Analyzing Contemporary Social Issues:A Workbook with Student CHIP SoftwareDescription |
A hands-on workbook packaged with a CD-ROM of data sets that exposes students to the empirical side of the sociological study of contemporary social problems. From a review in Teaching Sociology of the first edition of Analyzing Contemporary Social Issues, “Particular strengths of this new workbook, and the accompanying data sets, are that it is easy to understand and the exercises are interesting and well-planned. The accompanying workbook for instructors is also easy to follow and clearly written. Gregg Carter has done an excellent job with this workbook. The variety of sources he uses as the data base is particularly impressive. Analyzing Contemporary Social Issues is a significant contribution to teaching sociology.”  |
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Features |
- Covers all the usual topics in a Social Problems course and can be used with any Social Problems text or on its own.
- Includes sets of computer exercises that build from “Basic” to “Advanced” levels.
- Eases students into the world of quantitative thinking and analysis.
- Increases student confidence and interest in social research.
- Concentrates on one-variable analyses.
- Focuses students' attention on the testing of general theoretical propositions against high quality data - usually from nationally representative surveys or the census.
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New to this Edition |
- The Windows version of CHIP software has replaced the DOS version, providing more graphics options for displaying relationships. The accompanying CD-ROM now includes both Windows and MAC versions.
- Adds a new chapter on how students should read and think about social problems as they are presented in the media (Ch. 1).
- Includes new chapters on education and the environment (Chs. 10 and 11).
- Features new Exploratory exercises that allow students to come up with their own hypotheses and their own interpretations.
- Includes 17 new data files, many of them cross-national with variables that include the status of women, political violence, the environment, economic development, and the type of political systems.
- Increases the number of accompanying exercises.
- A Companion Website will contain updates of the CHIP data sets.
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Table of Contents |
All chapters include “Suggestions for Further Study,” and most include “Exploratory Exercise.”
Analyzing Contemporary Social Issues.
About Student CHIP.
Reading and Thinking Critically about Contemporary Social Issues.
The Societal Context of Social Problems.A Critical Reasoning Framework.A Primer on Critical Reading.
Elementary Data Analysis Tools Needed to Study Social Issues.
Measures of Central Tendency.Measures of Dispersion.Scatterplots and the Correlation Coefficient.Basic Tabular Analysis.Criteria for Establishing Causality in Non-Experimental Situations.The Art of Reading Partial Tables.
1. The Sociological Study of Contemporary Social Issues and Problems.
Is It the Government's Responsibility to Reduce Income Differences between the Rich and the Poor?Prayer in Public Schools.Should Abortion Be Legal for Any Reason?Selected Answers for Chapter 1 Exercises.
2. Social Problems and Social Conflict - The Political Dimension.
The Social Correlates of Political Party Identification.Social Class and Political Participation.
3. Inequality and Poverty.
An Examination of the “Status Attainment” Model and the Predictors of Individual Economic Success.The Wealth of Nations: Associations among Economic Development, Political Structure, Literacy, Fertility, Hunger, and Infant Mortality.
4. Race and Ethnic Relations.
Race, Ethnicity, and Poverty-African-Americans, Latinos, Asians, and Whites.The International Scene: Ethnic Diversity and Separatist Movements.
5. Gender Inequality.
Sex Differences in Income.The Status of Women: Cross-National Comparisons.
6. Aging Issues.
Health, Poverty, and Social Interaction.
7. Crime, Deviance, and Social Control.
Anomie Theory, Control Theory, and Understanding Deviance.Social Class and Deviance.Social Integration and Deviance.
8. The Family and Intimate Relationships.
Who's Most Likely to Be Divorced?
9. Health Issues.
Social Class and Health.AIDS-A Cross-National Examination.
10. Education Issues.
Predicting Minority Success in School - Individual and Contextual Factors.
11. Environmental Issues.
The Correlates of Environmental Destruction: Cross-National Findings.
About the Author.
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