Sociology


Book Description




Integrating the Sciences and Society


Book Description

Many people think of 'social problems' as involving poor and powerless individuals in society. This work seeks to improve the balance by adding a focus on important and powerful institutions. It discusses policy sciences, public policy analysis and public management. It addresses operations and design issues for government organizations.




Introduction to Sociology


Book Description

Show students the relevance of sociology to their lives. While providing a rock-solid foundation, Ritzer and Wiedenhoft illuminate traditional sociological concepts and theories, as well as some of the most compelling contemporary social phenomena: globalization, consumer culture, the Internet, and the "McDonaldization" of society.




Teaching Sociology Successfully


Book Description

Teaching Sociology Successfully is a comprehensive guide to teaching, learning and delivering sociology, not only with success but with confidence. Carefully combing insightful anecdotes and practical ideas with key theoretical concepts on planning, learning styles and assessment, this book is an essential tool for both new and experienced teachers of sociology. Each chapter focuses on a particular aspect of the teaching and learning process – from preparing to teach the subject for the first time to measuring student progress over time – in an approachable yet rigorous way. This practical guide will help you to: improve your knowledge of specifications and syllabuses at GCSE and AS/A Level; provide the best pedagogic approaches for teaching sociology; think about learning styles, skills and capacities in relation to teaching sociology; gain practical ideas and activities for improving student’s argumentation, evaluation and essay writing skills; apply strategies for teaching abstract sociological theories and concepts; make the teaching of research methods engaging and interesting; deal with practical issues such as planning and assessing learning; encourage students’ independent learning and revision; connect ICT, social networking websites and the mass media to further students’ sociological knowledge; tackle the thorny issues of politics and controversial topics. Drawing on the author’s own experiences, Teaching Sociology Successfully helps readers to identify, unpack and negotiate challenges common to those teaching sociology. Complete with a variety of pedagogical resources, it provides tasks and further reading to support CPD and reflective practice. This book will be an invaluable tool for students on PGCE social science training courses, as well as School Direct candidates and undergraduates studying BEds in similar fields.




Dostoevsky as Suicidologist


Book Description

In Dostoevsky as Suicidologist, Amy D. Ronner illustrates how self-homicide in Fyodor Dostoevsky’s fiction prefigures Emile Durkheim’s etiology in Suicide as well as theories of other prominent suicidologists. This book not only fills a lacuna in Dostoevsky scholarship, but provides fresh readings of Dostoevsky’s major works, including Notes from The House of the Dead, Crime and Punishment, The Idiot, Demons, and The Brothers Karamazov. Ronner provides an exegesis of how Dostoevsky’s implicit awareness of fatalistic, altruistic, egoistic, and anomic modes of self-destruction helped shape not only his philosophy, but also his craft as a writer. In this study, Ronner contributes to the field of suicidology by anatomizing both self-destructive behavior and suicidal ideation while offering ways to think about prevention. But most expansively, Ronner tackles the formidable task of forging a ligature between artistic creation and the pluripresent social fact of self-annihilation.




Cambridge International AS and A Level Sociology Coursebook


Book Description

This revised set of resources for Cambridge International AS and A Level Sociology syllabus (9699) is thoroughly updated for the latest syllabus. Written by a highly experienced author, the Coursebook provides comprehensive support for the syllabus. Accessible language combined with the clear, visually-engaging layout makes this an ideal resource for the course. Discussion of significant sociological research, case studies, explanation of key terms and questions within the text reinforce knowledge. Stimulating activities build interpretation and application as well as analytical and evaluation skills. Revision checklists help in consolidating understanding. The book provides complete exam support with each chapter culminating in exam-style questions and a further chapter dedicated to revision, and examination skills and practice. A Teacher's CD-ROM is also available.




Caught in Play


Book Description

Most of us have become so immersed in a book or game or movie that the activity temporarily assumed a profound significance and the outside world began to fade. Although we are likely to enjoy these experiences in the realm of entertainment, we rarely think about what effect they might be having on us. Precisely because it is so pervasive, entertainment is difficult to understand and even to talk about. To understand the social role of entertainment, Caught in Play looks closely at how we engage entertainment and at the ideas and practices it creates and sustains. Though entertainment is for fun, it does not follow that it is trivial in its effect on our lives. As this work reveals, entertainment generates commitments to values we are not always willing to acknowledge: values of pleasure, self-indulgence, and consumption. For more information, please visit www.caughtinplay.com.




Connecting Leadership and Learning


Book Description

This book returns us to some fundamental questions about the purpose of schools, the nature of learning and the qualities of leadership which make schools authentic places of learning.