Why Use Reference Books?
To gather background information on your topic and to learn about research and scholarship in the field are good reasons to start with reference material.
For Social Science research, a good starting point is the International Encyclopedia of the Social & Behavioral Sciences which besides sociology includes:
| anthropology archaeology demography economics education gender studies |
law linguistics media studies political science psychology urban studies |
You can also try Credo Reference, an online database with approximately 400 reference books, including:
- encyclopedias
- dictionaries (English and foreign language)
- thesauri
- books of quotations
as well as a range of subject-specific reference books including Sociology.
Oxford Bibliographies provides a seamless pathway to the most accurate and reliable resources for a variety of academic topics. Written and reviewed by academic experts, every article in the Oxford Bibliographies database is an authoritative guide to the current scholarship, containing original commentary and annotations. The link below goes directly to the Sociology Bibliographies.
Selected Print & Online Reference Books
Subject dictionaries, encyclopedias, and handbooks typically provide background essays, definitions, broad overviews of various topics, or other pertinent facts.
21st Century Sociology by
21st Century Sociology: A Reference Handbook provides a concise forum through which the vast array of knowledge accumulated, particularly during the past three decades, can be organized into a single definitive resource. The two volumes of this Reference Handbook focus on the corpus of knowledge garnered in traditional areas of sociological inquiry, as well as document the general orientation of the newer and currently emerging areas of sociological inquiry.
ISBN: 9781412916080Publication Date: 2006-11-17
Advances in Sociology Research by
The authors of this book discuss the latest advances in sociology research. Chapter One presents a review of the current literature of AIDS in the Caribbean and postulates several hypotheses to explain the unusually high rate of HIV infection and AIDS in the heterosexual population. Chapter Two examines how three sub-groups of skinheads - heterosexual men, gay men, and women - each define masculinity within a culture that espouses a traditional hegemonic definition of masculinity. Chapter Three seeks to understand the effects of international policies of civil society empowerment as promoted by the United Nations Development Programme (UNDP) on the practice of power among social actors within the governance context of land-use decision-making in the counties of the South. Chapter Four investigates how social context is associated with risk factors for cardiovascular disease in different geographic locations. Chapter Five traces the history of the Darfur conflict, examines the actions of primary actors and explores potential solutions. Chapter Six provides an understanding of how the Renal Patient Support Group (RPSG) raises Chronic Kidney Disease (CKD) awareness; supports health professionals and researchers; and provides a reflection on the first 6-years (2009-2015). Chapter Seven analyzes and compares the arguments of important theorists about Fashion, such as Barthes, Flugel, Koënig, Lipovetsky, Simmel, Eco, Sigurtá, Livolsi, Alberoni, Dorfles, Lomazzi, Schwarz or Cordwell, among others. The phenomenon of Fashion is also analyzed under its diverse cultural dimensions, such as history, communication, language and expressivity.
ISBN: 9781634855075Publication Date: 2016-01-01
Varieties of Multiple Modernities by
To date, the nascent consequential notion of 'multiple modernities' has been predominately grounded in historical research with the purpose of validating the theory. Yet, the notion of multiple modernities represents a radical transformation in the way modernity and, indeed, the contemporary world is viewed. As such, the central aim of this volume is to explore the implications and hidden understanding of the multiple modernities research project beyond historical analysis in order to investigate its wide ranging omnipresent implications as they exist in communication and in the social order of societal membership in contemporary societies. This volume collects new research about multiple modernities and globalization. It shows the new turn of sociological theory in the contemporary scene with respect to multiple modernities, multi-centrism, transglobality, hybridization and multiculturalism, and explores it as a new area of societal communication - one that takes effect in the sectors of a global society as a 'society of societies'. The studies in this book converge to demonstrate that the route of Western modernization, its cultural program and its institutional structure, does not follow the pathway of modernization that we have thus far observed in the emerged new area. Rather, the continuation of the multiple modernities research program is given a new design, researching the social structure and dynamic of postmodern societies, their exchange and the debate about the flow of free resources. But the studies are also evidence that the sociological theory has no normative foundation. Contributors are: Mehdi P. Amineh, Barrie Axford, Eliezer Ben-Rafael, Shmuel N. Eisenstadt, Mark Jarzombek, Werner Krawietz, Judit Bokser Liwerant, Manussos Marangudakis, Jan Nederveen Pieterse, Gerhard Preyer, Roland Robertson, Luis Roniger, Yitzhak Sternberg, and Michael Sussman.
ISBN: 9789004306516Publication Date: 2015-11-13
Applied Sociology by
Sociology offers fascinating insights into social life that tell us so much about people and society. But what can we do with those insights? How can we put them to good use? That is exactly what this book is all about. It explores the practical value of sociology, how sociological understanding can be of help in a variety of settings. Neil Thompson¿s wealth of experience in using sociology in practice comes shining through in this clearly written and accessible text that succeeds in conveying complex ideas without oversimplifying them. Key concepts are explained and clear links are drawn with how the ideas can be used to inform professional practice and cast light on a wide range of situations across all sectors of working life, and in our personal lives too. So, whether you are involved in the helping professions or any other occupation where success depends on having a good understanding of people; a student of sociology wanting to put your learning into practice; or simply interested in how sociology can help address social issues, this book offers a solid foundation of understanding. It is an ideal text for anyone seeking to use sociological ideas to make a positive difference.
ISBN: 9781138629691Publication Date: 2017-09-28
