Practicing Sociology in the Community: A Student's Guide

To be used as a supplemental text for introductory courses in sociology and/or social problems or as support text for students enrolled in a community-based or internship program.

Designed to help inform and guide students who are engaged in community based learning programs, this supplemental text strives to teach students how to effectively and compassionately practice sociology in the community. Organized to facilitate students' abilities to connect classroom learning with fieldwork in the community, this guide prompts students to reflect upon their community experiences and discover what those experiences signify to them personally and to the development of sociological knowledge.

(NOTE: Each chapter ends with a Conclusion and Reflections.)

1. Introduction.


Practicing Sociology.


Community-Based Learning.


Engaging in Social Justice.


Organization of the Guide.


2. Practicing Sociology.


What it Means to Practice Sociology.


Practicing Sociology and Structural Relations.


Practicing Sociology Using a Systematic Approach.


Practicing Sociology Using Critical Thinking.


3. Exploring Community Cultures.


Importance of Culture.


Constructing Cultures.


Transforming Cultures.


Discovering Yourself.


4. Recording and Reflecting.


What is a Journal?


What to Record.


How to Record.


Where to Record.


Why Keep a Journal?


Ethical Issues in Keeping a Journal.


5. Doing Field Research.


What is Field Research?


Planning Your Community Project.


Field Research.


Making Sense of Your Data.


Telling Their Stories.


6. Engaging in Social Justice.


Poverty in the United States.


Poverty Among Children.


Empowering Children.


Becoming a Social Advocate.


Telling Their Stories.

• Student-focused foundation and structural approach to understanding social relationships—With an emphasis on social justice.

  • Helps students understand that individual explanations are not adequate to explain most social interactions and relationships.

• Practical applications to meet the challenges of community based learning are provided—Including how to use participatory action research to harvest social change, and a guide for keeping a journal.

  • Inspires personal reflection throughout the learning process.

• Overview on practicing sociology in the community.

  • Challenges students to use critical thinking skills as a means of evaluating alternative explanations for events.

• The process of bridging the university and the community through stories, experiences of the authors and their former students, and sociological theories and research is presented.

  • Illustrates for students the elements of this imperative process through real-life experiences as well as solid theory and research.