Social Interaction Assignment
45 Points
Objective: The purpose of this assignment is to examine the ways people routinely interact
with each other. Of course, the sociological perspective will be used.
Directions: Use the I-books and provided excerpts to complete numbers 1 through 22. You
may either write your answers on a separate piece of paper or type your answers. Do NOT
write your final answers on this sheet. This assignment is to be completed independently.
Half credit will be given to students who have the exact same answers.
Part A-Lies
Go to the following website http://www.kevinhogan.com/secretlanguageofbusiness.htm.
Read the article Lies: Are We All Masters of Deception? Complete the following questions.
1. Why does research state that people lie chronically? Are they mentally ill?
2. Psychologists have long known that some deception is a normal, healthy part of
human behavior, often starting in children as young as_________. In adulthood, most
people lie routinely, if usually harmlessly, throughout the day.
3. What is the average lie rate among men and women in daily conversation?
4. Why do people lie?
5. What do chronic liars demonstrate on psychological tests?
Part B-Bystander Apathy
Go to the following website http://lesswrong.com/lw/9j/bystander_apathy/
Read the article Bystander Apathy. Complete the following questions.
6. Define the term “bystander apathy” or “bystander effect”.
7. List the two primary drivers of bystander apathy.
Go to the following website
http://www2.southeastern.edu/Academics/Faculty/scraig/gansberg.html
Read the article Thirty-Eight Who Saw Murder Didn’t Call Police
8. What explanation does the Kitty Genovese Example offer as to why groups of people
are apathetic? (How does the case demonstrate the bystander effect in action?)
9. In absence of clearly defined responsibility, what happens?
Part C- The McDonaldization of Society
Read the provided excerpt The McDonalization of Society and answer the following
questions.
10. Define the term “McDonalization”.
11. What has made McDonald’s so successful?
12. According to the author, in what ways have universities and health care become
more efficient?
13. How does the author say technology helped both professor and student become
more efficient?
14. Do you think the author believes efficiency improves higher education and health
care? Explain.
Part D-Corporate Culture
Use the Internet to research the following topic and answer the questions.
15. What is the definition of corporate culture? How is corporate culture expressed?
16. Corporate culture should not be confused with corporate mission. What is the
difference?
17. How does a corporation operate on both conscious and unconscious levels?
Part E-Suicide Pacts
Read the excerpt and answer the questions.
18. Who are the most likely to engage in a suicide pact?
19. What is the main motivation for engaging in a suicide pact? Why would married
couples engage in such behavior?
20. If Durkheim’s theory regarding suicide states that the more people feel connected
the less likely they are to commit suicide, does it still apply to suicide pacts? Why or
why not?
21. What is a possible solution to pact suicides?
Part F- Alienation
Read the following statement:
Alienation: Man is alienated from the object he produces, form the process of production, from
himself, and from the community of fellows. We, as a people, have separated ourselves so
much from real life that it has become quite easy to believe that life is just a game that
someone else is playing.
22) Select one of the following viewpoints to defend. Explain why you are defending the
stance in 2-3 sentences.
Stance 1: We are more alienated now than ever before. Our current technologies have
created this problem.
Stance 2: We are less alienated than ever before. Our current technologies allow us to be
closer to one another than ever before.