Promotions - Choice's Outstanding Academic Titles 2018 -

Becker, one of sociology's contemporary giants, draws from his encyclopedic knowledge of social science history and nearly 70 years of experience conducting research to impress upon scholars and the lay public alike the need to question the creation, interpretation, and importance of empirical evidence. In the book's first part, the author masterfully discusses the (dis)connection between the philosophy behind various methods of data collection and the practical, day-to-day aspects of actually doing social research. In the second part, he specifically examines who collects data (institutions, government employees, volunteer and "hired hand" data collectors, principle investigators and their assistants, etc.) and how they do their jobs. Again, Becker pays particular attention to the problems that arise in the course of data collection and how such problems have been (mis)handled. After poring over this well-written, thought-provoking treatise, readers cannot help but become much more critical consumers of information--a skill so sorely necessary in an era in which everyone is bombarded with claims of facts, alternative facts, truths, lies, and deceptions. A most welcome and timely contribution to research methodology specifically, and sociology in general.Summing Up: Essential. Most levels/libraries.

Society in the U.S. fails to provide effective (as distinguished from fictive), equal opportunity for children of color. Dowd (Univ. of Florida Levin College of Law) focuses on mutually reinforcing and interdependent circumstances that can prevent success: racial and class discrimination, poverty, poor housing, toxic neighborhoods, substandard schools and inadequate reward for educational attainment, family dysfunction, tendency to criminalize behavior that might be dealt with leniently in wealthy or white children, low-paying jobs, limited life choices. Children of color are not alone. Dowd focuses on government's role in creating and allowing this situation, but culture and economics also contribute. She addresses all children who perform below the potential they possess at birth, children whose life outcomes can be predicted with great accuracy because of race, poverty, gender, family, or where they live. Dowd's goal is to create chances for achievement that advantaged children possess. Her proposals--especially those in chapter 6, "Developmental Equality," and chapter 10, "A New Deal for Children"--which apply to all similarly situated children, are well reasoned and effectively address multiple and reinforcing problems. Dowd's proposals are required for real equal opportunity and will lead to success, but they face enormous ideological, political, and economic obstacles. This book is required reading.Summing Up: Essential. All readers.

Comprehensive, measured, and well researched, this may be the most important book of the year. Period. Sociologists Bradley Campbell (California State Univ., Los Angeles) and Jason Manning (West Virginia Univ.) trace the history and development of "victimhood culture" in the US and the culture wars that have engulfed the country as a result of that victimhood mentality. The authors do a masterful job of explaining the nation's shift from a culture of honor, to a culture of dignity, to one of victimhood. The last is marked by hypersensitivity to any perceived slight and often leads to exaggeration and the need to publicly highlight one's victimization through appeals to sympathetic authorities and allied third parties. On college campuses in particular, the rise of structures and procedures to address such slights (aka microaggressions) has led to the institutionalization of "safe spaces," "trigger warnings," and a proliferation of counseling centers, administrators, and support staff. The shift has also resulted in a series of destructive, unintended consequences, including moral panics, false accusations, curtailing of free speech, assaults on academic freedom, "competitive victimhood" (across the lines of race, class, gender, religion, and sexual orientation), and incidents of violent backlash. Required reading for those seeking to move beyond the seeming downward spiral of becoming a nation of victims.Summing Up: Essential. All readers.

Combining biography and the history of a discipline, sociologist Erikson (emer., Yale) chronicles his life journey within sociology. Most titles on the subject offer information and facts, but Erikson gives readers one more thing: the accumulated wisdom of an eminent scholar as he revisits, reexamines, and reinterprets familiar but taken-for-granted topics such as the individual, total institutions, social life, urban places, suburbia, and community. The book is equally valuable as an introduction to the discipline as it is a work for those already acquainted with its subject matter. The writing style is lively yet academic, and Erikson balances explanation with analysis. Furthermore, the author's intimate understanding of sociology makes for an engaging read, and readers will benefit from the work's exploration into the ideas and stories within sociology. As might be expected from a book that is retrospective in character, Erikson briefly discusses his early work but only to give context to his lifelong encounter with his academic discipline. The Sociologist's Eye will stand alongside other essential titles by Erikson, such as Wayward Puritans (CH, Dec'66) and Everything in its Path (1976), and is a valuable contribution to as well as a meta-analysis of sociology.Summing Up: Essential. All public and academic levels/libraries.