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This paper examines the Chicago sociologist William F. Ogburn's (1886-1959) views about technological unemployment, which were intimately connected to his analysis of the social impacts of technological developments and resulting social problems due to cultural lag. We trace the development of his views as seen through his well-known 1922 book, Social Change with Respect to Culture and Original Nature, his important contributions to the President's Research Committee on Social Trends (1933), and his lesser-known pamphlets designed for a broader audience-Living with Machines (1933), You and Machines (1934), and Machines and Tomorrow's World (1938). He used these pamphlets to educate the public about the dangers of new machines and technological unemployment. In doing so, he drew upon sociological analysis in his professional scholarly writings and his long-standing personal interests in social betterment and social reform. Our analysis also calls into question the adequacy of existing scholarship on Ogburn that has emphasized his commitment to a statistical, dispassionate, and "objectivist" approach to social science research. We call for a revised, richer, and more complex view of Ogburn's work and legacy as one of the nation's leading social scientists during the first half of the 20th century., (© 2022 Wiley Periodicals LLC.)

The purpose of this article is to contribute to the scholarship of teaching and learning in sociology by examining a set of course redesign improvements made in a Social Problems course at the undergraduate level. These improvements center on increasing students' critical thinking skills by integrating research-based, innovation-driven learning and student-centered strategies into a four-part course assessment redesign. Using a primarily case study approach, we examine quantitative data in the form of an interdisciplinary pre- and post- Critical thinking Assessment Test (CAT) from students enrolled in one iteration of the redesign for this particular course. Results from this analysis highlight the potential of these pedagogical improvements to foster the development of critical thinking skills and as an example of how assessment data can be used to guide further iterations of a course.

Given the profound social implications of climate change, this subject is increasingly important for a broad range of sociology classes. Sociology instructors who address the subject of climate change face a dilemma. Presenting too grim of a portrait risks fostering psychological distress and withdrawal from action to address climate change, whereas downplaying the magnitude of the crisis can provide false assurance that the situation is well in hand and that urgent action is unnecessary. I argue that educators must be sensitive in their presentation of the issue but forthright, even as the scientific evidence indicates that the social impacts of climate change are grim. This does not necessarily foster withdrawal and inaction. Social movement theory suggests that political participation is not primarily a rational pursuit based on calculated outcomes. Educators can inspire climate action by providing students with opportunities and support to do so.

This teaching note describes the design and implementation of an undergraduate research team project to conduct a tent census. Previous studies highlight the importance of real-world research as a part of sociology curriculum. Tents, as a visible sign of homelessness, represent one such contemporary social problem. Our undergraduate research team documented and geolocated tents in the city of Seattle between 2019 and 2020. This project integrated elements of active learning, collaborative learning, and problem-based learning. The strengths of our student research team were experiential learning, greater awareness and engagement in homelessness, and development of research and problem-solving skills. We offer some generalizable "lessons learned" from our assessment of the successes and challenges of a unique tent census project for student learning and engagement. This article concludes with the challenges of these kinds of real-world projects as well as recommendations for future faculty-student collaborations on important sociological issues.

In conditions of the current development of society which is characterized by mounting social, economic and political crises, the problem of destructive behavior of an individual acquires special significance and topicality. The paper presents the results of a theoretical and methodological analysis of this problem in foreign and domestic literature in several areas: analysis of the attitude of society towards destructive behavior in its historical aspect; philosophical and theological approach; sociological and demographic areas in the study of destructive behavior, biological and biochemical; genetic approaches; psychological and sociopsychological aspects in the study of destructive behavior of a person. In view of the analysis of various approaches and areas in the study of destructive behavior, the conclusions have been drawn that destructive behavior is represented as a complex phenomenon, caused by biological factors (genetic predisposition, constitutional features of the body structure, the use of psychoactive substances, etc.), social (economic and social crises ), psychopathological (connection with mental disorders), psychological (especially the system of needs and motives of activity), socio-psychological (the impact of socio-psychological maladaptation and characteristics of the values and meaning sphere of an individual) plans. These factors are interconnected and each of them has its own specific role in the complex of destructive behavior, and therefore it is impossible to obtain a holistic view of the phenomenon under consideration taken separately from the entire system of interconnected components.

