Global Sociology: Introducing Five Contemporary Societies

Book Description

An effective supplement to any standard sociology text, this broad and comprehensive sociological description of five diverse contemporary societies with wide geographic distribution – Japan, Mexico, Egypt, Germany, and the Bushmen of Namibia – is organized around basic sociological topics: culture, social structure, and group life, socialization, deviance, social institutions, social stratification, and social change. Fictional vignettes of individuals in each country help students experience first-person viewpoints on life in five very different societies. By comparing other societies with their own, students read about the range of social variation, learn what makes their own society distinctive, and gain a unique and fascinating vantage point on what sociology offers in a world of rapid social change.

Introducing Students to Scientific Inquiry: How Do We Know What We Know?

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Introducing Students to Scientific Inquiry: How Do We Know What We Know?
Susan Etheredge , and Al Rudnitsky
Manufacturer: Allyn & Bacon
ProductGroup: Book
Binding: Paperback

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Geology: A Self-Teaching Guide

ASIN: 0205348122

Methods Of Critical Discourse Analysis (INTRODUCING QUALITATIVE METHOD)

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A necessary addition to my library
An excellent book and very useful to those engaged in critical discourse analysis
A great and accessible overview

Methods Of Critical Discourse Analysis (INTRODUCING QUALITATIVE METHOD)
Ruth, Ed. Wodak
Manufacturer: Sage Publications
ProductGroup: Book
Binding: Paperback

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Analysing Discourse: Textual Analysis for Social Research
Critical Discourse Analysis: The Critical Study of Language (Language in Social Life)
Language and Power (Language in Social Life)
An Introduction to Discourse Analysis: Theory and Method
The Handbook of Discourse Analysis (Blackwell Handbooks in Linguistics)

ASIN: 0761961542

Book Description

This book is designed as an introduction to Critical Discourse Analysis (CDA) and gives an overview of the various theories and methods associated with this sociolinguistic approach. It also introduces the reader to the leading figures in CDA and the methods to which they are most closely related. The text aims to provide a comprehensive description of the individual methods, an understanding of the theories to which methods refer and a comparative treatment of each of these methods so that students may be able to determine which is the most appropriate to select for their particular research question. Given the balance between theory and application, plus the intended audience - no previous knowledge of CDA is assumed - Methods of Critical Discourse Analysis should be useful reading for both students and researchers in the fields of linguistics, sociology, social psychology and the social sciences in general.

Customer Reviews:

A necessary addition to my library.......2007-05-13

As a good introduction to the field of critical discourse analysis, and its various aims, philosophies, and methods, this book is to be highly recommended. I particularly appreciated the examples - detailed and interesting, they are a tremendous aid in learning to use the methods covered.

An excellent book and very useful to those engaged in critical discourse analysis.......2006-02-13

The book provides a very clear view of all the directions in Critical Discourse Analysis, according to the different scholars.However, they all have in common, their concern with social inequalities and their aim to create awareness of injustice and abuse of power.
Text analysis serves the purpose of showing the relationship between language and power.
I highly recommend this book to those readers who are doing research into discourse analysis like myself.

A great and accessible overview.......2002-09-17

As a beginning student of CDA, I was pleased to read this volume, which almost serves as a personal valet welcoming one into this growing area of Linguistics. In a short and very readable book, we get the latest theories and methods in concise language that covers a lot of ground quickly. If you have read Titscher, Meyer, Wodak, and Vetter's "Methods of Text and Discourse Analysis" (Sage, 2000), you'll be relieved to see that this book is more focused and, for the most part, less technical. That's not to say that it's any less powerful, because the flip-side is that with this volume's emphasis only on CDA, we are reminded again and again of the ethical and emancipatory imperative of the CDA researcher.

Wodak herself introduces CDA's geneaology up to the present. Meyer then provides a concise discussion of methods, winding up his chapter with the admonition that CDA is not yet a unified discipline, but is nonetheless a constellation of approaches and methods that are likely approaching something resembling more of a singularity that at present - if more research is done in the field. Siegfried Jager's chapter on Discourse and Knowledge is a nice surprise from a lesser-known German analyst, who fortifies and corrects some of Foucault's conceptualizations about discourses and dispositifs and provides a trialectical model for looking at action, discourse, and manifestation. We then get a sound overview of Wodak's Historical CDA method and van Dijk's more social-cognitive method, followed by an overview of Fairclough's sociologically-oriented theory and Ron Scollon's micro-social critical discourse analysis.

The book is honest about CDA's "growth areas" and the criticisms it has received, and calls rather commonsensically for more research in order to shore up some of its weaknesses or areas that have not yet been fully explored. For the beginning researcher in CDA who is unsure about how to design his or her research proposal, this book provides solace via its characterization of CDA as hermeneutic rather than positivistic. In other words, there is always room for improvement.

