You have completed the first few paragraphs in the paper we are building and received feedback.
You will now create the following paragraphs based on the course content we covered. You will align the new knowledge of business functions (operations, marketing, IT, human resources (HR), and finance) with your chosen organization.
You are encouraged to utilize the feedback you received in the prior assessment to help guide you while writing.
Note: This assessment is the second part of three written assessments that build on each other and must be completed in order.
You are encouraged to utilize the feedback you received in the prior assessment to help guide you while writing.
Using the same organization you researched for your first assessment, complete the following:
Access the organizations website and research the different departments of the organization, such as marketing, HR, IT, operations, and finance.
Identify two functional areas you feel are essential to the organizations success.
Review the QuickStart: Functional Areas of Business media piece to support your understanding of these concepts.
Before you begin writing, refer to the Assessment Illustration 2 and then complete the following:
Step 1: Download and save .
Step 2: Answer the questions on the top of the template:
Using your same organization, identify two functional areas you feel are essential to the organization’s success.
Step 3: Write the following two (24 paragraphs as needed) paragraphs using POETS:
Paragraphs 1 and 2: Evaluate the importance of two functional areas for a chosen business organization.
Describe the important critical thinking skills to drive success for each functional area.
Explain what ethical principles apply to each functional area in day-to-day work.
Note: Delete any remaining example content that is inside the square brackets.
Challenge: Using course resources, attempt APA style for your references and add in your in-text references. You will need this for the final assessment, so add it now and get feedback!
One of the key aspects of social structure is society’s core institutions, those networks or frameworks that a society creates and organizes to fulfill certain goals or needs. Among the social institutions that affect your life in many ways are the economy, political system (government), education, and healthcare. Examining these institutions from a sociological perspective reveals how they operate and function in the United States and globally, as well as how they reflect and respond to broader social and economic changes. Sociologists also study the role that power and inequality play in the structure of these institutions and their impact on people’s lives. You will explore these themes in this assessment as you continue your field observations, where you will reflect on the way that social institutions, social change, and broader social structures influence people’s behavior.
Note: The course assessments build upon one another and must be completed in sequence.
Review the sociological concepts and theories you have learned about in this course and focus on the following:
Andersen, M. L., & Taylor, H. F. (2026). Sociology: The essentials (11th ed.). Cengage.
Pay particular attention to the definition and functions of social institutions in Chapter 5.
Skim Part Four for examples of how social institutions shape people’s lives.
Also review one or more of the examples in this reading list to see the different sociological approaches to field research:
.
Download the and save it to your computer in a place for easy access. If you have questions on how to get started, please view the media and the “How do I get started on my assignment?” information.
Start your field research by completing one observation, following these guidelines for your third observation:
Focus on the impact of social structure on people’s behaviors and interactions. For this observation, you can return to the setting you chose for a previous observation or choose a different setting. Examples include a public setting (park, grocery store, library, festival, et cetera), a social event (such as a birthday party, family dinner, or book club meeting), or a place where you work or volunteer. Try to be as objective as possible as you observe, but be aware of how your own biases or experiences might shape your conclusions.
Spend at least 30 minutes observing in your chosen setting.
Use a sociological perspective to observe people’s behavior in the setting you have chosen. Below are some questions you can use to guide your observations and note-taking:
What patterns do you observe in people’s behaviors? Are these similar to or different from your previous observations?
Do you notice any role or status differences affecting how people behave or interact?
What norms (rules for social behavior) are apparent in the interactions you are observing?
What social institutions are influencing the situation (such as the family, education system, economic system, government, religion, et cetera)?
What social categories (such as gender, age, race or ethnicity, and social class) are relevant for understanding the interactions you’re observing?
What broader social patterns or issues are relevant to your observation?
As you observe, take notes (called field notes) in a notebook, phone, laptop, or tablet. These notes can include your observations as well as your thoughts about how those observations illustrate certain concepts or theories weve covered in this course.
Follow the directions in the to complete each section, typing directly on the worksheet. Include answers to each question, and do not delete any instructions or questions.
Describe the setting that was observed.
Describe how a social institution influences people’s behaviors.
Explain how your observation connects to broader social patterns or issues.
Analyze observations to determine patterns or common themes evident in human behavior.
Reflect on the influence of social change on human behavior.
