Book Title: Introduction to Sociology – 3rd Canadian Edition

Author: William Little

Cover image for Introduction to Sociology – 3rd Canadian Edition

Book Description: Introduction to Sociology adheres to the scope and sequence of a typical introductory sociology course. In addition to comprehensive coverage of core concepts, foundational scholars, and emerging theories, we have incorporated section reviews with engaging questions, discussions that help students apply the sociological imagination, and features that draw learners into the discipline in meaningful ways. Although this text can be modified and reorganized to suit your needs, the standard version is organized so that topics are introduced conceptually, with relevant, everyday experiences.

License:
Creative Commons Attribution

Contents

Book Information

Book Description

Introduction to Sociology adheres to the scope and sequence of a typical introductory sociology course. In addition to comprehensive coverage of core concepts, foundational scholars, and emerging theories, we have incorporated section reviews with engaging questions, discussions that help students apply the sociological imagination, and features that draw learners into the discipline in meaningful ways. Although this text can be modified and reorganized to suit your needs, the standard version is organized so that topics are introduced conceptually, with relevant, everyday experiences.

For the student, this book is based on the teaching and research experience of numerous sociologists. In today’s global socially networked world, the topic of Sociology is more relevant than ever before. We hope that through this book, students will learn how simple, everyday human actions and interactions can change the world. In this book, you will find applications of Sociology concepts that are relevant, current, and balanced.

For instructors, this text is intended for a one-semester introductory course and includes these features:

  • Sociological Research: Highlights specific current and relevant research studies.
  • Sociology in the Real World: Ties chapter content to student life and discusses sociology in terms of the everyday.
  • Big Picture: Features present sociological concepts at a national or international level.
  • Case Study: Describes real-life people whose experiences relate to chapter content.
  • Social Policy and Debate: Discusses political issues that relate to chapter content.
  • Section Summaries distill the information in each section for both students and instructors down to key, concise points addressed in the section.
  • Key Terms are bold and are followed by a definition in context. Definitions of key terms are also listed in the Key Terms, which appears at the end of each chapter.
  • Section Quizzes provide opportunities to apply and test the information students learn throughout each section. Both multiple-choice and short-response questions feature a variety of question types and range of difficulty.
  • Further Research: This feature helps students further explore the section topic and offers related research topics that could be explored.

Book Source

This book is a cloned version of Introduction to Sociology - 2nd Canadian Edition by William Little, published using Pressbooks by BCcampus under a CC BY (Attribution) license. It may differ from the original.

Author

William Little

License

Icon for the Creative Commons Attribution 4.0 International License

Introduction to Sociology – 3rd Canadian Edition Copyright © 2023 by William Little is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution 4.0 International License, except where otherwise noted.

Subject

Sociology

Metadata

Title
Introduction to Sociology – 3rd Canadian Edition
Author
William Little
Contributors
Sally Vyain; Gail Scaramuzzo; Susan Cody-Rydzewski; Heather Griffiths; Eric Strayer; Nathan Keirns; and Ron McGivern
License

Icon for the Creative Commons Attribution 4.0 International License

Introduction to Sociology – 3rd Canadian Edition Copyright © 2023 by William Little is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution 4.0 International License, except where otherwise noted.

© 2023 William Little

Introduction to Sociology – 3rd Canadian Edition was adapted from Introduction to Sociology – 2nd Canadian Edition © 2016 William Little. It was shared under a Memorandum of Understanding with BCcampus to be adapted as an open education resource (OER).

The Creative Commons licence permits you to retain, reuse, copy, redistribute, and revise this book—in whole or in part—for free providing the author is attributed as follows:

This adaptation includes the following changes and additions which are © 2023 by William Little and are licensed under a CC BY 4.0 licence:

  • Systematic revision throughout: adding content, introducing new concepts, reorganizing chapters, updating topics, providing new sociological analysis and research, expanding Making Connections examples and raising the level of sociological material to 1st year Canadian university standards.
  • Numerous changes have been made to the text to improve contemporary relevance, provide meaningful detail and context, update statistical information, add empirical research, modernize theoretical debates, replace U.S. material with Canadian content, standardize chapter structure, remove outmoded language, include more Indigenous and minority group material, and enhance streamlining and clarity.
  • Expanding thematic focus to include more material on Indigenous and minority groups, pandemics, climate change, decolonization, globalization, white nationalism movements and issues of disinformation.
  • Shifting analytical focus from functionalism, critical sociology and symbolic interactionism to more broad (and current) frameworks of positivist sociology, critical sociology and interpretive sociology
  • 3rd person narration made consistent throughout.
  • Addition of numerous Open Source photos, graphs and other visual information throughout. Replacement of images from earlier editions that did not have clear Creative Commons copyright designations and review of all images used for copyright compliance.
  • Addition of new key terms throughout.
  • Removal of two chapters from the 2nd Edition: Chapter 16: Education and Chapter 18: Work and Economy.
  • Reorganization of chapter order and reorganization of some material between chapters. For example, Chapter 22: Social Interaction becomes Chapter 6: Social Interaction in a more logical sequence between Chapter 5: Socialization and Chapter 7: Groups and organizations. Chapter 8: Media and Technology becomes Chapter 16: Media and Popular Culture, while the section on technology and social change in Chapter 8 is added to Chapter 18: Social Movements and Social Change.
  • Chapter 10: Global Society and Chapter 16: Media and Popular Culture have been completely rewritten.
  • Revising Learning Objectives for each chapter to cover new chapter material and emphasize active learning approaches.
  • Updating all the end materials including Key Terms, Section Summary, Quiz (multiple choice questions), Short Answer Questions, and Further Research.

A chapter-by-chapter list of changes can be accessed here: 3rd Canadian Edition Changes.

The 2nd Canadian Edition can be accessed here: Introduction to Sociology – 2nd Canadian Edition
If you redistribute all or part of this book, it is recommended the following statement be added to the copyright page so readers can access the original book at no cost:

Download for free from the B.C. Open Collection.

Sample APA-style citation (7th Edition):

Little, W. (2023). Introduction to sociology (3rd canadian ed). BCcampus. https://opentextbc.ca/introductiontosociology3rdedition/

Cover image attribution:

Leaving early for home” by Yusaini Usulludin, via Flickr, is used under a CC BY-NC 2.0 licence.

Ebook ISBN: 978-1-77420-227-2

Print ISBN: 978-1-77420-226-5

Visit BCcampus Open Education to learn about open education in British Columbia.

Primary Subject
Sociology
Institution
Thompson Rivers University
Publisher
BCcampus
Publication Date
September 7, 2023