"With this valuable handbook the editors have successfully synthesized a field that has expanded considerably in recent years." -M.L. Stark, CHOICE Because the field of sociological inquiry is multi-faceted in perspective, and does subsume a variety of specialty interests, the literature in this discipline has developed and proliferated in a near exponential fashion. Sociology, today, has become so specialty driven in its research and theory agenda that the result is an enormous and complex body of sociological knowledge that is often considered to be unwieldy. 21st Century Sociology: A Reference Handbook provides a concise forum through which the vast array of knowledge accumulated, particularly during the past three decades, can be organized into a single definitive resource. The two volumes of this Reference Handbook focus on the corpus of knowledge garnered in traditional areas of sociological inquiry, as well as document the general orientation of the newer and currently emerging areas of sociological inquiry. Key Features Provides a timely and comprehensive assessment of the 100+ specialty fields of sociology with contributions by leading authorities in their area of expertise from the U.S., Canada, Europe, and Singapore Examines four distinct phases of development in the history of sociological inquiry-a period of theoretical development, the emphasis on methodological development and refinement, the phase of specialization, and a period that has taken representatives of the discipline into previously unexplored areas Addresses the various traditional subfields of sociology, such as political sociology, educational sociology, rural sociology, criminology, occupational sociology, and minority relations Explores important new, evolving subfields, such as environmental sociology, sociology of sports and leisure, military sociology, medical sociology, the sociology of food and eating, and the sociology of emotions 21st Century Sociology presents the most comprehensive overview of modern sociology making it a must have resource for any academic library.
Via 100 entries, 21st Century Psychology: A Reference Handbook highlights the most important topics, issues, questions, and debates any student obtaining a degree in the field of psychology ought to have mastered for effectiveness in the 21st century. This two-volume reference resource, available both in print and online, provides an authoritative source to serve students' research needs with more detailed information than encyclopedia entries but without the jargon, detail, or density found in a typical journal article or a research handbook chapter. Students will find chapters contained within these volumes useful as aids toward starting research for papers, presentations, or a senior thesis, assisting in deciding on areas for elective coursework or directions for graduate studies, or orienting themselves toward potential career directions in psychology. The cadre of contributing authors consists of established experts within the field of psychology, including several former presidents of the American Psychological Association who are in tune with current and likely future directions of this amazingly broad and diverse field. The 100+ chapters provide material of interest for students from all corners of psychological studies, whether their interests be in the biological, cognitive, developmental, social, or clinical arenas. Coverage includes cutting-edge topics, such as human performance in extreme environments. Chapters are brief, reader-friendly, and presented at an appropriate level for undergraduate students, with references to guide them to key further readings. Key Features Provides students with initial footholds on topics of interest in researching for term papers, in preparing for GREs, and in consulting to determine directions to take in pursuing a senior thesis, a graduate degree, a career, etc. Offers full coverage of major subthemes and subfields within the field of psychology, including social, developmental, cognitive, biological, clinical, and methodology Provides uniform in chapter structure to make it easy for students to locate key information, with a common format of Introduction, Theory, Methods, Applications, Comparisons, Future Directions, Summary, References & Further Readings, and Cross-References
Via 99 entries or "mini-chapters," the SAGE 21st Century Reference Series volumes on political science highlight the most important topics, issues, questions, and debates any student obtaining a degree in this field ought to have mastered for effectiveness in the 21st century. 21st Century Political Science: A Reference Handbook serves as an authoritative reference source that meets students' research needs with more detailed information than encyclopedia entries but not so much jargon, detail, or density as a journal article or a research handbook chapter. An editorial advisory board comprised of eminent scholars from various subfields, many of whom are also award-winning teachers, selected the most important general topics in the discipline. The two volumes are divided into six major parts: 1) General Approaches of Political Science; 2) Comparative Politics; 3) International Relations; 4) Political Science Methodology; 5) Political Thought; and 6) American Politics. A section on identity politics includes chapters on topics such as Race, Ethnicity, and Politics; Gender and Politics; Religion and Politics; and LGBT Issues/ Queer Theory. This two-volume resource makes fairly complex approaches in political science accessible to advanced undergraduate and beginning graduate students.
