ELEMENTOS MECÁNICOS
2.6 T IPOS DE M OTORES
Reading Writing Discussion Reflection
Brainstrorming Case studies ICT Research Revision
Group Investigation
Study Tips
1) Highlighting Key Words
None of the key words have been put into bold in this unit, as it will be more useful for you to be actively involved in highlighting the keywords on each page. If you don’t already have some, go and buy yourself some highlighter pens!
The point of highlighting each keyword is so that when you read over your notes, the main point on each page jumps out at you. Therefore, it is crucial that you only highlight one or two words at a time. If you highlight too much, then nothing will jump out at you and you’ll need to wear sunglasses to read your notes!
Occasionally, it is useful to highlight a sentence, if it gives a definition of a key term but even then, it is better to try and highlight only the relevant parts of the sentence. It might also be useful to highlight the key term in one colour, and the definition in another colour, so again you are making the separate things stand out differently.
Less is more when highlighting.
Scottish Further Education Unit 27 two things.
autonomy Independence and control over one’s own affairs.
capitalism A social and economic system which is driven by private ownership and profit.
cohabitation A situation where a couple live together as husband and wife but are not legally married.
contemporary Present day, currently.
corporate crime Law-breaking by executives in large organizations.
culture The way of life of a society which can include
language, customs, dress, symbols and artifacts (e.g.
ornaments, tools.)
demography The study of populations with particular reference to statistics relating to births, deaths, marriages,
migration, disease etc.
determinism A belief that individuals’ lives are shaped by their situations and environments and that they have very little free will.
discrimination Treating an individual or a group unfairly usually on account of prejudiced or stereotyped views.
empowerment Enabling people to take control of their own lives.
ethnic group A group of people who share a common culture.
ethnocentricity A view of the world in which other cultures are devalued in comparison to our own culture.
ethnography The study of the culture and way of life of a group of people by directly observing them.
extended family A family structure where the basic nuclear family tree has been added to vertically (grandparents, parents, children) or horizontally (siblings with respective spouses and children).
Scottish Further Education Unit 28 social arrangements.
judiciary A body of judges (courtroom).
life chances The opportunities someone has of accessing desirable experiences in life such as a good education, income, housing and health.
macro-sociology A sociological perspective that focuses on the large scale structural aspects of society.
marginalisation The process whereby individuals or groups are forced to live on the edges or outside mainstream society.
mass media Communication which can reach large numbers of people at the same time - can include TV, radio, newspapers, magazines and the internet.
meritocracy A system whereby social positions are achieved in society on the basis of merit such as educational qualifications or skill rather than class, ethnic group or gender.
micro-sociology A sociological perspective that focuses on the small scale interactive processes that make up society.
morbidity That which relates to the nature and extent of illness in a population.
mortality The number of deaths in a given period of time.
norms Social rules which define the expected behaviour in a range of social situations.
objectivity Approaching topics with an open mind.
oppression Abuse of power towards a less powerful group by those who have more power.
patriarchy Power and authority held by men; the basis of male dominance over women in society.
Scottish Further Education Unit 29 partner at a time.
prejudice A negative attitude, usually based on a stereotype of a social group, that often leads to discrimination.
primary socialisation The process through which we learn the values and behaviour of the culture to which we belong. Usually this takes place within our family.
roles The patterns of behaviour that are expected from individuals in a society.
sanctions A reward or punishment to encourage social conformity.
secondary socialisation The learning of skills and attitudes outwith the main agency of the family. Can include the influence
exerted by schools, work, the media, religion and peer group.
social exclusion The situation whereby people become marginalised or prevented from taking an active part in mainstream society.
social inclusion The process of developing measures to include and value people who have been traditionally excluded from society.
social justice The idea that a society should give individuals and groups fair treatment and a just share of society’s benefits.
socially constructed A belief that an aspect of social life is brought about by social processes rather than being a natural
occurrence.
white-collar crime Crime committed by people in the course of carrying out their middle-class jobs.
Scottish Further Education Unit 30 stereotyping A process whereby individuals are viewed in
over-simplified ways as part of a group and are assumed to share the same characteristics.
sub-culture A small scale culture which differs in terms of norms and values from the larger culture of which it is a part.
subjectivity Approaching subjects from a personal or individual point of view.
values General beliefs about what is considered to be right, wrong and/or important in society.
Based on definitions from a range of sources
Browne, K. (2005) An Introduction to Sociology Polity Press: Cambridge.
Lawson, T. and.Garrod, J. (2003) Complete A-Z of Sociology. Hodder and Stoughton: London.
Miller, J et al (2000) Care in Practice. Hodder and Stoughton: London.
http://www.nelson.com/nelson/sociology/glossary.html#a
Scottish Further Education Unit 31 Outcome 1: Introduction and Overview
In this outcome you will be finding out how sociology can help us to have a better understanding of the society in which we live.
