Preface

Organization and Features

The Sociological Literacy Framework

Every chapter incorporates the sociological literacy framework (SLF).

First, each chapter addresses the five concepts in the SLF: sociological eye, social structure, socialization, stratification, and social change and social reproduction. Each chapter’s conclusion includes how the SLF was used.

Second, every chapter includes figures and data analysis questions to support the development of students’ sociological skills.

Third, I have included more detail on some of the studies highlighted in this book than what you might typically find in an introductory textbook. It is important for students to understand how sociologists know what they know as opposed to only reporting what “research finds.”

Micro-, Meso-, and Macro- Lens

Each chapter addresses micro-, meso-, and macro-lens.

Conflict, Functionalism, and Symbolic Interactionism

Conflict, functionalist, and symbolic interactionist perspectives are introduced where they make sense. The textbook, however, does not use these perspectives as a framework. Instead, the book uses the SLF as the framework.

Figures and Tables

The SLF outlines several skills related to analyzing data and applying scientific principles. The book includes at approximately 120 figures and tables to help support the development of sociological skills. There are data analysis questions repeated at the end of every chapter that can be used with any of the figures, which can be used in class or assigned for homework.

I created every figure. I followed these principles:

  • Use an appropriate chart (line charts for changes over time)
  • Label everything
  • Be selective (if data is available for every year, only report every 5-10 years to make it easier to consume)
  • Keep it as simple as possible

Paired Topics

I reduced the number of chapters found in many introduction to sociology textbooks to 10. I worked to pair major topics together:

  • Chapter 1 includes media
  • Chapter 2 pairs research methods with family
  • Chapter 3 pairs structure with religion and government
  • Chapter 4 incorporates disability and aging with culture and socialization
  • Chapter 5 pairs education with stratification
  • Chapter 6 pairs deviance and crime
  • Chapter 10 pairs social change with climate change

Chapters 7 (class), 8 (gender), and 9 (race) focus on an area of stratification and are not paired with another major topic.

Stratification

I have a chapter devoted to stratification that introduces class, gender, and race along with the structures that uphold stratification (capitalism, patriarchy, etc.). I then have a chapter focused on class (Chapter 7), gender (Chapter 8), and race (Chapter 9). I have long given an introductory lecture on stratification with this focus in my course so that students understand how class, gender, and race intersect with each other before going into each area in more depth.

Contemporary Topics

  • Technology and media (Chapter 1)
  • Climate change (Chapter 10)
  • Immigration and citizenship (Chapter 9)
  • Credit and debt as part of social class (Chapter 7)
  • Gun fatalities (Chapter 5)
  • Racial socialization (Chapter 9)
  • Features of culture rooted in sociology (Chapter 4)

Review Questions

Every chapter includes three kinds of review questions: multiple choice questions, critical thinking questions, and data analysis questions. I have created Quizlets and Blookets that are free to use.

Careers for Sociology Majors

Each chapter includes a description of three careers for sociology majors. I aimed to showcase a wide variety of careers that were somewhat related to the chapter’s main topic. Some highlighted careers require advanced degrees outside of sociology, but are highlighted because an undergraduate degree in sociology is still beneficial. Further, the blog portion of this website has additional resources on careers including descriptions of 40 careers for sociology majors.

Key Terms

Each chapter has 24-40 key terms (average of 32). These words are bold and defined in the chapter they are first used and linked to the glossary. There is a list of key terms available with each chapter.

Images

All photos are meant to complement the text. I carefully chose every photo in the project. My budget for photos, however, is tiny. Therefore, photos either come from my Canva Pro account or are royalty-free. As such, I my options are limited and I did the best I could given these constraints.

Statistics

Every statistic was updated by January 1, 2025. All U.S. government sources are documented in each chapter’s reference section. That is, I have uploaded PDFs of every U.S. government website cited.

Every claim was diligently checked for the most up to date research from sociology. If a statistic is older, it is because I could not locate anything more recent at the time of publication.

Reading Level

According to Microsoft Editor, the average reading level of the textbook is 11. The chapter reading level grades range from 10-12.

