Everett C. Hughes had a great impact on the field of sociology as a whole and on an entire generation of sociologists. Some of Hughes' former students and colleagues honor him in this book. The essays address the main themes in his work over the years, and illustrate as well Hughes' impact on the contributors, many of whom are themselves senior figures in the field. The book as a whole provides a distinguished and representative sampling of a major stream of contemporary sociological thought.

Each of the five main divisions in the book covers one aspect of Hughes' work. The first deals with the study of occupations and professions--a field in which Hughes was a leader. The second section deals with race relations and other situations in which peoples of differing cultures meet. Beginning with his own work in French Canada many years ago, Hughes interests spread, and the breadth of this interest is seen in chapters on India, Peru, and race relations in the United States.

Problems of organizations--how they are put together and how they work--are contained in a third section. A fourth section reflects Hughes' interest in the impact of institutional experience on the people who participate in social institutions, and includes chapters on occupational socialization, status passage, and the use of drugs. A final section develops still another of Hughes' interests--social science method. Presenting some of the most important topics of contemporary theory and research, this book remains profitable reading for every member of the discipline.

Everett C. Hughes had a great impact on the field of sociology as a whole and on an entire generation of sociologists. Some of Hughes' former students and colleagues honor him in this book. The essays address the main themes in his work over the years, and illustrate as well Hughes' impact on the contributors, many of whom are themselves senior figures in the field. The book as a whole provides a distinguished and representative sampling of a major stream of contemporary sociological thought. Each of the five main divisions in the book covers one aspect of Hughes' work. The first deals with the study of occupations and professions-a field in which Hughes was a leader. The second section deals with race relations and other situations in which peoples of differing cultures meet. Beginning with his own work in French Canada many years ago, Hughes interests spread, and the breadth of this interest is seen in chapters on India, Peru, and race relations in the United States. Problems of organizations-how they are put together and how they work-are contained in a third section. A fourth section reflects Hughes' interest in the impact of institutional experience on the people who participate in social institutions, and includes chapters on occupational socialization, status passage, and the use of drugs. A final section develops still another of Hughes' interests-social science method. Presenting some of the most important topics of contemporary theory and research, this book remains profitable reading for every member of the discipline

The concept of the case is a basic feature of social science research and yet many questions about how a case should be defined, how cases should be selected and what the criteria are for a good case or set of cases are far from settled. Are cases pre-existing phenomena that need only be identified by the researcher before analysis can begin? Or are cases constructed during the course of research, only after analysis has revealed which features should be considered defining characteristics? Will cases be selected randomly from the total pool of available cases? Or will cases be chosen because of their unique qualities? These questions and many others are addressed by the contributors to this volume as they probe the nature of the case and the ways in which different understandings of what a case is affect the conduct and the results of research. The contributors find a good deal of common ground, and yet they also express strikingly different views on many key points. As Ragin argues and the contributions demonstrate, the work of any given researcher is often characterized by some hybrid of these basic approaches, and it is important to understand that most research involves multiple definitions and uses of cases, as both specific empirical phenomena and as general theoretical categories.