Canadian Social Trends

Raj S. Gandhi is a professor of sociology at the University of Calgary.

To understand stability and change in Canadian society, the comparison
of the past with present statistical data is important. Even more
significant is the interpretation of such data. There are several
courses now in Canadian colleges and universities that increasingly feel
need for this. Not only scholars and students, but the media of mass
communication, associations, organizations, institutions, and agencies
also depend on the supply of valid, reliable, statistical data. They
would find this book useful.

The book is divided into three major units: Unit I contains material on
population shifts in Canada, urbanization, and changes in the health of
Canadians. Unit II is devoted to assessing major changes that have
occurred in the status of Canadian women and in the institutions of
marriage and family. Unit III examines changes in our working lives, and
our leisure pastimes, and concludes with a look at a number of
outstanding social problems in Canada today. These are enhanced by
photographs, charts, graphs, and tables.

Statistical data drawn from the census of Canada becomes dated over
time, and the publisher may like to update them as new data become
available. Statistical sociologists, moreover, may like to compare the
statistical data in this book with other sources. However, the
interpretation of data is a different matter. Data only convey facts.
They ought to be interpreted with the help of sociological theories. But
such is not the aim of this book. Sociologists are left to interpret
them.

There are data in this book for a variety of specializations in
sociology, and Canadian sociologists will find the use of this book
unavoidable.