Critical Thiking Project: Living at the Poverty Line, Due Monday, March 19 by 11:59 PM. (100 points)

Your project should be saved as a MS Word (.docx) document and submitted via the assignment link ("Living at the Poverty Line") in Module 4 found in our Canvas course site.

Grading Rubric

Project Objectives:

• This project entails an investigation into the social reality of poverty in an urban community. See, the 2010 Department of Agriculture report on "Household Food Security." (see also, and a local copy for 2009 and the 2011 summary)
• You might also wish to play the "Poverty Game" to get an idea of what being poor is like in the USA.
• And, check out this resource on "food insecurity."
• See also, Why the poor pay more for toilet paper — and just about everything else. Washington Post, 3/8/2016.
• See also, The poor pay more for everyday purchases. Washington Post Wonkblog, 5/20/2016.
• See also, The difference between what rich and poor Americans eat is getting bigger. Washington Post Wonkblog, 6/23/2016.
• To become familiar with core concepts, methods, and theories of sociology, and develop a sociological analysis of poverty in the USA.
• To develop critical thinking skills and produce an informed critique of explanations of poverty in a post-modern, consumer society.
• To learn accepted social scientific writing styles and become familiar with (and critically evaluate) online information resources.

The Scenario:

For 2018, the federal government's (Health and Human Services) poverty guideline was approximately $24,600 for an urban family of four (historical thresholds) and is determined by multiplying the cost of a "nutritious" diet for this family by three. Working backwards, we can dissect this number to reveal that the government believes that any family that has more than $1.85 to spend per person, per meal, per day for food is not living in poverty ($24,600/3= $8,200 for food. $8,200/365 days= $22.47 (rounded up) per day for food. $22.47/3 meals per day= $7.49 per meal. $7.49/4 people= $1.87 per person per meal). Check out this NPR report: "Eating Nutritiously A Struggle When Money Is Scarce" by Pam Fessler (2010).

1. Construct your family. Include a discussion the following points:  social services, residence, work, school, health status and access, recreation, ages, race, adult education, social networks, be realistic and typical. Remember--your family cannot have an income greater than $24,600--NO MATTER what the source (work, food stamps [EBT card], housing supplements, WIC, and or any other source [even illicit]. Your description and discussion of your family must be at least 250 words.
• Although this Critical thinking Project is due on March 19, it is in your best interest to complete you family's description as early as possible. I would suggest completing this part of the project by the end of Module 2--Sunday, February 18.
2. Construct a menu based on current nutritional standards that would  meet the nutritional needs of a family of four for a week. You must include a clear menu plan, and it must satisfy basic nutritional requirements (see: http://www.choosemyplate.gov/snapshot-2015-2020-dietary-guidelines-americans). Detail the food (and quantities) you'll need to "purchase." Here is one example: http://www.choosemyplate.gov/food-groups/downloads/Sample_Menus-2000Cals-DG2010.pdf (local copy), but you must create your own.

• Although this Critical thinking Project is due on March 19, it is in your best interest to complete you family's description as early as possible. I would suggest completing this part of the project by the end of Module 3--Sunday, March 4.

3. Go shopping. You need to see if you can feed your family a nutritious diet. Use the data collection sheet template. Go to two different types of stores, one in a more impoverished neighborhood and one in a wealthy neighborhood (see: http://www.city-data.com/income/income-St.-Louis-Missouri.html to identify neighborhoods based on medium household income). Does $157.08 (21 meals per week X 4 people @ $1.87 per meal) cover the costs of the menu?  Make sure to include the following:  description of store interior and exterior, employees, customers, neighborhood, Price totals, Price comparisons on selected items. (minimum 250 words)

• Shopping difficulties, availability of products, problems sticking to menu, variety, nutrition (canned vs. fresh), transportation? (minimum of 125 words)
• Can you survive (why or why not?) How far will the rest of your money go? What about next month? The month after that? Are you prepared for emergencies? (minimum of 125 words)
• Discussion of the significance of the shopping experience (minimum of 125 words)
• Include your data collections sheet.

4. Applying the Three Sociological Perspectives (Functionalism, Conflict Theory, and Interactionism):

• Analyze and discuss your observations. We want to see critical thinking. (375 words)
• You need to focus on the significance of the Poverty from each of the three theoretical perspectives.  Make sure to define the three perspectives and their views on economic stratification and poverty, discuss main assumptions, list scope, and apply.
• Focus on patterns, variations and consistencies in responses related to the situation (time and place), the various individuals involved (variables like gender, race, social class), and the impact of living life at the poverty line.  Make sense out of what happened.  Sociological sense!  Then connect your ideas to the sociological perspectives.
  • Interactionist perspective:  Compare life at the poverty line to the "typical" American family. What insights would be relevant from an interactionist perspective? Include the following discussion points:  "Typical" family vs. reality of poverty, "Looking-Glass Self," "Self-fulfilling Prophecy," "Definition of the Situation," Relativity of Poverty, Impact on attitudes, Impact on behavior?
  • How do Functionalist and Conflict theorists differ in their analysis of the significance of this data?  You must discuss both the central issues addressed by the theoretical perspectives concerning inequality and poverty, and also analyze your research findings from the point of view of these three perspectives.
• Be sure to correctly cite all information used from research resources (in-text citations and a list of references for each page) using the ASA manuscript submission guide (local copy with web citation guidelines or a full version of the ASA Style Guide).  Additional assistance with referencing online resources can be found here. Also, remember we are undertaking an academic activity, so please refrain from using opinion, unreliable or invalid resources, sensationalism, and other non-academic practices. See academic integrity statement and Turnitin information.

Grading Rubric and Scoring for this part of the project (75 points possible): General Evaluation Criteria for Written Work and Critical Thinking

Your project should be saved as a MS Word (.docx) document and submitted via the assignment link ("Living at the Poverty Line") in Module 4 found in our Canvas course site.

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