When antibiotics became readily available in the 1950s, the danger of life-threatening infectious childhood diseases virtually disappeared. In that era, pediatricians broadened the core professional task of their specialty--the prevention and treatment of such diseases--to incorporate the behavioral and psychosocial problems of children and adolescents. Pediatricians themselves began to refer to this changing emphasis as the "new pediatrics," and to see the trend as a natural progression of their specialty into new areas of care. At the same time there arose widespread disaffection among practicing general pediatricians, defection to other areas of practice, and a decline in the popularity of pediatrics as a specialty choice.

In analyzing the emergence of the new pediatrics as a case study within medical sociology, Pawluch shows how professional concerns and interests infl uence debate around social problems. As sociologists began to take greater interest in the problems of childhood, and as children's lives became increasingly medicalized--as some have argued--it is at least in part because of pediatricians' willingness to endorse medical defi nitions for certain social problems and to provide treatment for them.

Pawluch's underlying concern is that medical professionals have begun to make claims for authority in the definition of what constitutes the social problems of childhood. Among the topics she examines are the "dissatisfied pediatrician syndrome," the potential for a crisis in oversupply of pediatricians and competing providers of services, the push for expansion into new areas of care, and possible future developments in this specialty.

"Dorothy Pawluch" is assistant professor of sociology at McMaster University. Her areas of interest include sociology of health and health care; deviance/social problems; work and occupations; and social psychology. She is the author of numerous book chapters and journal articles.

Doing Ethnography is an essential text for courses in ethnography, research methods (qualitative emphasis), applied sociology, and related subjects across Canada. This unique volume first considers the merits of qualitative research, profiles interviewing strategies, and discusses the relationships to respondents and how to write about social life. The second portion of Doing Ethnography contains three sections: constructing perspectives, constructing identities, as well as doing and relating. Case studies and original research are featured throughout. The editors, Dorothy Pawluch, William Shaffir, and Charlene Miall, emphasize the importance of studying social interaction. ""In truth, any question about society, big or small, is ultimately about people interacting with each other. Whether the issue is changing gender relationships, corporate deeds and misdeeds, class structures, or the school performance of children from cultural minorities, it all comes down to one thing: people doing things together.