IDENTIFY A SOCIAL PROBLEM IN THE WORLD

Defining the Social Problem

As a public policy analyst, you will first need to select and define a social problem. The Global History Public Policy Analyst (GHPPA) is intended to focus on social problems that resulted in a major public policy.

Here are some steps to consider in selecting and defining a social problem for your public policy analysis:

• Read the section that discusses social problems
• Review the list of Topics for Developing Global History Social Problems
• You may then:
• Select one of the examples from the list and use it to identify a specific social problem related to a major public policy enacted in global history, or
• Use your textbook topics to identify a social problem, time period and theme related to a major public policy decision in global history, or
• Select a social problem based on your teacher’s recommendations
• Identify one or more Global History themes related to your social problem

Some other points to keep in mind in selecting your social problem:

• Start your research by first selecting the major public policy decision (the GHPPA also views revolutions as public policy decisions)
• Be sure that you develop a specific social problem within a particular period of time related to one or more general concepts and themes.
• Many of the examples on the sample list are intended to be used as a starting point
• Avoid developing a problem statement that is too specific or too general. The GHPPA will involve quite a bit of research. Therefore, a problem that is overly specific may result in your spending a great deal of time on something relatively trivial. On the other hand, a problem that is too general may be unsolvable.
• Try to develop a problem within a theme that can be compared to other similar types of problems in other time periods.

Activity

• Worksheet 1: Identify the Problem
• Worksheet 1 - Example

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