Description
Throughout their careers, social scientists must come up with compelling research topics, decide when and where to publish, and revise their manuscripts for publication. Despite the importance of these skills, they are seldom if ever addressed in the course of graduate training. Heavy emphasis is placed on conducting research, and other core activities such as teaching also receive attention, yet fundamental academic practices are left almost entirely in the shadows.
Practicing Sociology brings together a range of leading sociologists to reflect on their work and demystify this tacit knowledge. In conversational and engaging essays, they provide practical guidance and hard-won wisdom for readers at any stage of their scholarly careers. The book's three sections explore the art of finding new research questions, best practices in publishing, and how to make the most out of the peer review process. Contributors' distinctive voices come through as they recount their frustrations and failures as well as the joys of the sociological craft. They provide a range of perspectives, underscoring that there is no one "right" way to practice sociology but a constellation of different approaches that together give the field its vitality.
Practicing Sociology features a team of skilled scholars including Peter Bearman, Paul J. DiMaggio, Wendy Espeland, Marion Fourcade, Shamus Rahman Khan, Eric Klinenberg, Michele Lamont, Jennifer Lee, Mignon Moore, Mario Small, Duncan Watts, and many more.
About the Author
David Stark is Arthur Lehman Professor of Sociology at Columbia University, where he directs the Center on Organizational Innovation. He has studied factory workers in socialist Hungary, new media employees in a Silicon Alley startup, derivative traders on Wall Street, electronic music artists in Berlin, bankers in Budapest, farmers in Nebraska, video game producers, and megachurches that look like shopping malls.
Reviews
Practicing Sociology is not a book of epistemology or methodology. Instead, adopting the approach of science studies and drawing on contributions from eminent scholars, it shows the importance of the writing process, from observations to publishable texts. It sends a message that all sociologists should hear: don't think you write what you think, but if all goes well you may end up thinking what you've written and rewritten over and over again. -- Michel Callon, Ecole des mines de Paris
Book Information
ISBN 9780231214018
Author David Stark
Format Paperback
Page Count 304
Imprint Columbia University Press
Publisher Columbia University Press
Practicing Sociology brings together a range of leading sociologists to reflect on their work and demystify this tacit knowledge. In conversational and engaging essays, they provide practical guidance and hard-won wisdom for readers at any stage of their scholarly careers. The book's three sections explore the art of finding new research questions, best practices in publishing, and how to make the most out of the peer review process. Contributors' distinctive voices come through as they recount their frustrations and failures as well as the joys of the sociological craft. They provide a range of perspectives, underscoring that there is no one "right" way to practice sociology but a constellation of different approaches that together give the field its vitality.
Practicing Sociology features a team of skilled scholars including Peter Bearman, Paul J. DiMaggio, Wendy Espeland, Marion Fourcade, Shamus Rahman Khan, Eric Klinenberg, Michele Lamont, Jennifer Lee, Mignon Moore, Mario Small, Duncan Watts, and many more.
About the Author
David Stark is Arthur Lehman Professor of Sociology at Columbia University, where he directs the Center on Organizational Innovation. He has studied factory workers in socialist Hungary, new media employees in a Silicon Alley startup, derivative traders on Wall Street, electronic music artists in Berlin, bankers in Budapest, farmers in Nebraska, video game producers, and megachurches that look like shopping malls.
Reviews
Practicing Sociology is not a book of epistemology or methodology. Instead, adopting the approach of science studies and drawing on contributions from eminent scholars, it shows the importance of the writing process, from observations to publishable texts. It sends a message that all sociologists should hear: don't think you write what you think, but if all goes well you may end up thinking what you've written and rewritten over and over again. -- Michel Callon, Ecole des mines de Paris
Book Information
ISBN 9780231214018
Author David Stark
Format Paperback
Page Count 304
Imprint Columbia University Press
Publisher Columbia University Press