Write field notes that describe the setting, people, behaviors, and interactions observed.
In this course, you are learning how a society’s social structures and culture can influence peoples behavior. Social structure guides our behavior, and our position in the social structure affects our attitudes, behaviors, and ideas. For example, our culture’s focus on the use of technology affects how we communicate with other people. Similarly, our roles and status, as well as social categories like social class, ethnicity, and gender, affect how we relate to one another in everyday life. Our membership in primary and secondary groups also influences our behaviors and interactions and may create pressure to conform to group norms and expectations. In this assessment, you will continue your field research by observing social interactions and analyzing the sociological factors that influence these interactions.
Note: The course assessments build upon one another and must be completed in sequence.
Review the sociological concepts and theories you have learned about in this course, focusing especially on the readings in your Sociology: The Essentials textbook, and review one or more of the examples in this reading list to see the different sociological approaches to field research:
.
Download the and save it to your computer in a place for easy access. If you have questions on how to get started, please view the media and the “How do I get started on my assignment?” information.
Start your field research by completing one observation, following these guidelines for your second observation:
Focus on observing two or more social interactions between two or more people. For this observation, you can choose from many possible settings: (1) a public setting (a park, grocery store, library, shopping mall, et cetera), (2) a social event, such as a birthday party, family dinner, or book club meeting, or (3) a place where you work or volunteer. The interactions can take place in person or via an online meeting environment (such as a Zoom or Teams meeting). Try to be as objective as possible as you observe but be aware of how your own biases or experiences might shape your conclusions.
Spend at least 30 minutes observing in your chosen setting.
Use a sociological perspective to observe people’s behavior in the setting you have chosen. Below are some questions you can use to guide your observations and note-taking:
What social interactions do you see? As you observe, consider both verbal and nonverbal communication and people’s use of space.
Do you notice any role or status differences affecting how people behave or interact?
How are people collaborating, managing conflict, and/or problem solving?
What norms (rules for social behavior) are apparent in the interactions you are observing? Also consider how the setting itself affects how people behave.
What social categories (such as gender, age, race or ethnicity, and social class) are relevant for understanding the interactions you’re observing?
What cultural elements influenced the interactions?
As you observe, take notes (called field notes) in a notebook, phone, laptop, or tablet. These notes can include your observations as well as your thoughts about how those observations illustrate certain concepts or theories we’ve covered in this course.
Follow the directions in the worksheet to complete each section, typing directly on the worksheet. Include answers to each question, and do not delete any instructions or questions.
Describe the setting that was observed.
Explain the influence of culture on a setting or individual or group behavior.
Describe a social interaction using a sociological concept or theory.
Explain an example of collaboration, conflict, or problem solving using a sociological concept or theory.
Write field notes that describe the setting, people, behaviors, and interactions observed.
Social structure, or the patterns of behavior that organize society, shapes our everyday interactions and help us assess and react to daily life. Social structure guides our behavior, and our position in the social structure affects our attitudes, behaviors, and ideas. One aspect of social structure is culture, which is the glue that holds a society together. Culture includes the values, norms, language, food, and customs of a group of people. Socialization, the lifelong social experience through which we learn culture, teaches us to become members of our society. The most common agents of socialization are our family, peers, school, and media. The family, for example, influences a child’s development by such things as the way the parents hold a baby, look at it, talk to it, and respond to its needs. We take on typical gender roles at birth as girls are typically given pink clothes while boys are given blue clothes. Family socialization is reinforced or modified by experiences at school and with peers, by the mass media, and by interaction with others. In the second assessment, you will create a poster in which you connect what you are learning about sociological concepts like culture, socialization, and social structure to your life.
Note: The course assessments build upon one another and must be completed in sequence.
Review concepts and theories in the following chapters:
Andersen, M. L., & Taylor, H. F. (2026). Sociology: The essentials (11th ed.). Cengage.
Chapter 1, “The Sociological Perspective.”
Chapter 2, “Culture.”
Chapter 4, “Socialization and the Life Course.”
Chapter 14, Education and Health Care.
Focus on pages 346361.
Download the and save it to your computer for easy access. If you still have questions on how to get started, please view the media and the “How do I get started on my assignment?” information.
