Social Sciences Books

This book is one of the main reasons I was able to tackle my dissertation so effectively. It is priceless.

This publication is well organized and covers a large scope of data analysis in qualitative research but did very little, in my opinion, to guide me, as a dissertation author, in the process of coding and thematic analysis. A book entitled Qualitative Data Analysis, I think, should cover the actual analysis of qualitative data more than the type of introduction to design of qualitative research. One finds this information in many, many other titles- and to a more useable extent to boot. Two of the 13 chapters were helpful in meeting my needs (Chapter 4: Early Steps in Analysis and Chapter 10: Making Good Sense: Drawing and Verifying Conclusions) While there is a wealth of information presented in a well-written manner such as information about the display of data, my initial reading of the book was followed by immediate shelving.

This book assisted me in my graduate classes for Kinesiology.

I recommend it for any graduate students who need to take similar classes to mine.

Don't let the date published scare you away from this book. The guides are applicable to any person wishing to perform qualitative data analysis.

As a first time qualitative researcher, I found this book indispensible during my data analysis. It clearly explains multiple analytic techniques, providing the researcher with many alternatives to use in developing conclusions. The descriptions are easy to understand and supported by insightful examples. If you are looking for a roadmap to guide you through qualitative research, this is the GPS of qualitative data analysis.

Great textbook guys! I like this one because it gives the reader exciting ways to teach Social Studies. The book shows the reader how to make Social Studies interesting and not cause students to become bored with the subject. This book will also help me in my future classroom!:) The last thing I would want is for a student to become bored with any subject.

Covers a lot of court cases but does not explain some of the priciples very well.

The cases were written in an understandable English language and the CD-ROM was helpful in simplifing the chapters but they were too bare. They helped point you in the right direction but needed to be filled in a little more from the chapters.

I teach a course in the Sociology of Aging and this edition of the text is even better than the last edition. Quadagno covers all the important topics - caring for the frail elderly, retirement, income in later life, health and health care and death and dying. The book is quite attractive and the writing is clear and interesting. My students always love it. No text provides better coverage of all the issues salient to my course. Love it.

mrs quadagno has written a book that effectively discusses the various effects of aging on society.she delves into the effects on a socioeconomic level.race and income as they relate to social services for the elderly is the man topic of her focus.american social services provided are compared with the other western democracies of similar economies.AS our society lives longer we need to discuss what it means to be elderly?and who should be entitled to receive social service programs ?should recipants be based on an age or a need basis?

This is a very a good book for starting learn French. However, be aware if you are thinking about buying the Audio and Listening & Comprehension CDs. They cost around U$ 70.00 together, but you can have their contents for free at the book website. Just google "deux monde mcgraw-hill" and hit "I'm feeling luck".

You can listen to (or download) the audio of all lessons, and also do some extra exercises in this website.

I found Godfrey-Smith's 'Reality and Theory' to be an excellant introduction to philosophy of science. It requires a certain basic understanding of science and a familiarity with common notions of philosophy but is nonetheless appropriate for students and those who are simply interested in reading about the philosophy of science. I am developing a curriculum for an introductory course in the history and philosophy of science and plan to use this title as one of the texts for the course.

While not perfect, this is the best general intro to the Philosophy of Science I have read. Even though a few scattered parts of the book (especially the sections about the sociological aspects of science) are a bit murky, in general it's an accessible, clear, well-written overview.

This is by far the most convincing Introduction to Philosophy of Science that I've come across so far. As most previous reviewers agree, it is both deep and accessible, it makes a serious (not merely 'pro forma') attempt at being balanced and giving non-standard science studies a fair run for its money (unlike other books I have reviewed in the past). What's more, it even conveys a sense of the history of the debates that have shaped philosophy of science, while at the same time making the historical discussions relevant to the systematic interest of the philosophical argument. In this regard, it is much more of an introduction to philosophy of science than, for example, Losee's 'Historical Introduction to Philosophy of Science'. There are some minor problems, though, which means the book doesn't quite deserve five stars: first, the order of the chapters is somewhat idiosyncratic -- some crucial topics, such as scientific explanation, appear only on the last few pages of the book. Second, the discussion is sometimes too brief, especially when it comes to classic problems (e.g. D-N model of explanation); the author should have sacrificed one chapter (do we really need separate chapters on 'Feminism & Science' and 'The Challenge from SSK', and on 'Naturalistic Philosophy of Science' and 'Naturalism and the Social Structure of Science'?), thereby making room for a more complete discussion of standard material. Well, let's hope there will be second edition.

The book covers the most important debates in philosophy of science with an amazing clarity and simplicity (it's a accessible to anyone) and still retain the deep arguments. The historical background and the multiple examples (including most of the canonic examples) are also of great interest... In my opinion, one of the best book I've read in philosophy of science.

