Social Sciences Books

This product was used for a college class I was taking. I found the book very interesting and really did not mind reading the entire book.

Well-written book with few or no mistakes. Highly recommended by professor and will complete entire text as classwork. Great combination of biology and psychology together in chapters.

"Human Development" 10th Edition by Diane Papalia et. al, is by far the BEST text I have ever used in my 30 year educational career. I use the book for prospective teachers, and their response to it has been excellent. Specifically, students really appreciate the myriad of information from research and how it relates to theory, pedagogical strategies, and practical applications. The writing style is very "student friendly" and also intellectually challenging. From the context of instruction, the text exceeds all curricula requirements. And it also promotes critical thinking about issues; therefore Socratic dialogue is easily incorporated as an instructional tool.

I highly recommend this text--instructors and students will really appreciate all of the thought that has gone into creating such a quality product!

My campus bookstore is charging twice what this book costs on Amazon! TWICE!

Go AMAZON!

I received my book in ample time to start my course. The book was in excellent condition and the CD was in tact. Past orders from other companies; that required my using a CD, was either damaged or cracked into little pieces. My merchandise was in perfect order.

I began my MSW research class with a great deal of interest in the subject, but this textbook dampened my interest quite rapidly. I do not feel that it is very well organized, and it is very tedious to pull out the main points. It's very wordy with alot of needless jargon. The definitions and vocabulary lack "common sense" and useful applicability. Visually speaking, it is a difficult read due to the way the text is organized and formatted. The concepts themselves are not difficult and can even be fun to learn, but without prior knowledge of some of these concepts, this book would have really turned me off.

I like the book for being able to have practice test and the puzzle after every chapter

This is a great text. Easy to understand, easy to read and laid out nicely. I would recommend this for instructors and students.

This book is really long winded and boring. It rambles a lot and is quite incoherent, though I would give it some credit for trying to sound personable. The chapter on inferential statistics, especially isn't very clear which makes it even more frustrating because stats is already quite a dry topic.

I'm taking a research methods course right now and, unfortunately, this is the book that was assigned. The chapters are too long and the authors make things more complex by trying to include too many examples and unnecessary filler material. Research methods is boring anyway, but Rubin and Babbie make learning about it more boring and confusing by not getting straight to the point. I have a "quiz" next week and you don't know how tedious it is read through these chapters. I had to learn how to speed read in order to save time and find the important information.Thank goodness the book is at least organized.

It's obvious the difficulty slaves endured. Ironic, but she endures a great deal more than most. How her story ends is not predictable.

Concerning this edition (the book is a must read)... Dover's thrift editions are just that--thrifty. The text is close together and the overall readability of the edition is fair. It works, but I'd like to see Oxford or Penguin make a "classic" edition with a scholary introduction, footnoting and contextual information like 19th century reviews, etc... A good edition, needs improvement, but then it wouldn't have a "thrifty" price!

Harriet Jacobs' Incidents in the Life of a Slave Girl is unique in that it is one of the few firsthand accounts written by a woman. The book is a tribute to an extraordinary woman who spent much of her life fighting against slavery. She also provides details into the reality of this dark period of American history, constantly struggling with how a nation can be Christian and yet allow the practice to continue. It is impossible to read this book and not be impressed with the quality of this historical figure.

I used an excerpt from this book included in a women's literary anthology used in my women's literature class. It was one of the many classes' favorite reads. For their final they were allowed to concentrate on one class assignment, write a documented essay, and from it, give an oral presentation with visuals....several successfully replicated, small scale, the yard and house with attic where Jacobs describes as being hidden for years... an incredible true story for everyone of all ages!

Some say this isnt true, after reading it seems that some is fiction. Especially extensive quotes years after the events from someone who coulnt read or write at the time the events occured and would have no way of recording them for future use. Somewhat drawn out. Keep looking there may be something better out there on the subject.

This book is classic! I cited this book a lot when I wrote my papers.
Strongly recommend although the price is high for a graduate student.

I am currently working on my PhD dissertation using qualitative research. I've read a number of other books on qualitative methods. This one is perhaps one of the more comprehensive ones, but no particular surprises with new knowledge. It's a great collection of all information related to developing a qualitative research and it goes into great depth.

