Sociology and social policy Flashcards
What are social problems?
These are aspects of social life that cause misery and anxiety to both private individuals and society in general.
What are examples of social problems?
Crime, child abuse, domestic violence and suicide are examples of social problems.
Who sponsors the research of social problems?
People in power, such as the government.
How is sociological research central to social policy?
It can provide governments with crucial data about the extent of a problem and explanations can help shape the social policy response.
What may politicians disagree with sociologists about?
The cause of a social problem.
What’s an example of a disagreement between a sociologist and politician?
e.g. a politician may prefer to blame poverty on its victims, rather than on government policies and the way society is organised.
What are sociologists interested in?
Sociologists are interested in how societies and social institutions work and how individuals interact and interpret one another’s behaviour.
What does sociologist research function to do?
Sociological research functions to increase knowledge of how society works and why social groups behave in patterned and predictable ways.
What are the three ways research is based on social and sociological problems and their relationships to social policy in?
Descriptive, explanatory & evaluative
Descriptive research
Describes a situation or set of facts.
Explanatory research
Sets out to explain social phenomenon, such as poverty. It gives reasons as to why it occurs and encourages social policy makers to do something about it.
Evaluative research
Monitors and assesses the effect of social policies and see if they work.
Why are sociologists attracted to sociology?
Some sociologists are strongly attracted to the subject of sociology because they feel that some inequality/injustice needs to be corrected.
Peter Townsend
Poverty researcher Peter Townsend was committed to ending poverty and he did studies on the elderly and the poor which were a result of this commitment.
What must sociologists ensure?
Enquiries are fair and not allow personal or political values to affect what is discovered and reported. Values may influence their choice of topic, but the methods used to gather evidence should be bias free.
