Sociology

Introduction to Social Sciences

Social Science: It is defined as: “Social Sciences is the study of behavior of how individuals interact with the society. ” Every discipline except finance and accounting comes under the umbrella of social science. Branches of Social Science: Following are the branches of social sciences:

• Anthropology
• Archaeology
• Public Administration
• Communication
• Criminology
• Economics
• Education
• Government
• Linguistics
• International Relations
• Political Science
• Sociology
• Human Geography
• History
• Law
• Psychology Some of these are briefly explained below:

Economics: Economics is the study of how wealth is produced, distributed and consumed in the society. It is basically the knowledge of wealth i. e. how and where investment should be made.

Communication Studies: In this, we study that when a message needs to be spread in the masses what techniques can be used that can prove to be helpful. In other words, we study that how news spreads in the society and in what manner people respond o it.

Education: Education means learning. Here you talk about the first hand experience you get from the society. It tells you how people learn and unlearn.

History: History is the study of past of human in the world.

Law: The rules and regulations that are made to govern the society.

Linguistics: It is basically the knowledge of phonetics. In this you study about the speaking pattern of the society. It is a fact that there is a change in language after every 5km.

Anthropology: The comparative study of human societies and cultures and their development is known as anthropology.

Human Geography: Human geography examines the natural environment and how the climate, life and land interact with each other.

Political Science: Political science is the study of social arrangement to maintain peace and order within a society.

Public Administration: Public Administration is concerned with the management of public programs, which interact with the residents of the community or region.

Those who work in it should share a commitment to offer public service.

Psychology: Psychology is the study of human soul, mind, behavior, personality and how they affect an individual’s environment.

Sociology: Sociology is the systematic study of society and human social action.

One important point here should be kept in mind that the solution of social problems lies in social sciences like poverty and social science (economics). The solution of these problems should be a high priority for all of us.

According to C. Wright Mills, what occurs in any one individual’s life is interrelated with society as a whole. To possess sociological imagination as defined by Mills “To be aware of social stucture and to use it with sensibility IS to be capable of tracing such LINKAGES among great variety of milieux. ” The sociological imagination helps give us the ability to understand the correlation of one’s own biography, history, and traditions along with the knowledge of the social and historical influence society may have on that person or groups of people.

Mills notion makes us want to investigate into an individual’s biography and lifestyles, and place their findings within the surrounding circumstances in which events occur in order to see the whole picture of the society in which the individual lives. In Lisa J. McIntyre’s case study titled “Hernando Washington” we read about a young man named Hernando Washington who kidnaps, rapes, and murders a 29 year old woman named Sarah Gould.

When using the sociological imagination to look into this we ask questions such as, “What was the social milieu in which the event takes place? ” and “what effects did the social system have on the individual? ”. Asking these questions, we see that Hernando lived in an area where police activity was almost non existent. Hernando’s brother had been shot and sister had been raped with absolutely no police action ever taking place. This explains why Hernando thought he could get away with his actions.

If all this could happen before then what would be wrong if he was the one who did it. We also see that Hernando viewed the rape he committed as sex. He thought that since Sarah was alone and with no male acomplise, it was ok for him to in his perspective have sex with (rape) her. The sociologists way of looking at what Hernando did doesn’t make did ok, but it does explain why he did it. He in his right mind with the situations he had been placed in during his life thought that this was ok with just as much belief as what you and me think about it being wrong.

Sociology group presentation: Plastic surgery * Plastic surgery is becoming one of the popular ways to change one’s physical appearance in South Korea. * People in Korea believe that looking good can change their lives. * 40% of the people in Korea think that they failed the interview are because they do not look beautiful. * 70% want to change their social status through plastic surgery. Reasons: * Influence of social media: Celebrities have perfect looking.

This brings impact on people’ s The body modification I am going to talk about is plastic surgery. Plastic surgery is popular in today’s society, especially in South Korea. Most people do not consider themselves pretty. In a survey, 40% of the people who failed in the job interview think that they failed the interview is because they do not look pretty, and they want to change their social status from changing their appearance.

