Sociology: A Global Introduction by Macionis and Plummer (Other Sociology Textbooks)

Member Name: moloko

Product:	Other Sociology Textbooks
Date:	07/08/01 (220 review reads)
Rating:

Advantages: Easy to read and understand, Fun, Interesting

Disadvantages: Long Book - but read in little parts its manageable

I studied Sociology at University during my first year having no prior knowledge of the subject and no clue what it was going to be about. Thankfully, our first year recommended text, 'Sociology: A Global Introduction' by John J. Macionis and Ken Plummer told me everything i needed to know to sail through the first year. Our lecture schedule followed roughly the pattern of the book and it was handy for reading up when i missed lectures (too often), but i would recommend this book for anyone studying the subject, even if its not on your recommended reading lists.

After a thorough introduction to the subject and its origins, the reader is then introduced to the main sociological theorists (Marx, Durkheim etc) and their way of thinking which is helpful because many other sociology books don't touch on this and later in the book mention these names and it's difficult to understand what the point is if you don't understand where these people base their theories.

The book then goes on to describe many topics studied in sociology briefly - the book is really just a basic introduction to the subject and therefore does not go into any one topic at any great depth. Topics examined in the book are : The Sociological perspective, Sociological Investigation, Society, Culture, Socialistaion, Social interaction in everyday life, Groups and Organisations, Deviance and control, Social stratification, Class, Poverty and Welfare, Global Stratification, Race, Ethnicity and Migration, Gender and sexuality, Ageing and the Elderly, The Economy, Consumption and Work, Power, the state and social movements, Families, Religion, Education, Health and Medicine, The mass media, Population and Urbanisation, Environment and the risk society, and Social change.

This book would also be handy for 2/3 year students for writing essays - i even know someone who used parts of this book for help during their final year dissertation! It breaks the subject
down so that its easy to understand and makes learning the subject fun.

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