This updated edition provides an ideal teaching text for first-year university and college courses.

Perspectives in Sociology provides students with a lively and critical introduction to sociology and to the ways in which sociologists are trained to think and work. The subject is presented as a sequence of different perspectives on the social world, all of them interrelated, sometimes in conflict with one another, and all contributing important and necessary insights. The discussion is backed up by extensive reference to empirical studies. This edition has been completely revised. A chapter on critical theory has been added in order to reflect the extensive work and thinking that Marx's basic work continues to stimulate. The chapter on research strategies now takes account of new developments in the philosophy of science that are relevant for sociological approaches. Throughout, the authors have rewritten extensively in their continuing desire to produce clarity, and to respond to the comments of students and teachers.

First published in 2002. Routledge is an imprint of Taylor & Francis, an informa company.

Widely recognized as a groundbreaking text, The New Urban Sociology is a broad and expert introduction to urban sociology that is both relevant and accessible to the student. A thought leader in the field, the book is organized around an integrated paradigm (the sociospatial perspective) which considers the role played by social factors such as race, class, gender, lifestyle, economics, culture, and politics on the development of metropolitan areas. Emphasizing the importance of space to social life and real estate to urban development, the book integrates social, ecological and political economy perspectives and research through a fresh theoretical approach. With its unique perspective, concise history of urban life, clear summary of urban social theory, and attention to the impact of culture on urban development, this book gives students a cohesive conceptual framework for understanding cities and urban life. In this thoroughly revised 5th edition, authors Mark Gottdiener, Ray Hutchison, and Michael T. Ryan offer expanded discussions of created cultures, gentrification, and urban tourism, and have incorporated the most recent work in the field throughout the text. The New Urban Sociology is a necessity for all courses on the subject.

This fifth edition of An Introduction to Sociology provides an accessible and engaging introduction to sociology, without oversimplifying or passing over the important and exciting insights sociology has to offer. Building on the book's existing achievements, Ken Browne has restructured the fifth edition to focus on the core issues in sociology considered in introductory courses. The book covers all the topics and options specified by the GCSE and IGCSE examining boards, including the required classic texts and theoretical perspectives which are helpfully applied throughout the chapters. The new edition has been completely updated to reflect contemporary social changes, including the latest statistics and topical illustrative examples. New material is to be found throughout, such as more extensive treatment of family and household diversity, the marketization of education, social inequality, the control and prevention of crime, and the effects of new media technologies. Carefully designed to support and extend students' learning, a number of features – such as a range of activities, questions and discussion points – add to the book's value as a learning and teaching resource. Explanatory graphics, photographs and cartoons also enliven the text, presenting sociology as an exciting and relevant topic to students of all ages, interests and abilities. The new edition of this highly successful textbook will prove invaluable to anyone first approaching sociology, especially on Access, GCSE and related courses. Students will find the book provides an easy-to-follow and thoughtful introduction to studying sociology.

Traditionally, medical sociology texts have been written from a medical perspective, focusing primarily on health issues as they have been defined by doctors, and often reading much like health education textbooks. Weitz, instead, adopts a critical perspective, sometimes challenging medical perspectives, sometimes raising broader issues beyond those of interest to the medical world. This perspective, which is more thoroughly sociological, is now more common among instructors than the older medical perspective.