The document outlines instructions for an assessment that requires students to apply sociological concepts to their own lives, through a detailed outline and analysis. Students are expected to identify relevant sociological concepts related to culture, social structure, education, and technology, and to support their analysis with scholarly sources. The assessment aims to help students demonstrate their understanding of sociology and its impact on individual experiences.

1. Develop a 3-5 page outline of concepts you would like to apply
to your own life and identify relevant scholarly sources that will
help you with your application of concepts.
As you may have noticed as you have worked through earlier
assessments, Sociology is applicable to our everyday lives. We
can oftentimes take a sociological concept and use it to explain
something that occurs in our own lives. For example, you have
learned about norms and how we tend to follow the norms of a
society. You can use that to explain how people behave when
they are in an elevator. Most people face forward, look up at the
numbers, and don't talk.
Many of your experiences can be analyzed using sociological
concepts. For your final assessment, Assessment 6, you will
complete a Sociology of Me and apply many of the concepts
you have learned about in this course to your own life. For
Assessment 5, begin to think about which concepts you would
like to apply to your own experience, develop an outline, and
identify appropriate resources. In order to complete this
assessment, you will need to show your understanding of some
additional concepts related to social structure, education, and
technology/media.
We have learned how a society's culture can influence people.
There are other elements in society, however, that also affect
our decisions and behavior. Sociological research has found that
in addition to culture, social structure and groups also
significantly impact many of our individual choices. Our
position in the social structure affects our behaviors, attitudes,
and ideas. For example, an important element of social structure
are groups. We belong to a variety of different groups. Decades
of research have documented the impact of group conformity on

2. the individual. Although people tend to often believe that they
act as individuals and aren't impacted by others, research has
found this is usually not the case. The Milgram experiment in
your Resources is a great example. Milgram (1963) examined
conformity and obedience and found that people are highly
influenced by authority and the demands of conformity, even to
the point that we will inflict pain on another person to obey
authority.
Sociologists also study education and how it is impacted by a
society's culture and structure. The purpose of education is to
provide knowledge (facts, skills, cultural norms) to members of
a society. In the United States, education teaches us not just
skills, but also how to be effective citizens. Education transmits
the dominant culture, ensuring that children understand cultural
norms and values. Educational attainment impacts life
outcomes—it affects our occupation, earnings, work conditions,
and health. Thus, education is related to social inequality. We
have a tendency to assume that education is an equalizer in the
United States, but this is something that is debated by
sociologists. Is education equally available to everyone? Studies
suggest it is not. Social class can impact the quality of school
children attend, what they study, and how many years they
attend school. Many students graduate from college with
significant student loan debt. How might someone's experience
after college graduation be different if they graduated from
college debt-free because their parents could afford to pay for
it?
We regularly see new products and services as a result of
increasing technology. We often take the influence of
technology and media for granted, but it has a substantial
impact on how we understand our culture and society as a
whole. Many new products and services are a response to
society's changing needs. But technology can also serve to
shape the values held by a society. Think about how our

3. interaction has changed in the past ten years as a result of
technology. Has that impacted our values? A small number of
corporations deliver Internet platforms and a small number of
corporations produce most of our media. What impact does that
have on our access to technology and information?
Reference
Milgram, S. (1963). Behavioral study of obedience.
The Journal of Abnormal and Social Psychology, 67
(4), 371–378.
Demonstration of Proficiency
By successfully completing this assessment, you will
demonstrate your proficiency in the following course
competencies and assessment criteria:
Competency 1: Examine how theory and sociological concepts
apply to everyday life.
Identify sociological concepts that affect one’s own field of
study.
Competency 2: Explain the basic tools of sociological inquiry.
Identify resources to support analysis from a sociological
perspective.

4. Competency 4: Analyze the influence of culture on both the
individual and society.
Explain the relevance of concepts to sociological topics.
Competency 6: Compose text that articulates meaning relevant
to its purpose and audience.
Develop text using organization, structure, and transitions that
demonstrate understanding of cohesion between main and
subtopics.
In this assessment, you will create an outline for Assessment 6,
The Sociology of Me. The outline should identify concepts you
will be using to analyze your own experiences and provide a
brief summary of why each concept may be relevant. Your
sociological analysis of yourself should be supported by
credible, scholarly sources, such as those from academic
journals. As such, you will also identify scholarly sources that
you intend to use.
Deliverable
Write an essay in which you complete all of the following:
Part 1: Section Outline
Identify the sociological concepts you plan to discuss in each

5. section.
Briefly explain the relevance of each concept.
Sections need to include:
Culture and Socialization.
Examine the impact culture and socialization has had on your
life.
Examples of concepts to include: Socialization, agents of
socialization, culture, values, language, norms, subculture,
counterculture, ethnocentrism, and cultural relativism.
Social Structure and Groups.
Analyze the impact of social structure and groups on your life.
Examples of concepts to include: Social structure, hierarchy,
power, bureaucracy, role, status, primary groups, secondary
groups, and group think.
Education.
Explain your educational experience from a sociological
perspective.

6. Examples of concepts to include: Hidden curriculum, tracking,
social stratification, and stereotypes.
Professional field.
Explain sociological issues that affect your field of study.
All concepts from other sections are relevant.
Technology and Media.
Analyze the role of technology and media in your everyday life.
Examples of concepts: Media, digital divide, framing, and
social change.
Part 2: Identify Preliminary Supporting Resources
Identify resources to support an analysis from a sociological
perspective.
At least one scholarly source should be identified for each
section above.
Provide a brief summary of each identified source.

7. Additional Requirements
Written communication:
Develop text using organization, structure, and transitions that
demonstrate understanding of cohesion between main and
subtopics. Written communication is free of errors that detract
from the overall message.
Sources:
Cite at least five scholarly sources.
Length:
3–5 pages, not including title and reference pages.
Format:
Include a title page and reference page. Use in text citations to
cite your sources. [Example: Writing becomes better as the
child matures (Britton, Thomas, & Miller, 1996).]
Font and size:
Times New Roman, 12-point.