Causal Layer Analysis (CLA) of Students' Cultural Distance with Topics of Sociology Textbooks in the Humanities Major in High School

Document Type : Original Article

Authors

1 Professor, Department of Social Sciences, Kashan University, Kashan, Iran.

2 PhD student, Iranian Social Issues, Kashan University, Kashan, Iran

3 PhD graduate student, Iranian Social Issues, Kashan University, Kashan, Iran.

10.48310/jcdr.2025.18903.1159

Abstract

Background and Objectives: The textbook is the basis and source of all tests, exams of schools, organizations and higher education centers, as well as selections. The content of high school sociology books is derived more from official and ideal values ​​than from everyday realities. Ethnic, gender and digital culture (which is important in the lives of adolescents) are almost ignored and the book does not represent the real world of today's adolescents. It can be said that we are witnessing a cultural gap between high school sociology books in the humanities and students. The purpose of this research is to analyze the causal layers affecting the cultural gap of students with high school sociology books. Methods: This research is applied in terms of its purpose and its strategy is deductive. In this research, with the aim of explaining the cultural gap of students from the titles of high school sociology books in the humanities (including: sociology (1), sociology (2), sociology (3)), the Inayatollah layered causal analysis approach was used. The statistical population includes 11 sociology experts and sampling was done using the snowball method. Experts in the field of sociology were interviewed and we reached theoretical saturation with a total of 11 interviews. Findings: Findings: 18 general categories were classified into four layers of analysis (litany, systemic causes, worldview, and metaphors and myths) based on the experts' opinions. Conclusion: Factors affecting students' cultural distance at four levels of layered analysis were identified as follows: At the litany level: the prevalence of a lifestyle without restrictions on education, the destructive influence of the media, the negative role of relatives and friends, and the inability to understand the course material. At the level of systemic causes: inappropriate content of books, teachers without sociology expertise, failure to benefit from the perspective of experts, weak curriculum planning, and a decrease in the status of teachers. At the level of worldview: adolescent identity crisis, lack of social skills, inattention to the tastes of the new generation, and ambivalence in adult behavior. And at the level of metaphors and myths: anti-rationalism, cultural hegemony, and forgetting the philosophy of science.









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