# So... I'm taking a Sociology class. **URL:** \ **Category:** Miscellaneous and Personal Stuff I Must Share\ **Created:** [April 10, 2012, 3:38am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/so-im-taking-a-sociology-class/618340 "2012-04-10T03:38:16Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 8\ **Page:** 1
**Author:** ![Johnny\_L.A](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/johnny_l.a/32/1084_2.png) [@Johnny\_L.A](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Johnny_L.A)\ **Post date:** [April 10, 2012, 3:38am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/so-im-taking-a-sociology-class/618340/1 "2012-04-10T03:38:16Z")
Since I have _so_ much free time, I decided I’d take a class at the local college. It’s a mistake, really. I thought it was _Antisocial_ Studies. Oh, well. In any case, I’d like to turn to you guys as ‘research subjects’ if you’d like to participate. Apparently I need to come up with a survey at some point. ---
**Author:** ![flatlined](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/f/eb9ed0/32.png) [@flatlined](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/flatlined)\ **Post date:** [April 10, 2012, 4:11am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/so-im-taking-a-sociology-class/618340/2 "2012-04-10T04:11:32Z")
I also take classes for enjoyment. You might have more fun with an anthropology class. You learn why people stick other people with pointed sticks and such. I’m up for the survey. ---
**Author:** ![needscoffee](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/needscoffee/32/1076_2.png) [@needscoffee](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/needscoffee)\ **Post date:** [April 10, 2012, 5:43am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/so-im-taking-a-sociology-class/618340/3 "2012-04-10T05:43:53Z")
Are you taking a survey on who will take your survey? ---
**Author:** ![Johnny\_L.A](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/johnny_l.a/32/1084_2.png) [@Johnny\_L.A](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Johnny_L.A)\ **Post date:** [April 10, 2012, 12:20pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/so-im-taking-a-sociology-class/618340/4 "2012-04-10T12:20:02Z")
No, i need to think of an example of how different ‘cultures’ are treated differently. I want to stay away from race and politics since they are so broad, gun culture is too close to politics and economic discrimination is also too broad. I have an idea I’ll look into a group that people usually don’t think of as being disliked. I read a letter in the local rag a few years ago that called a now-closed airport nothing more than a private playground for ‘rich boys’ toys’. And there are numerous examples of people moving next to airports and then wanting to close them. There’s the infamous example of Mayor Dayey bulldozing a GA airport in the middle of the night. And there is a plan to assess ‘user fees’ (which pilots already pay through fuel taxes). I’ll have to think of a hypothesis and see if there’s been research to support it and the anecdotal evidence I’ve mentioned. I’ll post another thread when I get to it. ---
**Author:** ![2gigch1](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/2gigch1/32/3313_2.png) [@2gigch1](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/2gigch1)\ **Post date:** [April 10, 2012, 12:35pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/so-im-taking-a-sociology-class/618340/5 "2012-04-10T12:35:53Z")
At first glance I read this as _Scientology_ class. Glad I was mistaken. Perhaps you can survey how people’s preconceptions cause misconceptions when reading subject lines on threads. If that has any truth I’m fucked. ---
**Author:** ![cerberus](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/71e660/32.png) [@cerberus](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/cerberus)\ **Post date:** [April 11, 2012, 4:38am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/so-im-taking-a-sociology-class/618340/6 "2012-04-11T04:38:25Z")
> [@Johnny\_L.A](#): > > No, i need to think of an example of how different ‘cultures’ are treated differently. I want to stay away from race and politics since they are so broad, gun culture is too close to politics and economic discrimination is also too broad. I have an idea I’ll look into a group that people usually don’t think of as being disliked. I read a letter in the local rag a few years ago that called a now-closed airport nothing more than a private playground for ‘rich boys’ toys’. And there are numerous examples of people moving next to airports and then wanting to close them. There’s the infamous example of Mayor Dayey bulldozing a GA airport in the middle of the night. And there is a plan to assess ‘user fees’ (which pilots already pay through fuel taxes). I’ll have to think of a hypothesis and see if there’s been research to support it and the anecdotal evidence I’ve mentioned. I’ll post another thread when I get to it. There’s an interesting problem with an emerging group clashing with an existing group. You’ll see this with gentrification near airports - the people moving in where you have active aviation forming residential blocks who then, duh, bitch about the damned airplanes. That were already there. Same thing with people exurbanizing Hooterville. People moving into rural residential / mixed agricultural areas and then forming yet more blocks of people who bitch about the animals and guns and manure … things that were extant when they moved in. ---
**Author:** ![Rachellelogram](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/rachellelogram/32/8689_2.png) [@Rachellelogram](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Rachellelogram)\ **Post date:** [April 11, 2012, 7:35am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/so-im-taking-a-sociology-class/618340/7 "2012-04-11T07:35:13Z")
> [@Johnny\_L.A](#): > > No, i need to think of an example of how different ‘cultures’ are treated differently. A paper comparing the treatment of _Bacillus anthracis_ to _Streptococcus pyogenes_ would be relevant. 😉 Seriously though, what about emo culture vs. scene kids? Or people with/without tattoos? Or, suburbanites who drive gas-guzzling SUVs vs. [del]hippies[/del] environmentally-conscious city-dwellers who walk/bike/take the bus everywhere? ---
**Author:** ![Nava](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/n/da6949/32.png) [@Nava](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Nava)\ **Post date:** [April 11, 2012, 9:54am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/so-im-taking-a-sociology-class/618340/8 "2012-04-11T09:54:54Z")
> [@cerberus](#): > > Same thing with people exurbanizing Hooterville. People moving into rural residential / mixed agricultural areas and then forming yet more blocks of people who bitch about the animals and guns and manure … things that were extant when they moved in. A classmate of mine was from the mountains. When both him and his brother were in college, their mother decided to take advantage of the two empty bedrooms and bring in some cash by setting up as a “rural B&B”, something which was a total craze at the moment. The first customers complained that the entrance to the house was on the first floor and that “it smells like cow here”. “OK, which part of ‘it’s a real farm’ was unclear?” The ground floor was the stables. Yep, it smells like cow when you’re sleeping on top of eight cows. According to my classmate, the cows also count as a heating system: farms with the home above the cows have lower heating bills than those with the home beside the cows. After that, the mother made sure to spell clearly in her ads “it is a real farm, there are cows here and they behave like cows. This includes biological functions and mooing early in the morning.”