Social Sciences Books

Since I paid for a 2-day service, I received it in 2 days. Book came brand new. I also found this book to be more expensive on all the other book sites for college books. Lastly it was available when at the other sites they were either sold out or on back order the week classes started.

this book ariived quickly and in great condition, would definitely buy from this seller again

Henry Tischler does a marvelous job writing this book. It is both up-to-date and accurate, blending a myriad of graphs and pictures with easy to read text. It is definitly recomended for the serious student interested in sociology as well as the student taking sociology to meet a GE requirement. It does a marvelous job touching each aspect of sociology, both macro and micro. I highly recomend it for possible sociology major and anybody just wishing to gain a greater understanding of this science.

There are some books you don't mind listing back with Amazon to sell, however, this book is one to keep. It is very easy to understand and covers all the introductory aspects of Sociology.

In addition to the exam study guide through the College Board, this book was my primary study material for the Intro to Sociology CLEP Exam. Of 100 questions, I only ran across 3-4 that covered material not in the book. Note: I think Tischler focused really well on concepts, but not as well on contributors to the science. Accordingly, I spent additional time on Wikipedia for some of the bigger names associated with Socioligy (ie, Cooley, Mead, Weber, etc). Overall, it was an informative read and I feel like I came away with a comprehensive handle on the major concepts of the field. (PST: I passed the exam with flying colors!)

I loved this textbook. I read it for an Infant & Child Development class and found it interesting, clear and helpful. Anyone interested in childhood development should definitely read this book!

From my experience, no other book--at this time--can upend Gonzalez-Mena's INFANTS, TODDLERS, AND CAREGIVERS. In it's seventh edition, it stands as the most near perfect infant/toddler textbook ever created.

Now...Berk's book is probably the best "second-best" textbook that I have found.

She goes from history/theory to basic foundations to each era of children from birth to Age 11. The book is filled with color pictures and color charts along with plenty of special interest sidebar accounts on subjects like the negative side of extended infant child care.

So why is it the second best? It just doesn't cover infants and toddlers exclusively. Instead, it exists as a superbly written book on early childhood growth and development...which isn't such a bad thing.

Check it out if you either can't get Gonzalez-Mena's book or if you just want a second opinion on infant/toddler concepts.

This book is an excellent overview for someone new to psychology. The summation of theorists is wonderful.

Well, this is just to say that I was surprised by how boring (and seemingly uninformative) this book is! The title really grabbed my attention and I love anthropology (especially cultural anthropology). However, for whatever reason, it just didn't do anything for me. In fact, it did LESS than anything for me! (there's another fifty dollars forever gone)...

There is little wasted space in this book. It is to the point. This brevity for me was ideal, but for some readers, perhaps they need more examples. For use in a classroom setting, this is an especially useful work if used in conjunction with a readings from cultural anthropology text such as "Conformity and Conflict." The two complement each other very well. More specifically, I found the latter part of MFH especially interesting-- the chapters dealing with gender, the world system, and stratification. MFH should not only appeal to those within the field of cultural anthropology but also should draw the attention of students working within the sister disciplines of history and sociology.

this book was boring. Evrything in here was either stuff you could look up in the dictonary and that you wouldn't need to because the terms went by other words as well, or common sense that you would know by guessing. This book reads similar to books made in the era of black and white television whos goals were to dispense facts and not to entertain thus saving space and money. Because of this it sounds just like an instruction manual except for the fact that most instruction manuals arent this long. If you plan on reading this book all the way through good luck its a 282 page instruction manual. If I could have I would have given it a negative one star review

Learning cultural anthropology through this book is a joy ride. When I was reading, it actually felt like I was reading a New York Times Bestseller! This book captures you attention and it is never boring. I had to read this book for my intro to anthropology class and you can only imagine how fun studying for this class was. I've learned so much from it and I would read it again when I have the time!

Manfred B. Steger's book Globalization is part of the Very Short Introductions series put out by Oxford University Press. The series is called that because each book in the series is a brief treatment of a particular topic, like Cosmology, Postmodernism, Intelligence, Drugs, or Animal Rights. In Globalization, Steger keeps his introduction to 147 pages, making it true to the series name.

