The Sociological Quest

'The Sociological Quest provides an up-to-date, clear and comprehensive account of modern sociology: where did it comes from, what does it do, where is it going? Sociology often offers explanation of society and social change that are challenging and critical. In that context, Willis and Aarons invite students to join them on an exciting quest into what makes society tick and how we can best understand the social problems confronting individuals and societies. Through the sociological imagination, sociologists address fundamental issues about what makes societies successful or unsuccessful.'

Bryan S. Turner, Professor of Sociology and Director of the Institute for Religion, Politics and Society at the Australian Catholic University, Australia, Honorary Professor and Director of the Centre for Citizenship, Social Pluralism and Religious Diversity at Potsdam University, Germany, and Emeritus Professor at the Graduate Center at the City University of New York City (CUNY), USA

'This slim volume is written in the tradition of Mills’s (1959) famous introduction to the discipline, The Sociological Imagination. Like Mills, coauthors Haydn Aarons and Evan Willis invite students to take up sociology as a distinctive way to understand ourselves and the world in which we live. Now in its sixth international edition, The Sociological Quest: An Introduction to the Study of Social Life encourages students to begin to think sociologically, in other words, understanding humans as fundamentally social beings. Sociological explanations of human life strive to situate individuals within different groups and then to systematically explore relationships among groups. In this way, sociology can help us understand how “private troubles” are related to “public issues,” as Mills put it… Overall, The Sociological Quest is an ambitious and elegantly presented introduction to sociological thinking, which will be most useful for Introduction to Sociology classes at the undergraduate level.'

Elaine Coburn, Associate Professor of International Studies and Director of the Centre for Feminist Research, York University, Canada, ‘Book Review: The Sociological Quest: An Introduction to the Study of Social Life’, Teaching Sociology, (Vol. 51, No. 4)