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On the 18th of July, the world will celebrate Nelson Mandela Day. Mandela has been hospitalised for over two weeks. The BBC reports today that the human rights leader and Former President of South Africa is in a stable but still critical condition. In… Continue Reading “In Honour of Nelson Mandela Day”
Here’s a brief visual overview about how sociology is used beyond universities. Applied sociology is the use of sociological concepts and methods to answer specific client questions and to address community concerns. This video covers: what is sociology? What sorts of questions and problems… Continue Reading “Introduction to Applied Sociology”
Your classic sociology quote for the week, colleagues: “Clearly, society has a tremendous stake in insisting on a woman’s natural fitness for the career of mother: the alternatives are all too expensive.” – Ann Oakley, 1974. Woman’s Work: The Housewife, Past and Present. Our blind… Continue Reading “Classic Quote of the Week: Ann Oakley on the Sociology of Women’s Unpaid Work”
I have previously discussed the four questions facing applied sociologists. These questions refer to how we utilise sociological theories, methods and principles in our work, and the challenges and opportunities we encounter practising sociology outside academia. In brief, these questions are: Sociology for What? That is, why are… Continue Reading “Sociology for Clients”
Dr Martin Luther King Jr was born on the 15th of January 1929. Our American colleagues and others might know that King had a degree in sociology and theology (of course!). As the Blackwell Encyclopaedia of Sociology notes, King remains “a public sociologist par excellence.” In… Continue Reading “Dr Martin Luther King: “Public Sociologist Par Excellence””
What are the roles that applied sociologists take on? What skills and methods do they apply in order to carry out their work? What workplace issues do they face? How do they manage their professional challenges and celebrate their triumphs? As I’ve previously written… Continue Reading “Applied Sociology Roles, Skills and Methods – New S@W Series”
By Zuleyka Zevallos This article was first published by Nexus, the newsletter of the The Australian Sociological Association (TASA), in June 2008 [1] This special edition of Nexus focuses on the applied work of sociologists. There are multiple interpretations of what this might mean. People work… Continue Reading “Doing Sociology Beyond Academia: Making Applied Sociolgy “Work””
By Scott Burrows [1] This short article discusses the way I have experienced studying a social policy issue such as unemployment outside of an academic setting. As is well known in professional and research consultancies, many social policy problems examined by private organisations are sometimes limited… Continue Reading “Youth Unemployment in the Illawarra: An Investigation into the Problems facing Young Job Seekers in our Region”
Data are necessary for robust social science but very expensive to collect. Current regulations limit the ability for public servants and researchers sharing their data with the public. What does the open data movement mean for applied sociologists? Here’s two brief case studies on what’s happening… Continue Reading “Open Data, Open Access & What They Mean for Applied Sociology”
Sociology at Work 