Using the , begin by adding a photo in the box at the top right. Be creative by including additional photos or graphics on your poster. You can also move around or resize the existing text boxes as needed.
In your poster, include the following:
Describe the impact that culture has had on your life.
Integrate and apply at least two relevant sociological concepts covered in the assigned course materials, such as culture, subculture, culture shock, ethnocentrism, norms, or values.
Consider one or more of the following questions as you complete the “Culture” box in the poster template:
What norms or values are important to your culture?
What particular customs, beliefs, foods, music, languages, or celebrations are part of your culture?
How have your cultural experiences contributed to your outlook or beliefs?
Describe the influence of socialization on your life.
Integrate and apply at least two relevant sociological concepts covered in the assigned course materials, such as socialization, agents of socialization, looking-glass self, roles, or identity.
Consider one or more of the following questions as you complete the “Socialization” box in the poster template:
What agent of socialization had the biggest impact on you? How?
What roles have you occupied? How have these roles shaped your identity?
Have you experienced resocialization?
Explain the role of education in your life.
Integrate and apply at least two relevant sociological concepts covered in the assigned course materials, such as socialization, hidden curriculum, tracking, stereotypes, or the functions of education.
Consider one or more of the following questions as you complete the “Education” box in the poster template:
What major functions has education had for you?
How has education been related to your life experiences or outcomes?
What experiences with inequality or stereotypes have you had during your education?
Explain how sociological theory applies to your life.
Integrate and apply at least one of the four sociological theories covered in the assigned course materials, such as functionalism, conflict theory, symbolic interaction theory, and/or feminist theory.
Consider one or more of the following questions as you complete the “Theory” box in the poster template:
Which one of the four sociological theories might help you understand your life or particular experiences youve had?
How might an understanding of one of the theories help you better understand and collaborate with other people?
Which of the sociological theories could be used to help you solve a particular problem youve observed or experienced?
Picture yourself walking down the street. Looking around, you notice several homeless people. What are your initial thoughts upon seeing this? How do you explain what you are observing?
In attempting to understand social behavior, sociologists rely on a particular type of critical thinking. C. Wright Mills (1959) described such thinking as the sociological imagination. The sociological imagination is an awareness of the relationship between an individual and the wider society. As Mills saw it, society and social structures and institutions within society play a key role in homelessness and other social problems. The sociological imagination is essentially seeing how the individual and society intersect and exploring how personal problems may also be considered public issues. This perspective enables us to understand how people are affected by the broad features of the society in which they liveto go beyond personal experiences and observations to understand broader public issues.
In the example above, we may assume that someone is homeless due to some personal failing. By applying a sociological perspective, however, we consider the complexity of factors, such as the lack of affordable housing relative to other economic, social, and personal issues, that create homelessness. For this first assessment, you will apply the sociological imagination and other sociological concepts or theories to observe a public setting in your community.
Note: The course assessments build upon one another and must be completed in sequence.
Reference
Mills, C. W. (1959). The sociological imagination. Oxford University Press.
There are many interesting studies that demonstrate how to conduct field research. Review one or more of these examples in this reading list to see the different sociological approaches to field research:
.
Read the following on the sociological concepts, theories, and research methods you have learned about so far in this course:
Andersen, M. L., & Taylor, H. F. (2026). Sociology: The essentials (11th ed.). Cengage. Available in the courseroom via the VitalSource Bookshelf link. Watch this video for further information.
Chapter 1, “The Sociological Perspective.”
Chapter 3, “Doing Sociological Research.”
Pay special attention to the section titled “Participant Observation.”
Download the and save it to your computer in a place for easy access. If you have questions on how to get started, please view the media and the “How do I get started on my assignment?” information.
Start your field research by completing one observation, following these guidelines for your observation:
Choose a public setting where you have open access (such as a public park, a library, a grocery store, an airport or a bus station, a restaurant, or a shopping mall). The goal is to observe the setting with fresh eyes. To limit bias, avoid observing a place you are very familiar with or personally connected to (such as your workplace, family home, or your childs school).
Spend at least 30 minutes observing in your chosen setting.
Use a sociological perspective to observe people’s behavior in the setting you have chosen. Below are some questions you can use to guide your observations and note-taking:
What are people doing in the setting?
What behaviors stand out? This could include verbal and nonverbal communication and peoples use of space.
