#  "Manning Up" Case Study 

 



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####  Students contrast a scholarly text with a popular news article and discuss the relationship between the arguments and the limitations of them.

 **Goal:** To critically assess weaknesses and limitations of popular arguments through the application of institutional and behavior theory.

 **Introduction/Background**: In her sociology sections, Nicole used a controversial pop-sociology article written by Kay Hymowitz, the author of *Manning Up: How the Rise of Women Has Turned Men into Boys,* as a case study for Professor Mary Brinton's theory on the relationship between institutions and individual behaviors and actions.

 **Procedure:**

1. **Before Class**. Students read an excerpt of Brinton's book, in which she gives scholarly sociological treatment to the supposed bad behavior of "the lost generation."
2. **In Class**. 
    1. The class first went over Brinton's theory, mapping it out on the board.
    2. After this discussion, the class came to understand the main question as: "How did the range of life choices used to be constructed and how are they coming to be constructed now?" At that point, Nicole handed out the pop-sociology article by Kay Hymowitz, which was printed in the *Wall Street Journal*. The students took about 8 minutes to read the article.
    3. Afterward, they discussed Hymowitz's argument and evidence, and the limitations of her analysis.
    4. Lastly, they then discussed how they would conduct a study of Hymowitz's "child-men" using Professor Brinton's work as a model. What questions would they ask? How could they better research the topics presented in Hymowitz's work.

 *Submitted by Nicole Deterding, Department of Sociology*

 **See below for the article and lesson plan.**



 



 

 See also:- [ Social Science ](/area/social-science)
- [ Expanding Depth and Breadth ](/learning-goals/expanding-depth-and-breadth)
- [ Fostering Motivation ](/learning-goals/fostering-motivation)
- [ Group & Cooperative Learning; Students as Classroom Leaders ](/learning-goals/group-cooperative-learning-students-classroom-leaders)
- [ Providing Structure and Context ](/learning-goals/providing-structure-and-context)
- [ Revealing & Dealing with Misconceptions ](/learning-goals/revealing-dealing-misconceptions)
- [ Stimulating Students to Think ](/learning-goals/stimulating-students-think)
- [ Compare the Strengths and Weaknesses of Different Methods ](/learning-goals/compare-strengths-and-weaknesses-different-methods)
- [ Evaluate and Critique a Model or Argument ](/learning-goals/evaluate-and-critique-model-or-argument)
- [ Develop Subject Specific Intuitions ](/learning-goals/develop-subject-specific-intuitions)
- [ Full Class ](/length-activity/full-class)
- [ Whole-Class ](/filter_by/whole-class)
- [ Single Class ](/filter_by/single-class)
- [ Theoretical/Abstract ](/filter_by/theoreticalabstract)
- [ Observational ](/filter_by/observational)
- [ Sociology ](/department/sociology)
- [ Deterding, Nicole ](/filter_by/deterding-nicole)
- [ Case Study ](/activity-type/case-study)
- [ Concept Map ](/filter_by/concept-map)
- [ Discussion ](/filter_by/discussion)
- [ Whole class ](/filter_by/whole-class-0)
- [ Data for Discussion ](/filter_by/data-discussion-0)