1.

The pandemic, covid-19, has forced major modification and

changes to our society. Could you please state some of those
social changes (At least three)?

Society is an organized group of persons associated together for religious,

benevolent, cultural, scientific, political, patriotic or other purpose. Here
people interact to each other for their common purposes. This interaction
and communication build a strong bond between human being and
society. Any slight changes in human society, can be a bigger change for
the whole community.

In sociology, social change is the alternation of mechanism within the

social structure, characterised by social changes in cultural symbol, rules
of behaviour, social organisation or value systems. In 2020, we had faced
a lot of changes in life, in society. Still some became major changes and
all those because of the new virus covid-19. Though that is an
environmental issue. So, can’t do anything to control that easily. This
virus has spread all over the world and the whole world is facing much
changes in their lives and in their society as well.

Economical changes to the changes of social behaviour, educational

changes to mental health, everything has changed. Let’s state those major
changes and modification. They are:

i. Lack of social gathering and social interaction: From any

happy celebration to sad one’s people are more likely into spend
time together, whereas in office, in school, in any party or events.
In every culture, religion and in every occasion of life we had
celebrated each other happiness together. But in this situation any
kind of gathering is in an indoor public place and in outdoors,
nothing is possible.
So, people have to celebrate those occasion alone or by virtual
interaction.

ii. We are more into online: In this century, we all know how much
people are into online. After the covid-19 pandemic and lockdown
the dependency on internet is increasing day by day. To our
education system, office work, shopping, communication, news,
entertainment etc everything we do now on online. Since we are at

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 home and we have our jobs to be done. Our food, clothes,
medicines and other stuff we need so, the online platforms are now
the new saviour.

iii. Climate revolution: Behind all the suffering and disturbance and
financial difficulty of the Covid-19 pandemic, a much bigger
worldwide emergency is hiding: environmental change. Numerous
city-inhabitants have seen an improvement in their metropolitan
surroundings with cleaner-smelling air, more quiet, more secure
streets and bolder untamed life which offers a brief look at what a
greener world may resemble to live in.
For sure, satellite information has uncovered a drop in air levels of
nitrogen dioxide over urban areas and modern focuses across
Europe and Asia as traffic and manufacturing plants have
quietened falling Levels of dirty particles noticeable all around
which, similar to nitrogen dioxide, likewise because respiratory
illnesses have additionally enormously decreased. The lockdowns
and ensuing decrease in modern air contamination itself have likely
spared the lives of tens or a huge number of individuals.

2. Please explain those changes (answered in question no.1)

using any of the four theoretical perspective we discussed in
the course.

Social change is a transformation of culture, institutions, functions,

structures. These changes may happen quickly or slowly.

Definition
 According to Merrill and Elbridge, social change means, the large
number of people are engaging in activities that differ from those
which they or their immediate fore-fathers engaged in some timer
before.
 According to Jones, social change is a term used to describe
variations in our modification of any aspect of social process,
social patterns, social interactions or social organization.

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 The long-term impact that the covid-19 pandemic will have on society is
still uncertain. Covid-19 has affected every aspect of life around the
globe, from individual relationship to institutional operations to
international collaborations. This crisis is threatening small and growing
businesses in low-income nations, as Bangladesh. Covid-19 has brought
major changes to our society. These changes may affect a lot in our lives.

In our course of Sociology and Anthropology, we have discussed four

theoretical perspective of social change in different ways and different
type. As I described earlier the changes in question no.1. The main three
changes are:
 Lack of social gathering and social interaction
 We are more into online
 Climate revolution

I would like to explain those changes using the Evolutionary theory. As

we know in our course, Evolutionary theories help in understanding the
emergence of resistance and also in exploring the evolutionary
consequences of new biomedical and biocontrol technologies against
infection agents and agricultural production pests.

Also, Evolutionary theories strengthen that social changes in ways,

Unilinear and Multilinear.
In Unilinear theory, all society pass through the same stages of evolution
and same result. In Multilinear theory social changes can happen different
way. There is no same type of rules out there. As we can see this working
on our examples. People are more into online and virtual interaction.
Each country affected with covid pandemic and changes of that are same.
In any country social gathering is not allow indoor nor outdoor and the
climates changes in everywhere but differently.

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 3. ‘‘Application of knowledge gained through Anthropological
study could help us better prepare for covid-19.’’ – do you
agree? Explain your argument.

Yes, I think Anthropological studies could help us better prepare for

covid-19 and can help us showing the ways of surviving from this
pandemic.

In Anthropology, we know that anthropologists have important role in

public health crises. Today, as the world facing global health crisis, a new
virus covid-19 outbreaks in whole world. Anthropologists can help us
demolish our views and think more deeply about things we take for
granted. We are told all the time that the pandemic is unusual, which
means we have no frame to understand it.

Every epidemic and pandemic are unique, but anthropologists can point
out the parallels with other sources of epidemics and therefore suggest
what made them have their particular shapes and their particular
outcomes, to provide us with a basis for understanding what is going on.

Anthropology seeks to uncover principles of behaviour that apply to all

human communities. Anthropological study and training provide the
knowledge, skills and tools to work with people, study the past, and shape
the future. So, by reading the past, anthropologist can find out the status
of the new epidemic or pandemic.by studying every aspect, culture,
behaviour, surviving ways, they make links between then and can suggest
us the better things to come out from the crisis.

So, yeah, I think Anthropological studies could help us better prepare for
covid-19 and can help us.

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 4. Is it possible to apply ethnography during these covid-
isolation days? Explain your arguments.

In our course, we get to know ethnography is the systematic study of

human and cultures. Ethnography is a branch of Anthropology. Its studies
focus on large cultural groups of people who interact over time
Ethnography research is the most involved investigation. In Ethnography
studies they need to describe how a cultural group works, explore their
beliefs, behaviour, food, culture, language, power, resistance and so on.
It’s a complete research on something. A group of people or individual
select a culture, theme, issue or theories to study about the group. The
Ethnography researcher or Ethnographer begins the study by examining
people in interaction in ordinary setting. To know more and accurately
Ethnographer will have to stay there with the group.

In our course, we learn that Ethnography is a qualitative research method

where researchers observe and interact with a study’s participants in their
real-life environment.

During this covid-19 isolation days its not possible to stay with other
group or participate in anyone’s real life environment. Because collect
information in the context or setting where the group work or lives and to
know accurately they have to stay with them. This is called field work
what is not possible during this covid isolation days.

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 5. What did you learn attending the course? What is the
importance of the course in Development Studies? If you
were given authority, what changes/modifications would you
make?

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