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For courses in Introductory Sociology

Inspire each student’s sociological imagination

Authored collaboratively by members of the NYU Sociology Department, The Sociology Project 2.5 draws on the collective wisdom of expert faculty to reveal how individuals are shaped by the contexts in which they live and act. Organized around the big questions in every subfield of the discipline, The Sociology Project 2.5 shows how sociologists analyze our world and sets students off on their own journeys of sociological inquiry. At its core, The Sociology Project 2.5 seeks to inspire each student’s sociological imagination and instill in each reader a new determination to question the world around us.

1. The Sociological Imagination
2. Social Theory
3. Studying the Social World
4. Social Interaction
5. Social Structure
6. Culture, Media, and Communication
7. Power and Politics
8. Markets, Organizations, and Work
9. Cities and Communities
10. Social Stratification, Inequality, and Poverty
11. Race and Ethnicity
12. Gender and Sexuality
13. Families and Family Life
14. Sociology of Religion
15. Education
16. Health and Medicine
17. Deviance and Social Control
18. Crime and Punishment
19. Social Movements and Revolutions
20. Environmental Sociology
21. Population
22. Immigration
23. Globalization

1. The Sociological Imagination
   • by Jeff Manza, Lynne Haney, and Richard Arum
   • The Big Questions
   • 1.1 What Is the Sociological Imagination, and Why Is It Worth Acquiring?
   • 1.2 What Are Social Contexts, and Why Do They Matter?
   • 1.3 Where Did Sociology Come From, and How Is It Different from Other Social Sciences?
   • Conclusion: Looking Ahead
   • The Big Questions Revisited 1
2. Social Theory
   • by Jeff Manza, Thomas Ertman, Lynne Haney, and Steven Lukes
   • The Big Questions
   • 2.1 What is Social Theory?
   • 2.2 How Did the Early Social Theorists Make Sense of the World?
   • 2.3 What Innovations in Social Theory Emerged in the Mid-Twentieth Century?
   • 2.4 How Has a New Generation of Social Theory Evolved?
   • Conclusion: Social Theory and the Sociological Imagination
   • The Big Questions Revisited 2
3. Studying the Social World
   • by Lynne Haney
   • The Big Questions
   • 3.1 Where Do Sociological Questions Come From?
   • 3.2 What Is the Best Method to Research Different Sociological Questions?
   • 3.3 What Challenges Do Sociologists Face When Collecting Data?
   • 3.4 How Do Sociologists Make Sense of Their Findings?
   • Conclusion: Thinking Critically About Research
   • The Big Questions Revisited 3
4. Social Interaction
   • by Harvey Molotch
   • The Big Questions
   • 4.1 How Do We Develop a Sense of Self?
   • 4.2 How Do We Make Sense of Our Worlds?
   • 4.3 What Challenges Do We Face as We Move from One Social Context to Another?
   • Conclusion: What We Know and What We Don’t Know
   • The Big Questions Revisited 4
5. Social Structure
   • by Jeff Manza
   • The Big Questions
   • 5.1 What Is Social Structure?
   • 5.2 How Do Roles and Social Hierarchies Shape Our Life Chances?
   • 5.3 How Do Norms and Institutions Influence Social Life?
   • 5.4 How Do Social Structures Influence Our Daily Lives and Social Interactions?
   • 5.5 Why Are Social Structures Slow to Change?
   • Conclusion: Social Structure
   • The Big Questions Revisited 5
6. Culture, Media, and Communication
   • by Eric Klinenberg
   • The Big Questions
   • 6.1 What Is Culture?
   • 6.2 How Does Culture Shape Our Collective Identity?
   • 6.3 How Do Our Cultural Practices Relate to Class and Status?
   • 6.4 Who Produces Culture, and Why?
   • 6.5 What Is the Relationship Between Media and Democracy?
   • Conclusion: Culture, Media, and Communication
   • The Big Questions Revisited 6
7. Power and Politics
   • by Steven Lukes and Jeff Manza
   • The Big Questions
   • 7.1 What Are the Distinct Forms of Power?
