The Introduction to Sociology Course was developed through the Ohio Department of Higher Education OER Innovation Grant. This work was completed and the course was posted in September 2018. The course is part of the Ohio Transfer Module and is also named OSS021. For more information about credit transfer between Ohio colleges and universities, please visit: www.ohiohighered.org/transfer.Team LeadIrene Petten                                                Columbus State Community CollegeContent Contributors Dee Malcuit                                                 Clark State Community CollegeKwaku Oboso-Mensah                               Lorain County Community CollegeAnjel Stough-Hunter                                   Ohio Dominican UniversityLibrarianSherri Saines                                              Ohio UniversityReview TeamEric Jorrey                                                 Central Ohio Technical College 

OER Text materialOpen Stx Chapter 12 section 2Chapter 11 in Sociology: Understanding the Changing Social World does not include an application of the three major sociological perspectives to issues of gender and sexuality. Open stax Chapter 12 section 2 does a much better job explaining gender from the major sociological perspectives including feminism. In this section there is also a discussion of doing gender, which was lacking in our core text.Sociological Perspectives on Gender StratificationHere is another source that provides a good overview of the sociological perspectives on gender.

OER Text materialSociology: Understanding and Changing the Social World Chapter 11 Section 1Chapter 11 Section 1 compares sex and gender, differentiates biological and cultural influences on gender, and discusses gender socialization. Primary and secondary sex characteristics are defined. A definition of femininity and masculinity is given, but this definition is weak. There is an excellent discussion of how biology and society influence difference between girls and boys. There is also a somewhat detailed description of Margaret Mead’s work and the influence of culture on gender. There is no discussion of doing gender.  This a significant weakness and supplemental material should be included to capture the notion of how gender is performed and maintained through everyday interactions. Additionally, masculinity and femininity as a continuum should be explored or at least mentioned.

OER Text materialSex and Sexuality: Open Stax Chapter 12 Section 3Summary:  Open Stax chapter 12 section 3 defines key terms related to sexuality, examines view of sexuality cross-nationally, and applies the sociological perspectives to sexuality including a discussion of queer theory.

OER Text materialSociology: Understanding and Changing the Social World Chapter 11 Section 1Chapter 11 Section 1 compares sex and gender, differentiates biological and cultural influences on gender, and discusses gender socialization. The section on socialization includes a description of agents of socialization and a discussion of how family, peers, schools, mass media, and religion serve as agents of socialization.  It provides a clear and fairly comprehensive coverage of gender socialization.

OER Text materialSociology: Understanding and Changing the Social World Chapter 11 Section 3, Gender InequalityThe final section discusses the “triple burden” and includes data on the intersection of gender and race on workplace inequality. Intersectionality is not used in this textbook. This is a major deficit.Theories of Race and EthnicityA brief definition of intersection theory. 

Sociology: Understanding and Changing the Social World Chapter 11 Section 3Chapter 11 section 3 covers income and workplace inequality.  An overview of the gender pay gap is given. The data is a bit dated and will need to be updated with current material. Sexual harassment is discussed.  There is a brief discussion of gender differences in housework. This section also includes a discussion of sexual orientation and inequality. There is no discussion of the gender division of labor, the double day or second shift.  More material on gender and the family needs to be included. Several suggestions for addressing this gap are provided in the supplemental material for this learning outcome.

OER Text MaterialEconomic Inequality and Poverty in the United StatesSociology: Understanding and Changing the Social World: Chapter 8 Section 4. This source explains how poverty is measured. Individual and structural level explanations of poverty are provided. Also included is a discussion of the effects of poverty.  Instructors could supplement with this resource:Lumen Learning - PovertyThis OER textbook provides an overview of poverty and a brief discussion of government assistance programs. The section on feminization of poverty is great.