I bought this book to be read with a research group at my graduate school and we have all found it to be useful. It is a good introduction into qualitative methods that uses discourse that beginners to qualitative research can understand without being demeaning. It uses a great deal of examples to illustrate the concepts. I recommend it!

I purchased this book for a graduate level qualitative research methods course. The book is well written and will be an important reference in the future. Patton's writing style is engaging and he uses examples throughout the text. He is a well known qualitative researcher who has valuable experience in the subject matter. I would highly recommend this text to those interested in learning about or completing qualitative research.

Very interesting, easy to read. For the person undertaking Qualitative research this book is a must to have.Patton has a way of writing that makes the reader feel connected to the subject.

This textbook is enriching and it introduces cross cultural studies, which I believe everybody should be familiar with. Cultural anthropology is both interesting and informative, therefore I recommend this textbook

I can't figure out to which article the previous review is referring. It's a little ridiculous and useless to make such an accusation of bias without mentioning what specific article it is that is so grossly biased and derogatory. I would like to know. I myself alwys prefer Nanda and Warms' text for my class. I've reviewed many many texts and just like their format and content the best. It is clear, well organized, and yes, less materialist oriented. Also the content is much better than most other texts, particularly on the subjects of Gender and Religion.

This one stands out for its clarity and lack of too much of a materialist or idealist bias, which is where other intro texts have become annoying to me. I'm trying it for my next class because 3 of my colleagues have already recommended it.

I've observed at least one grotesquely biased and unwarranted article within this book that creates an insulting and ethnocentric argument towards a subculture that goes against the entire purpose of anthropological objectivity. A book that preaches about evaluating and truly understanding cultures of all kinds should not allow for blindly opinionated segments in any instance. It is both derogatory and uneducated for such a thing to be allowed in this book. Because there is one instance of it there could very well be others. Teachers should read this text carefully before supplying it to unwitting students trying for form proper opinions of the world around them. Although the information is presented in a very clear and easy to understand manner is should not be taken at face value.

"Cultural Anthropology, ... informed by a wide array of theoretical perspectives, innovative in form and content, and focused on both traditional and emerging topics. ...that helps shape new directions in the field. In their view, Cultural Anthropology occupies an important niche in what can be thought of as the ecology of anthropological publications, ..." 'Vision Statement'



Cultural anthropology:
According to WIKEPEDIA, Cultural anthropology (the holistic study of humanity) is one of four fields of anthropology as it developed in the United States. It is the branch of anthropology that has developed and promoted "culture" as a meaningful scientific concept; it is also the branch of anthropology that studies cultural variation among humans. Cultural Anthropology continues to provide a forum for experimentation with varied, often interdisciplinary, theoretical frameworks within anthropological projects. Work with critical theories of race, sex, class, feminism, and post-colonialism will continue to be important, and in need of new perspective.

Anthropology and Culture:
The anthropological concept of "culture" reflects in part a reaction against earlier Western discourses based on an opposition between "culture" and "nature", according to which some human beings lived in a "state of nature". Anthropologists argue that culture is "human nature," and that all people have a capacity to classify experiences, encode classifications symbolically, and teach such abstractions to others. Since humans acquire culture through learning (the processes of enculturation and socialization), people living in different places or different circumstances may develop different cultures. Anthropologists have also pointed out that through culture, people can adapt to their environment in non-genetic ways, so people living in different environments will often have different cultures. Much of anthropological theory has originated in an appreciation of and interest in the tension between the local (particular cultures) and the global (a universal human nature, or the web of connections between people in distinct places/circumstances).

Cultural Change:
All cultures are dynamic, no culture was, has been, or is static. All cultures change throughout time and space, but most of them are conservative in that their tendencies to resist change. Since Alexander the great started a global Hellenization especially around the Mediterranean, this was encountered by resistance like in Judea. Some still resist more than others by like non tolerance in dressing or eating habits or education, especially between religion motivated societies. Enacting laws for the preservation and protection of traditional cultural patterns, by limiting national language to one or two, while putting up barriers to alien ideas and things, even reaction to illegal immigration as clear from recent reactions in France, Europe in general, and the USA.

