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Sociological Imagination

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We live in a world consisting of billions of people with different ideology, culture, language, and social class. Each one of us as an individual may have different goals in life, different behavior, or different language. However, we are all connected; this connection can be viewed in different levels. For example, a person may feel connected to his friend because they are classmates. In a broader level, they are connected because they both attend the same school. In the society, we can affiliate ourselves to certain groups, views, or historical events. “Sociological Imagination” is the ability that allows us to connect our personal experience to the “historical forces” (Conley, pg. 4). Through sociological imagination, we can understand the …show more content…

For example, if we want to attend college to further our education in a desired field, we can see all the positive and negative sides of our decision. We can look at the statistics regarding the average salaries of college graduates versus high school graduates. Financially, we may have to spend thousands of dollars on tuition, board, and books. However, we can earn more after graduation. We can also use other sources or study other statistical data about the projected growth of our desired field of study. Based on different reasons (i.e. financial reasons, job projections, etc.), we can decide whether we want to proceed with the enrollment in college or not. Graduation from a college and receipt of a degree can be viewed in two different ways: first, as social theorist Randall Collins has proposed, “credentials are what matter most” (Conley, pg. 11-12). Higher education can be seen as a way to receive credentials while not significantly contributing to a meaningful learning experience. Second, higher education can be viewed as an opportunity to learn new materials/techniques and to receive real-world training that can help us in the job market and beyond. Therefore, for many people, higher

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