Preface
Welcome to Version 3.0 of this introduction to sociology text! Students often take sociology courses and become sociology majors because they want to make a difference in their society. The founders of sociology in the United States also wanted to make a difference. A central aim of sociologists in the early 20th century at universities in Atlanta, Chicago, and elsewhere was to use sociological knowledge to benefit society. A related aim of sociologists like Jane Addams, W. E. B. Du Bois, Ida B. Wells-Barnett, and others since was to use sociological knowledge to understand and alleviate racial, class, and gender inequality.
It is no accident, then, that many sociology instructors and students are first drawn to sociology because they want to learn a body of knowledge that can help them make a difference in the world at large. This introduction to sociology textbook is designed for this audience. As its subtitle implies, it aims to present not only a sociological understanding of society but also a sociological perspective on how to improve society. In this regard, the text responds to the enthusiasm that “public sociology” has generated after serving as the theme of the 2004 annual meeting of the American Sociological Association, and it demonstrates sociology’s relevance for today’s students who want to make a difference in the world beyond them.
Several pedagogical features of the book convey this theme:
Almost all chapters begin with a “Social Issues in the News” story taken from recent media coverage that recounts an event related to the chapter’s topic and uses it as a starting point for the chapter’s discussion. Additional material at the end of the chapter discusses promising strategies for addressing the social issues presented in the news story and in the chapter as a whole. The inclusion and discussion of “Social Issues in the News” will help students appreciate the relevance of sociology for newsworthy events and issues.
Three types of boxes in almost every chapter reflect the U.S. founders’ emphasis on sociology and social justice. The first box, “Sociology Making a Difference,” discusses a social issue related to the chapter’s topic and shows how sociological insights and findings have been used, or could be used, to address the issue. The second box, “Learning From Other Societies,” discusses the experience in another nation(s) regarding a social issue related to the chapter; this box helps students appreciate what has worked and not worked in other nations regarding the issue and thus better understand how social reform might be achieved in the United States. The third box, “What Sociology Suggests,” summarizes social policies grounded in sociological theory and research that hold strong potential for addressing issues discussed in the chapter. In addition, many chapters contain tables called “Theory Snapshots.” These tables provide a quick reference tool for students to understand the various theoretical approaches to the sociological topic that the chapter is discussing.
Most chapters end with a “Using Sociology” vignette that presents a hypothetical scenario concerning an issue or topic from the chapter and asks students to use the chapter’s discussion in a decision-making role involving social change. These vignettes help students connect the chapter’s discussion with real-life situations and, in turn, better appreciate the relevance of sociological knowledge for social reform.
Drawing on these features and other discussions throughout the book, a unique final chapter, Chapter 22 “Conclusion: Understanding and Changing the Social World”, summarizes what students have learned about the potential of sociology to achieve social reform and includes further discussion of the relevance of sociological knowledge for addressing important social issues.
FlatWorld has an exciting model for making affordable textbooks available for students. In this innovative spirit, Sociology: Understanding and Changing the Social World makes sociology relevant for today’s students by using a fresh approach that, ironically, takes them back to sociology’s American roots in the use of sociological knowledge to benefit society.
A Note on Language
I have made a concerted effort to use language that is respectful, inclusive, and non-biased in this text and when evaluating its supplementary materials. I am particularly grateful to peer reviewers who provided insights into how they and their students might interpret or respond to language used throughout.
As part of the publishing process, FlatWorld’s copyeditors and proofreaders have reviewed the manuscript and applied a continuously updated set of publishing guidelines. These guidelines are meant to question and correct use of terminology or expressions that may negatively impact individuals or groups. I should note, however, that due to requirements involved in using original material from other sources, certain terminology used in third-party materials may be inconsistent with FlatWorld’s guidelines. In those cases, I have decided to use such third-party materials only when it is central to the specific point being made.
FlatWorld and I are committed to producing an inclusive narrative. If you have any input or feedback on how to improve this text in this or any other respect, please do not hesitate to let us know.
What’s New in Version 3.0
This new edition represents a thorough revision and includes many changes. Among these are more than 200 new and updated references, updated data throughout the book, new timely “Social Issues in the News” stories that appear in Chapter 2 through Chapter 21, and new discussion of various current events topics as appropriate. This edition was revised while the COVID-19 pandemic was still raging through the United States and many other nations. Accordingly, many of the new Social Issues in the News stories concern the pandemic to show its relevance for a chapter’s topic and the chapter’s relevance for the pandemic; many chapters include brief discussions of COVID-19 realities that also show this mutual relevance. At the same time, readers should know that some examples and photos in the text depict inappropriate situations during the pandemic. These features are being used not only to enable the book to be published sooner, but also in the hope that we will soon have a post-pandemic world in which these features will again be considered perfectly suitable.
