Everyday Sociology Blog

What is Peer Review?

By Karen Sternheimer Within scholarly work, the gold standard is to publish in an academic journal that is peer reviewed. Books published through academic publishers also undergo peer review. This means that before anything is published, e

What is Sociological Research?

By Karen Sternheimer We do research all the time, or at least we use the word research regularly. Trying to figure out where to stay on a vacation? “Research” it online! Choosing a restaurant? Do some “research” by asking your friends abou

The Most Important Sociological Lessons

By Peter Kaufman As a reader of this blog you must have some idea about the major themes that sociologists study. You also know that sociologists write about a lot of topics. If you were asked to identify the most important lessons that on

What Would You Do?

By Peter Kaufman Consider the following scenario: You are in a clothing store shopping for a new outfit. As you are browsing through the selections you notice that a black female customer is being targeted unfairly by a sales clerk. Instea

Technology and Jobs: More of One, Less of the Other?

By Sally Raskoff A student and I were chatting in my office, and she mentioned that she had just applied for five jobs but was concerned about the interviews. I assumed that these interviews were in-person and face-to-face with another hum

The Compassionate Sociologist

By Peter Kaufman Is there a connection between sociology and compassion? Do you know of any sociologists who explicitly and unabashedly frame their work in the context of compassion? Do you consider yourself a compassionate sociologist? F

Research Questions: Less is More

By Karen Sternheimer Robin (not her real name) is a student of mine who came to my office to discuss her research paper for my class, due two weeks from the day she came to see me. She is very excited about her topic, which she selected

Asking Sociological Questions

By Peter Kaufman I often tell students that I hope they leave my classes with more questions than answers. This statement may seem counterintuitive. Our typical model of education is based on the idea that students’ heads should be fill