In Sociology: Exploring the Architecture of Everyday Life, David M. Newman shows students how to see the "unfamiliar in the familiar"―to step back and see organization and predictability in their take-for-granted personal experiences.
With his approachable writing style and lively personal anecdotes, the author′s goal from the first edition has always been the same: to write a textbook that, in his words, "reads like a real book." Newman uses the metaphors of "architecture" and "construction," to help students understand that society is not something that just exists "out there," independently of themselves; it is a human creation that is planned, maintained, or altered by individuals.
Using vivid prose, examples from current events, and the latest research findings, this fully updated Twelfth Edition presents a unique and thought-provoking overview of how society is constructed and experienced. Instead of surveying every subfield in sociology, the more streamlined coverage focuses on the individual and society, the construction of self and society, and social inequality in the context of social structures.
 
About the Author
David M. Newman earned his BA from San Diego State University in 1981 and his graduate degrees from the University of Washington in Seattle (MA 1984, PhD 1988). After a year at the University of Connecticut, David taught at DePauw University for more than 30 years. He currently teaches at Colgate University. David teaches courses in contemporary society, deviance, mental illness, family, social inequality, and research methods. He has published numerous articles on teaching and has presented research papers on the intersection of gender and power in intimate relationships. Recently most of his scholarly activity has been devoted to writing and revising several books, including Sociology: Exploring the Architecture of Everyday Life: Brief Edition (SAGE, 2020); Identities and Inequalities: Exploring the Intersections of Race, Class, Gender, and Sexuality (McGraw-Hill, 2021); and Families: A Sociological Perspective (McGraw-Hill, 2009). His most recent book, A Culture of Second Chances: The Promise, Practice and Price of Starting Over in Everyday Life (Lexington Books, 2019), examines the cultural meaning, institutional importance, and social limitations of “second chance” and “permanent stigma” narratives in everyday life.