Language Choices

Many terms are used by in-group and out-group members for people. In recent years, critics who are LGBTQ+ and Latina/o/x, feminist Latina, and academics have begun using gender-neutral alternatives for Latino, such as Latinx and Latine (Mora et al., 2022). However, most U.S. Hispanics are unfamiliar with Latinx, though more younger people have heard of the term (Noe-Bustamante et al., 2020) and use it for self-identification (Mora et al., 2022). There are many opinions about which term to use. This textbook uses Latina/o/x to be gender-inclusive. However, The Sociology Coach uses the language in any publication cited, to reflect their authors’ word choices accurately. For example, because the U.S. Census uses “Hispanic or Latino,” The Sociology Coach uses these terms when reporting U.S. Census data. If a scholar uses Latino, then The Sociology Coach uses Latino.

Similar decisions were made for the use of male/female instead of man/woman. In general, The Sociology Coach strives to make inclusive word choices, while also reflective of source material.

Language matters, and it is also political and evolves; therefore, some word choices may quickly become outdated.

Accessibility

Please read our Accessibility Statement by clicking here.

Resources from The Sociology Coach

For Students

The Sociology Coach includes many resources for sociology majors on careers and the major. Please visit our website and follow us on whatever social media channel you use:

For Instructors

The Sociology Coach includes resources to support instruction in Introductory Sociology, teaching sociology more broadly, and support for majors:

The History of This Project

I have wanted to write a different introduction to sociology textbook since about 2010. I started drafting a book in 2020 and quickly got a contract with a major publisher. Drafts of the book received positive reviews from reviewers. However, in January of 2025, my publisher decided they were no longer interested in the project and returned my rights to me.

Over the length of my contract, I worked with an editor and a developmental editor. The book had multiple reviews and focus group input. I am also involved in a monthly writing group where I have shared every chapter at least once for feedback. In short, this book has benefited from feedback from many, many people.

I am self-publishing this project so that I can maintain control over it, update it at any time, and be innovative. You can think of this as “Dr. Medley-Rath’s Version.”

Acknowledgments

The People

First, I would like to thank Jeff Lasser for believing in my vision for a new kind of introduction to sociology textbook right away. While he retired and the project did not remain with the publisher he worked for, his support meant a lot.

Second, I must thank the members of my writing groups. I am especially grateful to Kathleen Lowney and Catherine White Berheide. Both read most of the book. Kate read multiple drafts of every chapter. Thank you.

I also benefited from feedback from many of my friends and colleagues: Nicholas Baxter, alison better, Barbara Harris Combs, Amanda Jungels, Gregory Kordsmeier, Jamie Oslawski-Lopez, and Nathan Palmer. All read whole chapters, parts of chapters, or met with me to discuss various aspects of the book. Thanks, too, to Elroi Windsor who shared their gender syllabus, which helped me find direction on the gender chapter.

I am also grateful for all the anonymous reviewers. I reviewed all of their feedback and used what I could to improve this project.

A special thank you to Veronica N. who was especially helpful in refining definitions for the glossary.

I’d like to thank several librarians, Meg Galasso, Christina Miller, Martha Barker, and Britney Netherton, and all the other library workers for helping me track down books and articles.

Finally, a very special thanks to my daughter, Rachel Rath. She prepared the references and provided Gen Z insight into topics, examples, and more.

Land Acknowledgment

I created The Sociology Coach on land where the Peoria, Myaamia, Kiikaapoi, Kaskaskia, and Bodéwadmiakiwen once lived. None of these groups have federally recognized status over land in Indiana, United States. The Peoria and Kaskaskia, for example, are part of the Peoria Tribe that the U.S. government first relocated from the Midwest (Indiana, Illinois, Michigan, Ohio, Iowa, and Missouri) to Missouri, then Kansas, and then to Oklahoma.

Artificial Intelligence Acknowledgment

I used Microsoft Copilot to draft end of chapter summaries and review questions for the Introduction to Sociology textbook.

I used Grammarly, Microsoft Editor, and Readable to help with copyediting of the textbook. I occasionally used Microsoft Copilot to revise small chunks of text.

I used claude.ai to draft many of the blog posts (outside of the textbook) on this website. All AI generated content was reviewed and edited before publishing.