SOC 1B — Critical Thinking about Social Problems
Critical thinking is an important component of sociology; the sociological imagination requires us to step back, to ask questions, and to evaluate evidence. Using critical thinking, this course will identify and analyze contemporary social problems including causes, consequences, and possible solutions. Application of critical thinking skills, specifically taught in the course, is designed to result in heightened critical thinking ability as well as strengthened social awareness concerning social problems. In the study of social problems, theoretical perspectives and sociological methods of research and analysis will be applied. This course uses both inductive and deductive forms of reasoning, including identifying formal and informal fallacies and analyzing the evidence on which conclusions are based. (A, CSU, UC, Cal-GETC)