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Our Social World
Seventh Edition
To our beloved coauthor, Keith A. Roberts. His love for teaching through deep learning lives on in this book and in the lives of the many, many teachers and students he touched.
Our Social World
Introduction to Sociology
Seventh Edition
Jeanne H. Ballantine
Wright State University
Keith A. Roberts
Emeritus, Hanover College
Kathleen Odell Korgen
William Paterson University
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Library of Congress Cataloging-in-Publication Data
Names: Ballantine, Jeanne H., author. | Roberts, Keith A., author. | Korgen, Kathleen Odell, 1967- author.
Title: Our social world : introduction to sociology / Jeanne H. Ballantine, Wright State University, Keith A. Roberts, Hanover College, Kathleen Odell Korgen, William Paterson University.
Description: Seventh Edition. | Thousand Oaks : SAGE Publications, [2019] | Revised edition of the authors’ Our social world, [2018] | Includes bibliographical references and index.
Identifiers: LCCN 2018039606 | ISBN 9781544333533 (pbk. : alk. paper)
Subjects: LCSH: Sociology. | Sociology—Cross-cultural studies.
Classification: LCC HM586 .B35 2019 | DDC 301—dc23 LC record available at https://lccn.loc.gov/2018039606
This book is printed on acid-free paper.
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Preface To Our Students
This book will change how you view the social world—and your place in it. You will gain a sociological perspective on the world that will change what you notice and how you make sense of your social world. Some of you will become sociology majors. All of you will find the subject matter of this course relevant to your personal and professional lives. You will learn how society works—and how you can influence it, develop interpersonal skills, and gain new information about social life in small groups and global social systems. As the broadest of the social sciences, sociology has a never-ending array of fascinating subjects to study.
Sociology and this book ask you to think outside the box. Why? The best way to become a more interesting person, to grow beyond the old familiar thoughts and behaviors, and to make life exciting is to explore new ways to view your social world. The world in which we live is intensely personal and individual, with much of our social interaction occurring in intimate groups of friends and family. Our most intense emotions and most meaningful links to others are at this small-group “micro” level of social life. As you use this book, apply what you read to your life and those in your social world. This will make the book relevant to you and help you apply what you learn to your own life.
However, these intimate micro-level links in our lives are influenced by larger social structures and global trends. The social world you face in the job market of the 21st century is influenced by changes and forces that are easy to miss. Like the wind, which can do damage even if the air is unseen, social structures are themselves so taken for granted that it is easy to miss seeing them. However, their effects can be readily identified. Sociology’s perspectives will help you to better understand your family, friends, work life, leisure time, and your place in a diverse and changing world.
Becoming Literate in Sociology
Each day you have routines, many of them involving other people and groups to which you belong or have a connection. Think about your roommate, classes, sports team, Greek organization, college you attend, and country in which you live. All these groups—and many more—make up your social world. Just as you learn the ideas, principles, theories, and frameworks in your other science and social science courses, so, too, sociology has key ideas, theories, frameworks, and models that fit together to give a picture of the social world and literacy in the field of sociology. Your text and course will introduce you to key elements that make up your individual social world. Each chapter provides a slice of the total sociological pie, and each different ingredient