Steger has written Globalization with both erudition and clarity. Striking that balance between precision and perspicuity is no easy task, but Steger manages to succeed. In chapter 1, Steger decides not to protect the reader from the controversies surrounding the concept of globalization. He then takes his readers on a historical tour, showing how globalization has been happening in different ways ever since humans appeared on the scene (ch. 2). The meat of the book comes in chapters 3-5, where Steger expounds on the economic, political, and cultural dimensions of globalization. In chapter 6 Steger makes a careful distinction between globalization and globalism. The former, he explains, is a description of social processes, while the latter is an ideology endowed with neoliberal meanings and values. Earlier in the book Steger gave his readers another helpful distinction, separating globalization as social processes from globality as a social condition (p. 7). Chapter 7 highlights the recent key challenges to globalism in the form of particularist-protectionism and universalist-protectionism. Chapter 8, capping off the introduction, contains a brief assessment of the future of globalization.

Although I had read about globalization before, and most of the concepts discussed inside are not new to me, Steger's volume on globalization has turned out to be the best introduction to the topic that I've come across

Book was informative, this is a text book. The last two sections give seemingly unsupported statements, but tries to be balanced.

The point of a "very short introduction" is to present a topic with a minimum of bias; then, if the reader wishes to delve deeper, s/he can do so.

This book is unfortunately quite biased against globalization, the economic aspects of which are leading millions out of poverty (see India, China). Steger takes a typical Socialist view and runs with it.

His multifaceted approach is quite commendable, however. His identification of the political, social, cultural, etc. aspects of globalization are too often ignored, although, again, I think he overstates the negatives.

What I find most unfortunate is that the browsing book buyer might see this book and be inspired to learn something about an important topic. S/he will come away with a sadly jaundiced view of a process that has very much to commend. Steger the political scientist seems put off that economists get most of the globalization press (he sees politics as the driver behind everything, which is a suspect position IMO), and his use of "neoliberal" is seldom used in any positive sense even though classical liberalism has given Steger the very freedom to trash the "Global North" which he criticizes. It's too bad, really. The topic deserves better.

The book starts, ominously, with the author "deconstructing" (sic, comas and all) Bin Laden. It turns out the 9/11 attacks were all America's fault, for trying to force fed globalization into an unwanting world. The rest of the book continues in the same vein, with the author lambasting multinationals, neoliberals, the North, and above all evil Americans for all the worlds troubles. A mugshot of Bill Gates is included.

Steger has no grasp of economics whatsoever, so all his economic assumptions about the effects of globalization are totally wrong. The classical example is trying to demonstrate the widening gap between rich and poor countries without taking account of countries population size or PPP. With China growing at a rate of 10% this looks specially silly.

I strongly recommend Why Globalization Works (Yale Nota Bene) instead of this drivel.

Steger begins by defining the term "globalization": A "set of processes" (not a "condition") towards greater interdependence and integration among the various cultures of the world. He makes a point to emphasize that economics is only ONE aspect of globalization: there are also political, cultural and ideological aspects. Moreover, he dedicates one chapter to showing that globalization is by no means a NEW phenomenon: cultural exchanges can be traced back to the prehistoric period.

I found the chapter on the economic aspects of globalization (chapter 3) very useful. It explains the history and role of the IMF, WTO and the World Bank in the global economy. It also discusses the West's transition from "controlled economies" to "free market capitalism." Arguing that globalization is an uneven process, the author shows how it is having very different effects on the various regions of the world. This gives us a clear vision of some of the negative impacts of the new world economy, such as a larger gap between rich and poor nations. His realistic view of globalization is a nice antidote to the cheerleading of hyperglobalizers like Thomas Friedman.

