The Standard Library Cyclopedia of Political, Constitutional, Statistical and Forensic Knowl... Book

When your bachelor's and master's are not in the field that you are planning to do your doctorate in, you know you're in trouble! ha ha ha (Looking left and right to see if my advisers are here.) But, well, I'm not afraid to tell you that don't be embarrassed to try to find a decent, comprehensive undergraduate textbook to jump start you with ideas. It is normally written for those who have absolutely no idea what they are in for. That sounds pretty much the case like most doctoral students anyway! I am grateful for the excellent world Professor Schaefer has done over the years. My version is slightly different than this one, probably two editions older and also an international version. But I'm sure he would only get better and better. Professor Schaefer manages to make a dreadfully difficult, theory-laden field like sociology sounds relevant, even remotely exciting! Suddenly, I sort of get a picture what I'm in for and not sort of lost as I have been when I tried some local textbooks! Don't be discouraged by the sheer size (it's almost like a coffee-table size), it is packed with fun facts at digestible portion. Moreover, there are a lot of pictures, graphs, charts, etc. I'm a visual person, remember? So this thing speaks to me really well. At more than 500 pages, it is too heavy to lug around unless you plan to use it as a weight-training tool. And to be seen with books with titles like Sociology may not sound as sexy as Nuclear Physics. So, it stays at home most of the time, remaining my loving companion when I get stuck and need some fresh ideas. It is very basic, though, mind you. And you have to wake up to the fact that you still have to do the "dirty work" yourself somewhere else. But Professor Schaefer has made your life much more simpler. So, for that, thank you, Professor Schaefer! :-)