Empirical Approaches to Sociology: Classic and Contemporary Readings [Paperback]

Gregg Lee Carter (Author)

Book Description

Publication Date: August 1993 | ISBN-10: 0023196610 | ISBN-13: 978-0023196614

Empirical Approaches to Sociology is an introductory level reader offering a selection of major articles. The book gives students a chance to see how research findings are used, interpreted, and incorporated into sociological theory. This collection of essays provides a broad view of sociology.

--This text refers to an out of print or unavailable edition of this title.

Editorial Reviews

Review

“The text provides an excellent overview of the empirical, research-oriented aspects of sociology. Students should find it appealing and rewarding.”

Dennis Willigan, University of Utah

 

“Empirical Approaches to Sociology actually does what many texts claim to do—provide an alternative that truly differs from the others. Overall I would rate this reader as a ten.”

Debra Miller, Kent State University

 

“Gregg Carter’s introduction provides an excellent step-by-step approach for evaluating empirical arguments, probably one of the best explanations I have seen on this topic ... This approach allows students the opportunity to think analytically and to make their arguments using empirical data. This is not done in most readers.”

Sharlene Hesse-Biber, Boston College

 

“Let me simply say that this is one of the most thoughtful, inspired, and well-organized anthologies in introductory sociology on the market. Carter does an excellent job illuminating sociological themes (social order, inequality, gender) with classic theoretical statements, and he demonstrates that they continue to have contemporary relevance, either by grounding them empirically with supportive data or challenging them with contradictory findings.”

Blind Reviewer #1

 

“This book provides a great set of individual readings, covers key topics, and offers insightful and well-written introductions to each topical unit.  [Indeed,] the author’s introductions, along with the “primer” on critical reading, are simply superb.  Carter is obviously a gifted teacher and writer."

Blind Reviewer #2

 

“I like the organization entirely . . .the book focuses nicely on the basics that are part of everyone’s introductory course.”

Cornelius Riordan, Providence College

--This text refers to an alternate Paperback edition.

From the Back Cover

Key Benefit: This book is the only introductory level reader to offer a selection of major articles that are rich in data, yet may be easily understood without advanced math skills. Using original sources, the book provides readers with a chance to see how research findings are used, interpreted, and incorporated into sociological theory. Key Topics: This collection of essays provides a broad view of sociology. Each article is packed with high-quality data and illustrates the crucial interplay between sociological insight and empirical observations. Many of the articles deal with either historical or cross-cultural material. Market: Designed for those interested in pursuing a career in sociology or social psychology. --This text refers to an out of print or unavailable edition of this title.

See all Editorial Reviews

Product Details

• Paperback: 480 pages
• Publisher: Macmillan Pub Co (August 1993)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 0023196610
• ISBN-13: 978-0023196614
• Product Dimensions: 9.1 x 7.3 x 0.8 inches
• Shipping Weight: 1.7 pounds
• Average Customer Review: 5.0 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (1 customer review)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #7,321,411 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)

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Most Helpful Customer Reviews

2 of 2 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars People watching, July 15, 2005

By 

FrKurt Messick "FrKurt Messick" (Bloomington, IN USA) - See all my reviews
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This review is from: Empirical Approaches to Sociology: A Collection of Classic and Contemporary Readings (3rd Edition) (Paperback)

As our college becomes a bona fide community college, we have endeavoured to add humanities and social science courses to give the students a well-rounded education. One such course is an Introduction to Sociology, for which this book edited by Gregg Lee Carter is used as a primary text.

According to the introduction, one of sociology's principle values is that it 'knows things about contemporary reality. We get out there, we talk to real people, we draw our conclusions from data...' This is not purely theoretical and more practical, in that it tries to describe things along - data and theory fit together in ways that encourage critical thinking.

The value of sociology is that in the modern/postmodern world, there is more information than ever before, more data, and much of it unfiltered and uninterpreted. What does all of this stuff mean? How do we figure it out?

This book provides some insights and tools for this project. Carter has divided the text into twelve major sections, each one a significant subfield in sociology. This includes social theory, research methods, culture, socity, socialisation, groups, all of which provide a grounding for understanding. The sections near the end include various topics that are high-visibility issues in society today - race and ethnicity, gender, inequality, crime, etc.

Each section has an introduction by Carter setting out the key concepts and issues, articles that are 'classic' articles for socilogical study related to the issue at hand, and then contemporary reflections. For example, in the first section (The Problem of Social Order), Carter includes brief articles by Emile Durkheim and Karl Marx for the classical setting, and articles by K.D. Breault and Joe R. Feagin for the contemporary coverage. These are not set up as exact point/counterpoint texts, but rather address similar sub-issues under the broad heading of the topic.

The articles are interesting (sometimes fascinating), reflecting the way that we can see each other and treat each other. What does one make of the experiment where, when a woman stopped people in a hospital to ask directions, she was helped more consistently when she said she was looking for an internist than when she was looking for a psychiatrist? What does it mean that societal views toward inequality change when different people ask different pieces?

This book has pieces that will provide something of interest to almost any student (even those who might think of sociology as 'boring' at first glance) - we as a people tend to like to understand each other, and this book is a good tool for use in that direction.