Intro to Social Problems

8/14/2019 Intro to Social Problems

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How SociologistsHow Sociologists

Approach SocialApproach SocialProblemsProblemsAngie Andriot

Lecture 2


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Last TimeLast Time

We:We:

Examined some issues fundamentalto the philosophy of sociology, such

as: What is sociology, the social

sciences, and science?

How can we build knowledge?

What is real? What is the sociological

perspective?

Do we have free will?


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Key TermsKey Terms

Were:Were:

Sociology

Science

CulturePositivism

Antipositivism

The Sociological Perspective

Social locationStructure

Agency


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Today We:Today We:

1. Define what a social problem is

2. Describe the sociological approach

to social problems3. Identify the four main methodsand designs used to study socialproblems


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KeyKey

Concepts:Concepts:

Social Problem

Objective Condition

Subjective Concern

Sociological Research

Survey

Experiment

Interview

Document

Participant Observation


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"We cannot live forourselves alone. Our livesare connected by a thousand

invisible threads, and alongthese sympathetic fibers,our actions run as causesand return to us as

results."

Henry Melville


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SociologySociologyThe SCIENTIFIC study ofSOCIETYand human

behavior

People who share a CULTURE anda TERRITORY

The application ofsystematic methods to

obtain knowledge

LanguageLanguage

BeliefsBeliefs

ValuesValuesNormsNorms

BehaviorsBehaviors

ObjectsObjects


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SociologySociologySOCIETY

BEHAVIOR


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SociologySociologyPUBLIC ISSUE

PERSONALTROUBLE

i l


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SocialSocial

ProblemProblemSome aspect of society thatpeople are concernedabout

and would like to change

We must separate the objective

conditions from the subjectiveconcerns

What people? How do they decide?FactsFacts

DataData

MoralsMoralsValuesValues

EvaluationsEvaluations

ObservationsObservations

l


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Apply toApply to

Abortion:Abortion:Take a moment and think about howone would approach examining the

issue of abortion.What are the objective conditions?

What are the subjective concerns?

What morals and values underlie

each sides argument?


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Objective:Objective:


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Subjective:Subjective:


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Your Top SocialProblems

Racism

Violence

Social Class Inequality

Sexism

Homophobia

Who gets to decide?


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ValuesValues

++

PowerPower


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Dynamic SocialDynamic Social

ProblemsProblemsWhat is considered a socialproblem changes over time and

location.

Ex: Gender-Selective abortion

Ex: Interracial marriage


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SociologicalSociological

ResearchResearchbased on the use ofEMPIRICAL data tosubstantiate concepts and

theories and to test

hypotheses.

A simple, abstract construct (idea) that

represents some aspect of the world.

Facts that we observe, measure, and verify

with our senses.An educated guess

or proposition

about the

relationshipbetween two or

more phenomena

that is stated in

testable form.

A formal statement that attempts to explain a

phenomenon by attributing it to particular

relationships among a group of concepts.


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Science orScience or

Interpretation?Interpretation?Sociological research is

a systematic method of

direct observation of the

world, similar to the

natural sciences, which

produces objective

knowledge of social

phenomena and, in

some cases, generalsocial laws.

Associated with

quantitative research.

Sociological research

examines the meanings

that actors attach to

social phenomena.

Meanings are subjective

and not governed by

universal laws; hence,

sociology differs from

natural science.

Associated with

qualitative research


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(deductive)

(inductive)


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1.Survey

2.In-Depth Interview3.Participant Observation

4.Document Study

5.Experiment

Methods forMethods for

Gathering Data:Gathering Data:


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.


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Type of question... Best Used for...

Open-ended When respondents' own words areimportant; when the surveyor doesn't

know all the possible answers.

Closed-ended when all response choices are known;when quantitative statistical resultsare desired.

Likert-scale To assess a person's feelings about

something.Multiple-choice When there are a finite number ofoptions

Ordinal To rate things in relation to otherthings.

Categorical When the answers are categories, and

each respondent must fall into exactlyone of them.

Numerical For real numbers, like age, number ofmonths, etc.

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