Health & Illness within Medical Sociology - Assignment Example

1.What health and illness topic within medical sociology interests you?  I am very interested in how social factors affect health and illnesses amongpeople. Particularly, I am curious in regard to how Giddens (1989) was able to arrive at his idea that such profound effect illustrates the more general sociological proposition concerning the way in which our lives reflect the contexts of our social experience. (p. 11) If this is really the case, then medical sociology must have a multidisciplinary character and that its study indicates interests in diverse social issues and processes such as social inequalities, the nature of professional expertise, social status, social power and influence, and so forth. In this regard, I would much like to identify the direct correlation between self/individual wellness and society. This is case especially when we talk about chronic illnesses: how could sociological factors affect the biology of disease? 2.What four or five research papers have been published on this topic?  Some of the research papers published on this topic include: Peter Freund’s The Expressive Body: A common ground for the sociology of emotions and health and illness; Lars-Christer Hyden’s Illness and Narrative; Michael Bury’s The Sociology of Chronic Illness: A Review of Research and Prospects; Alan Radley and Michael Billig’s Accounts of health and illness: Dilemmas and representations; and, Simon Williams’ Theorising Class, Health and Lifestyles: Can Bourdieu Help Us? 3.What do these papers say about the topic?  Freund’s work emphasized on the relevance of the sociology of emotions to the sociology of health and illness. His main argument is that emotion is what bridges the mind-body-society splits that characterized each of the fields. Freund argued that emotional modes of being are linked to the social structural features, which impinge existence. He specifically cited the stress generated by social pressures – from his status, social activities to relationships - and how it affects a person’s health and wellbeing. Freund concluded that both the sociology of emotions as well as of health and illness have to be integrated in the discourses of the concept of the living, embodied human subject including recent studies on bio-psycho-social research. For Freund, studying the emotionally expressive and embodied subject – on who is active in the context of power and social control, can offer a very useful strategy in order to study and examine stress, society, health and their relationships. Hyden’s Illness and Narrative generally explored the research on illness narratives. However, a significant part of this work is devoted to the social context of explaining and analysis of illness. He referred to how social scientists posit that we can use illness narratives as an approach to study not only the world of biomedical reality but also the illness experience and its social dimensions. Certainly, this also works the other way around. The research paper written by Bury outlined certain important features of sociological approach to studying chronic illnesses. By describing such features Bury was able to identify ways in which sociological method can help treat chronic illnesses. Particularly, he identified the concept of positive actions that people do as well as the problems they face as fundamental elements in devising holistic approaches to treatment and management of these illnesses. Meanwhile, Radley and Billig undertook their research with the aim of establishing their hypothesis that there is extreme importance of treating health talk as both ideological and dilemmatic. Their method, which eventually led to the confirmation of their initial thoughts, involved the interview of individuals with the idea that as they talk about their health and illness, they also talk about their lifestyles, attitudes, which helped in defining the so-called social fitness and, interestingly contribute, to claims of being ill or healthy. The idea is that by having people talk about health in general they also are expected to give an account of their health in particular. Finally, Williams explored the link between sociological elements such as class, lifestyles to health and illness. The researcher specifically identified the work of Pierre Bourdieu as his reference in his attempt to rectify the alleged errors in the claims of some popular theories in medical sociology. His findings include the conclusion that Bourdieu’s analysis of the logic of practice, concepts of habitus and and bodily hexis as well as his search for social distinction are relevant and did shed some important insights in regard to the dynamics of the sociological links of health and illness despite its limitations in terms of issues of agency and choice. In the process, Williams have posited some interesting insights, himself, on how sociological factors influence knowledge and subsequent behaviors that lead to health-related outcomes. 4.Given what you have read about the topic in the journal articles you selected, what one question about this topic do you have? (State your question in one succinct sentence. This question will be the title of your essay.)  After examining the previous research works, I was able to formulate the following question: “What is the best methodology that would be able to demonstrate the direct relationship between sociological factors and the incidence of illness?” 5.How would you go about finding an answer to your question? In other words, describe the research project you would design to get at an answer to your question  Considering the research question I was able to formulate, the most important part and, hence, the focus, of my research would be the extensive examination of the available literature. In finding the best methodology for determining the relationship between sociological factors and health, I must answer whether the appropriate method should be scientific or sociological or quantitative or qualitative. The variables involved are different because one is tangible while the other is abstract, one can be measured and examined through numbers, scientific data and analysis, while the other is abstract with elements involving behavior, influence, stress, class, among other variables that cannot be quantified. This research, would hence undertake critical comparisons of methodologies as well as the development of “formulas” that would best result in the successful achievement of my objective. Initially, I am looking at how to integrate both qualitative and quantitative methodologies and find similar research experiences and topics that could augment my own. Then, I must determine whether I should use case studies, do my own interviews and surveys, among other research design alternatives. 6.What problems do you foresee that you would need to overcome once you began your research? As stated previously, medical sociology is multidisciplinary in character. I have no problems about quantifying the medical and biological aspect of the research. However, relating this to sociological factors could be difficult especially with the thought that a sociological phenomenon or sociological pattern has diverse other socio-cultural influences, making and examination of it complex and daunting, in itself. It is in this area wherein I think I would encounter the most challenge. There is the specific issue of confining the sociological aspect of the research up to a certain degree. So how should I go about it? Then, there is also the fact that I need to find as much sources – both primary and secondary – as I can in order to be able to come up with a credible outcome. Works Cited Bury, Michael. “The sociology of chronic illness: a review of research and prospects.” The Sociology of Health and Illness 13.4 (2006): 451-468. Freund, Peter. “The expressive body: a common ground for the sociology of emotions and health and illness.” Wiley Interscience 12.4 (2008): 452-0477. Giddens, Anthony. Sociology: Cambridge: Polity Press, 1989. Hyden, Lars-Christer. “Illness and Narrative.” The Sociology of Health and Illness 19.1 (2008): 48-69. Radley, Alan and Billig, Michael. “Accounts of health and illness: Dilemmas and representations.” The Sociology of Health and Illness 18.2 (2008): 220-240. Williams, Simon. “Theorising class, health and lifestyles: can Bourdieu help us?” Blackwell Publishing Journal Compilation 17:5 (2008): 577-604. Read More