The chapter on opposition to globalization (chapter 7) does an excellent job of explaining challenges that are coming from both the right and the left. The particularist protectionists (on the right) feel threatened by multiculturalism because they want to maintain a sort of cultural purity. This often leads to their rallying against immigration and appealing to nationalism. However, like the left, they also criticize the power of the corporate elite and the negative effects globalization is having on the average domestic worker (i.e., jobs going overseas, lower wages). In the US, Pat Buchanan is a good example of this view. The universalist protectionists (on the left) tend to criticize the poor working conditions of both domestic and foreign workers. In general, universalist protectionists "are concerned with protection of the environment, fair trade and international labor issues, human rights, and women's issues." Ralph Nader is an example of a universalist protectionst.

Overall, an excellent introduction to the various facets of one of the most important issues of our time.

My daughter needed this book for a college class. We were very impressed when it came because it looked like it had never been opened or used. It was a great deal for us.

Book was beneficial for class. Emphasizes on different issues within the schools system.

This is a great book about current education policy that everyone should read.

Current educational significant issues for 2007 are listed within this book including such issues as social experience, standardizing curriculum, producing good citizens, charter schools, bilingual education, school violence, homework, and merit pay. Two major sides are looked at for each issue listed, and one of the issues, redefining of "public school" in question, lists 4 people on the "no" side of the issue and 1 person on the "yes" side. The table of contents does not show that there are 4 different excerpts, but lists it as only "et. al" for three people when it really should be written out for clarity and easier reference.

The bonus issues, changing science curriculum on evolution (known as Intelligent Design (ID) ) and boys' education are extra issues they decided to tack on. They really don't fit into any of the categories from the issues originally listed, and are much more theoretical and directly less significant than the issues originally in the text. The bonus issues are not a necessary read unless you intend on reading everything or something on those particular topics, but it's nice addition for the book.

Considering that this is a 14th edition, there are still way to many places where they forgot to place a space between words and I think a couple of misspellings too.

Besides all the tidbits, the issues are worth reading and understanding, as they capture many nuances that you may or may not have thought of. Even if the points are already obvious to you, it's very arguably a handy well written reference if nothing more than that.

This book is insightful, detailed, and interesting. I actually didn't fall asleep reading it- now if only that were true for my history textbooks! This was my textbook for an AP Human Geography class I took at my school. The teacher was barely adequate, and I basically taught myself everything from this book. H.J. de Blij knows how to write well. He doesn't just give you facts, either. You're taught how to spacially analyze worldwide phenomena, not just to memorize place names. He covers everything from political geography to urban landscapes to environmental science.

This textbook is also great if you simply want to know more about the world we live in, and wish to learn from a more international, rather than American-centric, point of view.

This book should not be used to teach. It's full of Liberal, Politically Correct, Multiculturialism, etc. garbage. Evan Sayet explains this mess in a video called "How Modern Liberals Think." You will see why Liberals invented PC and Multiculturalism.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=eaE98w1KZ-c

Make sure you watch the Q&A at the end.

This book was listed by Dantes as a recommended book for their Human/Cultural Geography exam. This book was full of PC claptrap, and factual inaccuracies. 30% of the exam is on climate & topography, and those subjects barely covered in this book. Thankfully, I already knew a lot of the information on the exam so I passed with a high score. I'd suggest Geography for Dummies. Good luck.

I used this text in my Cultural Geography course last semester. I'm not usually one to read my textbooks, but this one was really interesting, reader friendly, and filled with lots of current examples (there's even photos of Lindsay Lohan and Tony Hawk). I'm not selling this one back (and for a starving college student--that's really saying something!)

As someone who holds Masters degrees in both History and Social Studies Education and actually TEACHES AP Human Geography to high school freshmen, I can safely say that DeBlij and co. have come up with a winner in the new edition. I'll admit the 7th edition was filled with misrepresentations, but the new version is such an improvement, that I have discarded the often inaccurate Rubinstein book for this one.

For those who suggest buying "Geography for Dummies" be my guest. I'll just let the title speak for itself. If you look at AP Central- the home of the College Board tests, the AP Human Geography test contains about 9-10% on the basic fundamentals of geography including physical geography. DeBlij covers more than its adequate share of the subject- outside of the instructor teaching the course.

Great for AP