One of the first things you will be asked to think about is the difference between having a subjective view about something and how this differs from an objective point of view. To help with this we will be looking at some topics or issues about which we may have some personal knowledge or understanding and then we will re-examine them from a sociological point of view. For anyone who has
completed the Sociology for Care Unit at Intermediate 2 level, then this idea should seem familiar. As part of this discussion we will also look at the relationship between individual experiences and the wider social contexts or structures in which they happen.
Sociology provides us with a range of different ways of looking at society. Some of these have become established theories or frameworks that can be helpful in explaining and understanding society. In this outcome we will be examining features of four major sociological theories that will help us to understand some key issues relating to care in contemporary society.
OUTCOME 1
Explain the contribution of key sociological theories to an understanding of care in contemporary society.
Performance Criteria
(a) Explain the role of sociological thinking in understanding contemporary society
(b) Describe key features of specific sociological theories
(c) Explain the relevance of sociology to care in contemporary society.
Scottish Further Education Unit 32 Overview of Topics
The role of sociological thinking:
• the distinction between common sense explanations and sociological knowledge
• the relationship between private troubles and public issues
• the importance of understanding society rather than merely describing it
Key features of sociological perspectives: Overview:
• distinction between macro-sociology and micro-sociology (structural and action theories)
• the similarity and differences between consensus and conflict theories
Key features and evaluation of specific sociological theories:
• functionalist theory
• conflict theory
• feminist theory
• symbolic interactionist theory
The relevance of sociology to care:
• raising awareness of the impact of wider social influences on those who receive care services
• recognition that individuals and groups can influence the development and provision of care services
Revision exercises and Case Studies
Scottish Further Education Unit 33 What is Sociology About?
In very simple terms sociology is about trying to explain how society works. It also involves developing the ability to see society not only through our own eyes but also through the eyes of other people and groups. Developing this social awareness enables us to gain insight into current social issues and their impact on our own lives as well as on those who may lead very different lives to
ourselves. Sociology can help us to do this.
In the Intermediate 2 course we learned that a simple definition of sociology was
‘the study of human society and human behaviour.’ This is because it involves studying people as social beings and examines how behaviour can be shaped by life experiences. The societies we live in also have a great influence on who we are as individuals in terms of our attitudes, our beliefs and the chances that we have in life. These issues are very important in sociology. Sociology is also interested in looking at how society is structured. This means that it examines how society is made up of different social institutions such as the family, the education system or religion and it looks at the influence these institutions have on how we live our lives. Social structures such as these are considered to be the foundations of society by many sociologists.
A slightly more complex definition of sociology is
“… the study of individuals in groups and social formations in a systematic way, which grew out of the search for understanding associated with the industrial and scientific revolutions of the 18th and 19th centuries. It is now an established discipline … and has offered generations of students
insights into the social world they inhabit.”
(Lawson & Garrod,1996: 258)
It is this idea of ‘offering insight into the social world we inhabit’ that makes sociology such an important subject to study as part of a care course. Using sociological concepts to examine social issues will help us to understand why certain individuals or groups in society may require care services at some stage in their lives. This is often because it is these people who are the most vulnerable in society. This may be on account of their age, disability, ethnic background, health or life chances.
The idea of social issues is wide ranging and could cover topics like marital breakdown, poverty, disability, unemployment, drug misuse, criminal behaviour, homelessness, obesity or binge drinking. Most people have opinions, or even experience of, issues like these. Sociologists are involved in studying such social issues.
So isn’t sociology pretty much just common sense then?
Scottish Further Education Unit 34 Sociological Thinking v Common Sense
Since sociology focuses on many subjects and social issues that most people know something about, it is understandable that sociology could be seen as being basically just ‘common sense’. This, however, is not true. In fact, what sociology tries to do is challenge many taken for granted assumptions that people often accept as common sense. It would also be true to say that sociology isn’t the only social science that is interested in studying human behaviour and social issues.
What makes sociology distinctive is not so much the topics it studies, but rather how it studies them.
As a lot of sociological thinking is based on challenging taken for granted
assumptions, a starting point is often the questioning of what we may believe to be true. Let’s look at three issues and examine some common sense or taken for granted assumptions about them.
Write down some commonly held beliefs about each of the topics below. In your statements you should try to focus on what many people generally think about these issues. For example what causes people to live in poverty, get married or to commit suicide
Poverty: ________________________________________________________
________________________________________________________
________________________________________________________
Marriage: ________________________________________________________
________________________________________________________
________________________________________________________
Suicide: ________________________________________________________
________________________________________________________
________________________________________________________
Once you have completed this exercise, discuss your answers with the people sitting near you.
