The Open Education Sociology Dictionary (OESD) is a free online dictionary for students, teachers, & the curious to find meanings, examples, pronunciations, word origins, & quotations.

This video provides an over of the three emerging paradigms in sociology. Definitions and examples of feminism, exchange theory (rational choice), and environmental theory (postmodernism) are reviewed.

Introduction to Sociology
There is perhaps no course more immediately impactful and relevant to students’ lives than sociology. This course provides a comprehensive overview of key sociological topics and encourages students to think critically about the social world. Students develop the sociological imagination and examine society through each of the main sociological paradigms. The course includes embedded practice questions with targeted feedback to encourage reflection and application, as well as videos, discussions, and assignments.

Key topics include research, culture, socialization, society and groups, deviance and crime, stratification and inequality, race and ethnicity, gender, sex, and sexuality, marriage and family, religion, education, health and medicine, aging and the elderly, government and politics, work and the economy, population and urbanization, and social change. Faculty members may readily adapt the course’s OER content to include new developments and research to equip students with what they need to have success in their sociological journey.

Contributors
This course, based on the OpenStax 2e Sociology text, was developed by Lumen Learning and includes additional noteworthy contributions by the Lumen Learning team and:

What’s New?
The 2019 edition of Introduction to Sociology includes the following significant improvements and enhancements:

Improved course organization
Modules are more consistent in size. This means some modules have been separated out from the previous version of the course. This enables greater instructor flexibility and more manageable learning for students.
Content is organized around specific, granular learning outcomes, which are listed at the top of each page.
Practice questions, try it questions, and quiz questions all align with learning outcomes.
Improved course content
Course content was reviewed for accuracy and currency, then updated with modern examples, news, and research.
“Try It” embedded practice questions for every learning outcome. This means that students learn about concepts and then immediately check their understanding with applied practice.
“Watch It” embedded videos that explain and reiterate key concepts throughout the course.
Most videos come from CrashCourse Sociology, although several others are included from various sources such as Khan Academy and Sociology Live!
Discussions and Assignments for every module
As a Waymaker course, this is customizable and delivered with user-friendly personalized learning tools to strengthen engagement and student success. There are formative self-check assessments ​and​ summative quiz questions that can be imported directly into the LMS.

Pacing
The Introduction to Sociology course contains eighteen modules. Since many instructors choose not to teach every module, sometimes it works well to cover roughly one module per week for a sixteen-week semester. Although the modules are generally similar in size, some of the content is lighter in certain modules or more dense in others, so it may make sense to combine some modules in one week or draw out other modules over several weeks. See the “Pacing” page inside of faculty resources for more information and suggestions.

Sociology of Corruption Course

SOC 410

Course Description:

“Corruption” is a very strong and loud word. Media and press seem to be constantly yelling about
corruption scandals; economists, politicians, and world leaders, everyone is talking about the big “C”
word nowadays. But what does “Corruption” stand for? How is corruption connected to culture and
society? What is the relationship between corruption and inequality? Can corruption be good? This
course addresses these questions by providing a sociological understanding of corruption.
In this course, specific attention will be paid to studying the connection between macro and micro
processes; corruption and culture; corruption and society; corruption and inequality. The course will
start with teaching the basics: the role of social capital and social networks. Further in the course we
will analyze a variety of definitions, opinions, and theories applicable to corruption studies. We will
also explore the ways how political, economic, and sociological processes affect the formation and
development of corruption. These topics will be examined through the prism of social institutions,
cultural contexts, and informal exchange. With the help of comparative analysis, we will gain insight
into the corruption practices that characterize different countries.

Learning Objectives:
By the end of the course, you will:
● Get acquainted with the range of definitions, types, and classifications of corruption;
● Grasp major theories of corruption and sociological theories that help explain the construct of
corruption;
● Be able to interpret the role of culture and values in the definition of corruption;
● Be able to explain the role of “bad apples” and institutionalized corruption;
● Have learned how corruption affects different social institutions and lives of average citizens;
● Understand insights into the social intricacies of corruption in different countries;
● Feel comfortable to discuss and critique current media reports on corruption;
● Apply newly gained knowledge in the research project on the corruption case of your choice.

This seminar provides an introduction to scholarship in a growing research community: the sociologists and sociologically-inclined organization theorists who study issues that relate, at least in a broad sense, to the interdisciplinary field of inquiry that is known as "strategy" or "strategic management" research. The course is not designed to survey the field of strategy. Rather, the focus is on getting a closer understanding of the recent work by sociologists and sociologically-oriented organization theorists that investigates central questions in strategic management. In particular, we will be concerned with identifying and assessing sociological work that aims to shed light on: (a) relative firm performance; (b) the nature of competition and market interaction; (c) organizational capabilities; (d) the beginnings of industries and firms; (e) the diffusion or transfer of ideas and practices across firms; and (f) strategic change.

This collection includes a variety of activity types and discussion questions for chapters 1-12 of OpenStax Sociology 2e. They were developed by Professor Philip Terry-Smith of Anne Arundel Community College.

Course Description & Goals
Sports is a socially constructed phenomenon often mirroring a society’s structure, behavioral patterns, and culture, serving vital social functions and reproducing and resisting social injustices. In other words, sports represent a microcosm of society. In this course, we will use the topic of sports in society to investigate and apply sociological concepts to co-constructed individual and collective work.

