Continuity and Change in Social Problems PDF

CONTINUITY AND CHANGE IN SOCIAL PROBLEMS CD 133 OBJECTIVES Explain what is meant by this book’s subtitle, 1. “Continuity and Change.” List the three sources of changes to social 2. problems. Describe how the United States compares to 3. other democracies...

CONTINUITY AND CHANGE IN SOCIAL PROBLEMS CD 133 OBJECTIVES Explain what is meant by this book’s subtitle, 1. “Continuity and Change.” List the three sources of changes to social 2. problems. Describe how the United States compares to 3. other democracies regarding the seriousness of social problems.  Social problems are, first of all, persistent. They have continued for decades and even centuries, and they show no sign of ending anytime soon. In view of social problems’ 1 long history, certainty of continuing for some time to come, and serious consequences, it is easy to feel overwhelmed when reading about them, to think that little can be done about them, and even to become a bit depressed. Empowering students in courses on social problems, injustice, and inequality. Teaching Sociology, 33, 44–58.  though social problems are indeed persistent, it is also true that certain problems are less serious now than in the past. Change is possible. As just one of many examples, consider 1 the conditions that workers face in the United States. As Chapter 12 "Work and the Economy" discusses, many workers today are unemployed, have low wages, or work in substandard and even dangerous workplaces. Yet they are immeasurably better off than a century ago, thanks to the US labor movement that began during the 1870s. One source of change in social problems is social science theories and research. Over the decades, theory and research in sociology and the other social sciences have pointed to the reasons for social problems, to potentially successful ways of addressing them, and to actual policies that succeeded in addressing some aspect of a social problem.  The actions of individuals and groups may also make a difference. Many people have public-service jobs or volunteer in all sorts of activities involving a social problem: 1 they assist at a food pantry, they help clean up a riverbank, and so forth. Others take on a more activist orientation by becoming involved in small social change groups or a larger social movement. Our nation is a better place today because of the movements/volunteer organizations.  Lanham, MD: Rowman & Littlefield. a former president of the American 2 Sociological Association, it is through such efforts that “ordinary people change America.”  Sharing this view, anthropologist Margaret Mead once said, “Never doubt that a small 2 group of thoughtful, committed citizens can change the world. Indeed, it is the only thing that ever has.” Change thus is not easy, but it can and does occur.  Eleanor Roosevelt (1960, p. 168) recognized this when she wrote, “Surely, in the light of 2 history, it is more intelligent to hope rather than to fear, to try rather than not to try. For one thing we know beyond all doubt: Nothing has ever been achieved by the person who says, ‘It can’t be done.’” The change also occurs in social problems because policymakers (elected or appointed officials and other individuals) pass laws or enact policies that successfully address a social problem. They often do so only because of the pressure of a social movement, but sometimes they have the vision to act without such pressure. A final source of change is the lessons learned from other nations’ experiences with social problems. Sometimes these lessons for the United States are positive ones, as when another nation has tackled a social problem more successfully than the United States, and sometimes these lessons are negative ones, as when another nation has a more serious problem than the United States and/or has made mistakes in addressing this problem. DOING RESEARCH ON SOCIAL PROBLEMS CD 133  OBJECTIVES List the major advantages and 1. disadvantages of surveys, observational studies, and experiments. Explain why scholars who study social 2. problems often rely on existing data. The survey is the most common method by which sociologists gather their data. The Gallup poll is perhaps the most well-known example of a survey and, like all surveys, gathers its data with the help of a questionnaire that is given to a group of respondents. The Gallup poll is an example of a survey conducted by a private organization, but sociologists do their own surveys, as does the government and many organizations in addition to Gallup. Many surveys are administered to respondents who are randomly chosen and thus constitute a random sample. In a random sample, everyone in the population (whether it be the whole US population or just the population of a state or city, all the college students in a state or city or all the students at just one college, etc.) has the same chance of being included in the survey. Some surveys are face-to-face surveys, in which interviewers meet with respondents to ask them questions. This type of survey can yield much information, because interviewers typically will spend at least an hour asking their questions, and a high response rate.  Experiments are the primary form of research in the natural and physical sciences, but in the social 1 sciences they are for the most part found only in psychology. Some sociologists still use experiments, however, and they remain a powerful tool of social research.  The major advantage of experiments, whether they are done in the natural and physical sciences 1 or in the social sciences, is that the researcher can be fairly sure of a cause-and-effect relationship because of the way the experiment is set up.  the typical experiment consists of an experimental group and a control group, with 1 subjects randomly assigned to either group. The researcher does something to the experimental group that is not done to the control group. Observational studies consist of both participant observation and nonparticipant observation. In participant observation, the researcher is part of the group that she or he is studying, spends time with the group, and might even live with people in the group.  Sometimes sociologists do not gather their own data but instead analyze existing data that 1 someone else has gathered. Analysis of existing data such as these is called secondary data analysis. Its advantage to sociologists is that someone else has already spent the time and money to gather the data.