For an introduction to the philosophy of science, and all its different schools of thought and its most influential thinkers, you probably can't do much better than this book. Godfrey-Smith's writing and presentation are mostly clear and accessible to the interested layperson, and he ably introduces dense concepts without the wooden and pedantic prose that ruins so many modern philosophical tracts. However, readability is still an issue here, with a very apparent pattern. Each chapter is very readable and helpful at the start, but then becomes more confusing as Godfrey-Smith delves into increasingly esoteric and tangential sub-topics related to the chapter's main topic. He also has the tendency to describe a topic by introducing it briefly then spending more time discussing counter-theories and critiques, making the reader wonder what exactly is being covered and why (e.g. "Leviathan and Latour" in Chapter Eight). And finally, Godfrey-Smith is a working philosopher of science himself, and is generally unable to avoid giving his opinions in each chapter or section, falling into the philosopher's trap of criticizing one's colleagues for not having all the answers while refusing to admit the same about one's own theories. Meanwhile, the final chapter is made up mostly of Godfrey-Smith's attempt at a unified theory. Thus, this book is not necessarily the impartial introduction that it claims to be. But aside from those variously troublesome flaws, this is still a fine foundational text for the thinking student. [~doomsdayer520~]

This book was used as a textbook for a sociology of family class.

One interesting observation is that there is an odd absence of studies and articles concerning men. I am not sure if this is because of the body of research out there or because this particular author chose to disregard those studies. Overall, nice balance of pro- and anti-traditional family input.

"The conscious and intelligent manipulation of the organized habits and opinions of the masses is an important element in democratic society. Those who manipulate this unseen mechanism of society constitute an invisible government which is the true ruling power of our country."

And we're off and running through the world of Propaganda, the how-to manual for the manufacture of consent by Edward Bernays. Since American voters were unable to think for themselves, the nephew of Sigmund Freud asserted, political parties were necessary to narrow down choices to a handful of candidates.

Small wonder the Founders were wary of a mass democracy and the sways of public opinion. "An informed citizenry can be trusted with its government." Thomas Jefferson. "A well-instructed people alone can be permanently a free people." James Madison.

In his excellent introduction, Mark Crispin Miller details how propaganda was used to mold support for America's entry into WW1. Once the war was over, the public wised up to the ruse and angrily repudiated the Wilson administration. Propaganda was a dirty word throughout the 20's and 30's.

Regrettably, our modern day campaigns have become a testament to Bernays's expertise. Talking heads on television yak on about a candidate's charisma, wardrobe, and "thrilling life story." The marketplace of ideas has given way to fundraisers, photo-ops and two-bit slogans. Revisionist history has transformed Woodrow Wilson from schmuck to hero while voters blindly follow The Party like sheep.

Lessons unlearned are lessons lost.

The ancient art of infusing thought system in people to affect their daily judgement and "belief" in clearly illustrated in this book.
A must read for those interested in understanding the underlying forces that infuence what we believe,buy and vote for.

Edward Bernay and Ivy Lee were the progenitors of today's public relations and marketing machine. They didn't create the "Spin" machine, merely steered it in the direction it was naturally going. "Propaganda" is a "must read" for anyone desiring to create an effective PR/Marketing campaign. It's more a philosophy behind the strategy.

Ideas rule the world and "Propaganda" is the method by which it's done.

Edward Brown
Core Edge Image & Charisma Institute, Inc.

Edward Bernays is most infamous as the founder of modern public relations as we know it today, and particularly for his advertising campaign to make cigarettes popular for women. Bernays taps into his uncle's understanding of the human unconscious and then exploits it, by turning us all into products. A disturbing an continually prescient text on the art of commercial manipulation.

Once Sigmund Freud discovered unconscious thought, it was all over for the American republic. It was just a matter of time (a few years) before Freud's nephew, Edward Bernays, took the next step and found a way to use Uncle Freud's theories to manipulate the masses into controlling not only consumer behavior, but more importantly, political thought.

"If we understand the mechanism and motives of the group mind, is it not possible to control and regiment the masses according to our will without their knowing about it"?

"If you can influence the leaders, either with or without their conscious cooperation, you automatically influence the group which they sway".

In this way, majority rule as dictated in our US Constitution has ceased to be. "The minority has discovered a powerful help in influnecing majorities. It has been found possible to mold the mind of the masses that they will throw their newly gained strength in the desired direction".

While many of us can admit that we are influenced by external sources in what we spend our money on, nobody, and I mean NOBODY has even an iota of notion that our politics is influenced by those very same external sources.

Bernays published "Propaganda" in 1928 to "explain the structure of the mechanism which controls the public mind, and to tell how it is manipulated by the special pleader who seeks to create public acceptance for a particular idea or commodity".

The simple term for this "mechanism" is "mass suggestion".

