Sage Research Methods Foundations

Paul Atkinson is Emeritus Professor of Sociology at Cardiff University. Recent publications include For Ethnography (SAGE 2014) and Thinking Ethnographically (SAGE 2017). The fourth book in his quartet will be Crafting Ethnography, also for SAGE. The fourth edition of Hammersley and Atkinson Ethnography: Principles in Practice was published by Routledge in 2019. He is a Fellow of the Academy of Social Sciences and of the Learned Society of Wales. Sara Delamont is a Reader Emerita in Sociology at Cardiff University. She currently conducts fieldwork on capoeira, the Brazilian dance-fight game, and savate, the French kick-boxing martial art. Her most recent book is Sara Delamont, Neil Stephens, and Claudio Campos, Embodying Brazil: An Ethnography of Diasporic Capoeira (Routledge, 2017). Her previous books include Feminist Sociology (SAGE, 2003), Key Themes in the Ethnography of Education (SAGE, 2014), and Fieldwork in Education Settings (3rd ed., Routledge, 2016). Together with Paul Atkinson, she was the founding editor of the journal Qualitative Research (SAGE). She was one of the editors of the SAGE Handbook of Ethnography (SAGE 2001). She is a Fellow of the Academy of Social Sciences and a Fellow of the Learned Society of Wales. She is the recipient of the Lifetime Achievement Awards from the British Sociological Association and the British Research Education. Alexandru Cernat is an associate professor in the social statistics department at the University of Manchester. He has a PhD in survey methodology from the University of Essex and was a post-doc at the National Centre for Research Methods and the Cathie Marsh Institute. His research and teaching focus on: survey methodology, longitudinal data, measurement error, latent variable modelling, new forms of data and missing data.  Joseph W. Sakshaug is Deputy Head of Research in the Statistical Methods Research Department of the German Federal Employment Agency at the Institute for Employment Research (IAB) in Nuremberg, a professor in the Department of Statistics at the Ludwig Maximilian University of Munich, and a professor in the School of Social Sciences at the University of Mannheim. He is also adjunct research assistant professor at the University of Michigan and faculty member in the International Program in Survey and Data Science. His research interests include the design and analysis of complex surveys, data integration, and empirical research methods. Richard Williams is a full professor and a former chairman of the Department of Sociology at the University of Notre Dame. He received his PhD from the University of Wisconsin in 1986. His teaching and research interests include methods and statistics, demography, and urban sociology. His work has appeared in the American Sociological Review, Social Forces, Social Problems, Demography, Sociological Methods and Research, The Stata Journal, Sociology of Education, Journal of Urban Affairs, Cityscape, Journal of Marriage and the Family, and Journal of Informetrics. Recent research by Williams has looked at issues involving the analysis of categorical data, for which he won the 2015 Stata Journal Editors’ Prize. Other work has focused on racial, economic, and institutional disparities in home mortgage lending in the United States; sociological analyses of bibliometric issues; fertility attitudes and behavioral consistency; interracial friendship in schools; and married couple decision-making.

Learning Activities
Preface
About the Authors
About the Contributors
Unit I: Inequalities As Social Problems
Chapter 1: Understanding and Solving Social Problems - Kathleen Odell Korgen
What Is a Social Problem?
Sociology and the Study of Social Problems
Why Are Some, but Not Other, Social Conditions Considered Social Problems?
How Can Professional Sociologists-and You-Help Solve Social Problems?
How to Conduct Social Scientific Research
Conclusion
Review
Key Terms
Chapter 2: Analyzing Economic Inequalities - Dawn R. Norris
Economic Inequality and Social Problems
Explaining Economic Inequality
Wealth and Income Gaps: How Much Inequality Exists?
The Question of Mobility
Social Problems That Cause Economic Inequality
Social Problems Caused by Economic Inequality
Solving the Social Problem of Economic Inequality: Policies, Movements, and Action
Conclusion
Review
Key Terms
Suggested Links
Chapter 3: Recognizing Racism and Racial Inequalities - Meghan Burke
What Is Race?
What Is Racism?
