What extent has your understanding of research deepened? Does the research process seem more valuable now after having built your own proposal?

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Research Proposal

In Part 1 of your research proposal, you established the need for further study in your literature review and mapped out your problem statement, research question, and methodological approach. Now you expand on that foundation by including your plans for sampling, data collection, and ethical and cultural considerations.

You also do a bit of reflection in Part 2—first by anticipating the results of your study and what you’d expect to find, and second by reflecting on the research process and what you have learned. For instance, to what extent has your understanding of research deepened? Does the research process seem more valuable now after having built your own proposal? Consider these questions as you complete your full research proposal, adding information to the Part 2 sections.

Define or summarize the social problem. Identify credible social science data that helps to understand what the problem is about or the larger implications of the problem, and identify a sociological theory that helps explain that problem.

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Poverty case study

Essays:
The short essays will address frameworks for analyzing social problems or social problems we covered in class. You will be expected to:
a. Define or summarize the social problem,
b. Identify credible social science data that helps to understand what the problem is about or the larger implications of the problem, and
c. Identify a sociological theory that helps explain that problem.

Essays should be about 4 pages in length and must include references and citations.

Paraphrase or summarize the concepts in your own words as much as possible (use as few quotations as possible). Use citations for the sources for your information, plus References or Works Cited. Use APA or MLA style guide, 12-point font

What are some of the strategies you have used to help you learn and be successful in this course so far? What could you do for the rest of the session to help you learn more effectively?

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Reflective Journal #2

For this assignment, recall those goals you discussed in your first reflective journal and reflect on the following prompts:

Goals:
What are some of the strategies you have used to help you learn and be successful in this course so far?
What could you do for the rest of the session to help you learn more effectively?

Course Materials & Activities:
What activities and materials provided that you have found most useful in helping you learn and be successful in this course?
What activities and materials provided that you have found least useful in helping you learn and be successful in this course?

Concerns & Stressors:
Do you have concerns about class? What are they? If you would like to meet with Dr. C-L to discuss these concerns?, reach out via your ASU email, and she will set up a Zoom meeting
On a scale of 1-5 with 1 being equal to no stress and 5 being equal to overwhelmed with stress, where do you rate your stress-level today?

What is the structure of this particular society as a whole? What are its essential components, and how are they related to one another? How does it differ from other varieties of social order? Within it, what is the meaning of any particular feature for its continuance and for its change?

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C. Wright Mills’ analysis of power elite

Lecture Notes: C. Wright Mills/Power Elite

In this course we will examine the assigned readings keeping a critical eye on conflicts of interests and the dominant power relations in our national and global society. In connection to the field of political sociology we will examine the ideas and practices surrounding power, state, political parties, public policies, cultural-ideology, corporate capitalism, neoliberalism, totalitarianism, authoritarianism,  democracy, and social change. We must analyze these concepts in connection to their historical context and the ongoing ideological-political conflicts of our time. Historical context is the framework by which we learn how the power relations in the past have developed and/or transformed into the present time. By having this historical knowledge we can critically evaluate the political divisions, ideologies, and interests in maintaining and/or challenging the existing power structures, elite groups, dominant world views, and develop alternatives and explore possibilities imagining and creating an inclusive and diverse egalitarian society.

 

Wright Mills, in Sociological Imagination explains the processes of critical understanding of social relations and structures as follows:

The sociological imagination enables its possessor to understand the larger historical scene in terms of its meaning for the inner life and the external career of a variety of individuals. It enables him to take into account how individuals, in the welter of their daily experience, often become falsely conscious of their social positions. Within that welter, the framework of modern society is sought, and within that framework the psychologies of a variety of men and women are formulated. By such means the personal uneasiness of individuals is focused upon explicit troubles and the indifference of public is transformed into involvement with public issues… The sociological imagination enables us to grasp history and biography and the relations between the two within society. That is its task and its promise…

No social study that does not come back to the problems of biography, of history and of their intersections within a society has completed its intellectual journey. Whatever the specific problems of the classic social analysts, however limited or however broad the features of social reality they have examined, those who have been imaginatively aware of the promise of their work have consistently asked three sorts of questions:

(1) What is the structure of this particular society as a whole? What are its essential components, and how are they related to one another? How does it differ from other varieties of social order? Within it, what is the meaning of any particular feature for its continuance and for its change?

(2) Where does this society stand in human history? What are the mechanics by which it is changing? What is its place within and its meaning for the development of humanity as a whole? How does any particular feature we are examining affect, and how is it affected by, the historical period in which it moves? And this period – what are its essential features? How does it differ from other periods? What are its characteristic ways of history-making?

(3) What varieties of men and women now prevail in this society and in this period? And what varieties are coming to prevail? In what ways are they selected and formed, liberated and repressed, made sensitive and blunted? What kinds of `human nature’ are revealed in the conduct and character we observe in this society in this period? And what is the meaning for ‘human nature’ of each and every feature of the society we are examining?

