Kim Woods only

Week 2 - Assignment

Aspects of Social Understanding

[WLOs: 3] [CLOs: 1, 2, 3, 4, 5]

Prior to beginning work on this assignment, review the Week 1 and Week 2 textbook readings: Chapters 1 through 4 and Chapter 12, perform your own research, and watch the following videos:

· How do we know what is true? (Links to an external site.)

· How do we know what we know? Audi (Links to an external site.)

· How do we know what we know? Sullivan (Links to an external site.)

· Knowledge vs thinking - Neil deGrasse Tyson (Links to an external site.)

An important aspect of public sociology is gaining an understanding of our social world and coming to informed conclusions based on what we know. Social problems can often occur due to a clash of difference in social understanding, and so sociologists can gain considerable value in understanding the nuances of different perspectives. These perspectives can also change over time as society evolves and individuals develop. The importance of this assignment is to acknowledge that there are varied forms of knowing that form our perspectives in society and presenting how these varied forms of knowing have impacts and value. This assignment is a “thought-piece” that requires you to academically support your ideas, as a presentation of your own developing and evolving social understanding.

In your paper, include the following components:

Elements of Social Understanding (1-2 pages)

· Explain the concept of “epistemology” or “how we know what we know.”

· Discuss the following elements of social understanding: evidence, theory, value, and beliefs.

Acquisition of Social Understanding (1-2 pages)

· Explain the concept of “reflexivity” in social understanding.

· Discuss how humans can gain each element of social understanding or how elements are formed.

· Defend the importance each element of social understanding has on human knowledge.

Value to Society (1-2 pages)

· Summarize how the elements of social understanding work together.

· Justify the potential impact if citizens in society do or do not embrace all elements of social understanding.

The Aspects of Social Understanding Research paper

· Must be a minimum of four double-spaced pages in length (not including title and references pages) and formatted according to APA style as outlined in the  Ashford Writing Center (Links to an external site.)’s  APA Style (Links to an external site.)

· Must include a separate title page with the following:

· Title of paper

· Student’s name

· Course name and number

· Instructor’s name

· Date submitted

For further assistance with the formatting and the title page, refer to  APA Formatting for Word 2013 (Links to an external site.).

· Must utilize academic voice. See the  Academic Voice (Links to an external site.) resource for additional guidance.

· Must include an introduction and conclusion paragraph. Your introduction paragraph needs to end with a clear thesis statement that indicates the purpose of your paper.

· For assistance on writing  Introductions & Conclusions (Links to an external site.) as well as  Writing a Thesis Statement (Links to an external site.), refer to the Ashford Writing Center resources.

· Must use at least three scholarly sources in addition to the course text.

· The  Scholarly, Peer Reviewed, and Other Credible Sources (Links to an external site.) table offers additional guidance on appropriate source types. If you have questions about whether a specific source is appropriate for this assignment, please contact your instructor. Your instructor has the final say about the appropriateness of a specific source for a particular assignment.

· Must document any information used from sources in APA style as outlined in the Ashford Writing Center’s  Citing Within Your Paper (Links to an external site.)

Must include a separate references page that is formatted according to APA style as outlined in the Ashford Writing Center. See the  Formatting Your References List (Links to an external site.) resource in the Ashford Writing Center for specifications.

Carefully review the  Grading Rubric (Links to an external site.) for the criteria that will be used to evaluate your assignment.