   • 7.2 What Is the State, and How Does It Distribute Power in a Society?
   • 7.3 Who Has Power in the United States Today?
   • Conclusion: Power and Politics
   • The Big Questions Revisited 7
8. Markets, Organizations, and Work
   • by Richard Arum and Jeff Manza
   • The Big Questions
   • 8.1 How Do Social Factors Impact Markets?
   • 8.2 Why Are Organizations Important for Social and Economic Life?
   • 8.3 What Is the Relationship Between Organizations and Their External Environment?
   • 8.4 How Is Work Inside Organizations Structured?
   • 8.5 How Do We Measure Work Satisfaction?
   • Conclusion: Markets, Organizations, and Work in the Twenty-First Century
   • The Big Questions Revisited 8
9. Cities and Communities
   • by Patrick Sharkey
   • The Big Questions
   • 9.1 What Draws People to Cities?
   • 9.2 How Do Neighborhoods Form and Change?
   • 9.3 How Do Cities Influence Who We Are, Who Our Friends Are, and How We Live?
   • 9.4 Why Are So Many Social Problems Found in Cities?
   • 9.5 How Will Cities Change in an Increasingly Connected World?
   • Conclusion: Our Urban Future
   • The Big Questions Revisited 9
10. Social Stratification, Inequality, and Poverty
    • by Florencia Torche, Richard Arum, and Jeff Manza
    • The Big Questions
    • 10.1 What Is Inequality?
    • 10.2 Why Is America So Unequal?
    • 10.3 Do We All Have an Equal Opportunity to Succeed in Life?
    • 10.4 How Much Poverty Exists in the United States and Around the World?
    • Conclusion: Should We Be Concerned About Excessive Inequality?
    • The Big Questions Revisited 10
11. Race and Ethnicity
    • by Ann Morning
    • The Big Questions
    • 11.1 What Is the Difference Between Race and Ethnicity?
    • 11.2 Is Race Real?
    • 11.3 What Is Racism?
    • 11.4 Do Race and Ethnicity Matter Anymore?
    • 11.5 How Are Race and Ethnicity Changing in the Twenty-First Century?
    • Conclusion: Developing a Sociological Imagination on Race and Ethnicity
    • The Big Questions Revisited 11
12. Gender and Sexuality
    • by Paula England
    • The Big Questions
    • 12.1 Where Do Gender Differences Come from?
    • 12.2 How Have the Lives of Women and Men Changed in the Last 50 Years?
    • 12.3 How Are Our Sex Lives Shaped by Biology and Society?
    • 12.4 How Has Sexual Behavior Changed in the Last 50 Years?
    • Conclusion: The Puzzle of Gender Inequality
    • The Big Questions Revisited 12
13. Families and Family Life
    • by Kathleen Gerson
    • The Big Questions
    • 13.1 What Is a Family?
    • 13.2 Why Are Families Changing?
    • 13.3 What Challenges Do We Face as We Develop Relationships and Balance Family and Work?
    • 13.4 What Is It Like to Grow Up in a Twenty-First-Century Family?
    • 13.5 What Social Policies Around the World Best Support Changing Families?
    • Conclusion: The Future of Families
    • The Big Questions Revisited 13
14. Sociology of Religion
    • by Gerald Marwell
    • The Big Questions
    • 14.1 What Is Religion, and What Are Its Functions?
    • 14.2 How Does Social Structure Impact Religious Choice?
    • 14.3 Why Are Some People More Religious Than Others?
    • 14.4 Why Do People Kill Each Other in the Name of Religion?
    • 14.5 What Is the Future of Religion?
    • Conclusion: Sociology of Religion
    • The Big Questions Revisited 14
15. Education
    • by Caroline H. Persell with Dirk Witteveen
    • The Big Questions
    • 15.1 Why Is Formal Education Universal?
    • 15.2 How Is Education Related to Important Life Outcomes?
