The papers in this volume, including two important and previously unpublished essays on sociological method, represent most of Howard Beckers work of the past twenty years that has not appeared in book form. They reflect the way of thinking about society and how to study it that has established Professor Beckers place among the leading sociologists of our time. Th e result is an important statement of the distinctive theoretical and methodological views associated with the "Chicago School" of sociology, reflecting a deep concern with the study at first hand of the processes and human consequences of collective action and interaction. The first part of the book treats problems of method as problems of social interaction and lists a series of research problems, which require analytic attention-gaining access to research sites, choosing a theoretical framework within which to approach a group or community, avoiding error, and developing hypotheses. They also exemplify this approach by analyzing the interactional aspects of definition, proof with qualitative evidence, bias, and the value commitments of sociology. Part Two illustrates Professor Beckers approach through full reports on two of his major research projects. Part Th ree contains four theoretical statements on how people change (a sociological approach to what psychologists call "personality"), and Part Four makes important contributions to the study of deviance. The papers here ask what we can learn about American society from looking at its common forms of deviance and illustrate the need to study deviance as part of the general study of society, not as an isolated specialty.

"This text is intended for a one-semester introductory course."--Page 1.

"Introduction to the Science of Sociology" by Robert Ezra Park, E. W. Burgess. Published by Good Press. Good Press publishes a wide range of titles that encompasses every genre. From well-known classics & literary fiction and non-fiction to forgotten−or yet undiscovered gems−of world literature, we issue the books that need to be read. Each Good Press edition has been meticulously edited and formatted to boost readability for all e-readers and devices. Our goal is to produce eBooks that are user-friendly and accessible to everyone in a high-quality digital format.

This book offers an original and rounded examination of the origin and sociological contributions of one of the most significant, yet continuously ignored, programs of social science research ever established in the United States: the Atlanta Sociological Laboratory. Under the leadership of W.E.B. Du Bois, this unit at Atlanta University made extensive contributions to the discipline which, as the author demonstrates, extend beyond 'race studies' to include founding the first American school of sociology, establishing the first program of urban sociological research, conducting the first sociological study on religion in the United States, and developing methodological advances that remain in use today. However, all of these accomplishments have subsequently been attributed, erroneously, to White sociologists at predominately White institutions, while the Atlanta Sociological Laboratory remains sociologically ignored and marginalized. Placing the achievements of the Du Bois led Atlanta Sociological Laboratory in context, the author contends that American Jim Crow racism and segregation caused the school to become marginalized and ignored instead of becoming recognized as one the most significant early departments of sociology in the United States. Illuminating the sociological activities - and marginalization - of a group of African American scholars from a small African American institution of higher learning in the Deep South - whose works deserve to be canonized alongside those of their late nineteenth and early twentieth century peers - this book will appeal to all scholars with interests in the history of sociology and its development as a discipline, race and ethnicity, research methodology, the sociology of the south, and urban sociology.

"A doctor can damage a patient as much with a misplaced word as with a slip of the scalpel." In this statement, from Lawrence J. Henderson, a famous physician whose name is part of the basic science of medicine, epitomizes the central theme of The Word as Scalpel. If words, the main substance of human relations, are so potent for harm, how equally powerful they can be to help if used with disciplined knowledge and understanding. Nowhere does this simple truth apply more certainly than in the behavior of a physician. Medical Sociology studies the full social context of health and disease, the interpersonal relations, social institutions, and the influence of social factors on the problems of medicine. Throughout its history, medical sociology divides naturally into two parts: the pre-modern, represented by various studies of health and social problems in Europe and the United States until the second World War, and the modern post-war period. The modern period has seen rapid growth and the achievement of the full formal panoply of professionalism. This engaging account documents the development of professional associations, official journals, and programs of financial support, both private and governmental. Written by a distinguished pioneer in medical sociology, The Word as Scalpel is a definitive study of a relatively new, but critically important field.