Sociology: A Very Short Introduction (by Steve Bruce): Book Review

Sociology: A Very Short Introduction (by Steve Bruce) is basically a compiled essays of a sociology professor expressing his compliments and enmities towards some of the field.

This book is more of an introductory book and not really an academic paper. It provides good introduction to the main theories of sociology with the authors own views on research and study within the field.

The last chapter of the book is the best as it tells you why the book was written; probably it was too much to include everything in a small book.

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Abstract

Science is about understanding the natural world ‘The Status of Sociology’ asks: can sociology be scientific? The answer is ‘no’. Social scientists can rarely conduct experiments. The ideas of social science cannot be rigorously tested by beings subjected to experiments that isolate the features of human action that interest us from the complexities of life. The subject matter of the social sciences is conscious sentient beings who act out of choice. The sociologist’s interest in beliefs, values, motives, and intentions brings with it concerns unknown in natural science. The sociologist’s notion of explanation does not stop at identifying regular patterns in social action.