Sociology curricula often house a variety of "hot button" or contentious topics (e.g., race relations, crime and deviance, personal freedoms/choice, gender). While departments may be giving more attention to ensuring that these topics are included in their curriculum, here I argue that we also need to engage students in reflection about their gut reaction to these divisive topics. How students take in the material will affect their ability to successfully meet the learning outcomes throughout their program. This research was guided by past work categorizing student reactions into three categories: resistance, paralysis, and rage. Preliminary results are presented, and a fourth reaction, paralysis by proxy, is also proposed. Last is a discussion of how we as educators can integrate research on student reactions into course design/implementation, thus setting students up for success.

This critical narrative history examines the development of sociology in the United States during what has come to be labeled as the Progressive Era, roughly the years from the 1890s to World War I. Despite the label, this era was defined as much by social problems associated with industrialization, urbanization, and immigration as by the growth of its cities and the wealth of its capitalists. We explore the roots of American sociology in the transition of protestant theology from Calvinism to its reformation in the social gospel, the simultaneous development of settlement houses, and the "creation" of sociology as the science of reform., (© 2012 Wiley Periodicals, Inc.)

The concept of generation within sociology has until recently been a marginal area of interest. However, various demographic, cultural and intellectual developments have re-awakened an interest in generations that started with the classic essay by Karl Mannheim. To date, the sociological literature has generally conceptualized generations as nationally bounded entities. In this paper we suggest that the sociology of generations should develop the concept of global generations. This conceptual enhancement is important because the growth of global communications technology has enabled traumatic events, in an unparalleled way, to be experienced globally. The late nineteenth and early twentieth century was the era of international generations, united through print media, and the mid-twentieth century saw the emergence of transnational generations, facilitated by new broadcast communications. However, the latter part of the twentieth century is the period of global generations, defined by electronic communications technology, which is characterized, uniquely, by increasing interactivity. The 1960s generation was the first global generation, the emergence of which had world-wide consequences; today with major developments in new electronic communications, there is even more potential for the emergence of global generations that can communicate across national boundaries and through time. If in the past historical traumas combined with available opportunities to create national generations, now globally experienced traumas, facilitated by new media technologies, have the potential for creating global generational consciousness. The media have become increasingly implicated in the formation of generational movements. Because we are talking about generations in the making rather than an historical generation, this article is necessarily speculative; it aims to provoke discussion and establish a new research agenda for work on generations.

There has been an increased demand on educational institutions to provide students with value for money. The sociology course SOCI3035 Caribbean Social Problems with 111 students was transformed to a fully flipped course replacing several face-to-face lectures, tutorials and assessment with online versions as homework. Face to face lecture time featured small group discussions on content posted online. The need for exploration of student perspectives on the flipped classroom were important given the unique context in which it was implemented. That the University of the West Indies Cave Hill is located in a small island developing state, that its Blended Learning Policy had only been recently approved, Barbadian students had to begin paying tuition fees and the new GPA instituted a year prior presented a critical juncture for the introduction of new methods. Significantly more students indicated they would take another flipped class and their participation in F2F discussion in large classes increased using the flipped approach. Students also felt the breakout discussions of the flipped approach compensated for the large tutorial groups whose registration had moved from 20-25 students to approximately 40 students. It was found that the approach contributed to enhanced learning for the students.

This paper advances the position that sociology needs to develop an approach to research which focuses on fundamental social problems. In doing so it shares many of the intellectual values and goals of political arithmetic while seeking to move methodologically beyond it. Since such problems are complex they will require, typically, interdisciplinary input and a concomitant approach to the development and appraisal of theories. We are not, therefore, advocating the primacy of sociology but arguing that it has a distinctive part to play in addressing the fundamental problems of the twenty-first century. However, a policy-oriented sociology has also to take up the task, so clearly defined by the tradition of political arithmetic, which is to hold governments to account. Consequently a central principle of a new policy science is that it should contribute to democratic debate about policy.

Positivism has been declared dead in sociological theory circles, yet questions remain as to its viability among researchers. The authors present diagnostic evidence about positivism in sociological practice through a content analysis of journal articles published in the late 1960s and the late 1980s in the sociological journals of the USA and Britain. Using an index based on seven elements of positivism that were characteristic of the 'theory construction' movement of the late 1960s, the authors find evidence of the effects of time and nation on the use of positivism. Disaggregation of the index reveals that most of the observed change is associated with the elements of 'instrumental' positivism, particularly statistics. The results raise questions about the relationship between theory and research and about sociologists' philosophies of science.

