Starting Sociology can be daunting. This user-friendly introduction takes the reader on a quest towards a sociological understanding of the world we live in. Using contemporary examples, The Sociological Quest asks what is distinctive about the way Sociologists view society. Haydn Aarons and Evan Willis show that they are concerned with the relationships between the individual and society, and that a sociological analysis involves an approach which is historical, cultural, structural, and critical. This sixth edition has been thoroughly revised and updated and includes new material on identities, social change, social movements, populism, climate change, the COVID-19 pandemic, digital interaction, and social media. Also included in the sixth edition is an expanded chapter on empirical research in Sociology and the research process, as well as a new chapter on careers in Sociology.

Starting Sociology can be daunting. This user-friendly introduction takes the reader on a quest towards a sociological understanding of the world we live in. Using contemporary examples, The Sociological Quest asks what is distinctive about the way Sociologists view society. Haydn Aarons and Evan Willis show that they are concerned with the relationships between the individual and society, and that a sociological analysis involves an approach which is historical, cultural, structural, and critical. This sixth edition has been thoroughly revised and updated and includes new material on identities, social change, social movements, populism, climate change, the COVID-19 pandemic, digital interaction, and social media. Also included in the sixth edition is an expanded chapter on empirical research in Sociology and the research process, as well as a new chapter on careers in Sociology.

Medical Dominance, now in a revised edition, provides a fascinating account of the medical profession's successful domination of a wide range of health care services. Evan Willis delves into the past to explain the existing division of labour and health care, the rise of the medical profession to a position of economic power within the health system, and their defence of that dominant position. Now completely revised and updated, this edition also considers the related question of the policy implications of medical dominance. The defence by doctors of their position of power is highlighted by the author's exhaustive and original research into demarcation struggles between medicine and other health occupations, in particular midwifery, optometry and chiropractic. Conventional explanations of medical dominance are challenged by the argument that the role of developments in medical knowledge and in technology itself have been overstated. As well, greater account must be taken of the social relations and struggles which developed for control of that knowledge and technology.

Health care delivery is undergoing intense scrutiny and pressure for change: people have high expectations and want value for money. Research can do much to evaluate the effectiveness of health care, but deeply rooted disciplinary preconceptions - about what should be done and how, and about what is scientific - have hampered relevant research. "Researching Health Care" brings together an international team of health researchers from the fields of clinical care, clinical epidemiology, bio-statistics, sociology, health economics and health policy. The problem of research method is central to the evaluation of health care, and the contributors therefore focus on the three most important methods in use at present: experimental methods, surveys and other quantitative methods, and qualitative methods. The strengths and limitations of each method are spelled out, and the contributors show how some methods are more appropriate for evaluating the technical aspects of medicine, others for social and community issues. They argue that complex health care problems can be adequately addressed only by an equally broad range of research study designs, as well as by a willingness to co-operate. Th

This new, revised and updated edition of "Medical Dominance" provides an account of the medical profession's successful domination of a wide range of health-care services. Evan Willis delves into the past to explain the existing division of labour and health care, the rise of the medical profession to a position of economic power within the health system, and its defence of that dominant position. He also considers the related question of the policy implications of medical dominance. The defence by doctors of their position of power is highlighted by the author's research into demarcation struggles between medicine and other health occupations, in particular midwifery, optometry and chiropractic. Conventional explanations of medical dominance are challenged by the argument that the role of developments of medical knowledge, and in technology itself, have been overstated. Greater account must also be taken of the social relations and struggles which developed for control of that knowledge and technology.