Assignment: Breaking a Folkway the Middle East the Quran & Gods Commandment Essay

Breaking a Folkway (informal social norm)

This assignment will make you more aware of the salience of the social norms which control our daily life. It is designed to encourage you to become more critically aware of your social environment.

In the sea of norms in which we live, many norms governing behavior are followed so automatically that we have no conscious knowledge of them. The constraining nature of social norms is not perceived as long as one obeys. Norms are not all equally strict, nor do they all carry the same severity of sanctions. It is only when one attempts to do otherwise — to be deviant — that we become very aware of the existence of social forces. Some of the norms we take for granted are specific; for example, couples are expected to identify themselves as committed to one another, otherwise an unsuspecting single person might define the people as unattached and believe one of them is being flirtatious rather than just friendly. Other norms are vaguely defined; for example, friends are expected to be friendly, but there are no clear rules about what and when they should be doing to demonstrate their friendliness.

If you believe that conducting this experiment may cause injury to yourself in some way, please contact me right away (within one week of the assignment being posted) to discuss an alternative project/ paper.

Description of Assignment

You must spend some time exploring your own culture. Your goal is to break an informal social norm in front of others, observe reactions (of others — as well as your own), and use this data to discuss the impact of culture and social structure on our lives. This means that you must violate a folkway. Behaving out of the norm for you, as an individual specifically, does not constitute breaking a folkway (e.g. being talkative is not a folkway)!! Folkways are general expectations of behavior that are widely accepted, not simply matters of personal expression or style. Do NOT break any laws!! You can learn a lot from small acts of non-normative behavior. Feel free to break a folkway in a kind way (e.g. give away money to strangers). You may learn more from doing something that seems innocuous than from doing something that is obviously going to create a great deal of extra work for someone else (e.g. if a store-keeper reacts negatively to you making a mess that s/he will have to clean up – that is not an interesting finding!). Please keep in mind that this is not an invitation to be deceitful, harass, “punk”, or otherwise emotionally, psychically, or physically injure other/s.

You should conduct your experiment (the same experiment – not different or modified ones) at least two times with different audiences; note — this may vary depending on the norm you violate. You will want to violate the same folkway in 3 different settings to test the impact of social structure on people’s behaviors and feelings. While conducting the breach, try to keep your mind free of expectations and take the opportunity to explore the social world. As you break the norm notice how others respond to this break in normal daily behavior. Also pay close attention to how this experience makes you feel!! I strongly recommend keeping field notes of each time you breach your norm of choice.

Rules for norm violating:

• Be safe. This rule overrides all other rules.
• You must violate the norm alone (no one else can be violating it with you). However, you can have a friend watch you and make observations.
• The behavior you choose may be non-normative across macro American culture or another culture.
• You may not harm anyone, including yourself. This includes getting yourself in trouble.
• You may NOT disrupt your other classes.
• You may NOT break any laws.

Goal

Write an essay (2 full page minimum, double spaced, 1” margins, 12 pt. font, creative title!!) describing and analyzing your experience. The majority of your paper (~ 75%) should be devoted to your analysis. An excellent paper will use the data collected from the exercise to highlight the apparent and invisible cultural forces that shape our lives; utilize concepts from course readings to describe and explain your insights; meet the format expectations; and be well-organized and well-written (have clear paragraphs, an introduction and conclusion, avoid grammar and spelling errors). Please make sure to proof-read your work!!

Writing directions:

Your analysis is required to include a detailed discussion and application of the following concepts and theories as they relate to your norm breach:

Part I: Breaking a norm

Pick a (one — ONLY ONE and stick with it) social norm to break. Break the norm around at least two different groups of people. Break the SAME NORM each time. The groups should differ in some identifiable way; they may differ in age, how well you know them, status, gender, et. al. Only break one norm each time. While violating the norm, act totally normally in every other way. Plan on taking field notes after each norm breaching experience. Include in this section identification of the norm you intentionally violated? Make sure to describe the norm (expected behavior) clearly and precisely.

Part II: Reactions

1) Describe your own and others’ reactions before, during, and after each violation.

2) What sanctions (negative or positive) did you encounter? How did peoples’ reactions to the breach differ? Were there differences by gender or class or age? How about social setting or time of day? What does this suggest about social behavior?

3) Identify and discuss examples of how your experience relates specifically to (1) Cooley’s Looking Glass Self, (2) Mead’s Generalized Other, and (3) Goffman’s Dramaturgical, theories PICK 2 OF THE 3 MENTIONED. Do not simply explain these theories — make sure to use example/s from your experiment that demonstrate your understanding of each theory.

Part III: Conclusion

What – sociologically — did you learn from this activity?? What did this experience teach you about social structure and conformity?? Again, make sure to utilize specific sociological concepts in your conclusion.

Part IV: Works Cited

Include a works cited page for any sources used.

CAUTION: Because this field exercise involves the conscious manipulation of other people’s feelings and behavior, you must, I repeat MUST, consider others’ feelings, think about the ethics of your behavior, and debrief those people effected by your behavior. In almost all cases, you will need to let them know that you were conducting in a “sociological experiment,” that you are responsible for their feelings and behavior, and that they were being deceived. Because you are responsible, make sure your norm violation is well within the realm of ethics — don’t tread too hard.

EXAMPLES (note – you are not limited to this list!! For more ideas, google “norm breaching experiment ideas”) Some of these may not be possible during the CoVid19 pandemic and social distancing mandates. Keep safety in mind.

