How can you know if the person or organization providing the information has the credentials and knowledge to speak on this topic? one clue is the type of web site it is--the domain name ".org" tells you that this site is run by a nonprofit organization. now scan the post to find the name and credentials of the person who wrote it. what is the affiliation of the writer? what is the affiliation of the writer? she is a genetic engineer. she is a public relations officer for monsanto. she is on staff at the center for food safety (cfs). she is a journalist.

What are the functions of wal-mart? are they the same or different from the functions of wal-mart in our individual lives? how do the two type of functions connect? does wal-mart have both manifest and latent functions? what are they? are there any dysfunctions of wal-mart for society? if so, what are they? how might these dysfunctions serve as incentives or catalysts for social change? conflict questions: does wal-mart affect every group in society in the same way? if not, what are the differences? how does wal-mart perpetuate the inequalities (of gender, race, class, religion, age, sexual orientation, etc.) in our society? how does wal-mart contribute to conflict between unequal groups in our society? how might wal-mart contribute to social change or the amelioration of inequalities in society? interactionist questions: what kind of symbolic world are you likely to encounter inside a wal-mart store, and how does that affect the shopper’s experience? how does wal-mart influence our interpersonal interactions? how do interpersonal interactions shape the wal-mart experience for shoppers? for workers? how does wal-mart contribute to our socially constructed reality?