Introduction to Sociology

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Sociology is the study of human social life. Human social life is complex and encompasses many facets of the human experience. Because of the complexity, the discipline of sociology subdivided over time into specialty areas. The first section of this book covers the foundations of sociology, including an introduction to the discipline, the methods of study, and some of the dominant theoretical perspectives. The remaining chapters focus on the different areas of study in sociology.

Part of the Social Sciences Collection

[edit] Table of Contents

• The Foundations of Sociology
  • Introduction
  • Sociological Methods
  • General Sociological Theory
• Social Life
  • Society
  • Culture
  • Socialization
  • Groups
  • Demography
  • Aging
  • Deviance and Norms
• Social Inequality
  • Race and Ethnicity
  • Gender
  • Stratification
• Social Institutions
  • Economy
  • Family
  • Religion
  • Health and Medicine
  • Politics
• Social Change
  • Collective Behavior
  • Social Movements
• Additional Information
  • Being a Sociologist - What can you do with a degree in Sociology?
  • Sociological Videos - A sortable list of videos - both fiction and documentary - that illustrate sociological ideas.
  • Famous Sociologists - A table of well-known and widely cited sociologists.

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[edit] Instructor Resources

• Noted Contributors (the primary authors of the text)
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Course Materials

A continuous, printable version of the book is available (edit). Alternatively, you can download the book as a PDF: PDF File Edition 1.0.

UPDATE: After substantially revising all of the chapters, I have also created new powerpoint presentations to accompany the completed chapters. You can view and download the updated presentations here. Rcragun (talk) 15:32, 26 January 2010 (UTC)

[edit] Future Chapters

1. Education
2. Organizational Behavior
3. Social psychology (belongs in Social Life section)
4. Social change
5. Sexuality
6. Human Ecology and Urbanization (belongs in Social Change section)
7. Media (belongs in Institutions section)
8. Everyday life (currently has only a short chapter on television) (belongs in Social Life section)
9. Social Structure (belongs in Social Life section)