Chapter-specific changes include:
Chapter 1 “Sociology and the Sociological Perspective”: 2020 polling data to illustrate how social backgrounds affect voting choices; updated data on gender and suicide rates and on regional suicide rates; discussion of soaring unemployment during the COVID-19 pandemic to illustrate the sociological imagination
Chapter 2 “Eye on Society: Doing Sociological Research”: two new Social Issues in the News stories on research that can benefit society (one story on a national survey of pandemic behavior and opinions, and one story on a study of neighborhood influences on obesity); use of age and COVID-19 to illustrate the difference between the independent variable and dependent variable
Chapter 3 “Culture”: new Social Issues in the News story on traditional cattle ritual in India; updated World Values Survey data; new discussion of American individualism and COVID-19 behaviors; updated Learning From Other Societies box
Chapter 4 “Socialization”: new Social Issues in the News story on threats to a Muslim center; updated General Social Survey data on hours of watching television and on relationship between religiosity and belief in legal abortion; updated data on children’s well-being
Chapter 5 “Social Structure and Social Interaction”: new Social Issues in the News story on the first Black woman to play Batwoman; new discussion of people violating additional role expectations during the pandemic; updated Sociology Making a Difference box on impression management and job interviewing
Chapter 6 “Groups and Organizations”: new Social Issues in the News story on teenagers’ act of racist vandalism; updated regional incarceration data to illustrate the influence of social backgrounds on the chances of ending up in coercive organizations; new discussion of groupthink and the refusal of President Trump supporters to wear face masks; updated Learning from Other Societies box; updated data on gender, race/ethnicity, and imprisonment; new discussion of Black Lives Matter as an example of groups working for social change
Chapter 7 “Deviance, Crime, and Social Control”: new Social Issues in the News story on a robbery of an older woman; updated data on fear of crime; updated crime and victimization data throughout; new discussion of population density, crime rates, and COVID-19 rates
Chapter 8 “Social Stratification”: new Social Issues in the News story on the effects of the 2020 pandemic on low-income Americans; updated income and poverty data throughout
Chapter 9 “Global Stratification”: new Social Issues in the News story on the effects of the 2020 pandemic on the world’s poor; updated global poverty and inequality data throughout; new discussion of consequences of the global pandemic for malnutrition
Chapter 10 “Race and Ethnicity”: two new Social Issues in the News stories on nationwide protests after police killing of George Floyd and on the severe impact of the 2020 pandemic on people of color; new racial and ethnic data throughout; updated discussion of mass media portrayal of people of color; new discussion of racial bias in the treatment of Black people with COVID-19 symptoms; new section on the hidden toll of racial and ethnic inequality on the health of people of color, including evidence that the presidency of Donald Trump has impaired their health; new section on how structural racism helps explain the higher COVID-19 infection and death rates for Black and Latinx people; new Learning from Other Societies box
Chapter 11 “Gender and Gender Inequality”: new Social Issues in the News story on Representative Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez’s response to being called a sexist vulgar term by another member of Congress; updated data on LGBTQ+ population; updated gender data throughout; new figure relating views about the Bible to belief in women’s traditional gender roles; new discussion of women’s caregiving responsibilities in regard to the gender pay gap; new section on gender inequality amid the COVID-19 pandemic
Chapter 12 “Aging and Older Adults”: new Social Issues in the News story on a senior citizen being honored for volunteer work; updated age data throughout; new aging data throughout; new discussion of loss of social networks’ contact with older Americans during the pandemic; new discussion of higher COVID-19 death rate of older Americans; new discussion of nursing homes’ carelessness during 2020 pandemic; new discussion of food security among older Americans; expanded discussion of reducing ageism and helping older Americans
Chapter 13 “Work and the Economy”: new Social Issues in the News story on the effects of unemployed workers losing federal unemployment benefits; updated work and labor data throughout; new discussion of low-wage workers after the 2020 pandemic began; revised discussion of bloated military spending
Chapter 14 “Politics and Government”: new Social Issues in the News story on voting problems created by the pandemic in the spring 2020 primaries; updated voting and other political data throughout
Chapter 15 “The Family”: new Social Issues in the News story on increased domestic violence because of the pandemic; updated family data throughout; new discussion of parenting and child care during the pandemic; revised discussion of cohabitation; revised discussion of effects of divorce on children; revised discussion of same-sex marriage; new discussion of increased intimate partner violence during the pandemic; revised discussion of dating violence in college and high school; updated discussion of child abuse; new discussion of child abuse during the pandemic
