Summary

Sociology is a discipline of curious minds. What key social forces construct and transform our lives as individuals and as members of society? How does our social world shape us? How do we shape our world?

With their newest edition, Bill Chambliss and Daina S. Eglitis continue the journey beyond the classroom to help students answer these questions in Discover Sociology. Chambliss and Eglitis inspire curiosity about the social world and empower students by providing the theoretical, conceptual, and empirical tools they need to understand, analyze, and even change the world in which they live. Every chapter in the book integrates robust pedagogical features and empirical research that illuminate the social roots of diverse phenomena and institutions, ranging from poverty and deviance to capitalism and the nuclear family. From exploring whether the use of "study drugs" should be considered cheating to an examination of research showing a correlation between rising student debt and declining rates of marriage, the book's chapter openers engage students in real-life applications of sociology. Going beyond theory and concepts, the authors also help answer the question, "What can I do with a sociology degree?"