The current research examines whether a visual syllabus aids in information retention compared to a traditional text-based syllabus. The data derive from two lower-division sociology classes, each having a different syllabus format. Utilizing a syllabus quiz during the first week of the class provides the data about whether syllabus format matters. The data suggest the visual syllabus class retained more information given that students exposed to the visual approach scored significantly higher on a quiz than the traditional syllabus class. The current research presents an overview of why visuals may help in information retention with emphasis on the importance of inclusive course material and nontraditional students; an explanation of the data, methods, and analytic procedure followed by the findings; as well as a critical evaluation of and points to consider when creating a visual syllabus.

This study adopted a case-study approach to examine how associate degree sociology graduates evaluate their learning in a Hong Kong community college. Through focus group interviews, the learning experiences of sociology graduates were examined, specifically paying attention to their identification of enhancements in learning. The results of this examination indicate that the delivery of sociology education requires a strong emphasis on the integration of acquisition of sociology knowledge with social practice. It is important to consider how the curriculum engages the worldview of students beyond the personal and allows them to directly experience the social in a way that reflects what is going on around them. This study contributes to the discussion on the quality of associate degree education in Hong Kong and highlights the centrality of examining the issue from the point of view of students, particularly in the context of outcome-based education.

Software code, algorithms, data analytics and infrastructures have become inseparable from policy processes and modes of governance. This article introduces 'digital policy sociology' as a way of studying the role and influence of digital technologies in education policy. Building on existing 'policy sociology' approaches combined with emerging insights rom 'digital sociology', digital policy sociology extends the analytical gaze to new technical actors -- nonhuman software and hardware, as well as human experts, technology companies, and promotional organizations. As a case study exemplar, the analysis focuses on an emerging domain of data-intensive science and technology with significant implications for education policy in the future. 'Precision education' is an emerging combination of psychological, neuroscientific and genetic expertise, with a particular emphasis on using advanced computational technologies to produce 'intimate data' about students' bodies and biological associations with learning. These intimate data have potential to become new sources of biological policy knowledge, raising significant methodological and analytical challenges for policy sociology.

The topic of human-animal studies (HAS) remains largely ignored within the sociology classroom. While a few sociologists have encouraged teaching about animals, none has assessed whether incorporating nonhuman animals into the curriculum is effective. In this study, three instructors at two universities incorporated animal-related materials in their sociology courses in a variety of ways. Data analyzed from course exam responses and student papers as well as end-of-semester student surveys indicate that student learning and enjoyment were enhanced. We provide suggestions for instructors on how to incorporate such material in their courses. We argue that teaching about nonhuman animals can serve as a powerful gateway to introducing students to a wide variety of social issues and concepts, thereby adding another useful instrument to our pedagogical tool kit in sociology.

Sociology has been slow in responding to the challenge of climate change. In this conversation, we advocate adding more climate change content to Introduction to Sociology courses. To support our arguments, we present data from a content analysis of the top 11 best-selling introductory textbooks in the United States, demonstrating that environmental concerns are usually relegated to the end of books, which provide little (and sometime errant) content. Climate change gets even less attention, and there has been little change to textbook content over time. To correct such deficiencies, we suggest instructors free climate change from its current position as "a subfield of a subfield" and interweave the issue with all content areas in the curriculum. Our conversation concludes by considering how climate change can be featured in the curriculum of introductory courses as well as in the pedagogies presented at the introductory level.

The sociological imagination is a core component of all introductory sociology courses. A main focus of this perspective is how social forces are related to individual lives. Undergraduates are often socialized to rely on individualistic explanations of public issues. These explanations often blame, dehumanize, and other the victim, thereby inhibiting the understanding and application of structural analyses. A classroom activity that sought to increase empathy by showing video clips of individuals affected by the issues followed by a focused discussion of their experience was developed, implemented, and assessed. Results comparing pretests and posttests of students who engaged in the activity and those who were taught via more traditional methods indicate the exercise reduced victim-blaming and increased understanding of the sociological imagination. The pedagogical implications of these results for teaching introductory sociology are discussed along with the promise of sociology in the current socio-political context.