And the first option they will choose is plastic surgery. Korea is a very competitive society. People are super competitive about their physical appearance. The social media in Korea is over exadragged, Why is Korea so competitive about appearance: in social media, the actor/actress appear to be so pretty and handsome, and they have higher social status based on how they look, so this had given a hint for people in Korea that how you look is important than what you know.

This article had talked about that how high school kids think about the importance of plastic surgery. It was taken place is urban area and rural area to see the modernization’s impact on people’s idea toward plastic surgery. Media has very significant influence on people’s thoughts about their appearance. They believed that looking good is very important for employment and to succeed in life.

The nature and purpose of parental authority is to direct and instruct towards achieving a good, as many philosophers will agree on. However, there are certain philosophers that differ on the rational use of parental authority. Some will adhere to the notion that parental authority must be bounded to moral law, whereas others believe in the divine nature of parental authority. Nevertheless, most philosophers will agree that the correct use of parental authority for any family will dictate the success or failure in achieving the truest good for themselves.

Both Allan Bloom’s “The Clean Slate” and Rabbi Normal Lamm’s “Traditional Jewish Family Values” offer insight to the use, nature, and purpose of parental authority in the family’s achievement of goodness. Rabbi Norman Lamm presents a model for parental authority in the traditional Jewish family. The father of a Jewish family is typically the source of authority for the family, but is not considered the absolute authority. The use of the father’s authority is exercised as the absolute source, meaning there is no democratic debate between each member of the family to come to a decision.

As Lamm notes, the degeneration of the contemporary Jewish family stems from authority figures not exercising proper discipline, letting the family slip into this “liberal posture” (726). The nature and purpose of parental authority is ultimately meant to direct the child to his or her truest good. However, it is false to believe that the father of this idealized family is acting alone in instructing children. The father, as Lamm writes, is “not only the visible and present focus of authority…but he is also a symbol, the representative and refractor of a Higher Authority” (728).

There is, in this statement, a direct implication that the father is only the focus to an authority that is greater than himself, and in working with that divine authority will direct the child to his or her good. In order for the family to achieve its fundamental goodness, the father must express his authority in relation with that which is greater than the family itself. The family, therefore, must be grounded and mutually committed to the authority bestowed upon them by parents and divine power.

Lamm paints a picture that parental authority is given to parents through the transcendent, and parents must bestow this awareness of authority upon their children as a way to develop them towards achieving good, thus starting a cycle in which these children will pass the same traditions of authority to their children. In conclusion, Lamm explains that achieving fundamental happiness for the family only comes through an awareness of the transcendent and adhering to that in the exercise of parental authority. Allan Bloom, in “The Clean Slate”, comments on the state of moral education in the past and how it has evolved in the modern day.

The use of parental authority is essential to the moral development of adolescents and young adults, according to Bloom. The family is meant to provide, above all else, a deep and enriching moral education, one that promotes and cultivates rational thinking in the service of a moral education. However, the achievement of this moral education draws similarities to the argument of Lamm, in that it is dependent upon a spiritual commitment to ritual and tradition, while upholding and communicating the knowledge of great literary writings.

An important distinction here is to note the importance Bloom places upon great books. He notes that the family must read these as they are a pathway to a timeless truth. These great books bestow upon the family something that modern media and culture cannot, a true vision of the order of the whole of things as well as a sense of wisdom of the true nature of things. He writes, “The family requires a certain authority and wisdom about the ways of the heavens and of men” (57). Every member of the family, as a way to achieve a fundamental goodness, must be well versed in timeless teachings, rituals, and ceremonies.

Bloom does point to several issues in our history as a nation that are having a direct impact on the nature and use of parental authority. If parental authority is meant to give children a deepening moral education and bring about goodness, how is it supposed to be that we can still achieve this with many technological distractions and a shift away from writings of revelation and truth? He comments that many parents in modern American families are moving away from the higher and more independent family life of their ancestors that provided a true moral education.

