Dictionary of the Social Sciences

by Craig Calhoun

Overview

Featuring over 1,800 concise definitions of key terms, the Dictionary of the Social Sciences is the most comprehensive, authoritative single-volume work of its kind. With coverage on the vocabularies of anthropology, sociology, political science, economics, human geography, cultural studies, and Marxism, the Dictionary is an integrated, easy-to-use, A-to-Z reference tool. Designed for students and non-specialists, it examines classic and contemporary scholarship including basic terms, concepts, theories, schools of thought, methodologies, issues, and controversies. As a true dictionary, it also contains concise, jargon-free definitions that explain the rich, sometimes complex language of these increasingly visible fields.

Product Details

ISBN-13:	9780195123715
Publisher:	Oxford University Press
Publication date:	05/02/2002
Edition description:	New Edition
Pages:	584
Product dimensions:	7.40(w) x 10.44(h) x 1.73(d)

About the Author

Craig Calhoun is president of the Social Science Research Council in New York City. A distinguished sociologist, he has taught at the University of North Carolina and New York University, and is co-author, with Donald Light and Suzanne Keller, of the bestselling textbook Sociology, now in its seventh edition.

Editorial Reviews

Aimed at the academic nonspecialist, this new dictionary does more than provide definitions of key terms, offering entries that also discuss the intellectual issues behind the terms' usage. The entries cover all the social sciences except for law, education, and public administration but are weighted more toward economics and anthropology than history and psychology, with an overall emphasis on interdisciplinary usage. Some 275 biographies are included. Within entries, there are cross references and references to major works, which are given complete listings in the bibliography. The entries are unattributed, and only 11 American contributors are listed, with the rest being unnamed scholars. As author of the well-known textbook Sociology and president of the Social Science Research Council in New York City, Calhoun has solid credentials. However, libraries should purchase this title only if they already own Routledge's The Social Science Encyclopedia. Though it has 600 entries compared with Oxford's 1500, the very usable Routledge has signed articles, twice the number of pages, and a wider scope that includes education, law, business, crime, penology, etc. Another competitor for the same shelf space is the two-volume Reader's Guide to the Social Sciences, which is also in A-to-Z format but is unique in functioning as a review of key books and articles for each topic. Elsevier's recent 26-volume International Encyclopedia of the Social & Behavioral Sciences covers the same subject matter in considerably more depth. The Oxford dictionary is recommended for comprehensive collections only.-Janice Dunham, John Jay Coll. Lib., CUNY Copyright 2002 Cahners Business Information.

Library Journal

Contains some 1800 terms, concepts, schools of thought, methodologies, issues, and controversies from the "ability-to-pay principle" of welfare economics to "zonal model" of urban sociology. Included within the dictionary are brief biographies of major social science figures. Annotation c. Book News, Inc., Portland, OR (booknews.com)

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