21st Century Management provides an authoritative insight into the key issues for students in college or on corporate courses with a particular emphasis on the current structure of the topic in the literature, key threads of discussion and research on the topic as well as emerging trends. This resource will assist lecturers in structuring exciting and meaningful papers and presentations that will engage and enthuse their classes. 21st Century Management provides an authoritative reference source that serves students' research needs with more detailed information than encyclopedia entries but not as much jargon, detail or density as a journal article or a research handbook chapter. It also assists readers in deciding on management areas to take elective coursework in or areas to orient themselves towards for a career, Throughout, the book looks at topics through the prisms of globalization and new information technologies, so issues such as remote leadership are explained. Ethical and ecological approaches to topics such as entrepreneurship reflect cutting-edge interest. This valuable resource: " Addresses the post-9//11 context and associated security and crisis management issues " Offers insights into 21st century business issues such as excessive work and outsourcing " Discusses diversity including gender, ethnic and age " Includes issues of managing non-profit arts, medical sports and philanthropic organizations in the 21st century. " " A free online Teaching Resource Guide, available through the SAGE website, provides suggested teaching and learning activities for each chapter to help instructors tie the content of the handbook to courses within the business and management curriculum. The guide provides suggested lecture ideas, homework assignments, ideas for in-class case studies or workshops, team assignments and more.
Via approximately 80 entries or "mini-chapters," the SAGE 21st Century Reference Series volumes on geography will highlight the most important topics, issues, questions, and debates any student obtaining a degree in this field ought to have mastered for effectiveness in the 21st century. The purpose is to provide undergraduate majors with an authoritative reference source that will serve their research needs with more detailed information than encyclopedia entries but not so much jargon, detail, or density as a journal article or a research handbook chapter. Features & Benefits: Curricular-driven to provide students with initial footholds on topics of interest in writing research term papers, in preparing for GREs, in consulting to determine directions to take in pursuing a senior thesis, graduate degree, etc. Comprehensive to offer full coverage of major subthemes and subfields within the discipline of geography, including regional geography, physical geography, global change, human and cultural geography, economic geography and locational analysis, political geography, geospatial technology, cartography, spatial thinking, research methodology, geographical education, and more. Uniform in chapter structure to make it easy for students to locate key information, with a more-or-less common chapter format of Introduction, Theory, Methods, Applications, Comparison, Future Directions, Summary, Bibliography & Suggestions for Further Reading, and Cross References. Available in print and electronic formats to provide students with convenient, easy access.
21st Century Education: A Reference Handbook offers 100 chapters written by leading experts in the field that highlight the most important topics, issues, questions, and debates facing educators today. This comprehensive and authoritative two-volume work provides undergraduate education majors with insight into the rich array of issues inherent in education-issues informing debates that involve all Americans. Key Features: * Provides undergraduate majors with an authoritative reference source ideal for their classroom research needs, preparation for GREs, and research into directions to take in pursuing a graduate degree or career * Offers more detailed information than encyclopedia entries, but not as much jargon, detail, or density as journal articles or research handbook chapters * Explores educational policy and reform, teacher education and certification, educational administration, curriculum, and instruction * Offers a reader-friendly common format: Theory, Methods, Applications, Comparison, Future Directions, Summary, References and Further Readings 21st Century Education: A Reference Handbook is designed to prepare teachers, professors, and administrators for their future careers, informing the debates and preparing them to address the questions and meet the challenges of education today.
