Purpose of Social Survey

PURPOSE OF SOCIAL SURVEY

1. Collection of data about certain definite aspects of a community

The basic objective of a Social Survey is the collection of facts regarding certain social aspects of a community so as to find out the causative factors responsible for community problems. To assess the progress and improvement of a community, both qualitative and quantitative data are collected from a selected group of community members. Before the investigation is undertaken, the surveyor makes the aims and objectives of the survey clear to establish and justify that only the social aspects of a community are considered, which differ from those of a land-use survey, a political survey, or a geographical survey. As social surveys aim to promote social amelioration, both descriptive and statistical data are used.

2. Political and utilitarian viewpoint

Whereas social research may be theoretical or applied, a social survey is undertaken with a practical end in mind. Whereas social research is mostly born out of natural curiosity and the urge to know, the motivation of a social survey is practical and utilitarian. A social survey is undertaken with the express purpose of social amelioration of current or immediate conditions of a social pathological nature. The main purpose of a social survey is social welfare or the betterment of the community; its findings enable the government to take various measures to protect the underprivileged, depressed, and downtrodden. In this regard, C.A. Moser remarks: “The sociologist should look upon the survey as a way, and a supremely useful one of exploring the fields of collecting data around as well as directly on the subjects of study, so that the problem is brought into focus and points worth pursuing are suggested.”

3. The study and treatment of current social problems

A social survey is a cooperative undertaking that applies the scientific method to the study and treatment of current social problems, as well as the conditions and factors of social retardation and/or backwardness. A close look at the history of social surveys reveals that the main purpose of social surveys has been the study of different problems in society in general and the socio- economic conditions of the underprivileged, depressed and working classes in particular, so as to cognise the cause of backwardness and chalk out plans for the removal of these conditions. The underprivileged, the depressed and the working classes are mainly focused because the socio-economic level of those classes remains much lower compared to other sections in a society. They are mostly vulnerable to unhygienic conditions of living, moral depravity, sexual polymorphy, epidemics, sexually transmitted diseases, unemployment, malnutrition, etc. Accommodation problems and low moral sense, exposure to drunken and immoral behaviour of the elders, cause juvenile delinquency among the children of the working classes. Therefore, the main purpose of social surveys has always been to improve their conditions, to restore their blunted moral sense, and to protect them against exploitation. In social surveys, attempts are also made to identify the interrelationships among different social problems, such as unemployment and poverty, illiteracy and unhygiene, etc.