Qualitative Research Through Case Studies (Introducing Qualitative Methods series)
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Qualitative Research Through Case Studies (Introducing Qualitative Methods series)
Max Travers
Manufacturer: Sage Publications
ProductGroup: Book
Binding: Paperback

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Case Study Research: Design and Methods, Third Edition, Applied Social Research Methods Series, Vol 5

Applications of Case Study Research Second Edition (Applied Social Research Methods Series Volume 34)

Writing Up Qualitative Research (Qualitative Research Methods)

ASIN: 0761968067

Book Description

Although most undergraduates are able to collect qualitative data without too much difficulty, they are often less successful in turning this into an interesting, theoretically-informed analysis.

Qualitative Research Through Case Studies will help students improve the quality of their work through introducing a wide range of traditions, including interpretive approaches such as grounded theory, dramaturgical analysis, ethnomethodology and conversation analysis and political approaches such as critical discourse analysis, feminism and postmodern ethnography.

Each chapter introduces the theoretical assumptions of the tradition through discussing a number of case-studies: classic or exemplary studies which illustrate how different researchers have used qualitative methods in researching a variety of topics. There are also practical hints on designing undergraduate projects, exercises and a guide to further reading.

The book is intended for students in a wide range of disciplines and should be particularly useful for complete beginners who are interested in conducting qualitative research as part of their degrees.

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Outstanding Introduction to Feminist Theology
A Great Introduction
A really helpful book that achieves its own purpose
Perspective determines rating

Introducing Feminist Theology
Anne M. Clifford
Manufacturer: Orbis Books
ProductGroup: Book
Binding: Paperback

Feminist Theory | Women's Studies | Nonfiction | Subjects | Books

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General | Religion & Spirituality | Subjects | Books

Womanspirit Rising: A Feminist Reader in Religion
Weaving the Visions: New Patterns in Feminist Spirituality
Sexism and God-Talk
Wisdom Ways: Introducing Feminist Biblical Interpretation
Inheriting Our Mothers Gardens: Feminist Theology in Third World Perspective

ASIN: 1570752389

Customer Reviews:

Outstanding Introduction to Feminist Theology.......2006-02-12

Anne Clifford is one of the more significant systematic theologians on the American scene. Her work in Christology, Theological Anthropology, and the relationship between Science and Theology leave very little if anything to be desired. The Present text, "Introducing Feminist Theology" is a triumph for those who have only a beginning or intermediate appreciation of the nuances of feminist theology. The work is comprehensive if not exhaustive; however, the author never claims the latter. The book is extremely well written and will appeal to intermediate/advanced undergraduate students of theology as well as informed and educated lay readers. This text fills a gap in the field of feminist theology that has much awaited an introductory volume which can ground the more detailed studies of feminist theologians such as Johnson, Carr, Schussler-Fiorenza, and others. Overall...this work is a triumph in the field of feminist theology!

A Great Introduction.......2002-11-29

I think that this is one of the better introductions to feminist theology. This is a great starting place for someone who doesn't have a background in feminism and/or historical-critical analysis in religion. It is sort of a "light-weight" book, compared to Schüssler Fiorenza's work or Radford Ruether's (some of the leading feminist theologians), but that is the whole point of an introduction. This is meant to be an beginner's book, not an in-depth exploration into the more specialized theological issues and questions. As the other reviewers have noted, this is would be great for an introductory course in feminist theology or for someone who heard of feminist theology and said "Hmmm, I'd like to know more about that." It does gloss over some more important points and it does over-generalize about some things, but often introductions must do that or things get too complicated for the beginner who just wants an overview. It's not a perfect book, but a great start for someone wanting to explore this topic.

A really helpful book that achieves its own purpose.......2002-02-14

While this book may break no new ground, it does suggest the scholarly underpinnings of works and ideas that have sometimes been dismissed as benefitting from prevailing trends. Clifford takes feminist theology seriously, giving a helpful analysis of diverse claims, themes, and authors. There is a serious effort here to uncover the internal logic of the authors and situate them in their contemporary context.
The book would work well as a college text and the pedagogical aids would enrich a student's understanding of theology in the broader sense. Yet it is more than a text book, analyzing the methodologies of diverse thinkers and thus suggesting how feminst theologies have enriched the enterprise.

Perspective determines rating.......2001-12-07

I gave this three stars because, while I found this book frustrating at times and boring at others, it is a valuable tool for the classroom. Let me clarify: Clifford does a good job handling the history of feminist theology. She discusses the most prominant theologians from many perspectives and introduces the reader to many "forgotten" women in Christianity. She is really quite balanced in the material she approaches; it is neither too Catholic or too Protestant, and she examines in each chapter the perspective of women from so-called third-world countries, as well as minority thinkers. She does a wonderful job weaving womanist, feminist and latina theologies together.