    • 15.3 Is Education Equally Available to All?
    • 15.4 How Is the American Educational System Different from Other Countries?
    • Conclusion: The Future of Education in a Global Economy
    • The Big Questions Revisited 15
16. Health and Medicine
    • by Ruth Horowitz and Jennifer Jennings
    • The Big Questions
    • 16.1 How Do Social Contexts Affect Health?
    • 16.2 Who Gets Sick, and Why?
    • 16.3 How Did Modern Medicine Emerge?
    • 16.4 How Does Physician/Patient Interaction Affect Health and Illness?
    • 16.5 Why Is Healthcare in America More Expensive and Less Effective Than in Other Countries?
    • Conclusion: Health and Medicine
    • The Big Questions Revisited 16
17. Deviance and Social Control
    • by Troy Duster and Jeff Manza
    • The Big Questions
    • 17.1 What Is Deviance?
    • 17.2 How Is Social Control Imposed on Society?
    • 17.3 How Is Moral Behavior Defined and Regulated?
    • 17.4 How Do Power and Inequality Impact Deviance?
    • Conclusion: Deviance and the Sociological Imagination
    • The Big Questions Revisited 17
18. Crime and Punishment
    • by Jeff Manza, Patrick Sharkey, and Troy Duster with Offer Egozy, Delaram Takyar, and Matthew Wolfe
    • The Big Questions
    • 18.1 What Constitutes a Crime, and What Are the Different Offense Types?
    • 18.2 How Much Crime, Particularly Violent Crime, Exists in America?
    • 18.3 How Do Sociologists Seek to Understand Crime and Punishment?
    • 18.4 Why Is Mass Incarceration Controversial?
    • 18.5 What Are the Consequences of Mass Incarceration?
    • Conclusion: Crime and Punishment and the Sociological Imagination
    • The Big Questions Revisited 18
19. Social Movements and Revolutions
    • by Jeff Goodwin
    • The Big Questions
    • 19.1 What Are Social Movements?
    • 19.2 Why Do Movements Emerge, and Who Joins Them?
    • 19.3 What Tactics Do Movements Use, and What Outcomes Do They Achieve
    • 19.4 What Are Revolutions, and Why Do They Occur?
    • Conclusion: The Future of Movements and Revolutions
    • The Big Questions Revisited 19
20. Environmental Sociology
    • by Colin Jerolmack
    • The Big Questions 490
    • 20.1 How Does Social Life Relate to the Natural Environment?
    • 20.2 How Has Human Activity Harmed the Environment?
    • 20.3 How Do Environmental Factors Impact Inequality?
    • 20.4 How Can We Create More Sustainable Societies?
    • Conclusion: Linking Environmental and Social Facts
    • The Big Questions Revisited 20
21. Population
    • by Lawrence L. Wu
    • The Big Questions
    • 21.1 Why Study Population?
    • 21.2 How Do Populations Change over Time?
    • 21.3 What Factors Influence Fertility?
    • 21.4 How Are Trends in Aging and Mortality Emerging as Critical Issues in Many Societies?
    • Conclusion: Population
    • The Big Questions Revisited 21
22. Immigration
    • by Guillermina Jasso
    • The Big Questions
    • 22.1 What Is Immigration, and How Do Governments Regulate It?
    • 22.2 What Is the History of Immigration in the United States?
    • 22.3 Why Do People Move?
    • 22.4 How Do Immigrants Fare in Their New Environments?
    • 22.5 What Are the Consequences of Immigration?
    • Conclusion: Immigration and the Future
    • The Big Questions Revisited 22
23. Globalization
    • by Vivek Chibber
    • The Big Questions
    • 23.1 What Is Globalization?
    • 23.2 How Far-Reaching Is Globalization?
    • 23.3 What Drives Globalization?
    • 23.4 What Are the Benefits and Drawbacks of Globalization?
    • Conclusion: Globalization in Retrospect and Prospect
    • The Big Questions Revisited 23