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Society: The Basics, sixth edition, maintains its exciting writing style as well as the popular focus on global comparisons, social diversity within the United States, and critical thinking. But this text never stands still...

Major elements of the revision:

New material, chapter-by-chapter...

Chapter 1: Sociology: Perspective, Theory, and Method

Note a new chapter opening on different social worlds in Boston, Massachusetts; more applied material, including an Applied Sociology box; updates of suicide patterns in the US and around the world; updates on social diversity in the world of professional sports; new Social Diversity figure on race, ethnicity, and football; a new discussion contrasting scientific sociology to interpretive sociology and critical sociology that betters reflects the multi-methodological character of today's discipline; updated and expanded Applications and Exercises at chapter's end; new listing of Web sites.

Chapter 2: Culture

Find a new chapter opening on the rise of hip-hop culture; new national maps on beer and wine consumption as indicators of high and popular culture; there are updated examples and illustrations throughout the chapter; chapter concludes with an updated and expanded Applications and Exercises section and new list of Web sites.

Chapter 3: Socialization

This chapter offers an update on U.S. television watching as well as a new set of National Maps on television viewing and newspaper readership across the United States; the revision includes recent research on television and violence; a new figure highlights young people's trust in parents; the chapter closes with expanded and updated learning exercises and numerous new Web sites.

Chapter 4: Social Interaction in Everyday Life

There is more emphasis on applications throughout; a new Applied Sociology box discusses detecting lying, featuring new photos that compare real and false expressions. The expanded "Applications and Exercises" section includes new on-campus activities and there are also several new Web destinations in the "Sites to See."

Chapter 5: Groups and Organizations

A major expansion and reorganization of this chapter includes discussion of early scientific management and evolution of organization toward flatter, more flexible, and "intelligent" form. The chapter now contrasts this trend--related to highly-skilled postindustrial work--to the McDonaldization model common to low-skill service work ("McJobs").

Chapter 6: Deviance

There is a new chapter opening on weaknesses of the criminal justice system, including the rising controversy over capital punishment; new sections on corporate crime and organized crime; find updates on all crime statistics; there is a new Applied Sociology box on explaining the recent decline in violent crime.

Chapter 7: Sexuality

This is a new chapter highlighting the socially-constructed character of human sexuality. The chapter takes a global view of sexuality, and also surveys a number of sexuality issues, from sexual orientation to sexual violence. Included are several new boxes and a new national map on births to teenage women.

Chapter 8: Social Stratification

This chapter has a reorganized discussion of caste and class; note update on the British aristocracy, as well as the salaries of corporate CEOs in the United States; there are new data on rising African-American affluence; the chapter concludes with new "Applications and Exercises" and new "Sites to See."

Chapter 9: Global Stratification

A new opening profiles wage slavery on a Pacific territory controlled by the United States; find a dramatic new box on the culture of slavery in north Africa; there are also updates on global wealth and well-being; several new Web sites direct students to sources of global data and further study.

Chapter 10: Gender Stratification

The new chapter opening highlights the 1848 Seneca Falls convention and the movement it began; a new box investigates female circumcision; there are statistical updates on women's pay, schooling, and job profiles; a new Social Diversity figure details who does the housework in the United States.

Chapter 11: Race and Ethnicity

A Social Diversity box highlights the role played by immigrants in the U.S. economy; we've added another new National Map showing the lands controlled by American Indians today; also, find updates on the social standings of all racial and ethnic categories in the United States.

Chapter 12: The Economy and Politics

There is a new chapter opening on the trend towards using temporary workers; find updated statistics on the U.S. labor force--including unemployment rates and its gender, racial and ethnic composition; there is a new Applied Sociology box highlighting corporate welfare, and we've added another national map showing where jobs will be a decade from now; a new National Map shows where young adults do and do not vote in the United States; note an update on nuclear proliferation worldwide; and the new "Sites to See" include Web pages of several organizations concerned with human rights around the world. new applications, exercises, and Web sites, too.

Chapter 13: Family and Religion

See the new chapter opening on a "family values" court case in Pakistan that pitted young lovers against traditional parents; a research update on the causes and consequences of cohabiting; a new Critical Thinking box on the covenant marriage law in Louisiana; and find statistical updates on all the trends regarding family life; a Applied Sociology box looks at the resurgence of prayer in school; many statistical updates on various measures of religiosity; find a number of interesting Web sites that explore the role of religion in addressing social problems.

Chapter 14: Education and Medicine

A new chapter opener looks at a controversial school-funding law in Vermont; a new National Map shows the rate dropping out of high-school across the country; a new Social Diversity box explores the "savage inequalities" of U.S. education; statistical updates are included for all measures of educational achievement; the revision includes recent trends in the school choice debate; new Global Sociology box describes the free-fall in life expectancy among men after the collapse of the former Soviet Union; updates on all health statistics; listed among the Sites to See are three Web destinations exploring how socially-conscious doctors are combating poverty and disease around the world.

Chapter 15: Population, Urbanization, and the Environment

This chapter is a new combination of population, urbanization, and the environment. There is a new chapter opening on rapid urban development in Atlanta; find the latest global population figures as well as new data for the United States; there is an update on the development of urban regions and sprawl; attention is given to the interplay of population, urbanization, and the environment throughout.

Chapter 16: Social Change: Traditional, Modern, and Postmodern Societies

A new chapter-opening vignette illustrates the extent of social change over the course of the twentieth century; expanded coverage of the theories of social movements including discussion of new cultural theory; a new Critical Thinking box evaluates change in the United States; find a number of new chapter-end applications as well as new Web sites.