Covered Issues:
The main issues covered by this book, are arranged for a systematic approach to the subject. It starts with Human diversity, and how this is a key in the book agenda to introduce the subject. The idea of culture, language, and learning culture turn to social-economics of making a living, and economic behavior, marriage, family, kinship, and gender, discusses social ranking, and stratification, and concludes in power and control. Cultural identities are surveyed in religion, and the arts. Cultural change is the last main chapter of the book.

Conclusion:
How did anthropology contribute to solving human problems, and the role of anthropologists in public policy wrt legislation and implementation could very well portrayed in the Global warming debate, and Kyoto agreement, ethnic cleansing in Balkans and Africa, all such vital issues raise legitimate concerns on behalf of Cultural Anthropologists.

For anyone who has been following Obama's campaign, reading The Audacity of Hope will dispel once and for all any notion of his insincerity, being "too good to be true", or flip-flopping--all of which have been thrown out at us as discouraging comments. Throughout his book, written before he tossed his hat in the ring, one witnesses his most deeply held values. The wondrous part is that they are perfectly consistent with the values he has been espousing on the campaign trail. This takes one by surprise, given the fact that he is campaigning for a political office. After reading his book, one can readily believe that his having to counter McCain's style of campaigning must be gut-wrenching for Obama. Mud-slinging is totally unlike, and against, the very fabric of his being.

His book--beautifully written by him, not a ghost writer--also demonstrates the depth of his vision and coherence of all he sees. These are rare traits in someone of his age. He takes us on a tour of Congress, of politics, of his mind, and other topics, reflecting all the way on his assessment of what is happening and his response to it. This gives the reader a behind-the-scenes picture of how he would most likely approach the Presidency.

Lastly, his book shows the care and attention he gives to others' ideas--even those of Republicans. He truly respects all persons, valuing them just for being other human beings like himself. Because he listens, hears, and values what others have to say, the gnawing feeling one may have about his lack of experience becomes assuaged. He may not have had the on-the-job training that unquestionably would be useful as President, but he is clearly bright enough to surround himself with those who do have the needed experience. More importantly, he shows no signs of egocentricity, giving him the capacity to take others' advice, filter it through his brilliant and well-ordered mind, and come out with his own, value-based decisions. It makes one think, "I could be proud to have that kind of President."

Watch Video Here: http://www.amazon.com/review/R259X44BA4PE44 obama is a muslim and is pretending to be a Christian to get the votes. muslims lie to get what they want - I saw first hand in the mideast last year. If he were a Christian, he would be against killing unborn babies and would be against deviant sexual BEHAVIOR.

A must for anyone's library and a great read. Easy to follow, clear, and a concise and logical plan for rebuilding America into the nation it should be, the nation that was designed by our Constitution, with freedom and justice for all.

I must add that Mr. Obama is a great speaker but in the end he sounds like a politician dreaming of Utopia with a past touching every walk of life to give him a superior in depth view of ....everything. Although I am no fan of Mr. Obama, I did enjoy reading this book. In the end what did I get out of this book? Alot of babble about his life and experiences and what/why he thinks as he does. I haven't to date heard any definitive statements from Obama on what he stands for other that against the war in Iraq, pro-choice, and in favor of taxes. I'm more interested in a person with great ideas-------BUT moreover ways to get to an endpoint, not muddle around in the hypothetical and no true solutions (just questions about what the problem currently is). Spit it out Mr. Obama......please!! There are many great points about how and why he thinks but in the end, I see an empty suit as many other politicians that speak of change. I recommend the book for an uplifting view of his life without many negative facts or true insights into his inner conflicts. We all need to be more educated about politicians; this book is just FLUFF. Good read to better understand Mr. Obama and see, he stands for everything, but nothing in the end. Don't ask him a yes or no question because we will get another book about his life. Obama Nation is also another interesting book about Mr. Obama. Different but nonetheless interesting. It seems all of America is looking for a modern day Patton dressed as Ghandi to be the next president, Mr. Obama is neither. Read this book and you may agree.....or disagree.

This book was a wonderful surprise. To tell you the truth, I bought it because my foster grandson Lois goes to the same school as the author's literary agent's children, and I felt that it would be the right thing to support local people.

I am a rather conservative reader in my tastes. I like good writing skills, a reasonable plot, a read which is not relying on too much "experimental" writing (such as misspelled slang that makes you wonder what the author/character meants). I want to enjoy reading a book, and, if possible, not be so discouraged that suicide seems to be a rationale course of action.

