Sociology Flipbooks

A Flipbook is a way of displaying a pdf document online so that it has the look-and-feel of a paper-based magazine, one whose pages you can turn using a mouse (desktop) or finger (mobile).

That’s it, really.

I could talk about stuff like whether this creates a greater sense of engagement among students than the bog-standard static pages of a pdf file, but since I’ve got no idea (and I don’t know of anyone who’s bothered to try to find out) that would just be me trying to find a deceptively- plausible way to encourage you to try them.

So, if this Big Build-Up has piqued your curiosity and / or whetted your appetite for Flipbooks you’ll be pleased to know I’ll be adding a variety of the little blighters to this page on what might be charitably termed an ad-hoc basis (translation: whenever I can be bothered or can find the time).

So, here’s what’s currently available:

Sociological Theory

Systems Theory: It’s Functionalism, Jim. But not as you know it.
Modernity and Sociological Theory
Postmodernity and Sociological Theory
Globalisation: Economic, political and cultural dimensions.
Global Culture: 3 views on the nature and extent of changing global culture.
Global Culture – Video Version: As above except this version uses video examples rather than static pictures.

Risk Society: It’s modernity, Jim. But not as you knew it…

Risk Society Magazine: As above, but with a radically redesigned “Magazine Stylee” (plus around 5 minutes of embedded video featuring Ulrich Beck and Brian Wynne).

Crime and Deviance

Theories of Crime and Deviance: Functionalist, Ecological, Critical.
Theories of Crime and Deviance 2: Interactionism, Deviancy Amplification, Postmodern Criminology, Constitutive criminology.
Theories of Crime and Deviance 3: Concepts of power and control, new and traditional penology, Actuarial approaches, Administrative criminology, Left and Right Realism.
The Social Distribution of Crime: Class, Age, Gender, Ethnicity and Locality.
Strain Theory – Merton’s classic Strain Theory plus Agnew’s contemporary General Strain Theory.
Rational Choice Theory: An outline and evaluation of this contemporary explanation for crime. The original pdf file is here.

Routine Activities Theory: Crime as a Cause of Crime?: this version includes a short video clip outlining Routine Activities Theory
Market Reduction Approach: Outline of an innovative approach to crime reduction.
Globalisation and Crime
Crime and Harm: The Critique of Conventional Criminology
A Social Harm Approach to Crime
Women and Binge-Drinking: Includes 3-minute video exploring binge-drinking among young women.
Crime, Deviance and the Spirit Level: Four ways “less equal” societies differ from “more equal” societies in relation to crime.

Strain Theory: Merton’s classic Strain Theory plus Agnew’s contemporary General Strain Theory

Left Realism: Key Ideas and Criticisms

Left Realism: The 3-Cornered Approach and Square of Crime

Mass Media

Defining the Mass Media: A short-and-sweet introduction to “The Media”, most notable for the inclusion of a short (5-minute) piece of video.
Defining and Researching Mass Media: Longer introduction to the Mass Media, plus research methods Content Analysis and Semiology. There’s also a pdf version if you want it.
The Ownership and Control Debate: A pdf version is also available.
The Selection and Presentation of News: New values, theoretical explanations. There’s also a pdf version if you’d prefer it.
Representations of Social Groups (Class, Age, Gender and Ethnicity. Plus some theoretical explanations (Marxist, Pluralist, Feminist, Postmodern). There’s also a pdf version available.
Media Effects: Direct, Indirect and Post-Effects. Also available as a pdf document.
The Mass Media: Complete chapter covering all 5 individual flipbook chapters: definitions, ownership and control, selection and presentation, representations, effects.
Postmodernism and New Media: Repositioning “audience effects”.
Simulacra and Hyperreality: Lesson outline / plan with embedded video examples.

Revision

Research Methods: Primary, secondary, quantitative and qualitative data.
Primary Research Methods: Questionnaires, Interviews, Experiments, Observation, Visual methods.
Secondary Research Methods: Content analysis, Documents, Statistics.
Research Methodology: Positivism and Interpretivism.
Practical and Theoretical Research Considerations
The Research Process: Hypothetico-deductive model / Types of Sampling.

Sociological Perspectives – The Revision Map format may not be everybody’s cup of tea. Sip-it-and-see…
Mass Media: Media and Ideology: Marxism (Instrumental and Hegemonic) and Pluralism.
Mass Media: Ownership and Control: Revision Map

Education

Educational Achievement and Intelligence: The IQ debate in Education