Assignment: Functionalism and Non Sociologists Should Law Impose Morality Research Question
functionalism, in social sciences, theory based on the premise that all aspects of a society—institutions, roles, norms, etc.—serve a purpose and that all are indispensable for the long-term survival of the society. The approach gained prominence in the works of 19th-century sociologists, particularly those who viewed societies as organisms. The French sociologist Émile Durkheim argued that it was necessary to understand the “needs” of the social organism to which social phenomena correspond. Other writers have used the concept of function to mean the interrelationships of parts within a system, the adaptive aspect of a phenomenon, or its observable consequences. In sociology, functionalism met the need for a method of analysis; in anthropology it provided an alternative to evolutionary theory and trait-diffusion analysis.
A social system is assumed to have a functional unity in which all parts of the system work together with some degree of internal consistency. Functionalism also postulates that all cultural or social phenomena have a positive function and that all are indispensable. Distinctions have been made between manifest functions, those consequences intended and recognized by participants in the system, and latent functions, which are neither intended nor recognized.
The first step of writing an academic paper is to find a topic. For our purpose of honing philosophical skills, a good topic is one that you are curious to know more about. Since doing philosophy is more fun when it is an investigation. Try not to pick a topic on which you already have a very strong opinion. After you pick a topic (e.g., irrationality), the next thing to formulate is a research question about that topic and lay out all the potential candidate answers to that question. For this assignment, I will ask you to write one research question and at least two potential answers to that question. The following sample showcases the desirable format for this assignment:
Here is how the assignment will be graded: (First point) You will get 1 point for writing the question, answer 1, and answer 2. (Second and third point) The question should be a controversial question. The question would be controversial if and only if there are two mutually exclusive answers which are both sensible. For each sensible answer, you will get one additional point. (Fourth point) Try to make the question as specific as possible. I can ask a more general question “Are social sciences autonomous?”, which does not specify the science we are considering in the question: Are we debating whether psychology is autonomous, or whether sociology is autonomous? Are we considering the argument for its autonomy from multiple realizability or from a distinct mode of reason-explanation that is non-causal? And autonomous from what, other social sciences or some physical science? Here are some benefits of having a specific research question: It would allow us to find relevant literature more easily; it allows us to control the length of our essay; it also gives us a guide on which we do not need to talk about in our essay. (Fifth point) Try to find actual academic sources to support your candidate answers, as I did above. Here are some good web resources to start looking for relevant papers: philpaper.org; plato.stanford.edu. You don’t need to carefully read a paper in order to decide that it supports one of your answers; a quick read of its abstract or introduction section would be enough. If you find that there are not papers directly responding to your question, revise your question! It is also a good strategy to see what these papers are arguing against, and whether the papers they are arguing against can offer an alternative answer to the same research question. Learning how to locate academic papers for your research question can speed up your subsequent process of writing an essay. And if you can find academic papers to support different potential answers
Important information for writing discussion questions and participation
Welcome to class
Hello class and welcome to the class and I will be your instructor for this course. This is a -week course and requires a lot of time commitment, organization, and a high level of dedication. Please use the class syllabus to guide you through all the assignments required for the course. I have also attached the classroom policies to this announcement to know your expectations for this course. Please review this document carefully and ask me any questions if you do. You could email me at any time or send me a message via the “message” icon in halo if you need to contact me. I check my email regularly, so you should get a response within 24 hours. If you have not heard from me within 24 hours and need to contact me urgently, please send a follow up text to
I strongly encourage that you do not wait until the very last minute to complete your assignments. Your assignments in weeks 4 and 5 require early planning as you would need to present a teaching plan and interview a community health provider. I advise you look at the requirements for these assignments at the beginning of the course and plan accordingly. I have posted the YouTube link that explains all the class assignments in detail. It is required that you watch this 32-minute video as the assignments from week 3 through 5 require that you follow the instructions to the letter to succeed. Failure to complete these assignments according to instructions might lead to a zero. After watching the video, please schedule a one-on-one with me to discuss your topic for your project by the second week of class. Use this link to schedule a 15-minute session. Please, call me at the time of your appointment on my number. Please note that I will NOT call you.
Please, be advised I do NOT accept any assignments by email. If you are having technical issues with uploading an assignment, contact the technical department and inform me of the issue. If you have any issues that would prevent you from getting your assignments to me by the deadline, please inform me to request a possible extension. Note that working fulltime or overtime is no excuse for late assignments. There is a 5%-point deduction for every day your assignment is late. This only applies to approved extensions. Late assignments will not be accepted.
If you think you would be needing accommodations due to any reasons, please contact the appropriate department to request accommodations.
Plagiarism is highly prohibited. Please ensure you are citing your sources correctly using APA 7th edition. All assignments including discussion posts should be formatted in APA with the appropriate spacing, font, margin, and indents. Any papers not well formatted would be returned back to you, hence, I advise you review APA formatting style. I have attached a sample paper in APA format and will also post sample discussion responses in subsequent announcements.
Your initial discussion post should be a minimum of 200 words and response posts should be a minimum of 150 words. Be advised that I grade based on quality and not necessarily the number of words you post. A minimum of TWO references should be used for your initial post. For your response post, you do not need references as personal experiences would count as response posts. If you however cite anything from the literature for your response post, it is required that you cite your reference. You should include a minimum of THREE references for papers in this course. Please note that references should be no more than 5 years old except recommended as a resource for the class. Furthermore, for each discussion board question, you need ONE initial substantive response and TWO substantive responses to either your classmates or your instructor for a total of THREE responses. There are TWO discussion questions each week, hence, you need a total minimum of SIX discussion posts for each week. I usually post a discussion question each week. You could also respond to these as it would count towards your required SIX discussion posts for the week.
I understand this is a lot of information to cover in 5 weeks, however, the Bible says in Philippians 4:13 that we can do all things through Christ that strengthens us. Even in times like this, we are encouraged by God’s word that we have that ability in us to succeed with His strength. I pray that each and every one of you receives strength for this course and life generally as we navigate through this pandemic that is shaking our world today. Relax and enjoy the course!
Hi Class,
Please read through the following information on writing a Discussion question response and participation posts.
Contact me if you have any questions.
Important information on Writing a Discussion Question
- Your response needs to be a minimum of 150 words (not including your list of references)
- There needs to be at least TWO references with ONE being a peer reviewed professional journal article.
- Include in-text citations in your response
- Do not include quotes—instead summarize and paraphrase the information
- Follow APA-7th edition
- Points will be deducted if the above is not followed
Participation –replies to your classmates or instructor
- A minimum of 6 responses per week, on at least 3 days of the week.
- Each response needs at least ONE reference with citations—best if it is a peer reviewed journal article
- Each response needs to be at least 75 words in length (does not include your list of references)
- Responses need to be substantive by bringing information to the discussion or further enhance the discussion. Responses of “I agree” or “great post” does not count for the word count.
- Follow APA 7th edition
- Points will be deducted if the above is not followed
- Remember to use and follow APA-7th edition for all weekly assignments, discussion questions, and participation points.
- Here are some helpful links
- The is a great resource
