introduction to the discipline of sociology. The author's characteristic straightforward style, a streamlined design, and highly focused coverage make it the perfect introductory text for instructors who use a variety of materials in their course. This volume includes comprehensive, balanced coverage of the major theoretical perspectives. With an emphasis on real-world applications, students will be able to see the relevance of sociological concepts to contemporary issues, events, and everyday life.The seventh edition includes strong coverage of gender, race, ethnicity, and social class as well as considerable cross-cultural coverage. Chapter 1 introduces, defines, and contrasts the functionalist, conflict, and interactionist perspectives, and features the increasingly important feminist perspective. Later chapters use these distinctive viewpoints to explore such topics as deviance, social stratification, race and ethnicity, gender, social institutions, population, community, health, the environment, social movements, social change, and technology.New to The Edition•A revamped discussion on human sexuality titled "Labeling and Human Sexuality" focuses on key ideas surrounding the treatment of gender identity and sexual identity.•The informal economy is discussed in Chapter 9 and focuses on such topics as precarious work and the sharing economy and provides a revamped treatment of the workforce and deindustrialization.•Intersectionality is given an updated focus through discussions on the matrix of domination and men's gender roles and provides research projections as to when White, Black, and Latino women will reach salary parity with White men.•Key terms are highlighted to guide students in the direction of important materials.The Connect digital learning platform includes the following features:•Smartbook, an adaptive digital version of the course textbook, personalizes your reading experience based on how well you are learning the content.•Access includes instructor's homework assignments, quizzes, syllabus, notes, reminders, and other important files for the course.•Progress dashboards quickly show students how they are performing on assignments and provide tips for improvement.

Hide more