Instructors

We designed A Sociology Experiment so instructors have every resource to create an extraordinary course, and so students are no longer asked to pay exorbitant costs to learn sociology. This effort begins with the chapters themselves, which feature the writing of some of the best teachers and writers in the discipline. Each author is an expert in the chapter’s content, and we are committed to writing the clearest, most engaging textbook possible.

In addition to the chapters, we have tried to provide the resources that a creative, passionate teacher would need to make each week as effective as possible. When you register to use A Sociology Experiment, you will get access to all of the following resources for every chapter:

Supplemental readings, freely available to students
Data and maps from the web
Discussion topics with notes
Assessments, including essays and multiple choice
Lecture slides with accompanying notes
A suggested weekly course schedule
Videos and films
A set of data exercises
Video lectures available on our YouTube channel

It would be impossible to use everything in one semester. Our goal is for you to have everything at your fingertips so you could teach a class tomorrow if you had to. It’s up to you to figure out which resources you’d like to use to make your class exceptional.

How to adopt for your course

We hope these chapters will be useful for a range of sociology courses. To see what we’ve put together, the first step is to register as an instructor. Use your institutional email so we can verify your position. Once you are approved as an instructor, you will have access to all materials for each chapter.

If you decide to assign any chapters for your course, please require that your students register on the site and purchase the chapter(s). Purchasing a chapter will give students access to the text and an interactive study guide.

Even with the low cost of each chapter, we realize that for some students it may be difficult to purchase the entire book. If you have students who are facing difficult financial circumstances, email and let us know. We want every student to be able to use the materials on the site; we will be glad to work out a lower cost for each chapter, or to provide access for free, for students who would struggle to pay for all of the chapters.

Part 1: Thinking Like Sociologists

A Sociology Experiment

Shamus Khan, Princeton University; Patrick Sharkey, Princeton University; Gwen Sharp, Nevada State College

Research Methods

Shamus Khan, Princeton University; Gwen Sharp, Nevada State College

Social Structure and the Individual

Judith Halasz, State University of New York at New Paltz; Peter Kaufman, State University of New York at New Paltz

Part 2: The Organization of Society

Social Class, Inequality, and Poverty

Peter Kaufman, State University of New York at New Paltz; Todd Schoepflin, Niagara University

Culture

Jonathan Wynn, University of Massachusetts Amherst

Gender and Sexuality

Angela Barian, Cardinal Stritch University; Todd Schoepflin, Niagara University; Jessica Brown, Houston Community College System

Race and Ethnicity

Rashawn Ray, University of Maryland; Patrick Sharkey, Princeton University; Matthew Clair, Stanford University

Part 3: Our Social Worlds

Sociology of Families

Angela Barian

Sociology of Education

Maia Cucchiara, Temple University

Sociology of Religion

Melissa J. Wilde, University of Pennsylvania; Patricia Tevington, Montclair State University

Political Sociology

Fabio Rojas, Indiana University

Immigration and Urbanization

Patrick Sharkey, Princeton University; Jody Vallejo, University of Southern California

Deviance, Crime and Violence

Angela Barian; Patrick Sharkey, Princeton University; Bryan L. Sykes, University of California, Irvine

Economic Sociology