The indispensable guide to understanding the world we make and the lives we lead. This thoroughly revised and updated ninth edition remains unrivalled in its vibrant, engaging and authoritative introduction to sociology. The authors provide a commanding overview of the latest global developments and new ideas in this fascinating subject.

Classic debates are also given careful coverage, with even the most complex ideas explained in a straightforward way. Written in a fluent, easy-to-follow sty...

COMPREHENSIVE: The book offers an unbiased introduction to all three methodological paradigms: positivist, interpretive, critical/cultural (quantitative, qualitative, critical). - INNOVATIVE: The book includes new sample student papers along with critiques of these papers to that students can model their own work on that of their peers.

FOCUSED ON THE STUDENT: Specific attention is given to presenting conceptual and theoretical information regarding methods, and to providing real-life exampl...

Winner of the 2022 Textbook & Academic Authors Association's The McGuffey Longevity Award

Media/Society: Technology, Industries, Content, and Users helps students understand the relationship between media and society and gets them to think critically about recent media developments. Authors David Croteau, William Hoynes, and new co-author Clayton Childress take an interdisciplinary approach with a sociological focus to answer questions like How do people use the media in their everyday lives?...