Highly respected for its scholarship and straightforward approach, this text covers core sociological concepts with a brief and accessible presentation at an affordable price. In the eleventh edition, Sociology once again comes alive as a vital and exciting field to relate sociological principles to real-world circumstances.
 
About the Author
CAROLYN J. KROEHLER is a professional writer and editor who has received her sociological education “on the job.” Before her work on Sociology: The Core, she contributed to criminology and criminal justice textbooks. She edited and helped with the writing of a guide to academic success for college students, Straight A’s: If I Can Do It, So Can You. At the Virginia Water Resources Research Center, she wrote public education and technical materials about water quality and other environmental issues, including a book on drinking water standards. Her writing experience also includes several years in a college public relations office and writing and editing for the Lancaster Independent Press. She earned her Ph.D. in botany at Virginia Tech and has published in the Canadian Journal of Botany, Plant and Soil, and Oecologia. Mike and Carrie live in Blacksburg, Virginia, with their children Edmund and Camilla.
Michael Hughes is Professor of Sociology at Virginia Polytechnic Institute and State University (Virginia Tech). He received his Ph.D. in sociology from Vanderbilt University in 1979 and has taught introductory sociology over the past 34 years. He also regularly teaches courses in minority group relations, deviant behavior, the sociology of mental illness, and data analysis. From 2000 to 2004, he served as editor of the Journal of Health and Social Behavior. He has held positions as research fellow at the University of Michigan’s Institute for Social Research (1992–1994) and research associate at Vanderbilt University (1980–1982). With Walter R. Gove he is the author of the book, Overcrowding in the Household. His research interests in mental health and mental illness, race and ethnicity, and crowding and living alone have resulted in over 60 professional articles published in a variety of journals. In 2004–2005, he served as president of the Southern Sociological Society.