- Does something represent a problem (does it have undesirable consequences)? What is the problem?
- Is it social? Does it affect a large number of people? Can we make predictions about which groups are most likely affected?
- What are the possible causes? Groups? Organizations? Societies?
- What are the consequences? Groups of people can be hurt (e.g., cutting welfare programs disproportionately affects the poor), but also institutions (the role of money in US elections may distort public access to information about candidates, issues, affecting democratic institutions)
- Who benefits (e.g., from poverty) ?
- Who has the ability, the power, the money, to influence public debates about a particular social problem? In other words, how are problems 'framed' for public consumption? Who has access to media to frame them? (coal, clean coal, 'clean coal technology' more clean coal, mountaintop removal) (for the financial crisis: Hannity, Democracy Now, Rick Santelli)
- Who should do something about the social problem, and what? e.g., government, individuals, businesses, institutions (education, health care, defense, telecommunications). Role of science/research?
Some examples:
Social mobility, 'stratification'
| |
What are your chances of reaching the… |
With parents in the… |
Bottom quintile |
Middle quintile |
Top quintile |
Top income quintile |
6.3 % |
16.3 % |
42.3 % |
Middle income quintile |
17.3 % |
25 % |
15.3 % |
Bottom income quintile |
37.3 % |
18.4 % |
7.3 % |
Some considerations
- What do we know, and how do we know it?
- Science and supporting evidence
- Structural versus individual explanations
- Process--social problems, societal perceptions of them, change over time (civil rights, gender, environment, race), and are complex enough that they're hard to predict
- 'Social construction'--perceptions of social problems can differ dramatically between people, groups--there is no 'official' social problem definition locked in a vault somewhere...
- Complexity--No easy answers--beware of simple explanations, simple solutions!
- Mills and 'private' versus 'public' issues (e.g., divorce, unemployment)
the NFL's dilemma
- What is CTE? What do we know?
- the money
- gambling (um, 'gaming')
- Labor negotiations, replacement referees, and gambling losses
- TV contracts: approx. $3 billion/yr
- Fantasy sports
- 'Journalism'--ESPN (owned by ....?)
- the players
- Fomer players, lawsuits
- What sells?
- College
- Size:
- Today's offensive linemen are on average 24 percent heavier than those of 1979, plus an average 31 percent stronger than those of 1991.
- From 1979 to 2011, NFL-bound centers enlarged from an average 6-3, 242 pounds to 6-4, 304 pounds.
- Flag football, anyone?
- Jim McMahon's 'choices' (the play)
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