Recent research has called on scholars to develop pedagogical interventions to address issues of media literacy. This teaching note answers that call by describing a media literacy project designed for use in social problems classes. The project acquaints students to the constructionist approach to social problems and the method of content analysis. Guided by the principles of scaffolding, the note discusses how students are guided through a series of readings, assignments, and activities that enables them to analyze how social problems are portrayed in news media. Analysis of student papers and comments reveals an increased understanding of the rhetorical strategies that are commonplace in media coverage of social problems. While designed for social problems, the project can be adjusted and modified for use in other sociology courses.

In this instructional article, we describe a non-traditional course assignment in which we ask students in our social problems courses to write, illustrate, and present a children's book about a social problem as part of the process of learning. Over the course of the semester, students utilize guided handouts to create a children's book exploring and explaining a social problem of their choice. Students are asked to explain the social problem, conduct basic research, apply sociological material, and explore possible solutions. Along the way, our students learn to apply the sociological imagination and improve their understanding of how larger social phenomena shape the decisions of individuals. Students also acquire basic research skills and methodological knowledge that follows them throughout their academic career. In our experiences, we find that this fresh, intriguing assignment helps students overcome common barriers to learning about sociology, allows them to invest in their work, and encourages them to employ their own unique skills to create both a quality project and an educational memory.

This essay describes a method of teaching a very challenging anthology piece: Laura Kipnis's "Love's Labors" (chapter 1 of her 2003 "Against Love: A Polemic"). The method, although designed for a critical thinking course, should also provide resources for those who teach Kipnis's work in writing courses. Using the elements of critical thinking, the essay analyzes a difficult text and provides a range of questions and exercises that will complement the instructors' guide to "Ways of Reading," 9th edition. The guide suggests a sociological approach; the present essay aims to investigate the chapter's psychological material.

Students who experience a transcendent moment as they vicariously walk in the shoes of another person demonstrate the utilization of sociological imagination. Even though the concept of sociological imagination was advanced more than 50 years ago by sociologist C. Wright Mills, there is high value to revisit this concept and for its application to engage students in active learning in contemporary classroom environments. The objective is to better prepare students in the 21st century in order to better assess contemporary events and social problems with a more accurate and realistic understanding.

The first year course in Sociology at Mount Allison University introduced students to social issues via dynamic class interactions and assignments that are designed to build conceptual and applied skills. Developments to the course organization have maximized the opportunities for discovery learning and have made the class an enjoyable teaching experience. This article will outline the core innovations that have been developed: 1.) A workbook, similar in style to a hands-on science lab manual, has been developed to engage students in active in-class discovery learning projects. 2.) Client-based interactive class activities are used to help students engage in the solving of contemporary social problems in a manner that reveals the contemporary relevance and application of knowledge regarding social problems. 3.) Research assignments are provided through an internship at the simulated ESPRIT (Evaluating Social Policy Research Investigation Team) think tank which provides students with the opportunity to develop research and analysis skills that are relevant to careers in the field of social analysis. 4.) The course includes the analysis of a contemporary best-selling book that addresses a relevant social problem so that students have the opportunity to participate in current debates about issues of social importance.

Given that so many college students take Introduction to Sociology or Social Problems or both, we wondered about the amount of content overlap in these courses. We designed a study that used content analysis of syllabi from these courses in order to measure the amount of convergence between the two classes. In our sample, nearly 70 percent of the content was similar. More worrisome, some significant concepts, such as research methods and symbolic interactionism, were barely mentioned in either course. Given the new political economy of general education and more specifically higher education, we raise questions about the implications of such course content convergence and encourage the discipline to begin to address these issues.

The "sociological imagination"--the recognition of the relationship between "private troubles" and "public issues" (Mills [1959] 2000. "The Sociological Imagination". Oxford: Oxford University Press: 8)--is central to the discipline of sociology. This article reports findings of a 2014 study which investigated students' views on whether the development of the sociological imagination could be more explicitly embedded in a module on Race and Racisms through an (auto)biographical approach from teachers and the module's racially diverse students. After reviewing benefits and challenges to an (auto)biographical approach, the article presents findings from a student focus group, concluding that students would welcome (auto)biographical approaches to the topic of race and racism, with the caveat that this is handled sensitively with steps taken to minimise the risk of emotional harm.