Whether the point of interest is a great power state or a minor literary mood, a family, a prison, a creed – these are the kinds of questions the best social analysts have asked. They are the intellectual pivots of classic studies of individuals in society – and they are the questions inevitably raised by any mind possessing the sociological imagination. For that imagination is the capacity to shift from one perspective to another – from the political to the psychological; from examination of a single family to comparative assessment of the national budgets of the world; from the theological school to the military establishment; from considerations of an oil industry to studies of contemporary poetry. It is the capacity to range from the most impersonal and remote transformations to the most intimate features of the human self – and to see the relations between the two. Back of its use there is always the urge to know the social and historical meaning of the individual in the society and in the period in which she has her quality and her being.

Write a brief summary and explanation of the project, initiative, or efforts (what does the project do, the goals of the project/effort, the partners involved, the location/population of target, the length of the project/effort).

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Revenue Mobilization Thematic Fund

In the case of IMF, you must click on “capacity development” and then on “what we do”. Click on “Learn more”. Explore the different types of “capacity development efforts”.

After choosing a project, initiative, and capacity development efforts, you must produce an essay containing the following:

A brief summary and explanation of the project, initiative, or efforts (what does the project do, the goals of the project/effort, the partners involved, the location/population of target, the length of the project/effort).
How does this project connect with the current mandate of the organization (either IMF or WB).

Note that to address this second point, you must navigate the websites of WB and IMF to access their mandates.

For IMF, consult: https://www.imf.org/en/About

How does media distort images of real people? Does media influence our sense of reality? In what ways?

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TV Media and Reality: An Observation

Each student will observe 2 hours of TV in during the week and 2 hours of people during the week. Almost any show is appropriate, but emphasis is placed on human behavior. Do not watch sporting events, news, or documentaries.

Take detailed notes as you observe the characters.
• How are they dressed?
• What are their bodies like?
• Their faces?
• What do they do for a living?
• Are they rich, poor, or middle class?
• What race or ethnicity are they?
• How do they refer to themselves?
• What is their age?
• Make at least 2 additional observations (identify what these are)

Do this for two hours. Next, take two hours for real-life observation. This will be a simple exploratory nonparticipant observational study in which you will spend 2 hours in a social public environment and document the norms of behavior that you observe. Pick out several people to watch and make the same observations
as you did for the media characters. You can choose any public space where there are sufficient interactions happening to provide you with data. Examples include dining halls, sports bars, salons, food court at a shopping center, the grocery store, coffee shops/houses, etc. Examples of norms include personal space norms; norms about waiting in line/waiting one’s turn; norms about speaking with strangers and appropriate topics of conversation and conversation length; etc. (Be creative!) You can choose a site you expect to include a subcultural group, or you may simply observe the public in general. Just be sure you are not putting yourself or others in any danger or risk of distress by choosing an inappropriate space (e.g., don’t go to a child’s playground and hang out) or by engaging in agitating or risky behaviors. Your task is simply to be there and observe. Summarize the location you choose (e.g., What/where was your site? What time of day was it? How crowded was it? How homogenous/heterogeneous was the crowd?); your observations/the norms you
observed; the patterns you notice for potential future work; and your conclusions.

When you have completed your observations, look over your notes and draw comparisons between the media characters and the real people that you observed. How does media distort images of real people? Does media influence our sense of reality? In what ways?

Explain the creative advocacy solutions the person’s life gave rise to create more inclusive and socially just communities nationally and/or inter-nationally. Explain the turning point(s) that lead to the press for change or activism.

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Personality Profile for a disabled person

Select a disabled person for whom you will prepare a personality profile. Keep your focus on what you have learnt about the individual’s life, and provide examples to illustrate key turning points and your analysis of the importance of their contribution(s). You can creatively present the profile as journal entry, blog, vlog, audio or video recorded role play dramatization, animation or other creative presentation. The vlog, audio or video recorded role play dramatization, animation or other any other creative presentation will require that you prepare a written transcript of the information being conveyed.

The following will assist you as frame the Profile:

● Select a disabled person to profile from:

o A) disabled persons referenced in the course such as David Lepofsky, Jordan

River Anderson, Haben Girma, Judith Heumann, Yetnebersh Nigussie, Leroy F

Moore, Tom Shakespeare, Alice Wong, Stella Young, Sarah Jama, Rosemarie

Garland-Thomson, Floyd Morris, Junius Wilson

o B) disabled persons not referenced in the course such as Javed Abidi, Thomas Gallaudet, and Aoi Shiba no kai – you must ensure the availability of information to prepare the profile adequately and cogently cite the references:

● Get specific self-identification information on the person being profiled – name, age, type of impairment, race, gender, ethnicity, indigenous identity, family characteristics, country(ies) of origin and/or residence and any other relevant information.

