Breaking A Norm Experiment

For the Unit IV Assignment, you will conduct an experiment in which you break a folkway, a norm governing everyday behavior, and answer a series of response questions applying concepts you learned in this unit and the previous unit regarding breaking norms. The following concepts in the course textbook will be useful in helping you complete the assignment: Chapter 2: Breaking Norms and Sanctions (pp. 56-58) and Chapter 6: Informal and Formal Social Control, Law and Society, and Deviance (pp.124-129).

Begin by choosing which type of folkway (norm) you want to break. You may break a norm that results in a negative sanction (e.g., staring or exclusion). On the other hand, you may also break a norm that results in a positive sanction (e.g., extra attention or thanks). You can break the norm with family member, at work with a colleague, or in your community with a neighbor or a friend.

After picking your norm, answer the questions in Part A. After completing the experiment (breaking the norm), answer the questions in Part B. You will write up your answers to the questions from both Part A and Part B in a two-page essay.

Part A: (Before Breaking the Norm)

• What norm have you decided to break?
• Is it a formal norm or an informal norm?
• Why do you think this norm exists in society? How it is a form of social control?
• What reactions by others do you expect?
• How do you think you will feel while breaking the norm?

Part B: (After Breaking the Norm)

• What were the reactions of others?
• How did the reactions of others strengthen the norm or act as a social control?
• How did you feel during the experiment, and how did the reactions affect you?
• What did you learn about yourself in the breaking of the norm?

IMPORTANT: Do not do anything that is legally or morally questionable or that could bring negative sanctions against yourself or the university while breaking the norm. Please just use common sense! If you have a question about the appropriateness of your experiment, please contact your instructor.

For this assignment, ensure you follow the requirements below:

1. Answer ALL the questions listed in Part A and Part B.
2. Please answer the response questions in essay-style format. You will not be rewriting each question and answering it. You will be creating an essay that addresses the response questions.
3. Use sociological terms and concepts from the textbook reading in your essay to demonstrate you understand and can apply the concepts.
4. Cite the textbook at least once in the essay. APA style in-text citations are required to show how the textbook was used in your essay. An APA style reference list containing the textbook and any other sources you cited in the assignment is also required. The following tutorial from CSU’s Writing Center on in-text citations is a great helpful resource. Click on the link to view this tutorial: http://columbiasouthern.adobeconnect.com/intextcitations/

The essay should be a minimum of two pages and should use the following APA style components: APA style title page, double-spaced, 1-inch margins, and 12-point font.

Course Textbook

(s) Witt, J. (2016). SOC 2016 (4th ed.). New York, NY: McGraw-Hill Education

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