...I've been working on my Bachelor dissertation in sociology/social work. Man, writing papers this big (40 pages) is some hard work, and I can just imagine what it's like to write those 200 page bricks to get a PhD.

Anyways, I'm writing about how Anabolic Androgenic Steroids (AAS) are portrayed in swedish and american media. I love this field, it's very interesting and raises alot of question about where you draw the legal line and the line for "normality", in terms of using steroids. Doctors prescribe them for quite alot of stuff in America, yet it's illegal to use in person. I explore these issues and many more.

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Oh and the reason I made this blog entry is that the paper is due this Friday, and I finally feel that I got it under control, I'm almost done (knock on wood!)and feel better now than I did a couple of days ago.
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I'm also a undergraduate in psychology (1,5 years) and I'm thinking of working it up to bachelor as well in the near future. Let's see about that

PS. Of course I've managed to sneak Foucault into my paper, since the method I use is discourse analysis

kidd

United States2848 Posts

December 09 2009 20:46 GMT

Cool story bro. I myself am a psych major as well with about 1 1/2 semesters left till I graduate. I think instead of going the grad school route I am going to do law school instead. It sounds like your paper would be an interesting read. What were your major findings per se?

Foucault

Sweden2826 Posts

December 09 2009 21:14 GMT

On December 10 2009 05:46 kidd wrote:
Cool story bro. I myself am a psych major as well with about 1 1/2 semesters left till I graduate. I think instead of going the grad school route I am going to do law school instead. It sounds like your paper would be an interesting read. What were your major findings per se?

Oh I see. I guess the school system works slightly different in America than it does in Sweden. I love the idea of combining different subjects into a tailor-made education for yourself. It's generally a bit more collectivistic in Sweden where most people choose a major and stick with it.

The major findings is that the use of steroids is to a large degree a socially constructed "problem" and there is huge negative bias in most research regarding steroids. American research tends to paint a more complex picture though and acknowledges that steroids possibly have some positive effects and that side-effects are hugely dose-dependent. Some lobby groups (probably big pharma supported) want to develop testosterone into a more mainsteam medical therapy for bad sex-drive, depression etc.

The typical steroid-user is described as a aggressive male (bodybuilding/sports) who basically can roid-rage any second. Society also utilizes discursive methods of power to reinforce steroids as a "bad" thing which many times is more about it's constructed definition as evil and bad, than actual science.

Basically steroids are in the "illegal" drug category and the steroid users are "bad" people.

Chef

10810 Posts

December 09 2009 21:21 GMT

I can't tell you how much I hate sociology papers. Not writing them, but reading them. I've never read a sociology paper that didn't start every section with "And now I'm going to talk about this..." JUST TALK ABOUT IT ARRRHHHGG FILLER FILLER FILLER I HATE YOU FOR BEING MANDATORY READING!

Foucault

Sweden2826 Posts

December 09 2009 21:25 GMT

On December 10 2009 06:21 Chef wrote:
I can't tell you how much I hate sociology papers. Not writing them, but reading them. I've never read a sociology paper that didn't start every section with "And now I'm going to talk about this..." JUST TALK ABOUT IT ARRRHHHGG FILLER FILLER FILLER I HATE YOU FOR BEING MANDATORY READING!

lol it can be really hard to read sociology papers because they go really in depth with definitions about everything

TDK

United States48 Posts

December 09 2009 21:28 GMT

Sociology.... quite possibly the most useless waste of a class ever thought of.

mrmin123

Korea (South)2971 Posts

December 09 2009 21:30 GMT

I wrote a 47-page undergrad honor's thesis and all I got was a Pass.

:[

Boblion

France8043 Posts

December 09 2009 21:31 GMT

Socio is kinda easy and quite interesting at the same time. You basicly only need to read lot of stuff and time. No risks to fail it like an hard math exam.
Free points yay ~

Foucault

Sweden2826 Posts

December 09 2009 21:34 GMT

On December 10 2009 06:31 Boblion wrote:
Socio is kinda easy and quite interesting at the same time.
Free points yay ~

Depends on the subject, but at this level the theoretical reasoning has to be really sound, especially when analysing discourse, which by nature is quite subjective. Easily quantifiable science is probably easier in a sense because everything is more clear-cut.

And yeah, I find sociology extremely interesting. There's so much stuff there that you are oblivious to but that affects you. Our behaviour, definitions of everthing, how language conveys meaning etc