Lauren Kurtz Sociology 105 The Annotated Sheet A Guide to filling out the record sheet Article Information This is preliminary information Fill this table in before you start reading Just look at the title and the authors names Title The Social Problems Process p 3 16 Author s Joel Best Analysis Information Examine the article as a whole Try to determine something about the purpose audience and content of the paper before you start reading Look for clues in the title and or subtitle Purpose I believe that the purpose is a guided article on social problems and how to define them The article will touch upon how to identify and understand social problems This chapter will explain different interpretations of social problems in society Audience The audience seems to be an uninformed population who is looking to gain more knowledge and awareness of social problems Subject This article is about identifying and defining social problems It also helps people understand what can and cannot be categorized as a social problem Primary Details Start reading If the article has a labeled introduction you should find the author s statement of purpose or thesis statement before the end of that section Thesis Most people have a commonsense notion of what the term means but actually defining the concept turns out to be much trickier Lauren Kurtz Sociology 105 Evidence Limits Point of View The usual answer is to define social problems as conditions that somehow harm society Once we define social problems as harmful conditions we can look around until we spot a harmful condition and then identify it as a social problem We realize that people often disagree about what should be considered social problems The author is limited by not being able to add his own opinion He states generalizations but he does not include his personal views on these stereotypes He does this so he does not take away from the effect of all of the facts he is stating The author has a somewhat neutral point of view in that he does not choose a particular stance but rather states that none are right or wrong He does however declare that defining social problems is a very complicated process He includes all beliefs throughout his article Presentation and Argumentation Keep reading but watch what the author is doing This step requires that you read the article to gain an understanding of how the author presents the evidence and makes it fit into the argument At this stage of the exercise you should also take the time to look up any unfamiliar words or concepts The last few paragraphs of the article should tidy up the discussion show how it all fits together neatly Concepts Words Objectivist tries to couch the definition in terms of objectively measurable characteristics of conditions Subjectivist defines social problems in terms of people s subjective sense that something is or isn t a problem Social Construction the way people assign meaning to the world Social Problems Process the focus of social problems should focus on how and why particular conditions come to be constructed as social problems Constructionist Why do people decide that something needs to be done about some conditions and how do they decide exactly what should be done Lauren Kurtz Sociology 105 Conclusion We neither accept everything we hear at face value nor assume that it is all meaningless Rather we learn to evaluate claims to look for evidence and so on Similarly sociologists can offer support for their arguments and this book will try to suggest the nature of that support Implications Ultimately this text states how different views of one definition can unify to define the concept This might be useful for people who are confused by social problems or anyone who are typically narrow minded when it comes to their beliefs on the concept Evaluation Now that you ve finished reading consider your personal reaction to it not only did I like it it was hard to read or it was boring interesting Evaluating means comparing one thing to some kind of standard that is other articles you ve read in class Personal Reaction I would have enjoyed this paper more if the author had expressed more of an opinion I find it easier to follow one view rather than multiple views Also this would give the reader a way to either agree or disagree with the author s perspective Evaluation This was a good article but it did not have enough depth compared to others I feel as if it needed more substance when it came to the opinionated area Reference Amanda Graham 1998 The Annotated Sheet A Guide to filling out the Record Sheet http www yukoncollege yk ca agraham guides aguide htm
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