What Would Durkheim Do?
Sometimes I think we as sociologists should wear little bracelets with the letters WWDD to remind us to ask ourselves, "What would Durkheim do?" Durkheim was interested in the social facts. Social facts are those things that happen externally to the individual, have a definable impact on the individual's life, and are observable/measurable. Social facts are the atoms of sociology and are often far more complex than the atoms of chemistry and physics. This page is devoted to revealing the social facts, straight from the data sets. I will focus on providing those social facts, out of the endless volumes, that contradict the common sense notions that we are all lead to believe to be true without question. If anything, this page is meant to inspire us to question what "everybody" knows.
Why don't they just come in legally? This is the question that I hear to justify draconian anti-immigration policy. Sociology can help with that answer. The reality is that it is virtually impossible for an impoverished adult to immigrate legally from Mexico unless that person already has a parent or child who is already a US citizen. That's a hard pill to swallow for desperate people trying to feed their families. A reassessment of the immigration process is in order. See the Reason Foundation chart on the path to immigration Click Here.
Good.is has a similar chart on immigration. Click the image below.
Where are the Immigrants Going
Birth and Mortality
Life Expectancy: How does the size of your house impact how long you will live. Check out the New York Times Article below.
Life Expectancy and Socioeconomic Status
Sex and Sexuality
Sexual Networks
Teen Pregnancy
Contrary to the common wisdom, teen pregnancy rates have been steadily going down. Here's a Guttmacher Institute paper on the subject. You might be surprised by what you find.
The Environment
NEW How many violations of the Clean Water Act have there been where you live? Check HereImmigration
New York Times Graph on Immigration: Some interesting highlights. Check out especially the amount of money being sent out of the country by immigrants in the US as compared to GDP. Is this really a problem? Click HereWhy don't they just come in legally? This is the question that I hear to justify draconian anti-immigration policy. Sociology can help with that answer. The reality is that it is virtually impossible for an impoverished adult to immigrate legally from Mexico unless that person already has a parent or child who is already a US citizen. That's a hard pill to swallow for desperate people trying to feed their families. A reassessment of the immigration process is in order. See the Reason Foundation chart on the path to immigration Click Here.
Good.is has a similar chart on immigration. Click the image below.
Where are the Immigrants Going
Birth and Mortality
Life Expectancy: How does the size of your house impact how long you will live. Check out the New York Times Article below. Life Expectancy and Socioeconomic Status
Sex and Sexuality
Sexual NetworksTeen Pregnancy
Contrary to the common wisdom, teen pregnancy rates have been steadily going down. Here's a Guttmacher Institute paper on the subject. You might be surprised by what you find.
US Teenage Pregnancy Statistics
Genetics, Sociology and Human Behavior
Who is Paying when others Pay their Debt to Society Here's another interesting interactive from Mother Jones
The graph below lumps the True and the Mostly True under the True category. Half True, Barely True, False and Pants on Fire are lumped into the Not True category. the %True is the percentage of true statements compared to statements over-all. the Truth Ratio compares True statements to Not True statements.
The Precise table uses the same standards above except only definitively True statements are included in the True category. All other statements are Not True.
This is an interesting interactive by Mother Jones magazine detailing the changes in US military presence since 1950.
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Phone Sex, anyone? Who's on the other end of that line?
Average Age of First Sex: Are we having sex at younger and younger ages?
Average Age of First Sex: Are we having sex at younger and younger ages?
Nature vs. Nurture
A huge debate between the so called "real" or "hard" sciences and the "soft" or social sciences is that between nature and nurture. How much of humanity can be explained through biology, and how much through sociology? The answer is really a combination of both. Natural and Social Scientists must find a way to adjust their paradigms to account for the tremendous overlap between biology and society.Genetics, Sociology and Human Behavior
Crime
What are the facts on sexual assault and child molestation? This is an area shrouded in our own discomfort, but it is imperative to know the issues if we are to create rational policy. This document examines the recidivism rate among sexual offenders.Who is Paying when others Pay their Debt to Society Here's another interesting interactive from Mother Jones
Politics
How honest are our candidates. I gathered these numbers from Politifact.comThe graph below lumps the True and the Mostly True under the True category. Half True, Barely True, False and Pants on Fire are lumped into the Not True category. the %True is the percentage of true statements compared to statements over-all. the Truth Ratio compares True statements to Not True statements.
The Precise table uses the same standards above except only definitively True statements are included in the True category. All other statements are Not True.
US Militarism
This is an interesting interactive by Mother Jones magazine detailing the changes in US military presence since 1950.
Economic Inequality
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