According to Simmel, the increasing size and differentiation of a society tend to loosen the bonds between individuals. Explain the concept of a "segmental" relationship and explain how group size and social distance impacts social interactions, according to Simmel. Next, briefly walk us through your typical day - either week day or weekend. Focus on identifying the relationships you have during your day. Do your relationships during the day you analyzed resemble Simmel's notion of segmental relationships or not? Explain.
After reading about Harold Garfinkel's Breaching Experiments, create your own Breaching Experiment and carry it out. Describe your Breaching Experiment and the results. How did your experiment challenge the taken-for-granted knowledge we all walk around with?
Identify a sociological topic of interest to you. Discuss how each of the six qualitative field research paradigms (discussed in this week's Lesson) could be used to study this topic. How does the role of the researcher vary across each paradigm?
Are some paradigms better suited for certain topics? Which paradigm(s) raise the biggest ethical concerns?