Why Does Racial Inequality Exist?
Why Do Racial Inequality and Racism Persist?
What Social Problems Relate to Racism and Racial Inequalities?
How Can We Challenge and Address Racism and Racial Inequality?
Conclusion
Review
Key Terms
Chapter 4: Examining Gender Inequalities - Kris Macomber
How Does a Social Constructionist Approach Examine Gender Inequality?
The Roots of Contemporary Gender Inequality: Identifying Patriarchal Culture
Contemporary Gender Inequality in the Workplace
Men's Violence Against Women
How Does Gender Inequality Affect Boys and Men?
Other Gendered Social Problems
Gender-Based Movements and Social Change
Conclusion
Review
Key Terms
Chapter 5: Focusing on Sex and Sexualities - Jason Crockett
Sex and Sexualities
Social Responses to Sex and Sexualities
Enforcing Sexual Norms at the Micro Level
Why Attitudes Toward Sex and Sexualities Change
Conclusion
Review
Key Terms
Unit II: Global Population Problems
Chapter 6: Preparing for Aging Societies - Deborah Lowry
What Is Population Aging?
What Social Problems Accompany Aging Societies?
What Are Governments Doing to Prepare for Aging Populations?
What Can Local Communities Do to Improve Conditions of Aging?
Conclusion
Review
Key Terms
Chapter 7: Making Sense of Migration and Immigration - Daniel Herda
What Is Migration?
The Social Construction of Immigrants as a Problem
Social Problems Causing Migration
Social Problems Affecting Immigrants
Social Problems Caused by Immigration
Conclusion
Review
Key Terms
Chapter 8: Researching Environmental Problems - Lillian MacNell
The Link Between Environmental and Social Problems
The Environmental Costs of Powering Our Lives
Recognizing and Curbing Climate Change
Food and Agriculture
Confronting Environmental Injustice
Conclusion
Review
Key Terms
Chapter 9: Contesting Crime - Bridget Diamond-Welch
The Social Construction of Crime
Mistakes in Claim Construction
Class, Race, Gender, and Critical Criminology
Social Problems That Cause Crime
Conclusion
Review
Key Terms
Note
Chapter 10: Understanding War and Terrorism - Amy Sodaro
Understanding War as a Social Problem
Seeing War as a Social Problem
War's Impact on Society
Understanding Terrorism as a Social Problem
Consequences of Terrorism
Confronting War and Terrorism
Conclusion
Review
Key Terms
Unit III: Institutional Problems
Chapter 11: Identifying Problems in the Criminal Justice System - Rena C. Zito
The U.S. Criminal Justice System
Policing
Courts and Corrections
Criminal Records
Conclusion
Review
Key Terms
Chapter 12: Discovering Problems in the Family - Rena C. Zito
What Is a Family?
Social Construction of Families as Problems
Family Problems as Social Problems
Social Problems Affecting Families
Conclusion
Review
Key Terms
Chapter 13: Pursuing Equity in Education - Erinn Brooks
Education and Schooling
The Purpose of Education
Social Problems in Education and Schools
Reforms That Can Improve Education Systems
Conclusion
Review
Key Terms
Chapter 14: Prioritizing Health and Health Care Inequalities - Gregory T. Kordsmeier
Understanding Health and Health-Related Social Problems
How Social Problems Affect Health
Social Problems and Inequalities in the Health Care System
Facing Health Challenges Collectively
Conclusion
Review
Key Terms
Chapter 15: Realizing the Power-and Vulnerability-of Institutions - Kathleen Odell Korgen and Maxine P. Atkinson
Why Does a Society Need Social Institutions?
Why Do Institutions Fail?
Declining Faith in Institutions in the United States
How Can Social Problems Weaken Institutions?
How Can We Save Our Social Institutions?
Conclusion
Review
Key Terms
Appendix: Addressing Social Problems Through Service-Learning - Glenn A. Bowen
Fundamentals of Service-Learning
Assessment of Service-Learning
Tips for Faculty Considering Service-Learning
Service-Learning in a Social Problems Course
References
Glossary
Index