Anthony Giddens - Essentials of Sociology

We believe that sociology plays an essential role in modern intellectual culture and occupies a central place within the social sciences. We have aimed to write a book that merges classic sociological theories with up-to-the-minute social issues that interest sociologists today. We also believe that sociologists must use rigorous research methods in order to study and understand human behavior. We highlight findings from ethnographic studies to document the hows and whys of social behavior and also present current statistical data to document important social trends. We aim to present material in a fair and balanced way. Although each of the authors has their own perspective on social theories, methods, and social policy, we have worked hard to ensure that our treatment is unbiased and nonpartisan. We strive to present the most complete picture of sociology possible. Given the vast array of topics encompassed by sociology, however, we made difficult choices about what the most essential topics in sociology are today. We hope readers are engaged, intrigued, and occasionally inspired by the ideas presented in this book.

The Eighth Edition of Essentials of Sociology is based on the Twelfth Seagull Edition of our best-selling full text Introduction to Sociology. We created the Essentials Edition for instructors and students who prefer a briefer book. We have reduced the length of the book by roughly one-third, and we reduced the number of chapters from 20 to 16. Retaining the themes that have made the full text such a successful teaching tool, we cut selected topics to focus on the core ideas of sociology and reorganized the chapters around a big questions framework. While briefer than the full text, Essentials of Sociology includes some additional pedagogical aids not present in Introduction to Sociology, including a greater number of images and current event examples, Globalization by the Numbers infographics, Employing Your Sociological Imagination features, and Digital Life features. Combined with a briefer overall exposition, these features help students understand and apply key concepts and theories.

The book is constructed around four basic themes that provide its character. The newest theme is applying sociology to everyday life. Sociological thinking enables self-understanding, which can in turn inspire an improved understanding of the social world. Studying sociology can be a liberating experience: It expands our sympathies and imagination, opens up new perspectives on the sources of our own behavior, and creates an awareness of cultural settings different from our own. Sociological ideas challenge dogma, teach appreciation of cultural variety, and allow us insight into the workings of social institutions. At a more practical level, the text shows how the skills and knowledge acquired in sociology classes can be applied to far-ranging careers, from health care to law enforcement (Employing Your Sociological Imagination features in select chapters).