This comprehensive paperback introduction to sociology provides a balanced presentation of the field--e.g., social organization and the individual, social inequality, social institutions, and social environments and social change. Current studies, research, references, and data are woven throughoutas are special boxes highlighting topics of special interest: Sociology of Media, Internet/Technology, Applying Sociology, Window on Sociology, and Global Society. Internet exercises direct readers to a companion website. The Process of Sociological Research. Culture. Society and Social Structure. Social Interaction and Social Networks. Socialization. Groups and Organizations. Deviance, Crime, and Social Control. Social Stratification. Social Class and Poverty in the United States. Ethnic and Racial Minorities. Age and Health in Society. Gender. The Family. Education. Religion. Power, Politics, and Government. The Economy and Work. Population and Ecology. Cities, Urbanization, and Community Change. Collective Behavior and Social Movements. Social and Cultural Change. For anyone who needs an introduction to, or refresher of, basic concepts of sociology, or a broad overview of sociological current research and data.

Customer Rating:
Summary: Excellent introductory sociology textbook
Comment: I am a professor teaching sociology in a distance learning university at both the undergraduate and graduate levels. I have found this textbook excellent for our introductory course in sociology at the undergraduate level. It is well organized and the concepts are well explained. The research is well used to inform the reading at that level. I like the internet exercises that can be used in a variety of ways and the chapter reviews as well as the summary of of key terms for the students . This is a 2000 edition so the current research in the family as a social institution on kinship and the kinship theoretical framework developed by Dr. Carolyn Billingsley in 2004, is not addressed. I look forward to reading of this landmark research and theoretical framework on the power of kinship in the settlement of the south addressed in the next edition. This research and theoretical framework legiitimizes genealogy as a field of enquiry in higher education.
Her book, Communities of Kinship, Antebellum
Families and the Settlement of the Cotton Frontier was published in 2004 by the University of Georgia Press, Athens.

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Customer Rating:
Summary: Well-written college level introductory sociology textbook
Comment: This is an excellent and well-written college level introductory sociology textbook. It's about the study of people, human social life, socialization, class and inequality, gender and racial dynamics, family, ethnicity, the psychology of alienation, collective behavior, the impact of global economics upon people, and similar topics.

It would be suitable for the advanced homeschooling student who is motivated to understand the world around us. Adult topics are handled sensitively, and complex issues are presented in a way that informs without overwhelming the reader. This is a great book, and manages to do a wonderful job of introducing many topics pertinent to the human race.

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Customer Rating:
Summary: Pretty Good
Comment: I had to use this book for my sociology class in college.

It is a pretty good book that shows different aspects of society

through 4 main sociological concepts. I will not be selling my

copy back at the end of the semester for sure....

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