Analyzing Theoretical Paradigms through Media Stereotypes Blog Essay

One of the goals of this course is to get you to think like a sociologist. Sociologists master the 4 sociological paradigms: symbolic interaction, functionalist, conflict, and cultural materialism.

This week each student will create a blog post. The assignment challenges you to apply the theoretical paradigms as you identify examples of stereotypes in the media about cooking, food, eating, dieting, etc

Locate 2-3 examples to analyze media stereotypes using one of the paradigms listed above.

Refer to the directions below to complete your Media Stereotype blog post

1. Media selection

• Peruse media such as news outlets, magazines, commercials, or social media sites for examples of stereotypes.
  • Steer away from personal examples that you may find on social media platforms. This assignment challenges you to identify examples of “mass media” using stereotypes.
• Identify 2-3 examples

2. Write a blog post

• Share a link, image or “screen grab” for the reader to reference
• Briefly analyze each sample using one of the 4 paradigms ( symbolic interaction, functionalist, conflict, and cultural materialism)
  • 2-3 paragraphs length
  • clearly identify the paradigm
  • When possible, include a link and/or include citations for references you use