While the concept of a moral panic is a familiar one in sociology, finding contemporary examples that go beyond the tried, tested but somewhat tired “mods and rockers” format is not always easy.

In this podcast the concept of moral panic is applied to passive smoking in an innovative and thought-provoking way that also links into a range of important methodological ideas.

Key concepts covered in this podcast:

• Moral panic

• Moral entrepreneurs

• Social control agencies

• Comparative analysis

• Representativeness

• Validity

• Reliability

• Objective research

• Longitudinal studies

• Myth

• Risk society

• State control

• Power

• Harm