Is that true? : critical thinking for sociologists / Joel Best.

Format:

Book

Author/Creator:

Best, Joel, author.

Language:

English

Subjects (All):

Critical thinking.

Physical Description:

1 online resource (vii, 167 pages)

Place of Publication:

Oakland, California : University of California Press, [2021]

Summary:

Across disciplines, critical thinking is praised, taught, and put into practice. But what does it actually mean to think critically? In this brief volume, sociologist Joel Best examines how to evaluate arguments and the evidence used to support them as he hones in on how to think in the field of sociology and beyond. With inimitable style that melds ethnographic verve with dry humor, Best examines the ways in which sociologists engage in fuzzy thinking through bias, faddish cultural waves, spurious reasoning, and implicit bias. The short chapters cover: A general introduction to critical thinking and logic in the social sciencesSociology as an enterpriseKey issues in thinking critically about sociological researchChallenging questions that confront sociologists and a call for the discipline to meet those challenges. Students across disciplines will learn the building blocks of critical thinking in a sociological context and come away with key concepts to put into practice.

Contents:

Frontmatter

Contents

Acknowledgments

1. What Is Critical Thinking

2. The Basics: Arguments and Assumptions

3. Everyday Arguments

4. The Logic of Social Science

5. Authority and Social Science Arguments

6. Sociology as a Social World

7. Orientations

8. Words

9. Questions and Measurements

10. Variables and Comparison

11. Tendencies

12. Evidence

13. Echo Chambers

14. Tough Topics

Afterword: Why Critical Thinking Is Important

Notes

References

Index

Notes:

Description based on print version record.

ISBN:

9780520381414

0520381416

OCLC:

1248759980