This book reached 5 stars at almost every level. First, it is a true page turner, one of those books which you cannot put down until you are done with it - not so much because you want to know what will happen (although there is a bit of that too) - but because it plays with your emotions and enjoyment in such an unusual way. The language is wonderful - precise when discussing a detail oriented individual, passionate for a romantic, always well tuned to the characters and to the events. The vocabulary is full, although not as rich, maybe, as Joseph Conrad. The characters are deeply etched and displayed, yet not revealed to their innermost layers. They are unusual and interesting, yet not so outrageous that you are interested in them because of their anomalous behavior. The story is non-linear and absolutely ignores classical rules of composition, yet it achieves grandeur which reminds you a bit, without all the pathos, of Sempleton-MacFee (although the large number of characters also contributes to that echo). The period seems quite well researched, and the author has mixed in his story true details as well as "fake" notes or "small history" regarding his own made-up additions, sometimes creating funny or ironic moments.

I was impressed by the story and how the writer is able to sell us that story - very few could have pulled it off. I loved the language and its effects. I enjoyed the mix of post modernity and classicism. I loved the book and at the same time enjoyed the fact that it stretched my tastes in literature. I am still trying to describe what makes this such a wonderful novel - it might be the non-linearity of its story, the seeming lack of logic that some of its turns have, and yet the richness of the language and of the events it depicts.

But:
Some loops in the story are superfluous and could have been cut to greater effect and Obama (as well as several minor characters) lack true depth and seem to be paper folks imagined by some spin doctor. Not real people with flaws and anger and errors and upset dreams.

So only 3 stars eventhough this novel is one of the best I have read this year.

ciao // gurkha

I was a bit surprised at the small size of the book, but it makes up for it in content. Currently an MBA student who needed some guidance on the specific nature of doing case study research for a research methodology course assignment. Highly recommended by the lecturer and the text is very helpful in outlining the differences in the approach needed for case studies.

I read this book to help me understand how to conduct case studies for a project I was doing, that eventually turned into a book. I did a pretty good canvas of other books about case study research and was impressed with the other reviews here on Amazon, and ended up buying this book as a result.

I used the advice from the book about preparing consistent questions and following a protocall throughout my research. This helped when I had to ask some pointed questions of some interviewees, if only to be consistent across the board. This work is accessible even to non-academics, who wish to use this research method to gather information for non profit research. For me, the case study research for my project became the most statisfying part. In the end the case studies made the manuscript into something more valuable to the reader and therefore publishable. Take a look at New Solutions for House Museums, published by AltaMira Press in 2007.New Solutions for House Museums: Ensuring the Long-Term Preservation of America's Historic Houses (American Association for State and Local History)

I read this book to help me understand how to conduct case studies for a project I was doing, that eventually turned into a book. I did a pretty good canvas of other books about case study research and was impressed with the other reviews here on Amazon, and ended up buying this book as a result.

I used the advice from the book about preparing consistent questions and following a protocall throughout my research. This helped when I had to ask some pointed questions of some interviewees, if only to be consistent across the board. This work is accessible even to non-academics, who wish to use this research method to gather information. For me, the case study research for my project became the most statisfying part. In the end the case studies made the manuscript into something more valuable to the reader and therefore publishable as New Solutions for House Museums, by AltaMira Press in 2007.New Solutions for House Museums: Ensuring the Long-Term Preservation of America's Historic Houses (American Association for State and Local History)

I read this book to help me understand how to conduct case studies for a project I was doing, that eventually turned into a book. I did a pretty good canvas of other books about case study research and was impressed with the other reviews here on Amazon, and ended up buying this book as a result.

I used the advice from the book about preparing consistent questions and following a protocall throughout my research. This helped when I had to ask some pointed questions of some interviewees, if only to be consistent across the board. This work is accessible even to non-academics, who wish to use this research method to gather information. For me, the case study research for my project became the most statisfying part. In the end the case studies made the manuscript into something more valuable to the reader and therefore publishable as New Solutions for House Museums, by AltaMira Press in 2007.New Solutions for House Museums: Ensuring the Long-Term Preservation of America's Historic Houses (American Association for State and Local History)

This book is an excellant resource for qualitative research. It is written logically and is easy to follow. In particular, the sections on case study design, how to address validity and reliability, and justification of methods are very helpful. But it and plan to keep it as a reference.