So, why the poor rating? While I think that the text is a useful tool for students who have never been introduced to feminist theology or to a person who simply wishes a generalized overview, there are still some flaws which, for me, were quite frustrating. First of all, while her history is solid, her philosophy and reasoning leave a lot to be desired. She tends to make sweeping statements about certain issues or reduce a problem, which is quite complex, to a simple equation, which then doesn't pan out. As a person who believes that any good theology must have sound philosophical reasoning behind it, I found myself poking all kinds of holes in the logic. I also found myself being bored stiff in certain areas, which usually doesn't happen to me in this area of study. A final opinion? I would recommend this book for a classroom text (only an intro course) but make sure to supplement with other, more solid theological works such as Elizabeth Johnson's "She Who Is."

Introducing Sociology, Third Edition (Introducing)
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Society.

A Solid Overview

Introducing Sociology, Third Edition (Introducing)
Richard Osborne
Manufacturer: Totem Books
ProductGroup: Book
Binding: Paperback

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History of Ideas | Historical Study | History | Subjects | Books
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ASIN: 1840465832

Book Description

Traces the origins of systems in society from Enlightenment thought and the pioneering work of Auguste Comte to subsequent development in Karl Marx.

Customer Reviews:

Society........2003-08-22

_Introducing Sociology_ by Richard Osborne and heavily-illustrated surrealistic-comic-book-style by Borin Van Loon gives a beginner's outline to the science, study, discipline or whatever you want to call it, of sociology. Sociology attempts to figure out how society, especially how the ever-increasingly complex, modern Western societies are constructed, structured, operate, interact, and what the role of class, race, gender and above all, economics, plays in them. This book goes through all the major theories and thinkers, but is overly-confused by smoke from the crack-pipes of Marxism and radical feminism. A central point is noted toward the end of the book: that of the transformation of the West in the 19th and 20th centuries from an agricultural, Christian and aristocratic base to industrialism, secularism, pleasure-seeking hedonism and sensualism. This is the root of the predicament that Western society is in today, but you won't hear a whole lot about it in the PC New Left and neoconservative academia. The author also dismisses in an offensively condescending manner sociobiology and the evoloutionary Darwinist perspective--that the determining factors of how different cultural groups, races and genders in society act are rooted in heredity rather than in social conditioning. This of course will lead to "racism and the holocaust." _Introducing Sociology_ is a rather quirky yet serious overview of sociology, and the author at the end admits that he cannot come to any decisive conclusion about the study of society in our ever-morphing postmodern world, where individuals live in "hyperreality"; learning more from mass-media and its contrived, false images than from the real world itself. I wish I knew the reasoning behind the cover illustration, a half-human, half-robot woman in a bikini with a human embryo attached to her hip in a huge test-tube, reading a book upside down.

A Solid Overview.......2000-09-06

It's easy to get lost in the spew of "-isms" and sub-disciplines that pervades the social sciences and humanities these days. This illustrated intro to sociology illustrates fairly clearly how we got there from a few simple questions (E.g., what is the nature of society?) The book provides a broad, historically structured overview that accounts for most of the major thinkers, from Comte and Spencer to Adorno and Baudrillard.

Book Description

Scientists have developed a featherless chicken designed to make industrial chicken production more efficient, while specially trained Pacific bottlenose dolphins are being deployed in the Persian Gulf to disarm mines and protect our Navy. Everyone knows Darwin's theory of natural selection, but what about his idea of artificial selection--how humans, not nature, rework natural organisms to meet our needs? Industrializing Organisms brings us to the threshold of the new field of evolutionary history--from the mobilization of war horses in the 19th century to today's engineered plants and manipulated animals.

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Introducing Cultural Studies

Manufacturer: Prentice Hall
ProductGroup: Book
Binding: Paperback

Popular Culture | Social Sciences | Nonfiction | Subjects | Books

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Soccer in Sun and Shadow, New Edition
Science and Technology in Society: From Biotechnology to the Internet (Key Themes in Sociology)
Soccer Against the Enemy: How the World's Most Popular Sport Starts and Fuels Revolutions and Keeps Dictators in Power
Notes from a Small Island
I Could Tell You Stories: Sojourns in the Land of Memory

ASIN: 0131232835

Book Description

Introducing Cultural Studies provides students with an up-to-date introduction to the expanding and controversial field of cultural studies. The book offers an overview and exploration of some of the most important avenues of research in the field, and is divided into two parts. The first on cultural theory introduces the core themes and concerns of the book and examines the multiple meanings of culture, communication, representation, power and inequality.

The argument is that cultural studies as an activity produces knowledge that separate disciplines cannot. The second part of the book examines different dimensions of culture. Reflecting contemporary developments in the humanities and social sciences more widely, as well as in cultural studies, the book considers space, time, politics, the body, subculture and visual culture. Through its representation of past and contemporary research in cultural studies and its use of easily understood summaries, Introducing Cultural Studies offers students a complete overview of the present state of the field.

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