Sociological Imagination To Study Social Problems

1. What is a social problem? What does it mean to develop a sociological imagination to study social problems?
A social problem is any condition or behavior that has negative consequences for larger numbers of people and that is generally recognized as a condition or behavior that needs to be addressed. Found on Page 16 chapter 1.
2. What are the main sociological research methods used to study social problems? What are the relative advantages and disadvantages to each? What are the some of the ethical considerations of social science research?
There are four methods of research, survey, experiments, observation, and existing data.
Advantages of a survey, you can include many people and you can generalize results if taken from a random

Then you must raise questions that define the concepts for your research. You must then create the hypothesis from the question, and it defines a relationship between two variables.
3. What are the different ways that the US government measures poverty? What are they? Are they accurate?
The government has a census they go by. In this census they measure, costs, medical expenses, income, and non-cash help. In the rates the people differ so I think it is accurate, they include things like work income and status, regions, family structures, age, gender, and race. In the video 49 million Americans in Poverty, they talk about elderly being higher in poverty as opposed to children. They talk about the elderly having 2-3x more food insecurities than that of children.
4. Why has the US Poverty rate increased since 1973? Who is most likely to be poor in the US?
Poverty reached its low in 1973, the U.S retreated from its war on poverty by cutting back on the programs and services it had provided. The U.S poverty rate increased because more and more Americans didn’t have financial security and weren’t employed. Medical expenses can have an impact as well especially they elderly because nursing homes cost a lot of money because of the kind of care the person

How is “crime” measured officially in the US? Are crime rates rising or falling in the US today? How do you know?
Crime data is collected through the Uniform Crime Reports, the National Incident-Based Reporting System, and the National Crime Victimization Survey.
Violent crime in the U.S. has fallen over the past quarter century.
Property crime has declined over the long term.
The pew research website said that most crimes are not reported to police, and most reported crimes are not solved. This was as of Feb 21, 2017.
7. Consider the following quote by Bryan Stevenson: “the opposite of poverty is not wealth; the opposite of poverty is justice?” What does this statement mean? Do you agree with Stevenson? Give specific examples to support your position.
I think Stevenson means that we prevent the poor from accessing justice, we exacerbate their deprivation.
I do agree to an extent because we do not stop one from obtaining a lawyer, hence the terms “if you cannot afford a lawyer one will be appointed for you.” But, these low-income people are so poorly represented sometimes I think it’s quite unfair. Also, there are times where the more money one has the less likely the person will receive a guilty