You May Ask Yourself: An Introduction to Thinking Like a Sociologist

You May Ask Yourself emphasizes the “big ideas” of the discipline, and encourages students to question what they've taken for granted most of their lives. Author Dalton Conley captures students with his conversational style, explaining complex concepts through personal examples and storytelling, and integrating coverage of social inequality throughout the textbook. His irreverent approach to textbook writing has won praise from students and instructors alike.

Using personal examples and storytelling throughout the textbook, Conley (New York U.) explains the main ideas of sociology, from methods and concepts to social division and inequalities to institutions of society. Each chapter is organized around a paradox, with a profile of a relevant person, policy discussion, and sections on using sociology in action. New interviews and profiles of sociologists are included in this edition, which is reorganized and has updates to statistics and trends in education and income; new methods and research examples; a new section on W.E.B. Dubois's theory of double consciousness; contemporary examples of culture and media; expanded examples related to suicide; new discussion of modern human trafficking, family violence, and hijiras in India; a revised chapter on poverty; new health care updates and a new healthcare policy section; expanded discussion of American Indians, religious faiths, the social consequences of genetic research, and the Internet's role in collective action; and other new content. Annotation ©2011 Book News, Inc., Portland, OR (booknews.com)

'\'Dalton Conley gives instructors an alternative to the typical textbook.\\n

\''

The “untextbook” that teaches students to think like a sociologist.

'\'\\\'The “untextbook” that teaches students to think like a sociologist.\\\\n

\\\'\''

Dalton Conley is Chair of the Sociology Department at New York University. In 2005, Conley became the first sociologist to win the prestigious National Science Foundation's Alan T. Waterman Award, which honors an outstanding young U.S. scientist or engineer. He writes for the New York Times, the Los Angeles Times, The Nation, Slate, and Forbes. He is the author of Honky (2001) and The Pecking Order: A Bold New Look at How Family and Society Determine Who We Become (2004). His other books include Being Black, Living in the Red: Race, Wealth, and Social Policy in America (1999), The Starting Gate: Birth Weight and Life Chances (2003), and Elsewhere, U.S.A. (2009).