The scope of Snyder's book is ambitious. It offers a grand sweep of teaching the basics of information technology. To a reader that will not major in this field. In other words, if this is a required text for one of your courses, then it may well be the last text in IT that some of you will ever use. Realistically, you will probably in later years have computer books, about whatever new hardware or software comes up. But those will usually be books far narrower in scope.

So there is a big responsibility here. Luckily, Snyder carries it off well. This is not a book about how to turn on your PC or Mac, or how to navigate in a windowing system. He reasonably assumes that you've already learnt this by now. This frees him to discuss higher level topics. Like just what is the World Wide Web? What are the implications of a pervasive global network of computers? Whose reach is expanding daily. Naturally, pretty early in the text, we meet the Web. An entire chapter is devoted to HTML, due to its universal importance. This chapter is fairly low level detail. Most of you won't write HTML.

Later on are perhaps broader topics. Like how to find information on the Web. This is more than just blithely typing a query into Google. He warns that there is far more to effective searching than that. You need to develop some feeling for which websites and other information sources are reliable.

If you thought HTML is low level, he goes deeper. In simple terms, he tries to explain the innards of a computer. To demystify what must surely be inexplicable to some. He also does this with algorithms.

Social issues are also extensively dealt with. The privacy you might have in an electronic world, and how this might come under attack through viruses and other malware. Or even by phishing. It is a good sign of the updated nature of this text that he gives an explanation of this recent scourge. And how you might avoid it. Though the suggestions he offers are all manual, and not programmatic. Which still exposes the unwary to phishing. But in this year 2005, that is indeed the state of the art in antiphishing.

I'm just now finishing up a semester teaching a CS0 class from this text. In a nutshell, I am teaching the same course next term, and I will not use this book again. Let me add a few useful things for the reader before I explain why.

First, there are essentially two classes of texts out there for CS0 classes: (1) surveys of computer science qua science and (2) surveys of the information technology field. Snyder's book most definitely falls in the second category, although there are several chapters devoted to JavaScript.

Second, if you're going to use this text, make sure you get the online resources, especially the prepared labs and the 6-page PDF reference for JavaScript. The labs are detailed, deep and very useful, and the reference is well-organized and easy to use.

In fact, I did not have a chance to review this text before I adopted it for my course, and it was the labs (along with a solid-looking table of contents, credentials from the National Research Council, and a single 5-star review here) that convinced me to use it. I do hope this review will discourage others from doing the same.

My problem with this text is, in a word, depth. Or rather the breathtaking lack thereof. It is organized coherently enough, but time and time again throughout this term, I found the treatment of various topics in the book so shallow that I had to spend almost double time filling in enough details to make things coherent to my students.

The result was an absolutely enormous amount of work on my part, finding supplementary readings, putting extra care into lectures, writing extensive tutorial materials for the assignments, and so on. At every step of the way, I felt that I was fighting the text, rather than drawing from it.

Some of the worst habits in the book's writing include:

*_Long_, drawn-out analogies for ideas that are never given any other explanation, so that the "analogies" are completely devoid of context, and hence pointless. Invariably, such things serve only to muddy already-murky waters.

*Gross over-simplification of many concepts, so much so that it is nearly impossible for a student to develop any sense of the real-world ideas that made a technology worth adapting. Perhaps the most egregious example of this is in the chapter on encryption, which in its presentation of RSA pretends that only one public key (3, 55) is ever generated, and but then proceeds to give a "formula" for computing the private key, before devolving into the spectacular silliness of a quotation of Euler's Theorem that by this point might as well be in the original german for all the good it would do a student.

*Absolutely _awful_ problem sets. The few "exercises" that aren't just fill-in-the-blank and multiple-choice review consist of short-answer problems that alternated between the trivial and the pointless, or combinations of the two. The "test banks" are no better. With almost no exceptions, they were questions I would consider insulting to a six-grader, let alone a classroom of college students.

The really strange thing about this is that the website for Snyder's own version of the course looks quite well organized and rigorous. In fact, the look of his class from that site was one of the reasons I selected this text. Some of this is the use of those lab assignments I mentioned above, which are quite nice. And Snyder's work with the NRC clearly indicates a fair amount of thought went into the design of this work.

