WEMSK42 - Getting Acquainted with a New Field - Sociology
Sociology is the most splintered
of the social sciences. You
notice this when you look at
websites; contrary to practices in
other fields, they are often
devoted to particular schools, there
is a Parsonsian website, a Simmelian
website, etc. etc. Probably
the best approach to such a
field is through vocabulary and
concepts, starting with introductions,
such as those found in the
Sammlung Goeschen, the Que sais-je?,
and the College Outline
Series, e.g. New Outline of
the Principles of Sociology, ed. Alfred
McClung Lee et al. College Outline
Series (NY: Barnes & Noble,
1946). Note that, at this stage,
the age of the book is not
important. Elementary guides
can be an aid along the way, cf. The
Student Sociologist's Handbook,
ed. Pauline Bart & Linda Frankel,
4th ed. (NY: Random House, 1986).
This is meant for the
undergraduate and is perhaps
too hand-holding, but that may be what
you need at the moment.
Social Sciences
1. Your best first guide is:
Sources of Information in the Social
Sciences: A Guide to the Literature,
3d ed., ed. William H. Web et
al. (Chicago: ALA, 1986).
The third edition of a noble old standby
edited originally by Carl M.
White; great annotations.
2. Do not replace the above,
but supplement it by: Social Science
Reference Sources: A Practical
Guide, ed. Tze-chung Li, 3d ed.
(Westport, CT: Greenwood Press,
2000). Well annotated.
Particularly noteworthy for
its "Reference Sources in an Electronic
Age," 3-21, and its "Appendix:
Cited URLs," 447-452. For a
different list of WWW resources
in sociology, see: Scientific
American Guide to Science on
the Internet, ed. Edward Renehan (NY:
ibooks, 2000), "Sociology,"
455-470.
3. A good read-through: Bert
F. Hoselitz, A Reader's Guide to the
Social Sciences (Glencoe, IL:
The Free Press, 1959). With
contributions by various authorities.
Sociology
1. Bibliography:
a. Stephen A. Aby, Sociology:
A Guide to Reference Information
Sources, 2d ed. Reference Sources
in the Social Sciences
(Englewood, CO: Libraries Unlimited,
1997). Good annotations. Good
for online databases. Good list
of journals with commentary.
b. Tom B. Bottomore, Sociology:
A Guide to Problems and Literature,
3d ed. (London: Allen &
Unwin, 1987). An old and trusted standby.
c. International Bibliography
of Sociology (London: Routledge,
1952). The standard annual bibliography.
2. Concepts:
a. Your best first port of call
is still Bernard Berelson and Gary
A. Steiner, Human Behavior.
An Inventory of Scientific Findings
(NY: Harcourt, Brace & World,
1964). Arranged by concepts, with
quotations, bibliography and
discussion. Here you can find out all
you ever wanted about such things
as cognitive dissonance and
delayed feedback.
b. Another example of the `quotation'
approach: Panos D. Bardis,
Dictionary of Quotations in
Sociology (Westport, CT: Greenwood
Press, 1985). By an authority.
c. An interesting book by a group
of outstanding experts: The
Blackwell Companion to Major
Social Theorists, ed. George Ritzer
(Oxford: Blackwell, 2000).
3. Readers:
a. Theories of Society, ed. Talcott
Parsons, et al., 2 vols.
(Glencoe, IL: The Free Press,
1961). Presents 86 thinkers who
between the years 1890 and 1935
had great influence on our thinking
on social issues. A MUST
read through, with bibliographies,
commentary, the whole works.
b. A good set of articles on
methodology, in spite of its age:
Symposium on Sociological Theory,
ed.
Llewellyn Gross (NY: Harper
& Row, 1959).
c. Amitai & Eva Etzioni, Social Change (NY: Basic Books, 1964).
d. Sociological Methods: A Sourcebook,
ed. Norman K. Denzin
(Chicago: Aldine, 1970).
4. Dictionaries:
a. Allan G. Johnson, The Blackwell
Dictionary of Sociology. A
User's Guide to Sociological
Language, 2d ed. (Oxford: Blackwell,
2000). The best. Most of the
items have bibliography.
b. Raymond Boudon and Francois
Bourricaud, A Critical Dictionary of
Sociology, sel. & tr. Peteer
Hamilton (Chicago: UChicagoP, 1989).
With a "thematic index".
c. A Dictionary of Sociology,
ed. Gordon Marshall. Oxford Paperback
Reference (Oxford: OUP, 1998).
Good.
d. For a German counterpart to
Boudon and Bourricaud (b above):
Woerterbuch der Soziologie.
Kroeners Taschenausgabe 410 (Stuttgart:
Kroener, 1972). Extensive bibliographies.
5. Encyclopedia of Sociology,
ed. Edgar F. Borgatta et al., 2d ed.,
5 vols. MacMillan Reference
(NY: Gale Group, 2000). Much improved
in this 2d ed. It might be worthwhile
xeroxing off the "List of
Articles" as a sort of taxonomy
of the field.
6. Interesting:
a. The Sociology of Knowledge.
A Reader, ed. James E. Curtis and
John W. Petras (NY: Praeger,
1970). An interesting set of readings
in the then new field of the
Sociology of Knowledge, "all knowledge
is social in nature".
For one man's view of the field: Irving L.
Horowitz, Philosophy, Science
and the Sociology of Knowledge.
American Lecture Series 442
(Springfield, IL: Thomas, 1961).
b. Robert W. Friedrichs, A Sociology
of Sociology (NY: Free Press,
1970).
7. I would be remiss if I did
not mention two old standbys by
Pitirim A. Sorokin: Contemporary
Sociological Theories. Harper
Torchbooks 3046 (NY: Harper
& Row, 1964; repr. of 1928 vol.),
Sociological Theories of Today
(NY: Harper & Row, 1966). These were the
guidebooks for the graduate
students of yesteryear.