Sociology

• Activists, Politicians, social media, and traditional media


  May not accurately reflect the true amount of support for a claim
• Options for getting a better understanding of public opinion


  • Informal Responses: talking with others, representations in popular culture, etc
  • Formal feedback: polls, focus groups, interviews, etc.
• Opinion Polls


  Sets of questions designed to gauge public perceptions about a topic in the target population
• Good polls


  • Representative of the population - the sample used accurately reflects the diversity of the population being sampled
• Polling methods


  • Mail
  • Phones
  • In-person
  • Online
• Regular surveys


  Like the census or General Social Survey, tend to be more accurate but take more time to complete
• Focus Groups


  In-depth discussions with a small number of participants discussing a topic
• Focus Groups


  • Where polls and surveys can accurately describe simple and generalizable opinions or trends, focus groups add more depth in terms of why people feel the way they do about a problem
  • A good focus group avoids leading questions and is a safe space for all participant opinions
• Problems with measuring public opinion


  • Polls: Is the sample representative of the population? Are questions able to accurately measure public opinion? How generalizable is a single poll?
  • Focus Groups: Generalizability, Dominant talkers in group, Imperative that moderator keeps everyone participating equally, Social norms surrounding politeness and disagreeability, People may feel pressure to remain silent when others voice opinions they disagree with
• Public opinion may not accurately reflect what exists in data
• Public opinion measures perceptions, and those may be inaccurate
• Folklore


  Information disseminated informally (among the people)
• Common sense


  May be based in legends and misinformation
• Urban legends


  Unverified stories about events that seem like it could be true
• Joke Cycle


  A set of jokes that share a form or topic
• Functions of jokes


  • Claim: Humor allows the public to sympathize with victims of a social problem
  • Counterclaim: Humor used to attack beliefs and claims of protestors
• Appeasement


  Authorities are willing to cede ground or at least meet with protesters and claimsmakers
• Repression


  Attempts to shut down protests and claims making
• Avoidance


  Attempts to downplay seriousness or ignore claims altogether
• No type of response is guaranteed to defuse protest and claimsmakers
• Policymakers


  People who have the power to create or change policies
• Policy Stream Model


  A pluralist theory with 3 streams: Problem Recognition, Policy Proposal, and Political
• Theories of American Politics


  • Pluralist Democratic Theory: Majoritarian Electoral Democracy, Majoritarian Pluralism
  • Elite Theory: Economic-Elite domination, Biased Pluralism
• 4 Ways for social movements to influence policy


  • Replacement: Vote policy makers out of office
  • Conversion: Convert policymakers so that they support demands of the movement
  • Creation: Be part of the creation of new institutions or organizations meant to deal with the social problem
  • Reconfigure: Add new voices, perspectives, frames, and more to policy debates
• The more the Social Problems Process is centered on creating and enacting policies, social movement organizations take a lesser role</b>
• Risks for social movement organizations


  • Ownership: politicians begin to take ownership of the issue, which can weaken the public presence of a Social Movement Organization
  • Compromise: Legislative processes often entail compromise, will SMOs tolerate the compromises of their demands
• Social Problems Work


  The day to day process of making sure rules are followed, subjects are treated, etc
• Elements of Social Problems Work


  • Social Problems Worker
  • Subjects
  • Organizations
  • Institutions
  • Policymakers
  • Media
  • Observers
  • Subjects
• Social Problem Workers and Subjects


  Two groups may find themselves at odds or just misunderstanding each other
• Resistance


  Subjects may resist treatment and advice from SP workers, either actively or due to inability to do what is asked
• Social Problem Worker Power


  When Social Problem Workers and their institutions hold power over individuals, they can create punishments (and rewards) that strongly incentivize subjects to follow along
• Harm Reduction


  Policies meant to reduce the use of harmful substances rather than abstain from them
• Harm Reduction Practices


  • Needle exchanges
  • Methadone clinics
  • Recovery coaching
  • Housing and job support
• Abstention


  Treatment programs meant to get people to completely stop using
• Policing


  The War on Drugs and other policies have tried to stop the flow of drugs into the country
• Harm Reduction Positives


  • Managed addiction; lower mortality and overdose rates; lower transmission of disease; lowered crime rates
• Harm Reduction Negatives


  • Individuals are still using drugs; the choice to quit is up to the individual
• Methadone/Suboxone Clinics


  For those at extreme ends of risk in terms of opioid addictions, both clinics help manage addictions
• Methadone/Suboxone Clinics are prone to abuse and addictions
• Reasons a social problem may not go away


  • Policy is insufficient
  • Policy is excessive
  • Policy could create unforeseen problems