Unemployment, drug abuse, homelessness, domestic violence, environmental destruction, internet addiction, etc. None of these collective emergencies—no matter how distressing they may be for those affected—gain public attention and political recognition on their own. Many life situations that are certainly open to criticism only achieve this recognition late or not at all. This textbook on the empirical analysis of social problems explains why this is the case and what implications it has for both society and those affected. Readers will become familiar with all the factors that are crucial for the emergence and development of social problems: social facts and collective actors, interpretative patterns and discourse strategies, mass media and the welfare state. In all chapters, the specific requirements for empirical problem analysis are the focus of the presentation.