Bloom believes that in order to restore what the family has lost, it must start with providing a firm exercise of parental authority through the use of great literature, ritual and traditional, to achieve a sacred unity. The fundamental goodness of a family exists when it is cultivating an environment that presents to the young “…a vision of a moral cosmos and of the rewards and punishment of good and evil…”, otherwise the world remains disenchanted with no fundamental truths. A disenchanted life awaits all that do not participate in the great revelations and epics that point us to the true natural vision of life, according to Bloom.

UP FROM SLAVERY: THE STRUGGLES AND TRIOMPHS OF BOOKER T. WASHINGTON IN A DIVIDED AMERICA Even though slavery has been abolished in the United States for decades now, the stories from the people who lived in the period when slavery was still practiced and experienced the period after the abolishment, are still alive today. The experiences Booker T. Washington tells about in Up From Slavery range from haunting to inspirational, and give a clear view on the South of the US post-Civil War from the eyes of a black man. Even though Booker T.

Washington endured horrible circumstances during slavery, Washington sets an example for black people of the perseverance to succeed in the US and to overcome all obstacles. The autobiographical story in Up From Slavery starts with introducing Washington’s life on the plantation where he worked. As he phrases it himself: “[his] life had its beginnings in the midst of the most miserable, desolate, and discouraging surroundings” (Washington 870). These surroundings, combined with devastatingly hard labor, created an environment with no apparent end in sight, and no hope of changing the situation.

This helplessness is expressed by Washington, as he sees other boys and girls his age going to school. Due to the situation in the US at the time, there were no chances at all of Washington getting into school, or as he calls it: “paradise” (Washington 872). When this no-escape-possible situation ends –when slavery is abolished– and Washington hears about a school for black people, he immediately is determined to go to the school. His persistence is recognized by the school board and he gets accepted in the school, which leads to Washington excelling in school.

When he began delivering his first speeches years later, he developed himself as a leading figure, who was fighting to help black people and other minorities to grow out of the place they have been kept in for years, and advance themselves. For black people, often in circumstances not dealt with by whites, having Washington as an example as someone who defeated his personal enemies by escaping his situation, was of grave importance. To actually see someone who has climbed to the top, coming from horrible circumstances, could inspire a next generation to work as hard as Washington did.

To let other black people get to the place Washington is, he not only talks about education, he also talks about always being friendly to white people. During a speech at the Atlanta Exposition in 1895, Washington talks about significance of finding allies: To those of my race who depend on bettering their condition in a foreign land or who underestimate the importance of cultivating friendly relations with the Southern white man, who is their next-door neighbor, I would say: “Cast down your bucket where you are”–cast it down in making friends in every manly way of the people of all races by whom we are surrounded. Washington 888) By sending this message to people of every color and casting down ones bucket, Washington said that a society where black people could work themselves to the same level as whites could be created. This approach to overcoming the racial issues between black and whites did lead to criticism, with them saying that Washington was keeping discrimination in place by not addressing it fully. Especially W. E. B.

Du Bois was critical of Washington’s ideas, stating that “[Washington’s] program asked blacks to give up political power, insistence on civil rights, and higher education for Negro youth” (Gibson). And while Washington did play down some issues, one must not forget the time Washington was living in, and that his speeches even without those issues more assertive leaders like Du Bois were rooting for, were controversial to many Southern white people. Booker T. Washington pushed aside the force of the Southern whites wanting to hold black people back and overcame his obstacles.

Coming from an enslaved and poor position, educating and working himself up to a high position, Washington was and still is an inspiration to all people, but especially for those who are in the position he was in. He gave hope to the people that needed it most, and his words still continue to do so. WORKS CITED Gibson, Robert A. Booker T. Washington and W. E. B. Du Bois: The Problem of Negro Leadership. Yale-New Haven Teachers Institute. Web. 17 Oct. 2012. http://www. yale. edu/ynhti/curriculum/units/1978/2/78. 02. 02. x. html Washington, Booker T. Up From Slavery. New York: Doubleday, 1901.

The article “Where Did Knowledge Management Come From” by L. Prusak discusses different perspectives on development of knowledge management, analyzes impact of globalization on knowledge management and identifies disciplines which have shaped the field.  The article is retrieved from online database devoted to knowledge management and related issues.

