Empirical Approaches to Sociologyaddresses significant sociological issues and demonstrates the interplay between sociological insight and empirical observations through a collection of readings. Using primary sources, the book gives readers a chance to see how research findings are interpreted and incorporated into sociological theory. The readings are rich in data, but not so technical that they require advanced math skills. These forty essays provide a broad overview of the field and represent a range of theoretical perspectives.
Table of Contents
* denotes new readings Preface About the Editor A Primer on Critical Reading, by Gregg Lee Carter A Primer on Reading and Thinking Critically About Social Problems, by Louis E. Anderson Part 1 The Problem Of Social Order Classic 1. Social Order And Control Via Close Social Ties: The Example Of Suicide, by Eacute;mile Durkheim 2. Social Order And Control Via Force: The Example Of The Expropriation Of The English Agricultural Population From The Land, by Karl Marx Contemporary *3. Replicating Suicide in America: Durkheimr's 1897 Theory, by K. D. Breault, Lynn Hampton, and Dustin Brown *4. Diversity Fosts Social Isolation, by Robert D. Putnam Part 2 Issues in Sociological Research Classic 5. Attitude Vs. Actions: The Pitfalls Of Quantitative "Survey" Research, by Richard T. LaPiere 6. The Mental Hospital from the Patientr's Point Of View: The Pitfalls of Participant-Observation Research, by Raymond M. Weinstein Contemporary 7. The Idea of Contextual Effects, by Gregg Lee Carter Part 3 Cultural Explanations of Human Behavior Classic 8. Ethnocentrism, by William Graham Sumner 9. Indiar's Sacred Cow, by Marvin Harris Contemporary *10. Reducing Ethnocentrism through Intergroup Contact: Summarizing Results From a Meta-analystic Review, by Linda R. Tropp and Thomas F. Pettigrew Part 4 Society Classic 11. The Small-World Problem: The Myth of Mass Society, by Stanley Milgram Contemporary *12. The Small World Problem Revisited, by Judith S. Kleinfeld *13. HIV/AIDS as a Societal Problem: The Fourth Decade, by Joseph J. Lengermann and Roberta B. Hollander *14. The Restructuring of the Health Care System and Its Broad Implications for the United States, by Sam Mirmirani Part 5 Socialization Classic
