Hypothesis: Those males who share the traditional vision of gender roles in the society are more likely to commit sexual harassment
Independent variable: The males’ traditional vision of gender roles. To support this variable, it is possible to ask the following question: Do you share the traditional vision of gender roles when men are perceived as powerful and dominating and women are perceived as subordinate?
Response categories are ‘yes’ and ‘no’ in order to determine the position of the men.
Dependent variable: The sexual harassment rate in the American society. To support this variable, it is important to focus on the following question: What is the percentage of males committing sexual harassment in the United States during the recent two decades?
Response categories: Responses are stated as the percent, and they can range from 0% to 100%.
Structural-Functional Theory: The society can be discussed as the system of interrelated components. As a result, each component matters, and it can influence the other parts and elements of the society during its continuous functioning. However, there are situations when the inappropriate functioning of some elements can lead to dysfunction of the whole society or its part (Macionis 42-48). From this perspective, the traditional vision of gender roles is characteristic for many males and females because this vision is a result of many years of the society’s functioning. This vision also influences the males’ perception of women as subordinate persons who should satisfy the men’s desires. Although this statement supports the idea of the social system, this males’ vision can also lead to the social dysfunction in the form of sexual harassment.
Hypothesis: Those persons who belong to the ethnic minorities are less likely to discriminate the representatives of different social groups
Independent variable: Ethnicity and the fact of belonging to the ethnic minority. To state the fact of belonging to the ethnic minority, it is necessary to ask the following questions: What is the person’s ethnicity? Does the person belong to the ethnic minority or the concrete ethnic category in the United States?
Response categories in this case are different ethnicities (for instance, Chinese, Cuban, American Indian) in order to answer the first question; the variants ‘yes’ and ‘no’ are used to determine the fact of belonging to the ethnic minority.
Dependent variable: Demonstration of the discriminative behavior. Are you likely to discriminate the representatives of different social groups? How often do you demonstrate your discriminative behavior?
Response categories: ‘Yes’ and ‘no’ are used to answer the first question. If the answer is ‘yes’, there are five response categories which are ‘almost always’, ‘usually’, ‘often’, ‘sometimes’, and ‘seldom’.
Conflict Theory: The society develops as a result of accentuating the conflicting interests of different representatives. Thus, the ruling principle to form the society is the principle of inequality which leads to dividing the society into the world of losers and winners because of the definite features such as ethnicity, income, or gender (Macionis 34-38). The representatives of ethnic minorities are often discriminated in the society because of their differences, and this phenomenon supports the idea of the developing inequality to provoke the ongoing conflict. As a result, the representatives of ethnic minorities are deprived of the definite resources and rights because of the factors of inequality and discrimination which are characteristic for the society according to the Conflict theory.
Works Cited
Macionis, John. Society: The Basics. USA: Pearson, 2010. Print.