• Elevator behavior – find an elevator that goes up more than three floors. Violate elevator normative behavior by facing the group in the elevator (as opposed to facing the door). Look at the group in the eyes!! If there is only one person in the elevator, try standing right next to them – instead of spaced away (the expected [normative] behavior)
• When you end a call on your phone, don’t say “goodbye” at the end of a conversation.
• Sit near someone at the library or cafeteria – and stare at them. Especially effective when person is sitting at a table alone (but don’t provoke a fight!)
• Join a conversation with a group of students you don’t know
• Violate personal space norms – with someone you know, stand much farther back than usual; someone you do not know, stand very close (not possible during social distancing)
• When riding in someone’s car, sit in the backseat instead of the front passenger seat where you would normally sit
• Walk backwards across lighted and clearly marked crosswalks
• Talk at the same time as someone you are having a conversation with – instead of the normative taking turns
• Make too much eye contact (stare) or too little, talk to others while looking at their shoes, stare at strangers walking past on the sidewalk, blink excessively.

Example article: 

Assignment: Breaking a Folkway the Middle East the Quran & Gods Commandment Essay

Important information for writing discussion questions and participation

Welcome to class

Hello class and welcome to the class and I will be your instructor for this course. This is a -week course and requires a lot of time commitment, organization, and a high level of dedication. Please use the class syllabus to guide you through all the assignments required for the course. I have also attached the classroom policies to this announcement to know your expectations for this course. Please review this document carefully and ask me any questions if you do. You could email me at any time or send me a message via the “message” icon in halo if you need to contact me. I check my email regularly, so you should get a response within 24 hours. If you have not heard from me within 24 hours and need to contact me urgently, please send a follow up text to

I strongly encourage that you do not wait until the very last minute to complete your assignments. Your assignments in weeks 4 and 5 require early planning as you would need to present a teaching plan and interview a community health provider. I advise you look at the requirements for these assignments at the beginning of the course and plan accordingly. I have posted the YouTube link that explains all the class assignments in detail. It is required that you watch this 32-minute video as the assignments from week 3 through 5 require that you follow the instructions to the letter to succeed. Failure to complete these assignments according to instructions might lead to a zero. After watching the video, please schedule a one-on-one with me to discuss your topic for your project by the second week of class. Use this link to schedule a 15-minute session. Please, call me at the time of your appointment on my number. Please note that I will NOT call you.

Please, be advised I do NOT accept any assignments by email. If you are having technical issues with uploading an assignment, contact the technical department and inform me of the issue. If you have any issues that would prevent you from getting your assignments to me by the deadline, please inform me to request a possible extension. Note that working fulltime or overtime is no excuse for late assignments. There is a 5%-point deduction for every day your assignment is late. This only applies to approved extensions. Late assignments will not be accepted.

If you think you would be needing accommodations due to any reasons, please contact the appropriate department to request accommodations.

Plagiarism is highly prohibited. Please ensure you are citing your sources correctly using APA 7th edition. All assignments including discussion posts should be formatted in APA with the appropriate spacing, font, margin, and indents. Any papers not well formatted would be returned back to you, hence, I advise you review APA formatting style. I have attached a sample paper in APA format and will also post sample discussion responses in subsequent announcements.

Your initial discussion post should be a minimum of 200 words and response posts should be a minimum of 150 words. Be advised that I grade based on quality and not necessarily the number of words you post. A minimum of TWO references should be used for your initial post. For your response post, you do not need references as personal experiences would count as response posts. If you however cite anything from the literature for your response post, it is required that you cite your reference. You should include a minimum of THREE references for papers in this course. Please note that references should be no more than 5 years old except recommended as a resource for the class. Furthermore, for each discussion board question, you need ONE initial substantive response and TWO substantive responses to either your classmates or your instructor for a total of THREE responses. There are TWO discussion questions each week, hence, you need a total minimum of SIX discussion posts for each week. I usually post a discussion question each week. You could also respond to these as it would count towards your required SIX discussion posts for the week.

I understand this is a lot of information to cover in 5 weeks, however, the Bible says in Philippians 4:13 that we can do all things through Christ that strengthens us. Even in times like this, we are encouraged by God’s word that we have that ability in us to succeed with His strength. I pray that each and every one of you receives strength for this course and life generally as we navigate through this pandemic that is shaking our world today. Relax and enjoy the course!

Hi Class,

Please read through the following information on writing a Discussion question response and participation posts.

Contact me if you have any questions.

Important information on Writing a Discussion Question

• Your response needs to be a minimum of 150 words (not including your list of references)
• There needs to be at least TWO references with ONE being a peer reviewed professional journal article.
• Include in-text citations in your response
• Do not include quotes—instead summarize and paraphrase the information
• Follow APA-7th edition
• Points will be deducted if the above is not followed

Participation –replies to your classmates or instructor

• A minimum of 6 responses per week, on at least 3 days of the week.
• Each response needs at least ONE reference with citations—best if it is a peer reviewed journal article
• Each response needs to be at least 75 words in length (does not include your list of references)
• Responses need to be substantive by bringing information to the discussion or further enhance the discussion. Responses of “I agree” or “great post” does not count for the word count.
• Follow APA 7th edition
• Points will be deducted if the above is not followed

• Remember to use and follow APA-7th edition for all weekly assignments, discussion questions, and participation points.
• Here are some helpful links
• The is a great resource