Scottish Further Education Unit 35 It is likely that you will have generated a lot of ideas. Some of your suggestions might have included:
Poverty:
• Some people are too lazy to find work and choose to live on benefits and that means they are more likely to experience poverty
• Some people find themselves living in poverty because they can’t budget their money
• There’s no real poverty in Britain today. Poverty is what you see in African countries
Marriage;
• Most people get married because they fall in love … anyway, it’s every girl’s dream to have a big white wedding
• It’s natural for a man and a woman to fall in love and want to get married
• Marriage is ‘going out of fashion’ nowadays
Suicide:
• People who commit suicide are mentally ill
• People commit suicide because life has become unbearable for them
• People who commit suicide are basically selfish
Do you think any of these statements are true?
How do you think sociologists might study some of these ideas to find out whether they are in fact true?
Some of the information from the Intermediate 2 Sociology for Care unit could also be helpful in developing your understanding of the distinction between sociological and common sense explanations.
Scottish Further Education Unit 36 Sociological knowledge v Common sense assumptions
Common sense explanations of social issues are often based on opinion or personal experience and therefore are often very subjective, which means that they are based on an individual’s point of view. Sociological explanations are, by contrast, more objective, which means they are not influenced by personal feelings but are based on knowledge and evidence from research.
Common sense explanations are often considered to be:
Naturalistic “It’s only natural that when a man and woman fall in love that they will choose to get married and want to have children.”
Individualistic “If people are poor it’s their own fault as there are plenty of jobs for those that want them.”
Moralistic “People who take their own lives are selfish. They should think of the people they leave behind.”
Many common sense explanations are based on naturalistic, individualistic or moralistic assumptions. However, there is no escaping the fact that some of these assumptions do appear to represent what many people believe about the social world we live in. It is important to realise that some common sense explanations or assumptions may not be incorrect or untrue, in fact they probably will be true for some people. The problem arises when they are assumed to be true for all people.
Sociological explanations attempt to avoid naturalistic, individualistic and
moralistic assumptions. In contrast sociology attempts to explain social behaviour in terms of wider social forces, processes and structures, using evidence from objective research to support these explanations.
For example, sociological explanations relating to some of the points noted in relation to marriage, poverty and suicide would have a different, more objective emphasis based on particular research that had been carried out in relation to the subject.
Your next task is to try to find out about some research that has been carried out in relation to these subjects.
Scottish Further Education Unit 37 Exploring Research
As a way of beginning to understand some of the complexities of the topics listed earlier, you will now be given the task of using the internet to find out what kind of research has taken place in relation to poverty, marriage and suicide.
Some of the information you find will have been produced by sociologists. Other information you might find could have been produced by the government or even other researchers such as economists or psychologists and then used by
sociologists as a basis for their own research.
Check with your tutor about how this task should be carried out. You could complete this task as individuals and write up some of the things you find out.
Alternatively, this would be an ideal opportunity to carry out some group work.
The class could be divided into three groups, with each group focusing on a particular topic. The small groups could then feed back to the whole group. Or you may find it easier to divide into groups of three with each person in the group investigating a different topic or website.
Whether you do this task individually or as part of a group you should spend some time exploring the websites provided in the next section of the support notes. Look specifically for the types of research that have taken place in relation to the topic. You should also take some time to briefly explore any other links you think could be relevant to the idea of sociological research.
Remember though that this is just an introductory exercise to give you some insight into what kind of research actually takes place in relation to some of the topics we might be discussing as part of this course.
Check with your tutor how this information is to be shared with the class. For example you might be asked to do a presentation. Perhaps you could create a poster illustrating some of the key points. Or maybe you’ll simply be asked to read out some of your findings.
Whatever way you choose to complete this activity …Good Luck!
Scottish Further Education Unit 38 Exploring Research: Poverty
The Joseph Rowntree Foundation is a charitable organisation that carries out a great deal of social research in the UK. One of their main aims is to try to more fully understand the causes of poverty and other related social difficulties and then find ways of overcoming them.
Visit the site below, looking specifically for information on research and policy.
If you have difficulty accessing the site, then type ‘Joseph Rowntree Foundation Research and Policy’ into a search engine such as ‘Google’.
www.jrf.org.uk
When you have completed your investigation, you might find it helpful to write some notes in response to the following questions in order to help you sort out your findings:
What kind of research has this organisation undertaken?
What sort of issues have they looked at?
Which pieces of research seemed most interesting?
Did you find out anything that surprised you?
What useful links to other sites did you find?
Scottish Further Education Unit 39 Exploring Research: Suicide
The University of Oxford has a Centre for Suicide Research where the work conducted is aimed at increasing knowledge directly relevant to prevention of suicide and deliberate self-harm. Much of the research focuses on the
investigation of the causes of suicidal behaviour as well as its treatment and prevention.
Visit the site below, looking specifically for information on research and policy.
If you have difficulty accessing the site, then type ‘University of Oxford Centre for
If you have difficulty accessing the site, then type ‘University of Oxford Centre for