YOU THE MAN - XC - 4th Quarter

For extra credit please address two or three of the following questions in a page or more of analysis (all combined). Try to be specific, precise, and sharp - don't fall into movie-critic mode.

1.

What did the performance suggest might be the underlying dynamics that lead to domestic violence? What are some dynamics that might support/allow domestic violence, as shown in the performance?

2.

According to a World Health Organization study rates of domestic violence vary widely in different countries.

Is the personal story related in the performance something you can translate to a political approach? If so, please write a strategy - in a series of 3-10 steps - to change our culture so that domestic violence becomes extremely rare. If not, please explain why not, and discuss the value of the play apart from sparking social change.

3.

Address another aspect of the performance and/or discussion that you'd like to explore or analyze.

4. Was this experience of watching the performance and discussing it afterwards valuable enough to be repeated next year? Why or why not?

Due Friday, May 28, 5pm.

HW 58 - Parenting 102

Part 3: Interviews

Please include some quotes and perspectives from guest speakers, from perspectives presented in class (including of course the perspectives of other students), and from your own interviews with your parent/guardian and/or the parent/guardian of your parent/guardian. Again - we're not looking for "The View" type gossip or self-exposure - but for thoughtful insights and figuring stuff out.

Please write two paragraphs summarizing and analyzing these sources.

Part 4:

Please write two paragraphs evaluating and synthesizing your insights from this mini-unit on parenting, as an ultra short but powerful paper on parenting, that stands alone from the other paragraphs. Your focus should be on insights you've thought of that are helpful for you in making sense of your own experience of being parented and/or insights that you think might be helpful for you as a parent.

Due Monday the 24th of May 8:30am.

HW 57 - Parenting 101

Part 1: Your initial thoughts

• How should kids be parented?
• What should be the social arrangements? An extended family, nuclear family, a village, corporate day care?
• What should be the guiding principles? Love? Obedience? Loving obedience? Humor? Empowerment? Subordination? Time outs? Separate cribs or co-sleeping? Breast feeding or bottle? Child-centered or parent-centered? etc.
• What were the best parts of how you were parented (since the worst parts don't really belong in a public class blog)?
• How do you think you'd parent if you're put in that position?
• Do you think babies should be treated more like adults or like puppies?
• Do you think parenting will "come naturally" or do you think you'll have to research multiple perspectives and come up with a (possibly evolving) model in collaboration with other family members? Did your family read books about how to parent you or do informal research such as talking to other family members?

Write 2-3 paragraphs about your thoughts in response to a few of the questions above.

Part 2: First research

When Parenting Theories Backfire
Lesson Plan from Developmental Psychology course
Attachment parenting
Continuum Concept
Ferber Method

other stuff you find

Check out the links above and write another two paragraphs responding to two or more of the texts.

Due Wednesday, May 19th 8:30am.

HW 56 - Interviews & Survey Question

Informal Research Continued -

1. Please type up 3-6 questions for interviews with other folks to illuminate your chosen research question.

2. Do the interviews (at least 3) and record the results on your blog.

3. Please add an additional paragraph analyzing the responses in terms of your own research question.

4. Write a very careful and precise SINGLE survey question that can be added to the second collective student survey.

Due Monday May 17, 8:30am.

5/10/10 in 101

Hope everyone enjoyed the funny weather this weekend.

HW 54 -
Pt 1: Take this Myers-Briggs test (or a similar one) and analyze the usefulness of the results in 1-2 paragraphs. If you enjoy the process consider taking this "Big Five" test too.

It'd be interesting if you posted your results but don't feel that you need to. Please write down the categorization the test(s) offers on a piece of paper (or phone) you will have in class on Tuesday.

Pt 2: Please add an additional paragraph addressing insights on interpersonal relationships related to this test. Ideally this would address your evaluation of the reliability and usefulness of the test - as demonstrated in experiments in class and your own guesses about another's Myers-Briggs score. You should also consider the implications of people having measurably different personalities in terms of our relationships - whether "appreciate difference" or "maximize compatibility" are the conclusions you draw.

Due Tuesday, May 11, 2010 at 9pm.

My results can be found here for both tests. Please check someone else's that you know fairly well - that will help you evaluate the reliability of the test(s).

HW 55 -
Pt 1: Please post your independent research question/topic.

Your research should be based in one of the four domains of relationships we plotted in class - family, friends, frequent interactions, and mediated relations. You should further focus the question to enable you to do a precise, sharp, and interesting independent research paper. For instance - "why do people divorce?" is not that good, "what are the primary causes of divorce?" is somewhat better, and "is marriage counseling an effective remedy, in most cases, for the primary causes of divorce, and if so, how?" is quite a bit better. Your question should be clearly answerable using social sciences evidence and intelligent analysis - not serve as merely a launching pad for spacy speculation.

Pt 2: Next please visit your old triangle partners' blogs (or two other students who will reciprocate) and offer them feedback on the sharpness and clarity of their independent research questions. If they have a question that you consider vague or overwhelmingly broad please suggest an alternate formulation in their comment section (copy and paste to your own blog).

Pt 3: Post your possibly revised question and conduct internet research, creating an annotated bibliography of 4 or more credible and possibly helpful sources online. The annotated bibliography should cite the sources in MLA format and offer a paragraph that combines very succinct summary and very succinct evaluation of usability of the source.

Due Wednesday, May 12, 8pm.

PS - For more information and examples you can see other students' questions collected here.

HW 53 - Survey Analysis

Part 1:
This survey was made using questions contributed anonymously by you and your classmates. All answers are anonymous. You don't have to answer anything, but it would be helpful if you would take the survey. It includes almost a hundred questions (sorry - there were a lot of great questions that I had to sort through) so you will need to budget time. Use your time in 101 for this only if you're already done with HW 52 and you don't mind risking a little privacy (it'd be better to do it where no one can look over your shoulder).

Part 2:
Please create and share insights on the process of taking the survey. How did it feel to take it? Were there any questions that made you stop and think? Without necessarily listing those questions - what were some of the commonalities between the questions that made you think or feel deeply? If you decided not to take it, what was that like? If you don't want to talk about why you didn't take it, do an alternate assignment - such as research divorce rates among families, "face time" with parent(s)/guardian(s), etc.

Part 3:
When the results are posted (Wednesday at 8:30am) please analyze the results. (Hint: Password is the correctly spelled uncapitalized last name of the mostly bald guy who used to stand at the door when you came back from lunch). What were some of the particularly interesting scores? Do you notice any patterns? Were there any big surprises? Do you feel like you are similar to most of the students who answered the survey? What do you think accounts for the differences?

Part 4:

Please compare our informal and quick survey results to the report of the results of a professionally done teen survey such as this one or this one, or a reputable report you find yourself. What was a similarity? A difference? What does the experience of comparing show you about researching complex issues?

All four parts due Sunday May 9 by 8:30am.