This assignment involves identifying a particular social issue that constitutes

This assignment involves identifying a particular social issue that constitutes a social problem. Sociologists are
trained to identify the nature and causes of social problems, along with possible solutions to these problems.
Sociologists conduct scientific research on social problems and disseminate this information at academic
conferences through paper presentations, through publishing articles in peer-reviewed scholarly journals, and
writing books. Prominent sociologists will occasionally appear on nationally televised programs to discuss their
research on a particular problem, or they may be asked to present their research to a government committee that
has been charged with a fact-gathering mission on a particular social issue. In these cases, a sociologist would be
expected to present their evidence of the problem, discuss the nature and the causes of this problem, and present
some possible solutions to politicians in the hope that government representatives can develop social policy that
helps alleviate the problem.
The purpose of this assignment is to give you some experience in analytically studying a social problem, making
reasoned arguments to support the acknowledgment of the issue as a social problem by policy makers, and how
to present this information to a larger audience. This purpose is consistent with the goals of public sociology,
which emphasizes educating the larger general public about the contributions that sociology can make to the
larger society. The benefits of this assignment for students are two-fold. First, if you plan on attending graduate
school in the future, it will help prepare you for future assignments that involve critical thinking and public
presentations. However, a second benefit is of a more personal nature, that of encouraging students to be able to
identify a social condition/issue as a social problem, applying a sociological analysis of that problem, and taking
steps to help rectify it.
What You Need to Do:
Your paper MUST contain the following five sections. Be sure to identify these sections using headings.
Section I: Discussion of the Social Problem
This section emphasizes the objectivist approach to social problems – that of presenting objective
evidence the indicates the existence of a social problem. It’s best to think of an issue/problem for which
you will be able to find statistics/research on. You must select a social issue that constitutes a real social
problem (in other words, something that impacts a sizable number of people and is a concrete problem.
This problem can be at the state, national, or even global level.
In this section you must provide recent statistics on the problem itself, along with citing sociological
research on its causes. Various state and federal agency websites are good places to look for statistics on
social issues. Think of government agencies like the Department of Health and Human Services, the
Bureau of Labor Statistics, or the United States Census Bureau as resources for employment, health, and
poverty statistics. You should also look at the various databases in the CU Library for reliable published
statistics. If you are having a difficult time trying to identify a problem, it is best to think of something
that you are passionate about. The textbook for this course is also a good resource for topics, but an
introductory sociology textbook can be helpful as well.
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Keep in mind that this assignment transcends political ideology in the sense that the issue or problem
you select does not have to be a “liberal” or “conservative” issue, simply an issue you believe (and most
people would agree) constitutes a social problem. However, whatever issue you select, part of your
grade will be based on the quality of the empirical evidence you provide to support your argument.
Section II: Raising Public Awareness of the Social Problem
This section will emphasize the subjectivist approach to social problems. In this section of your paper,
you will discuss different claimsmaking activities (see note at the end of this section) that will help raise
awareness of the issue to a broader audience. If it is a state issue, then focus on activities appropriate for
that level. If it is a larger issue (national or global), then focus on activities appropriate for those levels.
In addition to several claimsmaking activities, you are required to typify the problem. In other words,
how do you feel the problem should be characterized – is it a problem caused by certain groups,
corporations or political entities, or the larger social structure, etc.? Keep in mind how important this
part of social problems awareness is. You need to convince a broader audience that first of all the issue
constitutes a social problem, but you also want to shape how others see it. If this sounds biased in some
way, keep in mind that there is bias associated with every viewpoint. This is the subjective nature of
human inquiry and cannot be avoided. The objectivity that social scientists are expected to seek comes
from recognizing all research findings on an issue, not just those that support their viewpoint.
Note: Claimsmaking activities are activities that help inform others of the problem. Examples
include staging rallies in public, using media outlets to spread information regarding your
problem, etc. I want you to emphasize varied and appropriate activities that are relevant to your
topic. Keep these realistic since you are trying to reach a broad audience.
Section III: Identifying Realistic Solutions
In this section you will be presenting some solutions to the problem to your audience. These solutions
MUST be grounded in sociological research and be viable (possible to achieve and potentially
effective). There is not a specific number of solutions that I am looking for, but I will assess your
solutions in terms of their potential effectiveness, expense, and creativity. One or two won’t be enough,
but twenty is too many. Keep in mind that you want to succeed in your mission to bring attention to the
social problem, not turn people off because of exceedingly controversial or outrageous suggestions.
Remember that this is a sociology course, so your solutions must emphasize a sociological approach.
Section IV: Power Point Slides
The purpose of the Power Point slides is to summarize your paper for a prospective audience. Imagine
that you will be giving an oral presentation to a group of people (or even a national/global audience)
regarding your issue. How would you conveniently convey this information in an effective manner –
most likely through a Power Point presentation. Your presentation MUST consist of: (1) at least three
slides identifying the social problem, including statistics on the prevalence and impact of the problem,
along with its causes, (2) one or two slides on the typification of the issue (in what way is it a social
problem, who is impacted by it, etc.), and (3) at two to three slides presenting solutions to the problem. I
strongly discourage you from including animations or pictures in your slides. They should look
professional and include relevant content, not fluff or filler. Do NOT embed your Power Point
slides as a presentation within your paper, but instead include them as individual slides right after
Section III.
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The PowerPoint presentation should include at least seven slides and no more than twelve (excluding
your cover and references slides). You should include citations in your slides, but you DO NOT need to
include a slide of references since these will go in Section V of your paper. Your citations in the slides
should include only the last name of the author(s) and date of publication.
You will NOT actually be doing an oral presentation of this paper in this course.
Section V: References
This section will include your references used in the paper and Power Point slides. You are required to
use the ASA style.
Final Points:
Acceptable Sources for the Paper:
Acceptable sources include governmental agencies (Census Bureau, Bureau of Labor Statistics, etc.)
and non-governmental organizations (Organization for Economic Cooperation and Development, etc.),
scholarly sociology journals (American Sociological Review and Social Problems, etc.), and respectable
newspapers (New York Times, LA Times, etc.). If you are uncertain about a particular source you have
found, ask me and I will let you know. Keep in mind that your paper needs to be based on facts and not
yours or somebody else’s opinions or beliefs. The best approach to finding sources is to start with the
Cameron Library and search through the databases of published scholarly articles. Remember that you
MUST take a sociological approach here, so your sources need to be oriented towards that. The
minimum number of sources required in your paper is 10.
Paper Length, Writing/Grammar/Spelling, etc.:
Sections I-III should be at least 8 pages double-spaced, using a standard font and type size with 1-inch
margins. You should include a title page that includes your name, class information, and title of your
paper. Be sure to include page numbers at the bottom center of your paper.
The quality of your writing, formatting, etc. will be included in the grading of your paper, so be sure to
check for awkward grammar, typos, and proper punctuation. Your paper MUST be submitted as one
document and through SafeAssign in Blackboard. Be sure to check the box that submits your paper to
the global database