Content area
Full Text
By applying the text analysis method to all abstracts of the journal Social Development Issues (SDI), this study explores the associated terms of social development, their frequency, and terms that are or are not concentered on the terms social or development. Results of this study show a remarkable diversity of terms, such as cultural, economic, ecological, education, and health in social development that are being used by the authors of SDI.
Keywords: abstracts, social development issues, terms, text analysis
Introduction
The concept of development has been traditionally associated with economic development, but more recently it has evolved to encompass both social and economic development. In this integrated perspective, economic development is initially viewed as an engine for social development. Although the concept of social development is inclusive of economic development, it differs from economic development in that it encompasses economic, political, social, and cultural aspects (Gore, 19 73). In order to solve social problems, planned comprehensive social change is not enough; rather economic and cultural efforts at national and international levels are needed (Barker, 2003). Economic development stimulates economic growth, promoting the efficiency of the factors of production. Social development focuses on progressive changes in utilizing social resources to increase individual satisfaction and well-being.
A variety of socioeconomic and political factors shape our current understanding of the social development concept. There exist multiple definitions of social development. These definitions are evolving and ever changing. Definitions tend to be at times culture and place specific. The conceptual content may be influenced by the presence of powerful political and socioeconomic factions. Furthermore, social development approaches may be motivated by the severity of existing social problems. Flowever, with a few exceptions, such as Professor James Midgley's (1995) book, Social Development: The Developmental Perspective in Social Welfare, and Professor Manohar Pawar's (2014) book, Social and Community Development Practice, only a small number of studies have attempted to systematically assess the current conceptual content of the social development perspective. In order to address this conceptual gap, this study attempts to identify concepts currently associated with social development. Broadly, the focus of this study is on pooling conceptual correlations among words associated with social development in the literature.
Social work as a profession plays a key role in improving social...