Researching Society
with MicroCase Online
®
Chapter 1
Suppose you want to know some social facts, such as Has the public’s view on
legalizing marijuana changed over time, say from about 1970 to 2000?
To answer this question, go to www.cengage.com/sociology/andersen.
Select MicroCase® Online from the left navigation bar. Follow the directions there
to analyze the following data:
Data file: U.S. Trends 1970–2000
Analysis Task: Historical Trends
Select Variable: Variable 1: GRASS?—%SAYING MARIJUANA SHOULD BE LEGAL
Questions
Once you have your results, and answer the following questions:
1. How might the different social theorists discussed in this chapter interpret these
findings?
2. In this time period, the percent of the public that favored legalizing marijuana
(“grass”) increased two times; when was this?
3. In this time period, there was a long decline in the percent of the public that
favored legalizing marijuana. What period was this?
4. Do you think these changes reflect major social changes (macrochanges) in our
society? How so?
1