible when discussing the actions you would take. (b) What type of
social movement would this be? Be sure to provide some explanation for your answer.
Answers should be approximately 2 paragraphs (5 points)

Social movements are purposeful, organized groups, either with the goal of pushing
toward change, giving political voice to those without it, or gathering for some other common
purpose. Social movements intersect with environmental changes, technological innovations, and
other external factors to create social change. There are a myriad of catalysts that create social
movements, and the reasons that people join are as varied as the participants themselves
In the preliminary stage, people become aware of an issue, and leaders emerge. This is
followed by the coalescence stage when people join together and organize in order to publicize
the issue and raise awareness. In the institutionalization stage, the movement no longer requires
grassroots volunteerism: it is an established organization, typically with a paid staff. When
people fall away and adopt a new movement, the movement successfully brings about the change
it sought, or when people no longer take the issue seriously, the movement falls into
The decline stage. This social movement would be considered a reform movement, since it seeks
to change something specific about the social structure.
5. Visit this website and calculate your ecological footprint:
http://www.footprintnetwork.org/en/index.php/gfn/page/calculators/. Once you have done this,
use your sociological imagination to answer the following questions. (a) What are some of the
social/cultural factors that contribute to your ecological footprint? Discuss at least 3 factors. (b)
What are some of the social consequences of your ecological footprint?
Answers should contain specific information that shows you completed the exercise.
Answers should be approximately 2-3 paragraphs (4 points)

Some social and cultural factors that contribute to my ecological footprint include my
diet, where/how often I shop, my living conditions, travel, and so much more. I did not realize
that all of those factors contribute to my footprint. Therefore, I was incredibly surprised to learn
that if everyone lived like me, we would need 4.5 planets to provide the resources.
My largest ecological footprint is services and goods. I love to shop, and that definitely
holds its consequences. I think my living conditions are a big factor, too. I use electricity and
own a vehicle that I use every day. I never use public transportation, and so I am spending
money and using resources like gas consistently. Growing up, my family never recycled. It was
just really uncommon in the south; therefore, I did not realize until college how essential it was
the recycle. That is a goal for the summer is to learn more about how to recycle!

Questions from Reading 25 in Sociology in Action (Parker: The World Reshaped: The End of the
Population Pyramid)

6. The article mentions two things that have changed population diagrams from pyramids to
domes what are they?
Answers should be approximately a few sentences (2 points)

In 1970-2015 the dominating influence on the global population was the fertility rate,
the number of children a women would typically bear during her lifetime. But
between 1970 and 2015, the population aged 0-19 grew by only 42%, whereas the
population aged 20-39 rose by 128%. This group added almost twice as many people
to the overall numbers as the group aged below 20 did. There are now also 50m
people above 85, so the dome of 2015 has a spike.

7. How do you think this shift in population will impact society?

Answers should be approximately a paragraph (2 points)

The world shifted from having larger to smaller families. Small families are already
becoming the norm, the fall in fertility is slowing down and now almost everyone is
living longer than their parentsdramatically so in developing countries. For all of
history, humans have lived in societies dominated (in numbers at least) by children.
By 2060 children will be barely more numerous than any other age group up to 65.
And looking after parents and grandparents will be as big a, or a bigger, social
requirement as bringing up children and grandchildren.
Questions from Reading 26 in Sociology in Action (Faw: Are Millennials Lazy or Avant-Garde
Social Activists?)

8. In what ways does the use of social media help to increase the likelihood of success for a
social movement?
Answers should be approximately a paragraph (2 points)

Millennials cause awareness relies heavily on digital technology. One in three Millennials
initially becomes involved in philanthropic endeavors via the Internet. They also think their
online activities deliver effective results. Two in three Millennials believe a person on a
computer spreading the word can create more change than a person on the street, rallying or
protesting, according to the Intelligence Group.

9. What are some of the disadvantages of relying on social media as a form of social activism?
Answers should be approximately a paragraph (2 points)

Millennials realize a disconnect between their social engagement and online actions. For
example, in May more than 100,000 Facebook users signed up to be organ donors when the
social network introduced a feature to links users to organ donation registries. Users were also
able to add this decision to their timeline to encourage others to sign up to do the same. Yet, as
an example of the problems with online social engagement, Facebook users quickly lost interest
in this charitable endeavor after two weeks, and currently, organ donations via Facebook are at
insignificant numbers. There is a strong disconnect that is a huge disadvantage of relying solely
on social media!