Open the Social Science - Essay Example

Q&A 4-7 4 Assuming that there were a change in the ratio of male-to-female births, wherein 80% of the births were female, 20% male, over a period of years that changed the population to one of a noticeably female majority; we might expect to see changes in the norms governing sex and marriage. The first expectation is that we would see fewer marriages, an increase in the number of single-mother families, where women opt in favor of establishing themselves as heads of family independent by forced design since there are fewer men.

We might expect to see, a certain level of “cultism” develop around the male population, which causes them to be held in an almost deity-like way for the potential they hold as sources of propagation of the species. We might be surprised to see some very unusual circumstances develop around the males; the “Amazonian woman,” fiction come to life where a largely female society might “use” men in way that is now associated with fulfilling sexual fantasies, and for which some people even today might pay a high price to experience.

Bizarre “tribal” ceremonies have historically and anthropologically surrounded the human male/female conditions, and in a society that where the population scales are permanently changed in a way that men would be less accessible to women, we might expect to see some very strange “ceremonial” tendencies manifest themselves even in a civilized culture. What we probably would not see in a society where the male/female proportions were permanently altered, is a tendency towards same sex relationships.

It is unlikely that because of a shortage of men heterosexual women would turn to lesbianism, especially since it would not propagate the species. To the extent that that did occur, it’s unlikely that we would see it in a pattern of “permanent relationships,” since a lesbian experience probably wouldn’t be any more satisfying to a heterosexual women in a society where there fewer men than it is in a society where there is a balance in the male-to-female numbers.5.) Having gone to study a culture, with no knowledge of that culture’s language, and challenged by the rule of not asking questions, yet with the goal of determining what behavior within that culture was deemed by the culture to be “deviant,” would require employing a methodology of carefully documenting behavior through observation.

It would be necessary to employ a methodology that pays strict attention to the emotional responses of the members of the society to the behaviors of other members within that society. It would be necessary to develop an observational chart at the outset of the study, and one that focuses on approval, disapproval, anger, punishment – since the expectation is that behavior deemed by that society to be “deviant” in nature, would have a very different reaction to the behavior deemed to be deviant, and would have a punishment response to that behavior that would be unlike that of other potential behavioral-punishment-responses.

It would be necessary, too, to pay close attention to who within the society metes out “social” punishments, since the deviant behavior would be according to the rules of the society, and there would no doubt be a hierarchal structure within the society from which those ideas come down to the society, and would at that same structural level be responsible for the punishment of the deviant behavior. It would be necessary, too, to keep an open mind, and not to transfer pre-conceived notions of deviant behavior to the society being studied.

Such a study could not be approached with a definition of the term “deviant”, since it would be unknown what constitutes deviant behavior. However, deviant behavior and the society’s response to that behavior could be observed and documented over a period of time through careful observation and even more careful recording of the society’s day-to-day life and behavior. Eventually, deviance would occur, as it is human nature to respond to the curiosity of deviance at some point and in some way; although that does not mean that it would alter the character or behavior of the individual in a permanent way.

There are humans, too – and it is presumed within whatever human society – who are prone towards permanent deviant behavior, and such individuals, it would be expected, would be in the focus group as well and that the deviance would manifest itself, since a propensity towards deviant behavior would be compelling, and it is unlikely the individual could resist those urges..6.) Two factors that would impact the supply of gasoline to consumers would be availability of crude oil conversion to the marketable end product in the form of gasoline; and the consumption of the end product by the consumer.

If the cost of crude oil is impacted in a negative way, causing it to be less available as a raw material, then the expectation is that access to the raw material would cause the cost of the product to increase; especially if consumer consumption reflected a disregard for the availability of the raw material. If, however, the market were flooded with an availability of the raw material wherein the manufacturer were able to purchase the material at a competitive cost, below the normal cost, the expectation would be that the manufacturer would pass that savings on to the consumer.

Also, the manufacturer would – in an unregulated environment of purchase-production-delivery; would engage in strategic maneuvers intended to alter the manufacturer’s position in the production of the product, from which the consumer might benefit too. There might result competitive price reductions by the companies who avail themselves of the opportunity of the availability of the raw material to eliminate the weaker competitors by offering a significantly lower cost product to consumers than a competitor can because of the size and cost of the competitor’s operations.

The biggest impact on the final cost to the consumer would be whether or not the market was regulated or unregulated.Two areas that might impact consumption is consumer attitude toward the product, and the economic strain with which the consumer is dealing in other non-product related areas of their own personal finances. An attitude that the product , as a fossil fuel, is harmful to the environment and a consumer commitment to use less of the product would impact consumption if the attitude towards the product were widespread, the prevailing sentiment amongst consumers.

We see the facilitation of this sentiment, even the cultivation of the sentiment, in the development of “new urbanism,” wherein communities are now being designed to eliminate the resident’s reliance on private transportation in favor of public transportation. Thus, consumer-conscience about fossil fuels would greatly impact consumption. Additionally, whether the consumer has a conscience or not about the environment, consumption would still be impacted by inflation factors that would cause the consumer to want to, need to reduce personal spending.

The presumption is that under those circumstances one of the first responses the consumer might have is travel less, or rely less on personal versus public transportation, saving the cost of fuel altogether.7.) On the subject of outsourcing, one might expect liberals to be more willing to outsource jobs to other than one would expect conservatives to be. The liberal mindset would lend itself towards “supporting” the third world countries, where outsourcing is now occurring, in favor of seeing those countries become economically sound.

The liberal notion of “sharing and caring,” would be employed to appease the public, and there would be more rhetoric banter about the haves-and-have-nots in a way to exploit the public conscience. While the conservative response would be covet the jobs available to increase job availability within the country, and to reduce the national deficit through a wholly employed public. The conservatives would appeal to the public’s nationalistic tendencies, exploiting fears of losing their identity to foreign cultures.