The essentials of the systematic and scientific study of human social behavior, groups and society. Extremely easy to access, study by, and reference for students in college courses or students of the world around them.

This study focuses in detail on the environmental compliance/competitiveness relationship with respect to the regulation of packaging waste. An important and innovative feature of the study is its emphasis on backward and forward linkages. An entire supply chain is considered: packaging manufacturers and suppliers, food processors and the food retail sector, to study the competitive effects of environmental standards on manufacturing companies and the vertical links and supply responses. A variety of regulatory regimes is represented by including within the study companies from Germany, Italy, the Republic of Ireland and the United Kingdom. While it is of note that the relatively strong regulation in Germany has indeed had effects on company behaviour, there is no evidence that environmental regulations hindered companies from achieving competitive performance.Analyses consider: the response of individual firms to different levels of regulation; the cost of compliance; impact on employment; the influence of the supply chain on environmental and competitive performance; the importance of firm size and ownership; and the impact of regulation on competitiveness, and firm competitiveness on the efficiency of adjustment to regulation.

In Pulling Back the Curtain on Qualitative Research, the authors maintain that for sociologists the entire world is a laboratory. Seldom do they attend social gatherings without observing people and their interaction in a systematic and intellectually curious way. Regular trips to the grocery store, church services, and engagement with social media all open the door to sociological questioning and encourage forms of empirical observation and data collection. Here, in this practical and in-depth guide to conducting qualitative sociological field research, the authors offer step-by-step guidance to the processes of choosing a research question and forming research objectives; gaining entry to research settings; and reporting and analyzing findings. Each chapter features a past research assignment, wherein the authors draw attention to important ethical considerations and extract the many lessons, quirks, and unanticipated findings they experienced along the way that readers should prepare for and apply while conducting their own qualitative fieldwork. Over the span of several field studies, this book offers readers a behind-the-scenes look at some tested and trusted qualitative methodologies. Designed to be a guide for undergraduate and graduate level students, its real-life meditations would make a meaningful addition to anyone serious about conducting sociological research.

In Pulling Back the Curtain on Qualitative Research, the authors maintain that for sociologists the entire world is a laboratory. Seldom do they attend social gatherings without observing people and their interaction in a systematic and intellectually curious way. Regular trips to the grocery store, church services, and engagement with social media all open the door to sociological questioning and encourage forms of empirical observation and data collection. Here, in this practical and in-depth guide to conducting qualitative sociological field research, the authors offer step-by-step guidance to the processes of choosing a research question and forming research objectives; gaining entry to research settings; and reporting and analyzing findings. Each chapter features a past research assignment, wherein the authors draw attention to important ethical considerations and extract the many lessons, quirks, and unanticipated findings they experienced along the way that readers should prepare for and apply while conducting their own qualitative fieldwork. Over the span of several field studies, this book offers readers a behind-the-scenes look at some tested and trusted qualitative methodologies. Designed to be a guide for undergraduate and graduate level students, its real-life meditations would make a meaningful addition to anyone serious about conducting sociological research.

This book provides an introduction to human visual perception suitable for readers studying or working in the fields of computer graphics and visualization, cognitive science, and visual neuroscience. It focuses on how computer graphics images are generated, rather than solely on the organization of the visual system itself; therefore, the text provides a more direct tie between image generation and the resulting perceptual phenomena. It covers such topics as the perception of material properties, illumination, the perception of pictorial space, image statistics, perception and action, and spatial cognition.

This new volume argues that globalization is not a new and exotic phenomenon. Instead it emphasizes that globalization is something that has been with us as long as there have been people who are both interdependent and aware of that fact.
Contemporary concerns about globalization are hard to avoid. Growing interdependence benefits some and marginalizes others. History is often described from a local perspective, making events seem particularistic and disconnected, rather than being enmeshed in a much larger network of interdependent events. Studying globalization from the vantage point of long-term global history permits theoretical and empirical investigation allowing the contributors to this volume to assess the extent of ongoing transformations and to compare them to earlier iterations. With this historical advantage, the extent of ongoing changes - which previously appeared unprecedented - can be contrasted to similar episodes in the past.
This interdisciplinary volume includes chapters written by historians, sociologists and political scientists. It will appeal to anyone interested in globalization and its origins.

