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Classroom Discussion (Introduction to Sociology)

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Theme: Sociological Explanations of Social Phenomena

(Example: Marriage/Family and Social Class)

Synopsis of the Activity

In this activity, students are asked why people get married or create families. Assign students to
groups of two or three and have them discuss their answers before sharing them with the entire
class. At the end, students will differentiate between personal explanations and sociological
explanations of family/marriage.1

What Students are Learning

This activity would help students to distinguish between sociological and non-sociological
explanations of the different phenomena. In addition, this activity is designed for the following:
1) To facilitate students critical thinking.
2) To encourage deeper thinking among students before making any generalizations about
social trends.
3) Importantly, to apply sociological imagination to seemingly most personal life
experiences.
This activity, however, can be adapted to other issues such as race/ethnicity, suicide, and other
phenomena. As from my experience, since freshman students tend to explain things based on

I was inspired by David Adamss, Professor at the Ohio State University, activity on the Sociological Perspective.
It is available at
http://www.asanet.org/introtosociology/StudentResources/Exploring%20Data%20Resources/DataSocExplan1.html
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their immediate experiences, this activity works better for them to understand the most common
issues of the social world. In this activity, the phenomenon is marriage/family.
What Do We Need
Since this activity would be conducted in a classroom, selecting easy-to-follow resources for
students is better than using any esoteric text related to the topic, family. Therefore, for data
displaying differences in marriage/family rate in the United States, instructor may ask students to
browse the American Census Bureaus page and find family data. I prefer using following
newspaper articles and YouTube video, because findings of these articles and video inform
sociological thinking.
1. Marriage as a 'luxury good': The class divide in who gets married and divorced
(http://www.today.com/money/marriage-luxury-good-class-divide-who-gets-marrieddivorced-8C11457474)
2. Culture, Class and the Decline of Marriage
(http://douthat.blogs.nytimes.com/2013/04/04/culture-class-and-the-decline-ofmarriage/?_r=0
3. Is marriage now just a middle-class institution?
(http://www.dailymail.co.uk/news/article-2283727/Less-half-working-class-people-wedmarriage-rates-rise-high-income-earners.html)
4. Will You Get Married?
(https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=veIJmK898qA)

Main Activity
To start the discussion, students are given three to four minutes to list five reasons on why people
get married. After students complete their lists instructors should begin lecturing on explanations
at crux of sociological thinking related to their issue, in this instance the family and marriage.
The major purpose of this lecture in between discussion is to encourage students to think
sociologically about any issues around them. As a matter of fact, this would make the foundation
for differentiating between non-sociological and sociological explanations for any phenomena.

From the students list of reasons why people marry, instructors should write six or eight
on the blackboard. The list should include the following: instinct, love, care, sexual needs,
economic support, procreation/children, emotional support, and so on. After having these listed,
instructors should ask students to think about these responses as different categories or
instructors can categorize these answers by asking students how they are alike. Instructor, after
talking to students, should come into general explanations of why people get married, naming
these explanations not sociological but personal. Surely, they are not wrong, yet they are not
necessarily providing us with a sociological insight into marriage/family.
Afterward, instructors should ask a question about marriage which, presumably, would
lead students into sociological explanations about the institution of marriage. The question:
Why is the rate of marriage lower in working class people? Cite the most recent findings along
with showing writings and videos (from the link above) where the marriage rate is in sharp
decline, say, among the working classes but on the rise among high income earners. Now, among
those defined as working class fewer than 45 percent are married.
Again, ask students to come up with some speculations on this question. Students are
given 3-minutes to write three responses. Typically, students will assume that lower education
rate, higher crime rate, poverty, victim of the discrimination, low employment rate, low financial
security, etc. are responsible for lower marriage among working class.
What We Conclude
Using the list of students responses, Instructors should suggests that their answers to the
question about marriage rate all refer to factors which are external to individuals, or factors
people hardly control. This list of assumptions instructor would tell his/her students is a
wonderful example of sociological thinking about family/marriage. Instructors can then explain

that a sociological analysis for any phenomena emphasizes external (in a different word,
institutional/structural) factors.
More
Marriage as a topic for discussion is always interesting. Additionally, it is even more
interesting to the students who are only 18-20 years of age. We can safely assume that there are
students who have surprising opinions on marriage. However, this is not the main reason behind
selecting this topic for this discussion. This discussion covers the theme presented in The
Promise that enables us to use our sociological imagination to bridge the connection between
what appears personal but is, in fact, significantly affected by social factors. (In our example
marriage may appear to us as a personal choice, but what do the class differences help us to
imagine? How does the sociological imagination show us about the structural factors and how
are these affected by class?). Instructors can refer back to this example a number of other times,
particularly for the topics that cover sociological perspectives, which are expected to be
discussed in other subsequent classes.

Sources Inspired
Bohmer, Susanne, and Joyce L. Briggs.1991."Teaching privileged students about gender, race,
and class oppression." Teaching sociology (1991): 154-163.
Mills, C. Wright. 1959. The Promise. Pp. 3-24 in The Sociological Imagination. Oxford
University Press.
Kain, Edward L., and Sandi Kawecka Nenga, eds. 2006. Innovative Techniques for Teaching
Sociological Concepts. American Sociological Association.
Gilbert, M. Kesler. 1997."Transforming the Classroom: Teaching Subtle Sexism Through
Experiential Role Playing." Pp. 245-263 in Subtle Sexism: Current Practices and
Prospects for Change, edited by Nijole V. Benokraitis. CA: Sage.
Weast, Don. 1996. "Alternative Teaching Strategies: The Case for Critical Thinking." Teaching
Sociology: 189-194.