Sounds innocent enough, until the power-mongers get ahold of it and manipulate the public into supporting needless wars. It was mass suggestion from personality figures (presidents) and authority figures (writers in the mass media) who ultimately transferred the ownership of our thought from ourselves to the government. So just like we are influenced to buy that Izod or Polo shirt or Big Mac, so also are we influenced to support a certain presidential candidate or governmental policy. It all works the same, without us even knowing it.

"...the sincere and gifted politician is able, by the instrument of propaganda, to mold and form the will of the people".

"Propaganda is utilized to manufacture our leading political personalities"..."a good press agent can puff up a nobody into a great man".

"...propaganda tends to make the President of the United States so important that he becomes not the President but the embodiment of the idea of hero worship, not to say deity worship".

"The public actions of America's chief executive are, if one chooses to put it that way, stage-managed". (And this was 75 years BEFORE "Mission Accomplished"!)

"...the group mind does not think in the strict sense of the word. In place of thoughts it has impulses, habits, and emotions. In making up its mind, its first impulse is usually to follow the example of a trusted leader".

"Who are the men", asked Bernays, "who, without our realizing it, give us our ideas, tell us whom to admire and whom to despise, what to believe..."? He answers, "Those who manipulate this unseen mechanism of society constitute an invisible government which is the true ruling power of our country".

"As civilization has become more complex, and as the need for invisible government has been increasingly demonstrated, the technical means have been invented and developed by which opinion may be regimented".

"Propaganda is the executive arm of the invisible government".

"There are invisible rulers who control the destinies of millions".

And so it was, the public masses in our "democracy" became the regimented crowd of Erich Fromm who wrote in 1941 (13 years after "Propaganda" appeared) that we have all become automatons, "mouthing received opinion without ever thinking critically" leading "to the attraction of the regimented crowd".

I believe Bernays wrote this book out of pride for what he accomplished in WWI. During WWI Bernays worked for the US Committee on Public Information (CPI) "A powerful propaganda machine that advertised and sold the war to the American people as one that would "Make the world safe for democracy". Even though the US was in that war barely more than one year, 116,000 Ameircan gave their lives in the name of this propaganda. "The marketing strategies for all future wars would be based on the CPI model".

In the introduction, Mark Crispin Miller writes, "Throughout the decade there had been a gradual, disorienting revelation of just how systematically, and how ingeniously, the Allied governments had fooled the peoples of two great democracies, Great Britain, and, in particular, the USA. Once the thrill of victory had faded, and the troops came home (if they came home at all) disfigured or disabled, and the reasons for the war were now less clear than they had seemed, the sordid details of the propaganda drive against "the Hun" began to circulate...". (WWI propaganda portrayed the Germans as Huns and that they were eating Belgian babies).

And then television was invented. The US government was able to "suggest" to everyone at the same time who to vote for and what to believe. For television's influence, see my review of the book, U.S. Television News and Cold War Propaganda, 1947-1960 (Cambridge Studies in the History of Mass Communication).

Today, the number one propagandist in the US media is Bill O'Reilly (he isn't paid millions for his show hosting). His viewers have no clue they are the victims of propaganda. It was Fox News who put forth the lie that Saddam Hussein moved his WMD to Syria. Not even the White House is telling this lie, but O'Reilly's viewers bought it hook, line and sinker. While all other networks have conceded that Saddam had no WMD, that Saddam was not linked to either al-qaeda or 9/11, the Fox News viewers are none the wiser, because Fox is all they watch like good little automatons.

And Fox News has put lying warmonger, John McCain in your face for two years now. "a good press agent can puff up a nobody into a great man".

Excellent condition as promised. Timely delivery as well. No complaints, I would buy from this seller again.

If you are a) an undergrad. in sociology, economy, or political science, you must have this for grad. school; b) a grad. student in sociology and unsure of its application, what theory is, or what the masters talked about, you must have it; and c) a theory freak like myself, a must for your collection (but you already knew that!). This book is a classic in sociology, and while Durkheim recanted much of what he said later in his career, his ecological model for the evolution of society is still relevant today. Furthermore, his discussion of the integrative effects of the Division of Labor are unmatched, and while this mechanism is probably not the only one of its kind, it is still important especially in a postindustrial society that is increasingly compartementalized...

A classic in many ways, the Division of Labor is a great starting point for sociology - not because it's terribly sexy or interesting or even correct, but because it begins to lay out what sociology can do.

... The Coser edition of THE DIVISION OF LABOUR is commonly regarded as the best english translation edition.

... The Halls translation is quite a good one. If we examine the Halls text and compare it to the "revisions" that the reviewer has posed, we find that the differences are not merely aesthetic, they are substantive. They change the meaning of the sentence, and therefore the nature and meaning of Durkheim's argument.

I think that this Durkheim's best work. As a warning, it is not easy; perhaps this is where the difficulty with the translation lies. But for anyone interested in sociological theory, this book is essential reading. The translation is the best out there.