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What Do Sociologist Mean?

1 Pages 358 Words


When sociologist speak about the “social construction of reality”, they mean/ are describing the process by which people creatively shape reality through social interaction. Quite a bit of reality remains unclear in everybody’s mind, esp. in unfamiliar situations. So we present ourselves in term that fit the setting and our purposes, and, as others do the same, reality emerges. This process is important to/ for humans because we feel the need to be accepted by society. Interaction is tied to our ability to create and maintain definitions of self and others… these definitions are created by society and supported by communication. Most sociologists suggest that the relationship between self, comm., & society is a complex, circular one.
W.I. Thomas’ statement: If men define a situation as real, it is real in its consequences relates to the social construction of reality. How? Social structures tell us who to be and how to communicate/ act, but these structures depend on comm for their maintenance. Through comm. We can act on & change the very structures that create us.
For example, a message sent out over a tv channel. The signal is received by many tv sets, & it delivers the same data to each; that is every1 who receives it is presented w/ the same images & sounds. So if different people take this text to have different meanings, these differences must arise w/in the minds of the people. Suppose the evening news reports an OTB opening in town. This can take on different meanings.
To a person who is against gambling, it might mean potential problems
To an unemployed person, it might mean hope for a new job or
To a community, it may mean money for community programs
The meanings that these people make of this message arise from the realities of their everyday lives.
Last example is one I learned in my class. If there was a lady standing at a pay phone yelling & screaming in the phone(tell that story).
Theses examples provi...

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