Sociology (Cliffs Quick Review)

By Christie S. Zgourides and George D. Zgourides

Book Overview

CliffsQuickReview course guides cover the essentials of your toughest classes. Get a firm grip on core concepts and key material, and test your newfound knowledge with review questions.

CliffsQuickReview Sociology provides you with an in-depth review of the principles of sociology -- the scientific study of human groups and social behavior. Because sociology examines how social relationships influence people's attitudes and how societies form and change, sociology has an incredibly broad scope. This guide boils sociology down to easy-to-understand terms and concepts, and as you work your way through this reference, you'll be ready to tackle such concepts asThe sociological perspective and research methodsCultures and societies, and socializationSocial groups and organizationsDeviance, crime, and social controlSocial and global stratificationRace and ethnicity, and sex and genderEconomics, politics, education, marriage, family, and alternative lifestylesReligion, health, medicineSocial change and movements

CliffsQuickReview Sociology acts as a supplement to your textbook and to classroom lectures. Use this reference in any way that fits your personal style for study and review -- you decide what works best with your needs. You can read it from cover to cover, or just use it when you need important information and put it back on the shelf for later.

With titles available for all the most popular high school and college courses, CliffsQuickReview guides are a comprehensive resource that can help you get the best possible grades.

• Format: Paperback
• Language: English
• ISBN: 0764586157
• ISBN13: 9780764586156
• Release Date: July 2000
• Publisher: Houghton Mifflin
• Length: 256 Pages
• Weight: 0.25 lbs.
• Dimensions: 0.7" x 5.5" x 8.4"

Customer Reviews

A Basic Introduction to Sociology

The author of this competent introduction to sociology is Dr. Zgourides, a former Eastern Orthodox priest. Dr. Zgourides previously authored several publications that engaged with coping strategies for dealing with anxiety and stress, including "Anxiety Disorders: A Rational-Emotive Perspective" (Macmillan, 1991)and "Don't Let Them Psych You Out!" (Loompanics Unlimited, 1993). After his tour at the New Mexico Military Institute in Roswell, New Mexico, Dr. Zgourides has fluttered, at times anxiously, about a wide variety of halls of higher and further education across America. He has worked or continues to work as a clinical psychologist, certified acudetox specialist, massage therapist, and volunteer healthcare chaplain with specialties in mind-body psychology, anxiety disorders and phobias, sexuality, addictions, pastoral issues, and Traditional Chinese Medicine approaches to healing. He has held a wide variety of full-time and part-time positions at such institutions as New Mexico Military Institute (Roswell, New Mexico), Capella University (Minneapolis, Minnesota), Dallas Institute of Acupuncture and Oriental Medicine (Dallas, TX), Pacific University (Forest Grove, Oregon), and the University of Portland (Portland, Oregon), where he was previously a tenured Assistant Professor of Psychology. Dr. Zgourides currently maintains a writing/consulting practice and assists as a staff researcher at Parker College of Chiropractic's Research Institute in Dallas, Texas. His wife, Christie Zgourides, is a former lecturer at a small Oregon liberal arts college and is now an online instructor of writing for Kaplan College, a for-profit corporation owned by the Washington Post Group. With these credentials, Dr Zgourides has written a sound introduction to sociology, summarizing the major points of current sociological knowledge. After introducing readers to competing sociological perspectives and basic research methods, he discusses culture and socialization, social groups and social organization, crime and deviance, social and global stratification, race and ethnicity, sex and gender, economics and politics, education and statism, family, religion, health, population, mass media, and social movements in the context of social change. Dr. Zgourides advises to "Ask and answer the following questions when deciding the validity of a piece of social research: Are the sociologists qualified to conduct sociological studies? What are their credentials? Are the sociologists associated with an academic institution, laboratory, or clinic?" (p26). As a participant observer amongst various institution engaged with the social sciences, Dr. Zgourides has an experienced eye for spotting what isn't right, which is reflected in this sound introduction to the field of sociology.