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The Practical Skeptic: Core Concepts in Sociology. Lisa J. McIntyre. Mountain View, CA: Mayfield. 1999. 247 pages. $22.95.
The Practical Skeptic: Readings in Sociology. Lisa J. McIntyre. Mountain View, CA: Mayfield. 1999. 313 pages. $24.95.
As a teacher of numerous sections of introductory sociology, I found Lisa McIntyre's companion texts The Practical Skeptic: Core Concepts in Sociology and The Practical Skeptic: Readings in Sociology very useful. The author's goal is to make sociological concepts accessible to students without oversimplifying them. Her pedagogical emphasis is on helping students to apply the sociological perspective, rather than memorize the details of sociological research results. She succeeds on both counts.
The texts are organized around sociological concepts, rather than traditional fields of specialty and are written in an informal style that will appeal to students. The Core Concepts text begins by introducing students to the field with discussions of the sociological perspective, contributions of...