● Assess how the disability is located for the individual (in an individual’s body? In structural barriers? In an individual’s mind, IQ or behaviour? In lack of services? Some combination of these or some other location?).

● Clarify the barriers they faced and how their political, social and economic context may have exacerbated these barriers – these could include inter alia, attitudes, educational, professional/workforce related, leadership at the community, national or international levels, communication, physical environment or other accessibility matters,

● Explain the creative advocacy solutions the person’s life gave rise (individually or along with others) to create more inclusive and socially just communities nationally and/or inter-nationally. Explain the turning point(s) that lead to the press for change or activism.

● Discuss how this person’s life contributed to your understanding of disability, that is, any new insights gained or existing views solidified. Remember, this is not a piece about inspiration. It requires that you skillfully acknowledge and assess the contribution this person’s life has made to the field of disability studies

 

Critically consider the extent to which a current criminal justice issue can be explained by sociological theories of crime and deviance.

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Crime and Deviance

Critically consider the extent to which a current criminal justice issue can be explained by sociological theories of Crime and deviance

Consolidate and critically review key theoretical and empirical knowledge on the key themes of gender, race/ethnicity, religion, class, disability and sexuality on a global scale. Critically apply intersectional thinking to the key themes of the module.

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Injustice and Freedom

Formatting of assignment

Unless otherwise specified, assignments should be submitted as PDF or Word (.doc or .docx) files. You should use .5 line spacing, a sensible font in size 11 or 12, numbered pages, and must show a word count. Failure to do so may result in loss of some or all marks.

Referencing

Careful referencing of sources is vital when making use of the work of others. You are expected to employ the referencing conventions recommended in the Course. These conventions apply to information taken from Internet sources, as well as books, journals and lectures. These are some of the points you should check before submitting your work:

-All direct quotations, from both primary and secondary sources, should be suitably acknowledged (placed in quotation marks or indented).

-You should provide full details of the source of the quotation, according to the referencing convention used in the Course.

-You should acknowledge the source of ideas not your own, even if you are not quoting directly from the source

-You need to avoid close paraphrase from sources. (Check that you are not presenting other people’s words or phrasing as if they are your own.)

4. Assessment criteria

Your assignment will be adjudged on your ability to:

1. Consolidate and critically review key theoretical and empirical knowledge on the key themes of gender, race/ethnicity, religion, class, disability and sexuality on a global scale;

2. Critically apply intersectional thinking to the key themes of the module;

3. Engage with different modes of resistance in reflective and creative ways.

As well as the Learning Outcome, your work is marked against the descriptors for the assessment criteria. The following criteria provides you with a good indicator of what we are looking for in your work at this level.

What have you learnt from this case study/news/personal experience about the connection between leadership and social development? What is your view? How does this example inspired you to specialise in Leadership and Development following your undergraduate degree in Accounting and Finance?

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Leadership Theories in the context of society

King’s College London – MSc Leadership and Development

Course Link (Must Read): https://www.kcl.ac.uk/study/postgraduate-taught/courses/leadership-and-development-msc

 

Paragraph 1 & 2: This paragraph is intended to demonstrate critical thinking skills and awareness of the key issues related to leadership studies specifically in the realm of how it affects countries’ development NOT in business organisation

  • Discuss the importance of leadership by drawing on a case study/news/personal experience
  • What have you learnt from this case study/news/personal experience about the connection between leadership and social development?
  • What is your view? How does this example inspired you to specialise in Leadership and Development following your undergraduate degree in Accounting and Finance?

 

Paragraph 3:

  • Discuss about why you are the perfect candidate. Pitch yourself, the skills you have demonstrated throughout your academic years that are relevant to this course. In the course link, they have mentioned the skills required for the programme and you should explain that you possess these skills through examples
  • Undergraduate Background: BA Business Enterprise, Creation and Management at Northumbria University
  • You need to link your academic background to this master’s degree you are applying to and explain what relevant knowledge you have learnt.
  • Talk about the project you have done which helped you to learn more about what leadership meant in a business context and how that can be translated into the leadership theories in a socio-political context.

 

Paragraph 4:

  • Using an internship experience, demonstrate that this job experience has introduced me to public policy consulting work, and how that inspired me to specialise in the area of leadership study. The company name can be created according what you like but the internship should be said to have happened in China.
  • In this job experience, you need to be quite detailed in explaining your contribution in the work and how that links to your motivation to pursue MSc leadership and development

 

Paragraph 5:

  • Discuss about why you want to study at King’s College London and specifically why at African Leadership Centre at KCL.
  • Visit https://www.kcl.ac.uk/alc/research and choose one research paper and briefly discuss the strength of the paper and why that demonstrate the research capabilities of KCL.
  • Also please research other points that are good about KCL