To find the article I had to refer to online search engines. Despite the fact that the paper is found in the Internet database, it is very scientific, opinionative and informative as the author provides examples and strong evidence to defend his positions, opinions and ideas. I think knowledge management plays crucial role nowadays in business world as it aims at fostering economic and financial development on both national and international levels.

Prusak writes that nowadays knowledge management is widely known and practiced in many companies and organizations as it gives an excellent opportunity to look back, to admit faults and to work out new perspectives. Some analysts assert that knowledge management may replace declining revenues from the waning re-engineering movement, whereas others claims that knowledge management is able to enrich data and information management methods.

Prusak says that “perhaps the majority of sceptics take the position—not an unnatural one—that every so-called new approach is, in reality, either old or wrong”. (Prusak 2001) It is necessary to note that Prusak defines knowledge management as system of thought and says that it is a combination of new ideas with old practices. He means that practitioners should be re-assured rather than unnerved.

The author also discusses knowledge management in terms of globalization context. He says that globalization is the most obvious culprit. He argues that the volume of global trade is likely to be unprecedented. Today the number of global products is the highest compared to the previous years. Information technologies are the primary contributor of speeding up expansion of global trade and the decline of centralized economies. It results in frenetic atmosphere within companies which are simply forced to bring new products as fast as possible.

The central idea of the article is that knowledge can be hardly codified, digitized and distributed. The key components of knowledge are considered design, decisions, judgment, leadership, innovation, persuasiveness, and humor. They become more valuable than in the past years. Prusak claims that “a perhaps less evident but no less important trend is an emerging knowledge-centric view of the firm”. (Prusak 2001) He cites Sidney Winter who describes firms as “organizations that know how to do things”. (Prusak 2001)

It is necessary to underline that economists define firm as a coordinated collection of capabilities and abilities based on experience, knowledge and history. Cognitive and social skills may limit firm’s effectiveness if not managed properly. Knowledge is claimed to the building block of the mentioned capabilities, especially knowledge which is the most specific to company’s objectives and operating areas.

The next point to admit is that the author identifies primary disciplines which helped to shape the filed of knowledge management. The first is economics. Prusak assumes that if a company manages to coordinate the learning process it will be able to increase effectiveness and productivity. Otherwise, the company may fail to compete. Working out learning strategies is important issue in knowledge management.

Secondly, sociology also contributes development of knowledge management on micro and macro levels. For example, at micro level “sociology’s strong research interest in the complex structures of internal networks and communities has obvious relevance to knowledge management”. (Prusak 2001) The author suggests that knowledge is growing as practitioners are studying networks and communities as the units of knowledge managements. Finally, philosophy and psychology contribute knowledge management as it aims at revealing implicit and explicit knowledge as well as exploring differences between ‘know how’ and ‘know what’.

Further, Prusak distinguishes three practices which affect the content of knowledge managements. They are information management, human capital and the quality movement. Information management has been swiftly developing during the 70-80s. Usually, information technology is understood as “a subset of the larger information technology and information science world”. (Prusak 2001) Information forms a body of the thought focusing on how to manage information and how to manipulate it.

Information management deals also with operational techniques, incentive schemes and governance. The quality movement is claimed to concentrate primarily on internal customers and transparent goals. However, knowledge management hasn’t achieved the levels of measurable success. Despite that fact, the quality movement adapted the goals to different purposes of knowledge management. Finally, human capital is based on strong theoretical base. Human capital approach helps to identify financial advantage over other firms through training and professional education.

The article discusses the origins of knowledge management, looks at past events and future development opportunities, and distinguishes key knowledge management components and practices. The article is directly related to the field of knowledge management as the author provides strong theoretical background of knowledge management, related disciplines and perspectives on future. The author tends to make people more aware of benefits offered by knowledge management.

Works Cited

Prusak, L. (2001). Where Did Knowledge Management Come From. Available at http://www.research.ibm.com/journal/sj/404/prusak.html Accessed March 5, 2008.