Sociology in Our Times: The Essentials

by Diana Kendall

Book Overview

Completely up to date and offering a succinct new presentation, Kendall's SOCIOLOGY IN OUR TIMES: THE ESSENTIALS, 9e uses real-life stories, told by the people who have lived them, as well as familiar... This description may be from another edition of this product.

• Format: Paperback
• Language: English
• ISBN: 0495598623
• ISBN13: 9780495598626
• Release Date: December 2008
• Publisher: Wadsworth Publishing Company
• Length: 598 Pages
• Weight: 2.85 lbs.
• Dimensions: 0.9" x 8.3" x 10.7"

Customer Reviews

Sociology

Needed the book for a class, Bought it cheap, Got it fast! Slight water damage from a previous owner but its a used book so you cant expect perfection, besides that its still an excellent book that I use in class without a problem!

It was okay...

I found this book really boring and included a lot of things I didn't need. What I did like about it was that it had examples that fit the theme of the chapter.

school sucks

it's a school book. who likes school books? honestly? but no it's ok. no complaints from me...

A fine introduction to sociology

As one of the most recently-developed social sciences, not to mention one that seems to be consistently popular with college students, sociology is a field that truly needs a good comprehensive text. Put quite simply, this is it. Diana Kendall, a well-respected scholar and author in the field, has managed to put together a text that manages to cover all of the major subfields of the field, presenting a lot of information on each, and giving a good general overview. All of the major subpoints of sociology are covered: population studies, race/gender/ethnic relations, collective behavior, criminology, and more. In addition to providing a solid block of information for each subtopic, Kendall further invigorates her text with well-placed contemporary and classical photographs, graphs, charts, and other peripheral information. She also prefaces each chapter with a real-life example relating to the forthcoming information, a quiz about the information contained within (which sometimes will yield surprising results!), and more. Throughout the individual chapters, she also sprinkles dialogue boxes with separate takes on individual subissues relating to the major topic at hand and shows readers how they can get involved. As a bonus for the college student, certain editions of the book feature a CD with access to additional material, and a free four-month subscription to Infotrac, a well-known scholarly index.Kendall writes well, and she presents a lot of information. Therein, however, lies my only complaint about this text: certain chapters feel overlong. Granted, sociology is a diverse field, and this book attempts to cover it all between a single set of covers. Still, some chapters are so jam-packed with information that they become somewhat tiresome. Nevertheless, it is all good information -- and all worth reading. It is a small complaint, on the whole, that does not detract from the overall quality of the text.In summary, this is an excellent introductory text both for a college text and for the individual reader.

One of the better Sociology Textbooks

There are a number of good sociology textbooks available, and one can choose almost any of them with confidence. However, this is definitely one of the best. It is accessible, yet the author does not talk down to the student. The illustrations are pertinent and timely. The choice of topics is comprehensive. It is a broad-ranging textbook, yet, at the same time, is focused and direct.The instructor who chooses to use Sociology in Our Times can be comfortable with the choice. The student who is fortunate enough to have a teacher who chose Sociology in Our Times should be confident that they have had a good exposure to Sociology. If one learns the material in this book they will be well-grounded in Sociology.