SOCb2000 Applied sociology for policy making

Faculty of Social Studies
Spring 2023
Extent and Intensity
1/1/0. 6 credit(s). Type of Completion: zk (examination).
Teacher(s)
Mgr. et Mgr. Marcela Petrová Kafková, Ph.D. (lecturer)
Mgr. Lucie Vidovićová, Ph.D. (lecturer)
Guaranteed by
Mgr. Lucie Vidovićová, Ph.D.
Department of Sociology – Faculty of Social Studies
Contact Person: Ing. Soňa Enenkelová
Supplier department: Department of Sociology – Faculty of Social Studies
Timetable
Wed 10:00–11:40 P21a
Prerequisites
no prerequisites
Course Enrolment Limitations
The course is also offered to the students of the fields other than those the course is directly associated with.
The capacity limit for the course is 30 student(s).
Current registration and enrolment status: enrolled: 12/30, only registered: 0/30, only registered with preference (fields directly associated with the programme): 0/30
fields of study / plans the course is directly associated with
there are 8 fields of study the course is directly associated with, display
Course objectives
The aim of applied sociology is to "take" sociological and demographic knowledge outside the university and the academic sphere. The course will focus on practical exercises in the development of data models to inform strategies and policies. The public sphere (policy) and the organizational structure of a large institution (MUNI) will serve as training case studies for demonstrating and practicing the skills of working with data and bringing it into strategy documents, and vice versa, i.e. "translating" strategy documents into data needs.
Learning outcomes
Upon completion of the course, students will be able to: - analyze strategic documents using sociological methods - propose operationalisation of key concepts - create data bases for the purpose of policy making
Syllabus
  • The course offers practical skills, including "field trips", i.e. insights into the practical/authentic "policy making" process at different levels. "Outside the box" thinking will be encouraged (How do we measure whether the traffic light is sufficient for different groups of crossers? When building a housing estate, do we plant lawns first, or paint and pave the roads? How do we measure how seniors live on the street qualitatively or quantitatively? How do we verify that the measures taken against loneliness in the community have been successful?) The course is designed as a series of practice-oriented seminars with interpretation and practical processing of diverse sociological and demographic data for the development of so-called evidence-based policy, i.e. evidence-based measures. The course will focus primarily on the area of broadly defined social policy at national, regional and municipal levels, but the principles and practices covered in the course can be applied to a range of other areas. The outcome of the course will be to participate in a practical mock project to 'measure' age-friendliness at Masaryk University according to the principles of the Age-friendly University Global Network (AFU), and will involve database work and case study or interview work. Introduction to the concept of public interest, policy making, strategic documents and interdisciplinary cooperation Backbone concept of AFU I. Employer Backbone concept AFU II. Educator AFU Backbone Concept III. 3.Role of the University Case study: MUNI (fieldwork/data sources) Case study: family policy municipal, regional demographic forecasts Reading Week Case study: senior policy regional and global Case study: Petition against DpS Case study: Heat waves in cities Participatory strategy development and procurement tools from the perspective of the contracting authority (AARP Livability) (Together) Creating team-based projects Student Project Conference The course meeting will consist of a short presentation of the problem and assignment, followed by individual, group and collaborative work by the learners. Individual work in online resources will be combined with creative modes of collaboration. (1+1 format) Credits: 6 ETCS Selected Resources: Poth, C.N. 2018 Innovation in Mixed Methods Research. Sage (ch. 2, pp. 24-53). Bastow, S., Dunleavy, P., Tinkler, J. 2014. The Impact of the Social Sciences. Sage Tools for Advancing Age Inclusivity in Higher Education. https://bit.ly/30fOhGy Phillip G. Clark & Skye N. Leedahl. 2019. becoming and being an Age-Friendly University (AFU): strategic considerations and practical implications, Gerontology & Geriatrics Education, 40:2, 166-178,DOI: 10.1080/02701960.2019.1579714 Nina M. Silverstein, Meghan Hendricksen, Lauren Marshall Bowen, Andrea J. Fonte Weaver & Susan Krauss Whitbourne. 2019. "Developing an Age-Friendly University (AFU) audit: A pilot study," Gerontology & Geriatrics Education, 40:2, 203-220, DOI: 10.1080/02701960.2019.1572006 Amanda Simon, Sarah Masinda, Andrea Zakrajsek. 2020. Age-Friendly University environmental scan: Exploring "age-friendliness" with stakeholders at one regional comprehensive university. Gerontology & Geriatrics Education 0:0, pages 1-14. The British Sociological Association Applied Sociology Group https://appsoc.org.uk/?page_id=1435 (Resources) AARP The Livability Road map (resources) Data Brno CVVM (Societal Threats by Public) Morse, J.M. 2003. A Review Committee's Guide for Evaluating Qualitative Proposals. Qual Health Research, 13 (6) 20:833-851 Family Policy in Practice Workshop Recording - The ABCs of Family Policy https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=2jR2aOfTHss (3h) Motto: "Many, if not most sciences, present two aspects or departments, closely related to each other but distinct from each other. The first department is that which is called the theoretical or pure science. Its function is to study phenomena, ascertain facts, and establish laws and principles. It has no object in view beyond the acquisition of knowledge. The second department is the practical or applied science. This division has much of the nature of an art, its purpose being to take the facts, principles, and laws worked out by pure science, and devise methods of utilizing them to serve some human purpose. ... Applied sociology, ... seeks to serve wider ends than the accumulation of knowledge. It is concerned less with the ascertainment of truths than with the utilization of truths to serve human ends. Applied sociology turns its face not to the past, but to the present and future, and since the present is but a point of time, preponderantly to the future; it is not so much concerned with finding out why society is as it is, as with determin- ing how society can be made different from what it is better than it is." Fairchild, Henry Pratt. 1921. Outline of Applied Sociology. New York: Macmillan company, 1921. (pp.4-5) Available at: https://archive.org/details/outlineofapplied00fairiala/page/4/mode/2up Translated with www.DeepL.com/Translator (free version)
Teaching methods
lectures, class discussion, group projects, presentations by professionals in the sectors, homework, reading
Assessment methods
final project, presentation
Language of instruction
Czech
Further Comments
Study Materials
The course is taught annually.
The course is also listed under the following terms Spring 2022, Spring 2024.
  • Enrolment Statistics (Spring 2023, recent)
  • Permalink: https://is.muni.cz/course/fss/spring2023/SOCb2000