Thinking Sociologically

This is an introduction to the study of sociology which encourages students to think from a sociological perspective. Students armed with an appreciation of the sociological perspectives and social science methodologies introduced in this text should be well prepared to undertake sociological study in the area of interest to them, and do so productively, professionally and defensibly. Most textbooks, according to Dr. Goldenberg, are written as encyclopaedias of facts and summarize the current state of knowledge on each topic within a discipline. The main "value" of this approach is that students see part of the breadth of topics within the field but this fact-oriented coverage must remain partial and is almost always superficial. The other major shortcoming of this orientation is that it fails to teach students how to think from a sociological perspective and apply that type of critical thinking.