Conversational sociology

the long version

Conversational Sociology uses an innovative, dynamic, and intercultural approach to present a condensed version of basic sociological concepts and methods in simple language. These basics are illustrated through a contrast of Eastern and Western societies, using a cross-cultural study of the attitudes of Chinese college students toward intercultural marriage, particularly between Chinese and American-Caucasians. Within this context, the authors present a sophisticated classification system comprising five major categories, which they use to construct a theoretical social system that reveals the interrelationships among fundamental sociological ideas. The approach is designed to broaden the field of sociology beyond the limits of an introductory textbook - with the emphasis placed upon an understanding of human relationships, rather than upon the science that studies these relationships. And yet the scientific research underlying all sociological advances is always in view, for the authors' study yields the conclusion that the needs of Eastern and Western cultures are similar; thus they predict that the gap between the two will be bridged not only through intermarriage, but also through economic development, technological advances, industrialization, and urbanization.