What norms (rules for social behavior) are apparent in the behaviors and interactions you are observing? Also consider how the setting itself affects how people behave.
What social categories (such as gender, age, race or ethnicity, and social class) are relevant for understanding the interactions or behaviors you’re observing?
Do you notice any cultural differences or expressions of culture (music, dress, the use of symbols, et cetera)?
As you observe, take notes (called field notes) in a notebook, phone, laptop, or tablet. These notes can include your observations as well as your thoughts about how those observations illustrate certain concepts or theories covered in this course.
Follow the directions in the worksheet to complete each section, typing directly on the worksheet. Include answers to each question, and do not delete any instructions or questions.
Describe the setting that was observed.
Explain why this setting was chosen.
Explain how an observation illustrates a sociological concept or theory.
Explain how the sociological imagination can be used to understand a behavior or interaction.
Write field notes that describe the setting, people, behaviors, and interactions observed.
Module 5- Paper 1 Cause – Effect – Final Draft – Due Feb 22, 2026 11:59 PM ENC1101 COMPOSITION I BLENDED 760424 Overview of Cause/Effect Paper Requirements This is where you will turn in the final draft of the Module 5 – Paper 1 essay. For full context and instructions for this assignment, make sure you review the information in the Module 5 – Paper 1 – Cause and Effect folder located in the content tab. Prompt Write a paper in which you answer the question: What are the causes or effects of an animal species going missing from an ecosystem? Requirements No outside research is allowed for this paper. You may use ONLY the Carson reading from Unit 1 for quotes. You must use one quote from the reading in every body paragraph. You must have a works cited page. Try to think of your own example rather than repeating an animal species from the reading or videos. All papers must follow MLA guidelines including header, heading, font type and size, spacing, quoting, citing, etc. No Exceptions. First drafts must be a minimum of 400 words and no more than 500 words not including the works cited page. You are required to bring two hard copies of your first draft to class the day it is due for peer review. Please Note: Failure to participate in Peer Review in class will result in a deduction of 10 points from your Final Draft. Final drafts must be a minimum of 500 words and no more than 750 words not including the works cited page. Final drafts must include the Peer Review Memo, Comment Memo, and Error Log in your final draft. The instructions for these documents can be found in Content Menu in the Universal Documents for Paper Assignment folder. The Peer Review Memo will be in your final draft on the page after the work(s) cited page. The Error Log will be in your final draft on the page after the Peer Review Memo. The Comment Memo will be in your final draft on the page after the Error Log. Academic Success Center (ASC) – you are highly encouraged to make an appointment with the Academic Success Center to have them review your drafts. If you choose to visit the ASC, make sure you bring in a copy of these instructions and a hard copy of your paper for them to review All drafts (first and final) are due and should be submitted to the appropriate assignment link in D2L by the date indicated in your Course Calendar. Generative AI Policy The use of Generative AI in this class is prohibited. Any use of generative AI on any assignment in this class will result in a zero on the assignment and may result in you failing the class. If any of your assignments return a result for generative AI, you will be asked to meet with me, and you may be referred to the Dean of Student Services for disciplinary proceedings. Please see the full course policy on AI use located in the Plagiaris
answer the questions below do not use ai i will check. this is based off the book what is the border by manilio graziano. pages 9-56. Write and explain in simple wording do not use difficult or fancy vocabulary or ill make you redo it. According to Manlio Graziano, ancient and early medieval empires had borders but they fluctuated a lot depending on military control. Modern borders–lines on maps that separate sovereign nation-states–are really a product of the Peace of Westphalia in 1648. This treaty ended the wars (roughly) between Catholics and Protestants with the principle of cuius regio, eius religio (“whatever prince, his religion”). This means that each ruler had the right to establish their religion as that of all their subjects, which meant that there had to be clear borders between national territories.
Graziano calls this the “nationality principle,” that borders are supposed to separate people into distinct national groups with different languages and cultures? Does this always work as advertised? Why or why not? Offer your thoughts in a couple of sentences in a new thread.
Graziano also speaks of “cosmopolitanism,” where people are first citizens of the world rather than of a nation-state. Can people really be first and foremost “citizens of the world”? Why or why not? Offer your thoughts in a couple of sentences in that same thread below.