Chapter 16 “Education”: new Social Issues in the News story on ventilation problems in public schools as they considered reopening in fall 2020 amid the pandemic; updated education data throughout; new discussion of problems faced by low-income secondary school students during the 2020 pandemic; expanded discussion of the racial/ethnic gap in educational attainment; new Learning from Other Societies box on education in Finland; revised discussion of school choice; revised discussion of social class and race in college admissions; new discussion of problems experienced by low-income college students during the pandemic
Chapter 17 “Religion”: new Social Issues in the News story on religious Americans’ beliefs about COVID-19; updated religion and religiosity data throughout
Chapter 18 “Health and Medicine”: new Social Issues in the News story on the disproportionate impact of COVID-19 on low-income people and people of color; updated health and health care data throughout; new graph on annual household income and self-reported health; new discussion of American diets and risk for COVID-19; new discussion of racial/ethnic disparities in COVID-19 infections and deaths; new section on high cost of U.S. health care
Chapter 19 “Population and Urbanization”: new Social Issues in the News story on shrinking cities; new population data throughout; new discussion of the pandemic’s effects on birth and immigration rates; new discussion of urban life as a risk factor for coronavirus infections; new section immigration; new Learning from Other Societies box on limiting traffic and pollution in Europe
Chapter 20 “Social Change and the Environment”: new Social Issues in the News story on climate change’s effects on infectious disease; updated data on environmental problems; new discussion of air pollution and the impact of the coronavirus in 2020; expanded discussion of climate change
Chapter 21 “Collective Behavior and Social Movements”: new Social Issues in the News story on Black Lives Matter protests; new discussion of false rumors related to the COVID-19 pandemic that were spread via social media
Supplements
Sociology: Understanding and Changing the Social World, Comprehensive Edition, v3.0 is accompanied by a robust supplements program that augments and enriches both the teaching and student learning experiences. All supplements have been reviewed by the author for accuracy and to ensure they fully align with the book. Faculty should contact their FlatWorld sales representative or FlatWorld support at support@flatworld.com for more information or to obtain access to the supplements.
Instructor’s Manual
The instructor’s manual (IM) includes a chapter outline and possible responses to the For Your Review questions that appear at the end of each subsection in the text. The IM also features additional exercise questions and their possible responses to encourage students to more deeply engage with course material.
PowerPoint Slides
PowerPoint lecture slides provide a concise but thorough outline for each chapter and include relevant tables, figures, and images from the text to enliven lectures and stimulate class discussions. These PowerPoint slides also include a list of Learning Objectives and Key Terms by chapter. Instructors can use the slides as composed to support lectures or customize and build upon them to suit their particular teaching needs.
Online Quizzes
Quiz questions for student self-evaluation are available by section and by chapter in the online version of this text. Students can use the quizzes to test themselves on their comprehension as they move through the different sections of the text or once they have completed a chapter.
FlatWorld Homework
Accompanying FlatWorld Homework for this text is provided in an easy-to-use interface. Multiple choice, fill-in-the-blank, matching, classification, and other question types are available for use and are all auto-gradable. Students who utilize the homework questions should see their performance improve on examinations that are given using the Test Item File questions provided to adopters via Word documents or LMS packages.
Test Item File
Each author-reviewed Test Item File (TIF) includes more than one hundred questions per chapter made up of multiple-choice, fill-in-the-blank, short answer, and true/false questions. All answers are provided, including possible responses to the short answer questions. The items have been written specifically to align with and reinforce the major topics covered in each chapter. The Test Item File questions are also available in preformatted form for easy export into popular learning management systems such as Canvas or Blackboard.
Test Generator—Powered by Cognero
FlatWorld is pleased to provide a computer-generated test program powered by the leading assessment provider Cognero to assist instructors with selecting, randomizing, formatting, loading online, or printing exams. Please contact your local FlatWorld representative or FlatWorld support (support@fwk.com) for more information or to request the program.