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Discover Sociology: Core Concepts
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Discover Sociology: Core Concepts

Second Edition

Other Titles in:
Sociology (General)

November 2019 | 536 pages | SAGE Publications, Inc
The authors are proud sponsors of the 2020 SAGE Keith Roberts Teaching Innovations Award—enabling graduate students and early career faculty to attend the annual ASA pre-conference teaching and learning workshop.

Discover Sociology: Core Concepts
explores sociology as a discipline of curious minds, with the theoretical, conceptual, and empirical tools needed to understand, analyze, and even change the world. It is adapted from Discover Sociology, Fourth Edition and offers in-depth coverage of 12 high-priority topics that are at the core of almost all introductory sociology courses. 

The Second Edition of Core Concepts maintains its reader-friendly narrative and the hallmark themes of the parent book, including the unequal distribution of power in society (“Inequality Matters”), the sociological imagination (“Private Lives, Public Issues”), career skills (“What Can I Do With a Sociology Degree?”) and civil discourse (“Discover and Debate”). In response to reader’s requests, this edition features expanded coverage of issues such as intersectionality, popular culture, and changes in the contemporary population of college students in the U.S. Additionally, updated social indicators bring in the latest data available from the U.S. Census Bureau, the Bureau of Labor Statistics, the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, and the Pew Research Center, among others, to ensure that discussions and figures remain timely.


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Preface
 
Acknowledgments
 
About the Authors
 
CHAPTER 1. DISCOVER SOCIOLOGY
A Curious Mind

 
The Sociological Imagination

 
Critical Thinking

 
The Development of Sociological Thinking

 
What Is Sociological Theory?

 
Principal Themes in This Book

 
Why Study Sociology?

 
Summary

 
Key Terms

 
Discussion Questions

 
 
CHAPTER 2. DISCOVER SOCIOLOGICAL RESEARCH
No Roof Overhead: Researching Eviction in America

 
Sociology and Common Sense

 
Research and the Scientific Method

 
Doing Sociological Research

 
Doing Sociology: A Student’s Guide to Research

 
Why Learn to Do Sociological Research?

 
Summary

 
Key Terms

 
Discussion Questions

 
 
CHAPTER 3. CULTURE AND MASS MEDIA
Superheroes and Sociology

 
Culture: Concepts and Applications

 
Culture and Language

 
Culture and Mass Media

 
Culture, Class, and Inequality

 
Culture and Globalization

 
Why Study Culture and Media Through a Sociological Lens?

 
Summary

 
Key Terms

 
Discussion Questions

 
 
CHAPTER 4. SOCIALIZATION AND SOCIAL INTERACTION
My Robot, My Friend

 
The Birth of the Social Self

 
Agents of Socialization

 
Socialization and Aging

 
Total Institutions and Resocialization

 
Social Interaction

 
Why Study Socialization and Social Interaction?

 
Summary

 
Key Terms

 
Discussion Questions

 
 
CHAPTER 5. GROUPS, ORGANIZATIONS, AND BUREAUCRACIES
Groupthink: A Case of Deadly Consequences

 
The Nature of Groups

 
The Power of Groups

 
Economic, Cultural, and Social Capital

 
Organizations

 
Bureaucracies

 
Why Study Groups and Organizations?

 
Summary

 
Key Terms

 
Discussion Questions

 
 
CHAPTER 6. DEVIANCE AND SOCIAL CONTROL
To Solve a Murder

 
What Is Deviant Behavior?

 
How Do Sociologists Explain Deviance?

 
Types of Deviance

 
Social Control of Deviance

 
Why Study Deviance?

 
Summary

 
Key Terms

 
Discussion Questions

 
 
CHAPTER 7. SOCIAL CLASS AND INEQUALITY
Poverty and Prosperity in the United States Today

 
Stratification in Traditional and Modern Societies

 
Sociological Building Blocks of Social Class

 
Class and Inequality in the United States: Dimensions and Trends

 
The Problem of Neighborhood Poverty

 
Why Do Stratification and Poverty Exist and Persist in Class Societies?

 
Dimensions of Global Inequality and Poverty

 
Theoretical Perspectives on Global Inequality

 
Why Study Inequality in the United States and Globally?

 
Summary

 
Key Terms

 
Discussion Questions

 
 
CHAPTER 8. RACE AND ETHNICITY
Violence and U.S. History

 
The Social Construction of Race and Ethnicity

 
Minority and Dominant Group Relations

 
Theoretical Approaches to Ethnicity, Racism, and Minority Status

 
Prejudice, Stereotyping, and Discrimination

 
Racial and Ethnic Groups in the United States

 
Race and Ethnicity in a Global Perspective

 
Why Study Race and Ethnicity From a Sociological Perspective?

 
Summary

 
Key Terms

 
Discussion Questions

 
 
CHAPTER 9. GENDER AND SOCIETY
I Am a Woman, and I Am Fast

 
Concepts of Sex, Gender, and Sexuality

 
Constructing Gendered Selves

 
Gender and Society

 
Gender and Economics: Men, Women, and the Gender Wage Gap

 
Classical Theories, Feminist Thought, and the Sociology of Masculinities

 
Women’s Lives in a Global Perspective

 
Why Study Gender From a Sociological Perspective?

 
Summary

 
Key Terms

 
Discussion Questions

 
 
CHAPTER 10. FAMILIES AND SOCIETY
Millennials and Marriage

 
How Do Sociologists Study the Family?

 
Theoretical Perspectives on Families

 
U.S. Families Yesterday and Today

 
Socioeconomic Class and Family in the United States

 
Globalization and Families

 
Why Study Family Through a Sociological Lens?

 
Summary

 
Key Terms

 
Discussion Questions

 
 
CHAPTER 11. EDUCATION AND THE ECONOMY
Robots and Jobs

 
Education, Industrialization, and the “Credential Society"

 
Theoretical Perspectives on Education

 
Education, Opportunity, and Inequality

 
The Economy in Historical Perspective

 
The Technological Revolution and the Future of Work

 
Why Study Education and the Economy?

 
Summary

 
Key Terms

 
Discussion Questions

 
 
CHAPTER 12. SOCIAL MOVEMENTS AND SOCIAL CHANGE
Activist America?

 
Sociological Perspectives on Social Change

 
Sources of Social Change

 
Social Movements

 
Why Study Social Change?

 
Summary

 
Key Terms

 
Discussion Questions

 
 
Glossary
 
References
 
Index

Supplements

Instructor Resource Site
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