Margaret L. Andersen
Margaret L. Andersen--raised in Oakland, California; Rome, Georgia; and Boston--is Edward F. and Elizabeth
Goodman Rosenberg Professor of Sociology at the University of Delaware. She received her Ph.D. from the University
of Massachusetts, Amherst, and her B.A. from Georgia State University. She is the author of THINKING ABOUT WOMEN:
SOCIOLOGICAL PERSPECTIVES ON SEX AND GENDER (Allyn and Bacon) and the best-selling Wadsworth text RACE, CLASS,
AND GENDER: AN ANTHOLOGY (with Patricia Hill Collins). She is also the author of ON LAND AND ON SEA: A CENTURY
OF WOMEN IN THE ROSENFELD COLLECTION and LIVING ART: THE LIFE OF PAUL R. JONES, AFRICAN AMERICAN ART COLLECTOR.
She has recently served as Vice President of the American Sociological Association, from which she has also received
the prestigious Jessie Bernard Award. She has also been awarded the SWS Feminist Lecturer Award, given annually
by SWS (Sociologists for Women in Society) to a social scientist whose work has contributed to improving the status
of women in society. She currently serves as Chair of the National Advisory Board of the Center for Comparative
Studies in Race and Ethnicity at Stanford University. She has served as the Interim Dean of the College of Arts
and Science and Vice Provost for Academic Affairs at the University of Delaware, where she has also won the University's
Excellence in Teaching Award. She lives on the Elk River in Maryland with her husband, Richard Rosenfeld.
Howard F. Taylor
Howard F. Taylor was raised in Cleveland, Ohio. He graduated Phi Beta Kappa from Hiram College and has a Ph.D.
in sociology from Yale University. He has taught at the Illinois Institute of Technology, Syracuse University,
and Princeton University, where he is presently Professor of Sociology and former director of the African American
Studies Center. He has published over fifty articles in sociology, education, social psychology, and race relations.
His books include THE IQ GAME (Rutgers University Press), a critique of hereditarian accounts of intelligence;
BALANCE IN SMALL GROUPS (Van Nostrand Reinhold), translated into Japanese; and the forthcoming RACE AND CLASS AND
THE BELL CURVE IN AMERICA. He has appeared widely before college, radio, and TV audiences, including ABC's NIGHTLINE.
He is past president of the Eastern Sociological Society and a member of the American Sociological Association
and the Sociological Research Association, an honorary society for distinguished research. He is a winner of the
DuBois-Johnson-Frazier Award, given by the American Sociological Association for distinguished research in race
and ethnic relations, and the President's Award for Distinguished Teaching at Princeton University. He lives in
Pennington, New Jersey, with his wife, a corporate lawyer.
Summary
SOCIOLOGY: THE ESSENTIALS, Seventh Edition, uses the theme of debunking myths to look behind the facades of everyday life, encourage you to question common assumptions, and help you better understand how society is constructed and sustained. This thorough yet streamlined book provides exceptional coverage of diversity, including social factors such as age, religion, sexual orientation, and region of residence, in addition to race, ethnicity, class, and gender. Updated with coverage of the latest findings, trends, and themes, this new edition's reader-friendly presentation teaches you the concepts, methods, and research that will sharpen your "sociological imagination" and help you view the world from a different perspective.
Table of Contents
Part I: INTRODUCING THE SOCIOLOGICAL IMAGINATION.
1. The Sociological Perspective.
Part II: STUDYING SOCIEITY AND SOCIAL STRUCTURE.
2. Culture and the Media.
3. Doing Sociological Research.
4. Socialization and the Life Course.
5. Social Interaction and Social Structure.
6. Groups and Organizations.
7. Deviance and Crime.
Part III: SOCIAL INEQUALITIES.
8. Social Class and Social Stratification.
9. Global Stratification.
10. Race and Ethnicity.
11. Gender.
12. Sexuality.
Part IV: SOCIAL INSTITUTIONS.
13. Families and Religion.
14. Education and Health Care.
15. Politics and the Economy.
Part V: SOCIAL CHANGE.
16. Population, the Environment, and Social Change.
