SOC 350: Theories Guiding Sociology Date ______________
Instructor: Dr. Jackie Burnside Essay #1: A Documented Essay
Librarians: Ms. Amanda Peach, Mr. Angel Rivera
Finding One’s Calling in a (Post) Pandemic Work World
“Your vocation in life is
where your greatest joy
meets the world's greatest need.”
Frederick Buechner, EDUCATOR, WRITER, THEOLOGIAN.
https://www.frederickbuechner.com/listening-to-your-life (accessed 2/22/2021)
Learning Objectives for this assignment:
- To explore one’s potential Calling (ref. Max Weber’s concept)
- To practice critical reading skills of secondary sources
- To continue to update knowledge of resources and refine library research strategies
- To apply sociological concepts and five major theoretical perspectives in interpreting data
In Max Weber’s research, he noticed the importance of the calling, one’s Life Task, not only in motivating an individual to achieve worldly success in some career but also to uphold a moral obligation in performing one’s work (labor) to the best of one’s abilities (Appelrouth & Edles, 136-37). Weber was very interested in being able to describe, explain and understand the results (patterns) resulting from workers’ quests to fulfill their ‘callings’ in a secular fashion that influenced many dramatic transformations under capitalism.
For this documented essay, think deeply about what work could become your calling, and identify two specific occupations in the 21st Century in which your calling may be manifest. Collect, describe and interpret data on changes over time in the workers’ demographic features (e.g. age, sex, race & ethnicity) of your two specific occupations, as well as the broad occupational group(s) within which your two occupations would be categorized. Present your data in a table format which will allow you to compare and contrast the changes in the different occupations and the occupational category (ies).
Step 1: Choose the occupational group (1) and then choose two (2) occupations. In your narrative, describe your rationale, and discuss anything that influenced your choices. While it may be simpler to choose two occupations that are classified in the same broad group, follow your calling when possible. Examples of occupational groups (broad, major, minor) are:
Office & Administrative Support Education, Training & Library
Service & related occupations Business & Financial Operations
Community & Social Service Healthcare Practitioners & Technical
Legal occupations Arts, Design, Entertainment, Sports, & Media
Protective Service occupations Construction & Extraction
Food Preparation & Serving related Farming, Fishing & Forestry
Step 2: Define your occupations by using the Occupational Outlook Handbook, and Data USA. Occupational groups are used to classify workers so that data can be collected, calculated and disseminated about hundreds of occupations based on their descriptions and definitions.
Step 3: Gather data on occupations by Groups, including gender and race composition over
time, e.g. 2014 to 2018.
- You may have three sets of data about gender and earnings (% male and % female) for
Occupation One, for Occupation Two and for Broad Occupational Group.
(b) Likewise, you may have three sets of data about race and earnings for Occupation
One, for Occupation Two and for Broad Occupational Group.
Step 4: Create tables to communicate your data. Aim for a readable, understandable form.
Note: Provide footnotes for any question you think your audience may have about your
data, e.g. if you combine racial categories into “non-white”, or if you show selected
years for a category.
Step 5: Write your analysis as a documented essay and refer to the key aspects noted in my
grading rubric.
Length: word count 750-950, typed, 1.5 line spacing, with appropriate citations both in-text
and Works cited (minimum six sources including our main text).
Schedule:
Aug 31st Read Assignment and start Thinking
Tuesday Move from topic to exploring Thesis.
Sept 2nd Workshop for Library Resources exploration- class meets in room 103 of
Thursday Hutchins Library. Find/evaluate/read sources to compile prelim bibliography, working thesis with outline.
Sept 9-14th Continue to read critically and think. Develop structure. Draft paper with in-text
citations, APA style.
Peer Review on writing Drafts; the fuller your drafts, the more helpful your Peers feedback can be. Work with peers from class, plus Sociology Labor Assistants and/or Writing Center Consultants.
Sept 16th Final Essay (on paper) due in class, And Oral Presentation, six to eight minutes with power point (slides = < 8), and with Q&A audience response.
______________________________________________________________________________
Grading Rubric:
SOC 350: Theories Guiding Sociology Date: ___________
Dr. Jackie Burnside Name ________________________________
Feedback: Finding One’s Calling . . .
Feedback Scale: Very Good (A, A-); Good (B+, B, B-); Fair, mostly satisfactory (C+, C, C-);
Unsatisfactory (D+, D, D-); Poor/not done (F)
___________ Provides an interesting opening and an attention-catching title.
___________ Describes one’s calling and rationale, applies Weber’s concepts (underlined), other
sociologists relevant.
__________ Identifies two occupations and their broader occupation group, including choice
rationale.
__________ Creation of tables for occupations’ data: complete to show patterns and changes over
time.
_________ Discusses key social dynamics and/or historical factors that may influence changes, or
not much change, for the occupations.
__________ Applies sociological concepts (20 underlined), and/or theoretical perspectives to enrich
comparisons and contrasts.
__________ Writing Effectiveness: paragraph construction, sentence grammar, clarity, style and
punctuation.
__________ Writing Mechanics: word count= 750-950, typed, 1.5 line spacing, with appropriate
APA style citations both in-text and Works cited (minimum six sources including
our text).
___________ Grade and Comment: __________________________________________________