We will also use the topic of sports to investigate questions fundamental to our human and social existence, including who we are and what we want to become--both individually and as a society--and the role of sports in that being and becoming. We will investigate these questions as we identify and investigate personally relevant topics, with the aim of practicing bringing our best selves to our work -- with curiosity, a humble sense of not knowing, a collective sense of mutuality and care, and a goal of, in the words of Adrienne Rich, claiming our own education.

Learning Objectives:
Learn about and apply sociological frameworks and theories to personally relevant topics of sports in society that provide opportunities for self-growth and self-awareness around questions of who we are and who we want to be
Learn how to conduct an independent research project using sociological concepts and/or methods
Learn about inequality through a sociological lens using sports as a focus
Develop skills for engaging in critical self-reflection, including the ability to hold divergent points of view and to integrate new frames of reference and new ways of being
Develop skills for engaging in collaborative and mutually beneficial learning
Develop an understanding of our personal and collective power to act with agency to create change at the individual and community levels

An adaptation of OpenStax's Introduction to Sociology 2e

Word Count: 186247

(Note: This resource's metadata has been created automatically by reformatting and/or combining the information that the author initially provided as part of a bulk import process.)

Sample instructions and assessment rubric for an essay on C. Wright Mills' concept of the sociological imagination. Students are challenged to apply the sociological imagination to an element from their own biography. I use this in my Introduction to Sociology course in Canada. 

Short Description:
There are many excellent introductory readers to sociological theory out there. Why another one? The primary reason is that this is an Open Access textbook, free to you, the student, thanks to Oregon State University. We know that textbooks can be very expensive, and we think it is particularly problematic to charge students for access to work that has been published, in its original form, several decades ago. If you wanted, you could find all of the work included here in your local library, although you would have to put together many different books and articles. That is the second reason for this textbook – important passages have been collected for you, assembled here in one handy volume. Data dashboard

Word Count: 129508

(Note: This resource's metadata has been created automatically by reformatting and/or combining the information that the author initially provided as part of a bulk import process.)

Social Construction of Everyday Life

Short Description:
One part of a two-part introduction to the discipline of sociology, the study of society. It examines how we come to understand and experience ourselves and the world around us and how we create culture. Students will be introduced to the study of culture, socialization, social interaction, identity formation and self-fashioning, the social construction of class, gender and race, age, deviance, and other social phenomena.

Word Count: 336938

(Note: This resource's metadata has been created automatically by reformatting and/or combining the information that the author initially provided as part of a bulk import process.)

Introduction to Sociology is intended for a one-semester introductory sociology course. Conceived of and developed by active sociology instructors, this up-to-date title and can be downloaded now by clicking on the "Get this book" button below. This online, fully editable and customizable title includes sociology theory and research; real-world applications; simplify and debate features; and learning objectives for each chapter

Note: this resource now links to the third edition, released in 2021. Its record is in OER Commons to allow users to see endorsements, reviews, etc...

Chapter 1, pages 5-20Define “Sociology.” What are the differences between psychology and sociology? Textbook: page 96 “Sociology or Psychology: What’s the Difference?”What is the “Sociological Imagination”?The development of Sociology as a science.Pioneers of Sociology: Auguste Comte, Emile Durkheim, Karl Marx, and Max Weber.Macro versus Micro-sociologyThe three theoretical perspectives of sociology: Functionalist, Conflict, and Interactionist.Chapter 4 “Emile Durkheim and Functionalism” pages 80 - 81"Karl Marx and Conflict Theory” pages 81 – 83“Max Weber and Interactionism” page 83 

Most of you come into this class asking yourself, “What is sociology?” Good question, I found myself asking that same question in high school during my first sociology class. In short, sociology is the study of society. I define sociology as seeing society from a view point other than your own. In a society where we stress individualism more and more every day, this becomes more difficult to understand or contemplate. Through this class, students will learn to see society through a set of different eyes. Students will see how social theory and research shape the decisions we make, the social change we desire, and the social constructs around us.

Word Count: 254838

(Note: This resource's metadata has been created automatically by reformatting and/or combining the information that the author initially provided as part of a bulk import process.)

Worksheet used for a second-year sociology class on researching classical sociological theory. Students are asked to find and evaluate academic sources including books, articles and subject encyclopedias, and review APA citation style. 

Describe society’s current understanding of familyDefine the sociological imagination and apply it to the study of familyIdentify two organizations that provide scholarly information about familiesName the cross-cultural functions of the family Recognize changes in marriage and family patternsDifferentiate between lines of decent and residence

This is a jeopardy game for a college level Introduction to Sociology course. It is created as a mid-semester check in, and it includes ideas/terms from: groups, culture, socialization, deviance, social stratification, race/ethnicity, gender/sex/sexuality, and marriage/family.

The founders of sociology in the United States wanted to make a difference. A central aim of the sociologists of the Chicago school was to use sociological knowledge to achieve social reform. A related aim of sociologists like Jane Addams, W.E.B. DuBois, and Ida B. Wells-Barnett and others since was to use sociological knowledge to understand and alleviate gender, racial, and class inequality.

Steve Barkan’s Sociology: Understanding and Changing the Social World makes sociology relevant for today’s students by balancing traditional coverage with a fresh approach that takes them back to sociology’s American roots in the use of sociological knowledge for social reform.

Print on demand edition available here: https://www.uncpress.org/book/9781469659282/sociology/