Interest in economics is at an all-time high. Among the challenges facing the nation is an economy with rapidly rising unemployment, failures of major businesses and industries, and continued dependence on oil with its wildly fluctuating price. Economists have dealt with such questions for generations, but they have taken on new meaning and significance. Tackling these questions and encompassing analysis of traditional economic theory and topics as well as those that economists have only more recently addressed, 21st Century Economics: A Reference Handbook is a must-have reference resource. Key Features Provides highly readable summaries of theory and models in key areas of micro and macroeconomics, helpful for students trying to get a "big picture" sense of the field Includes introductions to relevant theory as well as empirical evidence, useful for readers interested in learning about economic analysis of an issue as well for students embarking on research projects Features chapters focused on cutting-edge topics with appeal for economists seeking to learn about extensions of analysis into new areas as well as new approaches Presents models in graphical format and summarizes empirical evidence in ways that do not require much background in statistics or econometrics, so as to maximize accessibility to students
Criminology has experienced tremendous growth over the last few decades, evident, in part, by the widespread popularity and increased enrolment in criminology and criminal justice departments at the undergraduate and graduate levels across the U.S. and internationally. Evolutionary paradigmatic shift has accompanied this surge in definitional, disciplinary and pragmatic terms. Though long identified as a leading sociological specialty area, criminology has emerged as a stand-alone discipline in its own right, one that continues to grow and is clearly here to stay. Criminology, today, remains inherently theoretical but is also far more applied in focus and thus more connected to the academic and practitioner concerns of criminal justice and related professional service fields. Contemporary criminology is also increasingly interdisciplinary and thus features a broad variety of ideological orientations to and perspectives on the causes, effects and responses to crime. 21st Century Criminology: A Reference Handbook provides straightforward and definitive overviews of 100 key topics comprising traditional criminology and its modern outgrowths. The individual chapters have been designed to serve as a "first-look" reference source for most criminological inquires. Both connected to the sociological origins of criminology (i.e., theory and research methods) and the justice systems' response to crime and related social problems, as well as coverage of major crime types, this two-volume set offers a comprehensive overview of the current state of criminology. From student term papers and masters theses to researchers commencing literature reviews, 21st Century Criminology is a ready source from which to quickly access authoritative knowledge on a range of key issues and topics central to contemporary criminology.
The discipline of communication has grown in popularity from the time professors of journalism and speech decided, in the mid-1960s, that the term "communication" was an excellent general descriptor for the theory and research that each group aspired to create. Over time, the two groups grew closer and recognized significant overlap in their theoretical and research interests, but there were also differences in their traditions that kept them apart. While both groups agreed that communication is a practical discipline, journalism professors focused a great deal of their attention on the education of media professionals. Speech professors, on the other hand, often were more oriented to the liberal arts and valued the fact that communication could be approached from a variety of traditions, including the arts, humanities, social sciences, and even the sciences. A key term in 21st Century communication, however, is convergence. Not only are media and technology converging with each other to produce new means of communicating, but individuals are increasingly using both new and existing communication tools to create new forms of communication. This convergence forces the various "camps" within the communication discipline to draw upon each other's theories and research methods to keep up with explaining the rapidly changing communication environment. This convergence of ideas and theories provides a space to challenge conventional ways of thinking about the communication discipline, and that's the goal of the SAGE 21st Century Reference Series volumes on Communication. General Editor William F. Eadie has sought to honor the diversity of the study of communication but also integrate that diversity into a coherent form, dividing communication study into four basic properties: 1) processes, 2) forms and types of communication, 3) characteristics to consider in creating messages, and 4) relationships between communicators. Via 100 chapters, this 2-volume set (available in both print and electronic formats) highlights the most important topics, issues, questions, and debates any student obtaining a degree in the field of communication ought to have mastered for effectiveness in the 21st Century. The purpose is to provide undergraduate majors with an authoritative reference source that will serve their research needs going forward in this exciting field with more detailed information than encyclopedia entries but not as much jargon, detail or density as a journal article or a research handbook chapter. Comprehensive coverage captures all the major themes and subfields within communication. For instance, Volume 1 themes include the discipline of communication, approaches to the study of communication, key processes of communication, forms and types of communication, key characteristics of messages, key communication relationships, factors affecting communication, and challenges and opportunities for communication. Themes in Volume 2 are media as communication, communication as a profession, journalism, public relations, advertising, and media management. Authoritative content is provided by a stellar casts of authors who bring diverse approaches, diverse styles, and different points of view. Curricular-driven emphasis provides students with initial footholds on topics of interest in researching for term papers, in preparing for GREs, in consulting to determine directions to take in pursuing a senior thesis, graduate degree, career, etc. Uniform chapter structures make it easy for students to locate key information, with a more-or-less common chapter format of Introduction, Theory, Methods, Applications, Comparisons, Future Directions, Summary, Bibliography & Suggestions for Further Reading, and Cross References. Availability in print and electronic formats provides students with convenient, easy access.
