Nasar Meer - Sociology for Dummies. Nasar Meer

Sociology For Dummies

by Jay Gabler, PhD

Sociology For Dummies

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Library of Congress Control Number: 2010921250

ISBN: 978-0-470-57236-8

Manufactured in the United States of America

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About the Author

Jay Gabler is a writer, editor, and college teacher living in Minneapolis. He holds a bachelors degree from Boston University and graduate degrees, including a Ph.D. in sociology, from Harvard University. With colleagues, he has published multiple sociological research studies including the book Reconstructing the University (with David John Frank, Stanford University Press, 2006). He currently teaches sociology, psychology, and education at Rasmussen College. He is also associate editor of the Twin Cities Daily Planet, where he writes regularly on the arts, and author of the most recent edition of the Insiders Guide to the Twin Cities (Globe Pequot Press, 2010).

Dedication

To David John Frank and Jason Kaufman, my mentors in sociology.

Authors Acknowledgments

I owe gratitude to Susan Hobbs and Erin Calligan Mooney, my editors at Wiley, for everything theyve done to make this book a reality. Jennifer Connolly also contributed significantly to the first chapters of this book, with helpful editing and suggestions.

My professional training in sociology took place over the course of a decade at Harvard University; every page in this book benefits indirectly from the insights and expertise of my then-colleagues in the Department of Sociology. My Harvard classmate Felix Elwert was instrumental in suggesting that I write this book and connecting me with the publisher. My current colleagues at Rasmussen College have also been supportive, as have my coworkers at the Twin Cities Daily Planet. Much of this book was written at the Macalester College library, and I am grateful to that institution for sharing its resources.

This book is informed by a range of sources, three of which were particularly useful. Randall Collinss Sociological Insight, as I mention frequently in the text of this book, was my personal introduction to sociology, and it continues to underlie my perspective on the discipline. I recommend that book in Chapter 17. A book that I would not recommend to beginners but would strongly recommend to readers interested in really sinking their teeth into sociological theory is Peter Knapps One World Many Worlds: Contemporary Sociological Theory, which particularly informed Chapter 3 of this book. Essentials of Sociology, by David B. Brinkerhoff, Lynn K. White, Suzanne T. Ortega, and Rose Weitz, is the text I teach from at Rasmussen and was also helpful as I wrote this book.

Throughout my life Ive enjoyed the enthusiastic support of a loving family, both immediate and extended. In particular, my parents, Jim and Jean Gabler, have in every way supported my academic achievements and adventures. As I wrote this book, many friends in particular, Anna Meyer helped sustain me with caring encouragement every day. It meant a lot to me.

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