Assignment 2: Unless I See, I Will Not Believe: The Relationship between Faith and Doubt

The words faith and doubt are easy to define, but they are much more difficult to live with. Faith is the belief in what is unseen or unsubstantiated in the physical sense as if it were in fact reality. Doubt is a particularly difficult concept for organized religions to handle—the doubts of a handful of believers, or even a single believer, can lead to a major change in a religion. Thus, as humans are we destined to doubt by human nature?

In an essay of 700 to 800 words, discuss the relationship between doubt and faith.

In your essay, address the following questions: What do the terms faith and doubt mean to religious philosophers? How do you define faith and doubt in the context of your life? What is the difference between saying, “I believe that,” and “I believe in”? Is faith, in the religious sense, a matter of opinion or of trust? Are faith and doubt incompatible? Are they opposite or complementary? Discuss the religious tradition (of the five options) where faith is most prevalent. Where doubt is the most prevalent. Do these religions offer insight into your own faith/doubt equation?

Use the following file naming convention: LastnameFirstInitial_M2_A2.doc. For example, if your name is John Smith, your document will be named SmithJ_M2_A2. doc.

By the due date asigned deliver your assignment to the Submissions Area.

Assignment 2 Grading CriteriaMaximum PointsExamined the religious philosophic and personal definition of faith and doubt.16Performed significant critical analysis of faith as it relates to trust and belief systems.16Assessed the prevalence of faith and doubt in at least one religious tradition.16Explored the compatibility of faith and doubt.20Wrote in a clear, concise, and organized manner; demonstrated ethical scholarship in accurate representation and attribution of sources; displayed accurate spelling, grammar, and punctuation.20Justified ideas and responses by using appropriate examples and references from texts, Web sites, and other references, including correct APA format.12Total:100 

SOCIOLOGY, ANTHROPOLOGY, AND SOCIAL WORK DEPT.

Sociology 100: People and Society

Instructor: Spring 2019

Midterm take home Exam, due to midnight Thursday April 15th, submit to BB

Part one: Give short answer/definition of 100-150 words for only four out of the following;

1- What is sociology? How it deals with the ‘common sense’ and ‘normal’ acts in society?

2-How a class-based society differ from a cast society? Can a class-based society act as a cast system!

3-Durkheim believed that society has a live of its own, explain!

4-How in Weber’s perspective the notion of ‘calling’ affect the development of the capitalist mode of production?

5-What is the different between ideology and any other individual set of thoughts or believes? What makes a set of believe an ideology, and what not? Give an example of an ideology.

Part two: Write four short essays of 500-700 words each in response for four of the following:

1-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

2-How a materialist perspective differs from the idealist perspective in the sociological account of change in society? Give two examples of a materialist and idealist thinkers.

3-What is ‘mode of production’, what signifies a capitalist mode of production, what it is about, how it function! What might be wrong about the capitalist mode of production?

4-In his study of “Suicide” Durkheim investigates how, social facts – understood as ways of acting, thinking, and feeling – are external to individuals and have their own reality outside the lives and perceptions of individual people. Explain! And show in your answer how suicide is not only about depression.

5-According to Weber “‘Man is dominated by the making of money, by acquisition as the ultimate purpose of his life. Economic acquisition is no longer subordinated to man as the means for the satisfaction of his material needs’”. How, according to Weber, a specific protestant set of ethics met the needs and rationalities of the spirt of capitalism?

6-According to Althusser, what are the kinds of ideological state apparatuses in society? What differ them from one another? What is the most important ISA for Althusser, and why?

Chapter 11 Non-Reactive Research Methods Overview

Week 13: April 6 – April 12

• Read Chapter 11 Non-Reactive Research Methods

• View lecture on Chapter 11

• Complete 2 assignments:

1. Methods Exercise 5 (20 points)
   • COMPLETE Methods Exercise 5-Unobtrusive Field Research

Methods Exercise 4: Non-Reactive Method (20 points)

Coronavirus Observations in the Media and in our Local Social Spheres

1. From either news feeds (internet/television) or social media sites, read stories associated with the coronavirus for 30 minutes. Take notes. These notes are a part of your content analysis, a qualitative research method.

If you are around family members, roommates, friends, co-workers, or neighbors listen to any comments they might have related to coronavirus issues (No time limit given; this is up to you). Once again, take notes on their comments. These notes are a part of your field research, another qualitative research method. Do not worry about this portion if it is difficult for you to collect this type of data.

2. Briefly describe some of the headlines, stories, comments that stand out to you, highlighting the key points of the story or article.

Then answer these posed research questions: Are there any similar themes in the articles/stories you read or viewed? What are they? Are the news headlines related to your search fear-inducing? What parts of the articles do you think incite worry, panic, or fear? What were some of the positive aspects, if any? What sort of feelings do you detect when listening to those around you?

Second you will need to collect numerical data. This does not have to be extensive. For example, if you are reading headlines, count how many you find that negative or positive. If you are observing those around you, first count the number of individuals, then count the number of negative vs. positive sentiments you hear.

1. Content Analysis and Field Notes:

Your notes should include the name of the headlines and social media sites that you observed and/or the date and time of your observations; provide a description of what you read/viewed/heard; and finally, your interpretations of what you saw or heard. Conclude with a brief interpretation about the impact of coronavirus on our personal spheres given the media and among those around us.

The purpose of the exercise is to get you started in observing and note taking, and to give you the experience of being a (non-participant) complete observer.

2. Numerical Data Collection:

Provide your counts in table format. As an example, see below:

Frequencies of Positive and Negative Coronavirus Related Headlines

Positive	Negative
27	12

Once you have written up your field notes and have made your frequency table, save your work and upload the document into Canvas.

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2. Research Proposal Assignment 12 (10 points)

• READ RP Reading 12-Operationalization of Variables
• COMPLETE RP Assignment 12-Operationalization

As in the last couple of weeks, click on this link for access to the instructions: Research Proposal Assignment 12-Operationalization.docx

Rather than working in Canvas, it may be easier to open this document in Word, fill in the table, and then save the work to your computer. When you are done, submit your work in Canvas.

   Ashford 2: – Week 1 – Discussion 2 Organizational Performance

  

How do enterprise applications, collaboration and communication systems,   and intranets improve organizational performance? Give examples to illustrate   your answer. Respond to at least two of your classmates’ postings.