OER Text materialExplaining StratificationSociology: Understanding and Changing the Social World Section 8.1 discusses differences in how Karl Marx and Max Weber viewed class societies. Section 8.2 provides a great discussion of theoretical perspectives on class. The section on functionalism includes an overview of Davis and Moore’s work. The conflict theory section includes a nice discussion of Marx and of false-consciousness. Instructors may want to supplement material on Weber.  The section on symbolic interactionism includes a discussion of conspicuous consumption. Chapter 8 does not discuss Bourdieu, cultural capital, or social capital. Instructors interested in the social reproduction of class should consider supplemental sources.Theoretical Perspectives on Social Stratification - OpenStaxYou could supplement with Open Stax section 9.4 as it provides a summary of how each major sociological paradigm (functionalism, conflict theory, and symbolic interactionism) understands stratification. This includes a brief discussion of the Davis and Moore thesis. The conflict theory section only discusses Marx and not Weber. This section will be need to be supplemented with other sources.

OER Text materialEconomic Inequality and Poverty in the United StatesSociology: Understanding and Changing the Social World Chapter 8 Section 4. Section 8.4 provides a good discussion of inequality and poverty, but it does not adequately discuss the consequences of social class. Overall this textbook misses the point that social class is economics plus lifestyle. Concepts such as cultural capital and everyday class consciousness,, although related to economics, impact lifestyle differences between classes; however, these concepts are not included in the textbook. Instructors wishing to make this case would benefit from including one or more of the following supplemental materials.

OER Text MaterialEconomic Inequality and Poverty in the United StatesSociology: Understanding and Changing the Social World: Chapter 8 Section 4. This source explains how poverty is measured. Individual and structural level explanations of poverty are provided. Also included is a discussion of the effects of poverty. There is a short section at the end of the chapter that outlines what sociologists suggest for reducing poverty.  Like many introduction to sociology textbooks, there is not a lot on specific interventions. Instructors interested in interventions should supplement this chapter with other material such as that listed below.

OER Text materialSocial Class in the United StatesSociology: Understanding and Changing the Social World- Chapter 8 Section 3This section begins by explaining the difference between measuring class objectively or subjectively.  A pie chart with 2008 GSS data is used to illustrate subjective measurement of social class. The section continues with a discussion of the American class structure and an overview of the major class divisions. Finally social mobility is discussed.  The objectives at the start of the section state that a functionalist and conflict theorist view of the American class structure is presented, however, there is only a slight mention of these perspectives in this chapter. This is not the section to use for a theoretical discussion of class. The concepts of status, status inconsistency and status symbol are not discussed in this textbook. Conspicuous consumption is addressed briefly in section 8.2, but many key terms related to social class are missing.What is Social Stratificiation? Open Stax does provide a definition of status consistency, inconsistency and meritocracy.

OER Text materialSocial StratificationSociology: Understanding and Changing the Social World Chapter 8 Sections 1 and 3. Section 8.1 discusses different systems of stratification and the difference between closed and open systems. Section 8.3 discusses vertical mobility and inter/intra generational mobility, but not horizontal mobility. Instructors might consider supplementing this chapter with material from Open Stax and several of the supplemental material listed for this objective.Social Stratification and Mobility in the United StatesOpen Stax section 9.2- provides a fine summary social mobility and defines key terms.

OER Text materialSystems of StratificationSociology: Understanding and Changing the Social World, Chapter 8, Section 1This section defines systems of stratification including slavery, estate systems, caste systems and class systems. It also explains the difference between open and closed systems and provides a brief discussion of vertical mobility. The chapter concludes with is a brief comparison of Marx and Weber’s views on class.

OER Text MaterialThe Development of Modern SocietyWork and Labor in the United StatesSociology: Understanding and Changing the Social World: 5.2.1; 13.4.1. Chapter 5.2.1 reviews hunting-and-gathering, horticultural and pastoral, agricultural, industrial and postindustrial societies.  Each type of society is discussed in relation to the organization of their economy and use of technology. Chapter 13.4.1 Focuses on U.S. worker history and relationships between workers and managers after industrialization, including the importance of labor unions.