The only explanation I can offer for the disconnect is that he has simply been unsuccessful in putting into writing some of the apparent magic of the course from which this text arose.

But the book does not pull it off, all my self-consciousness about armchair-quarterbacking aside. Good work with NRC report, but the book from that effort is still to be written.

The unease that has been plaguing me for years now -- I call it "Mall Malaise," finally has scientific basis! It appears to be true - instead of choice bringing more happiness, it actually can frustrate and depress us when taken to the extreme.

Schwartz's easy-to-read analysis of the pluses and minuses of choice, coupled with scientific/psychological studies on why we feel as we do, will help a generation of overachievers and overconsumers find peace in the midst of plenty.

My favorite part -- instead of just explaining the phenomenon, Schwartz provides suggestions on how to mitigate the negative effects of too much choice.

I feel better already.

In this book, Schwartz explores why people make strange decisions, why we can often make decisions that are totally irrational and why the plethora of today's choices make it hard for decisions makers to be content with the decisions they've made after they've made them. Schwartz presents the latest research on why some people seem so happy with a decision they've made when presented with few alternatives and why some people fret over decisions where no avenue has been left unexplored. Nothing too deep here but I found the book very engaging. This would be a great book for someone to read over a weekend.

The author's point is that having too many choices doesn't improve life; and, in fact, it can even be detrimental. It takes extra energy and thought to choose from among the dizzying array of choices that surround us; but that effort doesn't yield a corresponding increase in satisfaction with our choice and often yields _less_ satisfaction than if we had made a decision faster. That's it. That's the whole book. A person could read the first two chapters, the last two chapters, skip the (largely repetitive and very pedantic) middle of the book and still get the basic take-away message.

Schwartz has a compelling argument: the more options we have for each choice, the higher our expectation and the longer the decision process. For a number of people (especially those that like to 'maximize' every decision) this can be a very frustrating and potentially debilitating. He reports on studies that show how people are actually better off (more satisfied with outcomes) when given fewer choices. Clearly, this concept has been understood for a while, especially in marketing circles where the goal has been to 'take advantage' of customer behavior. However, Schwartz takes the perspective of the individual or consumer and shows how we can be manipulated and perhaps 'left hanging' when the array of choice is bewildering. This book has a very practical approach to the issue, ending with suggestions on how to address the challenges presented with having too much choice.
I bought a copy for myself, then ended up buying two more copies because I kept loaning it out to others who reported that a third party ended up taking it, instead of giving it back.

My husband and I, both professionals (he's an attorney, I'm a psychologist), had previously had many conversations about how the plethora of choices available in modern-day life--from being able to find virtually every TV program ever made online to owning an iPod that can hold every song we'd want to hear to having access to endless reviews on amazon whenever we need to purchase a new product--somehow seemed detrimental to us, although we were never able to quite put our finger on the precise nature of the problem. So, when we came across the book The Paradox of Choice, we were amazed to find that author Barry Schwartz had done research into exactly phenomenon we had been discussing with each other.

In this book, Schwartz makes a distinction between "satisficers," those who are able to ignore the vast majority of options available and accept the first choice which meets all of their needs, versus "maximizers," those who are convinced that the perfect choice exists and who are willing to ignore the costs associated with searching for this "perfect" option. Schwartz does as an excellent job of showing that maximizers tend to be more depressed and anxious. But then he moves away from the specific topic of choice to discuss the more general subject of happiness. Here Schwartz reviews some of my favorite research in psychology, including Dr. Martin Seligman's work with learned helplessness and his more recent expansion into the positive psychology field. Schwartz also references the book Stumbling on Happiness by Daniel Gilbert; Dr. Gilbert makes the point that we are all particularly poor predictors of what will make us happy.

In the final part of this book, Schwartz offers some strategies for dealing with the overwhelming amount of options in today's world. Although this is certainly not designed as a self-help book per se, these recommendations build on both Schwartz's own research as well as the work of the above-mentioned psychologists and are designed to help the reader find greater happiness amidst the sea of modern-day choice. I would recommend this book to anyone looking for a highly readable account of this fascinating topic.