This article draws on Mills' sociological imagination (from the 1959 publication "The Sociological Imagination") to consider the connections between personal trouble and social issues when it comes to the causes and consequences of obesity. These connections may be important for assuaging the "obesity bias" that pervades our discipline, particularly as it manifests in our undergraduate students and influences the ways they will act as future professionals.

Our objectives are to describe the pattern of abuse associated with battering and to evaluate the contribution of the medical system and of broader social forces to its emergence. A pilot study of 481 women who used the emergency service of a large metropolitan hospital in the U.S. shows that battering includes a history of self-abuse and psychosocial problems, as well as repeated and escalating physical injury. In addition, although the number of battered women using the service is 10 times higher than medical personnel identify, the pattern of abuse that constitutes battering emerges only after its initial effects are presented and in conjunction with specific medical intervnetions and referrals. Examination of intervention and referral patterns suggests a staging process by which battering is socially constructed. At first, the physical trauma associated with abuse is medicated symptomatically. But the patient's persistence, the failure of the cure, and the incongruity between her problems and available medical explanations lead the provider to label the abused woman in ways that suggest she is personally responsible for her victimization. Although secondary problems such as depression, drug abuse, suicide attempts, or alcoholism derive as much from the intervention strategy adopted as from physical assault or psychopathology, they are treated as the primary problems at psychiatric and social service referral points where family maintenance is often the therapeutic goal. One consequence of this referral strategy is the stabilization of "violent families" in ways that virtually insure women will be abused in systematic and arbitrary ways. The use of patriarchal logic by medical providers ostensibly responding to physical trauma has less to do with individual "sexism" than with the political and economic constraints under which medicine operates as part of an "extended patriarchy." Medicine's role in battering suggests that the services function to reconstitute the "private" world of patriarchal authority, with violence if necessary, against demands to socialize the labors of love.

A review of studies concerning international migration and the development of ethnic minorities in the Federal Republic of Germany is presented. "This review will emphasize primarily the sociological literature in the Federal Republic of Germany in the context of developments since 1960. In addition to a discussion of the key issues and concepts employed, empirical research in the areas of social problems, housing and urban questions, education, the second generation, and return migration, among others, will be treated." (SUMMARY IN FRE), (excerpt)

On the basis of submissions to the Canadian Review of Sociology and Anthropology and to the Annual Meetings of the Canadian Sociological and Anthropological Association, sociology in Canada may be described as social problem oriented, empirical, and atheoretical. There is a strong interest in research on ethnicity and on immigrant adjustment, reflecting a continuity with earlier periods of sociology in Canada, and on deviance and social control. Research on stratification, social mobility, and the family has been relatively neglected. As sociology in Canada shares the interest of "mainline" sociology, it has not escaped criticism or attempts to change its direction. A general model, identifying influences on the formulation of investigative issues in sociology, is used to interpret these criticisms and responses to them.

The possibility of using sociological theories on practical problems is a main view point for judging their usefulness. From a scientific-theoretical point of view activity- and disengagement-theory are adequately examined in this contribution. By this it is shown that these theories are lacking mainly in precision and consistency; moreover there is a limitation concerning their relevancy for daily use by the lack of the possibility of producing the variables used in the onsets.

Where the genesis of "disease" owes much to causes that are social and economic in nature, epidemiology holds unrealized potential as a tool of social criticism. A particularly interesting example is provided by suicide and suicide research. Methodological difficulties are explored in detail, major findings reviewed, and the dominant interpretations of such findings criticized. Research has consistently pointed to the risks of marginal or minority status, unemployment, weak community supports, situational crises, and the pressures people are subjected to during periods of economic depression. It is argued that the sociostructural implications of such research have been systematically ignored, attention being devoted instead to more efficient management of the suicidal individual--this in spite of the lack of success of suicide prevention centers. Initial steps toward an alternative framework are outlined, with emphasis laid on the need to disaggregate the suicide act. It is further suggested that self-destruction is a far commoner--indeed, integral--part of our social environment than the bare rack of suicide statistics would suggest.