Globalization and Global History argues that globalization is not an exotic and new phenomenon. Instead it emphasises that globalization is something that has been with us as long as there have been people who are both interdependent and aware of that fact. Studying globalization from the vantage point of long-term global history permits theoretical and empirical investigation, allowing the authors collected to assess the extent of ongoing transformations and to compare them to earlier iterations. With this historical advantage, the extent of ongoing changes - which previously appeared unprecedented - can be contrasted to similar episodes in the past. The book is divided into three sections. The first focuses on how globalization has been written about from a historical perspective. The second part advances three different takes on how best to view globalization from a very long-term stance. The final section continues this interpretative thread by examining more narrow aspects of globalization processes, ranging from incorporation processes to systemic disruptions. This interdisciplinary volume includes chapters written by historians, sociologists and political scientists.

The Emergence of the Global Political Economy challenges the assumption that the international political economy is a recent phenomenon. Instead this volume asserts that the current global political economy began to take shape around 1500 and that some of today's key processes were already perceivable several hundred years ago.
The book explains the interdependence between long-term economic growth, global political leadership and global war and how this interdependence has evolved over the last 500 years, and includes discussion of:
*the ascendence of Western Europe and the significance of the 1490s
*the military superiority thesis
*sequences of leadership and of challenge to the global political economy
*the importance of commodities from sugar and cloth to slaves and bullion
*the Anglo-American rivalry until the First World War.

The Emergence of the Global Political Economy challenges the assumption that the international political economy is a recent phenomenon. Instead this volume asserts that the current global political economy began to take shape around 1500 and that some of today's key processes were already perceivable several hundred years ago.
The book explains the interdependence between long-term economic growth, global political leadership and global war and how this interdependence has evolved over the last 500 years, and includes discussion of:
*the ascendence of Western Europe and the significance of the 1490s
*the military superiority thesis
*sequences of leadership and of challenge to the global political economy
*the importance of commodities from sugar and cloth to slaves and bullion
*the Anglo-American rivalry until the First World War.

"This book introduces human visual perception to readers studying or working in the field of computer graphics, though it may also be of use to perceptual psychologists using computer graphics to generate experimental stimuli, directly investigating the perceptual effectiveness of some aspect of computer graphics, or interested in perceptual topics relevant to the information content of images but not included in most standard vision science references. The book can be used either as a text for an advanced undergraduate or graduate course or as an overview of perception for those active as researchers or developers in computer graphics or related fields"--

Since the publication of the first edition in 2000, Sustainable Landscape Construction has helped to spur a movement towards resilient outdoor environments, in the U.S. and throughout the world. The third edition has been updated to include important recent developments in this landscape revolution. It remains essential reading for everyone with an interest in "green" design of outdoor spaces and infrastructures. Like its predecessors, the new edition of Sustainable Landscape Construction is organized around principles, recognizing that built environments, and our work in them, pose both pragmatic and ethical challenges. Each chapter focuses on one overarching site goal, such as "Pave Less," "Heal Injured Sites," and "Consider Origin and Fate of Materials." These principles of land sustainability are clearly articulated and developed through specific examples of more than 100 projects from around the world, reflecting both traditions and recent innovations. Expanded coverage of industry trends toward performance monitoring, and of lessons from project failures, form an important enhancement in this edition. New content also details the necessity to plan adaptively, not just preventively, for the realities of changing climate and intensifying weather. Some of the trends covered will shift how landscape architects and contractors will do business in challenging years ahead: to survive, many professionals and clients will focus on restoration projects, motivated by ecosystem services and social justice, and funded by innovative methods. Sustainable Landscape Construction is part of the canon of landscape construction texts, and with this update, remains a visionary, one of a kind reference for professionals and students.