Known as the gold standard for research methods, Babbie's THE PRACTICE OF SOCIAL RESEARCH gives you a definitive guide to research as practiced by social scientists. Combining a straightforward approach with the author's renowned sense of humor, this student-friendly text equips you with the tools and knowledge to apply research concepts as both researcher and consumer. The author emphasizes the process by showing you how to design and construct projects, introducing today's various observati...

This fully updated fifth edition of An Introduction to African Politics is an ideal textbook for those new to the study of this fascinating continent. Charting trends in government over six decades of the post-colonial era, the book tackles key questions such as: How have African states made sense of their colonial inheritance? How relevant are ethnic and religious identities? Why have some states collapsed and others prospered? Why did the one-party state fail? Why is contemporary Africa now...

Abolish Criminology presents critical scholarship on Criminology and Criminal Justice ideologies and practices, alongside emerging freedom-driven discourses that encourage a vision and practice of new world formations.

This lucid book presents the discipline of sociology to both the general reader and the student. Viewing sociology in the humanist tradition, Berger points out its affinity to history and philosophy, as well as its need for scientific procedures.

From the new celebrity culture that has emerged from reality television and the Internet, to the paparazzi-filled endgame of Princess Diana and the bizarre trials and tribulations of Michael Jackson, The Celebrity Culture Reader documents the significant role that celebrities occupy in contemporary culture. Combining classic essays and contemporary writings, The Celebrity Culture Reader investigates the cultural implications of this complex contemporary phenomenon.

One of America's leading anthropolgists offers solutions to the perplexing question of why people behave the way they do.

Why do Hindus worship cows? Why do Jews and Moslems refuse to eat pork? Why did so many people in post-medieval Europe believe in witches?

Marvin Harris answers these and other perplexing questions about human behavior, showing that no matter how bizarre a people's behavior may seem, it always stems from identifiable and intelligble sources.

What is Putin’s ideology? is a key question for the contemporary world. This book analyses this ideology, which it terms “Putinism”.

‘Criminal Careers’ follows the lives and criminal behaviours of 2,397 people in Poland, who as juveniles committed a crime and received a form of punishment from the juvenile court between the late 1980s and the year 2000.

With growing economic inequality and threats to the sustainability of human societies, Koh argues that cooperatives can play an important role in promoting decent work and reducing economic inequality in the 21st century, and thus urges policy makers to reignite policy discussions on cooperatives.

A comprehensive overview of all the major theorists and key schools of sociological thought, from sociology's origins through to the early 21st century.